I've find Baron-Reid's oracles magnificent. Some of the best oracles in the market to me, due to the accuracy and depth of the answers given to my queries.
What is the Wisdom of the House of Night? It is a world between worlds, the fantasy world created by novelist P. C. Cast. The story is loosely based on the Greek myth of the Godless Nyx, the Goddess of the Night. Mother of Hypnos (Sleep), Tanathos (Death), The Oneroi (Dreams) and Erebus (Darkness) among other mythological characters. Nyx's realms are liminal, those interstitial spaces between he day and the night, waking life and dreams, the conscious and the unconscious. In short, those in which the occult dwells. It is still nothing really dark or Lovecraft-ish. The cards, on the other hand, draw on Norse runes, Tarot, Greek mythology and I-Ching elements.
GOOD
> Very original concept.
> Good quality cards. Flexible, light and glossy, the cards glide beautifully in your hands.
> Excellent quality printing.
> Wonderful atmospheric artwork. The deck has artistic harmony and
integrity, an the images seem to connect to each other well.
> I
also love that the oracle has 50 cards and not just 40.
> Silver edges.
> Good size card, not too big, not too small. Perfect for everyone's hands.
> Decent quality guidebook with a nice description of the Nyx's story on which this oracle card is based.
> Durable deck. I have had this for several years now and is still in a good condition.
> Good quality packing box.
> This is overall, one of the best decks, re quality, I own.
> Pointy square edges.
>
Some of the images and the meaning attributed to them do not match. In
my case, those are: Loyalty, Denial, Invisible, Rigid, Honesty.
Complicated, Hope, Individuality, Understanding, Confidence,
Fulfillment, and Listening.
> The cards not always respond to my queries, that's why I don't use them as often as other oracle decks.Sometimes the guidance is spot on, but others the cards have nothing to say or to advice on or, said differently, do not resonate with me. As other reviewers have commented, I might need to warm up to the deck. Sometimes decks have spoken to me at the beginning and stopped speaking to me later on, and vice versa. This might be the case with this deck.
> As the card back is glossy dark, your fingerprints will be visible right there as long as you have two eyes.
One of my brothers has been a Royo's fan since he was a teen, so I'm familiar with Royo's artwork, detailed imagery, style and talent. As a Tarot lover, I thought this would be a great addition to my collection, especially because mini-Tarot decks are great for my small hands and I use them all the time. Unfortunately, I'm very disappointed with this 'Tarot'.
GOOD
> Great deck for intuitive readings relating to relationships and erotic themes.
> Really portable pocket size.
> Awesome artwork.
> A huge collection of Royo's artworks in your hands.
> Cards shuffle wonderfully.
> Booklet written in different languages is very handy and easy to understand.
> A nice collectable.
NOT SO GOOD
> Poor quality cardboard in both the cards and the packing box. Card glossy coating peels off easily if you use the deck often, and is specially noticeable as the card are in dark colours.
> Poor printing definition. Really, this tiny deck doesn't make a favour to the artwork or those who want to enjoy it,
> The images in this Tarot weren't created for the Tarot or having the Tarot in mind, I would say, some of them spanning 20 years back in time, and are still hanging at my brother's bedroom. The printing house made Royo's early artwork fit in within the Tarot cards as best as possible, sometimes successfully, sometimes really badly. Take for example the Star card. I think the image on this card is not befitting at all, but the one used for the Hermit would have been perfect as reflects traditional iconography of The Star .The same can be said of so many other cards in this deck.
MIND
> More tiny than mini.
> Nudity, Gothic and adult themes.
> Perfect for Royo's fans, not as much for Tarot fans.
GOOD
> Stunning deck and concept. Beforehand, I thought that it would be difficult to convey the usual Tarot suits and characters in an animal Tarot, but the authors and illustrator had done a stupendous job at capturing and putting together the essence of each card and the animal qualities that could be associated to them.
> The design and artwork are fantastic.
> Great quality card printing.
> The card back is absolutely gorgeous, especially if you're a cat lover.
> The cards have the meaning summary at the bottom of the card, which makes it perfect to use them without having to consult the guidebook.
> This deck is not as heavy as other Hay House decks and the glossy coating makes handling and shuffling very pleasurable and easy.
> The packaging is really good, with a sturdy box that will keep the cards safe. Besides, it's really beautiful inside and out.
> What I like the most about this deck is that can be used as a tarot deck (following the arcana and suits structure) as an intuitive oracle (free association of feelings and thoughts to the animals/ scenes on display) or a as channelled message (by reading the meanings displayed at the bottom of each card) depending on what you want.
DECK STRUCTURE
> Major arcana have some adaptations, which I find good and true to the Rider-White major arcana: 5 Unity (the hierophant), 12 Awakening (the hanged man), 13 Release (death), 14 Balance (temperance), 15 Ego (devil), 16 Life experience (the tower), and 20 Renewal (judgement). > The deck suits are the four seasons, each of them coloured with a different identifying colour that refers to the four elements. Spring is dark read (wands, fire). Summer is light blue (cups, water). Autumn is dark green (coins, earth) and Winter is dark blue (swords, air). > Court characters are prince/ss instead of page/s.
SO-SO
> Bulky deck.
> The images on each card not always connect well with the meaning written in them.
> The back illustration gives away whether the card is coming upright or reverse.
> The cards are on the large side and not easy to shuffle if you have small hands.
> The cardboard is a bit stiff and the coating seems to peel off quite easily.
> As per the photo uploaded the card back has a pixel dot that appears on all cards. Not sure whether is a printing issue or a pre-production issue.
> Guidebook printing quality and paper are average.
> Choosing a cat as the representation of The Devil is an insult to cat lovers. Just saying!
> It would have made more sense to me if the Summer/water deck had just fish and or water animals, the Autumn/earth, just earthy underground animals, the Winter/air suit just birds, and the Spring/fire just grassy animals. I would have used big archetypal animals for the major arcana.
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