I've used this deck since first came to the market, 7-8 years ago, and it's still one of my favourite, more reliable, more attuned intuitive tools. They seem to reply to my queries on point, clearly, without me having to clarify. The artwork is wonderful for sure, but the most important thing is that this oracle gets my energy and how things are going in my life.
The deck is a mix of Tarot major arcana, angels cards, chakras and male and female archetypes.This is quite trendy in modern tarot/oracle decks nowadays, but it was totally new when the cards came out first.
DOWNSIDES
There is no racial or ethnic diversity in this deck, so be aware if you aren't Caucasian. Also, the deck has a strong female/male energy imprint so if you are non-binary, you might struggle with it. Personally, I find that some of the male models used to depict the angels are too metro-sexual or six-pack macho to be angelic. Yet, I confess, I really like those modern macho angels.
> Good quality glossy cardboard.
> Vibrant detailed good-quality-printing.
> Jena DellaGrottaglia's digital artwork is beautiful and has congruent style. Digital artwork has evolved enormously in the last 8 years, yet, the cards feel fresh and contemporary.
> Wonderful card back design that doesn't give away whether the card is coming reverse or upright.
> A perfect deck for intuitive readings.
> Detailed guidebook with upright and reversed meanings, plus an affirmation assigned to each card, all of which adds depth to the deck and makes it more versatile.
> Very good sturdy beautifully printed packing box.
PAPER DECK DOWNSIDES
> There is no racial or ethnic diversity in this deck, so be aware if you aren't Caucasian.
> Personally, I find that some of the male models used to depict the angels are too metro-sexual or six-pack macho to be angelic. Yet, I confess, I really like those modern macho angels.
> Cards are on the larger side, so not good for people with small hands.
> Unnecessary bulky and heavy deck.
> Cards are stiff and tend to stick to each other, so they don't shuffle well.
> Average quality printing guidebook.
APP UPSIDES
> Very easy to use and navigate.
> Many different spreads to use from.
> Shuffle with or without sound.
> You can email and share your reading.
> You can save your reading.
> Great deal of information about the artist, the cards, the app developer.
APP DOWNSIDES
> The apt is no longer in the Oceanhouse developer main page, which is odd. They might be re-packaging or updating it. The app page is still available HERE.
> The return from the card back to the front is not intuitive. It would be just natural using the back arrow on the smartphone bottom menu to go back, but, if you do that, you'll be out of the application. Instead, you have to use the curly back arrow button in the cards, and the triangular back arrow in the information area. I have been using Oceanhouse apps for years and I still have trouble remembering the curly back arrow, just because is contra smart-phone use natura.
> Impossible to zoom in the image to focus on the small details.
> Just one way of shuffling the cards, not several. In that regards, Oceanhouse has plenty to learn from the other major tarot app house, The Fool's Dog.
> No tablecloths available. There is one background.
> Users cannot add their own meaning to the cards to customize the deck.
> Oceanhouse, now and then, inserts promotional info when they are launching a new app. That's annoying because all of their decks must be paid in full to be used, aren't cheap, and there is no need to bother customers with something that they might naturally be interested on and look up themselves. At least that is my case. It is also true that sometimes they advertise discounts and special pricing, but I would rather not have adds on my fully-paid app.
IN SHORT
One of my best oracle decks with regards to he way it reads my energy and replies to my queries in precise on-point ways. However, the deck is heavy, bulky and difficult to shuffle, so the app is, to me, a better option.
Visual artistry 9/10
Readings results 6/10
Tarot Concept 7/10
ARTWORK
I bought this deck because I truly love Holly Sierra's artwork, and her technique, colours, hues, themes, motifs and style are just my cup of tea.
The images are a feast for the eyes, and really matched my expectations. This is a deck made from scratch not from digital collage and it's truly artistic. The characters, backgrounds and the tiniest element in each card are amazingly drawn and coloured. Moreover, each suit has a different background undertone that makes each card in it immediately distinctive (stones are green, mirrors blue, spirals are brown, and scrolls are purple, while the major arcane are mostly golden). The whole desk has a mother-earth folk feminine vibe that I love, and it is whimsical and magic.
I love the fact that the deck is a mix of Tarot, Jungian+Campbell and New Age spirituality themes and concept. The front of the card shows the title of the card, but also an archetypal or theme equivalent.
READINGS
I don't mind eclecticism or new ideas and reinventions of the tarot, some that will work better for modern sensitivities and needs, but I somewhat expect the major Arcana and its symbolic elements not to be fancifully altered. For example, the Phoenix, a traditional symbol of death and rebirth (Death in Tarot) is used here as the symbol of judgment; Merlin, a magician, is used as the image of the Fool; the crows are used as the image of the Magician, just to mention a few things. It is confusing to me, and a put-off. I am not saying that the associations aren't valid once you read the booklet, but my mind is still going to be put off when I find an element out of place, so to speak, because the traditional symbolism of the Tarot is, how to put it?, the core of the Tarot itself.
Also, the earthy vibe somewhat gets diluted by the appearance of goddesses from different cultures. I am more into eclectic fusion than into eclectic juxtaposition, if you know what I mean. In other words, it is not bad, it is just that it does not work for me because it gets me confused and distracted.
My results with the readings have been a bit of mismatch, and I think it has do with my inability to connect with this specific deck. I think this desk is wonderful for intuitive aleatory readings due to the details and symbolic elements drawn in each image.
MIND
The traditional suits have been changed as follows
Stones = pentacles
Mirrors = cups
Spirals = wands
Scrolls = swords
THE APP
I no longer have the physical deck but I have the Fool's Dog app, which is excellent. Some of the things you can do with the app are:
> Customizable tablecloths.
> Sound prompts for cards, which can be turned on and off.
> Journal.
> You can add your personal meaning to the cards.
> Plenty of layouts to choose from.
> Able to choose the major arcana or the whole deck, upright and reverse readings, or switch off reverse meanings.
> Several kinds of shuffles and several options for selecting your card after shuffling.
> Zoomable images, so that you can check every small detail in the image.
> Sharing feature.
> Great quality digital images.
> The whole deck booklet or booklet available.
> Information about the deck and its authors.
IN SHORT
This is one of those decks that you
want to have, need to have, if you collect Tarot decks. It is one of the
most beautiful decks I have ever owned.
This is one of the best fully free tarot apps on Google Play. It is a sampler of the different tarot and oracle decks that the Fool's Dog developer has on the market, and chooses images and cards from all of her available decks.If you don't know which deck you'd like to purchase or connect with or want to know how the decks work on your smartphone or tablet, this is the perfect primer. Besides, the variety makes every reading different and never boring as you don't know which decks are going to be used. Furthermore, the mismatch sometimes brings further insights.
The Fool's Dog has digitally published some of the best decks out there, so the selection is fantastic and covers all imaginable art styles. The main downside is, of course, the lack of image style consistency and visual congruence, which can be very important for some people to connect with any given deck. Yet, you won't notice that on 1- or 2-card readings. To be fair, I installed this app thinking that I would uninstall it quickly and this deck has become of my favs because the answers I usually get from my queries are quire on point and give me real guidance.
THE APP
The app
is fully functional and has all the pros of the Fool's Dog, which make the experience quite close to what is having a reading with real cards. It is not the same, not so tactile and energetic, but I've found that once you get used to the app, your readings are as precise as the ones you get with your real decks. The features that the app has are:
> Customizable tablecloths.
> Sound prompts for cards, which can be turned on and off.
> Journal.
> You can add your personal meaning to the cards.
> Plenty of layouts to choose from.
> Able to choose the major arcana or the whole deck, upright and reverse readings, or switch off reverse meanings.
> Several kinds of shuffles and several options for selecting your card after shuffling.
> Zoomable images, so that you can check every small detail in the image.
> Sharing feature.
> Great quality digital images.
> The whole deck booklet or booklet available.
> Information about the deck and its authors.
I use this app mostly to ask about how other people perceive me, see me and feel me, therefore to help me in relational queries. That is, I don't use the deck to ask the fairies about predictions or advice for myself or queries about other people. I use it to be aware of which of the fairies' archetypes is working in me. Readings are usually very accurate and they match the energy that I felt I had on the day of the query. This is, needless to say, a very feminine deck and, that being the case, it might not resonate with some male users.
I LOVE
> The imagery is wonderful re concept, digital quality, coloring and overall artistic congruence.
> One can use the app freely, intuitively, or use the guidebook to get the advice that each fairy wants to convey to the reader.
> Several layouts to choose from.
> You can shuffle with/without shuffle sound.
> Readings can be saved and shared.
DECK APP DOWNSIDES
In this specific deck, the contrast between the text meaning and the background is really poor, as you can see in the screenshot below.
OCEANHOUSE APPS DOWNSIDES
> The return from the card back to the front is not intuitive. It would be just natural using the back arrow on the smartphone bottom menu to go back, but, if you do that, you'll be out of the application. Instead, you have to use the curly back arrow button in the cards, and the triangular back arrow in the information area. I have been using Oceanhouse apps for years and I still have trouble remembering the curly back arrow, just because is contra smart-phone use natura.
> Impossible to zoom in the image to focus on the small details.
> Just one way of shuffling the cards, not several. In that regards, Oceanhouse has plenty to learn from the other major tarot app house, The Fool's Dog.
> No tablecloths available. There is one background.
> Users cannot add their own meaning to the cards to customize the deck.
> Oceanhouse, now and then, inserts promotional info when they are launching a new app. That's annoying because all of their decks must be paid in full to be used, aren't cheap, and there is no need to bother customers with something that they might naturally be interested on and look up themselves. At least that is my case. It is also true that sometimes they advertise discounts and special pricing, but I would rather not have adds on my fully-paid app.
I have plenty of tarot apps, many of the Fool's Dog
among them, and this has become an instant favorite. The artwork is
superb: painting-like, classy, full of symbolism, wondrous and
whimsical, multilayered, all of which make it not only pleasing to the
eye but also perfect for intuitive readings. Although it is a proper
Tarot, it has all the qualities that I look for in an oracle deck, i.e.
the ability of reply to specific questions with specific questions
without the reading having to have any specific knowledge of the Tarot.
I
use this app every day and the replies to my queries are always on
point and relevant to the question posed. However, we find the four
elements and main
Tarot suits also here, but reinvented in the following
way:
Combustion = Fire = Wands
Aether = Air = Swords
Fungi = Earth = Pentacles
Octopi = Water = Cups
THE APP
Like
the rest of the Fool's Dog Tarots, the app is versatile, easy to use,
intuitive and muti-functional. There are plenty of spreads layouts, even a
free one, and extra functionalities like:
* Allow reversed cards or not.
* Option to use Major Arcana only.
* Zoom in to enlarge card details.
* Share reading via e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter.
* Animated shuffle & cut.
* Optional voice prompts.
* Customizable reading cloths, shuffling and card selection among others.
The
text book, unabridged, is also fantastic. The main summary in bold at
the beginning of each card is very helpful and goes to the point, and
sometimes it is just perfect in itself. Otherwise, you keep reading.
Overall, one of my most reliable and favorite Tarot and Tarot apps ever.
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