UUS Games Systems produces my favorite paper decks. They understand better than any other card-making house that cards need specific thickness, texture, flexibility and coating for the cards to shuffle well. Shuffling, if good, can be a very enjoyable experience, but also the basis of a good tarot reading and a way to favor cards flying off the deck to let us something that is intuitively charged. Said differently, shuffling is one of the basis of intuition.
The Radiant Rider-Waiter Tarot Deck, which is the basis of this deck, is bright, colorful and feels fresh. The left of the card reproduces the card image, and the right hand side is in blank and has the card meaning.
GOOD > Card paper quality is awesome. Right thickness, texture, and coating, which make shuffling easy, natural and extremely pleasurable.
> Excellent printing quality.
> Bright vibrant colours and beautiful lettering.
> The card back is really pretty despite its simplicity and prevent us from guessing whether the card will pop up upright or reverse.
> No guidebook is needed as the the meaning is on the card front.
> Beautiful sturdy packing box.
> Totally portable.
> Great for small hands, but it can also be used at ease by people with average hand size.
> Perfect for beginners as the meaning is on the card and there are many questions and points for the use to ponder. Some are straightforward, like the text with The Fool. But others, are just something more personal to the author.
NOT SO GOOD
> The interpretations given to each card not always resonate with me. I agree with other reviewers that it would have been better if the author had given take-away keywords for both upright and reverse instead of proper interpretations.
> Pricey for what it is. A pocket Radiant Raider-Waite in a tin is less expensive and will get you the same results.
This is a Lenormand deck interpreted under the light of some world folk tales. The
number of cards is 36, which is what Lenormand cards are. This is so
because the Lenormand doesn't have suites, doesn't have reversed
meanings and, unlike the tarot, which has a spiritual and psychological
dimension, these cards are literal and are read syntactically. As the
guidebook says, Tarot readers wil interpret the same Tarot spread five
ways while five Lenormand readers will all come to nearly the identical
message when they read the same Lenormand layout. If you want to check
the differences between the Tarot and the Lenormand, check this blog post out.
THE ARTWORK
Lisa Hunt authored the magnificent Fairy Tale Tarot deck, so I was expecting great things from her. The images are very cute, some of the excellent, but they don't come close to the quality of her other deck. In fact, some of them feel like sketchy, more child-oriented and not as rich in symbols. In that regard, artistically speaking this deck doesn't suit my intuitive cravings, to put it that way. However, the reading cloth for the app is utterly beautiful and delicate.
The authors wanted to use mythology and folk tales within the straightforward structure of the Lenormand tarot, and they've done so. The tarot is not as intuitive as Hunt's previous one and the meanings are more set and less open to interpretation. That's all fine, but to me, this deck can be interpreted intuitively, it is just that the conception doesn't favour it as much as others.
THE GUIDEBOOK
The guidebook is short and sweet and comments on the folk tale image quite literally, providing a some summary keywords and how the meaning changes depending on the precedent and subsequent cards. Basic but practical. Yet, the keywords on the front of the card are also very useful and sum up the meaning very well. Good enough, practical and also uninspired.Yet, you can expect that from/for a Lenormand deck.
THE APP
This
Android app is fully functional and has all the pros of the Fool's Dog
apps, which make the experience very enjoyable. I've found that, once you get used
to the app, your readings are as precise as the ones you get from your
physical deck. My favourite app features are:
- > Great quality digital images.
- > Zoomable images, so that you can check every small detail in the picture.
- > The whole deck guidebook available.
- > Information about the deck's artist.
- > Customizable tablecloths.
- > Sound prompts for cards, which can be turned on/off.
- > You can add your personal meaning to the cards.
- > Journal.
- > Plenty of layouts to choose from.
- > Able to use the whole deck or just the major arcana for your readings.
- > Several ways of shuffling.
- > Several draw options to select your card (from the top, from a fan, from a list).
- > You can share your readings.
MY EXPERIENCE WITH THIS DECK
Lenormand,
or just this deck, doesn't speak to me. Rather, the readings I get are a
mix bag, some of them seem to relate to my query and others not at all.
As I am an intuitive reader and I rely on imagery to anchor my
intuition, this deck doesn't specially speak to me.
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