Posts
Crysalis Tarot by Toney Brooks & Holly Sierra
, 31 Jan 2021
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.
