Deborah Blake, who has authored numerous fiction and non-fiction books on modern witchcraft, hit the jackpot with this Tarot deck, first published in 2017 and the mini format in 2020. This is one of my fav Tarot decks because of the general jolly vibe, the overall narrative, and the artwork.
I LOVE
> Elisabeth Alba's juicy imagination and artwork that adjusts to the structure of the RSWT Tarot but creating a wizard world that's unique and colorful not dark or gothic. We are allowed into a magic world of modern boho witches and wizards, whose lives are full of fun, adventures, dangers and challenges. Alba is an amazing illustrator and, if this wasn't a Tarot deck, this would make a stunning graphic book. > The imagery is rich enough to get my intuitive juices flowing even if I didn't anything about Tarot.
> Good quality card stock.
> Great quality printing.
> Cute card back illustration.
> The deck shuffles beautifully.
> Easy to carry in a small camera bag.
> Good for people with small hands.
> Children's friendly re size and imagery.
> Cat lovers' delight. If you, like me, love cats, you'll be delighted with the important role that cats play in each card image, and with the way they are depicted.
SO-SO
> Bad quality box, which arrived with the corners squeezed and slightly damaged.
> No booklet/leaflet. I have the app with the digital book, so that's fine with me. However, if you aren't familiar with the deck, you might need to get the full size deck with the accompanying guidebook.
> The card back gives away whether the card is coming straight or reversed.
> People with average-size hands might struggle with the sizing as this deck is more a tiny deck than a mini deck.
> Unlike Blake's Everyday Witch Oracle, this deck has no ethnic/racial diversity whatsoever, which is inexcusable as the deck was first published in 2017.
MIND
> Based on the RWST, with some adjustments in the imagery, the most noticeable being the female Hyerophant.
> Teen and youngster vibe overall.
The Wild Unknown Tarot pocket size in a tin, is just a great good quality deck.
This tarot deck has Kim Krans unique unmistakable atmospheric illustration style, which is immediately recognizable because of the simplicity of the elements, abstract predominantly B&W imagery with splashes of bright colors. The imagery relates to the natural world, the woods and the animals that populate it. This is a night-time-vibe Tarot, as the night scenes dominate most of the images and, overall, it has a strong night energy.
Beyond the imagery, there are other things that I like about this deck:
> The sizing is fantastic, really good for people with small hands.
> The cards shuffle and fly off beautifully and the deck is not heavy at all.
> The tin design is just fabulous.
> The major arcana, aces and court cards are really beautiful, but the deck, overall, is just artistically congruent and fabulous. I also love the snake-skin card back.
ON THE FLIP SIDE
> The card stock is a bit flimsy.
> The booklet is mass produced, bound too tightly and using bad quality paper.
> Some of the imagery used for the minor arcana seemed too abstract.
> Despite the fact that I admire this deck, I cannot connect with it. Said differently, I love the artwork, but it doesn't work for me. I find it too dark in mood and lacking warmth.
> Not a deck for beginners.
> Not an intuitive deck.
I actually returned the deck to the seller, because although I loved the artwork, I thought I would not use this deck and would sit on my shelves untouched.
MIND
The deck follows
the structure of the RSWT but the court cards are daughters (pages), sons (knights), mothers (queens) and fathers (kings).
Moonology is a book, deck and companion website by astrologer Yasmin Boland that delves into the influence of the phases of the moon in our daily lives. This is a very popular deck, one that you'll find used in many YouTube Tarot reading channels.
Honestly, I was never a fan of the images I saw on the screen. I purchased the deck as it was heavily discounted but, to my surprise, the deck is, in real life, beautiful.
GOOD STUFF
> Moonology is a highly intuitive deck, and this is something that, for me, makes an oracle, an oracle.
> Nyx Rowan's paintings and deck design are really beautiful and hypnotizing.
> The deck can be used as a normal oracle, i.e., you shuffle the cards, get one and get an answer to your question. Secondly, you can use the booklet as stand-alone guide to check specific phases of the moon, and events/circumstances associated to that phase.
> Good quality card stock with mate coating, so the cards shuffle well and let the painted artwork shine. Mate suits the night/moon theme, as well.
> Beautiful sturdy keepsake box.
> The card back is really pretty despite its simplicity or because of its simplicity.
> The booklet is very good regarding texts and also nicely bound, so you can fully open it and read it comfortably.
SO-SO
> I have had a mix of results with the deck, as I haven't had for for long and I am getting to start to understand it.
> I think if you are into Astrology and familiar with astrological charts, this deck might be a bit difficult to understand.
> For the same reason, unless you are really familiar with the cycles of the moon,the structure of the booklet is going to be challenge. Don't take me wrong, it's totally congruent and something that you can expect from a Moonology deck, yet, impractical for many people. I'd rather have the cards numbered so the user can look up them straight away, still keeping the current booklet structure.
> The keepsake box coating doesn't allow the lid to glide as easily as other decks.
This is a very cute little oracle based on the secret life of plants, to call it something.
THE GOOD STUFF
> Original concept.
> Very intuitive cards, something that I love. They can be really straightforward with their answers and it reminds me of the linearity in question-answer that I find in Kipper oracles.
> Beautiful vintage-looking children-book illustrations.
> Booklet has good quality paper and nice text.
> Good quality beautiful sturdy keepsake box.
NOT SO GOOD
> Very small number of cards.
> The cards coating makes them stick to each other so shuffling is deficient.
> The back has poor contrast between background image and lettering.
> Cards aren't numbered, but they are numbered in the booklet. As the cards are not alphabetically ordered in the booklet and are numbered, and the card has no number, you'll have to go through the whole index to find your card.
I have many oracle and tarot decks and this became an instant favourite. Oftentimes, I purchase a deck that I've seen used by online readers, I get excited because when I order the deck, I have already the imagery and style in mind and I know how it works in general readings. What often also happens is that, when I get the product, I get disappointed: the cards are too stiff, or too big, or the colors very different from the promotional photos or how they look on camera, or they don't shuffle well, or simply the energetic connection in person is not there. Yet, this Tarot was a great exception to the norm. The Light Seer's Tarot was love at first sight for me. Published by Hay House,
an editorial home that has been producing average quality decks for
years and, by doing so, ruining some great oracle and tarot decks, has
done the right thing and followed the artist's heart. This being the
case, the end result is not only a beautiful quirky Tarot, it is also a
good quality enjoyable usable deck.
The Rider White Smith Tarot by Pamela Colman is so ubiquitous and well-known that reinventing the tarot still being true to it is not a simple task. However, here she comes, another female artist, Chris-Anne, a "spiritualpreneur" as she calls herself, who does just that. It is not only that, with this deck, she has reinvented and modernized the Tarot, it is that she has done this successfully because the end result is not a curio that sits on display in collectors shelves, but a widely used deck by Tarot readers and aficionados use and connect with. The
Light Seer's Tarot, is a deck that outshines most of modern Tarot
decks, because it s true to the core of what Tarot is, reverse meanings
included, but it gathers and reflects contemporary energies and imagery
that the reader can easily connect and relate to. This Tarot and the Urban Tarot by Robin Scott are my favorite reinvented contemporary Tarot decks.
GOOD THINGS
> Great size cards, that good to handle for people with small or large hands.
> Cards shuffle and fly out beautifully.
> The card back design is elegant and perfectly geometric so it doesn't give away whether the card is coming upright or reverse.
> Amazing printing quality and colors.
> Wonderful boho indie expressive artwork, which is very much my cup of tea.
> Very modern feeling without loosing the essence of what traditional Tarot is.
> Multiracial, multi-gender multi-age deck. This is is so rare, that it has to be pointed out.
> Beautiful good-quality keepsake box.
> Good quality printing booklet on soft thick paper.
> Booklet text and meanings are really great. You will find both the general known meanings of the card upright and reverse, but also why the artist has interpreter the card the way she has, and also how the energies are applied to modern New Age spirituality.
> Wonderful deck for proper Tarot readings and intuitive readings. Actually, you can use this deck as an oracle as well.
SO-SO
> The card stock is beautiful, but a better coating was needed because the edges deteriorate easily.
> No gilded, silvered or colored edges. Why not? It would have rounded up the product beautifully.
> The booklet is bound too tightly, so it is difficult to open it and read it comfortably. > A bit pricey.
MIND
> The deck is very New Age, so it might not resonate with everyone.
> The cards are sometimes inspired in the images in the RSWT, but reinterpreted and modernized (see the 10 of pentacles above(, while others are quite different but capture the mean meaning given to those cards (see the ace of cups above).
This deck has been such a great disappointment. Jungian Psychology, archetypes and Tarot are something I feel passionate about. I found the concept of the deck brilliant, as I thought that the Tarot archetypal nature would be further explored and developed from a Jungian lens o view, not only to favour the use of Tarot on therapeutic settings but also as a tool of self exploration. I honestly thought that this deck would just provide us with further insights into the archetypes of the Tarot. Unfortunately, that didn't happen for me.This deck is a companion to a book by the same author, so the book might be a better buy.
GOOD THINGS
> Very good size cards for people with small or large hands.
> Good quality cardboard.
> Cards shuffle well.
> Deck is not heavy at all.
> Lovely cardboard keepsake box.
> Wonderful printing quality and colors.
> The Major arcana are beautifully illustrated.
> Stunning card back printing.
> Small booklet with the meaning of each card. Texts are short and sweet and perfect for beginners. They have the added information about the astrological sign each card relates to and the archetypes that the major arcana embody.
DISAPPOINTING
> White people figures all of them, mostly blonde, with some brown-hair figures. No cultural diversity whatsoever.
> The card back gives away whether the card is upright or reverse.
> No reverse meanings in the booklet.
> Most of the Court and suit cards are simplistic, not much thought seems to have been put into them, not much symbolism, and you can call them Jungian if you want, but I call them bland unimaginative Tarot cards. Other tarots will better allow you to use them in Jungian therapy, the RSWT to start with, for example.
> Meanings given to each card are the usual if you know a bit about Tarot...
> Overall product concept, design and quality doesn't justify the price.
Colette is "the" Oracle master so I imagined that, if she had to create a Tarot deck, was never going to be a replica of the RW Tarot. The structure of this deck is, however, that of the classic tarot, but the imagery has been freely interpreted and simplified. Also a very feminine vibe has been added, as well as characters of different ages and ethnic backgrounds made part of the deck. Colette says in the booklet that she has added some LOA and positive psychology principles, but I am not sure is this is just blah blah blah. For sure, the deck has a positive vibe as reversals are gone as well as any 'distressing' imagery. The LOA and PPsy is more clearly found in the meanings in the booklet.
THINGS I LOVE
> The concept is perfect for beginners as there aren't reversals.
> The "frightening" images in the RWT are not there, so all the imagery has a positive feeling.
> The artwork by DellaGrotaglia is stunning once again. Her layering, textures and colouring are superb. Despite the sophisticated symbolism of her imagery and the richness of symbolic elements, the images feel clean and sophisticated at the same time. The imagery has a wonderful oneiric fairy-tale feeling that I love.
> The interpretation given to each card is short and sweet and captures the essence of what the original card meant upright.
> The fancy lettering describing the suit card and number is fanciful wonderful.
> Beautifully simple card back.
> The
Good Tarot has a mythological ethereal whimsical archetypal feel that
roots in the Tarot and in traditional fairy tales and angelic realms.
> The cards Strength and Love are wonderfully related with the women first controlling the beast and then falling in love with it. Like Beauty and the Beast.
> Sturdy beautiful keepsake box.
THINGS THAT BOTHER ME
>
This deck is massive and extremely difficult to shuffle even if you
have average-size hands, so it's really a pain for people with small hands.
> The cards gloss coating makes them stick together so they are difficult to shuffle. Shuffling well and easy is at the core of any reading, so if the cards don't shuffle well, what's the point?
> The booklet printing quality and paper stock are average.
> Some of the cards are slightly blurry.
> The major arcana card numbers aren't placed on a fix position, something that really annoys me.
> The blue tones from air and water suits are so similar that is difficult to identify which suit is which one by the color. The same re the earth and fire suits. Why not having completely distinct suit color palette for each suit?
> Too many winged beings in this deck. The air suit with angelic winged beings and the earth suit with butterfly-ish fairy beings and there are wings everywhere, really.
MIND
> The overall feminine tone of the deck might not speak to male readers or tarot aficionados. The only male figures are the Kings plus the hanged man and the page of earth. Figures that are usually depicted as male in the RW Tarot like the knights (messengers) and the Hierophant are here feminine as well.
> This is a simplification of the Tarot most common meanings, so it is not as rich and deep as the original.
SUGGESTION TO THE PUBLISHER
US Games Systerms has the best card stock in the market. It not only make shuffling a pleasure, it is good enough to have any artwork really pop up and display the right way. I think Hay House should just copycat the card stock, because most of HH Tarot decks, like this one, are too bulky, too heavy and to mass-produced.
Sandra Anne Taylor is really a master in creating decks that resonate with me, and this is another example.
This is one of the best decks I've purchased from Hay House in a long time regarding the quality of the artwork, deck design and production. It is overall a very feminine oracle, but also a very shamanic one, both very earthy and magical. Images of spirit animals, powerful feminine archetypes, natural forestry settings and Indigenous shamanic imagery blend together to perfection to bring us an oracle that will speak to people with strong feminine essence and into alternative spirituality.
THE ARTWORK
Webber's fine-art paintings for the deck are amazing. They are multilayered and richly metaphoric, exuberant but still sophisticated. The imagery has a predominance of earthy colors: ocher, golden, browns and greens that convey well the connection with Mother Earth and the world of spirit/totem animals. You could have any of the images in large format hanging from your walls. OTHER GOOD STUFF
> Although there are many oracles and decks devoted to the divine feminine, this one shines over the rest because of its mix of Gaian, Pagan, Wicca, Native-American, shamanic and reiki-like elements, which will resonate with anyone into alternative forms of spirituality and energy work.
> I love that this oracle imagery doesn't relate to Tarot major arcana as much as other oracles do. In that regard, this is not only an original deck, but also a true oracle.
> Imagery is potent enough to be used on its own in intuitive readings.
> A contemporary diversity-sensitive deck that depicts characters from several races and color skins.
> The cards stock is wonderful.
> Despite its size, the deck is not heavy or bulky.
> Very pleasurable easy shuffling.
> Great design and production from the interior of the keepsake box to the quality of the paper used to print the guidebook.
> Guidebook is wonderful. The quality of the paper is great and the texts are good. Each card meaning ends with a lovely affirmation.
OK STUFF
> No surprise, but except for the divine masculine card, all cards are feminine, so this is not a deck for men with strong masculine essence and energy.
> Cards are large-ish, so, people with small hands might find shuffling them a bit difficult.
> The card edges deteriorate easily with little shuffling.
> There is a lack of synchrony between some of the images and the meanings given to them. I'd say that the deck is 50% congruent and 50% non-congruent. In some cases, the concepts the cards relate to are difficult to convey visually. In other cases, the connection is not clear to the user even though it might have been for Taylor. Take for example cards 38 sensuality (not very sensual), 25 go with the flow (character seems concerned and apprehensive more than going with the flow), 22 Telepathy (it takes two to tango for telepathy), 49 Achievement (It looks more like power/strength) or 33 Building your World (it looks like an hermit) , just to mention some of the cards that I don't think represent well the concepts. would loved more if they had not keyword associated as they don't seem to match. For the rest, card 14 seems out of tune with the rest of the lot, and looks more like a painted photograph. It reminds me of some countryside scenes that I saw in Turkey or the Middle East years ago. Taylor says that she chose the artwork and then channeled the energies to create the deck, so the artwork wasn't specifically created for the deck, or so it seems.
> In the guidebook, I miss a reproduction of each card before each card meaning..
MIND
> The authors recommend reading the whole guidebook before using the cards.
> Order of the cards was chosen randomly and intuitively and some of them, looking very similar, were put together, even though they relate to different matters.
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.
Ciro Marchetti is one of my favorite Tarot artists because he's not only a wonderful digital artist but he as a deep knowledge of the Tarot. I have several of his decks in digital app format and they are my go-to every time. I was really excited about getting this mini-deck not just because mini decks fit perfectly in my hands, but because it's a Marchetti's. Now that I have it in my hands, I have mixed feelings about it. and I wish I had ordered the full size version so I could enjoy the colours and many details of Marchetti's imagery in full.
THE GOOD
> Wonderful artwork, with amazing colorful multilayered images full of symbolism, so they are perfect for strict Tarot readings or just intuitive symbolism.Said differently, each card is a world in itself, pregnant with meaning.
> I love the way Marchetti portraits masculine and feminine energies (sexy, athletic rock-star warrior-like men, and sexy erotic dancing Venus-likes), that's personal, and not might be your case, but it's mine.
> Amazing backgrounds and details in each image. The Gilded Tarot has a strong bucolic vibe and countryside scenes and small animals are a recurrence in most images.
> Presence of characters of different ages an races, and, I'd dare to say, sexual orientation (see for example the Hanged Man and The Devil).
> Some of the imagery captures the meaning of the cards is not only explanatory and helpful for the newbie, but also absolutely artistic. Some images in this deck are among my favs in Tarot decks: The Strength, King of Cups, Nine of Pentacles, Ace of Pentacles, Two of Swords. or The Hermit, to mention some.
> Good for traveling and taking it around in your purse.
> Perfect for people with small hands.
> Lightweight deck.
> The cards shuffle wonderfully.
> Box looks flimsy, but it opens and closes well without getting damaged.
THE NOT SO GOOD
> Tiny more than mini. You'll struggle shuffling these if you have large hands, or just not small hands.
> The many details and colors of the original are lost in this mini cards.
> Printing quality is just OK, not especially neat. This is a huge problem because Marchetti's images are baroque in a way. As I've mentioned above, they are full of details, symbolic elements and this size just washes away part of the wonder that the original deck has
> Not gilded or luxurious. Why did they called gilded to start with?
> No booklet/guidebook.
> No black characters in deck. There is just a couple of mulattoes, not black people.
MIND
This is a RWS-inspired Tarot.
Nudity.
ADVICE
Get the full size version or the app format.
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.
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