This is a lovely selection of art journal pages and images from authors around the world although most authors come from the US. In the introduction, the author confesses that she did choose some of her favorite authors and pages while the majority were chosen after an online call out for submissions.
Most of the artwork is of my liking, and I got inspired by some of the interviews and pages in the book, which is the reason I got it in the first place. There is a mix of techniques and media (illustration, painting, collage and mixed media) and styles (whimsical, dark, abstract, surrealist, visual diary, etc.). The interviews with the featured artists are short and sweet and very encouraging for non-professional artists.
I hesitated about whether to buy the Kindle or hard copy edition. I'm happy that I chose the former. The kindle edition is great and allows me to zoom in without loosing quality image, so I can appreciate the smallest details and lettering in each work.
DONWSIDES
> This Kindle edition does not allow page bookmarking.
> The structure of the book is not of my liking. It's organized alphabetically, by country of origin, which is fair enough, but I'd rather have it by types of art (conceptual, abstract, whimsical, etc.) as I would personally focus on specific areas.
> The book reads like a published blog. This being the case, it lacked insight on the creative process. Each image is accompanied by a generic list of elements, but that's also simplistic.
> Although there are many authors and styles in the book, I missed some avant-garde or dark journaling.
> There is a heavy weight on US authors, so the world overview is, in the end, quite unbalanced.
THINGS I LOVE
> Caitlin Sholl's texts and the advice given are terrific. The author guides us and
allows us to deep dive into gratitude with prompts to make us find
things we are grateful for, and tips on how to express gratitude. Scholl's definition of and introduction to gratitude are wonderful and very unique.
> The deck structure. The cards are organised in three sections and energies: 1/ Affirmation, connected to the morning. 2/ Inspiration, connected to midday. 3/ Reflection, connected to the evening. They have three different coding colours (yellow, green and violet) and each card comes with an inspiration quote at the top, and some items of advice to follow on the day, plus the extended advice in the guidebook.
> The overall pastel colour scheme and the whole visual design of the deck, which is minimalist and very elegant.
> The plush deck bag, which is an awesome bonus.
> The quality of the cards and the fact that they shuffle well.
> You can use just the cards or just the booklet without missing anything.
> You can use the different sections at different times of the day or shuffle all of them at once. In that regard, the deck is very versatile.
> The booklet is printed in good quality glossy paper and is bound loosely so you can open it comfortably.
> Good value for money. NOT SO GOOD> The contrast between the background and the lettering is deficient overall, but especially noticeable in the yellow set.
> The booklet's deficiencies are unforgivable:
-- The binding is just lightly glued. I was just gently browsing the booklet and two came off unglued from the bottom. Can you imagine if I use this properly?
-- The cards aren't numbered, so the awesome extra information on each card has to be looked up in the guidebook manually, just within the corresponding section. As the cards are made to shuffle, this look-up can be a bit labyrinthine, time consuming and not very helpful. I find surprising that the editorial house didn't pay attention to something so important for a guidebook, because, otherwise, it's not a guide, it's a book where to search for information.
-- The index is too generic to be of any use.
-- The cover is just paper, not even a bit of cardboard to hold the whole thing together.
-- This being the case, I feel hesitant to gift someone with this deck, even though I think this is just a wonderful deck.
> I can use just the booklet or just the cards, not both combined for the reasons mentioned above.
MIND
The cards are on the large side, so if you, like me, have small hands, you might struggle with the shuffling.
WISH
I would love seeing the booklet properly reprinted and edited.
I bought this to give it as a gift a friend who would benefit from such an inspirational deck as she's going through a lot. The conception and healing properties of the deck are undeniable, yet, the quality of the final product isn't good and I ended keeping it myself, as I don't want to gift anything that looks cheap.
THINGS I LOVE
> The structure of the deck. The deck is
structured on three sections (affirmation, inspiration and reflection)
with three different pastel colors (blue, green and violet) and each
card comes with an inspiration quote at the top, and some generic advice
to follow on the day, plus the extended advice in the guidebook.
> The quality of the writing and the advice given by Scholl are terrific and covers not only self care when you're are on your own, but also when you're in social settings.
> The overall pastel palette of the deck, which gives a calming vibe to it. > The quality of the card stock.
> The elegant imagery and card design.
> The plush pouch bag being included in the set, also the fabric is very pleasurable to touch.
> The booklet is printed in good quality glossy paper and is 'bound' loosely so you can comfortably open it flat.
> The quality of the keepsake box.
> Good priced an good value for money.
NOT SO GOOD
> As per my photo, the top layer of the printed paper arrived bubbled up. This is not the result of the posting and handling as the deck arrived sealed in plastic and well packaged, but the result of not spreading well the sheet of paper on the cardboard on the glue. This being the case I couldn't gift my friend with something it looks used or badly done.
> Some of the quotes and the advice given on them is not always really connected, at least to me.
> The booklet's deficiencies:
-- The binding of the booklet is just glue, and it's so tightly done that the pages will certainly come off as soon as I start to use it frequently.
-- The structure of the booklet. The cards aren't numbered, so the awesome extra information on each card has to be looked up manually, just within the corresponding section. As the cards are made to shuffle, this look up can be a bit labyrinthine, time consuming and not very helpful. I find surprising that the editorial house didn't pay attention to something so important for a guidebook, because otherwise it is not a guide, it is a book where to search for information.
-- The index is also too generic to be of any use.
-- The cover of the booklet is paper thin, literally just paper, not even a bit of cardboard to hold the hole thing together.
MIND
The cards are on the large side
OVERALL
This could have been an awesome deck if the some basic stuff had been been tended to properly. Despite the undeniable psychotherapeutic quality of the deck as a self-care tool, the overall cheap quality of the product and the poor structuring of the guidebook end resting value to a deck that deserves being better curated and produced.
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.
Belinda Grace's oracle is a soulful exploration of romantic relationships that will be useful for singles or partnered people. The imagery draws on issues that affect and influence relationships for good or bad. Some of the imagery uses well-known world myths to illustrate couple dynamics and qualities of relating. This being the case, the cards can be used in counseling or therapeutic settings.
Lori Banks' artwork is just my cup of tea: colorful symbolic paintings that are pregnant with meaning and very intuitive to use. However, what makes this decks so lovely to me is not just the cute artwork, is the quality of the guidebook and the texts that accompany eachc card.
FAB QUALITY
RockPool demonstrates, once more, that other Tarot publishing houses have much to learn on how to produce affordable good-quality decks.
> Beautiful keepsake box with magnetic clip.
> The quality of the booklet is amazing. Premium glossy paper, color illustrations, good-sized lettering.
> Flexible good quality glossy cards, easy to shuffle and handle. Despite the size, the deck is light and not bulky.
> Good value for money.
ON THE FLIP SIDE
> The cards are a big too big for people with small hands.
> No ethnic or gender diversity.
> Three of the full body frontal images have wrong proportions between head and body, thus, the characters look a bit dwarfish: The Divine Masculine, Chivalry and the Sacred Woman.
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.
Buddha Wisdom Divine Feminine: The heart of Kwan Yin Cards by Sofan Chan capture the essence of the Pranjnaparamita Sutras or Perfect of Wisdom, a text that represents the divine feminine consciousness in Buddhism. In a way, are they are the highlights of the sacred texts they come from minus the obscure language.
GOOD STUFF > Great affirmations. This is the most spiritual deck in the Rockpool small series, even more than its counterpart the Divine Masculine Deck, which is also beautiful and inspirational. > These cards will really help you to ground and center yourself and to look at the world and the people with kind eyes no matter you are religious, spiritual or have an ethical compass. Each card is an invitation to ponder and will resonate with you no matter you have a religion or not, are spiritual or not as long you have an internal moral or ethical compass. > Sofan Chan's design of the deck is beautiful, elegant and timeless. Very good lettering and contrast colors. The keepsake box colors and painting are just gorgeous> Good quality glossy flexible cards that shuffle beautifully. > Very good quality keepsake box with upper non-detachable magnetic lid.The box per se is just gorgeous. > Instructions of how to use the cards are written on the inner lid. > Perfect deck for people with small hands.
> Great portability.
I MISS
> There is no booklet or cards explaining a bit more about the sacred texts that inspired the deck, and why these texts are considered feminine and not masculine.
> Tiny deck, so if you have big hands, it might not be for you.
> The upper side of the cards has one standard image and it is not very artistic or as artistic as other decks in this Rockpool deck series. I get that the main focus is the affirmations not the artwork, but I would have loved having Chan, who's a wonderful painter, create different images for each card. The masculine deck has a nicer upper side, as well, so this one feels flat in comparison.
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).
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