Deck Review: The Mushroom Hunter’s Tarot
The Mushroom Hunter’s Tarot is one of the first decks I ever back on Kickstarter, and it got me hooked on the whole process. This is partly due to how the creator, Joe Buckley, managed the whole project. Regular updates, a beautiful Insta, everything on time and seamless, and a really top notch finished project. It was hard to find any flowers to do my customary “new deck photo” as the deck arrived in the middle of the bleak mid-Winter where I am in the UK, but these scrappy little yellow ones were fighting on! I wanted to photograph the deck with some mushrooms (obviously), but every time I found…
Deck Review: Tarot of the Crystal World
One of the most recent Kickstarter decks to land in my hot little hands is this amazingly weird creation from the genius brain of Brooke Penrose. The creator describes the Crystal World as “the world reborn inside a fun-house mirror”, and that ‘beautiful-freak’ air permeates the whole deck. It really is just brilliantly odd. Part unsettling, part hugely up-lifting. The aesthetic is quite Country & Western (more than anything else, it feels like a deck a fortune teller would be using in one of my sadly missed favourite TV shows, Carnivale), and the colours are very muted. Almost sludgy; bruise coloured; the sky right before a storm – which I’m…
Deck Review: The Wyrd of Sarah Howard
Ever since The Wyrd of Sarah Howard* reached me from half a world away a couple of weeks ago I have been OBSESSED. Like, totally head over heels in love. [*I’ve removed the links to Angus West’s old website and shop as it appears to now go to some weird scammy page. If you love the deck you can contact Gabi via Insta here] The artist and creator, Gabi Angus-West, recently did a small reprint of this previously out-of-print Oracle Deck. I spotted it on Fairlight Tarot‘s Instagram feed when they posted about receiving their deck, and it was like that bit in movies where the camera zooms in on…
Deck Review: The Literary Tarot
I’ve been waiting for this deck for eons, and was very excited to finally get it in my hot little hands. Obviously I firmly believe in the importance of supporting indie artists, which is why I love Kickstarter. But this deck is a bit special, as it’s created by a non-profit in support of a great project, the Brink Literacy Project by F(r)iction that aims to increase worldwide literacy rates. They do a lot of work in prisons, which is an area very close to my heart. As a criminologist who has spent time working in prisons, I cannot tell you what a difference learning to read can make to people…
Deck Review: The Mike Willcox Tarot & Oracle
This week I’ve been doing my deep dive into the latest edition to my Tarot collection, the Mike Willcox Tarot & Oracle. I don’t, as a rule, normally buy oracle decks (I’ve only got one other in my whole collection, plus one on my wishlist) or ‘Majors Only’ Tarot decks, as I just don’t use them. I try and force myself to ask two questions before buying a deck: is it useful? And: is it functional? (As well as: will buying it necessitate you feeding your children cold baked beans ’til payday?) And I only go ahead if I get two for two! (Or rather, three for three – I…
Deck Review: I Am The Artist Tarot by Sakki-Sakki
My most recent deep dive was into the ‘I Am The Artist’ Tarot by Monicka Clio Sakki. I love the OG Sakki Sakki Tarot, but by the time I got into Tarot it was already out of print, and second hand copies were $$$ 🥵. So I was super excited when the creator announced she was doing a second (revised) edition. It’s such bright, beautiful, joyous deck! Also: hooray, Spring is here and I can photograph with proper flowers in my garden/local park again! The Deck: Look, Feel, and Finish The deck comes with a thick, paperback sized guidebook, Playing With Symbols, that gives plenty of detail on each card, as…
