The Tarot Room – Georgianna

To even things out re: cats and dogs (see Tangelo the Cat reading the Phantasmagoric Tarot,) here’s another deck review from Georgie’s Magic Card Collection …

It’s for The Original Dog Tarot: Your Key to Divine the Canine Mind by Heidi Schulman, and illustrated by Mary Blake. This deck was published in 2012 by Potter Style, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group

5 Points About The Deck …

1. The Arcanas: They’re not Arcanas at all, but rather, Barkanas … the hidden expressions of the canine spirit …
   Minor Barcana: 4 Minor Suits of three cards each: Bones, Bowls, Leashes, and Biscuits … not as many cards as is traditional, but probably all that you need if you’re talking with your dog.
   Major Barcana: There are 18 Major cards. Some have familiar names, like The Fool, The Magician, and The Chariot, though their numbers are different than you might expect, and of course, they’re much more dog-centric than usual. Oh, and the Magician’s name is Nostradogus.
   Also in the Major Barcana are a group of cards that are very dog specific … for instance: The Kibble, The Hydrant, The Couch, and The Cat. You won’t find these in your everyday RWS deck.
2. Readability: Though The Original Dog Tarot has the word Tarot in the name, and is made up of cards, it has virtually no connection to any Tarot system I recognize, but that’s okay. The pictures tell a clear dog-involved story, and with or without the instruction booklet, you and your dog can toss some cards and get some answers. The booklet, however, is quite helpful.
3. The Booklet: The instruction booklet is much more comprehensive than many LWBs (little white books that come with decks). It includes instructions on how to formulate questions, has suggested spreads, with example readings, a history of the deck, and of course, card definitions. It’s very helpful. Though there is one thing …. In the ‘How To Prepare For A Reading’ section, it says that cats should be removed from the room. That might not be bad advice, as cats do walk all over the cards and have a sense of entitled authority over the entire process, but they are cats, and cats are in charge, so …
4. Card Mandate: The Original Dog Tarot is meant to be used for questions relating to dogs, specifically your dog. But in the booklet, under each Major Barkana definition, there’s a message for humans too. Since humans are most likely the ones doing the actual readings, it’s a positive and inclusive gesture.
5. Final Thoughts: I like this deck. Given it’s mandate, it’s likely more interesting for dog owners, than those with cats or birds, or just some wild squirrels in the tree in front of their house, but it’s definitely fun, and I’ve very much enjoyed playing with it for this review. And I think my dog friend, Walter did too. We asked a lot of questions, and sorted through some issues. It was a good afternoon.

The next deck pulled out of Georgie’s Magic Card Collection is the Phantasmagoric Theater Tarot, created by Graham Cameron and published by US Games. The deck I have is from 1999.

The storyline with these cards is that you’re an actor in a performance at the Phantasmagoric Theatre. When you pull your first card, the curtains are drawn, and the magical circus of your dreams begins …

5 Points about this Deck

Artwork: The artwork is what grabbed me in the first place. It’s bright, circusy, evocative, and clear in its messaging. The images are unique, stepping far outside the Rider-Waite-Smith mold (especially in the Minor Arcana), while continuing to follow a traditional Tarot structure. And I love the colours.
Readability: As mentioned above … though the Phantasmagoric Theater Tarot is not an RWS clone, it does follow the basic structure of the RWS and other Golden Dawn systems. That gives those familiar with the ideas in those cards a head start on the concepts in this deck. Having said that though, you don’t need to know any Tarot system to read these cards. The images tell a great story on their own. And of course, if you need help, the deck comes with a decent Little White Book that defines each card per the creators’ concept.
Deck Size: This deck has big cards – 5.5X3.5”. If you have smaller hands, it might be a little harder to shuffle than an average sized deck would be. And the larger size can crowd a small reading area. But for this deck especially, the size seems exactly right. There’s space enough to showcase all the charming details, and to let the colours really shine.
Suits: The Phantasmagoric Theater Tarot has the traditional four suits of Swords, Wands, Cups, and Coins (aka Pentacles/Disks). One thing that’s a little different in this deck is that the Wands are drawn as sticks with a star on top, much a like a magic wand would be, while the Coins are drawn as simple plain-faced disks. There’s no problem with that. In fact, I like it. I only bring it up because if you’re accustomed to Pentacles having stars on them (like in the RWS), at first glance, you might mistake the Wands for Coins, or at least I did a couple times. But each suit is clearly listed at the top of each of the Minor Arcana cards, so if in doubt, just look there.
Deck Goal: The Phantasmagoric Theater Tarot “invites us on a journey of spiritual fulfillment”… quite a lofty goal that I’m not sure any Tarot deck can achieve. The journey maybe, but fulfillment? In any case though, The Phantasmagoric Theater Tarot is fun, and bright (with some dark corners to be sure), and smart, and at least in my opinion, a delight to read with. I definitely recommend it.

And as a complete aside, I was happy to see that Graham Cameron and I were similarly inspired in our teens. He mentions in his booklet’s introduction that the first deck he ever owned was Fergus Hall’s Tarot of the Witches. I didn’t have that deck myself, but the accompanying book for it by Stuart Kaplan was my very first Tarot book. I still have it now. And I eventually got a beat up copy of the 1973 version of Tarot of the Witches which was published as the James Bond 007 Tarot Deck… but we’ll look at that on another day.

Have you noticed that I’ve been slowly replacing the images of The Tarot Room’s Tarot Cards of the Day? If you’re a regular visitor, you probably have. I started doing this sometime back in May when I decided that I was sick of the old images.

Don’t get me wrong, I like my old Georgie’s Tarot … I even had printed copies made and gave them out to friends and family. It was the first deck I ever drew. But I drew it 22 years ago when I first learnt to draw on the computer (not to mention, when I was still learning to draw in general). So I thought it was time for a bit of a renewal.

The pictures I’ve been drawing to replace the old ones copy the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot ,just as Georgie’s Tarot did. The biggest difference is that they were drawn by hand on paper, much more quickly, and with far less angst over each stroke. I used water-colour pencils and my favourite black ink brush pen. The new cards are a little sloppier, but maybe more fun. Or at least I think so.

It’s likely that’ll I’ll be redrawing some of these new images as I go along. I’ll keep doing it till I’m satisfied.

So don’t be surprised if a card you’ve been accustomed to seeing suddenly changes its look … not that you would be, just thought I’d mention it.

Hope your day is good.

Here’s another instalment of Georgie’s Magic Card Collection …

You might call it a novelty deck, or maybe you’ll think it’s an essential oracle. Either way, it’ll likely depend on whether or not you ever need help deciding what to eat. For me, it falls somewhere in the middle … the deck in question is the delightful Food Fortunes, created by Josh Lafayette. My copy is dated 2016, and was published by Chronicle Books.

Five Points About This Deck:

1. Fun Idea: The stated goal of Food Fortunes is to get the Universe’s help in choosing a meal. This goal is amusingly described in the booklet that comes with the deck. At least I thought it was amusing. So much so, in fact, that I actually laughed out load while reading it … but that probably speaks more to my relationship with food than anything else. In any event, I like the concept, and I liked how the concept was presented in the accompanying booklet.
2. Bright, Engaging Artwork: As you can see in the photo above, Food Fortunes is bright and cheery. The colours are old style comic book-like, and the images are fun. And since the pictures are actually of food or drink, they’re also yummy.
3. The Major and Minor Arcana: There’s very little that one might consider traditional about Food Fortunes’ Arcanas, except that they total 78 cards. The Major Arcana is much larger than usual. Instead of 22, there are 58 delicious looking Major cards. And though there are the customary four Minor Arcana suits, each one has only five cards – the usual four Court Cards and an Ace. Instead of the more common Cups, Swords, Wands, and Pentacles though, Food Fortunes delivers us Drinks, Mains, Sides, and Sweets. I’m good with that.
4. Readability: Food Fortunes might not be the best deck for beginners who are looking to learn Tarot reading in a traditional sense. Having described the Major and Minor Arcanas above, you might understand why that would be. No commonly accepted Tarot rules fit this deck. But, Food Fortunes does do exactly what it says it does, and requires no training at all. You ask it what you should eat, and it gives you suggestions. Not always good ones, but clearly stated, no confusion, suggestions. You can’t say that for a lot of other decks. With more conventional cards, who knows what medieval symbology might confuse a straight ahead query like, “what side dish might go well with a main course of steak and pancakes?” Beginner or not, you can easily read these cards. It’s probably best to stick with the food theme though, I’d be less inclined to ask them about my relationships.
5. Test Run/Sample Read Went Very Well: I was working on this review in the late morning, and feeling a little peckish, thinking of lunch but not particularly enthused about my options. What better time to put this deck to the test? I asked it, ”what should I eat?” It suggested an apple aka ’The Fallen One.’ Sounded good, but I told the Universe I didn’t have any apples (though I did eat a dried apricot in substitution), and pulled another card. This time I got the King of Drinks – Coffee! Apparently the Universe and I were on the exact same wavelength. I made another coffee and kept working on this review.

It’s been five coffees now (just kidding!!) and I’m ready to pronounce on the deck … I love it! It’s more Tarot-ish than actual Tarot, but it’s fun and really does do what it sets out to do. If you like food and cards, and food on cards, and letting cards choose your food, Food Fortunes is likely the deck for you. Bon Appetit!

For the first instalment of Georgie’s Magic Card Collection, we’ll be looking at the Albano-Waite Tarot, Special Edition. It was first published in 1968, then republished in 1991, and regularly since then. I don’t know what year my deck is from, but it’s definitely not an original.

Five Points About This Deck:

1. The deck is a Rider-Waite-Smith Clone. Pamela Colman Smith’s pictures are simply recoloured in bright, bold, and vivid colours … Sixties’ style I guess. I like the colours, though I can imagine some people might consider them gaudy. Well, actually, I consider them gaudy … but that’s part of why I like them.
   
2. Given that it’s an exact copy of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, but with new colours, the Albano-Waite Tarot is an easy deck for beginners to use while learning to read. There are many, many books, and courses, and websites, etc. with info on what the RWS images traditionally ‘mean’ when they appear in a reading. Having so much literature/teachings around the images on this deck makes it especially accessible for newbies.
   
3. And for the more practised reader, the different colours not only make for fun art, they offer a different perspective on one of the most commonly read Tarot decks in North America. You might be very familiar with the RWS Tarot, but seeing cards you know so well with newly coloured skies, or clothing colours you’re not accustomed to, can really change the tone/mood of the message in that card. Colours are often an important part of a reading, and I really like how the colours in the Albano-Waite shake things up and get me reconsidering my usual take on an image.
   
4. With all the bright colours in the pictures of this deck, I appreciate how clean and quiet the backs of the cards are, all in white with a small gold sun. Classy.
   
5. There are lots of these decks around at reasonable prices. No need to spend a ton for an excellent deck.

So that’s my quick take. I like the Albano-Waite Tarot, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good RWS clone.

I have a lot of Tarot decks. Not as many as some people I know, but a lot, over 200, maybe closer to 300. None of them are brand new (or even new at all), as I haven’t gone card shopping in a few years (it can be addictive once you start noticing how many amazing ones are out there). But seeing all the decks I have sitting on my shelves and in the drawers, I thought I might want to look at each one again, more carefully, with new eyes, like when I first got it.

In some cases, it’ll likely feel as if I’m actually seeing it for the first time. I’m not proud of it, but there have been times when so many new decks were entering my world at once that I didn’t really give them the focus they deserved. In other cases, I’ve used a deck so often it’s tattered and worn, and probably should be replaced … but never thrown away, I don’t think I could ever do that …

But back to my point. I’m going to start doing short reviews, or quick takes on each of my Tarot and/or Oracle Decks. I’m not going to go into great depth on any of them, probably just highlighting 3 to 5 elements of each one that I particularly like (or maybe don’t like as much). Some decks will be classics, others, less so, or even far, far less so. It should be interesting … for me at least. And hopefully you’ll like it too.

Expect the first instalment of Georgie’s Magic Card Collection soon. And have a good day!

This restored Visconti deck by Lo Scarabeo looks gorgeous.

If you’re interested in learning more about, take a look at the video below and or visit the Visconti Modrone Tarot project page …

Though it looks to only be available in the United States, here’s a new fun and spooky Tarot deck you might enjoy – Horror Comic Tarot Cards.

Chris ‘Hoffmangler’ Hoffman gathered artwork from public-domain horror comic books from the 1940s and 50s to put together this fabulous looking 78 card deck.

To learn more about it, visit the Horror Comic Tarot Card project page, and take a look at the video below …

As I’ve said before, I’m a sucker for a drawing video … take a look at A Miyako M’s Major Tarot video below to see some drawing in action.

And to learn more about her beautiful new deck, visit the Major Tarot project page, and/or A Miyako M’s website …

I just love watching drawing videos, and the one below is especially fun because what’s being drawn are Tarot cards, specifically, two cards from Eva Duplan’s new Butterfly Effect Tarot.

Duplan is an illustrator from Austin, Texas specializing in body positive art. To learn about her new deck, visit the Butterfly Effect Tarot project page, and to see more of her illustrations, visit her website.

And take a look at the video below to see some of her cards come to life …