The Tarot Room – Georgianna

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!