Deck Additions

A plethora of new decks have been added to the gallery pages. Here’s a breakdown of what’s been added, its category, and my initial impressions upon unboxing.

White Sage Tarot – Animals and Nature. This is a soft, watercolor deck with pip style suits. Its illustrations are attractive, but simple.

Tarot of the Abyss – Rider Waite Inspired. This deck is masterfully illustrated, true to popular Tarot themes while still being innovative, and it features an array of masculine and feminine characters. I’m absolutely thrilled with this one!

Eight Coins’ Tattoo Tarot (USG Edition) – Misc. I decided to compare my self published edition with the U.S. Games version of Lana Zellner’s deck. If you have the self published edition, consider getting this one for the lovely box and the addition of a few updated cards. (The original versions are also included.)

Tarot – Misc. This is a gem for a deck with no real name from a random publisher. The suits are pips, but the trumps and courts are well illustrated. The cards are massive, but the stock is a bit iffy.

Sortilegium Tarot – Misc. A self published deck of 22 trumps. The artwork features delightful details, and the cardstock, box quality, and presentation are impeccable. A real treat!

Juvel Mor Tarot – Rider Waite Inspired. Dramatic, colorful, creative, and featuring multiple Lovers cards to choose from, this deck is another self published delight.

Witchling Academy Tarot – Anime/Manga. This deck was a bit of a disappointment. Many “themed” decks suffer from the pitfall of being less usable as general reading decks and this one is no exception. I understand what the creators were trying to do thematically with the story of a single character, but in my opinion the “same character” syndrome, specific story, and lack of diversity hinders the deck’s usability, or at least its relatability, for general use. This Tarot misses the mark by only featuring characters besides the pink haired “Charlie” in a random hodge podge of cards and within the courts – all of which are animals or females. The sample photo in the gallery illustrates one of only 2 men in the entire deck and a few of the faces that aren’t Charlie. The box construction also leads to the slim book easily falling out (and not going back in very well at all). The implementation of the deck’s concept is a shame, as the art style is delightful.

Pop over to the Tarot Gallery to view these decks.

Kabbalah: The Tree of Life Oracle – Misc. I purchased this deck to enrich my studies of Kabbalah. I think it will be an excellent tool for this purpose and I can’t wait to dig into the book.

Keepers of the Light – Cultures, Civilizations, Mythology, and Folklore. This deck is beautiful, though the characters have a bit of “same face” going on. Since they are all rather stiff portraits, it can seem like a series of sacred mugshots. The diversity in this deck is found in the variety of cultures represented.

Archangel Oracle – Angels and Saints. Soothing, attractive, and “angelic” without being too saccharine. I was happy with the art and the quality, but I haven’t looked at the guidebook yet.

TeenAngel – Angels and Saints. This is one of those colorful swirls and bubbles type of decks. I was in that sort of mood so I took a chance and bought it. I enjoyed thumbing through it and did a small reading. It was a pleasant experience that made me wish I’d had something like this as a teenager.

Archangel Fire Oracle – Angels and Saints. I love the artwork on this deck, and I enjoy the inclusion of the sigils. This deck feels a bit more dramatic and proactive than some angel decks. (I haven’t gotten to read the guidebook to see if the text matches the vibe of the artwork. This one is hot out of the mailbox for me).

Star Dragons – Fantasy. If you like Barbieri decks, you’ll like this one.

Messenger Oracle 2nd Edition – Fantasy. For a full side by side analysis of the first and second editions of this deck, check out my post here.

Transcendent Journeys – Cultures, Civilizations, Mythology, and Folklore. I love Cheryl Yambrach Rose’s style of art. It is exquisite and haunting. If you collect her decks, this one is another must have for your collection.

Mythic Oracle 2nd Edition – Cultures, Civilizations, Mythology, and Folklore. This was a bit of a bust for me, as the artwork and quality in both editions are basically the same. A few cards are lightly edited so that repeated characters can have their identities reassigned. For example, instead of Zeus being the character for two cards, one has become Uranus. A few keyword captions were also changed and the colors on the border details are now a uniform blue. I was hoping for some new artwork to go along with the removal of duplicate characters, but as Jean Luc Picard would say, “wishing for a thing does not make it so.”

Every Day Oracle – Fortune Telling/Playing Card Oracles. It’s not a deck I would use every day, but it is a nice run of the mill deck for your collection of “fortune telling” cards, especially if you like the vintage look.

Malefique Lenormand – Lenormand. If you don’t like the vintage look, this lenormand is a flashy newcomer. U.S. Games even had the edging on these cards done in black. The attractive matte box and vibrant colors give this deck a great aesthetic. If you like Tim Burton-esque art, you will enjoy this one.

Land Sky Oracle – Misc. I haven’t dug into the guidebook yet, but this looks like a deck with some thoughtful structure and concepts. The animal artwork is exquisite, and once again U.S. Games delivers on the quality of cardstock and presentation.

Oracle of the Trees – Animals and Nature. I got this one because I feel like the art style is vaguely similar to Pamela Colman Smith’s. As someone who loves conjuring up ways to use decks in conjunction with one another, I immediately thought “oh I could use this with my RWS or maybe my Pixie lenormand in some way.” How? I don’t know yet. But I will come up with something and if it’s decent I will try to do a post about it. Anyhoo, the deck appears to focus more on “famous” trees and/or types of trees rather than Ogham or other typical tree themes, but I haven’t read the book yet since I just got this one yesterday.

Rune Dragons – Fantasy. A self published deck featuring dragons and Norse runes. I love dragons and the illustration style, so I had to have it. The backing is the same for this deck as the “Ancient Egypt” version below, so they can be paired together for a cultural mashup that I’m sure Netflix will take advantage of sooner or later.

Rune Dragons: Ancient Egypt – Fantasy. The Egyptian edition of the Rune Dragons features a few dragons that combine the animal associated with a particular deity with a dragon (So bast is a cat dragon, Anubis is a jackal dragon). If you are from the era of fursonas and forum signatures with blinkie captions under the images, you will like this deck. (Yes I mean this lovingly and yes I am from this era.)

Whisk yourself away to the Oracle Gallery to view these newcomers!

As always, if you would like to request a more detailed review of any of these new decks, please leave a comment.
Happy Shuffling!