In the Iran and Turkey of the second half of the sixteenth century bibliomancy and pictures for prognostication (TQS: fortune-telling in academic terms) had become quite the popular thing. The Falnama – meaning consulting the sacred or seeking auguries – or otherwise called Book of Omens,
Decks that are based on mythology or different cultures aren’t exactly new. It will ask a lot of a deck designer to find an angle that’ll attract an audience eager to check his or her work out, and be original and consistent at the same time. The American Gods Tarot Majors Only, a newly released and very limited edition tarot (first edition only 25 copies) from the hands of Anastasia Kashian is exactly such a deck. Here’s my review & interview with the designer in one.
I could find few oracle decks that drew their lessons from any male presence. To me, this represents a serious lack of balance, because, like it or not, men exist, and in order to create the universal harmony so many people crave, we need balance.
In creating this deck, I drew from the history and mythology of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, and the Bible. I deliberately chose many of the figures because they were flawed: lionizin
Years ago tarot designer MM Meleen started a project called Tabula Mundi. It was supposed to be a colored deck, but a small group of fans convinced her to release a black and white version first. That deck, the Tabula Mundi Nox et Lux now has a very large group of fans and it scored high in reviews, including mine. I wasn’t sure if the colored version, the Colores Arcus, [the original project] should get its own review. After all, how much difference can a color palette make, right? A lot, so it seems. When I started to read with Tabula Mundi Colores Arcus I realised that in following a fan tip MM Meleen basically created two very specific decks with the same foundation. So, here’s my review on the Tabula Mundi Tarot, Colores Arcus. The same, but different.
MM Meleen has gained quite a following am
It’s always fun when deck designers find their way to my mailbox. I don’t have time to cruise KS, IG, DeviantArt, Pinterest and FB for new tarots or Lenormands (etc) on a regular basis and this way I definitely don’t miss out on tarot decks that have…well, quite the premise! Dear tarot peeps, meet the sparkly, magic Gypsy Tarot…promising to *liberate* you! The Gypsy tarot is the creation of Bev & Dustin (a.k.a Starman), a tarot-team called Eye Psychics. They’re currently working on making a full deck and asked me to check and review their first cards. Gladly. So in a way I am doing a partial review here already, based on concept and art. The actual review will come around Autumn 2018, when the deck is expected to be released (and a deck with my name on it is in the works!). Fantasy & no theme Because I am on my way to Greece in a few hours I had to forego on the promised demo deck and worked with the digital version of the cards (stock is going to be similar to the Paulina Tarot, if that tells you something). The style is very ‘Disney-pretty’ and obviously fantasy. I…