Deck Review- Ghosts and Spirits Tarot

From the amazing creatrix Lisa Hunt, (Fantastical Creatures; Animals Divine; Shapeshifter, and Celtic Dragon Tarot), comes her latest tarot creation... Ghosts and Spirits Tarot, a breathtakingly beautiful deck that utilizes tales and legends of ghosts and spirits from around the globe.

This stunning 79 card deck kept me on the very edge of my seat as I sat and watched it emerge card by card, on the Ghosts and Spirits FaceBook page and with each drawing Lisa posted I was absolutely blown away and I easily consider one of her finest works. 

Lisa, who makes her home in Boca Raton, Florida, is the creator/illustrator of numerous tarot decks, all of which are still in print and even been translated in many different languages. She has been a freelance artist for nearly twenty years and her intuitive connection with the spirit world shines quite brightly in her Ghosts and Spirits Tarot.

I was thoroughly thrilled when after receiving my deck, I found that there is a bonus card! I absolutely adore decks with extra cards such as the "Happy Squirrel" card found in Kat Black's Touchstone Tarot and was even more blown away at the sheer depth of imagery found on this extra card which serves as a card for deeper reflections on the question asked.

The cards are beautifully bordered in a lovely parchment color with the title written in a gorgeous flowing script at the bottom of each card. The card stock is absolutely awesome, as usual with US Games decks, and it's just the right size to be shuffled, even if you might have smaller hands. It has a wonderful glossy lamination and the design on the backs, which is pretty darned awesome in itself, features three swirling ghosts encircled by a ring of bones. The colors on the card backs are fantastically done and remind me of the beautiful patterns found on fine Batik fabric.

The LWB (little white book) accompanying the Ghosts and Spirits Tarot gives the story behind each ghost and where it originates as well as the definition of the card, although Lisa doesn't give reversed meanings in the LWB, these cards can be read both upright and reversed. 

The imagery on the cards themselves are intricate and quite detailed and upon closer inspection, you can see faces and spirits reflected in the surrounding colors and patterns, such as the Fool, which details the Leshy (wood spirits that inhabit the dark forests of the Baltic's) and all around this adventurer can be seen small sprites, stone creatures and faces peeking from the rocks and shrubbery. Such an awesome deck!

I usually look for my favorite cards when perusing a prospective deck but with The Ghosts and Spirits Tarot, there are just SO many wonderful cards I might as well admit that there is absolutely not one card that I do not connect with! The Ten of Cups pictures three figures from the festive Day of the Dead celebration that honors dead ancestors with feasts dancing and merriment. They are clothed in customary attire with blues, reds and yellows, surrounded by cups and faces reflected in Lisa's surrounding artwork.

The Moon features the legend of Aeneus' Journey to the Underworld and the imagery shows two figures, one of which Aeneus, who has come to search for his father in the mysterious and frightening underground passage that is symbolic of the unconscious and home to our greatest dreams and biggest fears. This card shows both the rich imagery of the rewarded as well as the torment and suffering of the punished, it too is among my favorite cards in the Ghost and Spirits Tarot.

This deck is simply too amazing and powerful that just descriptions alone do not come close to the wonder of holding this treasure in your hands and letting the Ghosts and Spirits speak to you in there own unique voice. I absolutely recommend this deck for both beginners and seasoned readers alike, it is truly a deck that one must have in their collection!

Publisher: US Games

Artist: Lisa Hunt

ISBN: 978-1-57281-661-9

images used with permission from US Games

Book Review-The Tarot Playbook, 78 novel ways to connect with your cards

Rules should always be bent, if not broken. It's the only way to have any fun. 
 Alyson Noel 

The Tarot Playbook, written by Lynda Cowles and published by Schiffer Books is a wonderful new book that will take that lovely deck you have just purchased but just can't quite connect with and transform your relationship into a wonderful bond between you and your cards that will last a lifetime.


Living in England with her husband, daughter, basset hound and cat, Lynda  doesn't simply spend her days writing internationally acclaimed tarot books, she also blogs at Archer Tarot, runs an online Tarot store and studies ways of using Tarot that are unique...like finding her pesky missing keys.


The Tarot Playbook is a 176 page book that starts out with Lynda's explanation of why your deck wants you to read this book, for instance, some of us lucky enough, get to watch our new decks as they are being created step by step and often wait with baited breath until we finally get to hold that new deck that kept us on the edge of our seats for several months...but what if after we have this wonderful creation in our hot little hands, we somehow can't quite connect with it? 


For many of us, the poor thing ends up relegated to a dusty old book shelf or at the bottom of a rarely opened desk drawer, spending it's days in relative anonymity.


What a sad end to such a beautiful and promising deck...until now. So grab that long forgotten treasure and spend some quality time together playing through the exercises and get to know that amazing deck as you've never seen before!


Lynda starts out with chapter one, starting with the Fool and works through to the the Three of Wands in a section called "First Contact, 24 ways to get acquainted with your cards"  Including activities such as "Twenty Questions," "Voices in Your Head" and "Whodunit" which are designed to make it easy and fun while drawing closer to your deck.


Subsequent chapters include... "Stepping Out," "Friends in High Places," "Just my Archetype," and "Forever Friends."  These chapters deal with understanding the Minors, how to develop a relationship with those pesky Court Cards and  little ways you can show your deck you care.


In the back, there are lists of activities that are covered in the book and the page that they are found on, called Playlists. This is an amazing book and you will truly find yourself looking forward to the activities listed whether you go through them from beginning to end or by drawing a card and trying the activity listed for that card each day. I absolutely had a blast reading this book, I giggled, laughed out loud and even raised an eyebrow or two at Lynda's wicked fun sense of humor and I can guarantee that you will too!


So grab The Tarot Playbook and that long neglected deck and sit down to a real treat and bonding experience!


Author: Lynda Cowles
Publisher: Schiffer Books
ISBN: 9780764339882

Deck Review- Art Through the Eyes of the Soul Oracle

Art Through the Eyes of the Soul Oracle, by Cheryl Yambrach Rose and distributed by US Games, is a wonderful deck for guidance, or catalyst to empower your own thoughts. Cheryl, a portrait painter, visionary artist and researcher has created a beautiful deck incorporating mythology, art history and her own psychic impressions woven together to form a truly unique oracle that is wonderful to work with.

This 52 card deck is slightly oversize at 3 1/2" x 6" and has a nice glossy lamination that really shows off Cheryl's wonderful artwork. Shuffling from the side or placing the cards on a flat surface and mixing them up thoroughly is the best way to shuffle or mix these cards up. The backs are non reversible but feature a beautiful painting of a waterfall and maiden peeking from behind the rocks, all done in breathtaking blues and greens.

What struck me while going through the deck was Cheryl's use of color and lifelike portraits that really draw you in and resonate with the keywords that are printed just below each image. The colors include deep blues, lush greens and breathtaking reds and lavenders. I love the characters eyes which seem so lifelike and almost follow you as you move. This is exactly how Cheryl "tunes into a subject" to receive her psychic impression.

They are bordered with a lovely golden leaf design and the edges are gilded which  adds to the majestic feel of this oracle. The companion book gives the meanings of each card and an expanded interpretation of the keywords found on each card. Many of the paintings are featured in Cheryl's book, "Art Through the Eyes of the Soul"  The book covers the four mythic lands in which she lives and paints...Narnia, Avalon, Bohemia and Lemuria.

This is a gorgeous Oracle deck and one worthy of anyone's collection,  it is an amazing tool when used with meditation and personal readings.  I found it to be quite accurate and very straight to the point and I had a wonderful time working with it!

Publisher: US Games Systems Inc.

Artist: Cheryl Yambrach Rose

ISBN: 978-1-57281-722-7

Deck Review- The Art of Life Tarot

The Art of Life Tarot, created by Charlene Livingstone and published by US Games Inc. was lovingly created in a time where she found herself searching for comfort after her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and felt   helpless as many families find themselves after such a devastating diagnosis of a loved one. Using her background in art history and love of quotes, she has designed a beautiful deck that not only inspires, it causes one to reflect deeply upon the meanings and how they apply to the reader.

Wanting to create something to empower and work interactively with the  reader, Charlene has created a wonderful deck that somehow sets itself apart from most other decks and one of my favorite parts of this individuality is the very box itself that contains the cards. 

The box is made of durable cardboard and has an amazingly simple feature that I absolutely love...it flips up and then back down with a slit at the top that you can slip your card of the day in and sets right on your desk displaying the selected card for contemplation...how cool is that?!

The deck itself is 78 card deck that follows the Rider Waite imagery and has wide beautiful borders on which the card name is printed at the top with an image painted by a well known artist, followed by information about the painting just below it and a quote to read and meditate about during your day below that.

Traditional artworks have been used in other decks such as The Golden Tarot and Touchstone Tarot by Kat Black but this deck is set apart with it's wonderful imagery and thought provoking sayings such as on The Fool..."You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment"- Henry David Thoreau... what a beautiful way to capture the essence of The Fool, don't you think?

This deck comes with the standard LWB (little white book) but instead of a whole list of different keywords, it contains just a few for each card as to make it easier to develop your own meanings and interpretations that will resonate with you so much better. 

The cards are a bit larger in size, (3 1/2" x 5") which may be a bother for readers with smaller hands but as with my "go to deck", which is quite large, I simply side shuffle and have found that it works quite efficiently. I love the lamination, not too glossy as to reflect any ambient light but just glossy enough to show off the wonderful images. The back of the cards are quite attractive and one of the features I personally look for when selecting a prospective deck, with a gorgeous depiction of the Tree of Life.

This is truly a spectacular deck that can be read with by all types of readers and is perfect for reflection and personal use as well. I thoroughly enjoyed working with this deck and I had to write this "sneak peek" review because it was just so amazing! The deck is not yet listed on US Games' website but will appear within the next week or so, I hope you will hop on over and check out all the wonderful decks that they have to choose from!

Author: Charlene Livingston
Artist: Images From Known Artists
U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
2012
ISBN #978-1-57281=715-9

Deck Review- HazelMoon's Hawaiian Tarot

A'ohe lokamaik'i i nele i ke pan'i. It is: A’ohe lokomaika’i i nele i ke pan’i..

 *No kind deed has ever lacked it's reward. To live with Aloha is to have a giving nature*

HazelMoon's Hawaiian Tarot is a wonderful deck by Katalin E. Csikos, that

 blends Hawaiian spirituality, the power of ancient and modern beliefs and the love of nature in all it's glory. This is a wonderful deck that shows us the importance of living happy, contented lives and the rewards of living in harmony with one's self and the glorious beauty of Mother Nature in all her majestic forms.

This is a traditional 78 card deck, with Strength numbered 8 and Justice at number 11. The card stock is fabulous to shuffle and the cards have a glossy lamination that just makes the imagery pop. When going through the deck, I noticed that many of the cards depict landscapes, and according to Katalin, in Hawaii the land or "aina" is very sacred to it's peoples and thus protected closely.

The Major Arcana each have a Roman numeral at the top and name of each card at the bottom and I just love the choices of coloring and situations portrayed that give me a complete "sense" of the message of  each card. All of the Major Arcana have the traditional names with the exception of the Devil, which has been renamed The Evil, in which the Hawaiian belief is that nothing is more evil than the disrespect of the land, nature or the animals that inhabit it.

The Minor Arcana are arranged by suit, starting with Sticks, representing Wands in most decks, followed by Swords, Cups and Lava Stones equivalent to Pentacles or Coins. The Courts are represented by Boy (Page) Warrior (Knight) Queen and King. I absolutely love the way Katalin has used color and scenes that depict all the different aspects of each suit perfectly.

This is a wonderful deck that not only pays homage to nature in all her glory but the healing and teaching aspects that we can all learn from to use as guidance, healing and understanding of ourselves and the world we live in. I would quite happily recommend this deck to anyone both novice and experienced alike!

Author/creator: Katalin E. Csiskos

Self Published

images used with permission from Katalin E. Csiskos

Teach Me Tarot

I am so excited to be able to share this with everyone, coming up soon I will be doing a regular segment on the Inciting A Riot podcast in which I will be talking about my most favorite thing in the world...Tarot! I feel very honored to be able to do this segment on Fire Lyte's wonderful podcast and I get to share a little bit of my knowledge and help folks learn to read the cards! I will have my own email address for the show where people can contact me with questions, thoughts and comments, I love talking with folks and sharing my love of the Tarot with others. My debut will be in Episode 70, so tune in and join the fun! 

Here are a few contact details about the show, episodes and my address in which to contact me concerning each "Teach Me Tarot" episode...

Fire Lyte's amazing and educational blog

Inciting A Riot podcast on iTunes

My email address for the show

My Blog "Lizzie's Logic"

My Twitter Address

I really wish that you are able to listen to the show and feel free to shoot me an email!

Deck Review- The Cat's Eye Tarot

"I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior." - Hippolyte Taine 


Anyone who is, or ever has been owned by a cat, knows that cats work on their own agenda and despite their aloof nature we love them anyway. I first became aware of The Cat's Eye Tarot several years ago, when Debra Givin first began her creation of this deck and followed it's progress with each card. When US Games announced that they were going to be publishing it, I nearly fell out of my chair with excitement!


There are several cat themed decks out there but this one is truly special, not only does it follow the Rider-Waite style, each card tells a story from a very unique perspective...A cats! What better way to see the world than through the eyes of a beloved cat. Debra, a practicing vet for 22 years, exclusively in feline practice, she has absolutely captured the essence of cats in this deck and with each card there is no doubt as to what is going through these glorious kitties minds.


This deck is simply perfect in size and works great for those with smaller hands as it's not too wide to shuffle and handle properly and it has an amazing glossy lamination. I'm big on the art of the card backs and have been known to choose decks in part by the wonderful imagery on the backs and this deck does not disappoint. It features a brown long haired tabby with mesmerizing green eyes that nearly fills the whole card save one thin border of white.


The Major Arcana are graced with cats of white, calico, ginger and tabby, black and siamese all lovingly painted in scenes of blue and plum tones that make these little kitties pop right out of the cards. I always look for a select few cards when considering a deck and the Star is among one of them. I love the way that Debra has portrayed a little calico gently reaching out to the reflection of a star in chilly stream and it brings to mind the phrase "reach for the stars" what a great way to get the meaning of hope across!


The Minor Arcana are just as charming with the suit of Wands picturing fiery ginger cats, the suit of Cups showing wonderful jellicle kitties, the suit of Swords featuring the talkative siamese and the suit of Pentacles with it's tabby striped beauties. Also featured alongside these fabulous felines in the Minor Arcana are fish, reptiles, birds and mice.


I had the best time while working with this deck, I found that it reads very well and I had no problems getting clear and concise messages, just like ones I receive from any cat when he/she is letting me know how it is! I may not recommend it as a beginners deck, however, I think that a basic knowledge of the Rider-Waite symbolism would be helpful but this is truly a deck for anyone who loves and shares their life with cats.

Publisher: US Games

Artist: Debra Givin

ISBN: 978-1-57281-685-5

Images used with permission from US Games

Deck Review- Joie de Vivre Tarot

From the amazing creatrix  Paulina Cassidy, of the Paulina Tarot comes her latest addition to the Tarot community, The Joie de Vivre Tarot...what a truly charming and chatty deck that when translated, means Hearty or carefree enjoyment of life.  I had been eagerly awaiting this deck, watching it's progress and marveling over her unique artistic style and now that I have it in my hot little hands it is absolutely wonderful and quite child-like in it's energy.

The Joie de Vivre Tarot is a 78 card deck that is just the perfect size to work with and shuffle with ease. It comes with the standard LWB (little white book) of interpretations and each card and character is described in loving detail and absolutely inspires a truly joyful feel. I thought rather than to review this deck as I usually do, I would perhaps do an actual interview of it instead and I was not disappointed by it's lively and straight forward answers. Here are a few of the questions I asked and how the deck responded...

Tell me about yourself, what is your most important characteristic? King of Swords- "The King Sagacity possesses the wisdom and courage to obtain all his desires. His dove companion, Justice, helps him work against dishonesty."  What a terrific card to pop up when describing this decks most important characteristic! The King of Swords encourages the use of logic and intellect to navigate the path ahead and will definately get to the heart of the matter so buckle your seat belt, this deck will take you on a journey to see through all the clutter and fog to show you what the issues really are!

What are your strengths? The Moon- "Illuminating hidden truths, the Moon's energy brings clarity to the surface." Here we can see Phantasm and his three owl companions Daze, Haze and Maze sitting on a branch, illuminated by a huge full moon in the background. The Moon calls attention to the shadow in all of us and leads us to becoming consciously aware of any fears and anxieties that may be projected onto your external surroundings. The Joie de Vivre tarot tells me that it will turn these fears around and into more positive and constructive energy, illuminating a path through the unknown.

How can I best learn from and work with you? Knight of Cups- "Intrigue, the passionate and poetic Knight of Cups is the messenger of ideas and opportunities." This Knight is in touch with his intuition and emotions, and The Joie de Vivre will teach me to blend my imagination and logic to make dreams come true. this deck will bring inspiration and encourage me to undertake the journey of imagination and creativity to which the unconscious will guide my path. What a beautiful statement this Knight makes, I'm filled with an expectant anticipation of this journey with The Joie de Vivre Tarot and can hardly wait to get started!

This is truly an amazing and energetic deck full of excitement and wonder, it would make a fantastic deck for beginners and seasoned readers alike. I love Paulina's imagery and the whimsical yet charming characters that flow through this deck and I had a terrific time reading with it. I heartily encourage you to check out the Joie de Vivre Tarot and see where your imagination and intuition take you!

Publisher: US Games

Artist: Paulina Cassidy

ISBN: 978-1-57281-662-6

Images used with permission from US Games Systems

Deck Review- Tokens Of Light

Although the Tokens of Light are not a deck of cards per se, these little gems by Orna Ben-Shoshan still have the unique ability to shed light on our day to day affairs and give us valuable insights into life using  66 "paths" that enable us to navigate life's sometimes turbulent waters.

According to the Kabbalah, the 22  letters of the Hebrew alphabet are considered as channels through which the Divine Abundance flows through the universe. Each  circular Token has it's very own unique spiritual and energetic attributes and represent the process of creation from beginning to end, and therefore correspond to events and flow of our every day lives. 

When these Tokens were being created, three different aspects were chosen to compose a system of 66 definitions, giving the reader insightful guidance to help understand the forces that affect different situations in their lives. Each Token has whimsical but yet beautiful imagery on one side and on the other, a number and Hebrew letter with what that letter stands for in Hebrew and translated into English as well so that it serves as both keyword and an "understanding." 

There is a fantastic 86 page interpretation booklet that comes with the Tokens of Light as well as a gorgeous silver leaf designed bag in which to hold your Tokens and it can be used as a means of shuffling them  too. Now, you may be thinking just how accurate are the Tokens of Light and after working with them for a few weeks now, I have found that they are surprisingly relevant to the questions or situations I have inquired of them. 

As an added bonus, this system also includes two amulet coins that are not to be included in readings, but are to carry with you. One represents a blessing for protection and fulfillment and the other that brings balance and success to all areas of an individual's life, what a fantastic, uplifting affirmation is that?

In the interpretation booklet, several "spreads" or ways to use these Tokens are presented but I've found that simply pulling them out of the bag and laying down three or four tokens is quite enlightening and informative. The artwork is stunning and The Tokens of Light were a real joy to work with. I highly recommend  them to anyone wanting a more unique form of insight or divination... Anyone would truly benefit from this amazing set of cards. 

Publisher:Kabbalah Insights

Artist: Orna Ben-Shoshan