My First Tarot: The Easiest and Most Accurate Tarot Reading That You Can Do
by Eleanor Hammond, printed by Schiffer Publishing  $34.99

 

I received this sample deck the other day for my blog.  I love Schiffer's packaging.  It's always so high-end and classy looking, even if I'm not in love with the actual deck.  But I thought, okay, this one could be cool.  Opened it up and pulled out the book and there's a car layout map inside also.  I pulled out the deck and was quite impressed with the blue foil edges (cause we know it's all about the small, shiny things! LOL).  Looks really good!

And then I pulled out the cards, and everything kind of fell apart.  I understand the concept here, since it's meant to be easy for anyone to pick up and learn.  The problem is, the cards don't have any pictures.  And the images of Tarot, no matter who the artist is or what the deck focuses on, is what's key to a deck.  You learn through the pictures and images and what they evoke in you and your psyche.  This is what the book should bring to the table, not the cards.  Or perhaps, have images on the reverse side of the interpretations. 

I was kind of disappointed, but figured I'd reserve judgment.  So I asked the Tarot Meet-up group that meets here what they thought.  We have all levels of experience in the group, everything from rank beginner (as in, I've never picked up a deck of cards before but want to learn) to just short of professionals who have been reading for 20+ years and belong to The Readers' Studio and attend conferences every year.  To a person, they all felt that the lack of pictures really made a difference and translated into a deck they wouldn't purchase for themselves or anyone else.  I had to agree, but was still glad I asked everyone for their input.

I felt very let-down by this deck, which was unfortunate.  Wonderful packaging, inside not so much.

#MyFirstTarot @SchifferPublishing #tarot #tarotdeck