The Santa Muerte Tarot....Fabio Listrani

I like it.  I usually use my Halloween Oracle cards for that festive Fall season I love so much, but I remembered this deck was in my wish list and has been for awhile.  I wanted to get it early, so I could work with it properly before using for readings. I had read mixed reviews about the deck and decided as usual to ignore them because I make my own mind up thank you.

And I am glad I ignored the negatives because this deck is just lovely.  It isn't over the top skeletons and wonky halloween type imagery. It is very well done and often the cards show a lot of humor too. The Hierophant is reading a Ouija board, which made me giggle.

The card stock is nice, glossy but shuffles well.  The imagery is gorgeous and very layered. Sometimes that can be a detractor but in this case, I think it works well. Some of the meanings vary from the usual RWS meanings but not too much and it is explained in the book and matches the imagery in the card so it is, for me, intuitive. 

One thing I wasn't sure I liked at first was that all the minor arcana 10's are butterflies. Then I realized that butterfly = transformation and decided it was well done after all!

The cards and images celebrate all who have gone before us. It is in their memory and our collective unconsciousness that we will continue to nourish and which we can tap into with Tarot. Death represents transformation and rebirth in the present. We all face death and in death we are all equals. (from the book)

The cards are almost borderless which really makes them pop. I could add this to my list of decks that I use daily, they are that well done. I love a good intuitive deck and this one is very intuitive. Very much worth the $25.

The Vice Versa Tarot Deck

I spent literally all of yesterday studying this deck and I love it. The cards are based on the RWS images but they add so much more to them. One side shows the usual scene but when you flip it over it shows a second scene, not a dark or reverse side, just a different aspect of the original scene.

I quite like the art, which is well balanced with symbols and colors and people. Adding the flip side really does open up readings and gives me a lot more to look at and think about. Another thing I love is that the Major cards actually show symbols and items from other cards that come before them or sit above/below them when they are set into 3 rows of 7 cards. (see below and please ignore my desk mess, I was too excited to tidy up)

The Court cards are slightly different in that instead of showing 2 sides or aspects, it shows the Outer Self and Inner Self, again not reversals or dark and light, just a different aspect which I absolutely love.

I have been thinking about how awesome it would be for someone to create a virtual reality type of app for the Tarot deck, one that you could actually STEP INTO and walk around in, explore the various bits of the cards, and while this deck isn't in VR, it does give that feeling of seeing more that is there.

There was another deck, similar to this one, The After Tarot Kit, which shows action that may have happened AFTER the front side image, but that one didn't feel as "at home," as this one did. I will probably still get that one since *HELLO, CARD COLLECTOR* but I am already loving how the Vice Versa Deck feels in my hands.