This astrology deck-and-book set consists of 90 cards altogether, making it the most comprehensive deck for such purposes I've yet reviewed; there are 36 Planet cards, three identical cards for each of the 8 planets, 2 luminaries and 2 nodes.  There are also three identical cards for each of the 12 signs of the zodiac, making for another 36 cards; 12 house cards for each of the 12 zodiacal houses; and, what makes this set different from other astrology sets I've reviewed, there are 6 aspect cards, which add power, either positively or negatively, to the planets and houses.

The cards have different colored backgrounds to indicate whether they are Earth, Air, Fire or Water-oriented signs.  The Node and Aspect cards are not affected by the elements, so their colors don't have significance and they are colored a neutral background. Additionally, cards which have Fixed qualities have a straight pattern on them, as opposed to Cardinal signs which have a pattern with Peaks, or the Mutable signs which have a Waves pattern.

The book explains briefly what each card is, then jumps straight into doing your first spread, a one-card spread using the Aspect cards only.  This is a fast answer to a yes/no question.  The querent shuffles the Aspect cards, draws one, and reads the information on the card, which gives you your immediate answer.  It seems a bit simplistic at first, but perhaps getting your feet wet this way is a gentler introduction to working with these cards, which I found challenging at first.

The next spread they give is called the Horary Spread, and can be used when you need an answer to a more in-depth question.  This involves drawing one card from each of the Signs, Planets and Houses.  Reading the information across all three cards gives a more in-depth answer.  If more information is needed, the spread allows for the addition of an Aspect card, and then one more Sign, Planet and House card, for a total of 7.  Two sample spreads are given to show you how it's done.

Interestingly, there is a version of the Celtic Cross Spread included next.  Since this is a tarot spread, I did not expect to find it here; however, I should not be surprised at its inclusion, since anyone who is familiar with tarot would know it and would be perhaps better able to learn this deck when using a familiar spread.  With the Celtic Cross Spread as it is shown in this deck, one draws only Planet and Sign cards.  For each position of the spread, there is one Planet and one Sign card.  These are read in pairs for each position's meaning.  This means using a total of 21 cards.  The spread allows for the addition of six extra cards to clarify, two more in each of the last three positions.  One sample spread is given to show you how it's done.

Finally, there is the Great Wheel Spread, which uses a horoscope style layout and uses three cards for each of the 12 positions of the astrology chart itself.  One card from the Planets, one Sign, and one house are laid out at each position.  The numbered cards of the houses are laid out in order according to which house they are covering; they are not laid randomly.  The Planet and Star cards are shuffled and laid out in the houses.  These are read together at each position to give you a prediction of what you are facing in each of these applications in your life, since each house represents a particular part of your life.  Then another Planet and Sign are laid out in each house, and these represent the future of what is going to happen in each of these parts of your life.  Aspect cards can also be laid down in each house to clarify.  One sample spread is given to show you how it's done.

A section follows on using the AstroStar Kards as a study aid for learning how to do astrology.  It offers three choices; one is to use the cards as "flash cards" to see if you are learning their meanings and references; another is utilizing a game for two or more players.  The third game is for two or more teams of players.  These games sound like they are kind of fun, but frankly I don't know if I know enough people in my life who are interested enough in learning astrology that I could get together to try one!  Of course, several people are interested in finding out what their horoscope in the paper says each day; few people are interested beyond that.  Still, it's nice to have the option.  Perhaps if the user were in a class or group of friends gathered specifically for the purpose of studying astrology......

A glossary of basic astrology terms follows.  This glossary is 6 pages long and goes into good brief descriptions of each Sign, House, Planet and Aspect.  I think I struggle the most with the Aspects, but I'm getting there.  By now we're only halfway through the book.  The entire second half of the book is dedicated to showing each card with a full page of keyword meanings and descriptive words.  There aren't any real paragraphs explaining them, just lists of lots and lots of keywords for each card in case the ones ON the cards aren't enough to cue you in to their meanings.  I'd have liked to see more in the way of an explanation or description of the planets, signs and houses themselves, instead of just lists.  But for quick reference this is probably better.

A bibliography provides further reading for the user.  Bios are given for each of the authors, and the book ends with a two-page listing of all the astrological services that are available from the company that put this set out.  Including charts and even horoscope jewelry, it seems that they are a full-service company.  They don't seem to have a website, but an email address is given for you to contact the authors.  Interestingly, the authors' last names begin with the letters A, S and K.  This was one of those happy coincidences that lets you know that you are on the right path; the choice of names for the deck was chosen without their realization that their names corresponded perfectly.

The cards themselves are standard sized and shuffle and handle fairly well; if you had to shuffle the entire deck at once, you'd have a lot of cards in your hands at once, but generally the deck is only broken down into sections and shuffled, so it doesn't pose a problem.  Card stock is thin and flexible, and the edges are polished to a smooth finish.  The back design varies on the cards depending on whether they are Houses, Planets, Signs or Aspects; within each group, the design is the same, a dark blue sky effect with the corresponding art for each group. The design is not reversible, as reversals are not used with this set.

The book which comes with the deck is printed well on good soft paper and is bound really well.  I don't see any danger of its coming apart (a big bone I usually have with these deck and book sets) and it is not intimidating to handle for this reason.  Usually you feel you have to handle the books gingerly.  Not so in this case.  The set has an overall high professional look to it and a very good quality.  Even the box it comes in is excellent, with a sturdy cardboard lift-off lid design and a tray in the bottom which holds the entire deck in two halves.

I liked this set very much.  Astrology cards are still something I struggle with, but this one was fairly straightforward and seems to genuinely allow the user to work with it in different spreads, which is probably on the plus side for anyone who is accustomed to using tarot.  The flexibility is interesting, to be able to use it in different ways.  A beginner would probably not have a very easy time with it, but with patience it would be helpful.  Of course it would be an interesting addition to any collection.  It's not artistic, so much as useful, so an art collector will be less interested in it than a cards collector.  For information on purchasing this deck, please contact Wicce.

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Review Copyright 1999 by Gina M. Pace

the authors can be emailed at AstroDepot@aol.com

A*S*K AstroStar Kards by Arlene Asin, Sheryl Simon and Lauren Kricheff, 1997
published by Astro Depot, ISBN 0-9663896-0-3