Right off the bat I have to say I have rarely if ever seen a deck of cards which so totally embodied the word "cute."  In fact this deck is just plain adorable.  Tiny cards along a theme of mindfulness and awareness.  The point of the Buddha cards is to offer a moment of deeper connection to serenity and wisdom in the middle of chaos and craziness which invades our lives.  The back of the box states that this is "not a divination tool or an oracle that promises to foretell the future" but instead this deck provides "a powerful opportunity to stop at any moment in time to gain attentive insight and awareness into the ever-changing movement of energy which affects all sentient beings."  There's a mouthful for ya!

The cards are boxed in this cute (yes, there's that word again!) little box-on-a-card format with a hole in it for hanging on a display peg.  The entire presentation is almost smaller than the size of one tarot card in terms of length and width.  The box detaches easily from the card once purchased and you can throw the hanging card away, or keep it, it's up to you.  The box of cards is small enough that it will fit in a child's hand, and is actually about the size of some MINI tarot decks like the Mini Connolly or Mini Rider-Waite.  This is not, however, a tarot deck, and there are no Major or Minor Arcana, no suits or courts. Just 60 cards, with no numbers and no assigned value save that of the meaning of their titles.

Inside the box you find 60 little cards and a very small white pamphlet of instructions.  The cards are white with a thin gold border and the image takes up about 2/3 of the card face.  Underneath the image there is a one-word title for the card, in English, with the Sanskrit word underneath that.  The text color of the titles varies from card to card with no explanation as to the significance of the color; I think they're just randomly chosen, or else coordinated with the images.  The images themselves are very simple, featuring what looks like colored pencil drawings of the Buddha sitting, or the Buddha walking, or the Buddha meditating, etc.  Many of the images look redundant.  It may be that they use some of them over and over.  The images are drawn in a childlike ingenuous style that makes the little Buddhas look like small female children.  This is, however, not displeasing but rather feels to me like it fits right in with the very theme of the cards.  Simple, happy, and at peace.

The cards themselves are about two inches high and one inch wide.  They are printed on standard cardstock but due to the small size they feel very stiff and are coated for protection which makes them slippery.  The edges are really smooth and the corners nicely rounded.  You have to shuffle and handle them carefully because they seem to want to fall out of your hands.  At least they wanted to fall out of mine.  The little white booklet suggests putting them in a large bowl and then shuffling them around with your hands and drawing cards out of the bowl when you need one or more for a reading.  The back design is as simple as the front and features a drawing of a lotus blossom against a white background.  It is not reversible but then this card deck does not use reversals.  Little white booklet which comes with this deck has a couple different ways to use the cards, but no real spreads of any kind.

I recommend this very cute little deck as a gift for anyone who needs to slow down, and it's a great little pick-me-up to start your day off by drawing a card.  The cards are also good for meditation etc.  I would not buy this deck if I were looking to do "readings" per se.  It's not meant for that.  No experience required and I think this would be great for kids because it is simple and it is straight to the point.  Great stocking stuffer for the Buddhists on your shopping list?  *grin*  This is a pretty new little deck so it's not yet available through Amazon as of April of 2001, but should be available soon.  In the meantime, email me if you want me to help you find a set.

Click here for pictures
 
Click Here to purchase this deck now!

or here to return

Please use your browser's back button to return from pictures

Review Copyright 2001 by Gina M. Pace

The Buddha Cards by Lin McNulty and Gayan Sylvie Winter, 1999
published by AGM AGMuller, Bahnhofstrasse 21
CH-8212 Neuhausen am Rheinfall
ISBN 3-905219-69-7