Hello, Tarot
(a.k.a. Hello-Kitty Tarot)
by Joe Rosales
 
When I first saw this tarot deck online, I thought, that is so cute!  In fact, the subtitle for this deck is "The Cutest Tarot Deck You Will Ever Own."  I am not familiar with the Hello-Kitty cartoon character, nor with her friends, but I am told this deck is inspired by, and features, the entire cast of characters from that cartoon show.

The Hello, Tarot deck is styled after the Rider-Waite deck and for the most part looks like your basic clone of the traditional deck, only with Hello-Kitty characters acting out the parts of each card.  You don't need to know who any of the characters are to see how the cards relate to the meanings, since they stick with all the traditional symbolism.  The deck is rendered in black and white and is suitable for coloring.
  
The Major Arcana in this deck are titled and ordered according to the Rider-Waite tradition.  Strength is 8 and Justice 11.  None of the titles have been altered.  Roman numerals appear in the top center of the image area, and a text box under the image has the title in English.
 
The Minor Arcana is traditional also.  Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles are the suits.  Courts are King, Queen, Knight and Page.  As with the Rider-Waite, only the Aces and Courts have titles, otherwise it's images of the suit scene and the number at the top.  Numbered cards are full scenes and, often, incorporate imaginative versions of the suit icons.  For example, one of the Wands cards shows hockey sticks as wands.  In a lot of ways, these are even better than the Major Arcana.
 
The cards themselves are about standard in size, you have to handle them delicately because they are printed on paper not card stock.  This is ideal for laminating your cards after you color them in, or if you prefer to leave them black and white, you can laminate them as is.  However, until then, they are fairly fragile and bend easily.  The back design is a little repeated Hello-Kitty design and the title Hello, Tarot.  The deck did not come in a box, which cuts down on production costs (since it is self-produced) and there is no instruction booklet with it.  The intro card recommends A Complete Guide to the Tarot by Eden Gray.
 
This deck would be ideal for collectors.  It can be a fun exercise for beginners as well, since coloring in decks is a good learning exercise and this will be a lot more fun to color in than other black and white decks.  Frankly if that were the intended use, I would recommend buying two and keeping one pristine.  They're inexpensive enough.  For more information on buying a copy of this deck, email Wicce.

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Hello, Tarot
 
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Review Copyright 1999 by Gina M. Pace