I've been meaning to review this deck for a while now, but kept putting it aside because I wanted to spend a good amount of time with it and didn't want to do a "quickie" on it.  There are a lot of really cool features involved in this new and independently published tarot deck, and they warrant special attention.  Links to the Infinite Tarot website will appear at the bottom of this review.
 
Essentially, the creators of this deck have taken the structure of traditional tarot and reworked it entirely from the inside out.  The result is a *new* form of tarot.  I can't say that this is not a tarot deck, because it is very much one, but by the same token it varies so greatly in a lot of ways that it does not fit into any of the typical categories of tarot.  There are 76 cards in this deck as opposed to 78, but it's not missing cards, the system is entirely recomposed.
 
It is easiest to look at the deck in the four suits that exist.  These in and of themselves are the closest resemblance to traditional tarot.  There are four suits, based on the four elements of earth, air, fire and water.  In this deck they are titled Earth, Sky, Fire and Water.  Within each suit there are numbered cards one through ten.  There are also court type cards which are the High Ace, King, Queen, Gift, and Joker.  These cards all feature keyword meanings on the bottoms of them and have a nice energy flow from one to the next through each suit.  There are also four "family" cards for each suit.  These connect to the basic male or female energies and the elemental energies within each of us.  I kind of look at these cards as relating less to the Major Arcana and more as though they work like some of the shamanistic oracles I've seen.  The total overall effect is one that completely merges the "major" and "minor" energies within the deck and within us all so that the reading is more integrated.
 
I have noticed many times that tarotists, both beginning and more experienced, will often try to find connections between certain Major Arcana cards and Minor Arcana cards.  It's almost as if people are drawn to trying to integrate these together instead of having them separated.  This deck does that for you!
 
The family cards are not the same from one suit to the next.  The Fire Family cards are Fire Matter, Brother Fire, Fire Daughter, and Father Fire.  The Water Family cards are Mother Water, Water Spirit, Sister Water, and Water Son.  The Sky Family are Father Sky, Sky Daughter, Brother Sky, and Sky Spirit.  And the Earth Family are Earth Matter, Mother Earth, Earth Son, and Sister Earth.  So you end up with two fathers, two mothers, two sisters, two brothers, two daughters, two sons, two spirits, and two matters.  It sounds more complicated than it is, because if you try to fit them into a correspondance pattern at all, they rebel; but if you just take them as they are, they work beautifully.
 
The cards themselves are standard in size and are printed on this thin and flexible cardstock which is a real joy to riffle shuffle.  They flex easier than any other deck I've used except the Tarot of the Dead.  I really like this because it means you don't have to worry about creasing the deck when you handle it.  Edges are smoothed nicely and the corners rounded.  The back design is a really pretty design of monochromatic purple.  The design is not reversible but the deck does not use reversals (although you *can* if you so desire) so this is insignificant here.  The little white booklet is fairly substantial and contains a good amount of information, including six original spreads AND an interactive tarot game that can be played with the deck for two or more players.
 
I highly recommend this deck to anyone interested in expanding their horizons and working with a revised structure tarot deck.  It's challenging in a good way and gives clear, yet profound insights in readings.  Even a beginner can get a lot of good work from this deck, although it may spoil them for anything else!
 
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Infinite Tarot Website

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Review Copyright 2000 by Gina M. Pace

Infinite Tarot by Jolynn Kottke and Rachel Ritter, 2000
published by Infinite Tarot, Redway, CA