Publication Facts and Rating (0 to 5 stars) "At-a-Glance"

Publisher: Brush Creek Media, Inc. (San Francisco, CA)
Publication Year: 1994
Number of cards: 22
Quality of artwork -- 2 stars
Usefulness for meditation/pathworking -- 1 stars
Readability (Divination) -- 1 star
Symbology -- 2 1/2 stars
Value to Collectors -- 3 1/2 stars

General Commentary
WARNING: The "Uraniun" tarot is NOT a deck for everyone. By this, I don't simply mean that it won't be to everyone's liking. In trying to empathize with how different people might view this tarot, I imagined two distinct groups of reactions: in one group, there are people who describe this deck as "original," "daring," and "avant-garde;" in the other group are people who feel that the Uraniun is "shocking," "tasteless," and "highly offensive."

Whether or not my mental flight of fancy actually captures what people might actually say about this deck, one thing is for certain: there's no other tarot quite like it. In order to understand more about these cards, so that you may make your own assessment, a little background information is in order:

The "Uraniun" was published in 1994 as part of a special limited-edition issue of the magazine "Powerplay" (vol. 2, no. 5). I can't tell you anything more about this magazine than what I know from the issue containing the cards. But what I CAN tell you should be enough for you to "get the picture." In brief, this is a gay pornography magazine (or, to be more "politically correct," an "underground journal of alternative sexual practices"). What this means is that if you are offended by materials containing nudity, graphic sexual images, and/or references to homosexuality, then this deck will NOT be of interest to you, and you should probably stop reading this review right now and go take a look at something less controversial (as a "free service" of this review, you can hop over to Wicce's review of the very innocent and pleasant "Hello Tarot" by clicking here).

Are you still reading? Okay. Here, then, are the details about this... unique... tarot. The cards are printed on heavy card stock, and constitute a "center pullout" from the magazine. There are four cards to a sheet, which are perforated in such a way that they appear as though they would be easy to "punch out" and separate. You'll find all 22 majors here, plus a title card with some information about the deck on the back and another card with some suggested usage instructions (6 sheets x 4 cards per sheet = 24 cards).

The Uraniun is a collage deck which uses a combination of drawn illustrations and photographs. The pictures themselves take up roughly three-fifths of each card, with the rest of the space being devoted to a rather generous border, plus large-type roman numerals, card titles, an astrological association, and what I would interpret to be a "reading keyword." For example, the "Emperor" card shows the roman numeral IV, with the card title underneath, the word "Aries" in the lower left-hand corner, and the word "Initiates" in the lower right-hand corner.

The images themselves range from humorous to "scandalous." At the "humorous" end of the scale, card XXII ("The World") shows dancers from the Ballet Trocadero gavotting in front of a global map. At the other end of the spectrum, we find card XIV ("Temperance"), which depicts a man mastrubating in front of the very Christian images of an angel and a monk (the latter appears to be Saint Frances of Assisi). The back of each card contains a brief description of the card's primary imagery, and a sort of "thought for the day;" again, the tone of the text runs the gamut from funny (if you're not offended by this sort of thing) to outrageous. For those brave enough to want to know more about the prose of the Uraniun, a link to scans of the "text side" of two sample cards (and the corresponding front image) is provided at the end of this review.

Could someone actually do a reading with these cards? Or do they provide good tools for meditation? For the vast majority of tarotists out there, I would guess "no" with relative confidence. But then again, these cards were obviously intended for a specific audience. I can't even begin to guess if that audience would find these cards useful for anything more than a few moments of amusement. However, it seems as though the creators of this deck intended it to be used, and not just perused: the words "a Daily Personal Tarot Deck" appear below the deck name on the title card.

Equally perplexing is the question of whether these cards could be considered truly "collectible." There's no question that they are unusual, unique, and almost certainly "rare." But given the nature of the subject matter, a lot of folks would probably be hesitant to add the Uraniun to their collections, even if given the opportunity. In my case, I do not want to remove the cards from the magazine... but that means that I feel doubly compelled to keep this particular tarot "out of reach" of my two very young children.

If anyone is interested in obtaining a copy of these cards, my only suggestion is to write the publisher. I have no idea if the "Powerplay" magazine is still published, if back issues are available, or if the publisher is even still in business. But for what it's worth, here's the contact address that is listed in the magazine: Brush Creek Media Inc., 2215R Market St. #148, San Francisco, CA 94114.

There is much more that could be said about the Uraniun tarot, but perhaps it is time to let the cards speak for themselves. While it might have been possible for me to provide Wicce with a half-dozen samples that would be minimally offensive at best, I have elected to include a few of the more graphically sexual cards in order to give an accurate feel for the composition of this deck. Persons under 18, and those who are offended by graphic sexual imagery, should not view these scans.

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Guest review copyright 2000 by Jeannette Roth
Used with permission