Visions and Dreams
Divine Deck
created by Linda Sue and Donna McCrary-McCusker
 
This deck is not a tarot deck but is an independently published, spiritually empowered meditation deck.  One of the most amazing things about this deck is that the paintings from which the deck has been created were painted over thirty years ago, by a woman whose husband received word from God that his wife was going to begin painting a series of spiritual images.  He was given a date that she would start painting.  She didn't believe it would come to pass, but around the date he had been told, she began painting the images.  After her death in 1963, these paintings were all put away in safe storage and have been brought back out now to be used for this deck.
 
There is a funny story of synchronicity that involves my relationship with this deck.  I received this deck several months ago with the intention of doing a review of it at that time.  However, before I could get to it, issues in my personal life prevented me from reviewing it, and the deck got put aside along with all the other work I had planned to do.  Just a couple of days ago, I received a strange phone call from an unknown store client, who wanted me to "look into something she'd heard about" involving a book or something with a woman who had done these paintings of Jesus.  The way the story went, Jesus appeared to the woman's husband and told him that his wife would begin a series of paintings of Jesus that would become famous, and the wife denied it, she said she didn't believe in Jesus and she wasn't even an artist.  Well, the woman did end up channeling Jesus and painted the images.  That call was almost forgotten until just now when I opened this deck up and here is the same basic story!
 
The images of this deck have a strangely compelling and evocative draw to them that is almost inexplicable.  The paintings themselves have a primitive power to them.  While the deck is meant to be used one card at a time, or a few cards at a time, I have found that if you look through the entire deck slowly but all in one sitting, you will get a fascinating glimpse into the visions of the painter.  One thing I found initially irritating, but upon further meditation, compelling, was the fact that so many of the cards, while being obviously different paintings, are of essentially the same image or ideal.  Recurrent themes appear over and over throughout the deck.  Another thing that I didn't care for at first was that in most of the paintings, the group of people who are the focal point all seem to be looking in the same direction.  Not just in the same direction as the rest of the group, but all the people in all the cards are all looking at the same thing.  It makes me want to know what they are seeing.
 
The cards have no titles or numbers, there is no assigned value to each one.  Instead, the image area takes up the entire card face.  The back of each card contains a spiritually enlightening meditation which goes with the painting on the front.  There are 45 cards altogether, plus the title card.  The cards are printed on a somewhat stiff and heavy cardstock which will stand up to years of use, although shuffling is stiff in the beginning.  The cards are coated on the front only.  There is no back design since this is where the meditation is.
 
Since this is not a tarot deck, there are no Major or Minor Arcana, no court cards or suits.  The deck comes boxed with a folded paper sheet which tells the story of how the cards came to be, and explains their use.  There is nothing in the paper which explains meanings of the individual cards, since their respective meditations are provided right on each card.  The rest of the meaning is drawn from your personal synthesis of the cards' images' into your own experience.
 
Anyone who is looking for a deck which will spiritually move them should check this deck out.  The cards are multicultural which will appeal to a wide audience.  They are available from the creators on ebay frequently, which is where I originally saw them myself.  They can also be purchased on the author's website, which is Tarot Place.  The site also contains daily horoscopes, bios, information galore and offers some of the original artwork for sale from this deck.
 
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also see
Tarot Place
 
Review Copyright 1999 by Gina M. Pace
 
Visions and Dreams Divine Deck by Linda Sue and Donna McCrary-McCusker
published by Medicine Bear Publishing
ISBN 1-891850-02-4