Well, this deck was a real eye-opener.  Literally.  See, a lot of people over the years have said they didn't like this tarot deck.  Its imagery is strong, they said.  It's ugly, they said.  Well, upon reviewing the deck for the page, I want to say that I can see where they thought it was ugly.  It's not a pretty deck.  It's not for the faint-of-heart, that's for sure.  You would NOT use this deck to read for your mother.

However, the strong symbolism in this deck is strangely evocative.  There are a lot of archetypal figures appearing in these cards, from cultures around the world, figures such as Kali and Baal.  American culture is very soft-hearted when it comes to deities and so what a lot of us find ugly and offensive is just simply accepted as a fact of life in other cultures.

This deck has as its strengths the Minor Arcana.  Ironically, it is the Major Arcana which seem to be most like the Rider-Waite in symbolism, while the Minor Arcana have been totally redeveloped to bring out the best of their
meanings through cultural reinterpretation.

The suits are the traditional Wands, Swords, Cups and Pentacles.  The cards themselves are the small sized deck like the Hanson-Roberts, easy to handle for smaller hands and easy to shuffle as well.  Keywords are included on each card to indicate the meaning, as well as the titles, and all are provided in five languages for anyone to be able to understand.

This deck is highly recommended for witches to use for personal readings, though I wouldn't use it publicly.

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Review Copyright 1998 by Gina M. Pace