It’s a pretty poorly kept secret by now that I’m a total deck fiend. I managed to keep it  in check for a long time, but after I started writing the Daily Tarot, I have an excellent excuse to indulge myself more often.  Even so, I do try to make considered choices, and The Psychic Tarot Oracle Deck by medium John Holland is one I looked over a few times before I purchased it.

I mean, yes, the artwork is very nice. That’s always the first thing I look for in any deck: is the artwork engaging and communicative? The more the art speaks to me, the better readings I’ll be able to do with the deck. This one passed the artwork test easily. But it bothered me some it is a “Tarot Oracle” instead of a standard 78-card deck. I like oracle decks as well, but figured a combination of the two means it may do neither well. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to get. Make up your mind about who you want to be, eh?

What I got is a slightly simplified, non-traditional Tarot deck with the charkas thrown in. The cards themselves are sort of “Tarot Light.” For the most part, you’ll find at least elements of the cards or their meanings recognizable. Some bear significant resemblances to their traditional brethren, some less so;  there’s a word or phrase underneath each image as an overview.  While the astrological associations are inherent in some cards’ meanings, no special indication is cited.   For example, the Devil (Saturn) is “Temptation” here. The High Priestess (Moon) is “Intuition” and Justice (Libra) is “Balance.”

The author uses suits of Sprit/Red Border (Fire/Wands), Physical/Violet Border (Earth/Pentacles), Emotions/Green Border (Water/Cups), and Mental/Indigo Border (Air/Swords). Majors are bordered in black. The color choices for borders of each suit confused me at first. I suspect he was looking to link the colors to charkas, especially given he’s also added cards for each of the seven chakras. Essentially, this deck is somewhat geared to teach the author’s process for reading. That’s not necessarily bad—studying different methods is a useful practice. But if you’re only interested in more traditional Tarot work, turning over a Chakra card may prove annoying.

What is NOT included is the court cards or, oddly enough, the tens of each suit. No explanation of the rationalization.  There is an included guide that’s somewhere in between Little White Book and full size companion book status; enough to explain the card meanings with black and white images and provide the obligatory “this is how you read the cards” stuff.  The author suggests this deck isn’t intended to make use of inverted cards.  Suggested interpretations were okay, but felt like too much handholding for my tastes.

The cards are slightly oversized—not enough to make them difficult for me to hold, but if you have small hands, you may find them awkward. I like oversized decks sometimes, because they feel good to manipulate and are easy to examine in detail. The edges have a beautiful, gilded gold finish and the stock is good quality.  The cards in my new deck stuck together some, no doubt because of the gold edges. So go through and make sure there aren’t any hiding. I found unsticking them is a reasonable price to pay for the extra sparkle, though. I love me some sparkle!

This would make a nice change-of-perspective deck when you’re feeling a subject has become stale with your go-to deck. It could also be a nice study deck, either for someone new to reading (and not ready to tackle the courts yet), or anyone who would just like to see some old friends in a new light.  That’s how I’ll often be using it. One of the reasons I enjoy working with different decks is the perspective and nuance each offers because it leaks into your work with other decks as well, making all of your readings richer.

A random sampling of cards below–click on the image for a larger version.

Y’all like this deck? Anybody have it?

The Psychic Tarot Oracle Cards: a 65-Card Deck, plus booklet! by John Holland

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