Scans of the Dark Fairytale Tarot, Part 2

As promised, here are some scans of what I personally consider to be the “not-so-nice” cards from the Dark Fairytale Tarot – or, in the case of the 10 of Wands below, “nice-but-what-does-that-have-to-do-with-anything”. (Plus a scan of the card back, which I like, but I thought you might like to see it.)

For some nicer cards, see this post.

Let me know what you think…

Right, who wants one?

Five reasons you might like to buy it:

1. You don’t currently own a book called “The Tarot Playbook: 78 Novel Ways to Connect with Your Cards” so it would nicely fill that gap on your bookshelf.

2. You have been told by your significant other than if you buy one more tarot deck they will cut up your credit cards. But they didn’t say “tarot book”.

3. You are not interested in the book at all, but have heard it contains 78 different sized images that form a wholly unusable tarot deck when cut out (it does).

4. You can no longer take the plaintive cries coming from the decks that you’ve left neglected under your bed and you think this book might help (it will).

5. You haven’t bought anything else yet today.

Now in stock at Tarot Chest.

Scans of the Dark Fairytale Tarot, Part 1

So I’ve got my hands on a copy of the Dark Fairytale Tarot, which should be in stock at Tarot Chest in a couple of weeks. I’ve been looking forward to this deck – from the (very) few images I’d seen I hoped it might be eerily enchanting. But when I opened it, to be honest, I was disappointed. In fact, my exact tweet was:

“Shiny fronts matt backs, digital photo-realistic montage, overblown special effects, beautiful young women looking pensive in various poses.”

However….I have been giving it another look and am starting to appreciate it more. I think the main problem was the huge difference between my expectations of what it was and the reality of what it actually is. But, in fairness, what it actually is isn’t all that bad.

For example, here are the scans I’ve just uploaded to the store. I chose cards that I thought looked nice but also tried to choose ones that are representative of the deck as a whole and that also WORK as tarot cards (very important that).

  

  

I’ve noticed also that the cards look nicer when I’m not looking at them too closely and when there’s lots of them together, as there would be in a spread. So perhaps all is not lost.

Next, I’ll post some scans of what I consider to be the not-so-nice cards. But, tell me, what do you think of it so far??

 

P.S. I think my scanner needs dusting…

The Ultimate in Window Shopping

What’s the one thing people want to see when trying to decide whether to buy a tarot deck?

MORE PICTURES!!!

Well, how about All the Pictures in the World Ever?

We’ve just added a feature to Tarot Chest which means you can go from this:

to this:

in just one click!

It’s amazing the difference it makes. Yes, it’s just a Google image search but we’ve done the tiresome [Open new window – navigate to Google – type in search terms – hit Enter] bit for you, making it easier and quicker to find what you like – and dismiss what you don’t.

Now, it won’t always work perfectly. If the deck has a generic name (Psychic Tarot) or has a similar name to another deck (meaning it’s about vampires or fairytales) then you’re going to get a mixed bag of search results. But quite frankly, that’s Google’s fault. They should really sort that out. 😉

Why don’t you give it a try?

Today’s Journey Tarot

I’ve been wanting to take a look at the Today’s Journey Tarot for a while. From the card scans I’d seen, the deck seemed to have a refreshing take on the traditional meanings, along with an intriguing artwork style, yet no one was really talking about it. Could this be one of tarot’s hidden gems?

Vital Statistics
Created by Expanding Dimensions
Published by Schiffer, Autumn 2011
78 cards in hinge-opening box with magnetic closure
96-page card sized guidebook, in English

Other Stuff You Might Want to Know
Cards measure 7.3 x 12.4 cm
All Major Arcana cards have been renamed
Suits are Fire (Wands), Water (Cups), Air (Swords), and Earth (Pentacles)
Court cards are Child (Page), Youth (Knight), Mother (Queen), Father (King)

 

 

 

Video review coming soon!

Order the Today’s Journey Tarot from Tarot Chest

Tarot Chest is now on Twitter!

I like to be fashionably late. 😉

This has replaced the old-fashioned, clunky, and non-socially-networked news section on the website.

Follow @tarotchest and we’ll find out together if I have anything interesting to say.

Cats!

Cats! That’s what popped into my head today. Why are there so many cat-themed tarot decks? It’s one of life’s great mysteries. At Tarot Chest there are five. (Brainiacs among you will have noticed that clicking that link yields eight decks in the search results. Just because a deck’s got cats in it, doesn’t mean it’s cat-themed. Halloween Tarot, I’m looking at you.)

This got me thinking about other animal-themed tarots. It didn’t get me thinking for very long though, as I could only think of two: the Ferret Tarot and Parrot Tarot (and I’m pretty sure that second one doesn’t actually have anything to do with parrots).

Given the infinite variety of fauna on our little planet, surely there should be more animal-themed decks. Why no Giraffe Tarot? Or a Tarot of the Duck-Billed Platypi? Wherefore art thou, Chicken Tarot? (I’d like an Orangutan Tarot please, if any orangutan-painting artist is listening. I’ll write the LWB…)

That’s said, I’m sure there are many more animal tarot decks than I know about. How many can you name? I’m off now to Google it.

New Lower Prices!

I’ve been busy the last couple of days dropping prices around the store. What can I say, I clearly have too much time on my hands… 😉

Check out the AGMuller and US Games categories to see the new-improved prices. Many decks are now £13.99, £12.99, or even less.

And while we’re on the subject of prices, did you know…?

1) My virtual assistant Bilbo discounts a couple of items every night at midnight, at least one of which is always a tarot deck. The size of the discount depends on Bilbo’s mood and varies between 5 and 20% so it’s possible to catch some really good deals just by watching Bilbo like a hawk (you’ll find his “today only offers” on the homepage). Many a time I’ve winced in pain upon seeing what he’s done.

2) Tarot Chest offers a price matching service. On every product page there’s a link that says “Found it cheaper, click here…”. Click that to tell me about so-and-so who’s selling the Tarot of Impossible Margins for £4.86 and I will do my best to match their price. Or I’ll tell you I can’t match it, but at least then we’ll get to chat (and then you’ll realise what a lovely person I am and decide that you’d rather buy it from me anyway, mwa-ha-ha, not really but you know, one must try).

Hmm…this post needs a picture. Here is the 6 of Pentacles from the Aquarian Tarot, subtitle “The Shopkeeper”.

Something for the wishlist…

I’ve just added some, quite frankly, mouth-watering new decks to the store for pre-order. I know, I know, “pre-order” blah. Why can’t we have them now?! I stomp my feet in sympathy with you, I really do. Even though I am spending a year with the Haindl, I did emit a few oohs and a couple of aahs as I looked through the sample card images. But they will be here soon and as we know, all good things come to those who wait, patience is a virtue, and a watched tarot deck never boils.

They are due for release here in the UK in December. When in December exactly, I don’t know. And it could be sooner – the Gaian snuck in several weeks earlier than expected – so it just depends which way the wind is blowing. West to east is good.

If any of these tickle your fancy or any other part of you, click on through to Tarot Chest where you can salivate to your heart’s delight. You can also, when you’ve finished salivating, pre-order or add an alert to be notified when they’re in stock. Or, now here’s a thought, you can add one or more or all of them to your wishlist so some kind soul can buy them for you. Well, giving IS better than receiving so you’ll really be doing THEM a favour.

Cat's Eye Tarot

Crystal Visions Tarot

 

Joie de Vivre Tarot

 

Woodland Wisdom Oracle Cards

Tea Leaf Fortune Cards

 

Halloween!

I’m quite excited about Halloween this year. It’s not usually a big thing for us but we’ve moved to a new house and our little girl is old enough now to join in, so we’re going to dress up and carve pumpkins and do the whole Halloween thang. Our house has an unusually high number of spiders in residence anyway (big ones!), so we won’t have to decorate much…

I’ve also been thinking about doing a special Halloween reading. Obviously, this year I’m committed to the Haindl, but I don’t see why I can’t have a little fun with it. I’m thinking about trying out this spread that I came up with a long time ago but never got round to using.

What about you? Do you have any Halloween tarot rituals? What’s your favourite deck or spread to use at Halloween?

(Click the Ace of Pumpkins to see a range of fun and friendly decks for Halloween, all with 10% off!)