Chrysalis Tarot

…Chrysalis Tarot opens your psyche
and illuminates your path towards
personal destiny.

~Quote from the box

 

 

 

Title: Chrysalis Tarot

Author: Toney Brooks

Illustrator: Holley Sierra

Publisher: U.S. Games System

 

• Let mother nature transform you, let yourself become transformed.

• The Chrysalis Tarot features 78 beautifully drawn figures and characters, all which tell their story and who are ready to guide you while you transform in whatever it is that you’ve wanted to be. In this tarot deck you will find that the originally suit titles have been renamed. The Pentacles become Stones, The Swords become Scrolls, the Cups become Mirrors, and the Wands become Spirals. The Courts have characters or archetypes. For example, the Page of Wands becomes the Mime, the Queen of Cups becomes the Watcher, and the Queen of Wands becomes the Muse, and so fourth. The popular and legendary mythical characters are incorporated in the Major Arcana, for example, Gaia is the Empress, Kali is the Tower, and the Celtic Owl is the Hanged Man. This tarot deck follows the Rider Waite style closely, but please keep in mind that if you are first starting out to learn and read tarot, and you happen to acquire the Chrysalis Tarot, be sure to study the renamed suits as well as the Major and Minor arcana.

• From the Major Arcana, The Devil card, which is known as Bella Rosa, is absolutely beautiful. In this card, we see a masked maiden who appears to be wearing a porcelain mask and is wearing a headdress that consists of feathers.We wears a Victorian or Renaissance dress and is holding a mirror in one hand and a red rose in the other hand. The devil card denotes detachment which explains why she is holding on tight to the mirror and rose, both are material things that denote vanity.

• A card from the minor arcana which I found odd, yet comical is the 3 of Scrolls (Swords). Here we have a fox who is sniffing three scrolls which lay on the grassy ground and the fox has a tear running down its left eye. The 3 of Scrolls denotes about having your heart broken when revealing a lie or when you’ve been cheated. It seems that this fox is heart broken, that it needs to realize that it needs to learn loss, loss the hunt. Funny, because in the Lenormand deck, the fox denotes being a trickster, learning to trick people. Maybe this fox got its due (lol). 😉

• This is a card which I find very familiar, is The Minstrel (King of Stones). Here stands a man, along with his black and white dog, his faithful companion, playing an instrument. The Minstrel is a man who has a vast amount of knowledge and is someone who is there for you for the good times and the bad times. He may also be a man of wealth who makes a terrific financial adviser. Of course, the King of Pentacles denotes a wealthy man and it can also tell you to learn how to invest your money so you can prosper. Aside from this, here’s a background trivia regarding the The Minstrel. The man in this card is the author of this tarot deck, Toney Brook and the dog illustrated in the card is his pet. How about that!? 😀

• The size of the cards is approximately 5 1/2  inches in height x 3 1/2  inches in width. The card stock quality is fantastic and very durable. They have an absolute glossy and matted touch to them, The print transfer is fantastic as well.

• The box in which the cards come in is decent and does hold the cards well.

• The little white book, which is written by Toney Brooks, contains 60 pages and it has good enough information that explains what the cards mean as well as a background story of the characters in the cards. Though, rumor has it that there is a companion book in developing for this tarot deck.

• The artwork is done by the fantastic Holley Sierra who has made these images so very warm and yet very lucid.

• This is by far a tarot deck which has captivated so many tarot readers and takes on a whole new and different experience. Each card tells you a fantastic story and encourage you to change and to transform into the butterfly that you are. If you are interested int his tarot deck, take a chance on it by clicking here to see what it’s about.

 

© 2010 – 2015 J. R. Rivera
Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.

 

Oracle of Visions (mass market edition)

 

Through lush Victorian, carnival and theatrical images,
the Oracle of Visions deck offers unique perspective
for intuitive and insightful readings.

~Quote from the box

 

Title: Oracle of Visions

Author: Ciro Marchetti

Illustrator: Ciro Marchetti

Publisher: U.S. Games System

• Your vision is clear, see what awaits you.
• The Oracle of Visions presents 52 cards which are just absolutely breath taking, every detail within the illustrations captures your sigh and never lets it go. It is one of the most intuitive oracle decks you will ever work with. The illustrations speak volumes.
• A card that caught my attention and just picked on my mind is card number 20. Here we have a man blind folded by a red cloth. He holds a variety of gold chain which is tied and tangled together. Each chain has a pendulum which represents a religion.  Below the man and chains is an ape evolving into a human. The keywords associated with this card are Faith and Belief. When I saw this card, it gave me the impression that most of us are blinded by religion and much rather believe what we can see, as oppose to what we can not.
• The next card is card number 3. Here sits a female jester with a purple hat who has her eyes closed. All sorts of things float around her. She may not notice it because she is either meditating or concentrating on something else. The keywords associated with this card are, Dreams, Meditation, and Spiritual Escape. When I saw this image, it reminded me of a neighbor who would sit in her porch while wearing her favorite indigo bandana. The woman was under going chemo therapy to treat her cancer with has developed in her stomach. Every time I would watch her, she had her eyes closed and prayed.
• The last card that I found like a riddle (and I will tell you why) is card number 5. In this card we see a ship, birds, and a woman facing and traveling a different direction. The woman holds some sort a lasso that has four flags tied to it. Flight of Fancy, Leap of Faith, and Taking a Next Step. Now, here comes the clue. As you can see, it has an Italian, British, Venezuelan (or Colombian), and American flag. Each flag denotes the four countries which the creator of this oracle deck lived. Ciro was born in Italy, lived in the U.K., lived in South American, and established in the U.S.A. If you ever get a chance to speak to Ciro, tell him about this. 😉
• The back of the cards has a jester inside a circle frame and they are not reversible.
• The size of the cards are a bit bigger than 3 1/2″ inches in height x 5″ inches in width.
• The cards are sturdy enough to shuffle. They are also flexible and they are not that glossy.
• The box is a shoe box type of box which the cards comes in is very sturdy and stores the cards safe.
• The  companion booklet has 140 pages which is written by Ciro Marchetti. the booklet starts of with an eight page Foreword, and after that, it continues with the card meanings. The card meanings is only 2 pages long and includes an image of the card and below it keywords for the cards, then the meaning of the card.
• The artwork is done by internationally acclaimed artist Ciro Marchetti. The medium for the art is CGI (computer generated art) which looks fantastic and no one could ever imagine that it was made via computer.
• This is by far one of the most acclaimed oracle decks of this year. Some of you may not be aware but a few years back, the Oracle of Visions was self published and released in a much larger purple box with a longer companion booklet which features very less pages. Between the self published and mass market edition, not has changed and no images have been replaced or altered. The only thing that is different (other than the box) is that the self published edition has gilded edges while the mass market edition does not, and the cards on the mass market edition feel a bit more sturdier. Regardless, if you want to own the Oracle of Visions (mass market edition), click here!

 

© 2010 – 2015 J. R. Rivera
Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.