A King’s Journey Tarot (Borderless Edition)

The deck reveals the story of a young
boy and his journey towards
being king of his own kingdom.
~Quote from the back of the box

Title: A King’s Journey Tarot (Bordered Edition)

Author: Chanel Bayless

Illustrator: James Battersby

Publisher: Self-Published

• A young boy is off on a journey to be a great king, follow him!

• This edition of the A King’s Journey Tarot features 78 beautifully illustrated tarot cards. The colors on the cards are bold, and yet soft. Each card tells a story about a King’s Journey. For those of your who are unfamiliar, this tarot deck is the second and re-mastered edition from the previous version that contained 94 cards and was designed by Chanel Bayless.

• From the major arcana, I found the Death card to be just about down to earth as anything. In this card, there are four people who are mourning the death of a loved one. Two men, what appears to be a knight and a priest, are carrying the body that is wrapped in a purple cloth, ready to place it in the ground. Two women stand by each other mourning their loss. If you look closely at the card, you can see its boney arms popping out!

• Another card that I found very interesting and that takes a new approach to its interpretation, is the 8 of Cups. Traditionally in this card we see a man walking away from something/someone, leaving behind 8 Cups. Well, in this card and in a pond, we see 5 cups lined up and 3 floating in on the side. A man has hopped and skipped the 5 cups that are lined up and has made his way to a small piece of land. Very interesting card.

• The last card, 10 of Swords, is probably my favorite card from the whole deck. Here we see a man who has been stabbed by 10 swords on his back. The swords have pierced through and have left him pinned to a wooden cross. If you look closely, from each wound that the man has a sword stabbed into him, he bleeds the color of his chakra! I’m love this concept.

• The backs of the cards are reversible and the illustration is what appear to be grey stones and a stone cross that are plastered onto a grey cement wall.

• The texture of the cards soft and flexible. The sizes of the cards are approximately 5” by 3”. The texture of the cards allows for the deck to withstand several shuffles. The textures of the cards are not ridged.

• This tarot deck does not come in a tarot box. It comes wrapped in paper that protects the cards and included there is a beautiful purple organza bag where the deck can be placed.

• There is no companion book(let) for this tarot deck. Instead, there is a pamphlet with the meanings of the cards that’s written by James Battersby.

• James Battersby does the Illustrations for this tarot deck. The illustrations are done by hand and colored in by a blend of color pencils and markers.

• I recall seeing a previous edition of this tarot deck and wanted to own a copy, but I was too late since it was long gone been out of print. When I heard that James was working on a reboot of the Kings Journey Tarot, I was interested in seeing what it was all about. As I started to see progress illustrations that he’d post on Facebook, I had got to have it! Yes, there are borders for this tarot deck, but the borders are hardly visible (at least to me). Looking closely at the borders, they are done with taste and style. They do no interrupt the illustration whatsoever, and the borders are decorated. When you order your copy of this tarot deck, you will get several goodies. For example, you will get the deck, the pamphlet where the meanings are included, an organza bag to place your deck in, and a key chain. Though this tarot deck does not include a companion book, the illustrations are close to the Rider Waite system, so for those who read with the Rider Waite, reading with this deck will not be a hassle. If you are interested in buying your own copy, click here!

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