Paulina Tarot

I just received the Paulina Tarot deck in the mail today. As usual, I couldn't wait to open it and start shuffling. I'd already spent quite some time on Paulina Cassidy's website: The Art of Paulina Cassidy, so I had some idea of what to expect from the artwork. This deck has been out for a while; it made the #2 spot on the top 10 most popular decks of 2009 on the Aeclectic tarot site. I'm not sure why I bypassed it for so long.

Honestly, I think it was the name of the deck itself that might have failed to pique my interest. It just didn't sound like it was "about" anything; all I knew was that it was created by someone named Paulina.

But then I started looking at her artwork online, and I was smitten.

 

I'm really blown away by her attention to detail, her use of muted colors, and the fact that she didn't take the easy way out and create any simplified cards for the minor arcana. Each of the 78 cards could stand on its own as a masterpiece. 

Drawing on time she spent in New Orleans, Paulina borrowed the flavors of Mardi Gras and the Victorian costume era as her inspiration for the "aesthetic feel" of the deck. As such, there's nothing really "deep" about this deck, as there is with some others. The charm of this deck, to me, lies in its subtlety, elegance, and just pure "beauty." I can tell she even put a lot of thought into choosing the typeface for the cards. 

Though I do like the size of this deck for its ease in shuffling, I happen to think the artwork would have been more ideally suited to over-sized deck dimensions, similar to the Druid Craft Tarot, for example. There is just so much detail on these cards, I'd have loved to see them in a larger format. True, Paulina does offer print renditions of the cards, but you can't shuffle those...it's just not the same.

I also like the fact that Paulina used the Rider Waite deck as her reference for the line-up of the cards, suit names, and general meanings. There's nothing complicated about this deck, which makes it easy to get acquainted with quickly. I'm already building a rapport with it after owning it for only a couple hours.

Double thumbs-up to you, Paulina. Sorry I passed you by for so long. Really, it was just the name. I see you have a title for your upcoming deck: The Joie De Vivre Tarot. See now that title caught my interest right away. I'm on the edge of my seat already...just waiting for it...

Ciro Marchetti: A Favorite Tarot Creator

I'd be remiss if I didn't cover the works of Ciro Marchetti on the "opening night" of my tarot blog debut. He's truly one of the greats in the World of Tarot. He's got three decks out to date, and I've got all three of them. (Once I bought the first one--The Gilded Tarot--I was hooked.) His images come alive; there's so much depth to each card. It's no wonder Ciro's doing a rockin' business merchandising his individual cards as prints and on special wooden boxes. (I'm salivating over those too, but have yet to purchase one.)

If Ciro himself were a tarot card, I'd say he's the Emperor--everything he touches turns to gold. Or maybe he's the Magician. He sure knows how to "work his magic."

I'd be hard-pressed to pick a favorite deck among the three. All of them are amazing.

Here's an image of the Tarot of Dreams deck.

Legacy of the Divine Tarot

Ciro's presently at work on a 52-card oracle deck, aptly named "Oracle of Visions." Scope out the work in progress. 

Judging by the 30 images he's got up right now on his site, the new oracle deck promises to be stunning. I sure wish he'd include some meanings on his site for the finished cards. I'm dying of curiosity.

I don't typically purchase oracle decks. I much prefer traditional tarot decks to oracles, but I predict I'll be making an exception for Ciro's oracle. Those images are just too compelling to resist.