My Tarot: Colour Your Own Deck [Paperback]

"There is no better way to establish a relationship with the tarot cards than to create your own deck! Take each of these `outline' cards, let your imagination influence your feelings, and colour in the image. Record your impressions in the booklet and you will soon have a deck in which each card feels like a personal friend."-- From the publisher

The classic Sharman-Caselli Tarot deck features animated scenes in the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition, with beautiful coloration and accessible imagery. With the My Tarot: Colour Your Own Deck, you get to try your hand at personalizing this beloved deck!

My Tarot consists of 78 white cards with black outlines drawn by Giovanni Caselli, as well as eight color pencils and a 95-page companion booklet. A brief introduction to Tarot and color theory is provided in the booklet, and there are coloring exercises and an explanation of imagery for each card. There are also several lines for recording your impressions and keywords for each image.

I was intrigued with the idea of coloring a deck, but I admit to being disappointed with My Tarot. For one thing, the Tarot Workbook by Juliet Sharman-Burke accomplishes what this deck attempts to, and that is connecting with the cards on a personal level, including the use of color and self-created meanings and keywords. The information in the My Tarot companion book is distilled tidbits that are directly from the Tarot Workbook.

In addition, the images in the Tarot Workbook are larger and easier to color because the bordering and card title has been removed. There is also more room for journaling in the Tarot Workbook. The pencils that come with My Tarot are less than 3  inches long, making it quite difficult to color the intricate outlines.

If you love the Sharman-Caselli deck and want to color your own version, then you'll likely enjoy My Tarot. However, if you want to familiarize yourself with Tarot imagery and create your own meanings--as well as journal about symbols and color-- then you'd likely prefer the Tarot Workbook by the same author instead.

(To see 9 card images from this deck, visit the Reviews--Decks section at [...])

I really like the whole concept of the My Tarot. The Images are printed on nice quality stock paper that is not too flimsy nor too thick. I plan to laminate each card when I am finished with the drawings. The colour pencils are not very good but I knew that before I bought this deck. I will give them away and use the higher quality pencils I have to do my art work with. I will also have more of a variety of colors. Not just the 8 that came with the deck. The Colour Your Own Deck Booklet that comes with it is a little too small for me to write in and work with but I'm going to give it my best shot. I already broke the back on it so it lays out flat making it easier to read and write in. Each card has it's own page describing the image on the card and a colouring exercise. For instance. The Sun. Coloring exercise. Think of situations that conjure up positive feelings, such as successes or victories. Consider the difference in how you're feeling as you colour this image compared to working on the moon. It also has a spot after each exercise for you to write down your thoughts on the image. And for keywords pertaining to your drawing and the date you coloured it. The introduction is quite helpful too. Such topics as Why personalize a deck, What colours mean, Colour and meditate, Choosing a colour and learn more about yourself. It also goes into explaining the Tarot. A little book but full of info!!
I know I'm going to enjoy this and am glad I made the purchase.

My Tarot is an uncolored version of the Sharman-Caselli Tarot. The concept behind this deck is interesting. Basically, you get a line drawing version of the Sharman-Caselli Tarot for you to color. But beware, I quickly found out that I would rather keep them devoid of color than attemting do any better or different than the original Sharman-Caselli Tarot artwork. This deck is also included as part of a kit, The Complete Tarot Pack.

In the creation of the Sharman-Caselli Tarot, Juliet Sharman-Burke and Giovanni Caselli combined the best features of the popular Rider-Waite Tarot, and elements of classic decks such as the Visconti-Sforza Tarot and Marseilles Tarot. The result is a fully illustrated tarot deck that is accessible to everyone, and a must-have for Tarot collectors.

Since the Visconti-Sforza Tarot and Marseilles Tarot lack illustrated numbered cards in the Minor Arcana, the Sharman-Caselli Tarot draws inspiration only from the Rider-Waite Tarot on this area. However, the Major Arcana draw inspiration from both tarots, although most of these cards imagery leans toward the Rider-Waite Tarot. There are a few exceptions. The Wheel of Fortune shows a wheel with four people at the top, bottom and sides and a blind-folded women in its center, definitely drawing inspiration from the Visconti-Sforza Tarot, while The Lovers shows a finely dressed man deciding between two women with cupid floating over his head, an imagery more akin to the Marseilles Tarot.

Another interesting fact about the Major Arcana is that they are deprived of numbers. This is another nod toward older tarot decks such as the Visconti-Sforza Tarot. In this way, Sharman-Burke was able to reorder the Major Arcana to make the Fool's story of psychological development easier to follow. Pay careful attention to the order of the Major Arcana when you open the Sharman-Caselli Tarot and you will find the following ordering: The Fool, The Magician, The Empress, The Emperor, The High Priestess, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Justice, Temperance, Strength, The Hermit, The Wheel of Fortune, The Hanged Man, Death, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, and The World.

Other tarot decks by Juliet Sharman-Burke:
The Complete Tarot Pack
The Sharman-Caselli Tarot Deck
The Mythic Tarot
The New Mythic Tarot