Revelations Tarot [Cards]

WHERE I'M COMING FROM
I'm a professional Psychic Tarot & Divinatory Reader. While I don't *need* tools to do a reading, I LOVE tools! :-) Also tools can enhance a reading and since I'm visually (as well as verbally) oriented, I love delving into scrumptious images which enhance the psychic impressions received.

Now I normally avoid sharing my "trade secrets" with people but two things are of issue here: 1. I want the Revelations deck to become a "classic" so I can buy a deck whenever I like as opposed to "stockpiling decks" like I often do (worried about tools going out of print), 2. Zach Wong is a wonderfully *nice* person whom I'm compelled to promote! :-) [I don't know him personally but he always answers my questions in a prompt and pleasant way -- mind you, my questions are about 15 words long -- unlike this review! haha], 3. No one has reviewed this deck on Amazon.ca and I see very few purchases on Amazon.ca compared to other decks.

DECK IMPRESSIONS
Revelations IS the only deck, that I'm aware of, that has reverse images to reflect the reversed Tarot meanings of each card. Imagine getting a reversed card (if you work in both upright and reverse) and just seeing an upside-down image. If you are visual, like me, this is an annoyance because it's difficult (though not impossible) to glean visual information and rather one might go from stored memory to come to the meaning of the reversed card or forget about the card and rely on intuition or psychic impressions instead. However, with the Revelations deck a "brand new image" appears in the reversed position (see example: [...]) to offer additional or differing meaning from the upright position.

The Revelations deck has an abstract surreal quality to it with a lot of fine and enlarged details going on. It can be used both as a reading and meditative deck. The colour usage seems symbolic and I find myself gaining immediate "impressions" from the cards as the hues impart great information. As I lean in and take a closer look, more information is received from both the fine and enlarged shapes and drawings. I have no complaint other than I would like to see the astrological symbols on each card with a longer lasting card stock.

THE DECK TO GET -- For beginner and advanced Taroists
The Revelations Tarot Book Set is THE deck to have in addition to any or all of the original or inspired versions of these classic Tarot decks: Rider-Waite, Thoth, and a Marseilles.

But let's say you only want one deck and would rather use intuition instead of reading a whole bunch of books on what Tarot means -- THIS deck is it. However, instead of it being a lighter version -- how most *you don't need to study Tarot for long* oracle-type decks are -- this deck is intense and both beginner and advanced Taroist will find tremendous value in it.
If the deck wasn't enough, this set comes with a box for the deck (which you can colour or place stickers on -- basically personalize the cardboard box) and a companion book about the cards meanings (a key idea, upright and reversed meanings, image and colour symbology).

THE COMPANION BOOK
However, unlike many books the writing is clear, clean, and sparse. Now some might say sparse is not good but the old adage goes here, "less is more". He says what he needs to say, in a very personable manner, and doesn't fill the book with a lot of fluff. And who needs to read fluff in such a fast paced world?

~

Co-creator, Teacher, Reader, and Author of Psychic Jucy's TarotSeek: Learn How to Read Tarot Cards for Yourself, Volume 1
Coming soon... Psychic Jucy's TarotSeek: Learn How to Read Tarot Cards for Others, Volume 2, and Psychic Jucy's Tarot Card Meanings.

The many decks aren't specifically designed deal with reversals, which is when a card is drawn upside down, changing its meaning. Aside from being absolutely gorgeous cards, the Revelations Tarot is drawn so that the meaning of the upside down card is obvious. My curiosity built after using a traditional deck for awhile, but feeling something was missing, so I caved in to temptation and also bought this deck. Using these cards is an absolute pleasure. Although I felt nothing when I held the cards in the store, once they were unwrapped and held directly in my hand, the energy felt masculine, electric and somewhat spiky. The cards also had a funny herbal smell to them, and on reading the package insert, I assumed this was sage, since it's recommended to rub the cards with it to "cleanse" them. I don't have any sage, but I do have a few bits of rose quartz, so I figured I'd just put one of those in the little storage baggie the cards come with, and call it good.

The cards have a very unique surface texture to them. They feel oily, but when you take your hand away, there is nothing on your fingers. They are quite slick when you shuffle them, and they spread out almost like they are frictionless. Despite being so different, I get pretty much the same answers to similar questions as I got with the traditional deck, frequently drawing the equivalent cards. The companion book is also very good. It doesn't inundate you with tonnes of information, it just tells you what you need to know to interpret each card, and I like some of the shifts in meaning that come with this deck, as it seems to make the interpretations more flexible, depending on the question asked. You also get a lot more "information" as the content in terms of colours and symbols is pretty much doubled in comparison to every other deck out there. One thing I really liked is that the Major Arcana are numbered, so that you can easily put them in order if that's how you choose to store the deck, and it makes it really easy to find the corresponding interpretation in the book if you can't remember the order of the cards. There are also two extra reference cards included to help you lay out common spreads and determine which card is supposed to convey meaning related to which subject.

First, let me set the tone for this review: I am a beginner, having only been studying tarot for just under two years. Previous to my purchase of the Revelations tarot, I had experience only with the Rider-Waite deck. The prospect of multiple images on one card for reversed and natural positions attracted me to the deck inititally, but after using this deck and learning from the companion book, I love this tarot as much, if not more, than my original R-W. The images are vibrant and provocative--a help to both experienced and novice tarot readers. This was an excellent fit for me and I would recommend the deck to anyone.

Enjoy.