Today, to usher in the beginning of Fall on this side of the world, I’m rehashing an old blog post from 2018! September and October are mine and Tim’s favourite months. They have such a unique feeling, not to mention the weather and natural landscapes are so beautiful.

Around this time, I also engage with my practice a little differently, and as such, tend to use different decks. In this post, I’ll be sharing decks from our personal collection that I love to use this time of year; ones that have a bit of a dark, spooky or shadowy vibe.

We don’t do a huge number of deck spotlights on this site, however I couldn’t not write about the final deck in the Wild Unknown Series, Alchemy, by visionary artist Kim Krans.

And even though we’ll be talking about the deck at length, I wouldn’t regard this article as a review in any way. These will be mine and Tim’s personal thoughts, ideas on how we plan to work with the cards, and any stirrings that come from our initial impressions. We are huge fans of The Wild Unknown series and regard both the Archetypes and Animal Spirit oracle as some of our most loved and most used decks. When we caught wind of this newest installation, we were extremely excited to get our hands on it, and even more thrilled that it overtly tackles alchemy; a subject that underpins much of our work, conversations and contemplations, especially as of late.

If you haven’t already heard about the upcoming Threads of Fate oracle deck (live on kickstarter April 25th), let me be the first to tell you about it. Before I dive in though, please note that I received the cards I’m about to share so that I could spread the word and offer my thoughts. With that being said, everything I’m about to touch on is a true and authentic reflection of my opinion. Also, I don't typically agree to receive something that I suspect I wouldn't like...so there is also that. Back to business now...

The Threads of Fate is the brainchild of Blaire and Brit and while the aesthetic is pretty specific, I would wager if you’re a fan of the Starchild tarot, you’ll be drawn to this deck as well. And even better, if you have the Starchild tarot, I could see this as being a beautiful compliment to any readings performed with it. So, needless to say, there are some spacey similarities, but what the The Threads of Fate does for me anyway, is bring it back full circle. As above; so below - and as much as there are some of those ethereal or otherworldly imagery and vibes, there is also a lot here that is rooted is Earth. Actually, elements play a large role in the underpinning of many of the cards, and I think intuitively working with them, you’ll be able to determine what card occupies which space without so much as referencing the intended meanings.

If you've been in the tarot world for awhile, and unless you've been living under a rock, you've undoubtedly stumbled upon a widely known and regarded deck called The Enchanted Tarot, illustrated by Amy Zerner and written by Monte Farber. Now I don't mean you've owned it or even worked with it, but you've probably come across some of its images in your travels at one point or another. 

It's now been 25 years since its initial release and to commemorate, the deck has been repackaged with a few tweaks to breath it new life. I'm in the camp that certainly knew of this deck and had seen it through the years, but never actually worked with it. So when I came into the opportunity to receive it for prospective review, I was thrilled to dive into without any prior knowledge and to provide, truly, my first impressions of this modern classic.

I'm lucky enough to be able to write this blog post because that means I've got my hands on the prototype of a brand new tarot deck by designer Arthur Wang; True Black Tarot. It's currently being funded on Kickstarter so if it calls to you, make sure to check out the campaign!

Because I'm working with a prototype, I can't tell you how a full deck reads, but I can give you my initial impressions on what I've been able to sample. Visually, it's nothing short of stunning - but that's just on first glance. They say the Devil is in the details and if that's the case then Satan himself must have a hand in this project. Everything has been done with such care and quality, and the more you look at each card, the more you see, but there is more here than just design. The cards themselves are crafted with very thick stock using enhancements that allow some details to seemingly shimmer and glow. There are no borders (often a preference for us readers) and the edges are hand-painted black - yes, hand-painted. I'm obsessed - and I think you will be to. I mean, just LOOK AT THEM!

It never ceases to amaze me the projects that pop up on Kickstarter, and it seems that this really is the go to method to get an indie deck published these days. I can certainly see the appeal of wanting to test a market before putting something to print. In addition, raising extra money in theory will help you up the quality and features of said product, so that's a nice added bonus for the campaigns that get that far. 

The Lost Tarot is another such deck that's hit my radar and that really instantly appealed to my sense of aesthetics. It is both rich in design and story and appears to leave no detail unturned. To give you an idea, after the cut is the image of the world and the card backs which I absolutely love - look at that gold!

Deck Information: Zombie Tarot by Stacey Graham and Paul Kepple as published by Quirk Books, 2012.

The Zombie Tarot is the brainchild (yup, I kinda punned) of Stacey Graham (writer and professional tarot reader), illustrator Paul Kepple and publisher Quirk Books. I decided I needed this deck after having it continually pop-up for me during my regular course of online activity. The images immediately appealed to my senses and I quickly sought out a more complete view of the deck so I could make my final decision. With all my planned purchases, I like to do research, and part of that research includes getting my eyes on a good sample of images including majors, minors and the courts.