Patch Tarot by Spirit Science Central

[EmpyreanKnight]

 

From Spirit Science Central:

 

Patch Tarot is finally here! This groundbreaking deck is an amalgamation of the world’s most prominent Tarot imagery and symbolism, taking into account the relationships between all of the elements, astrology, the Tree of Life, and so much more. It also reveals the hidden aspects of the Tree of Life, bringing four new benevolent cards into the mix which we’ve called “Holy Arcana”.

 

This 82 card deck is designed to be a fusion of the classical Rider Waite and Thoth themed decks, fusing them together and reconciling the paradoxes, bringing about a new generation of Tarot for you; the modern alchemical scholar.

 

 

[EmpyreanKnight]

Resources:

 

Patch Tarot Website

Card Directory (with the complete set of images and individual card links)

Spirit Science Youtube Channel

 

Additional images:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TheFeeLion]

What a cool idea for a tarot deck! I think I may have just added another to my wish list oops! I think I need to go check out all of those links now...

[Mitsuraki]

So I ended up getting it because they had a special bundle for like 40 bucks.  Deck, pdf deck, pdf book, and a poster or something.  Did not expect the book to be 615 pages!!!  I've started looking through it but I can't tell if it'll be good or not yet.

 

Also, I wonder how they managed to get around some copyrights.  No Face in the devil card and Link's shield in another.  Probably more but I didn't look too closely.

[EmpyreanKnight]

615 pages whew! I've read some of the posts discussing the individual cards, and I can say that the creator definitely knows his Tarot.

 

Tho they're a bit cartoon-y, I do like the images with their whirlwind of bright colors. It's like a deck I'd pick up when I'm feeling down and I want something to cheer me up. :) They're not juvenile kitsch one can just sniff at either - just look at all the esoteric, occult, and sacred geometrical figures that pepper them.

 

I'm putting this one on my list.

[Mitsuraki]

Haha yup.  615 pages.  With an entire chapter dedicated to charts they've made (though it's only about 8 or 9 pages, but still!).  It seems like it'll be a pretty meaty book for meanings (the card meanings/descriptions start on page 59 and end on page 400.  Yes, that's 341 pages of meanings. For reference, Holistic Tarot by Benebell Wen only has 151.  More than double the amount of pages!), and it's got chapters specifically for Qabalah and Tarot and Tarot and Astrology.  If I could get it done cheaply enough, I'd freaking have this book printed and professionally bound haha.

 

They are definitely cartoon-y and there are some things in it I don't agree with (like saying kings were traditionally shown on horses.  Uh...I've never seen a king on a horse in a tarot deck, but maybe I'm just missing something AND I don't think a horse properly conveys a king's energy), but it's on it's way to me.  If I've learned anything, cartoon-esque cards seem to do well for me (I LOVE my pokemon deck something fierce and I just read so well with it.  And my Harry Potter deck, though that isn't a cartoon so much as my oldest fandom), so I'm hoping it'll do well.  But yes, it has symbolism out the wazoo because it's supposed to be a mix of RWS and Thoth.  Kind of wish I was the person who trimmed their deck because I might for this one.

 

Honestly, for what you get for...I think my total was $44.57 or something like that, I would say it's worth it.  Though, depending on things like Customs charges and postal fees, that may come out to be a bit more.

 

I'll try to remember to do some screenshots of the ToC for this deck's book tomorrow so people can see what's in it.

[EmpyreanKnight]

Thanks in advance for the screenshots, Mitsuraki. :)

 

Spirit Science did say that they will release a dead tree version of the book eventually. I do hope the companion book has legit info - if it does, I won't have any qualms buying the whole set.

[EmpyreanKnight]

Btw, regarding the Kings on horses, Book T by MacGregor Mathers, which is considered "the foundational document of all Golden Dawn-based decks" like the RWS, the BOTA, and the Thoth, states that

 

THE Four Kings, or "Figures mounted on steeds," represent the Yodh forces of the Name in each Suit: the Radix, Father and commencement of Material Forces, a force in which all the others are implied, and of which they form the development and completion. A force swift and violent in its action, but whose effect soon passes away, and therefore symbolized by a Figure on a Steed riding swiftly, and clothed in complete Armour.

 

So in the English tradition at least, Kings originally road horses or steeds while the Princes rode chariots. These can actually be seen in the Kings of the Golden Dawn Magical Tarot by the Ciceros, which I have a copy of:

 

 

 

And also in the Golden Dawn Tarot by Robert Wang:

 

 

 

However, the wording on Book T itself regarding the individual Court Card entries is a bit confusing so that differing interpretations have been made regarding them. I agree with this one tho.

 

I hope this cleared things up. :)

[Mitsuraki]

Sorry, got super busy the past few days.  Issues at work have kind of flipped my life upside down, so I didn't get a chance to put up those screenshots yet.  The ones on my phone are too large so I'll need to switch to my comp and do them on there.  I should be able to get them up in the next hour or so. 

[Mitsuraki]

Here are the screenshots!  And, for what it's worth, I would say this book is DEFINITELY worth it, especially for someone who may not be all that experienced with Tarot and how it mixes with things like Qabalah and Astrology.

 

Also, something to keep in mind, some of the names are different from, say, the Thoth deck on the Minor Arcana (i.e. Two of Wands is named Genesis in this deck as opposed to Dominion in the Thoth deck).  Then there's the Major Arcana.  Empress and Emperor are numerically switched (Emperor is #3 and Empress is #4.  Their explanation is as follows:

 

Cards III and IV, The Empress and The Emperor have had their positions flipped. This decision had many components, but the biggest was that card IV is “Heh” in the Hebrew Alphabet, which stands for the Divine Feminine through the four worlds and the Tetragrammaton, of which The Empress was the most suitable match to hold that position. This decision also balanced out the four elements within the first four cards of the Major Arcana after the Fool, mirroring the sequence of the Royal Arcana but in reverse (similar to the upright and inverted pentagrams found on cards 5 between the Major and Minor Arcana). There is much more written about this in the personal notes section of each of these two cards, as well as in Chapter Three.

 

I don't know whether their reasons are right, but to someone like me it makes sense.

[EmpyreanKnight]

Thanks for the update, Mitsuraki!

 

And well, this is interesting! The Patch Tarot switched the hebrew letter correspondence of The Empress and The Emperor, so that the former now connects to Heh while the latter is linked with Daleth. It reminds me of how the Thoth performed a similar switch tho that time it was between The Empreror and the Star, so that the first answers to Tzaddi while the second responds to Heh.

 

I guess I'd have to read the book in order to really grasp their reasoning behind the Emperor-Empress swap. I'm also curious if they made changes as to the Majors-Path attributions in the Tree of Life. :)

[Mitsuraki]

You're welcome!

 

And yeah, it's definitely an interesting switch!  It does make some since, though, when the Hebrew alphabet is taken into account.  And it kind of flows better I think.  Also, they did mention the Emperor/Star switch in the book!

 

I think it looks like they did, but there were three different Trees of Life shown, I think, and I didn't get it haha.  I definitely, definitely recommend this book, though!

[EmpyreanKnight]

It seems like they have a good grasp of the Tarot then, so at least they're not just some unscrupulous hucksters who are looking to make quick bucks off the current Tarot craze. Thanks, Mitsuraki!

[Jewel]

I find this deck so interesting!  I love digging into symbolism and blending the Thoth and RWS.  Though the art and concept are completely different the colors and cartoony images made me think of the Fey Tarot (which I love).  Combine that with all the symbolism and yeah, this deck is totally up my alley.  Thank you for sharing!

 

I just went to the site, is this a digital deck? or is it actually cards?  From what I read it gave me the impression that it was digital.

[EmpyreanKnight]

Rest assured, this is an actual physical deck, Jewel. The companion tome is a pdf ebook as of now tho. :)

[Jewel]

Rest assured, this is an actual physical deck, Jewel. The companion tome is a pdf ebook as of now tho. :)

Thanks.  This is going on my wishlist then  ::)  I need another deck about as must as I need a hole in the head lol.