Unboxings and First Impressions

[Raggydoll]

20 minutes ago, akiva said:

Omg @Raggydoll that deck is so adorable! It's sat in my basket and my fingers hovering over the checkout button 🤣

🤣 Well if you think that you’d seriously want to read with this deck, then I’d go for it. I don’t think they have many decks left since these are the spare decks from the Kickstarter. But if it’s FOMO or if you believe it will be a novelty deck, then maybe it’s not worth the money. I had been expecting a rather long delivery time and extra custom charges but it arrived in 14 days and no custom fees at all 🥳 So relieved for that! 
 

If you want to, we can play with this deck in the group later and I can pull some cards for you, so you can get a feel for the deck! That way I can also find out how well it reads for others 😊

 

[akiva]

15 minutes ago, Raggydoll said:

If you want to, we can play with this deck in the group later and I can pull some cards for you, so you can get a feel for the deck! That way I can also find out how well it reads for others 😊

Sounds like a plan! It's time I sunk my teeth into more modern decks, but seeing it in action like that will be very helpful in deciding, thank you! 😁

[Raggydoll]

4 minutes ago, akiva said:

Sounds like a plan! It's time I sunk my teeth into more modern decks, but seeing it in action like that will be very helpful in deciding, thank you! 😁

Good! I actually just did a one card reading on a situation that happened recently and I am very surprised at the answer. I’ll show you.. elsewhere 😊

[DanielJUK]

My Minchiate from the kickstarter arrived over the weekend. The Amparo Aguirre one.  It's so beautiful I love it ❤️ 

BTW top tip - the box is very full of thick cards. Becareful when opening for the first time. I have ruined brand new boxes in the past. Now wiser, I carefully used a blunt dinner knife under the top flap to ease it open 🔪

 

Now I have to learn the system 🙂 🥰

 

I love colourful decks so much 🎨

 

 

 

[Raggydoll]

5 minutes ago, DanielJUK said:

My Minchiate from the kickstarter arrived over the weekend. The Amparo Aguirre one.  It's so beautiful I love it ❤️ 

BTW top tip - the box is very full of thick cards. Becareful when opening for the first time. I have ruined brand new boxes in the past. Now wiser, I carefully used a blunt dinner knife under the top flap to ease it open 🔪

 

Now I have to learn the system 🙂 🥰

 

I love colourful decks so much 🎨

 

 

 

It looks amazing! I love those bright colors! 

[Rose Lalonde]

On 10/7/2024 at 9:12 AM, DanielJUK said:

My Minchiate from the kickstarter arrived over the weekend. The Amparo Aguirre one.  It's so beautiful I love it ❤️

That's beautiful. 🤩

[DanielJUK]

In recent days, my Kickstarter "The Magic Pantry Tarot" by Cedar McCloud arrived.

 

I am really obsessed by it currently, I pledged to it because I really wanted a tarot deck that was different to everything else I owned and this is entirely food themed!

It's vegetarian but has vegan options (see The Fool versions in the pictures below). There is an included spread of a meal (proteins, starches, etc) and one of a set formal table! The guidebook and box have a kitsch chequered table cloth design.

It's carefully created to not be triggering or offensive to anyone.

 

This is the unique deck structure.....

 

Major Arcana - Proteins, drinks, condiments, tools, and others

Cups - Fruit

Swords - Vegetables

Wands - Seasoning (herbs and spices)

Pentacles - Starches

 

This is going to be really fun to read from!

 

[DanielJUK]

I've moved my deck unboxing post here (post above) as I originally posted it in the What is the Postman bringing thread? and it fits better here.

[bookshop]

On 11/25/2022 at 12:54 AM, Raggydoll said:

After buying this deck, I learned some things about Dame Darcy and how she creates art. Her very first deck, the mermaid tarot, ended up being quite controversial. Many forum threads were addressing this topic, but basically, people realized that her artwork was very (VERY) reminiscent of another mermaid tarot deck, plus there were other images that seemed to be copied from glossy magazines. I will direct you to some of the sources if this interests you: https://benebellwen.com/2016/03/25/update-addendum-to-my-dame-darcys-mermaid-tarot-deck-review/  https://www.tarotforum.net/threads/recycled-art-in-dame-darcy-deck.253824/

 

 

Wow, I am so late to this news. I am sort of shook at this! I bought the revised Dame Darcy deck in 2019 (where she changed several of the cards in apparent response to this controversy) and never heard a word about this before now. I'm so surprised that I missed it. I absolutely love and adore this deck, it's been my favorite of all my decks to read with for years. I also hate plagiarism. Argh. I don't know how to feel!!

[Therese]

When I remember correctly what I read, then she copied from a Lo Scarabeo deck and someone from Lo Scarabeo said that they had no issues with being copied by DD. I believe one argument has been that she hasn't a big edition in comparison to Lo Scarabeo. I don't want to claim something wrong and maybe this opinion could have been changed and I didn't read that but that's what I honestly remember. 

[Raggydoll]

20 minutes ago, Therese said:

When I remember correctly what I read, then she copied from a Lo Scarabeo deck and someone from Lo Scarabeo said that they had no issues with being copied by DD. I believe one argument has been that she hasn't a big edition in comparison to Lo Scarabeo. I don't want to claim something wrong and maybe this opinion could have been changed and I didn't read that but that's what I honestly remember. 

Yes, I also remember Lo Scarabeo saying that. I interpreted it as if they didn’t think she was harming their sales with her deck. Aside from that she also copied photos from glossy magazines, and she never gave them credit (and I doubt she had sought permission to copy them). However, it is not the deck buyers fault that the creator did what she did. So I don’t think anyone should feel bad for owning that deck. Me personally, I fell out of love with it and sold it. 

[Therese]

17 hours ago, Raggydoll said:

Yes, I also remember Lo Scarabeo saying that. I interpreted it as if they didn’t think she was harming their sales with her deck. Aside from that she also copied photos from glossy magazines, and she never gave them credit (and I doubt she had sought permission to copy them). However, it is not the deck buyers fault that the creator did what she did. So I don’t think anyone should feel bad for owning that deck. Me personally, I fell out of love with it and sold it. 

Ah, thanks, good to know you remember the same! I'm the same regarding intellectual theft, can't (and don't want to) handle it. Yes, it's not the buyers fault and if they have a bond with their deck, I would (like you) not suggest to feel bad. I would rather see it as their own special bond unaffected by the actions of the creator. That's why I wrote my memory. But I can absolutely relate how you felt and reacted!

[Rose Lalonde]

Today I received the 2023 'Love & Peace’ edition (for the deck's 22nd anniversary) of Roots of Asia Tarot. It’s one of my favorite decks. 

 

 

 

(The gold border on these cards isn't gilding - it just looks like it, slightly darker at the corners.)

 

Comparing with the original deck, there are some differences. Border color, obviously. The newer edition is smaller. The back has no border around the art. The font is simpler. The lwb is very short, without the card descriptions of the original, likely because they self published.

 

 

Card stock is good; it's more matte than the AG Muller (which is also good stock), and slightly thicker. It doesn't feel much thicker when you hold an individual card, but you can see the difference in stack height. 

 

Edited September 5, 2025 by Rose Lalonde

[Rose Lalonde]

I'm back with more unboxing since I was given 2 Japanese decks based on Pamela Coleman Smith's art in "The Golden Oracle" and "The Lenormand Deck".  LWB are in Japanese.

 

I trimmed the keywords off the oracle before I thought to take a picture. (Titles were either unnecessary, like 'The Raven of the Key' for a picture of ... a raven with a key. Or misleading, like 'The Ancient Tree of Runes' on a card without runes.) Regardless, I do like it post-trim. It's about 10 cm x 7 1/2 cm now.

 

The Lenormand is easy to quickly identify and is the usual size.

 

I don't know if someone recently drew some of these in a similar style inspired by her, or if this is all from parts of PCS's art?? One of the oracle cards has her signature on it, but most don’t. 

 

 

 

Edited November 4, 2025 by Rose Lalonde

[FindYourSovereignty]

Very interesting to see her art on a deck other than RWS. Thank you for sharing these.

[jupiter]

I have an "ugh" today. 😞 The Fairytale Tarot by Giulia F. Massaglia (Lo Scarabeo) arrived. After finding it in my local shop for 58€ and on Amazon (sold by Amazon) for 28€, I had ordered it from Amazon (.de). It was shipped to my address here in Finland.

The box was thrown into the package alongside a bunch of other things I had ordered, and either during shipping or maybe already before it got a bit scuffed up on the edges. It was sealed with two transparent stickers. I opened it and looked straight at the Fool card... which has what I'd have to describe as scuff marks on it. Behind it - the Chariot. Behind that, the 2 of Wands. The deck has been mixed up, and looking at the scuff marks on some cards I'd say it was shuffled.

I then opened the LWB, and guess what... someone underlined keywords for each card with pencil. 😐

The cards are so beautiful, but idk what to do. Returning is a hassle and I already hate myself for even ordering from Amazon, I guess I got what I asked for.

Going to count if there are any cards missing...

edit, no cards missing but quite a few of them have marks from (frequent?) use. I contacted Amazon and they're sending a replacement, but I need to return this one. I feel bad for what I've done to the environment and that I continue support this absolute garbage company. I only order from there when I can't find stuff locally - or when the price is 2x or higher.

Edited November 6, 2025 by jupiter
added more text

[Ferrea]

2 hours ago, jupiter said:

I have an "ugh" today. 😞 The Fairytale Tarot by Giulia F. Massaglia (Lo Scarabeo) arrived. After finding it in my local shop for 58€ and on Amazon (sold by Amazon) for 28€, I had ordered it from Amazon (.de). It was shipped to my address here in Finland.

The box was thrown into the package alongside a bunch of other things I had ordered, and either during shipping or maybe already before it got a bit scuffed up on the edges. It was sealed with two transparent stickers. I opened it and looked straight at the Fool card... which has what I'd have to describe as scuff marks on it. Behind it - the Chariot. Behind that, the 2 of Wands. The deck has been mixed up, and looking at the scuff marks on some cards I'd say it was shuffled.

I then opened the LWB, and guess what... someone underlined keywords for each card with pencil. 😐

The cards are so beautiful, but idk what to do. Returning is a hassle and I already hate myself for even ordering from Amazon, I guess I got what I asked for.

Going to count if there are any cards missing...

edit, no cards missing but quite a few of them have marks from (frequent?) use. I contacted Amazon and they're sending a replacement, but I need to return this one. I feel bad for what I've done to the environment and that I continue support this absolute garbage company. I only order from there when I can't find stuff locally - or when the price is 2x or higher.

 

I understand the dilemma you're in and I don't want to undermine your efforts to act sustainably, though compared to what's going on in the world your case doesn't make much of a difference. 

If you were hopping on your private jet to pick up the deck in Italy, I would want to have a discussion with you. 

I'm glad you'll get a nice replacement! 

 

[jupiter]

Yes, fair point and thank you 🙂 The replacement deck is on the way and I am still really excited for it, more so now that I've gotten a glimpse at the cards. I'll share photos once I have it.

[DanielJUK]

Sadly the quality of Amazon and it's selling and customer service has really declined in the last 2 years. It's a fight to get a genuine deck (usually you are safe if the seller is Amazon itself or a high rated bookstore type third party) and then will it come with stickers on it, that damge when you take them off? or delivery damage? or even someone's previous return? It really has become a minefield of buying and a poor customer experience. Honestly it's better to pay a little more and find a little bookshop website or tarot site in your country.

 

@jupiter you paid good money for a brand new deck, you were right to return it for a replacement ❤️ . Don't feel guilty 🙂 

[zurgles]

Yesterday I opened the present my friend sent me and it was a tarot deck. I haven’t had a new tarot deck in three years so it was exciting. It’s the Find Your Magic deck. 

 

I went through the cards one by one and it was interesting. It’s a sort of modern and magical deck with witches and wizards and other magic users using smartphones and tablets and there are fairies and spells and potions. It’s diverse and features disabled people, people of different races, queer people, and people of different ages though it’s mostly young folk. There’s only one card with nudity and it’s the lovers which has two female people in a sensual embrace on a bed. 

The box is great. It comes in a sturdy slide out box and the deck is then also in a tuck box within the case. The lwb is a full color booklet with full page illustrations for the majors with a full page of text on the opposite side, and for the minors the images are smaller and placed above the descriptions and have a page each. 


 

(edit: the box looks big in the pic but it’s just a bit bigger than the actual deck. It’s not one of those huge bulky boxes).
 

I don’t think I would’ve bought this deck for myself because I have some issues with it at first blush but it fits my friend’s personality so I feel like it’s nice having a piece of them with me. 🙂 I haven’t tried a reading with it yet since I’m reading the guidebook and I’ve only gotten to Justice so far. My impression is the guidebook explains the card meaning but not really the illustration chosen for the card too much and that’s a little annoying because I'm confused by some of the choices. I’ll see by the end of it if I still feel that way. Also some descriptions are a little off the beaten path. My friend said it seemed like an art deck that I might appreciate in my collection even if I didn’t enjoy reading with it.

 

There were two things I found interesting. One that I already mentioned was the modernity, because I think aside from maybe the Next World Tarot, I don’t have decks that feature modern technology much. So it’s cool to see that reflection of modern life with smartphones and tablets and stuff. The other thing is there are four medical related cards. The high priestess is a surgeon I think, the strength card has a person being spoonfed medicine by a fairy with a creature holding a thermometer above them, the star card has a patient in a hospital bed opening the window to a starry sky, and the 6 of pentacles has a doctor weighing out coins on a scale. I think the Next World Tarot might feature a first aid kit or something, but otherwise this is the only deck I have that has medical imagery. So that’s neat. 
 

So far, to sum it up, it’s a cute and diverse modern deck with some perplexing choices. I’ll report back when I’ve read the full booklet and done a reading with it. 
 

edit: also I got my friend the herbcrafter’s tarot and got to hear him open it last night over the phone. He likes it, he’s also confused by some choices but those might be cleared up by the guidebook. So that was nice.

Edited December 26, 2025 by zurgles

[zurgles]

So I said I’d follow up after reading the Find Your Magic tarot booklet and doing a reading. 

So the booklet is…okaaay. Some cards it cleared up and others it didn’t really explain the image. I’ll start with one that wasn’t too tricky.

 

 

So I typically associate the Queen of Cups as more of a counselor figure, someone who’s good at mirroring your emotions and helps you make sense of them. I see the Queen of Pentacles as more practical and domestic, but can also see her as a career focused person, juggling different hats, tasks, and roles. They’re both nurturing in different ways. But I wouldn’t typically see the Queen of Cups as practically nurturing. I tend to see her more as a therapist or something like that. I think the keyword reflective fits ok. 

 

In the booklet the Queen of Pentacles is described as pragmatic and grounded, focused on results and the material plane, and advises taking a long view of things. It’s kinda similar to the Thoth take on this card. It sort of shoehorns in her domesticity at the end, saying to also focus on the home and loved ones. The Queen of Cups description says she’s sensual, empathic, maternal, loving, a confidante, etc which is all fine. It talks about her ability to create a serene environment and that she “focuses on inner abundance, which she possesses and gives out in spades.” I can see the card image reflecting that, kinda like it’s a metaphor for her inner abundance that she gives out by showing her preparing a meal. By the way, this is the only card that forms a larger image with the King of Cups. He’s shown holding a pitcher of punch or something raising a toast in her direction. So, I’m satisfied enough with these cards here. 

 

These cards perplexed me more, the High Priestess and the 2 of Swords. The description of the High Priestess is a bit divorced from the typical mystery, silence, reflection, and studying keywords I’m used to seeing. It describes someone altruistic, who expresses their faith in either the spiritual or scientific. It says she often works in the shadows helping others and that her ethics influence her at every turn. It does mention her intuition guiding her. It describes her as careful, precise, and a planner leaving nothing to chance. Once in a while the booklet throws a bizarre disjointed sentence or connecting sentences and here’s one towards the end of the page: “Confidentiality is essential to avoid fits of anger that could change any plans.” I’m not even sure what that means but there is some blurring of text in the card image. I’m wondering if this was translated from the writer’s native tongue? I think she’s Italian. All in all, it’s an interesting and different take on the high priestess. The booklet definitely helped there. 

 

The Two of Swords also confused me until I read the description. It’s also a little different. It starts off with “egotism and indifference.” It says the person is completely wrapped up in themselves and has lost faith in others. It talks a bit about feeling divided, the duality of the world, and being unable to manifest your true self because you’re afraid of consequences. At the end it says “pain and miscomprehensions can only be overcome if you let others in.” So it has more of a social bent, but there’s still a typical 2 of swords meaning in there. I think I like this take. 

 

These cards I’m less sure of, for the most part. The 4 of Swords is mainly there to contrast with the 5, but the description was odd to me. I didn’t have a problem with the image chosen but the booklet has a rather negative take. It talks about melancholy for the past,  a person who is trying to resurrect the past and who needs to let go of it, and mentions someone not being able to escape their ghosts who want them to pay for past actions. It does mention recovery. I thought that was an odd take. The 5 of swords then is the same person in the bath looking a little down. The description talks about defeat and continuing failures and that sometimes surrendering is the way to go. That’s all fine to me. 

 

The 5 of wands looked a bit weird to me with a person hiding a fencing sword behind their back. It seemed kinda 7 of swords-ish. The booklet didn’t explain it at all. It mentions friendly competition and showing the world your talents but also says that compromise and conciliation between members involved is the essence of the card, which seems a little different to me. I would’ve thought competition would be, but maybe they’re focusing on how to resolve the internal conflict of the card.

 

Death’s card perplexed me but intuitively I felt I could work with it. The description doesn’t really explain the image. It does talk about character change and new identities so maybe that’s what I can work with. Maybe the electrical looking light is symbolic of the change and they’re observing this in the mirror. 

 

The Hierophant description didn’t explain the picture much but it does talk a little about roles they play so maybe that’s them wearing different hats. They’re clearly shopping and there are ghost hands carrying their purchases or potential purchases so idk what that has to do with anything. I guess the quill is a writing tool that could mean something?? Unsure. 

 

The 10 of Wands is a way more positive take on the card. The description talks about someone willingly taking on more hard work, talking about a season of motivation to invest in fulfilling your goals. It says no obstacle is insurmountable if you learn from your own experience. It’s very different from the burn out and burden meanings, where the advice is usually to delegate where you can. I don’t think this interpretation is invalid, I feel like within the constellation of meanings for the card, it counts. I was just surprised. 

 

So yeah! I did a new years one card reading and it worked. I got the page of swords which has a ghost like spirit whispering into a person holding a smartphone’s ear. It did emphasize the gossip aspect of the card, but I took it to mean that I oughta mind my business more and focus on my studies and perhaps conduct myself in a way that would dissuade gossip. It wasn’t a difficult read, just a bit different. I enjoyed it. 

 

That completes my first impression of the deck. Thanks for reading if you did, that was a lot. Lol.

 

edit: I thought I should also correct my previous post. There another card with nudity but you can’t see their bits. It’s the devil card. They’re mainly facing the other way. And similarly I guess three cards where people are taking a bath, lol, but I don’t think that counts. I’m just mentioning because it’s otherwise a rather benign deck and I was thinking I could use it if I ever gave a reading to someone uncomfortable with nudity or like a kid, but this isn’t the deck for that unless you remove those cards. That’s all! Happy New Years! 🥳 

Edited Friday at 06:24 AM by zurgles

[zurgles]

My Wild Unknown came in! 🙂 I went through the cards. I felt mostly neutral. Some cards I thought were pretty and understood and could intuitively make sense of. It seems like a “pips with feeling” deck. I don’t have any pip decks so it’s interesting. The card stock is a little plasticky but I’m fine with that, I think it’ll last. I’m glad the deck is housed in a two piece box but the larger box it was in is also very nice and the deck holder comes out easily so now I just have a nice box. I guess I can give it to my partner whenever he visits since he mentioned being interested in it if I didn’t want it.
 

I looked at the guidebook entries on the son and father of wands to see how I wanted to correspond the knight and king and they didn’t describe the images. It described the meanings of the card. So I guess that’s what people who thought the guidebook wasn’t very descriptive meant. It’s written by the artist so I think I’ll still find it helpful, but that’s good to know. I’m glad there are full color and full page illustrations for each card since that means I won’t have to go back and forth with my deck.
 

It’s not a bleak deck like I had thought it seemed years ago. There were some cards like the 7 of pentacles that I’m not sure what to do with. 

 

The court families are alright, sometimes not much going on with them. The daughters/pages I had a little more trouble with. I’m not sure whether to lean more into the idea of them being daughters, or into the meanings I already have with the pages/princesses. Or maybe I need to nail down the meanings of the pages in my head better. I could always get a better handle on the courts in general. 
 

Yeah. It’s an interesting deck. 
 

I’ll read the guidebook and do a reading and post an update. 
 

edit: I guess the Thoth is a pips with feeling deck too actually. Anyway looking forward to getting to know the deck more.

Edited Friday at 10:20 PM by zurgles

[Nemia]

This Seven of Pentacles from the Wild Unknown Tarot is actually one of my favourite cards in the deck. It reminds me of the seven planets and seven virtues/vices - it shows you a way upwards. I must have written about it somewhere, but can't find it right now.... Robert M. Place wrote something that clicked with me and with this card. Well, this is not very helpful. However, I find these abstract cards very insightful and meditative. It's a wonderful deck and I must work with it more! 

[zurgles]

That’s still helpful Nemia 🙂 I wouldn’t have thought to think of it in that way. It helps me consider how to approach the imagery too. I’m not always great at abstract thinking, I can be kind of literal. Thanks!

[KiMo]

Today I finally picked up my long anticipated copy of the Camena Tarot, a majors only deck created by Laetitia Barbier and artist Lou Benesch. It almost didn't get despatched (the team were extraordinarily busy), I was away when it was delivered and I had no idea where it had been left, then my lovely neighbour messaged me to say she'd found it in the 'safe place' (aka one of her bins 😑). Anyway, it's in my hands now and it's beautiful ❤️

 

I struggled to choose which cards to feature, but these should hopefully give an idea of the quality of the work...

 

 

The card stock is a smooth matte, they're a touch tough to separate but that should hopefully improve with time. It's also quite solid so I'm unlikely to riffle shuffle, which is fine because I don't think I'll be reversing these.