Cat's Eye Tarot

I chose this deck after going through umpteen flip-throughs of many decks. Not because I am hooked on cats (although I do love cats), but because I was seeking a non-scary RWS deck to use when reading for others.  Some querents are worried about the imagery in normal RWS decks. However, I am not a fan of cutesy decks either, so I was seeking a happy medium.  The Cat's Eye Tarot flip-through on YouTube appealed to me, so I took a chance and ordered it from Amazon. The deck has more than met my expectations.

I have given my review 5 stars because I am very happy with the deck.  It does have a small weakness or two, which I will mention later. But overall ...well done to the artist and author, Debra M Given, DVM.

STRENGTHS:

1) Card size - a very normal tarot size.  The cards measure 7 x 12 cm / 2.75 x 5 in.  They are smooth and easy to handle.  Riffle shuffling is easy with this deck.

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2) The back of the deck—a large sideways cat face—distinct enough that it doesn't get mixed up with the front images, yet retains the theme

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3) The RWS-based depictions are VERY well thought out.  There are no lazy cards in the deck, although the Court Cards are a little vague ...but so are Court Cards in many decks.

Card examples pictured in this review:

The Fool shows a kitten perched precariously on the railing of a porch, ready to jump at a bee.  It is excited, caught up in the moment, and unaware of the danger of falling or being stung!  Very much The Fool.

The Devil shows a very fat cat gobbling away at its food ...addicted to a bad habit.

The 5 of Wands shows five kittens engaged in a playful scuffle ...the good-tempered rivalry that 5 of Wands usually indicates.

The 5 of Cups shows a mother cat watching a woman walking away with two kittens in a carrier.  Loss and helplessness are well portrayed here.  

The 7 of Cups shows a cat mesmerised by a fish tank on TV ...but because it's a TV picture only, the vision has no real substance.  

The 9 of Swords shows an unhappy cat cowering underneath a bed, obviously terrified of something—which will probably turn out to be a vacuum cleaner or some change to its environment which the cat doesn't like.  In other words, this cat is trapped by its own imagination and thinking the worst.

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4) The little white book - This is exceptionally useful, and well presented.  It is written by creator of the deck, Debra M Given, and contains a short introduction, a very useful description and interpretation of each card, and an intriguing 9-card spread at the end—'9 lives'—grouped as Youth, Mid-Life, and Maturity.  I haven't tried this spread for myself yet, but intend to shortly.

 

WEAKNESSES

The only real weakness in this deck is the sometimes-indistinct artwork.  I love that Dr Given's depictions are realistic, but while the cats are very accurately pictured as real cats, the watercolour treatment of the images is unclear in places.  The accompanying Little White Book explains the images very well, but on first glance some of the elements in the pictures just aren't clear. Example: the 5 of Cups.  While it's an excellent idea—a mother cat watching helplessly as her kittens are taken away from her—the image itself isn't clear.  What is that blob in the distance? Oh, it's a woman carrying something. But what? The fact that what she's carrying is a carrier containing two kittens is very hard to make out.  The fact that the kitten in The Fool is jumping at a bee also isn't clear.  The bee looks like part of the tree, and the fact that the kitten is about to jump also isn't clear.  However, once the pictures are explained in the Little White Book, the deck works really well, so I haven't removed a star from my rating.  However, the deck would be improved if the images were more distinct.

I also have to note that the box is simply a flip-top box. I intend to get a better box for it.  Not really a weakness, as it also keeps the price more affordable.  But not ideal for heavy use.


OVERALL IMPRESSION - Exactly what I wanted from a non-scary, non-cutesy RWS-based deck.