Ethereal Visions Tarot

Ethereal Visions

Illuminated Tarot deck by Matt Hughes

Creator: Matt Hughes

Artist: Matt Hughes

ISBN-10 : ‎ 1572819251

ISBN-13 ‏: ‎ 978-1572819252

Book pages: 48 (older editions have a simple LWB, newer editions a full-colour booklet)

Card #: 80

Card size:  3.5 x 1.7 x 6 inches; 12.5 x 7.5 cm

Cardstock:  matte, flexible, gold-foil stamping

Box: sturdy two-piece box

Language: English

Publisher: US Games

Purchase here: https://www.etherealvisionstarot.com/?srsltid=AfmBOor5vhXZMiU524YTW4s9_PE-it7MnGHZ1HZrXB5XrJIXbpqTpo4V

Changes in majors: traditional names

Suit names: Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles

Court cards: Page, Knight, Queen, King

Extra cards: XXII The Well, XXIII The Artist

Backs: fully reversible

The Ethereal Visions Tarot is printed on matte, cream-white cardstock with generous negative space and no defined borders, which makes this deck very elegant and airy to look at. The off-white backgrounds flow into one another when you lay the cards side by side.

The card titles are printed at the bottom of the card in a typical Art Nouveau uppercase font, without banners that could cover up the art. They are part of the composition and don’t intrude visually.

The artist revived the Art Nouveau style with its flowing lines, inspired by plants and natural shapes, and he uses the different widths of contours that are so characteristic of the Art Nouveau. He uses bold gold-foil stampings for shapes and thick decorative lines outline the compositions, stronger lines in various neutral or muted colours (grey-blue, brownish, purplish, etc.) as contours for figures and important elements, and thinner contours for background elements. Together, this linework gives the perfect Art Nouveau feeling. It reminds me strongly of Alphonse Mucha’s elegant illustrations and compositions. Some floral patterns, wreaths and framing decorative elements add even more Mucha flavour.

The compositions are dynamic, and each card is set in an individual golden decorative frame, often half-open. The figures are young and all-white, and the artist later published a Luna edition of the deck that is more diverse and inclusive and has an overall darker colouring. I only have the original US Games edition, so I can’t review the Luna deck.

The colours in this deck are harmonious, muted pastels that work well with the beautiful off-white background and the generous gold accents.

The deck follows the RWS tradition faithfully, so if you know the RWS system, there is no learning curve. There are two additional major cards that you can include in your readings, but if you feel they’re not needed, you can simply take them out. In the booklet, there are short card meanings which give you basic information to work with, including astrological associations.

This deck is ideal for readers who want to remain in the RWS ecosystem but feel that the original RWS is too simple or not beautiful enough. It’s easy to read with and doesn’t sacrifice content for the sake of beauty. There are no esoteric symbols or glyphs on the cards, and when reading to others, the Ethereal Visions Tarot can draw the querent into their story without frightening them off.

Ethereal visions is a fantastic deck, warm and gentle. The gold leafed detailing on the cards is beautifully done, and it's just a pleasure to work with. Slightly larger than RWS, but still very manageable. It's my go to deck. 

I have just now done a morning reading for myself, and once again the deck highlighted what I knew already by drawing the death card 3rd in my three card spread - reminding me that to enable me to make room for greater things in the future, I must first drop some bad habits to allow myself to progress and shine to my fullest. 

M