Mind Body Spirit Odyssey Review: The Tarot Discovery Kit

Review: The Tarot Discovery Kit

Amy Zerner, who was featured last month in our “Mind Body Spirit Artist Series”  has co-created “The Tarot Discovery Kit” with her husband Monte Farber. This wonderful kit is about more than just tarot though. It also contains ways to help you ground and focus your thoughts, as well as meditating on a myriad of subjects, to help you reach a deeper truth.

The kit contains a deck of cards, a booklet, and a DVD.

The Cards

For the most part, the cards follow a standard format. The four suits are as usual (wands, swords, cups, pentacles). The court cards contain four of each suit, Princess, Prince, Queen and King. The cards are kept in a golden satin pouch.

The Booklet

The booklet goes into the detail of each card in the deck, complete with the message behind the card, and the outcome.

As well as describing the cards in detail, the booklet also offers you a second usage of the cards that I have not seen in other decks. These cards can also be used for meditation. Each card has a different concept on which you can meditate, such as “intuition”, “discipline”, or “patience”.

The DVD

The main menu of the DVD is divided into six sections. One for the Major Arcana, and one for each suit. These sections are used with the meditation aspect of the kit. The final option is “Tarot Discovery Theater”. This section contains features on the Major Arcana, the Minor Arcana, the history of tarot, entering sacred spaces (how to use the power within us), and a grounding ritual to help prepare your mind for reading the cards or doing your meditation exercise.

In addition, the Grounding Ritual is very therapeutic and can be used all on its own, whenever you just need to take a moment and relax and center yourself. That always gives us a much stronger position from which to deal with things.

Doing a Tarot Reading

As mentioned previously, this deck follows the standard suits, so those of you that are comfortable doing readings already should be able to jump right in. You just have to remember that there are slightly different court cards than usual (using a Princess and Prince rather than a Knave and a Knight). Also know that there are no reversals involved. Each card has but one message and one outcome. The booklet gives you details on a One-Card Spread as well as the standard Celtic Cross Spread. Advanced readers can play with other spreads with which they are familiar to see which ones work best for you.  These cards are very beautiful and ornate.

For those of you who are just starting out, these cards may be too ornate for you to use as a starter deck. Those of you who are experienced are given a wealth of imagery on the cards from which to draw your readings, much more so than an average deck.

While the cards may be too ornate for some to use in a reading, that same ornateness becomes a strong point when it comes time to use them for meditation.

Meditation With The Cards and DVD

In order to perform the meditation rituals, you will need the cards, the DVD, and possibly the book, depending on the kind of meditation you wish to do.

If you wish to let your mind inform you of the meditation it wishes to do, then use the DVD to go through the White Light Illumination ritual. As you go through the ritual in your mind, shuffle the deck and choose a card at random. Once you have made your choice, study the card, its colors, its symbols, absorb as much as you can from the card. Then, go back to the DVD and find that card in its section. Listen to the words and music and focus on all the aspect of the card that you can. Take it all in. At the end, focus on the impressions you are left with after going through this, and relate it to the card you chose. This will complete your meditation.

If you wish to choose a specific topic on which to focus your meditation, you can go to the booklet. It explains the meditation concept for each card. Once you have made your choice, you can go through the steps outlined in the previous paragraph, minus the shuffling of the cards and choosing one at random. All other steps in the process remain the same.

The wealth of imagery on each card could lead you to use the same card in multiple meditations, and get new and interesting insights each time you use it.

So, whether you need to a standard reading, an advanced reading, a chosen meditation, an internally informed meditation, or even just a basic grounding ritual for better centeredness and focus, this kit will help you.

enjoy!

The Tarot Discovery Kit
Card Illustrations by Amy Zerner
Text by Monte Farber
DVD Features and animation by Amy Zerner and Monte Farber
Distributed by Sterling Publishing Company  NY, NY
 
~ Giani
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The Cleopatra Tarot Deck Review

                                     The Cleopatra Tarot Deck published by Lo Scarabeo.

Cleopatra was a woman of of great beauty, intelligence and power.  Not content to be Queen of Egypt, she started a relationship with Julius Caesar.  When she bore him a son, Ptolemy Caesarione, it was her master plan that Ptolemy would be the Emperor of a combined Roman/Egyptian Empire.  Unfortunately for her, the murder of Julius Caesar and the subsequent war put an end to that plan.  Undaunted, and still after more power, she took up with Marc Antony, who was already married.  Her plans were thwarted once again, when Marc Antony lost the war with Octavian.  Cleopatra died not long after.

It was during her time with Marc Antony that Cleopatra started to resurrect the Egyptian religion, and started promoting the ancient gods.  Egyptian astrology had started three centuries prior, but was brought back into consciousness through Cleopatra’s efforts.  In the Temple of the Goddess Hathor at Denderah, carvings were found (and concluded to have been made during Cleopatra’s era).  These carvings detailed the most complete documentation of the night sky.  The carvings were so detailed that the zodiac signs were clearly visible, as were the five planets (all of which were placed in their signs of exaltation).

It is on this basis that The Cleopatra Tarot was devised.  Coincidentally, or not coincidentally, there were 78 Egyptian divinities, meaning each got their own card, and none were left out. 

The cards are broken down this way:

22 Major Arcana

These are the 22 superior divinities, each of which had actions connected to the card on which they appear.

For example:

Anubis was associated with mummification and the afterlife.  In this deck, he is, obviously, chosen as the death card.

Osiris, god of death and the afterlife, was chosen as The Hanged Man.

16 Court Figures

These are 16 divinities that had less range than the superior ones.  Each suit uses the Knave, Knight, Queen, King approach.

For example:

Geb is the God of the Earth, and was chosen for the King of Wands.  The King of Wands is associated with life, creativity, and being a born leader.

Cards 2-10 in Each Suit

These are the 36 Doyens represented in the Temple carvings.  These are also referred to as the “monthly spirits”.

For example:

Senacher, known for nobility of mind and ability to command is the Three of Chalices, the card for trusting others and forming bonds.

The Four Aces

These are the three seasons of the Egyptian calendar, as well as the days of Sopedet.  That is when Sirius ascends.  The ascension of Sirius coincided with the time the Nile was just reaching its full benefits.

For example:

Sopedet, as I just described, is used for the Ace of Pentacles, a card signifying reaching a goal, focusing on results.

So, as you can see from this deck, the Egyptian astrology is incredibly well detailed and laid out for divination and exploration.

Recommended Spread

The recommended spread for this deck is to lay out 12 cards, all face down, as such

1    4    7    10

2    5    8    11

3    6    9    12

In this spread, cards 1-3 are for Love, cards 4-6 are for Work, cards 7-9 are for Friendships/Social Relationships, and cards 10-12 are for Business and Finance.

Based on the question the question the consultant asks, you only turn over the column that corresponds to the question, and ignore the rest.

The top card is for the beginning, the middle for the evolution, and the bottom card is for the outcome.

Pros and Cons

Among the pros, the artwork on these cards is amazing.  There is interesting attention to detail.  Images have inconsistent color, scratches, and dings.  This was done, I assume, to make them look aged, more like carvings from long ago.

For the suits, the accompanying booklet tells the planetary position associated with each card.  So, serious astrologers can have a little more insight into the deck.

Among the cons, since gods are used in place of traditional symbols, there is nothing to differentiate court cards from the rest of the suit, except that the suit cards have the numbers in the top center.   Court cards are indistinguishable from each other, unless you read in the corners which card you are dealing with.
A serious cultural faux pas on the part of the creator of this deck occurs when we are instructed to shuffle the cards 7 times, then have the consultant cut the deck with their left hand, after which the diviner shuffles another 7 times before dealing the spread.  In Arabic cultures, the left hand is considered unclean.  So to use the hand thought to be unclean in cutting a deck like this seems like a serious misfire on the part of the creator.

Additionally, while Cleopatra may has resurrected interest in the gods, the gods and symbols used in this deck are all way before her time.  The deck itself has nothing to do with Cleopatra herself, as these gods were not from her time.  One would assume her name was attached to it for marketing value.

Overall Impressions

Personally, I am a lover of unique decks with incredible art.  This deck definitely has that.  However, unless you are an expert in Egyptian deities and symbolism, this deck will have a most difficult learning curve. 

To me, that makes this set a wonderful set to add to a collection, for its artistic value.  But, it also makes it a very tough deck to use for actual readings.  Unless you are an Egyptian scholar, this deck will most likely be nothing more than a very beautifully drawn collector’s set.

~ Giani

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Additional Tarot Reviews:
Ancestral Path Tarot Deck
Vampire Tarot of the Eternal Night
Sun and Moon Tarot Review

Sun and Moon Tarot Review

Sun and Moon Tarot                                                  

By Vanessa Decort

Published by US Games Inc, 2010

Can I use the word delightful? I usually don’t, but it describes this deck well. As soon as I looked through the cards I felt a new lightness in spirit. The scenes of love, play, affection, youth, and vitality simply made me smile.

Sun and Moon Tarot brings its own wisdom – an embrace of life, of living – to a Crowley Thoth backdrop. Figures on the cards exhibit a certain comfort or confidence in their surroundings, and a sense of being fully present. They are almost cute, as they are also almost all young, with soft round featureless faces, long flowing hair or dreadlocks, baggy pants and belly-tees, and an energy that nearly bounces off the images.

These traits do not make the deck itself lightweight… It is interesting to see all these travelers through the tarot look as if they are under twenty. They easily look like they could be students, reflecting to me that we are all still students – as cliché as it may sound – not only of tarot of course, but of life itself. In the Devil card we see two young people, standing back to back, arms hooked together as if they are bound by some powerful force. We could each be standing there – no matter our age, learning the lessons of the Devil, as stated in the accompanying booklet, “The couple can release themselves by letting go of each other and escaping from the web of illusion. The devil dominates the couple. His third eye forces them to confront their inner demons, obsessions, fears, delusions, and traumas.” In the Five of Pentacles, also named “Worry,” we see two young people, perhaps even children, sitting alone against a wall. It is another emphasis on the agelessness of our concerns. The truth of this card may be relevant no matter where we are in our lives, and the artwork gets this across effectively.

The cards are rich with symbolism, bringing more multiculturalism to the deck than mere appearances. It takes into account Kabalistic paths, Jungian archetypes, as well as universal archetypes and cultural symbols, and the personal symbols of the artist. The deck looks simple and joyful, but carries within it much meaning and depth – making it a true pleasure to read with. For example, in the card of Temperance we see a winged angel passing water from one cup to another, but we also see a pattern of yin and yang in the steam rising above her. Of the card the author says, “Temperance reveals the middle path described in Buddhism. The black and white elements of this card reveal the light and dark dual nature within us. The black and white cups represent properties of the sun (fire) and the moon (water)… Fire and water are brought together into steam, signifying creative power, and integration of opposites.”

The accompanying booklet reflects scholarship, age, and wisdom. It offers clear and comprehensive interpretations for each card, with intuitive and intelligent insight. A good Introduction to Tarot and the Sephirot is provided, as is one spread, called Sun and Moon (yin and yang) Reading.  

The Sun and Moon Tarot is highly recommended, and though it will have appeal to enthusiasts of any age and experience, would be particularly wonderful as a gift for a young person.

~ Nellie Levine

http://fionnmara.com

http://illuminationtarot.com

You may also enjoy:

Vampire Tarot of the Eternal Night

Ancestral Path Tarot Deck

An Introduction to Tarot

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