So this is a deck I am very excited to review, as I know the actual creator and I have been personally hounding them for MONTHS about this deck to come out (#sorrynotsorry). In fact, the moment they announced the release of the deck I went and bought it so quickly that I later found out that I had been the first person to purchase it! Yay me! But enough about me and the amazing person who brought this deck to life, this is about the deck and cards itself. So, without further ado, let’s get started!
If you are interestead in purchasing this deck, please go to the following website!
The Customer Experience
So the customer experience on this was a bit lacking, however that is 100% the fault of the distributor. This is mostly due to a few underlying reasons (or so I hypothesis). The first being that I was the very first print of this deck to be purchased. Since this is a print on a demand basis company, I believe with my deck they were working out the finalized first test printals and such, which caused a delay. Additionally, this all happened during these weird months and with everything going on in the world, that most likely caused a delay as well.
The checkout process was a bit clunky as I did notice this tends to be aimed more for mass distributors (you can tell as there are amusing options to order literally thousands of copies with this deck), however I had no trouble purchasing only one deck and copy. The deck itself comes with a nice satin sealed bag for storage (the type with drawstrings that I LOVE), however does not come with a book. Instead, once the deck is purchased the distributor tells you where to get the booklet from online, which is good and bad. Good cause you can easily get it on your phone with no need to carry a booklet with you, bad as sometimes navigating the document can be tricky if you are not used to these new fangled websites.
I purchased the deck on 7/30/2020, and was told the delivery time was going to be around 8/19/2020, almost a month later. I waited this long so I figured, hey, why not wait more? However my frustration came when I got notified the shipping label was created on 8/6/2020, yet the item was not actually mailed until 8/11/2020, five days later. During those five days I almost broke my phone from refreshing the freaking page so much. That being said, the deck was delivered on 8/17/2020, two days earlier.
To repeat! I am not docking any points from this as I believe my experience with delays was due to being the first purchase and what is going on in the world. I do not believe this is what it normally is like and hold no fault for anyone for this.
The Deck Itself
So the first thing that I noticed about the deck is actually the quality of the work (where I also believe some delays occurred and were worth it!). The deck is very high quality with glossy cards made of a durable yet versatile card stock. Indeed, this is the easiest deck I have ever had in terms of shuffling! Since this deck is made by a company that produces playing cards al la casino royal status, this is the first deck of Tarot cards I have ever owned that feel like that card withstand the durability of multiple complicated shuffles and everyday use, unlike some of my other decks (looking at you True Black Tarot). This was a brilliant move on the creators part as it really helps to make sure their cards can withstand repeated uses and work its way into an everyday use, versus sitting on a shelf.
The cards themselves are designed in such a way as to invoke your inner imagination. When I first held these cards I got a distinct feeling that they were a secret, one meant only for myself. The imagery lends itself into a primal version of tarot reading, one where the actual imagery is the source of the reading itself. This is not your typical Rider-Waite deck. This deck instead challenges the user by removing concepts of gender, removing concepts of social class and focuses more on intellectual and emotional maturity (i.e., there is no King, instead there is a Master). The drawings are reminiscent of something I imagine I had seen in a dream, something that eluded me, and reminds me of hidden thoughts and desire. Indeed, this deck lends itself perfectly for personal readings and shadow work.
After having had it a few weeks now and getting a chance to get to know the deck and play with it, I am pleasantly surprised. The cards have held up extremely well with the roughest shuffling I could do (as a test of course, not that I am a bad shuffler or anything). The deck itself was very insightful, much more so than I originally would have thought. I was a bit nervous working with a deck that was about as far removed as Rider-Waite symbolism as you can get, but actually have discovered that this really does help with my readings. The creator was very thoughtful when creating each card, giving you enough in the design to help pursue the meaning but leaving out the parts that could be distracting or could influence your reading against what the card means.
Stunning deck reminiscent of inner thoughts (which explains the deck name)
Focuses on what is important about a card instead of flashy distractions
Gives a new insight to readings
The durability of the cards is amazing
Easiest deck to shuffle I have ever experienced
So I really only have one true con, and that would be the distributing and publishing company, however due to reasons I stated above, I refuse to hold that against the creator or deck.
Overall this is a wonderful deck that works by incorporating symbolism and design to help influence a reading, letting the reading be much more personal than a traditional deck. The designs are all lovely and bring to me thoughts of dreams, shadows, and Pan’s Labryinth. I would highly recommend this deck to any reader, especially if you are looking for a new everyday deck, as the quality of this one proves it can stand up to everyday use (and my giant man hands trying to shuffle).