Customer Reviews

Mystic Dreamer Tarot (Book & Cards)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You can see pictures of the cards on a number of tarot deck websites, so I won't spend a lot of time on them here. If you're an art deck collector, this is probably already on your LustList. If not, you want to know how it *reads*.

First, there's no nudity in this deck, which to many readers who read at public fairs, is a huge relief. (The Lovers are semi-nude, but tastefully photoshopped). It's a darkish deck--moons appear in every card--but the overall tone is not particularly shadowy or bleak to me, as many 'darker' decks are. The symbolism is strongly reliant on RWS, so owners of other 'standard' decks can probably jump right in with readings. Some differences exist--the Hanged Man, for example, has both legs straight instead of the standard 'figure four', the Devil doesn't have a scary guy with horns--but all in all your RWS deck skills will transfer pretty seamlessly. Many symbols repeat throughout the deck, like waterfalls and ravens, that are not standard, but do lead to fascinating connections in a more intuitive-style reading.

The deck is heavily female--in case the big PINK box it comes in doesn't give that away. It features women more than men in the cards themselves--the swords suit, for example, is almost entirely female. The book it comes with is nice--not the LWB, but a paperback glossy covered affair. The explanations for each card are solid, and not very 'out there' or far from standard interpretations. The real treasure of the book comes in the 'use your intuition' questions for each card.

This is my first photo-collage deck, and I like it a lot more than I'd expected. I'd hoped it would be a bit more androgynous in appeal and pictures. But I can't fault a deck that gives good, solid readings and pushes a reader or a tarot-meditator to further their intuitive skills.

I waited with anticipation for this deck to come out, watching it's progress on the artists website. The artwork is lovely, unfortunately you still need to go to the mentioned website to appreciate it. The cards have an awful greenish-brown border which makes the images smaller, so that much of the detail is lost. The colors also seem muddy in comparison to the original art. For instance on the Star card, the detail of the rocks is completely gone and looks like a black mass. On the 4 of cups card, there is a castle, burro and stag in the background but you need a magnifying glass to see them. Unfortunately, this is true of quite a few other cards. This could have all been fixed by Llewelyn, who should have eliminated the border entirely and perhaps even made the cards bigger. Barbara Moore is an excellent writer, but I find her "use your intuition" questions in place of the cards interpretation rather bothersome. This is an art deck, with design based on the artists aesthetics and the availability of stock photography. There is no huge deep meaning behind trivial details such as yellow flowers. Which is really OK; there are plenty of traditional Tarot decks where the details truly are significant, so if that is what you are looking for, this is not the deck for you.

there are a few things I don't like about it. I was originally attracted to the artwork and after I used the deck for a while it soon became my favorite out of about a dozen decks. Most of the images are great and I get great readings, I agree with some other reviews that there are a few that seem a little jarring if you are assuming the traditional meaning. It is definitely a feminine deck with female figures in many of the traditional male cards, I happen to like that.
I would have given this deck an enthusiastic 5 stars until I went to the artist's website and saw the original work. Stunningly beautiful with vibrant colors. Llewellyn really messed this deck up. The yellow tones and the borders taking up so much space to not do justice to the original images. If it is ever reprinted in full color and a slightly bigger size I would grab one.

I love Tarot decks, and I buy them as much for the artwork as for the divination. I adore my DruidCraft, Spiral, World Spirit, Victorian Romantic, and other decks. What drew me to this deck were the mixed-media/collage-style artwork and the positive reviews. Unfortunately, I disliked this deck immensely upon looking through the cards. The people appear disingenuous and disassociated from the setting in which they find themselves. All the people have stringy, frosted-looking hair. All are caucasian, most are blond, and all but one look to be under 25. I'm sure this deck would hit the mark with the 18-25 year-old angst-ridden, goth-leaning crowd. But for a 42 year-old mom who values diversity, this deck seems shallow and without heart. There is no vitality here. A few notable examples:

The Hierophant -- A young man looking sideways at something. He is either beckoning to someone or twirling his hair absentmindedly. He appears far too young to be wise about anything, and his countenance gives the impression of cunning and guile rather than "divine wisdom," as asserted in the accompanying book.

The Lovers - What in the world? David Bowie and Paris Hilton as wax mannequins, looking up at a wax mannequin moon or sun, it appears. No love here that I can see. No emotion at all, really.

Strength - Looks like a fashion magazine shoot. The lion looks bored, and the woman representing Strength looks more concerned with sexiness (with a "come-hither" playboy pose) than strength.

Other thoughts...
I like how the borders have torn-looking edges, but the yellowish-greenish-brown color of the borders is not attractive.
My set arrived MISSING two of the Queen cards and ALL of the King cards, and INCLUDING 13 DUPLICATE cards. So, if you get this set be SURE to go through all the cards.

This is not a set I will be keeping.

I purchased this deck as part of my collection, feeling they would appeal to high school aged clients. I DO feel they will do just that, primarily because the overall sense one gets from the deck is "dark" energy. In the same breath I must say that it's a shame that so much of the symbology is too small to be seen in the format provided. I feel they are very creative cards and are easily read per maintaining much of the classic imagery of the Rider-Waite decks but, again, it is frustrating to not be able to readily show your client what you are referring to. On a personal level, I was disappointed to see that the majority of the "persons" depicted in this deck are female and quite often the facial expressions don't honor the classical intent or meaning for that card. I was tempted to send the deck back for a refund, but realized that by time I paid postage and handling, I would have nearly paid for the deck again.

I'm not really a beginner with Tarot cards, but till recently, I haven't branched out of using my Rider Waite and Thoth decks. This set called out to me, for a few reasons.

Here's what I love. I love the collage look of these cards, and the dreamy darkness. They're dark without being spooky, or too doom and gloomy. Some of the imagery is straight up gorgeous. I love the book, and how insightful it is. I love the questions to ask yourself about the cards, and some of the spread ideas, I like how she handles reversals, too. I got some great ideas from the book. I like the edges and backs of the cards. The look of them immerses me into the feel of flipping through a magical tome. I also love how easy they are to shuffle. It's a small thing, but an easy to shuffle deck makes a big difference. I love some of the models, using people of varying shapes and sizes was nice, and in some cards they really added to the overall meaning.

Some of the things that trouble me with this deck, now. I sometimes like the imagery of the moon and ravens, but I feel that it was overused. Those images showing up on every card somehow dilutes their meaning, and became distracting to me. I read in the book, that the artist used birds to allude to intuition and imagination, which is great, I think every card in every Tarot deck in the universe should be interpreted with intuition and imagination. I found myself hung up on trying to figure out the different formations of the birds, and if they meant anything, or the position of the moon, and ulitmately I got a little bit frustrated at these elements.

My one other main complaint is the use of the figures. Like another reviewer, I felt that many of them were disconnected from the card, from what was going on in the card, or didn't do anything to represent the complex meanings. There were a handful of cards, where the people in them seemed an afterthought. I got a lot out of the background, but the models were window dressing. I too, would have liked to see more diversity in their age, and ethinicity, but that's sort of a personal thing.

I feel, because of these two things, a beginner would have a tough time with this deck.

I like the look and feel of these cards, I like the theme, and I genuinely enjoy flipping through them, doing small readings, and spending time with them. There are a few things that I wish were different, but overall, I like it, and would like to see more from the creator of this deck.


EDIT UPDATE: Ok, I was a bit harsh, at first. This has become my constant companion. It's like a warm, fuzzy black sweater. Dark, but totally nonthreatening. I've done a mess of readings with it, and it even makes the bad news easier to handle. Very comfortable deck, flaws and all. I guess I can relate to it on many different levels.

I bought these cards to see the art work. There is so much talk about the beautiful art work on them. The art work is okay. I think if you are a professional artist. You'll see the problems that I saw. But most people don't care about that stuff. SO the deck has it's bonuses. It's imaginative, pretty and huge.

The book is cute and fun writing style. She is very imaginative with the story concept. I really enjoyed the fun atmosphere she creates in the writing.

The packaging, is beautiful. I half to say, that the outside of the box got me to purchase it. Though I'm disappointed with the artist work on the cards. It's okay, not every card has to be perfect.

I'm not trying to be mean or harsh on the artist. The mistakes I saw were things like color mistakes, blurred edges, inconsistent lighting effects and modeling expression issues, and to much stock work. But I only wish that someone would have scanned in a large resolution image so I could have seen the mistakes before hand.

My guess, is that there wasn't a lot of critical critiques going on during the making of the cards. My professors of art would fail me if I turned in work like this. But they are way picky and hard on me to.

Overall, I'm impressed! The artist did a huge body of work. It's mostly original. The packaging is beautiful, the book is well written and the cards are good enough for most people with out the artist critiquing eye. School has ruined me. Now, I see mistakes in art and typography.

This is my first set of tarot cards, and with the book, it was quite easy to learn and use. The card quality and picture quality is pretty awesome, definitely over my expectations.

It comes with a black pouch to carry them in, and many of the descriptions and pictures are quite enchanting. Lovely deck. Definitely recommend for a beginner or anyone who wants cards that will last a long time.

I bought this tarot deck..
1.)To start doing readings (for myself only)
2.)I think tarot decks are beautiful
3.)I wanted to use them for meditation
4.)To use as part storytelling in an RPG I play

This deck was EXACTLY what I needed!

This deck resonated with my soul as soon as I saw it! I knew it was the deck for me! It just arrived yesterday and I LOVE it! The artwork is surreal, dream-like, and inspires the imagination! I am a Witch, but until recently, I have been hesitant to try divination. As soon as I had this deck in my hand I felt like I needed to start using them. The style of the artwork and the intuitive questions with each make them PERFECT for meditation, dream work, creative writing, and RPG's! They are also excellent for readings. The intuitive questions may throw people who feel the need to follow strict guidelines and rules, but I found them quite useful. There is an element of the Dark Goddesses about all of the artwork which is a rare find! Every card is captivating-not just the Major Arcana like in some tarot decks.

However, just because this deck was the right one for me does not mean it will be for everyone. No deck is for everyone. I looked at literally EVERY tarot deck Amazon sells to find "my" deck. I would recommend everyone doing the same. Always follow your own intuition, especially with something as special as your tarot deck.

This type of artwork has improved in presentation and 'clean' rendering. Previous decks looked like they were 'puzzled' together. I'm happy to say that this is not perfect but a good advance in this type of artwork. I enjoyed the book by moore. Less is more and it was well written. I've enjoyed the moon motif throughout the deck. Good touch with the basics with numerology and reversed meanings being brief but very thoughtful which moore ponts out in her introduction of the book. Great for personal work, beginners and anyone who would enjoyt a little something differant but not so differant that it is hard to figure out. I liked the way the pentacles were see through and part of the scenery and the extra 'pieces' in the card and questions gave me a lot to think during readings. Recommened for your own personal collection as this is not 'run of the mill'.