Customer Reviews

Tarot of the Sweet Twilight (English and Spanish Edition)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From samples over the internet, these cards "called" to me. I didn't know exactly why, but then it hit me. "Wow! This is Tim Burton meets Tarot", I thought. It's undeniable that the imagery in the Tarot of the Sweet Twilight seems to be taken out of movies like "The Night Before Christmas" and "Corpse Bride". However, this is not just a rehash of the Rider Tarot in the spirit of those movies, but an ingeniously designed deck by Christina Benintende.

The cards on this deck are bordered black, with a reversible back to behold. The imagery losely follows the Rider tradition in a surrealistic fashion. With muted but contrasting colors, each card sucessfully captures the environment at twilight. At times, a sun and a moon will be seen at opposite ends of a card. The characters are languish being of pale skin that at all times captivate your imagination with their hidden emotions. However, this is by no mean a depressing deck.

Each card on this deck is labeled top and bottom on six languages including English, Italian, Spanish, French, German and Dutch. The Major Arcana are numbered at the top with stylish purple roman numerals, starting at 0 with The Fool. No matter how much I try, I won't be able to make justice to these cards. Instead, I can say that my mind was full of wonder as I enjoyed them. Is there a scythe as the shadow of the skeletal figure in Death? Is that an effigy of Yoda at the bottom left corner of Strength?

The suits in the Minor Arcana (chalices, pentacles, wands and swords) are subtly integrated into the imagery. The pip cards are fully illustrated and numbered at the top. There are a lot of interesting cards in the Minor Arcana like Ace of Cup with a woman bathing in a cup, Nine of Pentacles with a Catwoman look a like in view, and Knave of Wands with a troubadour with a spanish guitar to mention a few.

The only disappointing part of this deck is perhaps the Little White Book that comes with it. If you wanted to know what inspired the designer, you won't find an answer there. However, the descriptions were to point of the imagery on the cards.

If you like surrealistic art and tarot, this is probably a good deck for you. I suspect this is a deck I will enjoy for a long while.

This isn't a typical Rider-Waite clone deck. A fair number of the illustrations depart from the standard symbology, but not so much that the interpretaions are totally lost! You shouldn't have too much trouble adapting to the deck for doing readings from.

But that's not really why I dig this deck. It's the look. The colors are vivid, but not overly cheerful. I read a review where someone felt that it was the deck that Tim Burton never made, and I think that is an apt description. It's got some gloomy outlook amidst the more upbeat cards, and the drawings are rather charming. It's not as far out there as the Deviant Moon Deck either; it's stylised without departing from certain Tarot norms.

Additionally the card stock is a good wieght and the finish is not overly slick making them easy to handle. Lo Scarabo's boxes have a different fold at the bottom that doesn't roughen up the cards when you put them back in. The little white book is a bit on the sparse side, but that's standard. The meanings given in it do seem to vary a bit from what you learn elsewhere, but I found them to be relatively easy incorporated twists of other decks.

All in all, charming without being overly cheerful or theme interpretive.

Simply put: This deck is amazing.
The cards are great quality with beautiful artwork. It's magical, depressing, emotional, artistic, but without being over done. It is what it is, the sweet sweet twilight.
I did a great deal of research before purchasing and I am beyond satisfied.

I am always careful buying a new tarot deck because I won't be happy with one that isn't perfect for me. This also makes it hard to write a review, so I'll try to focus on what really makes this deck stand out.

First off, you have to appreciate gothic-looking artwork to like the Sweet Twilight deck. If that's the case, you could also buy the Bohemian Gothic Tarot or one more obviously dank, dark and sad - or you could buy this one, which is infinitely interesting, strange and has colors alone that make you swoon. I like my tarot decks colorful with cards that are interesting enough without being too busy, and Sweet Twilight has black borders which perfectly accent the awesome colors used in the artwork. The cards are simple and creative, focused on deep, somewhat dark and nostalgic themes.

So for you goths out there, inside or outside, don't feel like you have to be boring and depressing to enjoy some dark fantasies, because you will be missing out on this truly beautiful and original deck that can give you some comprehensive, and most importantly, INTUITIVE readings - I know every deck says that, but this time it's true.

I have a lot of tarot decks and I would have to say at the moment this is my favorite. I read from the card not the book so it is important the details in the card.
They have been so good for readings with my self and others. I just love the color's in this deck as well as the detail. I get bored very easily with tarot decks though
I think this one will take me a long time to get bored with.
Great deck
Lady Storm

This is a wonderful deck for intuitive readings! The cards have a life of their own. I created a fun spread using this deck and posted it - and people who have never heard of the deck or have never read tarot cards before gave surprisingly accurate interpretations! The cards are extremely easy to read and have a lot of hidden imagery in themselves.

"Whispers of the twilight twist into the corners of your soul awakening long-forgotten feelings. Surreal images surprise your mind. Colors and curves delight your eyes. Bittersweet beauty tinged with sadness stirs your heart and you are moved beyond expectations. You are changed. You grow wiser. You find the world is more complicated but no less beautiful." - From the Little White Book to the Tarot of the Sweet Twilight

Bold coloring and surreal imagery, uncertain circumstances viewed by emotive eyes, this is the eerie landscape favored by the Tarot of the Sweet Twilight. Painted by the fanciful, confident brush of Cristina Benintende, this deck is reminiscent of the kaleidoscopic films by Tim Burton, where wide-eyed naiveté and subversive knowing romp in off-kilter worlds.

Haunting yet appealing, the illustrations glow profound in the Tarot of the Sweet Twilight. Rich, chalky brushstrokes paint a world that's a bit like ours, but not quite--a place where our feet find purchase and our imaginations set aflame amid the in-between place of symbol and the subconscious.

Measuring approximately 4 ¾ x 2 ½ inches, the cards feature an attractive indigo border with a reversible (but a bit too busy) montage on the backs. The Minor suits are Chalices, Wands, Pentacles and Swords, with the Court Cards following the Knave, Knight, Queen and King designation.

The Little White Book, penned by Barbara Moore, doesn't provide keywords but rather "jumping off points" for personal interpretation. Many are quite good, especially for journaling and personal contemplation.

I've been using this deck for several months now with great success, especially for creativity and fiction writing. I've also had great results when reading for others, most notably when I did Black Friday gift-giving readings on Beyond Worlds at Blog Talk Radio. Even my 11-year old once read with the Tarot of the Sweet Twilight deck, giving me some amazing insight into a character from my first novel that I'm working on!

Fans of the Deviant Moon Tarot and the Phantasmagoric Theater Tarot would most likely love the Tarot of the Sweet Twilight, as would anyone who enjoys the art of Dali or the visual storytelling of Tim Burton. I highly recommended this deck for creative, romantic types, especially for idea brainstorming and solution generation.

Insights that go beyond "good enough" into the realm of otherworldly perspectives and refreshing, surprising readings have been my experience with the Tarot of the Sweet Twilight, and it may provide the same to you if you're drawn to Benintende's shadowy, fantastical artwork.

-- Janet Boyer, author of Back in Time Tarot

(To see 19 images from this deck, visit the Reviews--Decks section at JanetBoyer.com)

The LWB included with this deck states that this is a remarkable deck; I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. This deck is in a class by itself. The artwork is beautiful and quiet surreal, however I don't think it is too dark. Some of the cards contain illustrations which might appear similar to those of more traditional Tarot decks, but most are different than the usual ones. This is a deck which requires a lot more use of the mind in interpreting the cards. The illustrations will give some insights into the meanings of the cards, but that is not enough. Even the LWB can aid in their interpretations. However, you better really take your time and think about what appears on each card. Things do not necessarily appear as you believe they do. Look closer, and you will see more, and probably gain a different understanding of the card, than what you had on first impression. The cards are very thought provoking. Ironically, I found the most thought provoking ones in the Swords suit, the suit which relates to thoughts. This deck happens to be only the 2nd deck, of the more than 60 I own, in which I found the Minor Arcana cards more interesting than those of the Major Arcana. I would not recommend this deck for use in spreads requiring more than 3 cards, because there is so much to see in each card; your reading could easily become too long and complicated. The simpler the spread, the better.

My daughter orders these things and has never been disappointed. They come in a timely manner and as pictured and as described.

The pictures are beautiful but the deck to me is a tad too dark. I ended up purchasing another deck to use.