Customer Reviews

Vision Quest Tarot

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This tarot deck centers around Native American themes. Some of the card names are changed (e.g. the four suits become four elements) A small black-and-white intruction booklet is included. This is my favorite tarot deck of all. All 78 cards, including minor arcana are uniquely and beautifully illustrated with detailed and colorful scenes of people, animals, and nature. Unlike most decks, equal attention is given to the art on the minor cards. I'd say this is definitely a thousand times better than the Unicorn Tarot Deck by Susann Star, which I also own. I don't know why it isn't more popular, except maybe that they didn't choose the most attractive card for the cover. If you buy this there's no way you'll be disappointed. I found this deck by visiting a website that reviewed over 200 tarot decks (Aeclectic Tarot)and chose this one as one of two favorites. (as of the last time I checked)

The Vision Quest Tarot is a Native American themed deck. Although its suits and court cards have been renamed, the meanings mostly follow the standard Rider-Waite interpretations. The artwork is focused on natural scenes, and the traditional suit symbols have been modified to fit this theme. There is Air (feathers), Water (bowls and other clay containers), Fire (arrows and torches), and Earth (woven baskets and plants). The pictures on each card are detailed and somewhat ethereal, creating a very peaceful, organic atmosphere, but they don't go overboard with symbolism and meaning. There is a simple keyword for each card, and the feeling you get from the picture is more important than what you actually see.

For example, one of the most striking cards is Eight of Water, "Stagnation". There is a stack of eight bowls of different shapes, most of them are chipped and faded. They sit amidst mud and puddles, and the coloring is all grey and earth tones. The mood created by the picture perfectly matches the keyword and easily conveys its meaning to you.

This deck comes with the standard "little white booklet" that details the card meanings and offers a few sample layouts to try. However, there must have been an error in the printing I have wherein the meanings for the Earth suit are printed twice, and the meanings for Air are not there at all. But that just means I'll be working more from my own interpretations of the cards, and with this deck, that is just fine.

The Vision Quest Tarot was created by Gayan Sylvie Winter and Jo Dosé in 1998. It is published by AGM Agmüller in Switzerland, and distributed by U.S. Games in this country.

The seventy-eight card pictures for this deck are all based on themes from the Native American Indian tradition. The artwork depicts Native American Indians engaged in traditional activities, and these pictures serve to define the meanings of the cards.

Each of the pip cards has a single word printed at the bottom, and that is the meaning of the card. The meanings of the Major Arcana and court cards are contained in the instruction booklet.

When I first started using this deck a few years ago, I had mixed feelings about it. I liked the earthly artwork and the spiritual quality of the card meanings, but I had difficulty doing intelligible readings with it.

During the intervening years I discovered the magic of using the combined meanings of Tarot cards dealt in pairs. Typically, I would deal eighteen cards, nine pairs in all. Most of the time, a card meaning would be only one or two or three words long to facilitate combining its meaning with that of another card. In this way, a pair of cards produced a new, systhesized single meaning.

I recently rediscovered the Vision Quest Tarot, and started using it again. This time, however, the cards came alive. Their one-word card meanings were ideal for my eighteen-card layout of nine pairs. As I used the nine-pair layout, I noticed a quality that was missing from other decks I had used in this way. Amazingly, the nine pairs of Vision Quest cards rendered divinations that answered each question in a logical, linear fashion. The systhesized meaning of each pair was like a sentence in a paragraph, with one sentence serving as the foundation for the next. Each pair produced an orderly progression of thought from one pair to the next.

This was astounding. In all the other decks I had used in this way (and there were a few), there was no logical or narrative flow from one pair to the next. The nine pairs of cards would provide a comprehensive answer to the question, but not in a smooth narrative fashion as with the Vision Quest cards.

I have no clue as to why the Vision Quest Tarot alone answers questions in this way, but it does.

With all that said, the relevance of the one-word card meanings is sometimes difficult to comprehend. As with all decks I have ever seen, you will need to use your imagination and intuition to flesh out the meanings of the cards into more fully realized statements.

I think this is the best Native American tarot deck that I have come across. Not only is the artwork beautiful, but it is so peaceful and calming. The pictures are not overdone, or too busy. This is a deck where the tougher cards are not really scary.. but at the same time avoid being "cute" or playing down to the message.. Actually, the death card, "Transformation" in this deck, is captivating to me.. while still getting the message clearly across.. NOT an easy task. There are keywords on the minor arcana.. some people do not like this.. myself usually included. However, here, they somehow seem to blend into the overall meaning of the picture without being distracting. Amazon does not have this deck readily available.. but it is out there.. ...

I wanted to recommend this tarot deck. It is my favorite. The images are deeply powerful as well as beautiful. I can relate to the idea of water representing the emotional body, as well as fire the energetic body, the air the spirit body, and vegetables and flowers the material realm. The Vision Quest Tarot booklet makes this deck different than other tarots. The definitions are very precise and accurate. I too, like a previous reviewer, usually do one reading about once or twice a year; it is that good. The cards are surrounded by a white framed border. I am ordering another deck to write key words around the frame of the cards for easy and instant interpretation when I read for others.

This deck is beautiful in concept, as well as beautiful in illustration and working. I can only use this deck once a year, as it is SO accurate it makes me a little uncomfortable. However, with the intent of the cards inherent in the pictures, this deck should really be and CAN be used more often. A more experienced practitioner should be able to handle the depth and power of it. I use a three card spread, past-present-future.
The card pictured on the box, the medicine woman card, to ME, unlike one of the other reviewers, IS the most powerful and beautiful card in the deck. (In fact I plan a tattoo of her,changing out the hawk for a raven and adding wolves and an owl). She is particularly powerful in her peace and strength, and should be honored. The shamaness card is powerful, but a little disappointing to me in illustration. She is the only Pacific NorthWest Native American in the deck and I find that a little strange.
This deck is WELL WORTH your money and energy. Its illustrations promote positive contemplation no matter what the issue you are addressing.

Tarot decks are very personal, and this one is my favorite. The images are beautiful and yet simple, portentious- broken bowls, abundant corn harvests, a fist raised to the sun grasping two arrows (the two of wands). Animals are well-represented and beautifully rendered. For me the entire deck is imbued with reverence for Mother Earth. People of all ages, and in every phase of life, are represented (with dignity). I find it an extrordinarily powerful and inspiring, feel blessed every time I use it. I'm a Taoist, and for me no deck better expresses attunement with the natural world than this one. And I love the accompanying LWB- a good read, authoritative, yet alive with the authors' personhood, just like they're speaking directly to you- wonderful.

I recently purchased this deck. I had been using the Faery Wicca Deck. I wanted to work with my Indian ancestors and energies and did not feel the connection I desired with the Wicca deck. The bond was immediate with Vision Quest. It has given me insight and direction in multiple dimensions in my life.

A few years ago I got into the Native American Spirituality and started mixing it with my Wiccan beliefs. I started looking for tarot or divination decks that were Native American. I found several I disliked, but this was one I was glad I bought. So far the cards have been very useful and all the readings have been correct. This isn't a traditional deck in any means. The suits have been completely changed as well as the symbolism of the pictures on the cards. It does come with a mini book that is very useful for learning the cards. These cards also don't need to be done with reversed or upside down cards. In fact I wouldn't know how to read a reversed card with this deck. lol. All in all though this is one of my top favorite decks out of all the decks I own....and I own over 15 divination decks.

I just received the Vision Quest Tarot yesterday and have not done any readings with it as of yet. I have 8 other decks all of which are beautiful (otherwise why bother?). This deck, however, appeals in a whole new way. These beautiful images make such intuitive sense--both individually, and as an ordered narrative-majors and minors. So many of the traditional images in the Rider-Waite imagery don't appeal to me (in the majors for instance) such as the Heirophant, the World and Death. In this deck, The Shaman, Balance, Transformation and the Big Medicine Wheel were "AHA" moments. Many of the other images were so perfect as well: Medicine Woman, Integration, Star, Moon and Spirit Guide to name a few. It's a very serene, peaceful deck which is very calming, but I'm not sure how realistic that is. I'll have to do start doing readings to see if they "speak". If so, this deck will blow it out of the water (metaphysically, at least).