Deck Review | Pagan Otherworlds Tarot

Published by Alison Cross on

Sometimes I sign up for Kickstarter Tarot campaigns and forget all about them until a little package plops onto the doormat many months later. No such casual forgetfulness with the Pagan Otherworlds Tarot by Uusi in the US.

TABI backed this particular deck and I thought that it was worth a personal punt too, so my deck arrived and gosh – is it love at first sight or what?!

The tuck box is beautiful, using the same pattern that is found on the rear of the cards.  Whereas the box has subtle glinting gold highlights, the card back is glint-free.  That’s probably a cost thing and anyway, who really looks at the back of cards when the front is so pretty?

This is not a 78-card deck, we have ADDITIONAL cards, namely a Seeker card and five phases of the moon.  Since the deck doesn’t come with a LWB, one can put whatever emphasis you like on the use of these cards!

Waxing lyrical

The Seeker card makes a natural significator card – sparing you the dilemma of whether to filch a court card out and thereby taking it out of circulation for the reading.

The moon phase cards DO have slightly glittery highlights which adds to their specialness.  These cards could be removed for general 78-card deck work and included when some sort of time element was required? Or perhaps to add clarification as to what phase the client’s situation might be:

new moon = just beginning
waxing moon = gathering strength
full moon = at its strongest
waning moon = losing strength
dark moon = completed

Suits are Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles and the courts are Page, Knight, Queen and King – as you can see in the video below.

There is no particular colour associated with any suit and the overall palette is warm in tone and muted in shade, with all the characters presented against a barely-there blue sky.

There are animals associated with some of the suits – lions for Wands for example.  I do query why the King of Pentacles wears a ram head-dress when he’s associated with Taurus, whilst the Queen wears her Capricorn horns a-ok …. and doesn’t the Knight of Pentacles look like a painting of Napoleon?!

It is a really lovely set of Minor Arcana cards.  There are no human figures in any of the Minors, but that is not to suggest that this is a set of ‘Marseille’ unillustrated pips!  Here we have elements of the Rider Waite Smith crafted into the card along with the requisite number of suit symbols.  It’s a kind of hybrid and I think that it works beautifully.

My scanner is not managing to capture the creamy off-white tones of the card stock, I’m afraid.

As far as the Majors go, everything is titled as you would expect and has Justice at XI and Strength at VIII.

The card stock is beautifully slippy with a linen finish and it’s a joy to use.

Is it perfect? Almost!  The only thing that I have a quibble with are the one or two of the heads and faces.  I find there is an occasional awkwardness about one or two of them – for example, the Page of Cups (see video).

I’ve been using them the past week for my daily draws on the Tarot Thrones facebook page.  You’re not ‘liking’ me there yet?! Come on over and see what’s there!

That said, it does not detract from my enjoyment of the Pagan Otherworlds Tarot one jot.  I adore the classical otherworldly illustrations. Are they medieval-inspired? Renaissance inspired?  It doesn’t matter, get yourself a copy and get ready to join the fan club.

To buy your own copy:  Visit Uusi
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Alison Cross

The Tarot's Court Cards are my specialist area.Β  They talk to me. Not LITERALLY though ....

4 Comments

Carla Tate · 25th January 2017 at 11:45 pm

It's luscious.

Bonnie Cehovet · 14th November 2016 at 2:14 pm

I have this bookmarked for purchase. Coming at the holidays, this price for a deck with no companion book is a bit much. But the deck is lovely, as is the addition of the extra cards!

    Alison Cross · 14th November 2016 at 3:07 pm

    I honestly don't think that you need a LWB with it, but having nothing with it does mean that it is probably not a good first deck for a beginner (cos you'd need to buy a book!) But you'll be absolutely FINE with it. Would be interested to know how you use the moon phase cards when you get it, Bonnie <3

Supra Oracle + Book | Uusi Studios - Tarot Thrones | The Court Card Blog · 14th April 2019 at 3:06 pm

[…] about the Pagan Otherworlds Tarot? You can read the Tarot Thrones review HERE and you can also purchase it from their website for […]

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