About this item
- The Quick and Easy Tarot attempts to simplify the use of Tarot cards. It has very large orange and blue borders with
- printed upright and reversed card meanings, around illustrations from the niversal Waite Tarot.
Specifications
Name
|
Quick and Easy Tarot
|
Creators
|
Mary Hanson-Roberts,
Ellen Lytle
|
Publisher
|
US Games 1999
|
Deck Type
|
Tarot Deck
|
Cards
|
78
|
Major Arcana
|
22
|
Minor Arcana
|
56
|
Deck Tradition
|
Rider-Waite-Smith
|
The Fool
|
is 0
|
Strength
|
is 8
|
Justice
|
is 11
|
Card Language
|
English
|
Reviews
As I began the study of this deck, I sought more information about the creators, Ellen Lytle (text) and Mary Hanson Roberts (recoloring). Unfortunately, there is little information available about Ellen Lytle and her work. The images are of the traditional Rider-Waite-Smith deck, and have been recolored by Mary Hanson-Roberts, who is an accomplished creator of decks such as the anson-Roberts Tarot, niversal Waite Tarot, himsical Tarot, and arot Affirmations.
The outer edges of the imagery have been removed to allow room for the text, which condenses the pictures to a small scale. Printed above and below each picture are proverbial meanings and/or advice for the card. The reversed interpretation is printed upside-down on a blue background, while the upright meaning is printed on a gold background. This color scheme proves ecstatically pleasing to the eye, and enhances clarity and focus on the upright or reverse position of the card.
There is no book or pamphlet with the deck, instead an additional card with brief instructions on how to read the Tarot and examples of four basic spreads – Single Draw, Three Card, Celtic Cross and Star Spread. A spread sheet poster is provided with the layout for the Celtic Cross. Both proved to be useful study tools.
The deck is good quality, standard size and easy to handle. The back of the cards are gold with a pomegranate print taken from the High Priestess. The box is a bit flimsy and the inner casing does not fit snugly inside the outer casing. I found myself taping the bottom to keep it together.
Although I did not connect well with the meanings and advice displayed on the cards, and at times felt I did not agree with the interpretation at all, I felt it was important to conduct a few readings to assess its usefulness in a reading. However, I felt my intuitive ability was being mired by the meanings and advise presented on the cards. Although reasonably accurate at certain points, I found the interpretation to be a bit broad, and I felt it proved to produce a vague reading with little culmination of emotion. My basic perception is the deck was not ‘alive’ and lacked character.
The thing I found most interesting was the short tribute on the back of the inner casing honoring Pamela Coleman-Smith. A nice photo of ‘Pixie’, accompanied by a short biography of her life and work was a delightful surprise when I opened the box.
Overall, this is a deck for beginners and newcomers to Tarot. It is suited for beginners seeking to improve their ability to memorize standard meanings and to practice reading reversals. I recommend it to anyone who desires a set of “tarot flashcards” to use as study tool. If you are an avid fan of Mary Hanson-Roberts, it’s a deck you may just want to have in your collection.
|