Golden Universal Tarot Deck Cards – May 8, 2013

These cards are spectacular!For me they are a good size. I like the smaller cards because they are easier for me to shuffle with my very small hands. These are still a bit big to be comfortable to shuffle, but not as unwieldy as some of the larger decks like the Druidcraft. They are more narrow than some as well, which makes them fit well in my hand in that regard. I often trim my cards down if they have a border. Despite the gold accents on these borders I seriously debated trimming them to make then fit (and I generally prefer borderless) but they are so beautiful I haven't been able to bring myself to.The colors are vibrant and stunning, and the gold leaf just draws you in, almost forcing you to hold the card and look at it from all angles to see that shine! I've read some reviews that mention that some of the gold looks like it flaked off, and that the manufacturer has said this is on purpose to make them look old-timey. Unlike most I actually do like that effect. On the cups and pentacles it gives some age to them. Life isn't perfect, but it's beautiful, like these cards.The card stock is a bit thin and I was worrying about that when I bought these. Now that I'm handling them it doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would. They may be prone to bend, especially if you shuffle them roughly. I'd prefer thicker card stock, but at the same time that would make the deck itself thicker and once again how it fits in my hand is pretty important to me, so for me the thinner cards are an acceptable sacrifice to make the deck easier to handle.The pictures and even the videos of these cards just don't do them justice. The gold leaf really makes the colors pop. Pale colors like white, pale blue, yellow, just really come forward a lot more than in other decks. The illustrations are rich and vibrant and have an almost comic book vibe to them with the dark black lines, without being cartoony. It is just so easy to get lost in these cards. I've done two serious readings with them since getting them a couple days ago and both went really well and were pretty accurate.A couple of the pictures differ from the Rider-Waite by a small amount. In the Eight of Swords the woman is tied to a tree (or at least appears to be, with a tree behind her). It's a stunning image and one of my favorites, but differs from the standard Rider-Waite which has the woman standing tied up but not to a tree, which can insinuate a self-made problem. In these cards, it's hard to tie yourself to a tree, which could mean something someone did to you. In the ten of Swords the man is being stabbed in the chest with the swords, rather than the back which can change the symbolism of it. But these types of things don't bother me, but I can understand if they'd bother some.If you do regular readings for the public these can be stunning cards that really draw the eye and excite the client. At the same time, being so thin and a but flimsy they might not last long under hard use, so if you plan to use them for frequent public readings I might suggest ordering an extra back-up just in case. These are also good cards to learn on as they follow the Rider-Waite very closely, and most books for beginners use the Universal tarot cards or the Rider-Waite, making these very easy to recognize.All in all these are beautiful cards, well worth the price. The LWB is pretty awful. The pages dedicated to the cards in a single language (like English) is a handful of pages, and the rest is the same info in other languages. If you are a beginner you will need a better book (or websites) to get more in depth information on the cards as the booklet is practically useless. The spread in the front of the book is nice, though I prefer the good old celtic cross myself.To conclude, the cards are amazing, well worth the price, beautiful, vibrant, very well done. The gold leaf embellishments are amazing, and the slight purposeful missing bits of gold I think do give it a charming old feel. A very great buy and a good deck to add to any collection.

Perfect

With much reading of all reviews written thus far and with the myriads of tarot decks available, personally I have to say that for a deck that equals the resonance of the RWS deck, this is truly a remarkable work maintaining originality. For some it may be too gaudy, for others flawed either deliberately or due to poor printing, but for me I am awestruck. I waited patiently for weeks to for the deck to deliver not expecting too much. But wow! Again personally this deck blew my mind as well as my spirit.The cards:Standard tarot deck size; taller than a playing card deck but the same width.The back is a soft gold leafy pattern resting on a solid black background. Not flashy as on the gold leaf card faces. Nice.The face of each card is thinly boardered on the sides with a medium sized top and bottom margin surrounded in black with golden leaf designs at the corners as well as the centered numbers. This adds a nice contrast.The Major and Minor Arcana do not identify the card, such as The Fool, The Hermit, etc. Which I think is nice because I am not distracted by naturally glancing at what is written and am more drawn into the card's features for interpretation.The cardstock is solid and not flimsy and holds up well during shuffling and handling.The artwork:Golden printed decks of any tarot add new and fresh insight. The gold adds a nice accent to the already great artwork on each card.I had originally ordered the deck as a collector's deck, for the aforementioned 'flaws' of the first printing. But these minor, and I repeat minor flaws give this deck its own personality...not just another tarot deck.I tried to not open, but lost that battle and I am so glad I did. I am so thrilled with this deck that I have ordered a second to keep in its original upopened packaging! C'mon, it's only twenty bucks!I recommed this deck to even an advanced beginner that knows the Major and Minor Arcanas and for those that enjoy the main look of the RWS deck.I also recomend using this deck for just personal use or with close friend or family. Otherwise, the brilliance may be to distracting or overwhelming for clients' eyes.

I love this tarot, colors and golden deco is very beautiful, makes it easier for me to connect with it and understand it, i do feel this one, have other two i just couldnt feel connected to but i not only love how beautiful this is but also actually understand it. Totally recommend it

After much reading and research, it was time to purchase my first tarot deck. This one immediately caught my eye. It follows closely with the original Raider-Waite illustrations and imagery, which I thought was important to me learning each card as I go, BUT the gold flakes on each card are UNMATCHED. Anyone I read cards for or even looks at them compliments them. They are worth every penny and I am obsessed with this deck. I have yet to come across a deck I like as much as this one. If you're on the fence, DO IT <3

Most beautiful deck I've had yet. Foil is very shiny, artwork is interesting but not too overdone. Now I want the golden Botticelli deck!