I received this deck yesterday and I like it very much. Disappointingly, several of the cards in the pentacles suit are printed off kilter, so that the image sits crooked on the card. The backs are also skewed, so I 'm guessing the card went into the printer at a slight angle (or something). Flaws like this really catch the eye when you're examining a deck, but it's been my experience that when reading, I don't pay any attention at all to flaws, so I'm sure it will be fine. Otherwise, I could trim the white borders, as the backs are also in alignment, though this would creat quite a small and chunky deck of cards, so I will leave that option for now.
The deck is very good. I would put the art work on par with the Sol Invictus deck: that is to say, it seems to have been created by someone who can't draw, but who is motivated to do so anyway and soldiers on to complete drawings that would be praised by a 6th grade art teacher. This doesn't bother me at all. I am mindful that Golden Dawn students were required to create their own tarot decks based on the descriptions given, and this deck looks like the kind of thing that I, having no artistic talent at all, might have produced after hours, months or even years of devoted labour. It makes me feel kindly toward the deck and lends it a sort of personal feeling.
I like that the air, water, fire, earth symbols are present on the courts and minors. I appreciate that the Hebrew letter and the astrological symbol are there at the bottom of the majors. I like that the planetary and astrological symbols are included on the minors. All of this information is also present on the Thoth deck.
Which brings me round to another observation. I know this is not a Thoth deck, but it is a Golden Dawn deck, and so there are lots of similarities between the two present in the images on the cards. I like this because Lady Frieda Harris's artwork is so stylized and skilled, the symbols so integrated into the lines of the art, it is sometimes hard to pick them up or understand why they're there. In this deck, they are rather guilessly included and easy to see. For example, the Princess of Cups. In the Thoth, she looks like she has a swan lighting on her head. In GDMT, she is clearly wearing a stylized swan headdress, which is echoed on her belt and the shield at her feet.
Now to the book. It is really brilliant, and worth purchasing on its own, or the whole kit is worth purchasing just for the book, even if you hate the deck. The book spells everything out simply and efficiently, and for the first time (even having read Lon Milo DuQuette) I feel I have a chance of learning the basics of Qabalah, the Tree of Life, and other Golden Dawn attributes.
I'm really happy I chose this kit -- and I can't believe it's from Llewellyn!
