The Raven's Prophecy Tarot

[Mirra]

Booklet

Maggie posted a small sample of the booklet on her blog: http://maggie-stiefvater.tumblr.com...here-is-a-small-sample-of-the-tarot-booklet-i

 

[elijahfeathers]

Hopefully it's okay to post here even though it's been about a month since there was any activity!

I was browsing tumblr and came across the art for this deck, and promptly signed up for a preorder. My only previous deck was given to me by a friend, I've always been interested in tarot but never particularly drawn to any one deck I saw, most of them seemed either too impersonal and uninteresting or way over the top. More power to anyone who can work with a steampunk, kitten, or vampire deck or what have you, I'm just not that person. I need something that feels mystical and not forced to me-- and all the art I saw for The Raven's Prophecy Tarot practically screamed it to me.

I ordered from Llewellyn and though apparently the release date is the 8th my deck arrived on the 3rd. It's simply perfect for me. The size is great, the feel of the cards physically in general is quite nice. They've got plenty of flex to them, I can riffle them which is nice-- I never feel any sort of card deck, tarot or otherwise, is properly shuffled without a riffle involved. I find the images to be robust in meaning and beautifully rendered-- but at the same time all seems simple and uncrowded on the mostly black backgrounds. Most decks I look at seem 'loud' and busy in each image, with many points asking for attention visually, I find virtually all the cards relaxing to look at since there's much less 'noise' to focus on.

Overall I'm really pleased with them, absolutely glad that I pre-ordered them.

 

[deb13b]

I was going to be getting it for my birthday next week but an emergency vet bill has left me so short of money I haven't even got enough money to pay my bills . Good to hear reviews by people who have them already tho.

 

[Le Fanu]

Curious deck.

I love that Death card and I think I know the inspiration behind it, or where the image was taken from (Paul Koudanaris' Empire of Death & Heavenly Bodies books about bejewelled skeletons in baroque catacombs).

Something strikes me whilst looking at this deck - and and I'm sure I'll get it as it looks very dramatic. But there's a kind of trend now for doing isolated, detailed vignettes in tarot card imagery.

Single, stark, non-narrative images. Like the Wild Unknown. A plant pot for the Page of Coins, a shovel for the Knight of Wands. There is something minimalistically appealing about these decks at first glance - a move away from RWS "doing things" imagery. But I wonder, long term (as I have found with the Wild Unknown), whether they are quite limiting. Certainly with this deck, I can't see that I would find the imagery extensive enough to go on and on unravelling meaning during readings. My gut reaction tells me that, as images, they are quite one dimensional. But then I'm one for layers of symbolism that the brain filters differently for different readings.

Am I making sense?

 

[Thoughtful]

Single, stark, non-narrative images. Like the Wild Unknown. A plant pot for the Page of Coins, a shovel for the Knight of Wands. There is something minimalistically appealing about these decks at first glance - a move away from RWS "doing things" imagery. But I wonder, long term (as I have found with the Wild Unknown), whether they are quite limiting. Certainly with this deck, I can't see that I would find the imagery extensive enough to go on and on unravelling meaning during readings. My gut reaction tells me that, as images, they are quite one dimensional. But then I'm one for layers of symbolism that the brain filters differently for different readings.

Am I making sense?

You are making perfect sense to me LF, like you l do love to delve into the layers within the cards. Having said that l do not like overly detailed unnecessary and fussy images. The fun l have in readings is always seeing something different in the meanings l pick up.
My difficulty with Wild Unknown, beautiful as it is, is that it did not give me enough scope to play around.

 

[Carla]

Curious deck.


Single, stark, non-narrative images. Like the Wild Unknown. A plant pot for the Page of Coins, a shovel for the Knight of Wands. There is something minimalistically appealing about these decks at first glance - a move away from RWS "doing things" imagery. But I wonder, long term (as I have found with the Wild Unknown), whether they are quite limiting. Certainly with this deck, I can't see that I would find the imagery extensive enough to go on and on unravelling meaning during readings. My gut reaction tells me that, as images, they are quite one dimensional. But then I'm one for layers of symbolism that the brain filters differently for different readings.

Am I making sense?

You are making perfect sense. This is why I sold my Wild Unknown and why, even though orange is my favourite colour and corvids are my 'spirit animals', I don't see myself enjoying this deck for reading, if I do end up buying it. I may not be able to resist, and if I can't, I will surely eventually sell or trade it. Ah well, keeps me off the streets.

 

[elijahfeathers]

Curious deck.

I love that Death card and I think I know the inspiration behind it, or where the image was taken from (Paul Koudanaris' Empire of Death & Heavenly Bodies books about bejewelled skeletons in baroque catacombs).

Something strikes me whilst looking at this deck - and and I'm sure I'll get it as it looks very dramatic. But there's a kind of trend now for doing isolated, detailed vignettes in tarot card imagery.

Single, stark, non-narrative images. Like the Wild Unknown. A plant pot for the Page of Coins, a shovel for the Knight of Wands. There is something minimalistically appealing about these decks at first glance - a move away from RWS "doing things" imagery. But I wonder, long term (as I have found with the Wild Unknown), whether they are quite limiting. Certainly with this deck, I can't see that I would find the imagery extensive enough to go on and on unravelling meaning during readings. My gut reaction tells me that, as images, they are quite one dimensional. But then I'm one for layers of symbolism that the brain filters differently for different readings.

Am I making sense?

I think that totally makes sense. There's people who do well with a whole lot going on in images, and people like me who prefer more simplicity with things. After a readthrough of the included book to understand the imagery chosen I find myself referencing back a lot less than I was with say, my touchstone deck or the who-knows-what-edition RW deck my dad has. I'm just really glad to have found a deck that has images that have enough meaning to make sense to me without having so many meanings wiggling around in them that I get lost in them. I also really like the play off of some of the cards as it helps me with some of the meanings, such as the lovers and two of cups being strikingly similar visually but with subtle differences in the way the animals are paired, or the eight of swords being 'your' own hand holding 'your' other arm back making me immediately think of the devil, which is depicted as a mask that can be put on or taken off.

Overall I'd say the deck seems like it's better suited for introspection than reading for other people with-- it comes off as very personal to me. But then I've only had it for a few days and I'm also sort of biased because I just love the art in it. If you go to the artist's tumblr (http://maggie-stiefvater.tumblr.com/tagged/tarot), you can actually find images of all the cards, though you'll have to look through two or three posts.

I hope that my input will be helpful for anyone considering this deck-- but the above poster has a very valid point, if you enjoy lots of layers of meaning in each image you may find that The Raven's Prophecy Tarot falls short or seems flat to you.

Edit: Wow I just realized that these two posts are the first time I've actually said anything on the forums since I joined. Holy lurker status lost, batman!

 

[ArwenNightstar]

I just did a video review of this deck if you are interested. https://youtu.be/mczZU1HgrE8 Includes scanned in images.

 

[greatdane]

THANK YOU ARWEN!

I really appreciated your review. So often scans just don't do it and it's great to see someone go through and show and talk about the cards.

Well done

 

[ArwenNightstar]

I really appreciated your review. So often scans just don't do it and it's great to see someone go through and show and talk about the cards.

Well done

Thank you so much. I'm having fun and learning more about how to make my video reviews better. I have the Green Witch Tarot on tap for the next one. Have to get my weekly Tarotscopes done first. I really appreciate your response.