I was sure MoonGypsy would've been back by now with a report. That she hasn't tells me that she's still in a stupor from the gloriousness of the deck. Once she's regained her senses, she'll be back with a report, I'm sure.
Since MoonGypsy seems to still be luxuriating in her deck, mine arrived today so I'll describe what I have and my reactions.
I got a XI Balance magnet, a III Goddess locket and a VII Chariot postcard. I have to think about what that might mean as a reading.
The cards themselves seem to be the exact same cardstock and size as the Dark Goddess (also published by ArnellArt).
All my comments about the cards themselves should be prefaced with the statement - "I don't know diddly about Minoan culture."
- The backs are NOT reversible for those who care. We have a double-headed yellow and orange axe on a red background
- The only Majors with "standard" (or close) names are:
- Priestess
- Lovers
- Chariot
- Strength (numbered 8 for those who might care)
- Wheel of Life
- Hanging Woman (who is upright on a swing, but is headless)
- Star
- Moon
- Sun
- World Tree
- The Minor Suits are Earth, Sea, Sky and Art
- Animals adorn the Minors Ace - Ten of the first three suits, but a person adorns those same cards in the Art suit. (That's explained in the not so LWB.)
- Courts are Worker, Priestess, Master, Mistress
- There are lots of boobs in the deck (the open sexuality of the Minoans is discussed in the nsLWB), some with nipples and most without
- There are a few penises in the deck
- There was a dark smudge on my Sea Three card between the two dolphins, but I was able to wipe it off with my finger. (There's nothing on the back of Sea Two.)
- My nsLWB is cut strangely. The book itself is rectangular, but the pages within were cut crooked such that I do miss part of a letter on a number of pages within the book.
- Rachel Pollack wrote the forward to the nsLWB
- There are color copies of the cards in the nsLWB
- There aren't any reversed interpretations in the nsLWB
- There are two sample 3 card readings in the nsLWB
The deck will be something of a struggle for me to use without study as animal images don't really speak to me (unlike the Dark Goddess). So I'll have to rely on the nsLWB and/or research into animal imagery to understand what the animal brings to a particular card. I am glad that I have the deck though as I am interested in learning more about Minoan culture (which is why I bought the deck in the first place - well that and it's by Ellen, who is one of the sweetest people in the whole wide world!).
Rodney