The Raven's Prophecy Tarot

[Serenia]

My deck has arrived, finally! At first I wasn't really in the mood to look at the cards (I caught a cold and am feeling kind of "meh" at the moment), but then the beautiful blue and purple shimmer of the raven's feathers on the front of the box caught my eye and completely mesmerized me!

After looking through the cards for the first time, I can say that I love basically all of them! Particular favourites are the Hierophant, the Lovers, the Hermit, Temperance, the Tower, the Star, the Moon, the Ace, 2, 3, 7 and 10 of Wands, the 2, 3 and 9 of Swords, the 3, 5, 7, 8 and 9 of Cups and the Ace, 4 and 7 of Coins. And the court cards are highly readable to me as well!

I haven't had a look at the companion book yet, but I definitely will! I just wanted to give you my first impressions of the deck! I already felt this deep connection just by looking at the card scans online and I'm quite sure this is going to deepen even further once I actually start doing readings with it. It's been quite a while since I developed such an intense bond with a deck before even reading with it!

 

[Citrin]

There's a wonderful thorough review by "A truth in story" on YouTube that really enabled me with this deck. BUT... It really needs to be trimmed. That orange border is just WAY too much for this gentle deck! Ugh... And I'm not a trimmer. So I'm hesitating...

 

[Le Fanu]

Mine arrived yesterday. It's ok. But ok just isn't enough to excite me any more.

Frankly, I think this is an attempt to cash in on the success of the Wild Unknown. It isn't an exact copy - that would be too complicated in terms of intellectual property - but it is so obviously a copy of the style / concept / atmosphere, the type of symbolism. The lone feathers, bird profiles etc.

I'm sure they'd say it's a coincidence but anybody who looks really hard just knows. That nature-based minimalism and pared down energy. I honestly don't think this type of symbolism has much depth. It always looks like it should - everything very singular, dark and moody - but it's actually very one-dimensional when laid out. Plus I do think of Llewellyn as the most consistently unoriginal of all the major tarot publishers. I don't think they've ever released anything groundbreaking, have they? There's always a feeling of easy sales, easy symbolism, common denominators.

There is so much that is good and original right now and this feels sort of fake.

 

[Serenia]

Frankly, I think this is an attempt to cash in on the success of the Wild Unknown. It isn't an exact copy - that would be too complicated in terms of intellectual property - but it is so obviously a copy of the style / concept / atmosphere, the type of symbolism. The lone feathers, bird profiles etc.

I'm sure they'd say it's a coincidence but anybody who looks really hard just knows. That nature-based minimalism and pared down energy. I honestly don't think this type of symbolism has much depth.

Yes, I absolutely see what you mean. Nonetheless, for some reason this deck touches me on a much deeper level than the Wild Unknown does. I love the look and feel of the Wild Unknown (the use of colour, the buttery cardstock! ), but sadly, it has not been particularly inclined to talk to me so far. The Raven's Prophecy, however, practically shouts at me (in a positive sense)! So I guess, in the end it comes down to resonating with the one deck or the other.

 

[Le Fanu]

Of course - I never implied that it shouldn't resonate with anybody - and of course there will be people that prefer this to that and vice versa. I was making an observation of the "style" of the deck. Conceptually, it isn't original. But then one can theorise about absolutely anything or reach a conclusion about a deck and yet the idea of a "reading" deck is so completely personal, it isn't subject to anything whatsoever.

 

[feynrir]

To be honest, I'm one of those who initially did not think very highly of this deck, for reasons that Le Fanu has stated quite plainly. However! I've been watching videos about it today and I see the appeal more now.

I don't appreciate all of the cards, but the ones I REALLY love in particular are:

The Lovers, the Five of Coins, and the Nine and Ten of Swords. (WOW to those last two.)

That Lovers card especially points out the aesthetic marriage that I see playing out in this deck: the minimalism of the Wild Unknown coupled with the textured, bright, oil work reminiscent of the Greenwood.

I don't think this deck approaches the other two in depth, but I do see why it has the potential to be a good reader I hope everyone out there gets along nicely with this deck, if you're working with it!

 

[Le Fanu]

The thing (yes, singular) which I like about this deck is the Lovers card - those entwined antlers.

But it is the male of the species that has the antlers in most members of the deer family, so this might well be the only same sex Lovers card I actually like. Unless they're caribous - I think female caribous grow antlers.

Is this the only deck whose Lovers card is entirely same sex - with no other mixed gender option?

 

[Fire]

I really like the way this deck looks... Not sure I'd be able to do much reading with it, but it might be a good collection addition. I'm curious though: has anyone read the books it's based on? And if so, do they give the cards some special meanings or make them even better somehow? Or are you better off not knowing the source material?

 

[Madrigal]

This one's heading straight to the trimmer.

 

[rwcarter]

A friend showed me her deck over the weekend (and tried to give it to me but I declined). It fails the test of if I cut the titles off the cards will I be able to tell which card is which? For me, no. Even with the titles, I couldn't make sense of most of the cards I looked at. If I were in the mood for a completely new system to learn, maybe. But then I already have probably half a dozen or more decks that already fit that category whose art I find more enticing....

I hope those who enjoy the deck continue to do so. But that deck would just sit on the shelf and shelf space is limited these days, which is why I declined.

Rodney