Mass Market Borderless Edition, Acquired 2020, Learn to Dance with your Devils

This deck review does contain some nudity in the card images, you have been warned!

For a hot moment, you weren’t a Tarot reader of any clout until you had used and studied this deck. Thank goodness that has ended! But because of its explosion in popularity, there’s a million and one reviews about this deck. I debated even posting a review of this deck seeing as it has been done to death, but it is a deck that I reliably reach for again and again, so that makes it a worthwhile deck! That being said, NONE of my in-real-life Tarot reading friends like this deck, all on the premise that the frightening moon-people are too distracting or scary for them. And that is a totally valid opinion too–this is a disturbing deck, no joke!

While I personally don’t believe that you “must” study any one deck in particular, I will say that forcing myself to use this admittedly uncomfortable deck did teach me a LOT about reading tarot. When I first bought it, I thought I’d be getting rid of it because I too did not enjoy this deck, but now I could never imagine re-homing it.

There is a bit of a nightmare-circus feel to the themes in this deck!

Overall: 8/10 I once had a mentor tell me that to make any progress in any art, I had to learn to “dance with your devils.” For me at least, this deck was one stepping stone in my tarot journey that does just that.

This is a “Keep it Real” deck. The figures and situations in each card are blunt, brutally honest, and they often show the cost of choice represented in various card situations, or even the lack of choice. The artist Patric Valenza is prolific in macabre art, but this deck has to be some of his apex work. That being said, the colors are bright and interesting and the imagery is engaging.

Equal parts whimsy and macabre make this such a unique deck. The pops of color really stand out in an otherwise bland neutral color scheme.

While the hard cards are really hard, and some typically happy cards like the 10 of Pentacles show the hidden darkness (the black sheep of the family who is hidden and ignored), and there are also some lovely and unexpectedly whimsy cards (like the King of Wands).

This is a stellar reader and just rock-solid consistent in how it treats each and every card. The card emotions are amplified to the max and there’s never an image that really leaves me guessing (well, except perhaps The Chariot). Anyone who wants to work with multiple tarot decks should consider this one because it’s so unique and does its job so well. There’s a reason nearly everyone has heard of this deck and either has it, or knows someone who has it. It works amazingly well for dealing with inner turmoil and shadow work without feeling judge-y but still being quite blunt and abrupt (but don’t get me wrong, this is a pretty judgmental deck, but in that unbiased, don’t give a flying f#ck, sort of way). That being said, I wouldn’t necessarily say that if I had to use only one deck, I’d chose this one. This one is intense.

Card Quality: 2.5/5  I adore the odd length to width ratio—it makes these cards really easy to shuffle and I feel like I can know them even with my eyes closed, which is kinda intimate. They began to fray almost immediately, but luckily it doesn’t ruin them since they have a bit of a “worn” aesthetic already. Over all I wish they were better cardstock.

This deck does not do subtle…

Readability: 10/5 The meanings, good and bad of each card, are really clear, like kick-you-in-the-face clear. They do roughly follow the RWS system (though eight is Justice and eleven is Strength and there are subtle nods to the Toth and Marseille system here and there throughout the deck), but they also go beyond the traditional RWS symbology. The images are jarring, and they’re totally unapologetic.

I must say, this is NOT AT ALL a deck that is going to give you the warm fuzzies–even the 10 of Pentacles, a classic warm fuzzies card, also portrays this family’s secret of the abuse of the black sheep. There is no ugly side of society that slips by this deck; you cannot escape your inner demons with this one. Like a wicked comedian, this deck will get under everyone’s skin. You can totally make a story out of even a short spread, which is lovely.

A random draw

Art: 5/5 It’s strange–I didn’t like the art, not even when I bought this deck. But it just HAUNTED me and my thoughts. Now I love it. I love that the artist is so sure you’ll know certain cards, he didn’t even bother labeling them (oh, you’ll know them too when you see them!). There’s a whole book about this art (that I’ve held off purchasing but I might end up breaking down eventually) but the images are based off of tombstones and childhood dreams and that’s a totally accurate description. The childishness of the art does two important things, in my opinion: 1) it socially allows some really “scary” imagery to be seen (like mental illness, abuse, evils of consumerism) under the cloak of “cartoonish,” and 2) it taps into our vulnerability as children which opens us up to allowing ourselves to feel things more strongly and honestly.

Favorite Card(s): X of Pentacles, XIII (call me a basic, but come on, this is fantastic), II of Cups, which is arguably the best EVER, II of Pentacles

Least Favorite Card: XVI The Tower–I dunno, I want more? Compared to the originality and sheer emotional weight of the rest of this deck, this feels a bit mellow. And VII The Chariot also doesn’t seem to click with me.

Season: Halloween, and general spooky season!

Boxes it Checks: Unique, Shadow Work, Charming, Cohesive, Story-Telling, Dark, Witty, Blunt, Humorous, Masculine, Personal

Similar Decks: Tarot Nuages, The Yokai Yochi Tarot, Le Tarot Noir, Trionfi della Luna (same artist), Wayward Dark Tarot