Tarot of Gemstones and Crystals

Rating:
Summary: Favorite Tarot Deck
Review: I have been collecting tarot decks for the last several years. Although the decks are all considered "traditional" the themes of the pictures/artwork are sometimes not to my taste. This deck uses beautifully done photos of stones and gems with each photo showing outstanding examples of each stone often in multiple stages from natural to fully cut/faceted and finished.

Rocks and gemstones have always drawn my attention and this special deck includes not only the more traditional card interpretations but the influences of the stones pictured, matching rather well the stone to the card. I now have the deck at work and draw a card each morning, reviewing the stone and card interpretations then leaving it standing next to my computer monitor to meditate on through the day.

The deck so intriged some of my fellow employees that they got their own deck and get together on their break each day to draw a card each and discuss the stones in terms of what is going on in their lives.

It has been interesting to watch people who might have been intimidated by a "tarot" deck walk by and want to join the discussion, drawn by the stones and the stone lore being discussed.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting deck, fun to use
Review: I ordered this deck to help combine my interests in crystals and in Tarot. It is a unique deck, consisting of photographs of the different gemstones. It's definitely unconventional, and not a deck for beginners, but it now serves a fun purpose in my professional readings. I ask clients to draw a card from the deck, and then explain the properties of the stone they drew. The results are very nice, many of the people draw stones that are special to them already! I recommend this deck as a novelty for collectors, and as a useful tool for readers to start off a reading with another deck. I do not think it is a good deck for doing a whole reading with, however.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Photos, No Extra Confusion
Review: The card titles state the name of the gemstone & the name of the corresponding card. The small booklet has excellent descriptions/keywords for the meanings. Since there are no standard tarot figures, it does take some time to learn the crystals. For people that find tarot unnerving- this should be an acceptable way of learning the lore of both. I also use them as a gemstone-only oracle because other oracles don't include as many gemstones. The 16 stones unique to this set are: silex(red jasper), purpurite, alexandrite, ametrine, gold, silver, iron, zoisite w/ruby, tiger iron, fire opal, copper, chalcedony, pink coral, dumortierite, platinum, & spinel. Note: coelstine is celestite/celestine.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful Deck, One of my Favorites
Review: When I got this deck on Christmas of 2003, I knew right away this deck was different than most. I unwrapped the package and for some reason, the Queen of Coins card was on the top of the deck, Queen of Coins, of course, meaning wedding, wife, wealth, happiness, and security. Ironically, that morning, my boyfriend had proposed to me, and when I saw this card on top, I was just blown away. I knew right then that this deck was something special.

And I was right.

I adore this deck. While the pictures that make up this deck aren't the conventional ones of most Tarot Decks, they are instead real-life photographs of gemstones and crystals, and I can't help but be blown away by the quality of the pictures. They're truly breathtaking. It's also obvious that the author(s) of this deck did some painstaking research into the properties of the stones and the significance of the Tarot cards, since every stone here is flawlessly matched to it's appropriate Tarot Card. This deck is a brilliant way to learn the properties of gemstones and crystals, and for those of us who use gemstones around our Tarot layouts to help direct energy to the reading, you'll be amazed at the spectacular results you have in your readings.

While I'm sure you can use this deck in a full Celtic Layout method, I have to admit I've only done that a handful of times with this particular deck. Often, I find I get all the information I need when I do a simple three card draw (past, present, future), or even just a one card daily draw, making this deck fantastic for quick, discrete, yet still highly informative readings. I carried this deck with me to work because it was perfect to quickly use and put away, without attracting attention or weird looks from office mates. However, the usefulness of this deck doesn't stop there.

If you're a practicing Wiccan who loves using the powers of gemstones and crystals in your spells and meditations, but you don't have the ability to buy a lot of gemstones, or you need to do something quickly and don't happen to have Coelstine, Charoite, Sapphire, or Gold lying about the house, you can easily pull the appropriate cards out of this deck and use them as a substitute for the stone itself. I have done this a ton of times with a great deal of success.

Also, if you're just getting interested in the world of gemstones and crystals, but you can't remember what the stones all look like or what they're called, this deck makes a perfect "field guide" of sorts to help you identify stones. I have more than once taken a stone of mine and compared it with the pictures in this deck to see if I can figure out what it is. I also use this book with Melody's "Love is in the Earth" book because Melody's book doesn't have pictures and sometimes I want to know what a particular stone looks like.

Another pleasant surprise about this deck is the little, cheapy booklet that comes with it (you know, the small booklet that comes in every Tarot pack?). It's surprisingly complete and informative, making this deck good for the Tarot beginner or Tarot expert. Though, I have to admit, if they had made a companion book to this deck, I'd have been a happy woman.

Overall, this deck is outstanding. I suggest it for people who love gemstones and crystals, and anybody with an interest in the Tarot. I also have to say that this makes a fantastic "first deck" for Tarot beginners who want to practice by doing one card draws or simple Tarot readings before graduating into the more complex spreads and readings.

If you want to see pictures of the deck before purchasing, wander over to Isis Books. While they don't sell it, they do have a section to go to where you can preview samples of the deck which is insanely helpful.