Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring!
Review: This is my favorite of Kipling West's Tarot decks, with its twisted suits and subversive major arcana... but mostly because of the vivid and strange art. At first glance, this is just a fun, funky Tarot. The more I look at it, though, the more meaning each card has. Sure, it's fun -- but don't dismiss it as a divination tool because it makes you laugh. The art is inspiring; the way she plays with images is magical. This makes a fabulous gift for the witch or the witchy in your life year-round. Especially yourself.
Rating:
Summary: Love It!
Review: When I finally found a way to learn tarot that worked for me, I looked at all the pretty decks I'd collected over the years very critically. I purged my collection because I found that I was simply not drawn to some of them for anything other than the cute art, if that. One of the tests I used to decide what would stay was to lay out all of the cards from each deck side by side, and compare each member of the arcana and court with those of the other decks.The "Halloween Tarot" had enough fascinating ideas to be worth keeping. It fit the keyword system of learning Rider-Waite I'd grasped, has adorable art and seemed to be a very agonized-over deck. The descriptions of the Pages as being logistics mavens really opened my eyes, and the execution of those cards reflects the meaning almost perfectly. This deck has, hands down, the best "Lovers" card I've ever seen: it mixes the literal idea of the card, the idea of Halloween *and* the Rider-Waite meaning altogether. And I'm just ashamed to admit how long it took me to get the pun of "The Devil" card. Unfortunately, this ability to mix all three concepts together doesn't seem spread evenly throughout the deck. And because of that, I haven't used is as much as I'd like to. I have hopes that I'll get it eventually, but not having it click immediately keeps me from giving it a full five stars. (Yes, I'm picky. :) The deck I bought did not come with the full, hard-back book, but with a carefully written pamphlet, complete with the occasional character from the deck, some sample spreads, the origin of the deck and some history of Halloween. The cards measure approximately 4.75" x 2.75" and have a fairly elaborate orange and black mirror-image on the back. They are coated like standard playing cards but a tad thinner and more flexible. And yes, as per the pamphlet, the black cat appears in each one. :) Whether for yourself or as a gift, I think the "Halloween Tarot" is worthwhile. Who knows, it may click with you a bit faster than it did with me.
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