Connolly Tarot Deck

Rating:
Summary: It's a dumbed down Rider-Waite
Review: Having bought one of Connolly's decks, I decided to buy her deck as well, which were described as a great improvement over the Rider-Waite deck.

The art *is* impressive - it's vivid and, in contrast to Rider-Waite's 'flat' images, has depth which makes it look 3D.

The problem is that the symbolism is lost. The devil card has become materialism - just one aspect of the card, and the contrast is easy to see in the Death card - all the symbols have vanished in favour of making a simple image to symbolize transition.

The comparison between the publisher's bombastic declaration made a decade ago that the deck would surely take the place of the Rider-Waite deck and the deck's popularity today (any decent shop has at least 4 Rider-Waite decks on it's shelves, while hardly any puts on the shelve, or has, Connoly's deck) attests to the difference in quality between the decks.

Rating:
Summary: A perfect working tarot
Review: I am a professional reader and would like to reccommend the Connolly Deck to anyone who will be doing readings for laymen. This deck contains only positive images with bright and uplifting colors. The devil card and death card have been renamed transition and materialism respectively. I have found it easier using these cards than explaining the true message behind other decks that are ornate but also dark. Highly reccommended, while a tad plain, these cards are used by 5 out of the 11 people I work with.

Rating:
Summary: One of the most beautiful decks
Review: I love this deck! It was the first one I ever purchased...the beauty of it's colors and illustrations make it irresistable (it's a little like stained glass). She does change the "Death" card to "Transition" and the "Devil" card to "Materialism"--changes that I personally find appropriate, and I would recommend the deck to someone who gives tarot readings frequently (so many find the original card references a little scary). The Connollys have a definite Christan slant to this tarot approach, which you can see from Eileen's writing and some card illustrations that include cherubs; but the deck is worth buying for any lover of beautiful tarot, whatever your religious orientation.

Rating:
Summary: One of the most beautiful decks
Review: I love this deck! It was the first one I ever purchased...the beauty of it's colors and illustrations make it irresistable (it's a little like stained glass). She does change the "Death" card to "Transition" and the "Devil" card to "Materialism"--changes that I personally find appropriate, and I would recommend the deck to someone who gives tarot readings frequently (so many find the original card references a little scary). The Connollys have a definite Christan slant to this tarot approach, which you can see from Eileen's writing and some card illustrations that include cherubs; but the deck is worth buying for any lover of beautiful tarot, whatever your religious orientation.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Deck Among Some Great Decks
Review: I read Tarot professionally and have studied it for 32 years. I also collect decks and have over 200 different ones...so far. While I do not use this deck, it is one that stands out in my mind and I like it quite a lot. The bright sunset colors the artist used and the subtle black outlines of the pictures lend a stained glass look to the cards. There is a lot of turquoise, purple, magenta, and bright pink in these cards that one doesn't often see in the more common or popular decks. I go back and forth in my mind trying to decide if it is cloying or a fantasy touch of innovation. Some of the characters have a Botticelli look to them. Most of the men have long hair and a medieval look, but inexplicably the Emperor seems to have just come from the barber. There are far too many cherubs on these cards to suit my taste and they don't seem to have much rhyme or reason to them, just popping in there where you don't expect them, like leaning over the scaffold on the Hanged Man card, sticking up out of the goblet on the Ace of Cups, or four of the chubby little rascals flying around the solar disk on The Sun card, but I'm sure others will enjoy them. The illustrations are for the most part quite striking and always positive. The pips are all illustrated as well as the major arcana. There is a Judeo-Christian thread of symbolism but it is not overwhelming. The more traditional Death and Devil cards have been changed into Transition and Materialism, respectively. The Fool, dressed in magenta and pink stands at a purple crossroad with a tuquoise sea and white chalk cliffs in the distance with a Spuds MacKenzie look-alike at his feet, the symbol being changed it seems from the more traditional carefree naivte to cautious contemplation of the road not taken, but still the artwork is GOOD and all of the cards are engaging. I really love the suit of Wands which features oak staves complete with green oak leaves and sometimes acorns. The artist and the designer have given refreshingly new viewpoints while also maintaining imagery that will be familiar to those experienced with Tarot. The very fact of the different imagery encourages study and meditation. All in all this is a most worthy deck.

Rating:
Summary: The Deck I insist my students use.
Review: I've been reading Tarot for over 30 years and since the early 90's I have insisted that all of my students use this deck. The illustrations are richly detailed without being "noisy". The colors give strong vibrational input and the images are not so overly "styled" as to be useless. I know some Pagans will hesitate because of some of the Christian images, but within the context of a primarily Judeo-Christian culture, I find them useful and descriptive of most of the "seeking" public. The fact that the "Devil" is now "Materialism", and "Death" is "Transformation", makes them particularly useful in reading for the public. I've seen clients nearly faint at the sight of either card and it can be nearly impossible to convince some of them that they aren't doomed or cursed. Overall, I find this the most useable deck for teaching and reading.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful deck!
Review: This is my favorite Tarot deck. I have many decks - but the colors and design of this deck are simply beautiful.

Rating:
Summary: DECK REVIEW
Review: This was my second tarot deck. Although, I've accumulated over 7 decks, this is the one I use for most of my readings. I find that the colors & presentation are extremely useful to most clients. I feel that the traditional sybolism is easier for the average client to comprehend. In turn, I find that the "materialism" and "transition" cards make it easier for the client to comprehend the true meaning of these cards without the element of fear that often comes up with the death and devil cards. In short, I have found that this deck is the best one for the client that has not experienced many readings. It's also the one I use for my own readings because of it's shear beauty!

Rating:
Summary: connally tarot deck
Review: This was my second tarot deck. Although, I've accumulated over 7 decks, this is the one I use for most of my readings. I find that the colors & presentation are extremely useful to most clients. I feel that the traditional sybolism is easier for the average client to comprehend. In turn, I find that the "materialism" and "transition" cards make it easier for the client to comprehend the true meaning of these cards without the element of fear that often comes up with the death and devil cards. In short, I have found that this deck is the best one for the client that has not experienced many readings. It's also the one I use for my own readings because of it's shear beauty!

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful deck!
Review: Totally different from the original Rider-Waite. The color picutre has bring you to the more spirtual. Enjoy! I would recommand to use the Connolly Tarot Deck to bring your journey.