Originally published in 2011 by US Games Systems, Inc., The Crystal Visions Tarot has remained among my favorite decks to this day. That is notable considering my collection is now up to around 300 decks. The hallmarks of The Crystal Visions Tarot are the bright colors, muted backgrounds that make the main images “pop,” a nice sturdy yet flexible laminate for easy shuffling, and a LWB (Little White Book) that is not so little. The artist, Jennifer Galasso, was inspired by the Stevie Nicks’ CD, Crystal Visions, when creating the deck. Crystals appear frequently in the card imagery in their natural form as well as in the form of crystal balls.
The Crystal Visions Tarot numbers 78 cards: 23 major arcana and 56 minor arcana. The cards of the major arcana all have traditional titles with Strength as arcana # 8 and Justice as arcana # 11. There is an extra card entitled, The Unknown Card. The Unknown Card represents some aspect of the situation under question that is still unknown. When it comes to extra cards in a tarot deck it is up to the reader’s discretion as to whether they include the extra card(s) in their readings or not.
The suits of the minor arcana are: Cups (Element of Water), Swords (Element of Air), Pentacles (Element of Earth), and Wands (Element of Fire). The court cards are: Page, Knight, Queen, and King.
The artwork and text of the Crystal Visions Tarot are by Jennifer Galasso. The imagery follows the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition so this is a good deck for beginners. The color scheme and figural representations make 
the Crystal Visions Tarot quite readable without a constant need to refer to the LWB, unless someone is absolutely brand new to tarot. It is one of those decks that works very well with a person’s own innate powers of intuition. If you are interested in a good divination tool that can help you to further strengthen your intuition, the Crystal Visions Tarot is such a tool. I highly recommend this deck for both new and well-seasoned readers.
The Crystal Visions Tarot has a very thin, yet sturdy laminate. I have used this deck extensively for six years now and it shows no signs of wear whatsoever. Cards are typical tarot-card size and the deck shuffles easily.
The deck comes housed in a tuck-box that appears to have the same light laminate as the actual cards. I will say after six years the box has a bit of wear, but that is to be completely expected as I have never housed the Crystal Visions Tarot in a bag or another box.
The LWB is the same size as the cards, with a single staple as its binding. It contains 64 pages. Card interpretations relate the imagery depicted on the card to the card meaning. Reversed interpretations are included. The card back design is completely reversible for those who read with reversals.
For beginners, the Crystal Visions Tarot is a great deck because the artist followed a specific color scheme for the majors and each of the suit that make the cards much simpler to identify in a reading. The cards of the major arcana all feature a tan border along the base in which the title is presented. Cups cards have a pink basal border that contains their titles. Swords have a light blue border along their base, Pentacles green, and Wands pale orange or salmon. Dominant colors within the card images themselves are purple, pink, white, blue, red, and green. Colors are bright, yet soft. Artistically speaking, the Crystal Visions Tarot is truly an outstanding deck and is among my personal favorites.
The Crystal Visions Tarot would appeal to anyone who is looking for a deck that is easy to read, especially if they are a beginning, but it’s also great for seasoned readers who may work with crystals and crystal balls who may desire a deck that features their magical tools. The Crystal Visions Tarot also has a lovely pagan look to it so those who follow a pagan path would also find this deck to be desirable.
Wishing you many blessings!
~ Nefer Khepri, PhD., R. M-T.
Tarot & Lenormand Readings, Spells, & Visionary Art
Guidance & Inspiration From the Angelic Realm: my new oracle deck!
The Egyptian Lenormand: signed & activated copies
Email: IsisRaAnpu@gmail.com
Full Disclosure: I purchased a copy of this deck via Amazon & did NOT receive a review copy from the publisher.
The Enchanted Tarot adult coloring book consists of the major arcana and sixteen court cards from the tarot deck of the same title. Amy Zerner provided detailed line drawings of each image. Monte Farber provides the text that accompanies each image that includes the card’s title, positive phrase related to the meaning of the card, and a list of keywords. The text accompanying each image is provided on the facing page so as you work on coloring the image you can easily refer to the text on the left-hand opposite page.
journey through the world of imagination.” It clearly delivers on that promise. Whereas Amy Zerner’s illustrations for The Enchanted Tarot coloring book are fine lined & quite detailed, her drawings for the Enchanted Worlds coloring book are drawn with a thicker line. There are also more areas of the illustrations that have been solidly inked in, which adds black to the overall composition that makes colors pop when added by the colorist. I would say that the Enchanted Worlds coloring book is easier to color than The Enchanted Tarot, but as long as you keep your pencils sharpened The Enchanted Tarot makes for a fine coloring book as well. Those of you with less patience, however, I would definitely recommend the Enchanted Worlds coloring book to you over The Enchanted Tarot.
The artwork for the card images consists solely of gorgeous photographs of outer space taken by the Hubble Telescope that have been cropped to focus on a particular area within the larger original photos. The title of The First Light Tarot refers to the very first time light hits the mirrors contained within a telescope that enables the telescope to take its very first photograph. It is a moment of tremendous excitement for the telescope developers and the staff of NASA.
only as a self-published edition by the artist, Tarot of Dreams is at long last available for the mass market. I am very happy to see this deck receiving the exposure it so richly deserves.
The Tarot of Dreams guidebook is written by Lee Burnsten who has written companion books for The Gay Tarot, Universal Marseilles Tarot Companion, and The Zodiac Tarot. The guidebook measures 5 ¼” x 6 ¼” and contains 112 pages, including two pages for notes. The guidebook is organized into eight sections:
pper corners of each card. These attributions of symbols to the cards follow the standard established by the Order of the Golden Dawn with the exception of the addition of the three planets discovered in modern times: Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto. Symbolic representation of these three plants is also included in lieu of the Golden Dawn’s use of elemental symbols.
For the minor arcana the Decan system of the Golden Dawn is retained. Pages are assigned the three zodiac signs that correspond to their particular suit. The knights, queens, and kings are assigned zodiac signs following the Golden Dawn’s associations, meaning that each card is designated as representing two-thirds of one sign and one-third of another. The astrological association for each card is described in the guidebook.
representation of the seriphoth appear along card borders no mention of the Tree of Life card is made. There is no meaning or interpretation ascribed to it. I realize it was included in order to provide a visual aid in order to illustrate the correspondences between the Tree of Life & cards of the major arcana. It also serves as an excellent aid in meditation if one decided to use it in that manner, but due to its lack of an interpretation I recommend removing the Tree of Life card from the deck prior to a reading.
There is an extra set of court cards entitled “Palace.” The Palace cards provide an environment for the court cards as well as for the characteristics of their particular suit.
How many of us wished we had someone to tutor us when we first began learning to read tarot cards? I learned on my own with the massive help of Eden Gray’s classic text, The Complete Guide to the Tarot (Bantam Books). It was the only tarot book I could find in my home town in the late 1970s even after much searching and asking (plus dealing with weird looks!).
