The Bohemian Gothic Tarot Cards – October 15, 2010

I've had this amazing and one of a kind deck since it's release by the publishers, Magic Realist Press, in end of December. It's only recently become available in the US.It quickly and without hesitation became my absolute favourite deck (I have over 200 decks!). There is no other Tarot on the market like the Bohemian Gothic. In my opinion this is now THE quinnessentail Gothic Tarot deck. Vargo's Gothic and others pale and wither in comparison!First off they're 3x5 inches and of a sensual and silky cardstock. They shuffle like butter in your hands, and only get better with use. I've used this deck everyday now for 4 months! The backs have a striking skull and arch interlocking pattern with the words "Memento Mori". There's a silver ink sheen to the image. Completely reversible. I can tell you they're extremely eyecayching!The creators Karen and Alex desired to create a deck truly inspired by the earliest Gothic novels and chapbooks from the 18th & early 19th centuries....books like Mysteries of Udolpho, The Monk, The Recess etc. And also the fascinating, mysterious and chilling resurgence of Gothic fiction and fad for ghost stories that started in the mid-1800's until the early part of the 20th century. These are the stories, images and inspiration for theses resplendent and breathtaking images!They wanted the sublime terror, not the gorey horror affect of recent times and some decks. Honestly there is no other deck currently on the market that has this inspiration and ideals. The chill in the air, the glimpse of something out of the corner of your eye, the distant moan and creaking door. Goosebumps and sighs. Mystery and eldritch primal energies.The images themselves are beyond words almost, you must behold before your eyes to get the full eerie effect! The cards are done luxurious deep colours. Various shades of blue abound, from a haunting blue, to melancholy, to strong rich brew of blue. The most varied and chilling collection of blues! Dark reds, reddish-orange, pink, a deep absinthe green are seen on quite a few cards. The colours play an extremely important part in this Tarot. The mood and ambience they create is amazing!The art and images were very much taken from actual late 19th cen to early 20th cen. cabinet photographs, people just "looked" different back then! The creators created each card anew, with incredible attention to detail and atmosphere, the result, though each image is composed of many various parts of other images is completely seamless! There are NOT collage in the normal sense! Totally and completely brilliant artistry. The effects of light, mostly moonlight is one of the most amazing things about these images. The effect makes the light appear real and moving! I have no idea how they've done it, but it's surreal.The images speak very loudly, clearly and eloquently to me. They sing, they whisper, they laugh, they sigh and cry.....yearn and love. These images will spark your imagination and inspiration! The tales, stories and fairytales to be unveiled and discovered in this deck are unlimited, like hidden jewels within a buried treasure chest they await to be discovered by you as you plunge into the dark waters of your subconscious.Speaking of dark, yes this is a "dark" deck, in content, image and colour. But don't let that label make you pigeon hole this deck and have you use it in a narrow and slotted way or role! I've found the Bohemian Gothic is a deck to savor and get to know over time. She will reveal herself to you in layers and stages, but you must devote yourself to her! She demands your time, paitence, love and commitment. But it's no hard slog, I've done all this and more with the most intense excitement, joy and a feeling of finding, finally, "THE ONE" perfect Tarot for me. The vast rewards you will get back are nothing short of magnificent for the time and love you put into spending time and studying this deck, doing daily readings, studying the images....all of it. The more you work with the Bohemian Gothic the deeper and deeper it gets, I can't believe it!So yes it's a Gothic deck in the truest, sublimest sense of the word, it's a "dark" deck, but at least for me, it's an everyday deck....the images run the complete gamut and convey the entire range of human emotion and experience. Besides the chilling foreboding and wickedly eldritch images there is plenty of joy, light and sublime happiness too! It reads fantastically for me on any question and with any spread. It's the deck I've turned to daily now for 4 months for a myriad of reasons, and it's never failed me!I really cannot put into words the sheer power, poetry and stunning beauty these cards have when they're layed out together, either in different spreads or in a row. Being borderless the images bleed together to create this powerful swirling vortex of energy and emotion! You MUST see it!As a last comment I wanted to mention the limited edition Silver Edition of the Bohemian Gothic that was released end of December also. There were only 500 and they're completely sold out now! Can you believe they took only 2 MONTHS to sell out?! If you've seen them, you know why. I snagged 3 copies for myself. They're going to be a HUGE collectors item, just a month or so after selling out the swt already sells for double (the set sold for $49, they're now selling on Ebay for $99 and upwards)!The antique silver ink the creators have overlayed on crucial parts of each card is truly unique...never been done before! A few Tarot decks have silver foil....this is not! The haunting moonlight effect is magical and plain eerie. All the cards look lit up from within...as if each scene is in the moonlight. Some of the cards have a 3D effect, they look like photo negatives. The play of light on them is otherworldy, moving the card under the light creates all these varying effects. Hypnotic. I'm extremely proud to own 3 copies. The Standard Bohemian Gothic and the Silver edition have such different energy and vibe that I honestly consider them differennt decks, even though they both have the same images. Many have said this and noted it! The artfully applied antique silver ink makes each image come alive and read in a whole new way!If you can, GET a copy of the Silver edition, they are completely worth it and then some. Think of the many 1,000's of tarot decks out there then think this Silver edition with the ink overlay has NEVER been done before, you've never seen this effect and beauty!Yes this review is long-winded. But it's MY deck, my one true Tarot I've been waiting my entire life for. That alone makes it worthy of my immense praise and recommendation!

This was my first deck of Tarot cards. I didn't want something so traditional, and I like the little insert about the double meaning on the cards. I love the art work and the way they feel. They are not glossy. They are a little rough, but I am sure with time they will wear in and be easier to shuffle. I would recommend this product for someone like myself, who doesn't want something so traditional and maybe something a little on the dark side. They are very nice for what you pay for.

I bought this deck with several decks at once (I won't admit to how many!), and this is hands-down my favorite and the only one that I have continuously used. I think the good things about this deck have been fairly well covered by other reviewers, but I wanted to add this perspective. I'm fairly new to tarot reading and did not have a strong memory for RW decks when I received this one. The imagery of this deck, in addition to using high quality graphics, is intuitive enough that you can jump right in without fear of having to memorize meanings that don't really correlate to the cards (or worse, having to read images that are really uninspiring or totally obtuse). There were only a handful of cards that I was completely off the mark in trying to read before looking up in the book (and remembering that I had no preconceived ideas from other RW decks). The second thing that really struck me about this deck was that there are no per se "reverse" meanings, which I happen to agree with. There are "darker" meanings, which can be read as reverse if you want. But ultimately it is up to you and the target of the reading to take the card's meaning as "dark" as it needs to go under the circumstances of the spread and subject matter.Also, despite being a "gothic" deck, it is not overwhelmed by negative meanings. There are definitely positive cards, negative cards, and cards that can be read everywhere in between. As far as being "family friendly", the only card I can think of with nudity is The Star, which is often represented in RW-based decks as a semi-clothed woman. There is a little bit of blood and some "scary" creatures like phantoms and werewolves, but it's not a gore-filled deck. Kind of PG or PG-13. But this is definitely a great beginner's deck - it kind of sucks you in like a good book.