Deck Unboxing - The Dark Mansion Tarot

The Dark Mansion Tarot by Taroteca Studio
Photograph Karen Wiederhold

The Dark Mansion Tarot by Taroteca Studio
Photograph Karen Wiederhold

Yesterday was my birthday and I was so lucky to have been given money by my parents and my in-laws a few weeks early, so I was able to order The Dark Mansion Tarot.

I've had my eye on it for quite a while and enjoyed seeing images of the cards appearing on Taroteca Studio's social media accounts.

The Dark Mansion Tarot by Taroteca Studio
Photograph Karen Wiederhold

Even better is that it arrived on my birthday morning, beautifully packaged and protected but I had to be patient and wait until the evening to unpackage and open it.

The Dark Mansion Tarot by Taroteca Studio
Photograph Karen Wiederhold

The Dark Mansion Tarot by Taroteca Studio
Photograph Karen Wiederhold

 I can honestly say that I did nothing but smile from ear to ear with each and every card as I slowly travelled though the deck - quite a lot of them made me giggle.  This deck is absolutely gorgeous, charming, delightful and beautiful.

The Dark Mansion Tarot by Taroteca Studio
Photograph Karen Wiederhold

The quality is amazing and the black edges are the cherry on the cake.  There are so many little details within each image that you truly will spend ages looking at every single one.  The Judgement card has got to be the best one i've seen, ever! What a party they are having in that image.

The Dark Mansion Tarot by Taroteca Studio
Photograph Karen Wiederhold

Just take a look at this wonderful Devil.  Isn't she great?

Even my little black cat makes appears in some places, which pleased me no end - I know a few people who will love to find their own little companions making an appearance.  Take a look at The Tower in the image above. See him perched on a branch watching the chaos?

What can I say.....I adore it so very much.

The Dark Mansion Tarot by Taroteca Studio
Photograph Karen Wiederhold

To order this delightful deck:
The Dark Mansion Tarot by Taroteca Studio,
Artist: Magdalena Kaczan
Production: Krzysztof Wasiuk

Tarot Decks - Choosing your first deck.

In this subject, my own pathway did not demonstrate any clear direction or plan in my finding the perfect deck to learn with.  In fact my path to finally finding a beginner's deck that suited me absolutely down to the ground took until this year, 19 years after starting out as a beginner.  Up until then I settled with using the Universal Waite as my beginner's deck but just knew it was missing something for me.  I enjoyed liaisons with quite a few decks along the way, most of them too complicated for a beginner but beautiful nonetheless, some i've kept, others i've let go.  They all taught me something and helped me continue on with my love of Tarot but I always struggled to find that one deck that spoke to me as a teaching deck and guide amongst the others. 

The lesson I have taken away from this is that you can own some of the beautiful and complex decks, but it is easier and better to learn with a deck that is suited to being a beginner deck.  It is my opinion that starting out with a Rider Waite Smith based deck is the best way to start out, even if it doesn't make your heart sing it is easier and will start your journey off on the right foot, cutting out all the frustration I went through.  By all means collect decks along the way whose imagery does make your heart sing but while you are learning, keep using your Rider Waite Smith deck for this.  Keep it simple, keep it light.

The deck that I am loving and finding such a joy to use as my continuing teacher and guide is the Llewellyn Classic Tarot deck.  I wish this deck had come along in my journey a lot sooner but hey, that's the way it is.  This deck ticks all the boxes for me in terms of imagery, feel and colours combined with the clarity of the Rider Waite Smith deck.  So this is my recommended beginner's deck, absolutely.  Also the guide book is wonderful, clear and concise.


Some good beginner decks are,
Llewellyn Classic (love it)
Original Rider Waite
Universal Rider Waite
Radiant Rider Waite