October 8 - 14, 2011 ~ Tarot of the Dead

Tarot of the Dead
Monica Knighton
Llewellyn Publications, 2004

This deck was purchased in 2011 as an impulse buy.  I was shopping for the Ship of Fools and I saw this being offered for $8.74.  I had heard many good things about the deck, so I added it to my shopping cart (along with another deck that wasn't on my list).   I had to go back to that site to check on something and Lo! and Behold! the price had gone up to $44.00.  I just checked - just now - and the price is now $54.94.  I got lucky, I think!

So the deck comes in a substantial box.  A really large box for a short squat deck and a LWB.  I guess part of this is for loss prevention in stores.  Seems like a lot of packaging!  The cards are slippery little devils and I am fast finding myself cursing Llewellyn and their slippery decks.  Just like the Ship of Fools, I played 78-Card Pick Up.   This ended up being one of the few decks I reverse.  It just felt like it was necessary.

I am a bit disappointed in the colors. They seem so washed out compared to the scans I have seen.  However, the scans are probably from the first edition of the deck.  Once decks are mass-marketed, they seem to dip in quality.  Something to think about.

The suits are pips and are renamed:  eels = coins    pistols = swords    coffins = coffins     pens = wands


The only card in the deck depicting a living person is the Death card.  It seems somewhat appropriate. 

I found myself having some difficulty with this deck from the start.  It wasn't the pips - I am used to pips and I do prefer them.  I do like illustrated minors that tell a continuous story, though.   My Deck Interview spread indicated that I was in for a bumpy week. It was an interesting week. I found myself returning to the use of my little notebook full of elementals, decans, and other esoteric mumbo jumbo.  At first, I couldn’t really make heads or tails of these cards, but as I started to start each interpretation with basic theory, I was able to gradually find the rhythm of these cards.  I started the week with buyer’s remorse and ended the week with a Keeper. 

Rating: Keeper