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Title: Wistful Whisper Tarot
Art by: NyonyaDigitalArt
Author: NyonyaDigitalArt
Publisher: Independent
Number of cards: 78
Card size: 2.75 x 4.75 in
Box size: 5 x 3 x 1.5 in approx.
Guidebook pages: no guidebook
Purchased or gifted?: Review copy gifted by creator
Absolute favorite card: Ace of wands
Other favorites: (in order from most beloved) Ace of cups, Hanged Man, Empress, Hierophant, Nine of Pentacles, Eight of Pentacles, Temperance, Ten of cups, Six of swords
Notable detail: nothing sticks out
Season: Autumn
Sabbat: Samhain
Sign: Scorpio
Element: air and earth
Tarot Deck compliment: Tarot of the Enchanted Garden, Deviant Moon Tarot, Moonshadow Tarot
Collective Pull: Nine of Swords

First Impressions

I stumbled upon this deck on Pinterest and loved it right away. It took all of thirty seconds for me to follow the link, intent on purchasing it only to find it was sold out. I was heartbroken so I reached out to the creator and after a wonderful chat, she informed me that she’d recently changed her printer and would be happy to send me one of the new batch. I was elated and so happy to share her work as I think this deck is beautiful.

I felt the same way upon receiving it. It's weird and slightly creepy yet sweet and lighthearted. The style reminds me a lot of the movie Coraline. It has that same dark, cartoony imagery that feels slightly disturbing but in the best possible way. Like the Nightmare Before Christmas kind of vibe.

As much as I enjoyed the art style, there are a few things that are missing that would’ve made this deck really precious. It’s expensive, especially when you consider what you get. And while I find the style to be gorgeous, I think it's a very specific art style that probably won’t resonate with the masses. But more on that later. For now, let’s dig into the packaging.

The Packaging

The packaging is one of those things that I wish had a little more substance to it. The cards come in a standard tuck box a la old school US Games. They also come with a pouch to house your cards in. I personally prefer to keep my cards in their respective boxes. I think it protects cards better and makes it easier to store them, especially if you have as many as I do.

And that’s pretty much it as far as packaging goes. The cardstock quality is pretty standard. Not super thick but isn’t thin either and fairly easy to shuffle. The sides aren’t gilded either which I don’t especially mind. I’m not even sure gilding would’ve gone with this deck anyway.

The Guidebook

Sadly there isn’t a guidebook.

The Artwork

Ok so obviously this is an art deck. You purchase this one for style, not substance as you aren’t getting a profound guidebook or creative way to use the deck. Having said that, I wanted it because it caught my eye. I don’t mind art decks; I have many of them, especially as someone who’s been reading cards for over a decade and writing cards for almost eight years.

As I mentioned in first impressions, I really just think of Coraline when I look at the artwork; however, there are a lot of lighter, sweeter images, like my favorite card Ace of Wands. It's so bright, peaceful, energetic and very calming. The same goes for the ace of cups. But in truth, all of the cards, even the darker ones have a youthfulness to them. Even cards like the devil seem cartoonish and fun rather than scary or intimidating.

The tones are all muted…my favorite. You see a lot of soft blues, sagey greens, greyish browns, buttery yellows and creams. So it's a soothing deck to use. I saw someone in the shop’s reviews say that the artwork looks like it was done by three different people and I get what they mean. But personally, I think all of the art is complimentary. The types of faces change throughout but the overall look and feel go together just fine. Think of it like seeing people on the street. Everyone looks different and yet as a whole, we are all people. So it really doesn’t bother me that there isn’t one specific face shape or one specific type of person featured. I think it makes the deck more interesting and keeps it from being one note.

Purchase Wistful Whisper Tarot

*With Tarot Companion - Tarot of the Enchanted Garden*

Reading With this Deck

I haven’t come across a deck that is so sad in a long time. Maybe sad isn’t the word but the cards I’ve drawn from this deck are challenging for sure. Cards like the three of swords, five of wands, and the seven of cups. That isn’t a bad thing really, it just means this is more of a shadow deck for me. You may have a very different experience so keep that in mind.

Having said that, I can’t say the cards are inaccurate as I have been feeling down recently. I also can’t say all of the cards have been somber as I’ve also pulled the ace of pentacles and four swords multiple times.

My point is that this isn’t one of my bright and happy decks. It’s actually challenged me in ways I thought I’d moved past when it comes to readings. This is a moody deck so even cards like the sun and king of pentacles feel a bit shadow-like. I don’t really mind this as life isn’t always sunshine and roses. It's nice to have a deck that reflects the various twists and turns of life without pretending it's always supposed to be positive.

Collective Pull

I pulled the Nine of Swords for you. This card represents stress and mental chaos. It comes along when you’ve let fear, shame, or perhaps guilt eat away at you to the point that you can no longer feel settled. This card represents those nights when stress keeps you awake even when you’re exhausted. It represents the pit in your stomach when you have to face something that feels devastating.

Here’s the thing though, this card also means your fears are mostly a figment of your imagination. That’s not to say you don’t have a difficult task ahead of you or that you won’t have to clean up a mess. It just means it isn’t as bad as your mind would have you believe. There’s a path forward, a way out. But, you might need help to get there. You might be so lost in your despair that you can’t find a way out yourself and that’s ok. This card has appeared to help you realize this is perhaps more than you can manage on your own. Don’t despair about not being strong or wise enough to deal with this yourself. Don’t even go down that road. Take a deep breath and reach out for support.

Season, Sign, Element and Sabbat

I chose Samhain and Scorpio for the sabbat and zodiac sign mostly because Samhain feels like it could hold this type of energy. Same with Scorpio who tends to love a bit of weird, dark energy. And by extension, autumn is the natural season. Not just because Samhain and Scorpio are in Autumn but because of the overall mood and tone. It's very warm but also quite dark which is fall all day long.

The element felt a bit harder to pin down. In some ways, I thought ether might be the right fit but ultimately went with the convergence of air and earth. So many cards had an airy quality to it thanks to the heavy feature of smoke and stardust but you can’t overlook the grounded energy either. There are lots of browns and dark beige/yellow with pops of green and blues which to me felt grounded.

Who is this deck for?

This is a unique deck and I don’t think it's for everyone. It's similar enough to Rider-Waite that an intermediate reader should be able to get by without the guidebook but if you’re a beginner, I would skip this one.

But if you’re into darker but also cutesy Halloween things then this one is for you. It really has that eerie cartoon vibe that seems sweet but also a little scary. It is dreamy and soft but also stark and bold.

Oracle Deck Companion

Before I begin, I had written out this whole review when I realized all of the companions I chose are tarot decks and not oracles. Sigh. But I actually loved the pairing so much that I just decided to leave them. And honestly, there’s nothing wrong with layering two tarot decks in fact, I think it’s a great practice to try from time to time. It’s quite exciting to draw the exact same set of cards from two different decks at the same time. It will inevitably happen at least once.

I chose the Tarot of the Enchanted Garden because these decks match each other’s energy. They both have that kind of weird, mystical quality about them but they are not a match aesthetically. That’s ok though. I’m a huge fan of beauty and aesthetics as part of a spiritual practice but it's totally ok if two decks speak the same language even if they don’t share the same look.

I also thought of another deck called the Deviant Moon Tarot which I gave away years ago so I don’t have photos of it. It was actually one of the first tarot decks I ever bought and despite its creepiness, I used it for a long time. But then I came out of my shadow period and just didn’t resonate with it anymore. But if you’re looking for something that’s more of an aesthetic match, I would go with this one.

And at the last minute, I decided to go searching for a deck that really does match this style and I stumbled upon Moonshadow tarot which appears to be an AI generated deck just like this one. It's a tarot, not an oracle but the artwork is so similar, I couldn’t not mention it. In fact, some of the artwork feels like it could easily be a part of Moonshadow Tarot, in particular the knight of cups, nine of wands and the devil.

That’s one of the issues with AI generated images. You can’t really be sure it isn’t being replicated somewhere else but it could be positive too. You might find decks that are so similar, they just seem to fit seamlessly.

Thanks for reading all the way through. If you found this review to be helpful, informative or entertaining in any way, please be sure to leave a comment down below. It really helps me know what you’re enjoying so that I can provide more content based on what you love. In the meantime, please enjoy a variety of photos from this deck.

And of course, if there is something you’d like me to consider reviewing, please comment below or email me at hello@spiritelement.co