Deck review – Revelations Tarot by Zach Wong
There are many unsung heroes of the Tarot world, whose contributions permeate quietly into the collective conscious…but when it comes to an artist who contributes to their own Tarot journey by creating a deck that enriches the experience of others as well, then that should be celebrated.
Firstly, I can’t believe that this deck is 10 years old this year! My own copy of the deck is like new, despite being handled by myself and querents alike, and as much as I take care of my decks, it has lasted beautifully through those years!
Let’s cover those technical basics of the deck:-
Card Size: 2.75 x 4.6 inches (7 x 11.5 cm) Cards: 78 Based on: Rider-Waite-Smith sympathetic Companion Book: 216 pages (includes grey-scale images of each card) Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (May 1, 2005) Language: English ISBN-10: 0738706078 ISBN-13: 978-0738706078 Package/Box/Kit Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.4 x 5.5 inches Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
The card size is generous, to encompass the unique art, at 2.75 x 4.6 inches – for my reasonably large hands that’s fine, although some of my querents with smaller hands do shuffle the deck length-wise, rather than width-wise…
The card style is absolutely unique – the images have the feel of stained-glass about them, and each card has two images merged into a single card, around a central point, giving us an upright and reversed version. For most cards, the upper part of the card is what is read when it appears in a spread, although there are a few notable exceptions, like the Hanged Man and the Ten of Wands, where the lower part of the card is read instead, although the whole image emphasises the potential polarity in each situation…and, as a deck, it’s an amazing tool for budding Tarot readers who learned cards in just their upright positions, and never learned reversals…by having individual imagery to capture the message depending on whether it is upright or reversed, it brings new perspective.
Zach captures motion, fluidity and structure in his artistry beautifully, and the organic feeling they exude is very exciting to me as a Tarot reader…he’s committed as much effort in the expression of the minor arcana as he has within the major arcana, which is refreshing (as we all know that some artists get as far as the end of the major arcana and then run out of steam when they need to commit to a further 56 cards), so it’s even more impressive when you remember that he’s actually blended 156 interpretations across the 78 cards! The use of some little touches, whether it’s the masks on the Major Arcana cards to emphasise the need to look within or to bring the lesson of the card into our experience; the representation of the reversed Emperor as a puppet or slave to his power; or the wonderful use of colour to emphasise mood, such as the greens and golds of the Nine of Pentacles, or the purples and silvers of the Five of Pentacles, all serve to contribute to the understanding of the message of the cards, and grants some unique insights into the interpretation of each card.
Seasoned readers would likely gain insight from consideration, study or meditation on the images, drawing intuitive guidance from the background behind each of the characters; readers who learned cards in their upright positions will be supported in their own tarot journey to expand their knowledge to include reversals, done in a sympathetic way; and readers new to Tarot will be challenged with an exciting an innovative approach to the cards themselves.
The companion book is relatively basic, but doesn’t burden itself with the history of the Tarot, nor with guidance on how to actually read the cards, focusing instead on the explanations of the cards, the imagery and symbolism, and, as we’d expect from a deck focusing equally on reversals, they’re given equal attention in the book, something which rarely happens in other companion books or literature.
Zach's website can be found here, and his site provides links to the various places that his deck can be purchased.
