Sunday, July 6, 2025

Review: The Unifying Consciousness Tarot

The Unifying Consciousness Tarot
Author: Lori Lytle
Artist: Leo Scopacasa
Red Feather/Schiffer Publishing, June 2025

Description: 79 Cards, 173-page guidebook, box with magnetic closure lid.

Card Size: 2 3/4 by 4 3/4

"I see the Tarot as a source of inspiration, a means of connection with the divine, as well as a tool that we can use every day to make our lives happier in the here and now."

You begin your journey into The Unifying Consciousness Tarot with a Meeting with the creators. A brief section called The Anatomy Of goes over some details of the cards and shares a meditation into the portal on the back of the cards. 

"You're about to meet a cosmic crew of otherworldly and divine beings, animals, humans, and free-form entities, all living in a universe based on the Waite-Smith Tarot structure."

The Unifying Consciousness includes a new trump, Arcana 22, Activation, bringing the Major Arcana to a full circle. The Court Cards have been renamed Soul, Spirit, Heart, and Mind.

"All the cards have sacred geometry woven through their images and backgrounds to remind us that we're all part of the same Source energy."

The Major Arcana's "ultimate purpose is to guide us toward a rich and meaningful existence and to help us reach the highest vibration of love."

Each Major Arcana Card is covered in two pages and includes the name, card image, description, interpretation, and a blessing.

The Descriptions are more of a deep dive into each Major Arcana Card. The Hermit begins, "The Hermit is at home in lonely places. His purpose in life is the pursuit of the wisdom that comes from deep introspection, and he needs solitude and seclusion."

The Interpretations are enlightening. The Hermit begins, "The one person that you can't escape is yourself, so it's important to enjoy your own company."

A Blessing From The Hermit - "May you grow wise in your own company."

The Minor Arcana "represent the beauty and challenges of daily life, and the small joys that make every day worth living."

After a brief overview of the Minor Arcana, you explore The Suits and Their Elements. In this section you are also introduced to the shapes and their energies. "The progression of the numbers is a story.", which is shared in The Numbers, along with keywords for each number. 

"After the difficulties of the Fives, the Sixes bring a return to harmony and balance. You're wiser, you know your capabilities. You celebrate victory."

You are then introduced to the new Court Cards, names, and reasoning behind the change.

"Each character in the Court Cards has its unique, necessity, and beautiful function."

Each Minor Arcana card is covered in one page and includes name, image, interpretation, and activation. The activation "is an invitation to connect with the card's unique energy, and to act on the information and inspiration that it offers you."

Activation for the Six of Swords, "I'm ready to move on."

"You can use that phrase as a mantra or affirmation throughout your day, in your meditation practice, or as a prompt for journaling."

I am loving the interpretations in this guidebook. There are no keywords to remember, but practical, straight-forward meaning. A scenario easy to relate to and bring to mind later. The Seven of Swords begins, "You're good at getting in and out of tricky situations and can boast your share of shenanigans."

The Court Cards are presented by name, image, interpretation (you), interpretation (someone else), and activation.

Another Fox shows up as the Soul of Wands representing you or someone else in your life as a fun-loving youth, whether in body or mind. There may be some mischief stirring, but it will be fun and adventurous. 

Activation - "A little mischief is good for my soul."

How to Read Tarot encourages you to create your own ritual, but also shares a ritual from Setting the Scene to Closing the Reading.

There are four Tarot spreads especially designed for The Unifying Consciousness Tarot: The Blue Rose Spread, All-Seeing Eye Spread, Activation Spread, and Heart-Centered Action Spread.

A short section About The Creators closes the guidebook.

The cards are made of excellent card stock. They are edged in blue. The deck is a little thick, but not too thick at 1 3/8 thick.


The images in this deck are beyond amazing. The 3-D aspect gives each card a sense of movement, of reality. The Unifying Consciousness Tarot would be a great deck for meditations. 


"In the Unifying Consciousness Tarot, The Major Arcana are connected with the element of Aether, which is represented by the dodecahedron, the 12-sided Platonic solid. It's the fifth element, the quintessence, spirit, and the shape of the universe as a whole."

No deck is fully explored until you visit with Death. Description -"Death sees the world beyond the illusion of the physical with his all-seeing third eye. He appreciates the sunrise and the sunset and asks that you take the time to stop and smell the white rose." Interpretation "With this card, you can expect a significant change in your life."



"You'll notice that each suit of The Unifying Consciousness Tarot's Minors also includes a 3-D shape that's floating somewhere in the card's scene. These shapes are Plato's solids. Each solid relates to one of the four elements, and they're thought to be the harmonious and symmetrical building blocks of our reality."

The Three of Pentacles brought the words 'busy as a bee' to mind as soon as I saw the card. As we know, this card is all about team work, participating, and giving your best effort to be part of that team and give your all as an individual. The Activation - "I enjoy being a part of the team."

I honestly can't express how much I'm impressed by this deck. Between the captivating images and the depth of the guidebook, I'm definitely making a home on my shelf for the Unifying Consciousness Tarot.

I would recommend The Unifying Consciousness Tarot for many applications, beyond Tarot reading. This deck could be used for meditations, daily affirmations, and journaling. 

When I used them for some tarot reading, the results were amazing, very detailed and in depth. I look forward to sharing more time with The Unifying Consciousness Tarot. 

Grab your copy at  Red Feather/Schiffer Publishing.



(Review Product supplied by Schiffer Publishing)

Thursday, June 5, 2025

Review: The Butterfly Wisdom Tarot

The Butterfly Wisdom Tarot
Author: Starla Yilmaz
Red Feather/Schiffer Publishing, June 2025

Description: 78 Cards, 144-page guidebook, box with magnetic closure lid.

Card Size: 2 7/8 by 4 1/2


"Soon after an intense healing phase of my life, I had a vision. Butterflies cross-stitched onto white canvas, each one the focus of a Tarot card, forming one giant tapestry. Once my eyes cleared and the real world returned, I laughed."

Starla Yilmaz's deck, The Butterfly Wisdom Tarot, includes my three favorite things, cross-stitching, the Tarot, and writing. In the Introduction, she shares her own healing as she moved from vision to the reality of creation. I found her words moving and inspiring. I've struggled for years attempting to find time for my creative writing and Tarot reading, and of course cross-stitching. I heard a whisper, "Your road is similar, a combination of your skills would lead you in the right direction." No, there's no plan for cross-stitching such a huge project, but it gave me something to think about.

~~~~~~~

The Butterfly Wisdom Tarot, in just one quick reading, gave me a direction to head in. I can't wait to dig deeper into this deck and find more inspiration.


Spread: Situation, Action, Outcome
Question: How can I find a peaceful medium/balance in my life?

The 9 of Swords revealed that my current situation is one of pushing forward through the pain, the stress, and the unbalance I am experiencing at this time. The 9 of Cups suggested to keep working toward my goals no matter how hard it may feel in the moment. The 2 of Cups showed by continuing to move forward I will find the healthy balance in my relationships that is needed for my success.

~~~~~~~

The Cards are made of good quality, thick card stock making the deck a little too thick for riffle shuffling. But, hand over hand shuffling works just fine. To be honest, I usually use the hand over hand with all my decks now, for consistency, but also to avoid deck damage.


The Butterfly Wisdom Tarot tickles my soul. I can't think of any other way to say this. 

The card backs are a beautiful blue and white background, with two butterflies facing each other. The individual cards are ringed in the colors of their suits: Majors - a dark blue, Wands - red, Cups - a light blue, Disks - yellow, and Swords - grey. The colorful, detailed butterflies stand out on a black and white background. 

The only issue I had with this deck is the card holder in the box holds onto a few cards. I've managed to pry them out a couple of times without damage, but I fear eventually I will bend the end of one. I plan to insert a ribbon to avoid destroying the stuck cards. 
In the Introduction, Starla Yilmaz, goes over details of how she came about producing this deck. She mentions the guidebook, "I tried multiple different ways of structuring the guidebook before I settled on micro fictions."

After the Introduction, Using this Deck shares some thoughts on getting to know the deck, including a method of shuffling sure to give you a "sufficient randomized" deck to do your first reading. This section also has many suggested spreads, including an intriguing technique for Yes/No questions.

The Major Arcana section covers each card in two pages: the name, card image, key ideas, micro fiction, and thoughts for deeper interpretation.

I absolutely love the micro fiction, but I would have liked to have seen some card description. 


The Wheel of Fortune features the Peacock Pansy. Starla did a great job with the stitching of these butterflies, and each one is identified in her micro fiction.

Deeper Interpretations present you with writing prompts and/or a question to ask the Tarot. "What cycle could be coming to an end in your situation?"

The Minor Arcana, separated into suits, includes the name, key ideas, micro fiction and thoughts for deeper interpretation.

The 9 of Wands micro fiction begins, "An American copper butterfly wanted to build a fence to protect its favorite flower. Things went fine until a human caught sight of the butterfly. Possibly entranced by the butterfly's orange shine, the human grabbed hold of her wings."


The short piece is one of resilience, persistence, and working against all odds to complete your project/job. 

And then when you think the guidebook is done, Starla introduces a wonderful additional section: Healing Patterns and Prompts. "Included here are several healing patterns for you to stitch if you feel called to do so." Cross-stitching instructions are not included, but she refers to her YouTube channel for newbies. Also, she has added a stitch called the overstitch, which you can find demonstrated on her YouTube channel (@starlayilmaz)

Each Healing is presented with images of the completed patterns (Beginner and Advanced), information about the design, a writing prompt, and thoughts while stitching. Detailed patterns follow, with color keys. Three healing patterns are included: Finding Balance, Showing Yourself Love, and You are Strong and Powerful.

The guide closes with Recommended Resources and a short Author Bio.

I'd recommend The Butterfly Wisdom Tarot to cross-stitchers for the beauty of the stitches, writers for the prompts, and any tarot reader from beginner to experienced. This deck is sure to touch a special place in many hearts. 


Grab your copy at  Red Feather/Schiffer Publishing.



(Review Product supplied by Schiffer Publishing)

Friday, May 23, 2025

Review: The Westwood Tarot

The Westwood Tarot
Artist: Yasmeen Westwood
Author: Kalliope
Red Feather/Schiffer Publishing, September 2024

Description: 78 cards, 254-page guidebook, book-style box with magnetic closure lid.

Card Size: 3.5 x 5

"Through her artistic vision, Yasmeen invites us to explore this whimsical tapestry of magic, woven into the cards, where the boundaries of imagination are limitless and the extraordinary awaits."



The Westwood Tarot is a beautiful, mystical deck. As you open this book-style box, you can feel the energy in the cards. Everything about this deck is breath-taking.
Based on the images of the Rider-Waite Deck, the cards are easily identifiable. Yasmeen has brought a whole new light to the Tarot with this deck. It's simply amazing.


The cards are a little larger than a regular tarot deck, but are easily shuffled hand over hand. The deck has gold edging, that doesn't flake off everywhere.


The guidebook, written by Kalliope, is also top-notch. I always love it when these two artists get together, the results never disappoint.

After a brief Welcome, and a short piece on the Creation of the deck, the author shares the Pathways of Empowerment with an overview of the Five Cs - Center, Clear, Connect, Call, and Close. 

Divining the Cards goes over what to expect in each card's description: Mnemonic, Image, Keywords, Scene, Categories, Magick, Wisdom, Spirit Guides, and Quotes. The Major Arcana also includes Further Indulgence. The Magick of the Courts are replaced with Astrological Sign and The Movement of the Knight.

After a brief look at The Suits and The Courts, we enter The Major Arcana - 69 pages of magical, intuitive words. Each card's description is covered in 2 to 3 pages.

My only criticism with The Westwood Tarot is the binding of the guidebook. It doesn't want to open fully, as you can see in the image of 12 The Hanged Man.

            Mnemonic
            Hanging on a limb,
            to see another way
            Perspective is king,
            at the end of the day
            Just stuck in a moment,
            in a pocket of time
            Surrender by trusting,
            that all will be fine

Further Indulgence - "The Hanged Man embodies the essence of the Norse god Odin, inviting you to embrace divination through runes. ..."

The Minor Arcana spans 168 pages. Each card description is explored through three pages.

As you can see in this image, the spine strings are being pulled tight. 

Light - "grieving, not seeing eye to eye, not all is lost, learning from your mistakes, ..."

Shadow - "hurt, despondent, feeling rejected, disappointed, loss, despair, ..."

Scene"... Turning to look, she sees two more cups but these ones a filled to the brim, bow bringing the total to the Five of Cups. Apologetically, her rueful eyes rest back on the moon and she wisely says, "I'm sorry.""

Each card is presented with category meanings, which includes Love, Career, Wellness, and Finances. 

Category - Career - "Feeling let down at work and unappreciated, finding it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand. ..."

Magick - "... It's in the moment when all seems lost that the magick of the Five of Cups comes in, offering you a glimmer of hope."

Words of Wisdom - "I will no longer build my home in the hearts of people that didn't mean to say "forever" after the words "love you.""

Spirit Guide - "The Penguin, a steadfast spirit guide, waddles into your life, helping you navigate life's ebbs and flows. ..."

Quote - "Nothing grieves more deeply or pathetically than one-half of a great love that isn't meant to be." ~ Gregory David Roberts.

The author closes the guide with Spreads: a few three-card spreads, a love five-card spread, and a nine-card spread.

The Westwood Tarot has definitely found a home on my shelf. 

I would recommend this deck to any reader: novice, expert, or anyone in between. My go-to starter deck for a new reader is the Rider-Waite deck. The Westwood Tarot would easily fit into the category of an alternative first deck.




(Review Product supplied by Schiffer Publishing)