Tarot for the Great Outdoors: 78-Card Deck + Guide Cards – August 11, 2023

This review is from my wife, who the tarot deck is for:✨ PERSONAL THOUGHTS: WOW I cannot believe how beautiful this deck truly is. I find the illustrations + artistry to be incredibly stunning + inspiring! They speak to humanity’s relationship with nature, which is that we are nature. When we attune with the outdoors, we attune to ourselves. For anyone unfamiliar with the traditional Rider-Waite (RW) tarot deck, I recommend using + studying it alongside using this one to see how the symbols differ + how they’re similar. While I do believe in using one’s intuition to delineate the meaning of the cards, for anyone who is new to tarot it will be fruitful to use ‘Tarot For the Great Outdoors’ in conjunction with the RW deck. There are some cards, like the Two of Blades (Swords) whose meaning could be missed if you don’t know the original symbolism. However, the deck comes with a lovely guidebook as well as some cards with keywords + phrases! The mention of the RW deck is my personal opinion, but of course do what suits you. In truth you don’t have to know the original symbolism from the RW to read + understand this deck. I just find it helpful for newcomers.👍🏼 CARD-STOCK: I find the card stock to be completely normal. Some of the other reviews for this product mention it being a bit flimsier, but I have another tarot deck almost exact like it but glossier, and I find both to be completely acceptable + exceeding in quality! The finish on this is matte, meaning there is not an inherent sheen. I have no preference of a finish type, but it’s worth noting in case someone is wondering!🤍 CARD DESIGNS (BACK): I love that the back of each card is a mirrored design so that it’s the same whether the card is upright or reversed, meaning when choosing a card while it’s face down, you cannot tell right away if it is in reverse or upright order. In my opinion, every card deck should be designed that way, but unfortunately some decks out there have this missing. The guidebook mentions that you don’t have to read reversals, but I’m really glad the creator, JQ Gordon, still incorporated this factor for those that do.🎨 CARD DESIGNS (MINOR ARCANA): the imagery is relaxing. Some might critique this deck for showing the people in these cards smiling + the weather fair. I think we can work with this, though, for even in hardships our emotional reactions + responses are entirely up to us. Life is one big journey/adventure and we don’t have to be downtrodden even when the stormy winds of change blow in (5 of Blades/Swords) and leave a mess for us to clean up. We can embrace joy in any moment!The concepts are refreshing to me. For example, the cups are illustrated in this deck as ‘vessels’, which could be a boat or a water bottle, etc. and are really quite clever. A lot of the symbolism is similar to the RW, but some cards showcase it entirely different, offering a new take, which I also happen to like. As humanity evolves, so do our perspectives!🏆 CARD DESIGNS (MAJOR ARCANA): ‘The hanged man’ card is a gentleman relaxing in a hammock + I find that to be both a pleasantly traditional yet avant-garde rendition. I feel the same for ‘The Hermit’ and ‘The High Priestess’. An example of a major arcana card that strays just a bit from the illustrations of the RW is the ‘Strength’ card. In the original RW, we see a maiden gentle holding open the mouth of a tamed lion. The reason I love that this product does not show that is because we do not want to depict nor encourage humans approaching/harassing wild animals at our national parks. This is for the safety of humans as well as animals. And even if you, the reader, know better than to do that, you never know if the querent you read cards for with this deck could get the wrong idea about their ‘abilities’ to ‘tame’ or interact with wild animals….very glad the creator of this deck opted out of that imagery since we are seeing National Parks in this deck. I like that ‘The Tower’ still shows lightning, and in ‘Death’ we still see hope + rebirth symbolism via abundant flora amidst the dry, barren land.🤔 THINGS TO CONSIDER: One example of a card illustration I think would’ve been better for a different card in the same suit is the case of the 8 and 10 of stones (pentacles). In the RW, the 10 of pentacles is illustrated by generational wealth + we see a family of multiple generations. I think the scene in 8 of Stones would’ve been better as the 10 of stones, but I don’t think it’s much of a big deal, and as a reader I can still delineate the meaning without it having to match completely to what I see in my mind + the RW. Again I think this is more a piece of my own opinion and taste rather than what applies to everyone. And this is only my first impression.📝 FINAL COMMENTS: Really, all of these cards are stunning + I’m still incredibly emotional at how much I love this deck. It speaks to my spirit, and one’s call to nature and oneself. When I first received it, my initial Virgoan instinct was to spot the differences from this deck + the RW. I thought what I wanted was for it to be the same symbolism. I thought I’d be a little disappointed at the missing trees + archangel Raphael in ‘The Lovers’ card, or perhaps be let down by ‘The Devil’ card not showing the people in chains of their own demise (but actually, that wouldn’t even make sense in the outdoors concept, so I’m glad the creator opted out of that). In truth + hindsight, I am MUCH more appreciative of the creative take this deck has on the RW, with some cards still showing traditional representation.🌱 This deck is positive. We need positivity. We need to remember that even in trials we can still feel triumphant in our journey. 🌾🏕️ ‘Tarot for the Great Outdoors’ is a refreshing take on the tarot deck. It is an inspiration to connect with nature, and in turn connect with ourselves, which is what Tarot is all about! 🤭

I got this deck because my parents would take my brother and I camping a lot as kids (it was what they could afford). When I first got it, I was not a fan of the card stock. Now having had it a few weeks and riffle shuffling it, it actually shuffles surprisingly well. The artwork is wonderful, though some artwork doesn't match what I associate the card to mean. But that is ok. It is definitely a feel-good deck and I love it!

I rarely comment on cardstock because I don't care unless it's too thick to shuffle. In this case, the card material is about as thick as construction paper (but very smooth). Be ready to be careful. I bowed the heck out of them after a couple of riffle shuffles and learned my lesson. The cardstock is the only reason to take a star off. Otherwise, this is a beautiful deck with a modern aesthetic that reimagines some of the scenes from classic Rider Waite Smith.My favorite cards are 3 of pentacles and 10 of Swords. In traditional RWS, the 3 of pentacles shows an apprentice working on chiseling a design in stone columns, while 2 others supervise or give input. In this deck, 3 women are out in the woods cleaning up the forest -- one of them we only see their hand reaching into the frame, holding something. We're all in this together, we all need to do our part. Love that.For the 10 of swords, in trad RWS, we see a figure lying face-down on a shore, with 10 swords sticking out of them. I always think of this as, "Stick a fork in me, I'm done. It's the end of the road." Although dawn is brightening the horizon, so if we can get out of our mental pity party, work through the pain, things may be ready to turn around. In the Great Outdoors deck, we see skiers crossing a finish line for a race on a ski hill. The person in first place is jubilant, and behind her, a man covers his face with his hands. Sometimes we're first across the finish line and our hard work paid off. Sometimes we lose, no matter how hard we tried. But the race ended and now we need to decide our next step.

My most recent purchase: Tarot for the Great Outdoors. Uses US national and state parks. Lovely art, very diverse, which I love in a deck.All tarot decks are good for any kind of situation, person, or question, but each deck has its own set of questions the deck is particularly good at answering.I asked the question. "What kinds of questions is this deck particularly good for?"The answer was it's especially good for earth people and for questions relating to the physical world.

I thought I would like this deck as I really enjoy being in nature and taking in beautiful scenery. The cards are informative about the places pictured but don't really give much insight into the cards meaning. I also found the cardstock to be flimsy and not very good quality.

Lovely images, delightful perspective on the cards - but the cards are not actually functional. They appear to be laminated paper. They do not shuffle well without getting bent out of shape and are very susceptible to creasing. They would not survive actual time in the great outdoors. So many of my other decks have gone camping with me, but I would not even consider taking these flimsy cards on a trip in the desert southwest, let alone somewhere with humidity levels above 40%.I'm so disappointed in this deck. I had great plans of sharing them with my young granddaughters who love tarot as well as hiking our 14'ers, camping, and anything they can do outdoors.I have returned my deck and hope the publisher will consider printing these lovely cards on actual tarot card stock.