Deviant Moons for Deviant Minds

Ah, Deviant Moon tarot, how I love thee. Let me count the ways...

Okay, that may be a bit overblown, but I knew as soon as I saw scans of this deck, months before it would ever be available, that I HAD to have it, that it was MY deck, and was going to do me right through all my tarot studies. Lust for tarot cards is nothing new to me, and I currently have quite a little wish list going (including, most notably, Legacy of the Divine and the Illuminated Tarot but *sigh* not whilst I have kids that like to eat EVERY single day) but I have never absolutely HAD to possess a deck before. I have not been disappointed by Patrick Valenza's creation in the Deviant Moon.

The cards are lovely, glossy, and standard sized, which is to say a bit larger than playing cards. Many people complain about shuffling different kinds of tarot decks, but I would as soon douse my cards in gasoline and light them on fire as I would riffle shuffle, so I never have any problems with any size deck. Their quirky weirdness speaks to me, and although on first pass the deck seems somewhat dark, I have found that the opposite is in fact true. It reads straight for me, that is to say that the readings are not particularly dark, nor are they falsely bright, and since truth is what I am seeking, I appreciate that in a deck. The images resonate with me, and though they are aligned to traditional Rider Waite Smith they are not defined by them, so I enjoy the stretch away from the roots, so to speak. I get blunt, sometimes tongue in cheek answers to my questions, and since I am blunt with a bit of a cheeky nature, these cards and I get along just fine.

Therefore, when I read about the Primary Deck Reflection for 2009 at Aeclectic, I knew what I had to do. Spend a year just contemplating these lovely cards and getting to know them even better. Sounds like a plan to me.

I asked my cards if they would like to be the deck I used for this study, and the answer I got was the beautiful Ace of Cups.




As I looked at the angel with goblet overflowing with moon energy, her enigmatic smile, her knowing eyes, I took that to mean that I am full of positive emotions for these cards, and that they connect with me on an emotional level, and that I will have a great relationship with these cards throughout the coming year as I study and reflect on them even more intensely.



P.S. - Is it wrong if I really, really want her jewelry, this little Angel-Ace of mine? But I'd rather have it in silver. And I'd wear it too, all in my Queen of Pentacles glory.


These images are from the Deviant Moon by Patrick Valenza.