Review by Solandia
The Tarot Lovers’ Calendar 2008 contains 12 months of independent Tarot decks and original Tarot spreads, alongside a useful calendar of lunar phases and religious festivals from January to December.
The Calendar usually displays twelve original, independent or unpublished decks of all shapes and sizes, and in its sixth year continues the tradition with:
The Creator’s Path Tarot by Anna Mills Raimondi
Diary of a Broken Soul by Ash Abdullah
The Lurianic Tarot: Voice of the AR”I by Basilikon
The Doodler Tarot by Zorian Cross
The Wooden Pirate Tarot by Liz “Galindorf” Harper
The Greylight Tarot by Chris Butler
Tarot of the Black Mountain by Emily Carding
The Little Window Tarot by Carol Wolf
All Hallows Tarot by Robyn Tisch Hollister
The Phantomwise Tarot by Erin J. McCauley
The Spoonbender Tarot by Matthijs “Matt” Dekeukeleire
TarotFilipinas:
Tarot of the Achromatic Impressions by Gian Carlo Moreno
MassKara Tarot by Patricia Orozco
Maundy Thursday Tarot by Ray-Ann Bernardo
Tarot Whispers in the House of Dusk by Lynyrd Narciso
The two cards from each deck (four for the TarotFilipinas) are beautifully printed above the info from the deck author. The images are crisp and saturated with colour, and sized large enough to appreciate them when hanging on the wall.
The 13 spreads (one for each month and one on the back) are all original. Each is printed at the base of the calendar grid, and printed with a visual of the numbered card positions, text explanations for each position, and optionally a note or two by the spread author. This year the focus of the spreads seems a little darker than usual – there are spreads themed around annoying people, karmic debts, and dark reflections, as well as dealing with the ‘black dog’ – depression. The full list of spreads is:
How To Play Your Cards Right by cronesayer
Spirit Speaks Spread by Akatala
Annoying Person Spread by rcb30872
Past Life Relationship Karmic Debt Spread by Azarial
Addiction Spread by Lain82
Goddess Spread by clbzkl
Dark Reflections Spread by Lisa Krough aka Rhiannon
The 5 modes of Focus Spread by Gayla
Demeter & Persephone Spread by Faerylvr
Spread for the Haunted by Poetic_Pirate
7 Stages of Life Spread by mjthomas
The Black Dog Spread by Jaelen
The Life Snapshot Spread by Monochrome Delirious
The cover chosen for 2008 was the result of a recent competition held on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum, and Jean-Michel David’s submission was voted the winner by Forum members. I like the cover: it shows a sequence of cards (Lovers cards, naturally) layered from the background to the foreground, with the Jean Noblet Tarot topmost.
The Tarot Lovers’ Calendar has grown more and more refined over the years of experimentation with the format. The 2008 edition features some of my favourite upcoming decks (like the Wooden Pirate Tarot), is beautifully printed, and is again the perfect calendar for the Tarot lover.
The Tarot Lovers’ Calendar 2008 calendar retails for US$27.25, AUD$30.78, or the equivalent. A percentage of the proceeds go to Aeclectic Tarot.
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