Chrysalis Tarot

I pre-ordered this deck based solely on the few images I was able to find on the internet, and it quickly became one of my favorites. My intuition told me I would really connect with this deck, and I was right. The images are beautiful, incorporating nature elements, and are easy enough for beginners while still being very absorbing for more experienced readers. I love the color palette, which combines warm tones of amber and gold on edgings with beautiful jewel tones of blue, green, purple, and turquoise. The back of cards is a reversible image of butterflies and one of the most attractive I've seen in a long time. It's just a pleasure handling and viewing these cards from any angle. There is so much detail on every card, which might include any combination of humans, animals, insects, and flowers or other plants. Also there is Celtic design scrollwork incorporated on a number of the cards. The four suits are spirals (wands), mirrors (cups), scrolls (arrows), and stones (pentacles). The majors are renamed as Otherworld archetypes, with traditional name included on card, for instance: Phoenix as the Judgment card or Bella Rosa as the Devil. Another unique element of this deck is the court cards which are given another name readily identifying the nature of that character. Examples are: The Visionary/Knight of Scrolls and The Healer/Page of Mirrors. The deck comes in a lightweight cardboard cover (such as a standard deck of cards) with the Little White Book enclosed inside. The LWB is more than sufficient to describe the card images, neither being too brief or too wordy. You really almost don't need it, but I still like reading the creators' intended meanings as the concepts are very well thought out and expressed. Unless you prefer a plainer or more monochromatic color palette, I can't imagine anyone not connecting with this deck. Also, it has a very positive feel to it overall. Not cheerful in a false way--the five of stones (pentacles) still perfectly projects that card's despair, as do other cards which carry challenges. Guess what I'm trying to say is that this deck is not dark overall in tone. The cards are average size, and good quality card stock. For once, I wish the cards were larger, if only to make the images slightly bigger because there is so much detail to absorb. That is my one and only very tiny complaint. I'm hoping this deck will become popular enough that an alternate larger card version is published, which I would readily purchase.

I can't say enough good things about this deck. I have been collecting decks since 1976 & am a professional reader. I'm also an artist so I am very well aware of how much work goes into creating a tarot deck (that is why I have yet to create one & have stuck to the smaller Lenormand decks). The artwork of Holly Sierra is so lovely. When I first received the deck I kept looking through the images. I caught myself drooling several times. My normal thing is to immediately shuffle & ask "how will you & I get along" & pull cards. I didn't do that with this deck. It took me a week to do an actual reading with it. I was too busy examining the artwork over & over again. The detail is amazing, colors are so vibrant that they jump off the card, & on a black reading cloth the images pop with incredibly vibrancy and detail. Being a traditionalist I am not crazy about the renaming of most of the major arcana cards, new names for the 4 suits & also all new names for the court cards that vary from suit to suit. Based on the deviation from RWS tradition regarding the titles of the cards I would NOT recommend this deck for beginners. If you're a collector or a seasoned reader, then by all means do yourselves a favor & treat yourself to this deck. I plan on purchasing a second copy so I can keep it in pristine condition for the time when this deck goes OOP. I may even by a third copy and I have only purchased multiple copies of ONE other deck in my collection of over 200. That says a lot for the Chrysalis Tarot.

I have been following the progress of this deck off and on for the past few months on Facebook. Every time a new picture appeared, it seemed to have something nice to say to me. I did not need another tarot deck, especially one that uses different terminology that the standard Ryder-Waite. I'm still learning and I thought it might be nice to master one format before starting another. However, each time a new picture would appear on my screen I was more and more drawn to this deck. It was ordered before release and forgotten about. Then it arrived. WOW! This is a beautiful deck. The cards are the size of cards and fit gently into the hand. They are easy to hold and to shuffle. The art is gorgeous and each card tells the story it should. The very first reading gave me a wealth of information the two decks I usually use do not. This is a great deck! However, it barely fits into its box. Three tries of putting it away and it was finally there. I need to find a pretty bag or larger box to store it in and hope that I can find it when needed! Indeed, I would buy a larger box designed for the deck separately! Because the cards are so lovely, five stars. However, the packaging rates only one. This beautiful deck deserves a better box!!

I LOVE these cards. The imagery is great and though I have not used them for very long, I find myself getting really accurate feedback from the images. All of the art is great and I find myself connecting with the images and kind of staring at them and going into a bit of a trance when I look at them. Each court card has a different type or character rather than just knight, page, queen, king. This adds depth to the readings and helps me see more clearly just what I need to see or understand from each card. I do, however, have to get used to these cards as they seem so in depth in image and meaning. I was a little confused by some of the imagery in relation to the usual meaning ascribed to the traditonal tarot. (phoenix for judgement didn't make sense to me). And the suits are all different from the standard as well. I was unsure which of the chosen suits went with the usual meanings. Instead of cups, wands, pentacles, and swords, there were "Spirals" "scrolls" "stones, and "mirrors". It will take some getting used to, but I think it sort of makes it its own thing which adds depth to the meanings. All in all, a beautiful deck of cards and one that truly speaks to my inner, feeling, and imaginative self.

When Toney Brooks fired me from my job back in 1985, he did me the world's biggest favor and sent me on my way with words of wisdom. I never imagined that nearly 30 years later I would buy a pack of tarot cards that he had authored. But remembering his wise words to me and knowing of his years of study in spirituality, mysticism, etc., I decided to invest in the Chrysalis Tarot. I have been amazed and pleased with the readings from these cards. The cards emanate positivity and encouragement, and the interpretations are uplifting, even on some of the cards that can easily be viewed as negative or threatening. Not only that, Holly Sierra's artwork on the cards is stunningly beautiful. If you want a joyful tarot deck to have around the house or to give as a gift, this is the one to choose. The one drawback is the guidebook that comes with the tarot set. You really need the guidebook to get started as the deck is grounded in various myths and folklore from around the world. But instead of a nice, readable book, the deck comes with a tiny paper booklet stuffed into the box. It's a shame the publisher didn't see fit to produce a proper book of instructions to accompany this phenomenal deck. Perhaps a follow-up book that can be ordered separately for the deck is in order.

The name "Chrysalis" alone resonates with me. Imagine my happy dance as I found out about this deck. I saw images and felt instantly connected. I couldn't wait for this deck. I get it and at first everything just shuts down. I felt disconnected with it. Love the images, but my mind is mostly a scramble. Working with it a couple of days, I finally overcame that issue. Next up is the cardstock. Was really hoping for something sturdy like "Crystal Visions", but it feels thinner than playing cards. Was hoping it to be a bit thicker. I guess flimsy would be the word. I also felt like this deck, with its new way (well new to me anyway) symbolism and way to interpret this deck would have a bigger book than the usual LWB (little white book). The LWB is a little bit bigger and thicker than normal, but not by much. There are no reversal meanings in this LWB neither, but the cards are made to be read in reversals if you choose. Which I do read reversals. It is mostly going with your intuition as you do readings with these cards (which I do, but I love reading all aspects of cards). I really was struggling with rating it between 4 or 5 stars and I wanted to give an honest review based on my opinion. This is a gorgeous deck, don't get me wrong there and if you are willing to actually use it and get in tune with it, it would be a wonderful addition. The issue with me is the cardstock as I felt it could be a bit sturdier and the LWB because I wish there were reversal meanings and that this was a bigger book to truly express this tarot deck more. I feel like much was kept out of the LWB and this deck deserves a grand introduction. Those two things weren't what I was expecting.

I am fairly new to tarot, this is the second deck I've purchased. First was the universal rider waite- which I love but am looking for something to trigger more than just the traditional cards (different perspectives- imagery) . I felt so drawn to this deck and I'm so glad that I bought it. The artwork is so beautiful and intriguing, when I was going through clearing the deck after having recieved it- the cards were already speaking to me! WOW! It was a one on one introduction to each card, you can't get any better than that. I love that it has so many different cultures and even animals. The stock is great, the box is very pretty however the cards and booklet are a snug fit- that's the only thing but won't stop me from rating it 5 stars!! Wonderful job on this deck - highly recommended! Pictured are the world, high priestess and 10 of stones- camera quality isn't great but trust me, these cards are beautiful!!

One of the problems with the Tarot in general is that its imagery has become rather stale. Each "tradition" has its own set of pre-cast imagery, and even though some are incredibly beautiful and innovative, still, one is left with the feeling that, "Oh no, another one." When I get a new deck, I am always hoping for something indeed new, but the demand of the marketplace all too often take priority over innovation, and we wind up with a parade of clones. Enter the Chrysalis. If you're looking for the same old thing, you won't find it here. Here is the fresh breeze of inspiration that many have been waiting for. When I first opened it, what came immediately to mind is the Voyager. I remember the impression that deck made on me, and in its time, it was a whole new ballgame. But the while the Voyager is heavily analytical, the best word I can use to describe the Chrysalis is "Mythic". The images are very fairy-tale like, but rather than calling to mind the standard set of familiar stories, these cards encourage you to generate your own fairy tale, to tell your own story, and become your own myth. While the structure of the deck is similar to the "traditional" tarot, the imagery is very much a new ballgame. They are bright, colorful, and in most cases more suggestive than explicit in meaning. In many cases the images seem familiar, and yet are a very different take on the underlying theme. Consider XV, "The Devil" in a traditional deck, but here, "Bella Rosa," a masked lady parading through a carnival. The mask provides a certain anonymity, an isolation between the world and the inner person; while this can be a good and even necessary thing, how evil it is that a person must fundamentally lie about their true being to live in the world! Each one of these cards will make you think about new ways of looking at old meanings. And that is a major breakthrough. A Tarot card has two meanings, an objective and a subjective. The objective meaning, or "denotation", is bound up in a set of keywords, relationships within an esoteric system, and body of knowledge that points to a pre-determined. a priori definition of what the card means. You sit in a room, the Great Teacher informs you as to the meaning, and forever after that is what the card means. On the other hand, there is the subjective meaning or "connotation", a personal reaction to the card that often draws on unconscious sources which embellish the images with a personal significance. The chief problem in learning to read the Tarot, at least in learning to read it as an oracle, is getting beyond the denotation, into the subjective connotation, which is where the actual divination takes place. In a deck such as this. where the imagery is quite different from the body of traditional -- one way or another -- "learning" that fills the Tarot community, one is forced to rely on the subjective. You will have to look into your own soul to understand what these cards mean, and what they will mean to you is different from what they will mean to anybody else. Subjectivity is individuating -- having to find things out for yourself breaks you off from the herd. And as this deck breaks itself off from the "traditions" -- even, thankfully, the ones I often rely on -- to read it you will need to discover something of yourself that has remained hidden behind the mask. Which brings us to the book. I generally don't like tarot books, but this one is different. Instead of repeating the usual prattle, this one is short, to the point, and serves its purpose of launching your journey, rather than hand-holding you through it. I come from a very different background than the author, and would take issue with much of what is here, but the point is that the issues are raised, and how you follow them through the cards is your own prerogative. The book, in this case, is a helpful tool rather than a hindrance. I could go on about this deck for ever, and that is probably the best thing I can say about it. Its mandala-like imagery beckons one to go on forever. For here is a tool for the exploration of the conscious and the unconscious; for as long as consciousness exists, that exploration will go on, and indeed consciousness can only continue to exist where that exploration is possible.