The Good Tarot: A 78-Card Modern Tarot Deck with The Four Elements ― Air, Water, Earth And Fire for Suits ― Inspirational Tarot Cards with Positive Affirmations

The Good Tarot by Colette Baron Reid. Oh my days I adore this tarot deck so so much!!!!! There has been a lot of noise about this in tarot community as a result of its name, which has caused some controversy. I bought it after seeing it on a flip through of all the cards, on You Tube and I adore it soso much.The images are many layered and blended Photoshop style and there is so much in each picture, if you like to read intuitively its amazing. The pictures are soothing and gentle and great to meditate on. Please buy this deck because you like the art, maybe have a look at flip through video's that are on You Tube if you want to see all the cards first. I did that and loved so many, that from a collectors point of view, it had to come home. Having worked with it now, I am very bonded to this deck, it has a wonderful positive energy to it, and its images. If you choose to read the book that comes with the deck you will find it full of affirmations. Some cards have prompts to move you along in a given situation but the book is written in the first person, so they read as if you were speaking to yourself.My previous fave deck was; Native Spirit Oracle deck for its soothing imagery, and The Good Tarot is another one to go to, when you want to meditate on beautiful images. I can't say I know enough about 'traditional' tarot to comment on how 'well' its meanings translate in this deck. There are some cards I know and love well and seeing them in this deck some have been treated differently to what I would expect from tarot but personally I find that refreshing. Not sure what I make of the Hermit card being an intricate wooden door, and as others have mentioned the 8 of cups image in this deck does have a different look from trad tarot. Many other cards are so beyond beautiful and with such depth of meaning and feeling they make you want to cry (in a good way).If you come to the deck after being solely interested in Oracle, then this is a great transition deck. It does feel like its the offspring of Oracle n Tarot blend. There is no death card, no scary skeleton, instead number 13 is Transformation and the person in the card holds up a phoenix rising from the palm of her hands. The traditional death card is about change and transformation, yes possibly an ending but NOT about mortality literally, this makes the Good Tarot's working of the card so perfect.In the book, the author advises you to use this deck for single or at most 3 card draws, as a review of where you are now and advice on that, rather than for predictive readings. I feel this is mostly because of the wording in the book, if you are reading the images intuitively then I don't see there being a problem using it in a more expansive way, but I am a newbie to traditional Tarot so am in no way experienced enough to comment more deeply in that area.Due to the intricacy of the images, I have had several occasions where I got a feeling/connection, from the deck that really spoke to how I was feeling in that moment which was perfect, yet totally different to what was written in the book. This can be the same for any Tarot or Oracle deck so it is not a negative thing. For me it is a case of looking at an image and feeling how it feels, how it makes me react in response to the question I have posed rather than being fixed to books. But we each look for different things in a deck and use them in our own ways too.The other deck I have for Tarot and love is The Dreaming Way Tarot, that deck has beautiful drawn images that feel follow more close to the RWS system if that is your preference, BUT The Good Tarot has become my main deck, because of its layered beautiful imagery.Is this the right deck to use if you want to learn 'traditional' tarot and are wanting to use it with the one of the host of 'learn tarot' books that are available? No. Simply because those books are based very heavily on the RWS system and describe those traditional images.The images in the Good Tarot,are unique and do not rely so heavily on the RWS system. You would find it confusing to use this deck with those books. However as a stand alone deck, if you come to it from Oracle only experience then it is wonderful. Yes the basic Tarot structure is there; 78 cards with some rewording for some of the major arcana, and court cards, also the use of earth, air, fire water instead of Wands, Swords, Pentacles, Cups.I'm guessing this is going to be a marmite situation, if you have no prior experience of tarot or have found traditional RWS images..how do I put this.. intense, (I am not a fan of the original RWS decks, personal choice, to each their own) which is why I chose the Dreaming Way tarot as those images were softer. If like me you find that traditional style not to your liking but you are wanting a deeper/different experience to Oracle then this deck is really really worth considering.It feels very earth/natural spirit based. there are plenty of animals, faries, and blending of fantasy with folk style in a very multi layered image. This is defiantely one of those decks where each time you see a card you will see something new within it.Highly recommend this deck, for its own merit. Please take it as an individual and unique deck and appreciate it on that basis, rather than comparing it to what you expect to find in a traditional tarot deck.Beautiful, inspiring, soothing, healing, nurturing, truly wonderful unique deck.Get it, you need it, you want it. If it calls to you, say YES.

Beautiful glossy cards. No reversed meanings. The Tower card is usually the one most people fear appearing in a tarot spread to receive or to read. Here it's a slightly less daunting card. All cards are beautiful and can be read as their tarot counterparts but generally best used with the meanings in the book. They can also clarify on top of a general tarot spread .These are large & came with a guide book in a solid box. Beware though as I bought these twice not realising that they were the same cards! The other deck are much smaller (typical playing card size) and sold as 'cuffslee' (?). They arrived first but have no guide book. I kept them both as I can use both decks and the smaller deck fits easily into my handbag. BUT they were both the same price!. Make sure you get the larger version with guide book.

Wouldn’t recommend for a beginner but beautiful cards for the more experienced reader. Quite large!

Absolutely beautiful illustrations. The little guidebook is very informative, making it easy to understand. Been a long time since I read Tarot, but this is a wonderful refresher. Top quality.

Before learning to read tarot, I was using Colette Baron-Reid's Wisdom of the Oracle, which I find lovely to use and very insightful. When I saw she was bringing out a new deck in collaboration with the same artist I placed a pre-order, but I cancelled it after previewing a few of the cards at Hay House Ignite - The Magician looked too much like Santa, and I wasn't sure this deck was for me.After being released a couple of weeks ago it has been popping up in my Instagram feed since then, showing lots of imagery which did appeal to me, however the reviews I found were less than consistent. For everyone who loved it, there was another condemning it - one Amazon review headlined 'NOT TAROT' stated "There is fluff and then there is the lint that sits on top of fluff - and that, my friends, is what the 'Good Tarot' by Colette Baron-Reid is, fluff-lint. I never hate decks but I actually hate this deck." Intriguing!The extreme reaction of early reviews turned out to be in my favour when I found an opened but unused deck for sale (for a steal!) and decided to make up my own mind. These are my first impressions.The deck arrived in the same sturdy box as my other Hay House oracle decks and the cards are the same size too - 9 x 10.8 cm - bigger than a standard tarot deck. I say 'other' because, on Colette Baron-Reid's website and in the accompanying book, this is described as an oracle deck. Despite this, it follows the traditional 78-card Major/ Minor Arcana tarot structure with four elemental suits. I suspect this might be the reason it is a 'Marmite' product (people seem to either love it or hate it, with little in between).This unusual approach is addressed in some detail at various points in the guidebook, where Colette describes wanting to work with tarot in a non-conformist way so that it can be meaningful psychologically and spiritually, outside the realm of fortune telling (if you read this earlier post, you'll have guessed that this appeals to me)."This deck was created to find solutions, choose direction, and gain understanding of any situation for the highest good of all, so working with it may be an experience unlike any you have had before in doing a tarot reading..... If you want to use this deck in the way you already know, you can do that too. Traditional tarot spreads and intentions will work with this deck... Even though imagining time differently and being accountable for your thoughts, feelings and beliefs may seem a bit daunting, the truth is it's how you claim your power. And you have lots of it!"I have seen various criticisms of this, and the title, from people who are keen to remind us that life isn't all 'Good', and that typical tarot cards have both light and dark sides. If you are familiar with Colette's other work, you'll know that she often talks about working "for the highest good of all" - this is not only reflected in the deck's moniker, but also some of the trump names (there is no Death, Devil or Judgement, etc), and in the guidebook. Here's why:"As you look at the images and read the words interpreting the message of the card, you will not think about the bad things that might happen to you and dwell on loss, grief, resentment anger or worry. Instead, you will be gently guided to experience the Light aspect of any message."The meaning of each card is provided in the form of a few keywords and a short paragraph of present tense first-person affirmations. This is intended to help the reader "integrate the energy personally and immediately now". It's about being present - you are invited to consider that time is not linear, but that things happen in cycles and there is only ever 'now'. (I like this - it's the subject of my favourite book.) There is power in accepting this - it gives you choice and free will in the present-now, in order to manifest or 'co-create' the future-now.The accompanying book includes information on basic numerology and what each number tells us about the energy of the cards. For example, "Ace is the driving, primal, originating force of the element". Then it moves on to describe the trumps which are the described as "Symbolic Life Themes". Each card has its own page, with a small black and white image and affirmation paragraph.Before each suit, there is an overview of the element it represents and indeed the suits are named after these, rather than the traditional Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles. I imagine this will be easier for those completely new to tarot, removing one level of symbolism and making the cards immediately more accessible.The artwork is well-suited to each of the elemental suits, using appropriate colour-schemes. The digitally produced images include animals and lots of otherworldly people (and Santa-in-blue-wearing-spectacles). There is some ethnic diversity, with the majority of characters having more of a Caucasian appearance.The deck is intended for one- or three-card draws, for use when you are feeling confused and wondering what's happening / what you're not seeing, and when you want to know about a situation and the flow of energy around that, respectively. It is suggested that a single clarifier card can be used with either of these. The deck isn't designed to be used with reversals (unlike Wisdom of the Oracle).So who will this deck appeal to? I suspect it will be incredibly popular with Colette's legion of fans, and those who use her other oracle decks. I count myself amongst them, although I can't help thinking that for anyone without prior tarot knowledge, the guidebook may seem somewhat lacking, in comparison with the Wisdom of the Oracle guidebook (which is incredibly detailed), and may disappoint those who have only used that method of reading Colette's cards.For those who are looking to develop their intuitive reading, there is quite a lot work with from the imagery, and it's helpful not having so much to fall back on in the book. It would be a good deck to use for meditation. Traditionalists who like the artwork might like to try using this as a standard tarot to see how they get along with it, with a background knowledge of the more traditional meanings, this would make a pretty deck to use for a sensitive querent, as there is nothing that looks dark or challenging.Those with smaller hands will probably struggle to overhand shuffle these thick cards unless they turn the cards to hold them at the sides, rather than the top and bottom. I had to riffle the corners to mix up the deck. So this is worth bearing in mind if it's likely to bother you.First impressions then: for a deck in this price range, I think it represents value for money - it's well produced and nice to handle (apart from the size). The art is lovely and as I mainly read for myself it suits my purposes. I realise that it won't suit everyone, and it will very much depend if you're looking for a true tarot deck, or whether you like the idea of a tarot-themed Oracle deck.

New to reading cards but the energy of these cards drew me in and they haven't disappointed. Stunning designs and love the energy.Only thing is they have a coating on them that's causing them to stick slightly. Hopefully that'll ease with use