Phantasma Tarot

Paulina Cassidy was born and raised in Ontario, Canada and has been very interested in fairies for most of her life. These cards are a task she set herself and are very beautiful, delicate and unique. This is a delicate and romantic seventy-eight tarot deck with instruction book (LWB). The cards are packed with detail and every time you re-visit them you espy something new. It is charming, has a Victorian flair with a pinch of a gothic Mardi Gras for good measure. The deck contains much of the Rider-Waite-Smith symbolism. The artwork is in watercolour and is done in soft, muted shades and I like her use of colour and visual interest by using animals, birds and fish along with the fae. I always feel I should be using a lace table cloth when I get out this deck as I have a feeling of stepping back into a time of whimsy and magic. It takes you to a place where Dragons and Pegasus fly and many other magical creatures live side by side, interacting with humans. She also liberally uses birds, butterflies, dragonflies, all in magical forest and woodland settings. The deck is printed on a high quality cardstock and measure 4 '" tall x 2 '" wide, with a very narrow, white border. The backs are done in soft shades of beige and grey featuring beautiful birds in flight. They are reversible. The cards have the card number and title on the bottom of each. Strength is numbered 8 and Justice 11. The suits are standard: Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles. The LWB contains forty-seven pages. The Majors are listed first and the Minors follow in suit order. There is a description for each card, as well as, traditional meanings for upright and reverse draws. There is a brief segment discussing the Art of Divination. The LWB also includes the traditional Celtic Cross Spread and two blank pages to write notes. This deck would be a nice tool for beginners as well as for the professional readers, however, some of the imagery is not strictly Rider Waite. For example Judgement is not three people in coffins with an angel blowing a trumpet but a person suspended happily in nature, cocooned in a tree of white light, whilst still joined by a golden thread/root to the earth. I really adore this deck and the imagery in this deck and I would highly recommend to anyone who is happy with "busy" illustrations and wants something very original. There is a definite feel of light and dark in some of the cards and an intricate organic theme to most of the illustrations; almost as though the designs grew and evloved onto the paper. From sunlit fields with flowers and rabbits to a foggy cemetery every card is delightful and inspirational. I feel this deck would be suitable for all ages unless you had a highly sensitive person who may not like the slight gothic tone to it. It is for this type of sensibility I use the Gummi Bear tarot. The service from Amazon was extremely good I received the cards promptly and in perfect condition. Paulina now lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee with her husband. She has a website and it still working on new decks. If your like her artwork some of the orginal drawings are for sale. She also does the Pixie Kins calendar. I hope you enjoy :)

Charming, fae, sweet... These are all words that have been used to describe the Paulina Tarot, drawn by Paulina Cassidy and published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc. and they are all true, but there is more to this deck than just that. My account at Amazon tells me I have had this deck since March of 2009, and I instantly bought one for my aunt, a budding collector and reader in her own right, because I found it so adorable and the colors so lively, which should speak highly of the deck, but it had never made its' way into my regular reading rotation until recently. Before I took the deck and and actually began to read with it I believed that the images, while charming and gorgeous, were too similar, too samey-samey to offer good readings. I purchased some prints for my daughter's room, leafed through the cards occasionally, but that was it. I now know better. This surprising little deck is not just fairies and pretty things. It's sweet exterior hides a tough core and some sharp little teeth. This charming reading, including the Magician, the Ten of Swords, and the Tower, heralded the onset of one of my worst anxiety attacks to date, and then my husband went in for an emergency surgery. But I can't hate a deck that was just telling me like it is, nor one that has my all time favorite Hierophant card, which is an oft maligned card that should be about our connection to God and where we all find divinity, whether that looks the same or not, and it should be a card that offers wise and good counsel, and encourages to follow our own traditions. Unfortunately, it often becomes a card that becomes about our disappointments and discomfort with organized religion and authority figures. I feel this image goes far towards salving those wounds. The Paulina Tarot is a 78 card deck that features standard Major Arcana, with Strength at 8 and Justice at 11. The Court Cards are Page, Knight, Queen, and King, and the suits are the standard Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles, so no surprises there. It is based on the Colman Smith deck, but not enslaved to it. There are lots of quirks to this deck that make its' voice unique, and the colors are gorgeous. For intuitive readers, there are plenty of symbols to grab a hold of to read, and lots of play between the colors. The cards interact and have a great storytelling ability to them. The packaging includes a tuck box and Little White Book, and the cards have been printed in China on lovely stock without a hint of shine to it, and the cards themselves are a good size at 2.75" x 4.75". I am a huge fan of the U.S. Games decks that have been printed in China, as the card stock is divine and the colors are lovely, as well as being less pixelated. (If anyone from U.S. Games is reading this, can we get a Hermetic from China, pretty pretty please?) My experience with the deck has been that the readings are straight forward and really hold no punches. If you are going to ask the Paulina a question, you had better be sure you want to hear the answer! I also found my biggest concern, that the images may not be distinct enough to offer good readings, was entirely unfounded. This deck positively sang in my hands, and I had no head scratching moments with it at all. I feel people to new to tarot would enjoy this deck, and the images are not scary at all, with no nudity or violence. I feel experienced readers with a leaning toward whimsy or fanciful, somewhat fussy fae will enjoy the imagery, and intuitive readers that like to have many things to work with on the card should enjoy the expressive pictures as well.

Where can I start? I have been watching this Tarot develope on the artists website for the past few years. Now I hold the finished product in my hand. This is a masterpiece as far as Tarot decks go. It takes the traditonal images to a new and very, very, detailed level that should your tastes favor this interpretation, you will find a new favorite. In the endless Rider Waite clones that get stamped out each year, Paulina Tarot rises above the heard. I generally prefer a very boldly colored deck for easier interpretation. It is true, the colors are subtle and easy on the eye. Yet, they are no less vivid. I adore the delicate lines and layers of every card. This is not my first deck, and will not be my last. I collect decks, most are locked away as art decks. This one is very useable as well as aesthetically pleasing. Your clients get a visual treat, as well as very accurate advice. Whimsical, dreamy and nostalgic, I cannot stop singing the praises of this labor of love. I followed Paulina's plight in New Orleans, after Hurricane Katrina. Indeed, the frailty of life is reflected in this deck. It will remain near & dear to my heart! If you feel there are too many decks published annually, treat yourself to this one. It is the new pinnacle as far as other Tarots are concerned. Good luck topping this one.

This deck is full of stunning detail with black outlines and dreamy water coloured pallet. Even though the art is done this way it is not at all washed out and it is full of vibrant colour. The back features two birds on a cream background, which is classic and feminine. It showcases many little creatures of the night, quiet gothic looking people and central figures, fae, fairy tale characters and pretty much anything else from a gifted imagination. This deck has a gothic like theme, which will definitely find an audience with young adults, as it is still quiet romantic and not too dark. It has some splashes of Tim Burton and Dr Susses hidden within her artwork, but it does not take away from her creation at all. The artist and author of the booklet actually set out to create a Tarot Deck allowing the symbolism to draw her in, this incredibly detailed piece of work took her over a year and a half to complete. There is a completely different feel to a deck that has been created this way, unlike some decks that are just thrown together from artwork done by well known fantasy artists, those decks feel messy and are terrible to read with. The booklet has a small description of the card, the upright meaning and the reversal meaning; there is also a Celtic cross spread description in the back. The Paulina Tarot is elegant, detailed and full of stunning imaginative artwork and I highly recommend it.

This is going to be a short review. I have passed this tarot deck up many times thinking it would be hard for me to read or something I wouldn't gravitate to. But someone I knew bought this deck and when she allowed me to look through and touch and play with it, I fell in love. I'm a Victorian Edwardian lover by heart and this deck touches on those themes of dress... also a little bit of the French Napoleon dress in this deck. I checked out the Queen of Wands card (cause that's usually who I show up as in readings) and she was just the epitome of how I think I would look like in Eduardian times... a spunky, attractive brunette with red hues in her hair and wearing a stylish red/orange dress. SO ME!!!! I like this deck just because... and because of this I can't put into words why I like it and why others should like it. I think its individual preference. Even though the characters are whimsical, cartoonish, etc., they seem to have a life of their own. Very expressionate cards with tons of details that seem to pop off subconsciously but makes a ton of sense intuitively. For example, the Queen of Wands is elegantly and stylishly dressed but there is an eye at her stomach as what moves her tends to be her intuition. Her headdress is high about her head, looking like a small tree... she tends to have tons of inspiring ideas and the energy to put them into reality. Her pet looks like a rat/cat but is about the same size or bigger than her. So what I think is femininity that is larger than life... independence and courage. All of this from just looking at the card and gleaning a few insights from the LWB, but mostly from intuitive knowledge it tends to ignite in my mind. So that's why I love this deck. .. it works!

My friend and Tarot teacher introduced me to this deck, and I found it beautiful and stirring on both an emotional and energetic level. Not only were the images gorgeous, but there was something magical that tugged at me after using them for a reading. Two days later, during a healing session with a client, one of the 'characters' from the deck showed up, and an image of one of the cards showed up in a body scan! This was very specific as to what type of healing crisis the person was in, and allowed me to specifically suggest a course of energetic balancing. I ordered the deck immediately afterward, knowing that I'd found a brand new tool to utilize within my practice. The way the images are portrayed is fairly traditional, but I love where the deck varies, and the tiny, fey creatures that seem to add their own symbolism. This is really what drew me to the deck, and I'm quite happy with the readings I've done with it so far. The price is also amazingly affordable (read: a steal!) considering all the work and artistry involved. I highly recommend the Paulina Tarot to any and all readers who are looking for traditional, magical, beautiful and something quite out of the ordinary all rolled into one deck.

BEAUTIFUL deck, I love the way the author interprets each card. The illustrations are gorgeous and give a lot of information from each arcana.

I am sixteen years old and have been casually studying astrology for a few years. While looking for a way to increase my knowledge of the subject and also maybe find a new study, I happened across tarot card readings. I had been aware of tarot cards for as long as I have been interested in astrology, but I didn't really understand it or gravitated to it as much as I did to planetary aspects. However, after receiving a reading of my own, my interest was piqued and I decided to buy my own deck. Astrology has always been somewhat of a tool for personal understanding for me, and I had hoped that tarot cards would be in the same vein. This deck appealed to me more than any other deck I saw when browsing for one. The cards came in a small box along with a little white book tucked inside with them, which I haven't began to read yet. I have nothing to compare them to, but the card stock feels quality, sturdy, and smooth to the touch. They shuffle easily. I wish that the cards were a little bit larger so I could get a bigger picture of the art, but on the other hand their size is perfect for my hands. The artwork is nothing short of breathtaking, with each character shown being unique and colorful, their own personalities practically bleeding from their cards. Seriously, even with my limited knowledge of tarot card meanings, the artist really managed to make me feel like each of these characters had their own attitudes and stories to tell. The cards are rich in detail, which may be distracting for some people, but I personally enjoy it. The backs are reversible and feature two birds. Overall I would say the deck is feminine but in a subtle, charming way. I like them all of the cards, but some of my favorites are the Page of Cups, Knight of Cups, the Queen of Wands, the King of Wands, Ten of Pentacles, Six of Pentacles, Six of Wands, and the Wheel of Fortune. Interestingly enough, before I bought this deck and was browsing the art on their website, the card Five of Cups really stood out to me. I lingered on it longer than the others, and learned that a common meaning for it was "loss and disappointment." The same day these cards came in the mail, I learned I had loss my job. A strange, but interesting coincidence. All in all I would recommend this product, even if solely for the art. I look forward to furthering my knowledge on this subject with this deck as my tool.

I love these cards! They read like magic. There’s so much to find in these cards. I love busy cards. For those who love minimalist art might find this a little too much but I LOVE TOO MUCH.

Paulinaさんの繊細な絵（Paulinaさんのwebサイトでカードを全部見ることができます）。ライダー版に沿っているようです。それぞれのカードの持つ深い意味合いまで、丁寧に描かれています。淡い色使いで、カードをたくさん並べるとやや見づらい印象があるのですが、１枚１枚からは伝わってくるものが多く、カードを１枚引くときに使ってます。

Io amo Paulina Cassidy, tutti i suoi mazzi sono splendid e questo non è da meno. Borderless e carta più spessa, dimensioni un po’ più grandi lo rendono ancora più accattivante perché ti permettono di vedere meglio i dettagli

I've been using this deck for about a month now and absolutely love it! It is richly illustrated with a heady dose of whimsy but without being childish. There are a lot of little details on the cards and much of it is easy to miss if you don't concentrate on them for a while, however I found it stays true enough to the RWS system (without being a clone) that it is still easy to get the overall meaning of the card without having to squint for clues. After a few days of spending time with the cards I did the interview spread to get to know it better and wow, what a reading, I liked it at first, and now it is love! Don't let the whimsical art fool you, this deck has depth while still being warm and inviting. The nature of the artwork also makes the deck suitable for children and young people, which is great because I have two nosy kids that like poking around in cupboards. I was looking for a new deck for a while, checking reviews and looking at walkthroughs on YouTube and I am so glad I settled on this deck. I have seen a number of decks where the artist has stunningly captured the Majors but then seems to phone it in for the pips. Not so with the Paulina, each and every card is a beautiful work of art in and of itself. Long story short: if you don't like busy decks with lots of fine detail, Paulina probably won't be for you, however if you have the time and inclination to go for a leisurely stroll through the images, you will have a wonderful journey with many moments of beauty, humour, joy and poignancy.

Muy bien.