Touchstone Tarot

Touchstone Tarot Author: Kat Black Artist: Kat Black Kunati 2009 ISBN #978-1-60164-190-8 This review is for the mass market version of the "Touchstone Tarot" - the full 78 card deck plus the additional "Happy Squirrel" and artist cards, accompanied by a 197 page companion book. I want to take a moment here to thank Kunati for being willing to allow a Limited Edition version of this deck to be published before the mass market version came out. (The Limited Edition version was published by Leisa ReFalo of The Tarot Connection.) This was very gracious - and I am sure that there are many people like myself that "had to" have both versions! This is a very elegant deck - gilt edged, and presented in a sturdy cigar-style box. This is Kat Black's second deck - her first deck being the stunning "Golden Tarot". It is a digital collage deck, composed of works from European masters of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The tagline for this deck is "78 friends that you hold in your hand". It is definitely a user friendly deck, but it goes beyond that. The figures in this deck look straight out at the reader - straight into their soul. When you read with them, it is as if you are having a conversation with a good friend over a cup of coffee (or tea). The cards are 3 ½" by 5", of sturdy, good quality card stock. The backs have a brown and tan floral pattern that is a bit "busy", and could be just a tad distracting. The card faces show a ¼" brown border, with the card name and number at the bottom, against a gold background. The structure of the deck is traditional, using traditional titles for the Major Arcana, suit titles of Wands, Cups, Swords and Coins, and Court titles of King, Queen, Knight and Page. Traditional imagery is used throughout the deck. The coloring in this deck is very soft, yet detailed. You can feel the question in the dog's mind as he gazes up at the Fool. The Magician carries the wisdom of the owl that sits over his left shoulder, peering down at him. The Empress is in a state of grace with the flowers in her hand, and on her head. The Emperor is very determined, and takes his responsibilities seriously. The Hermit walks with his animal allies, while Judgement shows a woman in dark clothing, hands held in prayer, with an angel playing a trumpet in the background, and mountains behind her. The Aces in this deck are quite interesting, as they show winged angels along with the suit icon. I found myself fascinated by the card backgrounds - the globe sitting behind the figure in the Two of Coins, the books on the shelf behind the figure in the Six of Coins, the scholar looking up from his work in the Ten of Coins, and the draperies behind the figures in the Three of Cups. The family in the Ten of Cups is shown against green fields, while a tiger stands with the figure in the Ace of Swords. The Six of Swords shows a male figure rowing a female figure, holding a baby in her arms. The costumes are rich and elegant, conveying a sense of good living. The companion book carries mini-reviews of the "Touchstone Tarot", done by "That Dan Guy" (Dan Pelletier) and myself. At the end of the book are sample readings contributed by members of the Aeclectic Tarot forum (myself included). The spread used was the Love Knot Spread - a signature spread developed by Kat Black for this deck. In her dedication, Mary Greer notes the excellent job that Kat Black did in incorporating historical portraits and backgrounds into easily recognizable Tarot scenes. Greer notes that the personalities of the characters in this deck dominate each card. I have to agree - the energy is palpable. Note: Study the faces closely, and you will find people from the Tarot community looking back at you. The foreword was written by a very special person - the Secret Benefactor that made this deck possible in the first place. Aside from being the Patron of this deck, I was impressed with her very quiet note in passing on the use of Tarot in business and investment decisions. In her introduction, Kat Black talks about the wonderful feeling of being able to share her deck in progress with her benefactor - with someone who had, well, not a vested interest, but certainly a strong personal interest in the deck. Kat intended this book to be a companion to her deck, to give the reader insights into "this" deck, and to share the background for each of the cards. I loved the fact that Kat included an FAQ section at the beginning of the book. There are so many half-truths, or quasi-truths in the Tarot world, that it is refreshing to see them put to rest. Amongst the questions discussed are: "Should a deck be a gift?", "Should you let other people touch your cards?" and "Is it wrong to read cards for a third party?" Very good background information here! The spreads presented include a One Card spread, Three Card spreads, the traditional Celtic Cross spread, and the Love Knot spread, a spread that was specifically designed for this deck by Kat. The cards are presented with a black and white scan, a short discussion of the card, upright and reversed meanings, and a listing of the painting sources (remember - this is a collage deck!). There is one card that is unique to this deck (much as the Artist card is to the Sakki Sakki Tarot), and that is the Happy Squirrel. The card originated in an episode of the Simpson's, and was never intended to be left in the deck for reading purposes. However, as Kat noted, many of us do leave this lovely, light-hearted card in the deck when we do readings. To me, if it comes up, it is a special gift to the Seeker. I love working with the Limited Edition version of this deck, and know that the same magickal feeling will carry over into this stunning edition. May we all carry a little of the energy of the Happy Squirrel away with us! © April 2009

This deck is amazing!!! I love love love the artwork. The box is sturdy. The card stock is good. The guidebook is very informative & well made. It is one of my favorite decks. I have over 400 decks & this one is one of the best. I highly recommend it. Its great for a beginner & experienced tarot reader. It can be used by itself or with oracle cards. Buy it. You will not be disappointed.

I love this set of cards. I also have The Golden Tarot by Kat Black. This set is absolutely stunning and I would recommend it to anyone who loves the beauty of historical art. At first I was creeped out by all the faces looking at me-- they are so realistic! I started using this set of cards more and more just to get used to them and found that they are just incredible. I started seeing faces of people I know in them. I showed my neighbors, who I was doing readings for, and they started just looking at all the cards and found people they knew in them also. I am now starting to look up the original pieces of art that these cards came from. They are big cards that make it hard for some people to shuffle but I just love them and I think this is a good set of cards for anyone whether a beginner or an expert student of the tarot. After I submitted this review, I realized these cards were out of print! What a shame!! I sure hope Kat Black will work her magic again and come up with another great deck--or maybe these will become available again. I am just glad I bought this set of cards when I did.

The Touchstone Tarot is a beautiful deck, beautifully printed, brilliant colors, sharp lines, and meaningful art correctly chosen for proper card meanings. The creator of this deck has a deep and thorough understanding of Tarot, unlike makers of other decks who do not match images to meanings. The Touchstone fits well in the hand, cards have snap when shuffled, good choice of card stock, gilt edges, a 200 page lwb, and sturdy box. There is even a little extra room in the box for adding extra cards if wanted. There are Holbein portraits, Durer paintings and Dutch still lifes from the Golden Age, combined with portraits. The deck is lush, the eyes looking back at you are compelling. The Two of Swords shows Christina of Denmark, a teenager, who was wise enough to refuse Henry VIII. Even when handling this deck with care, you could become addicted both to Tarot and history.

Beautiful deck. But be careful. Even though it was in the cellophane wrapper, it was missing the moon card and the star card. If I didn’t go through each one I wouldn’t have known.

The cards are really beautiful and well made. Cards are thick, not flimsy with gold edges. The art work is beautiful, and I really like the design on the back of the cards as well. Cards and book come with beautiful sturdy box with lid.

Beautiful. Stunning collage imagery, very captivating and I’d say the chosen imagery matches the original meanings of tarot very well, if not even better. I appreciate a gilded deck always ! Even the box is gilded as you can see 👀 happy to add this baby into my collection!

I love Kat Black's Golden Tarot - have been using it for years and it's amazing. Touchstone was apparently created first, and it really shows - the collages are really awkward, the choice of artworks is odd (why so many Tudors?!!) Heads are stuck onto obviously wrong bodies, faces of famous painings are changed completely (Rembrandt's wife's on the Empress card got someone else's face - that was jarring. Anne of Cleves is just standing there with ten photoshopped sticks - for no reason). It seems that the creator may have learned from making this deck, to create a far superior Golden Tarot, which has none of these flaws. Oh, and the borders make things worse. There are the thick brown borders, and in addition, the thick white borders - so the extra size of the cards is completely wasted. The images are actually fairly small, and the borders really get in the way visually. On the plus side, the card stock is excellent of course, and I'm sure a lot of people will find the collages ok to work with. Don't get it thinking it's as good as the Golden deck, though.

Cards are really beautiful, it's a pleasure working with him <3

very like it!!!!!!!!!!

I love the Tudor period and recognise most of the original artworks used here before they were modified. Decent quality card nicely presented and there is a happy squirrel card. blisd

From the creator of the 'Golden Tarot' the Touchstone tarot is an elegant and profound deck with deep hues and stunning imagery that has been collaged using baroque masterpieces. The deck has a serious, friendly and personal feel and the people really do give the impression of 78 friends in your hand. The cards are based on the Rider-Waite deck with the difference that every card features a person who conveys their meaning to you by look and pose. The figures and imagery will captivate you in and draw you in and allow you to read the cards from a different angle allowing more room for interpretation. Because just as you read the body language of people around you, you will find that you can read and understand the body language of the people in the cards too. The cards are edged in gold and have a stiff, robust feel without a plasticy laminate feel (which would ruin them) and they come in a very well made, thick box with an easily accessible lid. The box also contains a lovely little book which explains the picture, meaning and the painting sources that each card was made up from (its a collaged deck). This deck is better suited to somebody who has a reasonable knowledge of the the Rider-Waite deck because the picture symbolism isn't as obvious as the Rider-Waite deck. This deck also features a 'Happy Squirrel' card, a traditional humour that was started by the TV cartoon show 'the Simpsons'. Although a more expensive than usual, this luxurious deck is worth the extra cost.

Gorgeous deck, excellent print quality. Absolutely worth 30 euros.