“With a turn of the wheel and a spin of the cog, the oracular machinery lumbers into action. The curtains slowly draw back; the time has come to reveal your destiny.
Created by award-winning tarot expert Barbara Moore and brilliantly brought to life by artist Aly Fell, The Steampunk Tarot deck offers a glimpse of the future through a lens to the past. Retooling the gears of the Rider-Waite tradition, each card’s intricate artwork depicts a scintillating fusion of man and machine, nature and technology, science and alchemy, romance and fashion. The included manual offers tips, original spreads, and guidance in card interpretation.”
Today’s review is for The Steampunk Tarot
On to the review!
Writer: Barbara Moore
Illustrator: Aly Fell
Publisher: Llewellyn
Card Size: 2.76″ x 4.61″
Card back design:
Container: Large, flimsy box
Guidebook information: The deck’s guidebook contains in depth explanations of both the cards themselves and of tarot in general. It also provides several spreads connected to the deck. This is the first guidebook I read cover to cover, and I really enjoyed it. I think it would be a fantastic resource for a beginning tarot reader.
Suit names: Cups, Pentacles, Swords, Wands
Court card names: Pages, Knights, Queens, Kings (Note: all four pages and three of the knights are all female)
General impressions: I am so impressed with this deck! Like I mentioned earlier, the guidebook alone is worth the price of admission. Add in the gorgeous illustrations, the evocative moods, the very distinct scenes, and how cleverly the steampunk concepts are tied into the Major and Minor Arcana, and this is a deck I would definitely recommend.
I admit, though, when I try to read with it it tends to leave me cold. The introduction spread with this was more negative than others have been, and I wasn’t really surprised, given how tricky it is to work with. Even so, I really like having it in my collection, because like I said I’m really impressed with its artistry.
Its biggest downside of all, though, is the terrible box. The designs Llewellyn chose are so nice, which makes how flimsy and awful the box is even more disappointing.
Blog reviews: Aeclectic Tarot, New Paths Tarot, Perspectives on Tarot, Tarot Elements, and The Tarot Review
Flip through video: Chrystal Oracle
Deck Interview:
(As a reminder, I use Noble Lion’s Deck Interview spread)
1) Please Introduce Yourself: The Ace of Pentacles
Guidebook Excerpt: “Safely ensconced in a lovely garden, the Ace of Pentacles is a seed. As it shines, we think of not just its material potential but also its divine spark.
When you get this card, consider it your lucky day. Look sharp for the opportunity that is right in front of you, and make the most of it. If you cannot see any such opportunity in your life, think about what can be done to create your own luck.”
My Interpretation: Aces are the pure, undistilled energy of a card, so having one turn up as the introduction card really jumped out at me! I always think of Pentacles as being the foundation suit–if you think of it in terms of the Hierarchy of Needs, Pentacles would be the base of the hierarchy. In that light, this is a good deck to build on–which makes further sense for me, since like I mentioned earlier, this guidebook is so good and thorough that I personally learned a lot from it!
2) Your Strengths as a Deck: The Empress
Guidebook Excerpt: “Cycles–of life and death, of creation and destruction, of flower and seed, of the moon and seasons–are intimately connected to the Empress’s purview. As indicated by the sign of Venus on the pillow at her side, she is pure feminine power–all circles, curves, extremes, and sensuality–and contrasts quite beautifully with IV, the Emperor. Her hands indicate the root of her power. Her right hand rests on her belly, showing us that everything she creates is part of her and comes, often painfully, from her very core. Her left hand holds the heat, flame, and spark of magic, a deep connection with the very being of the universe.”
My Interpretation: Hand-in-hand (literally: both cards are offering something in one hand!) with the Ace of Pentacles, this is a deck that is good for creativity and for nurturing and growing new ideas. I’ve been thinking about trying to use this with my writing, too, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.
3) Your Limitations as a Deck: The Nine of Cups
Guidebook Excerpt: “Back in the old days of fortune telling with tarot, tarot readers told you to make a silent wish before beginning your reading. If the Nine of Cups showed up in your reading, it meant that the wish you made at the beginning would come true. Looking at this warm and welcoming image, full of promise and fun, it is easy to see how this came to be known as the wish card.”
My Interpretation: This isn’t a deck for wishes, or actualization, or helping me get what I want. Which makes sense, given that this deck’s particular Empress is all about the creation process, which as the manual points out is often as difficult as it is ultimately fulfilling.
4) What Can I Learn From You: The Ace of Swords
Guidebook Excerpt: “If you receive the Ace of Swords, you have a wonderful opportunity to realize a truth that has been eluding you, to discover a solution to a problem, or to gain much-needed understanding about something. The truth, it is said, will set you free. This is a gift. Like all the best swords, this one is indeed double-edged. While it is a thing of beauty, it is also powerful, and you must learn to handle it carefully. Like all aces, it represents an opportunity that can disappear as quickly as a thought.”
My Interpretation: Like with the Ace of Pentacles, this Ace is about the very heart of its suit; namely, in this case, decisiveness and clarity. This deck will help me cut through confusion and hesitation, see to the heart of the matter, and act logically and decisively.
5) What is the Best Way to Work With You: The Five of Swords
Guidebook Excerpt: “If you find the Five of Swords in your reading, take a careful look at the situation. Watch for manipulation, trickery, and bullying. It is possible that someone is not playing fair. Perhaps you are the one who seems to be winning. This card advises you to look beyond the immediate success. Consider repercussions in the future. Your victory may cost more than it is worth.”
My Interpretation: This was a bit of a tricky card to read in this position, since the Five of Swords is traditionally a card about conflict, overconfidence, and prioritizing victory above the feelings and well-being of others. This could simply mean that I need to consider all possible meanings of readings carefully, especially if other people are involved in any way. (Or, if you really want to assign personalities to decks, I could take the image of the swords being handed over as the deck’s declaration that it wants to be the only deck I use, in which case it’s really no wonder that it’s so strange to work with!) But I’m pretty unsure about how to interpret this, to be honest.
6) Outcome of Our Relationship: The Five of Cups
Guidebook Excerpt: “In this image, a compassionate barmaid watches with sympathy as her customer is racked with loss. His pain is almost as hard for her to witness as it is for him to experience it. She, standing to his right, represents the future and all that it has to offer. But he is not ready for a new glass of anything. His head, his mind, his focus is all to the left, the past. Remembering the sweetness of the past makes the present, the spilled cups, all the more bitter.”
My Interpretation: If this spread is less about what our relationship could be like once it really gets started and more about the deck telling me to work with it regularly, the picture could be less about the figure’s grief and more about how he’s ignoring what he could have.
Do you have any more questions about this deck? Do you own it, or are you thinking about buying it? Do you have any recommendations for me based on this deck?
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Deanna Discusses 
