Eight Coins Tattoo Tarot Deck Review

Deck – Eight Coins Tattoo Tarot
Creator & Artist– Lana Zellner
Publisher - U.S. Games Systems, Inc
Date purchased - 2018
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Introduction

Picking up on one of the themes from last week's deck review and bearing in mind we are still in festival season, I thought it was a good time to review the Eight Coins Tattoo Tarot. If you're looking to have your love of Tarot inked onto your skin, this has to be the go-to deck. It's not the only Tattoo Tarot deck on the market. There is also the Tattoo Tarot, Ink and Intuition deck by Diana McMahon-Collis but that is a pip deck. The Eight Coins Tattoo Tarot is a fully illustrated RWS-based deck with that distinct tattoo art style. It's not just a great art reference resource but also really easy to read. For me the real selling point has to be the guide book. The author tells her story about how she changed her life, I love those stories. Here's what to expect:

What's Good?

• The images are very clear and easy to see with that distinct tattoo style and with lots of colour and well-chosen symbolism
• Card stock is good. The cards are a little bigger than standard at 5"x3" and the backs are reversible. They're not edged
• The packaging is a very good quality two piece box and holds the cards and guide book. This is a step up from the old tuck boxes US Games have traditionally provided
• The guide book is great. There is a full colour picture of each card, majors and minors with a second page of meanings and explanations of the symbolism. The unique thing is that the pages are tabbed so you can easily find the suit you're looking for
• The guide book has the artists story about this project and how she changed her lifestyle from being an architect in a city to a tattoo artist in the country. It also explains that she drew the cards not in the usual order but by shuffling a deck and picking a card. That way her initial drawings wouldn't all be in the same suit. When you receive the deck, the cards are stacked in the order of the artwork, not the usual majors then minors. Each card has the drawing number in the border, should you wish to re-order them 

What's Bad?

• If you don't like tattoo art, you might not like this deck. I have to say that although I don't have any tattoos and am not particularly into this type of art work, I really like the images
• The cards have white borders. You might want to modify to help the story to flow better but the images are big enough so the borders don't result in that shrinking effect
• There's a spread layout on a fold out sheet included in the packaging. Its a good idea but as it's paper it's not really a practical option 

Favourite/Stand Out Cards

The 10 of Wands is in a slightly different style to the rest of the artwork in the deck, a dramatic depiction of burnout. I love the colouring in this card and the beautiful lattice design in the background.  The mandala on the 8 of Wands is an alternative way to show a burst of energy and movement. And very tattoo-able!  

I must apologise for my bad photographs. The cards are all fully aligned with straight borders and balanced images.
There are a few cards in the deck that use stairway symbolism. The 5 of Swords shows the domination over the two crying figures. The more tears that are produced, the deeper the black lake becomes that the 'winner' is submerged in. The 4 of Pentacles shows what happens when you cling to material goods too much as the stairway leads into a blaze. I love the detail of the gold tooth in the skull! 

All of the classic symbolism is in the Death card, the skeleton, white rose, woman submitting to Death's power. The butterfly clip in her hair indicates transformation and the sunset behind the towers show the next phase will be sunrise and points to possibilities and new beginnings. The Fool faces the innocence of the white flower at the same time as the danger of the snake. Her red feather and ruby pendant indicate her enthusiasm for starting a new journey but the blindfold says she is jumping in without due caution. There's no need for the traditional cliff-edge here. 

The 7 of Pentacles is so similar to the 6 of Pentacles in the Wild Unknown deck the-wild-unknown-tarot-deck-review.html. I feel the image is much better suited to the 7 than the 6. The 4 of Cups shows the offering of opportunity being met with tears. I love how they're dripping into one of the recognised cups with that slight wilt to the leaves indicating the offer won't be there forever.  

Summary

​This is the best deck for…...taking to your local tattoo parlour and pointing at the card you want inked on your skin. But it's more than that. It would be a great alternative deck to the Traditional RWS if you don't resonate with that art. It could very easily be a good deck for the beginner as although some of the images deviate from the traditional, the symbolism is there and the guide book gives a comprehensive  explanation. The Artist, Lana Zellner is currently working on an oracle deck so if you love this art, you might want to keep up with the progress on instagram eight.coins

Where to buy

Amazon www.amazon.co.uk/ref=nav_logo (this is not an affiliate link)

Bonus Cards

There's a lovely story about the Ace of Pentacles at the start of the guide book. The other bonus cards here are chosen for their tattooability!