Sun and Moon Tarot Deck Review

​Deck: Sun and Moon Tarot
Artist/Creator: Vanessa Decort
Publisher: U.S. Games Ltd
Where to buy? Amazon 

Apologies, it's been a while since I uploaded a review. I've had a spot of RSI which has slowed me down. Interestingly, it has emphasised for me the importance of card stock in this tarot game. I've always tended to find myself reaching for decks that are easier to shuffle and sadly not picking up the ones that are more challenging on the hands more often, even when they're a delight to the eye. Now I know that when I'm carrying an injury, it relegates thick, rigid or excessively slippery card stock to the shelf with no exception. Larger size decks also put extra strain on the hands and forearms so they've also been put to one side for the time being. 

Where does this leave the Sun and Moon Tarot? Well this deck is made by U.S. Games and in a totally unscientific comparison test with the Universal Waite full size, I can confirm this deck is a whole three cards thinner. Hence forth I believe each card to be of slightly thinner card stock and it is, even for the less able handed, a delight to riffle, bridge and overhand. It also fits easily into your handbag or backpack if you want to take it with you on your travels due to the dinky little tin it comes in. So all that out of the way, what on earth am I doing reviewing a deck that was released back in 2017? 

Well, I did have the full size of this deck and trimmed the white borders to leave a good size image (with the inevitable uneven edges that come from trimming a deck yourself). More about the size matters thing in a moment. The real selling point for this deck is that it combines the Thoth and RWS influences. The majority of the images are RWS-influenced  but the deck has Thoth keywords, lettering and titles. It's a great bridging deck if you want to move between the two traditions.  

Now back to the size thing, they're 5.6 x 9.7 cm, a fraction taller than the Morgan-Greer in a tin if you want to compare. The black borders work really well, in my opinion, to frame the art without creating barriers between each card in a spread as the full size with white borders did. The images are clutter free and easy to read even in this reduced size. Unfortunately, as this is an older deck, the publishers still put their trade mark on each and every card face. However, a quick swipe with a black sharpie and that was easily taken care of. 

There's no dreaded colour coding but there is a distinct colour palette to each suit, as you can see in the images, if that's something you like. It can be a huge benefit, in larger spreads especially, but it also makes for a very cohesive deck with all the cards working together nicely. There's lots of cute images, I especially like this version of the three of swords. 

One thing to note is that the people in the cards have no facial features. I find their poses and interactions with each other and the environments they're in mean they're very relatable though so the lack of eye contact didn't matter so much. I edged my deck in black to personalise it and one further thing to mention, you get the obligatory little white book inside the tin box and this is an excellent version. It's 63 pages filled with helpful info including a brief note of what you can see in each card. So this deck might be a great bridging deck between systems but it could also be a fabulous deck for a first time reader. It seems some things age better than others........