The Urban Tarot Deck Review

Deck – The Urban Tarot
Creator/Artist – Robin Scott
Publisher - US Games Systems Ltd
Date purchased - 2019

Introduction

Frank Sinatra sang about it and Casey Neistat vlogged about it, now Robin Scott has created a Tarot deck with New York as her muse. When I first saw this deck online, I had that: "I've got to have it" feeling. I desperately searched for places to buy it but at that time the original deck from the Kickstarter campaign had sold out. The good news was that US Games had picked it up. The bad news was that I had to wait till now to get my hands on it. Now that I have my copy of this deck, the best news is that the collaboration between the Artist and the Publishers has produced an even better product that the independent version.  That's not something I find often. So here's what's good and bad about The Urban Tarot. 

What's Good?

• The images are large and it's easy to see. They include modern day people, situations and places that evoke the card meanings without being cliched
• The cards are large, tall and thin, 3"x5.5", with only a header and footer border so you get maximum impact from the images. This is an improvement on the independent deck which apparently was fully bordered and smaller
• The deck is diverse and represents different race, culture, sex, sexual orientation, size and age 
• The guidebook is well-written and includes information about the meaning and inspiration behind the card. Models are named and recognised for their contribution. There is no reproduction of the images, keeping the book to a neat 82 pages that fits inside the box. A really cute thing they've done is to have the Hanged Man information upside down, so you have to literally look at it from a  different angle! 
• Card stock is good, thick with a matt finish and packaging is a sturdy two piece box. The image on the box is the same as the card backs and looks like a combination of the deck title mixed in with a metro map. The card backs are reversible. Production is excellent for the price

What's Bad? 

• This is a Thoth based deck and as I primarily use RWS I find the keywords on each card distracting. The courts are Princess, Prince, Queen and Knight and that confused me to start with. Then I decided to try to put my RWS training to one side and just use my intuition to read the cards but the allocation of roles to each court confounded me further. I feel the job titles kind of stereotype the courts. You might find that having the Knight of Wands (that would be the King in any other deck) also called the Rock Star sparks your intuition. I'm not quite there yet 
• The images are large and easy to see but they are dark. I don't mean dark and mysterious, I mean someone should have switched a light on. When you lay the whole deck out it merges into a big dark mash. Between that and the size of the cards, its best to stick with smaller spreads 
• The cards are difficult to shuffle due to their size and shape. They're just that little bit too tall 

Favourite/Stand Out Cards

The Queen of Cups. There is no doubting this card as the symbolism is clear. I love that they are sitting in a pool of fish within the therapists office, steeped in emotion. XVI Art is a striking depiction of balance and harmony between the traditional RWS Temperance image, modern day street art and fine art materials. 

XX The Aeon shows a modern person reflected in a wall celebrating immigration. Their reflection is of someone dressed in clothes of the period so, to me, this card is about where you've come from more than about where you are going to.  The Ace of Wands uses the tourist icon of the Statue of Liberty flame. Where this could easily have been brash and obvious, Robin has created an interesting image with colour layering.

The 9 of Cups is traditionally the wish card, here it shows a wish for happiness in a family or community setting. I really liked the colours in this card. It took me a little while to work out the 10 of Discs. Its a very clever angle showing a jewellers shop window  with all the sparkle, wealth and success associated with this card.

The Princess of Cups looks like she is dancing around her costume design studio, loving her work and dreaming of what might be. She is bringing a message to the wearer of the costume and viewers of the performance. In contrast, the 3 of Swords shows the sorrow, misery and heartbreak with the bath almost empty but for the ribbons of blood. The blade perched on the edge gives it a sinister tone but reminds us of the potential harshness of life. 

Summary

This is the best deck for…anyone who wants a diverse and modern deck. Having used this deck, the problem I've found is that although the production is good, it seems to contradict the images. I feel that with these images the deck could be used anywhere, indoors or outdoors, so it should be transportable. However, the size of the cards restrict where they can be used. I like to be able to see images clearly so would usually prefer larger cards but in this case, if they were just a little bit smaller and a little bit brighter, it would make this deck much easier to recommend.

Where to Buy?

This deck can be picked up from Amazon for a very reasonable price www.amazon.co.uk/Urban-Tarot-Robin-Scott/dp/1572819707/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=urban+tarot&qid=1564386278&s=gateway&sr=8-1