Happy Tarot Deck Review

Deck – Happy Tarot
Creator/Artist - Serena Ficca 
Publisher - Lo Scarabeo
​Purchased - 2018

Introduction

There is a little sweet shop on my town high street with a stripy canopy above the door and rows upon rows of jars filled with the most delicious sweets. I imagine if you made your way to the back of the shop you'd find a portal to enter the world of the Happy Tarot. On first look, this deck seems to be filled with children and sweets but when you look a little closer, they're not all children. They are a race of little people, adults, children and their pets who inhabit a delicious, cake-filled world. The darker side of life is still there though as the Happy Tarot follows the RWS system quite closely and doesn't ignore the 'sad' or 'scary' cards.
I'm not sure how well these images would go down if you were to attach a photo of a spread to an online reading or turn up at you local new age store to read with them. But I do think the Happy Tarot speaks to the side of many people that love the possibility of another existence, those who remember the excitement of reading about stepping through the wardrobe into Narnia or who desparately wished for a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Here's our review of the Happy Tarot. 

What's Good?

• The images are delightful and cute and it's easy to see the RWS influence throughout the deck. That makes it very easy to read with straight away
• The cards are borderless with just a footer with the card number and symbol for the minor suits so they maximise the view of the images
• The deck is unique, although there may be other 'cute' decks on the market, this one will definitely service the sugar-lovers needs
• The cards are standard size and although they are filled with detail it's very easy to see 
• The card stock is thin but okay for a mass market deck, they're easy to shuffle with reversible backs

What's Bad?

• If you take the business of Tarot very seriously or are fond of the spooky and the scary, this deck is not for you
• The packaging is a tuck box and the overall quality is from a time before mass market producers started to up their game in response to the indie deck challenge
• The Lovers card and the Star card have caused some controversy for putting little fig leaves or hearts over private parts.  But you have to remember that the race of little people are of all ages, they're not children being depicted in these images, they're adults
• The images are not diverse. You could say that this is what this race of imaginary little people are like and no-one could argue, well, because they're imaginary
  

Favourite/Stand Out Cards

The serene expression on the High Priestess' face is surprisingly calm for this sugar-charged world. The 10 of Wands follows the traditional image of carrying a heavy load that prevents you from seeing what's ahead. But when the load you are carrying are lollies and swizzle sticks, can things be that bad? 

Who wouldn't want a Knight in shining armour to ride in on his seahorse on a spring? The sun's rays are shown in a number of cards, here in Temperance they illuminate the Angel pouring from one chocolate cup to the other. 

The 'scary' cards are just not scary when they're part of the Happy Tarot. I can't help but wonder if the chocolate tower is bubbling from the heat of the fire or if it's made from a certain type of bar with bubbles inside? A good way of reminding us that chaos and destruction can reveal what constructs are really made of. 

The sadness is clear in some of the cards. Tears for the 5 of Cups and two little cats watching the 2 of Swords waiting for her to take off that blindfold and drop her swords so they can jump on her lap for a cuddle. 

Summary

This is the best deck for…getting in touch with your inner child. But can you do a serious reading with this deck? Having used the deck, as it follows the RWS system I found it easy to read with but those images are in no way serious. However, its a bit like the Fool being able to tell the King the truth when no-one else would risk it. The Happy Tarot can still give direct and clear messages, just with a few lollies and a marshmallow cloud or two to cushion the blow. 

Where to Buy?

You can buy this from Amazon at a very reasonable price www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=happy+tarot&ref=nb_sb_noss_1