The deck is printed by Artful Dragon Press and had the distinction of being used in an episode of CBS' Hawaii Five-O, Season Three, Episode 304 - "Popilikia" which aired Monday, October 15, 2012.
Well, as you know, I tend to do my tarot readings, education, practice if you will during what I call swamp days.
Today is a swamp day.
Today I'm going to wade into my tarot practice via HazelMoon's Hawaiian Tarot.
My first remark on the deck as I remove it from the box is that it is well printed, on good solid card stock. It is very shiny finished, so it suggests that the deck will shuffle well, not stick and hopefully hold up longer.
They're far rather wider than one expects from this type of deck. It sort of feels like a short, Thoth. or a Fat RWS.
The cards themselves are interesting and my first thought is that borderectomies exist for good reason.
The borders of these cards have a very cool hieroglyph contained within. Some readers will learn the meanings of these hieroglyphs and incorporate them within their readings, others will utterly ignore them. Trimmers will have these very obtrusive borders removed within the week.
The cards themselves are absolutely beautiful examples of Hawaiian folk art that is stunning. Of course, it must be said that I'm a huge fan of native art works, so I'm partial to this sort of thing.
So, I like the cards, they're really cool and they're beautiful folk paintings. BUT, the question is...
Can they read well enough to be someone's go-to oracle?
And today, I need to answer that question. (The following was posted to my Facebook Page, so don't answer looking for a reading, they've already been done!).
I need your help.
If you would like to be a guinea pig for this deck, I am now offering three quick five card readings.
And I give no guarantee of the validity of the readings until after I can actually read them or not...
So... If you wish to be one of these three... Speak now or don't.
ONLY the first three will get a reading. So don't even bother posting after that. (I'll be in a swamp all afternoon.)
So, there was as usual a mad scramble to be on of those chosen for the readings, and for those of you learning tarot, here they are...
XX Judgement, V The Hierophant, IX Nine of Lava Stones.
The Voice is calling to you, are you listening, Chris? Stop thinking about things and doing nothing. Grab the bull by the horns, there is a light at the end of the tunnel... Just go into it. Behind your greatest fear is your greatest treasure.
Boy of Swords, Three of Swords, Five of Swords
The boy is happy. He's just come in from a great day of surfing. The waves have died and now its time to go home and relax. But heartache and gossip are going to affect him. He is about to be embroiled in lots of chaos.
Four of lava stones, three of lava stones, two of swords.
The tide has changed and the situation is deteriorating. The longer you allow it to continue without going with the change, the worse it will get. The time has come for you to make the sensible choice to accept the truth and move forward finally.
In private conversations with each of the sitters, I discovered that the cards spoke very much to them and that the cards were very useful at allowing me to read my intuition into their situation. Which is the point of every good oracle.
The Hazelmoon's Hawaiian Tarot will not become my goto Tarot deck, but if someone chooses it from my decks for their reading, they will be most happy with the outcome.
Oh, and did I tell you how much I love the paintings??!!
If you are interested in getting your own copy of the Hazelmoon, you can get them from the About us link on Katalin's website or from my favourite cardsellers at Tarot Garden. Tell 'em I sent you.
