The first deck I owned: The Deviant Moon Premier Edition
with hideous white borders. Picture credit: amazon
The Deviant Moon Tarot was the first deck I ever owned. I remember ordering the fancy "Premier Edition" set off amazon, which at the time included a big box that wasn't very sturdy, another smaller box with the (original, bordered) deck and LWB. Also included was a pretty flimsy sheet that has a 12 card layout drafted on it. The meanings and keywords in the LWB were sketchy at best, so as a complete novice I struggled to do this 12 card layout and quickly gave up.
Sorry for the bad quality :( 4 of Wands, 9 of Cups, 6 of Cups, Borderless Edition)
As you can see, the cards ARE aligned with RWS tradition and a lot of themes are directly cloned from the original deck. However, this deck is also somewhat busy and very unique, making it hard to tell the emotion on the card if you take them in all at once. Now that I've learned all the card meanings, the Deviant Moon is an excellent deck for me to work with. However, as a novice it was very intimidating and hard to connect to (with or without borders!).
Triomphes de la Lune, signed by Patrick Valenza. The flap held the two bonus cards.
Exclusive bonus cards for the French Text Edition were Key 20 Judgment and Key 17 Star (not shown) as well as this random playing card of which I'm not sure it was supposed to be included.
I remember that this was the beginning of my fascination with fortune telling decks. I'm not sure what exactly triggered my initial interest, but I always was fascinated by the occult and supernatural, and also by Buddhism etc. I got my first Lenormand deck around the same time, the Under the Roses Lenormand. It is a great beginners deck, although I didn't grasp the meanings quickly because I only studied with the LWB instead of getting a full size book on the subject.
My Tarot Practice really started when I got my first books on the topic. And it really grew when I got Benebell Wen's Holistic Tarot, which is the best and most relevant book on the topic.
I stand by the opinion that the Deviant Moon is a poor beginners deck. I also strongly suggest you get the borderless edition.
Bordered and borderless Edition of Deviant Moon deck. Picture credit: Patrick Valenza
As you can see, even if borders don't normally bother you, the borderless edition on the right gives off a much deeper vibe of the card image, while the frame and pale coloring in the left really detract from the experience.
Recently, Patrick Valenza of the Deviant Moon Tarot released the Trionfi della Luna Major Arcana. it was a Majors only deck with Italian text titles and with some extra bonus cards, and Patrick released it in some so-called paradoxical versions as well (with strange, inverted coloring of the antique deck, which might appeal to some but not to all. Also, they glow in black light!!).
The Majors only deck was then followed by the full-sized 90 cards deck that includes 12 extra cards (1 extra major, 10 oracle cards and 1 Title card). You can get this deck here.
The deck has Italian text, but an English booklet with meanings is scheduled to be released online at some point. Even without knowledge of Italian, the practiced Tarotist should be able to identify all the cards with ease.
Signed extra card of the original Deviant Moon deck (with borders) that came with the new Triomphes de la Lune deck (see back of the box on the right) as a free gift
On top of the box, there is this nice illustration, which reminds me of Key 8: Strength (the image happens to be one of the extra Oracle cards in the deck!!)
On the side of the box, there is a brief explanation of the deck (in English even though this is the French text Edition ... so weird but ok)
Two examples for the Oracle cards in the deck (there are ten of them and they are numbered but without titles). As you can see, I made them borderless. The lower card is left with a border for this image for reference)
The deck is limited to 500 copies and while there might be an English edition at some point, nothing is clear yet so you might want to check out this deck for yourself before it sells out.
The Pips are all like this! No RWS symbols on the Pips! Borders are already removed ~
As you can see, the deck is Marseille both in (art) style and in meaning. That is, the meanings of the cards, while they can be read in the RWS tradition, are very obviously Marseille. There are unfortunately not many books in English concerned with the Marseille meanings and use, rather than RWS or Thoth.
Some Court cards
While Pip Cards in Marseille decks aren't anything to be excited about, Patrick Valenza's rendition of them is very nice. The Courts, on the other hand, are full of personality and humor. They are a delight to look at and play with. I adore these cards.
My favorite Majors: The World, Judgment and the High Priestess (called Popess in this deck)
The Majors themselves, which had been released before in the Majors Only edition, are absolutely groundbreaking (in my opinion anyway). The World, who is a blue, fat lady with so much energy you can hear her breathe down your neck while looking at her, is my absolute favorite. I love that she is blue to represent our blue planet <3
The Judgment card that you see in my picture is a special extra card ONLY included in the French text Edition. I absolutely recommend getting the French version instead of the Italian one because you get 2 extra majors instead of just one.
I haven't worked with this deck more than once or twice yet, because I try to focus on RWS right now. But I'll keep you posted once I've done a particularly memorable spread!
Blessings and balance ~
Peachess
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