Anyone who knows me for any length of time knows that I am *obsessed* with Hocus Pocus, & have been since the moment I first saw it. So, when I saw that there was going to be a Hocus Pocus tarot deck, pre-ordering immediately was a no-brainer... I almost sprained my finger hitting that button, y'all. No shame, no regrets, 10/10 would do again. However, because I pre-ordered it, by the time it arrived I had forgotten it was coming, so it was like Christmas In July, which is always a good time. Initial impression: There were 5 layers of tape on my Amazon box, so by the time I had wrested it free of that, I was a little out of breath but elated- VICTORY!
I really liked the artwork & colors on the box. I note this because, since I am obsessed with Hocus Pocus, I've been kind of picky regarding the style decisions Disney has made for a lot of their related merch. Part of the reason I've always loved the movie is because I also love the actresses themselves, & I was really disappointed when things started coming out that looked nothing like them- the cutesy, Chibi, &/or caricature-styled depictions are really not my thing. (In my more skeptical moments, I've wondered if these styles came about in an effort to avoid likeness licensing deals with the actresses, but I haven't seen anything stating this.)
The artwork on this deck, to me, definitely looks like it pays homage to the actresses while still putting an "animated" spin on things- cartoonish, but not as distorted or garish as a caricature might be. It feels comfortingly familiar & fresh all at once, & I love that.
Digging In: The box felt childproof. I honestly don't even remember getting it open, but I think 50 years might have passed between when I started & when I succeeded. Incantations in dead languages might have been used... swear words in English definitely were, & I really think it was the combination that did it, in the end.
The Guidebook: IT. IS. ILLUSTRATED. AND. IN. COLOR. I AM IN LOVE. More of this, please.
The Card Stock: I don't know technical terms here, so you'll have to bear with me. This feels like a nice mid-weight stock- not flimsy, but not wholly unyielding, either. It's a fairly matte finish, but still 'glides' well, & I'd describe the size as "ideal standard," a happy medium between my tarot-in-a-tin decks & my gigantic Hay House editions.
The Cards: I was again struck by the artwork, & delighted by the choices for the Major Arcana- there are a couple that surprised me, that I wouldn't have thought of for the positions they have ended up occupying, but overall, they still feel like they fit when it's all said & done. I also appreciated that the cards that are often seen as alarming- Death, & the Devil, to be specific- have been retooled in a softer, but still accurate, way.
Then I got to the Minor Arcana, where it seems the tarot train kind of...derailed...a little bit.
Or. You know. A lot.
I have to stop here & say, I mean no disrespect to Minerva Siegel & Tori Schafer.
First of all, Minerva has written several materials re: tarot, including several tarot decks, a few of which I own. I have written 0, aside from my personal musings, so critiquing the deck at all feels very similar to being a backseat driver or a Monday morning quarterback.
I'm not familiar with Tori Schafer, but again, Tori is out here Doing The Things, so absolutely no disrespect is intended.
Having said that, though, I do have questions.
The first, most glaring one is:
Why do Candles=Cups, aka WATER in this deck?
The second is:
HOW do Potions=Wands, aka FIRE in this deck?!
I got a little bit of an eye twitch trying to reconcile this in my brain. I could have made it work with Potions-as-Wands, element of Fire, because one has to brew potions- just add fire, & the "toil & trouble" bits aren't far behind.
But I couldn't make Candles-as-Water click. For me, it just doesn't work, because they're such oppositional forces.
Mind you, I'm not fully against swaps like this- I've known several people who switch Swords & Wands around, so Swords= Fire & Wands= Air, or so Fire= East & Air= South in altar setups, etc. I'm not judging, what works is what works. This one just doesn't work for me, so, I'd really like to just understand the thought process behind that shift.
(Maybe there isn't one. Maybe Minerva & Tori are just some kinds of purveyors of chaos who wanted to see what happened. Maybe they're just people who felt like mixing things up, with "Because I said so" as the mantra of the day. Either way, that's the power one can wield as an author. Phenomenal, isn't it?!)
The other note that I have is just the artwork on the pips, the numbered cards of the suits. There's not really anything in the artwork that gives any indication of the dynamics or actual meaning behind the cards- at least, not that I've found in my initial perusing; sometimes those things do jump out with more use.
As it is, though, I think these two aspects of the Minor Arcana would make it a difficult deck to just pick up & read as easily as one might a more traditional deck, because it turns some key things on its ear for more experienced readers, & doesn't offer as much context for newer readers.
However, the artwork itself is equally as charming on the pips as the rest of the deck, 10/10 there. Overall, I am excited to read with it- though I think I may begin by using it as a Majors-only deck- & very grateful to all involved for creating something that is an absolutely enchanting blend of two of my most favorite things. * * * Get your own copy of The Hocus Pocus Tarot Deck & Guidebook here!
Comments