Tarot Deck Review: The Vindur Deck
WHERE PURCHASED: I backed this deck on Kickstarter in early 2019
CONTRIBUTER(S): Leah Pantéa, creator and artist
PUBLISHED BY: Self-published
AVAILABILITY: At thevindurdeck.com with a preorder button; at illustrationxleah.com with a buy button
ABOUT THE DECK: Ms. Pantéa took the Icelandic word for "wind", vindur, and applied it to her conception of what this tarot deck should be. The Fool of the Major Arcana is a gender-neutral individual who encounters various teachers who give them different lessons on their way through the rest of the Major Arcana, a journey that is told as a tale one card at a time. All of this is mirrored in the Minor Arcana, where each Element makes a journey through each card, with notes on how the cards are defined.
GUIDEBOOK: The guide booklet isn't as large as I was expecting it to be, given the image provided on the Kickstarter page, but it is a bit larger and sturdier than standard booklets. Ms. Pantéa writes a little introduction to the cards, and provides some other basic information, including a few spreads, before moving quickly into the sections abut the cards themselves.
CARDSTOCK: Individually, the cards are quite flexible, though sturdy. So sturdy, in fact, that manipulating them as I need to for shuffling in my standard manner is nearly impossible, and leaves every finger I use feeling raw and burned, even if I'm not fanning cards with them. The reading I did with these cards back in December very nearly tore skin off my fingers because the cards are so stiff when stacked together, and flexing them as a deck hurt my left arm and elbow without my ability to bend the cards very far.
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS DECK: I love the artwork. Ms. Pantéa did an excellent job with her watercolors. The style is spare, but not too Spartan, and attractive, using a basis of black, green, yellow, blue, and pink/red paints. Where she's able, she includes detail, but even the cards without a lot of detail don't fall short of my expectations for artistry. The Major Arcana are depicted in all the colors listed, but the Minor Arcana are restricted to monochrome paints: Varying shades of green for Pentacles, red/pink for wands, yellow for swords, and blue for cups, with the addition of a little black for contrast on some cards. One of the best features of this deck is I think the symbol on the back, which the casual observer won't be able to use to determine which end of the cards is upright.
WHAT I DISLIKED ABOUT THIS DECK: How hard the bloody deck is to shuffle! I've got smaller than average hands, and shuffling this deck in my usual manner almost ruins my skin, and causes discomfort and pain. I can't even edge these cards into each other, because the stock is just thick enough to cause them to block against each other.
CLOSING REMARKS: For the most part, I love this deck. Aside from the fact that I have such difficulty shuffling it, I find it beautiful and fun to read. The simplicity of the artwork makes the deck attractive, and I love the clarity of the images. If other minimalist color-artwork decks are this good, I'll be happy to see them. The simplicity was very refreshing. Also, I quite enjoyed the stories of the Fool and the Elements making their journeys through their respective suits; it brought a new perspective on tarot that I hadn't considered before.
CONTRIBUTER(S): Leah Pantéa, creator and artistPUBLISHED BY: Self-published
AVAILABILITY: At thevindurdeck.com with a preorder button; at illustrationxleah.com with a buy button
ABOUT THE DECK: Ms. Pantéa took the Icelandic word for "wind", vindur, and applied it to her conception of what this tarot deck should be. The Fool of the Major Arcana is a gender-neutral individual who encounters various teachers who give them different lessons on their way through the rest of the Major Arcana, a journey that is told as a tale one card at a time. All of this is mirrored in the Minor Arcana, where each Element makes a journey through each card, with notes on how the cards are defined.
GUIDEBOOK: The guide booklet isn't as large as I was expecting it to be, given the image provided on the Kickstarter page, but it is a bit larger and sturdier than standard booklets. Ms. Pantéa writes a little introduction to the cards, and provides some other basic information, including a few spreads, before moving quickly into the sections abut the cards themselves.
CARDSTOCK: Individually, the cards are quite flexible, though sturdy. So sturdy, in fact, that manipulating them as I need to for shuffling in my standard manner is nearly impossible, and leaves every finger I use feeling raw and burned, even if I'm not fanning cards with them. The reading I did with these cards back in December very nearly tore skin off my fingers because the cards are so stiff when stacked together, and flexing them as a deck hurt my left arm and elbow without my ability to bend the cards very far.WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS DECK: I love the artwork. Ms. Pantéa did an excellent job with her watercolors. The style is spare, but not too Spartan, and attractive, using a basis of black, green, yellow, blue, and pink/red paints. Where she's able, she includes detail, but even the cards without a lot of detail don't fall short of my expectations for artistry. The Major Arcana are depicted in all the colors listed, but the Minor Arcana are restricted to monochrome paints: Varying shades of green for Pentacles, red/pink for wands, yellow for swords, and blue for cups, with the addition of a little black for contrast on some cards. One of the best features of this deck is I think the symbol on the back, which the casual observer won't be able to use to determine which end of the cards is upright.
WHAT I DISLIKED ABOUT THIS DECK: How hard the bloody deck is to shuffle! I've got smaller than average hands, and shuffling this deck in my usual manner almost ruins my skin, and causes discomfort and pain. I can't even edge these cards into each other, because the stock is just thick enough to cause them to block against each other.
CLOSING REMARKS: For the most part, I love this deck. Aside from the fact that I have such difficulty shuffling it, I find it beautiful and fun to read. The simplicity of the artwork makes the deck attractive, and I love the clarity of the images. If other minimalist color-artwork decks are this good, I'll be happy to see them. The simplicity was very refreshing. Also, I quite enjoyed the stories of the Fool and the Elements making their journeys through their respective suits; it brought a new perspective on tarot that I hadn't considered before.
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