The first issue of my new newsletter TarotSense is now up. This took a lot longer than I thought it would and I’m pretty proud of it, so check it out! Here is a direct link to the file!

Last night I had a dream that my son was a teenager – like, seventeen or eighteen maybe. He looked a lot like Ben Barnes or that kid who’s playing Gambit in that new Wolverine movie. See, even in my dreams my kid is totally gorgeous! I was very proud of him. He was confident and poised.

Anyway, we were standing in line to look at tables at a craft fair/flea market type place. At one point, I overheard someone say “That’s his mother! She looks so young!” See, even in my dreams my vanity knows no bounds.

We were looking at items at a cool new age table and I was picking out jewelry and pouches and perfumes and oils, etc. Sullivan was also picking up things and then he paid and I paid for our stuff and we convened on a bench nearby.

Well friends, this is where the dream gets crazy. He was showing me this tarot deck he picked up — and it was a Hello Tarot! See, I’m mildly obsessed with Hello Kitty, and some of you may know that there was an underground, unauthorized tarot deck published featuring Hello Kitty. These decks sell now for hundreds of dollars though, and the most I’ve ever paid for a deck is $55 (that Touchstone Tarot — and man, was it a splurge!). So basically there’s no way I’ll ever get my hands on one of those Hello Tarots. But the deck that Sullivan had in my dreams was full color and boxed with a companion book. It was beautiful! Hello Kitty in all her glory! Even better was the price sticker on the imaginary deck in my dream — $18! Score! See, even in my dreams I am very thrifty!

So I ran back to the booth to try and obtain a copy for myself — and that’s when I woke up. Drat.

I honestly can’t figure out, with all the other kind of weird stuff that Sanrio licenses, why they won’t put out an actual tarot deck. Argh. Just to vex  me every time I see one of those damn unauthorized decks on eBay. I want one so bad, alas, alas… only in my dreams.

The Golden Tarot by Kat Black is another collage deck — this one published by US Games. The deck is RWS-style, suitable for beginning and advanced readers alike. I love this deck because it’s so lush. The colors are rich and warm — like the Touchstone Tarot I blogged about earlier. This deck also features full-gilt edges. The box and book that the set comes with are very sturdy and lovely, though I store my deck in a bag.

I’ve found the cardstock on this one to be a bit thicker than most of my other decks and it did require a “breaking in” period where I would shuffle them nonstop for a few minutes to get them warmed up. Now that they’re nice and broken in, I don’t find I have a problem with the cards sticking together. This deck is also slightly bigger than RWS cards — and longer than the Touchstone Tarot (which is my ideal size for my small hands). Overall though, this is a deck that I could pretty much recommend to anyone. It’s so beautiful and readable.

This deck is available through Amazon or Tarotgarden.com — or you could probably find it at any of the big bookstores (Borders or B&N).