Tattoo Tarot: Ink & Intuition

This is one of the most beautiful tarot decks I’ve ever owned. The images are handsome and the tattoo artwork is superb. The deck is sturdy and quite thick, but you get used to them the more you practice with them.

I'll admit I pre-ordered these in part because the price was so low (around $12). I also wanted another "edgier" deck option for querants to choose from and had recently purchased the 8 Coins Tattoo tarot, which many adore, but to me seemed less "tattoo parlour" and more "16 year old girl's random sketchbook with cutesy doodles and 12 or soEd Hardy throwback tributes." I am no tattoo afficianado but "Ink & Intuition" hit that nail square on the head that "8 Coins" only dinged. Among the Majors The Fool, The Magician, a fantastic lovers, The chariot (which actually has an element of speed and movement - a welcome change from the sense og static immobility many artists bafflingly attribute), Death and a tattoo covered Star. The devil is a near generic copy of the Marsielles original and feels like a missed opportunity. This is the only real "bad card" of the deck. The Court is the stabdiut here with a bit of edge that gives this very classic feeling dack a bit of modern sass. The Queen of Swords is a badass, arms raised holding her sword ready to attack at a moment's notice while the Queen of Cups is complete glam while showing off her back and arm tattoos. The King of Cups rocks a high face haircut to show off his skull tat and looks like Adam Levine's long lost twin brother. The Knave of Wands scowls while both the Knave of Cups and of Pentacles blur refreshingly blurring genderlines in their apoearance. Having a court that has a bit of personality and flair tha at extends beyond the Queen of Wands makes all the difference in a deck. This is a Marsielles deck with means the minors are "pips" and are depictions of the object of the suit and with the numeric equivalent of that object presented. The minors are not fully illustrated. For example the 6 of Wands does not depict a man on horseback in a victory parade being cheered on by the crowd, but rather just 6 wands arraanged in a visually aesthetic patteen. Look closely, though, and you'll see a green leaf victory laurel behind the wands symbolizing the aspects of recognition, appreciation and victory associated with this card. There are symbolic subtleties to the card interpretations on the minors much in the same vein as to what the Pagan Otherworlds deck did with its minors albeit not quite as clever. The card back is a fully reversible red line design on a white background that echoes your standard playing cards. The card stock is thick and of quality so hopefully the usual handwringing that accompanies the release of any mass market deck will not be be necessary by those to who this is a primary concern. The box the deck comes in makes doubles as a nicer quality 2 piece storage box which goild foil accents decorating the top and sides of the box and a built in recess with a lifting Ravenna allowing the cards to stay secured when not in use and be easily removed from the box by lifting the ribbon. I do hope that somebody over at Llewellyn publishing is gifted a copy of this deck so they can see the proper way to make a product box that doubles as a storage box as they never make their recesses deep enough to hold the entire deck making their boxes all but useless. Llewellyn may want to take note of the cardstock too just in case if they have forgotten would actual quality card stock looks like. There is a full color leaflet in lieu of a LWB that offers a instructions for use, a few basic spreads, brief explanations for both the Major and Minor arcana but strangely does not address each court as an individual but each rank as a whole while not addressing the suit. This omission of the court explanation and that the minors are essentially pips, despite their visual cues, as they still would benefit from some memorization and/or familiarity, make this a deck just slightly out of reach for beginners. This would make a wonderful second or third deck. And for those RWS enthusiasts who immediately turn their nose up and eschew any deck that uses pips, may I remind you your beloved The Wild Unknown is pretty much a pip deck. This is a fantastic deck that will make an interesting addition to any tarot collection.

I remember seeing these on Amazon months ago and was so excited to order them, but had a while to wait until they were released. Fast forward to recently, I entirely forgot about them, saw them on my recommended products and immediately ordered. Needless to say, I am SO glad I did! They are BEAUTIFUL, as are all drawings by MEGAMUNDEN (we have all their coloring books at our tattoo shop & we love all their illustrations - especially their attention to detail & holding true to tattoo art). ANYHOW, as a person very into tarot cards, I was thrilled to see these when they first were shown on Amazon when looking to see if MEGAMUNDEN had released any other illustration books. Seriously, if you’re debating buying them, this is your sign to commit and purchase. I can’t say enough good things. The illustrations are absolutely beautiful, each card has the traditional elements of that card, but with a tattoo art twist - and even better, they came in this beautiful box with a wonderfully written book explaining all the meanings of the cards, definitely a useful and well executed addition for any newbies to tarot looking to use these to practice. 10/10 sooo happy & absolutely recommend! Thank you so much for yet another amazing art product MEGAMUNDEN!

The Tattoo tarot deck is very beautiful. The cards are well drawn. To compare, I choose the 9 of Swords from the Rider-Waite deck (on left), Tattoo tarot (center) and Morgan-Greer (on right). For beginners of tarot, I suggest you start with a standard deck. As you can see, the image of the 9 of Swords on both the Rider-Waite and Morgan-Greer deck is quite powerful and different vs the Tattoo tarot deck. Unless you are familar with the original designs of tarot, you won’t be able to read tarot correctly. The Tattoo tarot deck is designed differently. The tattoo tarot deck is beautiful. Buy a deck for yourself if you are an experienced tarot card reader. And to beginners, but this deck and a standard deck too.

I love this deck and have truly connected with it. Whether reading for myself or another person, it gives me super accurate readings every time, which come to me quickly and intuitively. I wasn’t expecting this deck to be so immediately readable to me, but it is indeed. It has a kind of sassy personality and is a no-nonsense/no-BS deck, which I appreciate. It is one of the main decks in my rotation, and it loves to be worked with. I agree with the other reviewers who say that this deck would be difficult to read with if you don’t already have a fluency in the tarot, as it’s a pip deck and the symbolism is barebones. A pip deck means that the minor arcana are all simply illustrations of the number of items in that suit: so the seven of cups will just have seven cups on it, the nine of wands will just show nine wands, etc. This shouldn’t be your first tarot deck but would be fantastic for, say, your third or fourth. If you can already read pips, you’ll be fine. The cardstock is quite thick (by far my thickest deck), and the finish is matte, with a little less “slip” and more grip than some of my other decks. The cards are also slightly larger than the average tarot, making this deck one that takes up quite a bit of space, both in readings and when put away. I sometimes find shuffling with this deck challenging because of its size, but — silver lining? — this does make it easier for Spirit to eject cards out of the deck while I’m shuffling, which is my favorite way to “pull” cards. ;) The box it comes in is really nice quality and excellent for storage. If this deck calls to you, definitely get it. Super accurate and easy to read with — really a fantastic deck.

I want to love these, but I just really really like them instead. They’re on the shelf in the collection & I don’t take them out often. The artwork is very good: bright, unique, and tattoo-ish. Some of the cards are just a little bit cheesy and I think that kind of ruins the vibe of some spreads. The card stock is sturdy, with just a little flexibility. The cards themselves are on the larger size and challenging to shuffle for small hands. Long side, or “portrait mode”, shuffling is the only way I can do it. Its important to note that this closer to TdM tradition than RWS.

SO! Lemme start with saying I was very disappointed when I got this deck because I received a return so the box was broken and the cards were out of order, which left a bad taste in my mouth and I wound up being salty using it for a few weeks before learning to really appreciate it for what it is. Amazon was great working with me this is now one of my favorite decks to us, I use it even more than my Eight Coins Tattoo Tarot, which shocked me! The card stock is thick - and matte - which feels great to shuffle and gives you a lot more control over the cards than the more slippery decks from Lo Scarabeo Publishing (which I also love for other reasons, but I digress...). The guidebook does not go through reversals; however the cards are great for those who understand how to use them as they're super intuitively drawn. Each of the suits is done very similarly to one another (one sword, two sword, three, four, etc...) but then there are little nuanced details with them all tattooed in there that make it a GREAT deck for the intuit to interpret from. The publishers also have an amazing way of detailing the guidebook to help intuits start to form their own judgments from the cards! If you're interested in more info on this deck, I made a review on the YouTube showing the box, guidebook and each card one-by-one you can find my looking for Tattoo Tarot Reviews there! The link back to Amazon is under the video to help you purchase once you fall as in love with it as I did :)

This deck is exactly what I was expecting and some. The "some" being, in part, the hotties pictured. Yasss, please. The art is spectacular. Comes in a nice box with a guide pamphlet inside. Pros: 1. Attractive traditional playing card and tattoo inspired deck. 2. Nice thickness of cards. 3. I'd say the cards are somewhat self-explanatory comparatively to other decks I have seen. 4. The guide included is straightforward and lacks fluff leaving more to the individual to conclude by their own intuition. Some decks, I think, set too many criteria for their deck. Cons: 1. I have yet to see this in a deck so it would be most elite and unique. I would love it if the gold foliage and shine on the box would carry into the cards. Maybe this could be a special edition. 2. The framework of the inside of the box (the red part that holds the cards) is the standard paper stock used in most packaging (nothing special). Maybe the "special edition" could have a red velvet inside much like jewelry boxes. I think this would be nice since people are likely to keep them in the box when not in use. 3. Not to give too much focus to the packaging but... it would also be nice to have some type of attached ribbon to easily pull the cards out of the holder. Another deck I have has this and it's super helpful.