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prettyinpwn-blog · 1 year

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A Review of The Mystery Tarot (2nd Edition) + Gravity Falls Oracle Deck (Divinimation) by Quarter Press

I don’t talk about it on this blog much, but I’ve been into real life supernatural / occult stuff pretty much from birth, thanks to my coming from a family that’s delved into it for generations. Plus a few spooky personal experiences of my own, some even at a cabin deep in the woods growing up. Go figure that Gravity Falls would end up being my favorite show of all time, right?

As such, I’ve been into Tarot and Oracle decks and readings for years now. So imagine my reaction to finding out that there was not only a Gravity Falls Tarot deck, but also an Oracle deck. After some voracious nerdsweating and my purse mysteriously opening up and money floating out of it, a mere few days later these beauts showed up on my porch:

I will leave a longer review below the cut, but long story short: I’m impressed not only as a huge fan of the show, but also as a dedicated reader who owns more than twenty different decks and - already - this Tarot deck is my favorite so far. It also is the best Tarot deck I’ve ever owned in terms of cardstock quality (comparable to the Ostara Tarot, but thankfully without the unfortunate silver gilding stickiness that can lead to rips).

The Oracle deck is also a fantastic deck that shines because of its balance of light and dark options for interpretation, layered meanings, and useful system of objects+locations+characters that evoke a similar feel to Lenormand.

My fear with pop culture decks / decks based off of media is that they tend to be quickly churned cash grabs made by people with little to no understanding of Tarot or card reading. I did not find that to be the case at all with these. Each card makes perfect sense, and the meaning behind the the Tarot cards helps expand upon the Rider-Waite-Smith system with extra layers of depth for someone that understands Gravity Falls’ plot and characters.

Divinimation: Gravity Falls - Details and Review

The Divinimation: Gravity Falls Deck is an Oracle deck of 45 cards. Unlike Tarot, Oracle decks are not restricted to any one system. Most Oracle decks are the size of Tarot decks or larger, but this one is a bit smaller. Not a flaw, as I like smaller decks (ah, good old little lady baby hands of mine), but here are some other Oracle decks for comparison:

The deck is split into three types of cards: locations, objects, and characters. Locations are mindsets or information around a current situation. Objects are solutions or areas of caution. Characters are aspects of yourself or your own feelings in a situation. Here are what the cards look like:

As an example reading, say you were wondering about how your day will go, then drew Grunkle Ford (Driven, Intelligent, Geeky), Contained Rift (Passageway, Fluidity, World Changing), and The Town (More Than Meets the Eye, Full of Characters). You could read the answer as, in my interpretation: “You will be suspecting that there’s more to a situation in your life today than you can see at first glance. It’s something that will change your plans, but you will feel smart and capable enough to not only see it coming ahead of time, but will tackle it head-on with ease.” Plus, you will probably get girls to start talking to you finally.

In my TL;DR version of the review above, I also mentioned that this Oracle deck has a good balance of light and dark. Oracle decks can tend to lean too fluffy, as we call it in the card reading world, so when a deck comes forward that has a balance of both positive and negative, I’m always a happy camper. Life is made of shadows and light, right? So I like decks that reflect this.

I would also say this decks leans Lenormand-ish, both because of the size and the way you can string the cards together into a cohesive message. And like the Tarot deck, the attention to detail is wonderful (e.g the only card in the deck that has red spatters instead of blue is Bill’s Throne Room; very fitting).

So far the test readings I have done with this deck have been accurate. For example, I pulled McGucket (Misunderstood, No Memory, Sweet) when I asked a question related to a family member with memory problems, and Mabel (Boundless Imagination, Romantic, Energetic) came out when I was answering someone’s question where their romantic partner was involved. As much as I love doing readings, I’m always open minded to them being wrong or the whole art potentially being accurate on occasion by mere chance. Indulging in the supernatural is a process of experimentation and seeing what happens without expectations, after all. But the above felt a little... haunting? Delightfully haunting, though. Like Smile Dip.

Overall, this is a solid deck for people who love the show, love Oracle decks with a thoughtful system to them, or who want to get into cartomancy but might not want to invest the months to years of study it takes to learn Tarot. Also, the shipping for both of these decks was lightning fast. You can purchase this deck where I bought it here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1081940645/divinimation-the-gravity-falls-mystery

The Mystery Tarot - Details and Review

The Mystery Tarot is a Rider-Waite-Smith system based 78 card Tarot deck, with one extra surprise card of the creator, Chris. It comes in a standard sized box with a magnetic flap. Its design resembles Ford’s journals from the show.

My version is the second edition, hence why there’s a two on the spine and Gideon on the inner cover (once again, an example of fantastic attention to detail - Gideon had Journal 2 in the show):

The back of the cards are designs that evoke the portal blueprints in Ford’s journals, complete with red and black pen, and a central shape that resembles an eye (is Billy C watching our Tarot readings?). The cardstock is glossy and perfect thickness for regular everyday shuffling, which was a relief to me, as indie decks can sometimes lean fragile or easily ripped/worn.

The edges of the second edition came with a gorgeous metallic silver foil, as shown here. Note, it looks a little gold in my picture because of the orange lighting I had, but in daylight it’s a bright silver:

For comparison, the size of the deck in-box is comparable to the indie deck The Spacious Tarot, and the mass market deck Ethereal Visions Tarot:

Like the Rider-Waite-Smith system, it has four different suits: the Axes (Swords), 8-Ball Canes (Wands), Zodiacs (Pentacles), and Pitt Colas (Cups).

The Axes / Swords are the suit of the mind, air, and knowledge. For example, Ford and Dipper are perfect characters that resemble the meaning of this suit.

The 8-Ball Canes / Wands are the suit of willpower/motivations, fire, and passion. Bill Cipher is a perfect Wands suit character (also the upright triangle is the alchemical symbol for fire, cool fun fact).

The Zodiacs / Pentacles are the suit of the material world, earth, and money/work. Stan to a T; even his name means ‘a stone clearing’.

The Pitt Colas / Cups are the suit of emotions, water, and creativity/imagination. Mabel is a great character that represents the Cups suit.

As for individual cards, there are three I picked out that perfectly illustrate what I meant earlier by saying that the layers of depth in this deck are outstanding. First up, I chose the Ten of Wands:

The Ten of Wands is a card about the heavy things we carry, burdens, too much weight on your shoulders, being taken for granted, duty, etc. On the surface level, Stan is holding far too many wands physically in the image, so it makes sense when reading it superficially. But when you take into account his character - someone who was burdened with the guilt over his brother’s college rejection, and pushed Ford into the portal where he got lost for thirty years and worked that long to get him back - oof, the deeper meaning is incredible. And kinda hurts, ouch.

He also is a character that keeps secrets so that he can continue his work unimpeded, even from those he loves, and it weighs heavily on him until it comes to a crux and nearly crushes him in Not What He Seems. His brother doesn’t even thank him for saving him right away, hence the being taken for granted part. And he has had a hard life where poverty and running from the law have been a constant; it’s a miracle Stan never broke under all that pressure. Heavy is the head that wears the fez, indeed.

Speaking of pressure, here’s the Ace of Wands, another great example of detailed meaning in this deck. This Ace can be about finding a new path or passion, a new beginning, being bold or brave, a moment of great change, or a breakthrough.

It could be read as Ford’s being lost in the portal as an opportunity (accidentally) given from him to Stan as a new path to follow in life. It could be that Ford’s return from the portal is a new beginning for Ford himself, or a new beginning in their sibling relationship. It could represent Stan being bold and taking a risk in opening the portal again despite Ford’s warnings.

It could also reflect the moment Stan got all the journals (”Finally, I have them all...”) as a breakthrough. It could also literally represent Ford’s return as a pivotal turning point in the plot. All are perfect Gravity Falls versions of the meaning of the Ace of Wands.

Lastly:

The Ace of Swords is a card about realizing a truth, seeing something with clarity for the first time, or a new idea. The fact that this is the box in the woods that Dipper uses to find Journal 3 is perfect symbolism for this card.

Not only does the journal confirm his suspicions about the town being more than it seems, but it also sends him down new paths of inquiry: who is the author of this mysterious journal, and what happened to him? This is not only the inciting incident of the mystery plot of the show, but also for Dipper’s own character arc.

Like I said: the layers of depth in this deck are awesome, and I applaud the creator for it. It is very obvious that they did their homework both with Gravity Falls and with the Rider-Waite-Smith system in general to make this.

This is perfect for any fan of Gravity Falls who wants to get into Tarot, as the references can help them learn it for the first time. There are some cards that switch names (i.e The Cipher instead of The Devil), but like I said: anyone familiar with the show will understand what the changes are because the characters chosen for each card were done so with perfect understanding of their meanings. This deck is also great for experienced Tarot readers who love the show.

This is where I bought my deck, if you’re interested in purchasing your own: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1081932811/second-printing-the-mystery-tarot-a?click_key=1fb71a9069c59b6c868da3f7aba920d7362e32f7%3A1081932811&click_sum=c0758b1b&ref=shop_home_recs_1&frs=1&crt=1

#themysterytarot #divinimation #gravity falls #seriously the layers of meaning in the Tarot deck are breathtaking #and this was not a paid review it's just the nerding out potential of two of my favorite things combined was irresistable #so I wrote like an essay because why not

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