Anne Stokes Gothic Tarot Deck

Mystical realms and their inhabitants have mesmerized us for centuries. We are captivated, enchanted, and beguiled by mythical, folklore, and elemental creatures. To some, they are fantasy creatures that live in a make-believe world, to others they are high vibrational beings that reside in the 5th and higher dimensions. Ancient fables and legends from many different cultures retell harrowing and heartwarming stories about Dragons, Fairies, Mermaids, Elves, Wizards, Unicorns, Griffins, and other mythical creatures. Each tale offers a moral, a lesson, and some truths that may challenge our belief system. We will never tire of these beings and we keep their longevity alive through books, movies, paintings, and even tarot decks.

Anne Stokes is a world-renown fantasy artist who illustrates a broad range of subjects from dragons to fairies to angelic beings to gothic designs. Her gothic collection embraces all that is dark — vampires, werewolves, skulls, and many infernal denizens of hell like the Grim Reaper, but it’s also punctuated with a Lord of the Rings vibe featuring images of dragons, elves and fairies, and other elemental beings.

Gothic Tarot Deck

Anne Stokes Gothic Deck comes in a beautifully illustrated deck box, like a typical deck of playing cards. Inside you’ll find the traditional 78 tarot cards and a booklet that offers instructions in five languages, English, German, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Plus there is a small space at the end of the booklet for personal notes. The deck itself is small compared to standard decks, measuring slightly less than 2.5 X 4.5 inches. Great if you have small hands or need a smaller deck for traveling.

The cards have a nice soft gloss to them and decent cardstock thickness. The back of the cards features what looks like an iron gate or door with a dragon symbol in the center. All the cards are numbered and are named in four languages – English, Spanish, French, and German, making them universally friendly. The illustrations on the cards are stunning with unique images representing the different suits. The Cups have a gothic cup in the center with bats representing the number on the card… so the Two of Cups will have two bats on the card and so on to the ten of cups. But the Knave, Knight, Queen and King have different images with a few featured bats — although I could not find a bat on the King of Cups… other than the framework around the image. Pentacles are represented by skulls, Swords are represented by feathers, and the Wands suit is represented by dragons.

I really like the Gothic Deck; it’s different from all the other decks I have. It’s the smallest and cutest and I’m delighted to have it as part of my deck collection. As with any deck, there is nothing negative … you are simply tapping into your energy. Tarot cards do not predict the future, but instead, offer guidance in all areas of your life. It’s all about your intentions. Tarot is simply a tool that we can use to tap into our innate wisdom and subconscious mind for answers.

Disclaimer: I received complimentary products to facilitate a review. All opinions are my own, yours may differ.