A Review Of The True Black Tarot - Jack Chanek

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit. I am so excited about this deck. Today I’m bringing you a review of the magnificent, flawless, aesthetic bombshell True Black Tarot by Arthur Wang. Not sure if you’ve picked up on it, but I love this deck. It’s an instant favorite.

The cards for the deck are (true to its name) printed on black stock, with the illustrations popping out in white with accented colors (most notably gold and red). The effect was enough to stop me in my tracks when I first opened the deck, and as I flipped through the cards I started muttering “Holy shit” to myself with increasing agitation, as each card surpassed the last.

The deck comes in a sturdy box with a magnetic lid, the inside of which reads “It is only in darkness that we see the stars”. The cards are sturdy stock that will hold up to a great deal of wear and tear, and (though I don’t exactly understand what witchcraft was involved in making this happen), they are splash-resistant. I love this deck enough that I won’t be taking any risks and testing how splash-resistant they are, but they’re certainly able to stand up to an accidental spill or two at the reading table. These are solid, durable, high-quality cards.

My photographs really don’t do these cards justice. There is so much detail and so much contrast in them, which (due both to the poor quality of my camera and my lack of skills as a cameraman) just doesn’t come through in these pictures. Nonetheless, you can at least get an idea of the simplicity, elegance, and power of these images. The Lovers in particular really knocked the wind out of me. And I absolutely adore the high-gloss Oxytocin behind the Empress’s throne.

The Wheel of Fortune has been renamed to “Destiny” in this deck. I also got an early printing of the deck where the name of the Hierophant was incorrectly spelled “Heirophant”; Wang has corrected this in the final printing of the deck. There is also an additional card, added to the end of the Major Arcana, titled “Anant”.

From the Little White Book (or, more aptly, the Little Black Book):

Anant refers to the neverending, eternal, and exempt. While all other temporal beings enter existence, grow, and then die, Anant exists outside of these constraints and rules. It has been and always will be, a core concept shared by other world religions

Every single card in this deck takes my breath away. I don’t even really have all that much to say, except that this deck is stunning and I recommend it with all my heart. The images are simple and striking: The globe on the Two of Wands, the lion on the Six. This is an easy, readable, engaging deck with clear imagery that gets at the heart of the Tarot, and that is not an easy thing to accomplish.

As a small side note, Wang retains the Wands/Fire, Swords/Air elemental attributions, but some details on the cards might lead readers to think he’s swapped them: Birds pervade the suit of Wands, and the Ace of Swords is wrapped in flame. Readers who use either set of correspondences will likely find imagery in the cards that suits their preferences.

Just look at these cards. Look at the shattered glasses in the Five of Cups. Look at the overflowing Ace. Ye gods, this is such a powerful, thoughtful deck. I’m in love. I’m swooning. Watch me swoon.

It really is unfortunate what a terrible photographer I am, because these cards have so much pop that just isn’t showing up in the pictures. The Nine of Swords is bloody and visceral. The Ten draws your eye straight to the sun rising behind the one undefeated bird in the center.

I’m a bit confused by the Five of Swords (the blades look to my eye more like sickles than like swords), but it still gets across—in an effortless way—symbols of selfishness and defeat. Likewise, the imagery of the Seven of Pentacles (below) looks more like something that I, personally, would associate with the Six, but it’s so damned pretty that I really don’t care.

Buy this deck. That’s the point we’ve reached. This is no longer a review; it’s a straight-up advertisement. (Except, legally, it’s not: I bought this deck with my own money, I have not been asked by the publisher to review it, and the opinions I’m expressing here are unadulteratedly mine.) But look at the goddamned butterflies caught in the spiderweb on the Four of Pentacles. How cool is that? How visceral and effective a way to depict the central themes of the card? EVERYONE SHOULD BUY THIS DECK.

The Court Cards are just as lovely as the rest of the deck. I literally have nothing but praise to utter about this deck. It’s one for the record books. It easily joins the Prisma Visions Tarot as one of my favorites and one of the decks I will use most often in reading for myself. I earnestly wish I could say something critical, just for the sake of having thoughtful and balanced reviews on my blog, but, well, I can’t. I simply adore the True Black Tarot.

Finally, as I wrap up, a procedural note about the blog itself. I’ve been absent from the blogosphere of late; the only justification I can offer is that life happens and graduate school is hard. Realistically, I can’t hold myself to a weekly publishing schedule on this blog anymore, but I certainly don’t want to pack it up and let it die. So starting now (and lasting indefinitely) I’m going to switch to a monthly schedule. I’ll get out at least one post per month, and hopefully more, but I don’t want to commit to more than that if I know it’s not likely to happen.

Until next month, then! In the meantime, GO BUY THIS DECK.

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