Deck Review: The Kitchen Tarot

This week for my card of the day posts on Instagram and Facebook I used The Kitchen Tarot by Dennis Fairchild and Susan Shie.  I wanted to give this deck my official Review and talk a little bit about it for my fellow Tarot enthusiasts.  (Disclosure: I have not been asked to write this review by the publisher or the author of the deck and I am not receiving any kind of compensation or payment for doing this.)

Fittingly enough, my first card of the Year for 2017 was The Calendar AKA The Moon!

As we all collectively changed our calendars and thought about cycles, and some people were no doubt recovering from a late night celebrating and ringing in the new year - here came this card about resting, taking time to dream and plan ahead and be aware of the cycles of the Moon.

The Kitchen tarot artwork by Susan Shie is simply perfect.  Each of the Major Arcana cards was made as a large mixed media quilt with images of the home or things in the kitchen replacing our familiar tarot archetypes.  The symbolism is really fitting for each card, with things like "Cream and Sugar" for The Lovers card and "The Compost Pot" for the Death card.  There are teeny tiny words filling in most of the spaces inside the quilt sections.  Some of these words are sayings or affirmations that reflect the lesson of the card.  Some of the words are more personal stories that the artist felt were moments of her life that fit in with the story or archetype of the card.

The guidebook that comes with the deck is well written and continues the theme of the kitchen through clever puns and allegory while describing what the card may mean in your life.  Some of the symbolism is explained, and an affirmation is offered for each card as well.  This deck is perfect for a "Card of The Day" or "Card of the Week" type reading, and I also like to use it occasionally in a 3 card spread such as "Body, Mind, Spirit" to get a deeper picture of energies present in my life.  When these sometimes profound Major Arcana archetypes come into play in your life they can sometimes be overwhelming.  . . but when they are interpreted and presented as familiar themes that I encounter in my kitchen - they can suddenly feel familiar and manageable!  What a blessing!

Overall I do love this deck! 

I would rate it 4 stars out of 5
The only drawbacks I find when working with this deck are

1) I wish it were a full deck and included Minor Arcana Cards!  But that doesn't stop me from using it or getting accurate readings with it... I just would like to see what a full deck looked like!

2) The small detail in the cards is hard to see.  Sometimes I wish I could read some of the small lettering in the artwork as I feel like I might be missing out on something the artist wanted me to see!

I would be happy to do a 3 card reading for you with this deck!  You can order one through my Etsy Shop or visit my website to learn more about the Tarot and Oracle Card Readings I offer!

You can also order a copy of this deck for yourself from Amazon