created byJessica Bott, Cracked Amethyst
The Idiosyncradeck is an independently published deck by the graphic artist Jessica Bott. It's out of print now but an oracle deck in the same style and size is still available.
Let's start with the name - I confess I'm not enamored with it. The pun with idiosyncratic is a bit too heavy-handed for my taste, especially for a deck that's so light on its feet like this one. Privately, I refer to it as Cracked Amethyst Tarot, the name of the artist’s shop and blog.
It is a beautiful deck, and that's what attracted me at first. Each card has a large white border and a dotted frame that separates border and image. The picture/frame ratio is elegant, frame and border are rounded like the cards' corners, and these cards are very pleasing to the eye even of unscrupulous trimmers like me.
The majors bear a Roman numeral on top and their name in simple, elegant, slender uppercase font on bottom. The minors have Arabic numbers on top and the suit names in the same slim font under the picture. The suit names are Arrows (for Wands), Cups, Swords, and Stones (for Pentacles or Disks).
The court cards are named traditionally: Page, Knight, Queen and King.
There is one added major called Magic; instead of a number, it bears a question mark. Under a full moon, a colourful cauldron fills up with magical ingredients. It's surrounded by suit symbols, candles, and a skull - a vivid, striking image of a tarot deck and what we can do with it. This card would have served well as Magician, too, but then, the artist chose to depict natural phenomena on the major cards, and the cauldron suggests human activity (even if no human appears).
In accordance with the nature theme, the Magician is depicted as oyster with a beautiful pearl within. The result of a long process of perfection.
The artist's choices for the majors are inspired and inspiring - a stone circle under the magical light of aurora borealis for the High Priestess, an energetic waterfall that rushes from snow-capped mountains under a clear sky for Chariot; a fruit tree where birds nest for the Empress, and a volcano for the Tower are some examples.
Most mysterious is Temperance - glowing stars and planets in the sky, glowing fungi in earth, near and far, all connected in a web of associations like astrology and alchemy.
I confess that I was charmed into buying this deck by the Hanged Man, a sloth that looks into our eyes with a mischievous, knowing smile. From a tarot point of view, this choice is a bit limiting - the sloth is in its natural posture and not undergoing any uncomfortable growing pains. Its world is not upside down, this is its normal world. And yet, it invites us kindly to share its view. This invitation from a sloth takes the sting out of the card and adds a little challenge. Learn from the sloth, don’t be frightened to put your world upside down and check how it looks that way.
The deck doesn't shy back from stark images for Justice (a sapling growing through a skull), Death (skull, bones and fungi) or Judgement (a storm with high waves and lightning next to a lighthouse). The Devil is a spider about to jump on its prey.
It's possible to interpret each of these cards without the LWB that's available as PDF on the website, but if you do read the PDF, you'll find it's helpful. Each card is described, and the interpretation keywords are clear and concise. Nevertheless, I had fun trying to understand the artist's intention without the LWB first.
And here I have to say a word about the outstanding feature of this deck: its clarity. The vector graphics are simply lovely. You might think it's a contradiction in itself to depict nature in a medium so far removed from nature like computer graphic, but no. It works very well because the simple shapes, fresh expressive colours and intelligent compositions have inner harmony and cohesion. This deck absolutely speaks its own language.
Now to the minors. While most majors deal with forces of nature, all minor suits show traces of humans. While sloth and volcano get along fine without us, nature doesn't produce arrows, swords or cups - and many of the stones show that they went through human hands, were used as pendants, arranged as spiral or bear inscriptions. That's a beautiful way of acknowledging the difference between the strong archetypes of the majors, and the human element of the minors.
I find the choice of suit symbols an intelligent compromise between tradition and innovation. Arrows instead of Wands have the element of speed, they contain dynamic energy even in their quiver - we see that they can fly even if they don't.
The whole Cups suit is domestic and very lovely. We know that the world outside is alive without us, but to see the same anthropomorphic magic within the house, with tea cups and tea pots, is simply wonderful.
The Swords have a more difficult task - they're outside, juxtaposed with trees and water, and they seem to bring conflict and tension to most scenes.
Stones are again more tranquil and even when they're used by humans, they fit into the landscape better than the swords.
The concept of nature and culture (i.e., traces of human design and work) works great for majors and minors, but what about the court cards? The artist chose to depict a suit symbol in very similar composition for each court card.
The Pages have a background of rosy early morning, and the suit symbols are small and not yet very developed.
The Knights are mature, large, full of energy and stand in the full daylight. The Queens are ornate and enchanting in the evening light. And the Kings radiate power - fully mature at night.
The card backs are reversible, with a circle of crystals, flowers, stars and keys.
In the readings I did with this deck, it worked very well. This is definitely a deck you can use for querents who feel intimidated by esoteric symbols, nudity or cruelty. This deck is very peaceful but its scenes evoke intuitive responses. It lends itself very well to an intuitive reading style, and while it re-interprets RWS card meanings in a creative way, you can use it from the box if you wish to.
The LWB is very good. The cards interact well with each other which helps reading . Often, the horizons are at the same height so you get a kind of story board where changes take place from card to card, scene to scene.
I don't have the oracle deck but from what I see, it can complement the tarot deck very well, for example with clarification cards.
I own a number of nature-oriented decks without humans and find the Idiosyncradeck a valuable addition.
Further reviews:
- on the Blog The Moon over Water
- on La Reine de l'Air