Tarot de St. Croix & Other Musings....

I've been so enamored by Chrysalis Tarot for so long now that I've hardly worked with any other deck. Part of my reasoning (if indeed I did reason at all on this) was that the more I work with any deck, the more I'll connect with it and it with me and the better the readings I'll get - and I think this is true. I certainly feel a stronger understanding/connection with Chrysalis than I did initially, when its deviations from RWS at first put me off for the learning curve I foresaw until I could confidently and comfortably use the deck. I'm still learning the deck, but I think now is the time to open up space for another new deck that I like but have hardly used since I got it at least 6 weeks ago – Tarot de St. Croix.

I really love the warm orange color throughout - it's a warm, inviting deck and though the artwork is a bit on the "primitive" side (which I usually don't care for), it works for me. There is a haunting quality to some of the images, and others are just really affirming and bursting with bright energy. I was initially particularly drawn to The Sun card - it's a very joyous card; I also love the Nine of Pentacles - showing a figure holding nine sunflowers (with Pentacles drawn in each center), sitting under a bright sky in a red-earth background. The Knight of Pentacles is sitting under a tree amidst a field of sunflowers, (again with Pentacles in their center) - very beautiful. Now, The Sun is my symbol, Personality card, and just all-around favorite card of Tarot (I even have a small sun tattoo!) and I used to be a sun worshiper (spending far too many hours baking under its soothing rays), and the themes in the imagery of Tarot de St. Croix are definitely heat, sun, sunflowers, expression, creation, illumination, joy, movement - everything we might associate with The Sun.

There's a lot to be said in favor of this deck and it reads remarkably well! I tried a new 5-card spread today using Tarot de St. Croix  (found on Facebook, posted by Brighton Tarot School) called Snapshot and got a spot-on result and I'll share the spread here with you:
Card 1 - What do I appreciate about my life at the moment?
Card 2 - What issues/difficulties do I have at the moment?
Card 3 - What needs do I have that are not being met?
Card 4 - Where do I want to be in the future?
Card 5 - What's the catalyst / step I need to take to get there?
Needless to say, whatever I needed to see was there in the cards I drew and amongst them was The Magician - who's sitting on a wheel pulling down floating (Tarot de St. Croix) tarot cards from the air with a fiery sun shining in an orange background. Love that! I also love the aforementioned Knight of Pentacles and Nine of Pentacles with their sunflowers (oh did I mention it's probably my favorite flower too? ). So, in short,Tarot de St. Croix is an unusual, friendly, and upbeat deck with delightful and interesting artwork. Stay tuned for more on it in the future, right here!