Light Visions Tarot

Light Visions Tarot - panoramic Minor Arcana in muted tones

Most tarot cards can be looked at separately. With the Light Visions Tarot you miss half the picture if you do. James R. Eads designed the fourteen cards of each suit as one long artwork that runs from left to right. Lay them side by side and you see a continuous landscape.

The deck is published as a third edition, with matte finish and matte gold edges. The colours are deliberately subdued: plenty of grey, ochre, faded blue and beige. This gives the whole thing a nostalgic, almost melancholic atmosphere. Eads clearly looked at post-impressionism, particularly the linework of Van Gogh.

How the panoramic structure works

Each suit of the Minor Arcana forms one story. The Ace starts on the left, the King ends on the right. Figures, shapes and landscape elements flow from card to card. This means that in a reading you can choose deliberately: do you lay the cards separately, or do you look for the visual connections at the edges?

The Major Arcana and the court cards are not panoramic. They each stand alone, but fit seamlessly in style and colour. The guidebook by Katherine Tombs describes the symbolism of each card and explains how you can interpret the continuous images.

This deck also contains a 79th card: The Haven. This card is not part of the classic tarot system, but is intended as a resting point or meditation card. You can leave it in the deck or keep it separate, depending on how you work.

In a three-card reading, lay the cards tightly together. Often a line or colour field runs through from one card to the next, and that sometimes gives just an extra layer of meaning.

Artist deck, not a beginner deck

This is an artistic project that happens to be cast in the form of tarot. The symbolism connects to the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition, but the imagery is idiosyncratic. The cards contain no keywords, no numbers, no suit markers. You have to interpret the images yourself.

That makes it not a logical choice if you have never worked with tarot before. But if you have been reading for a while and are looking for a deck that is visually surprising, this works well. The muted colours and matte finish mean the cards do not distract. They do not reflect under lamplight, which is pleasant during longer sessions.

About James R. Eads

James R. Eads is a multidisciplinary artist from Los Angeles. He works with analogue and digital media, from paintings to virtual reality installations. His style is recognisable: organic lines, movement, much attention to light and shadow.

The Light Visions Tarot is the successor to his earlier Prisma Visions Tarot, which used bright, almost psychedelic colours. In this version he chose a different direction: subdued, almost monochrome, with here and there a warm accent colour.

Specifications

• Number of cards: 79 (78 tarot cards + 1 extra card 'The Haven')
• Card size: 70 x 120 mm
• Finish: matte cardstock with matte gold edges
• Packaging: flip-top clamshell box with gold foil details
• Guidebook: 100 pages, English
• Language: English (cards without text)
• Guidebook author: Katherine Tombs
• Artist: James R. Eads
• Edition: third edition with matte gold edges

Questions we often get

What is the difference between the Light Visions and the Prisma Visions Tarot?
Both decks have the same panoramic structure for the Minor Arcana. The use of colour is completely different: Prisma Visions is bright and colourful, Light Visions is muted and nostalgic. The symbolism remains the same, but the atmosphere is opposite.

How do you use the extra card The Haven?
You decide. You can leave it in the deck and treat it as a 79th card that sometimes turns up. Or you lay it aside and use it as a focus card for meditation. The guidebook indicates that The Haven stands for a pause or a safe place in the journey.