Today’s feature? The Rustic Fortune Tarot by Roxana Paul — a retro-art tarot deck that’s as charmingly vintage as it is stubbornly challenging.
Let me start by saying this: this deck will test you. It’s not your usual Rider-Waite clone with easily digestible symbolism. No ma’am. This one grabs your intuition, throws her into a 1950s magazine ad, and says, “Read between the mascara lines.” The suits are renamed (think: Wands = Pleasures, Pentacles = Meals, Cups = Drinks, Swords = Tools), the cards are steeped in nostalgia, and every image looks like it belongs on your grandma’s kitchen wall — if your grandma had a secret life as a diviner.
I didn’t even get the guidebook, because I’ve been around long enough to trust my gut. But if you're a baby witch just starting out, do yourself a favor and grab the book. This deck will chew up the casual reader and ask for dessert. And yes, it comes with two High Priestess cards — because clearly one version of feminine mystery wasn’t enough (love that for us).
It’s not just aesthetics though. The Rustic Fortune Tarot is for those of us who don’t read reversals (I said what I said), who don’t need “love and light” shoved down our throats, and who crave that grayscale nuance where a 5 of Cups can be grief or grit depending on the question. It’s sarcastic. It’s satirical. It’s real. And it’s exactly the kind of deck that lives in my purse now because it matches my whole energy: complicated, gorgeous, and not for the faint of heart.
If retro kitsch and intuitive depth had a lovechild, it would be this deck. And guess what? I’m working on a retro-inspired tarot deck myself (cat’s out of the cauldron). No shame: I’ll be using AI tools because I’m not the paintbrush-wielding artsy type. But I am the concept queen, and my future deck is gonna pack punch, politics, and personality.
In the meantime, if you want a deck that reads like a snarky kitchen witch channeling Mad Men aesthetics and real talk divination, then The Rustic Fortune Tarot is your next magical obsession. I’ll link where to find it. And while you’re at it, smash that subscribe button because I’ve got more decks, more tea, and more reviews coming soon.
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