The New Orleans Voodoo Tarot

I purchased this Tarot Deck - not so much for the use with Tarot readings but after reading: Vodou Visions - as you can use the cards as a focus point in your rituals - both books are highly recommended to those interested in Vodou... I was pleased to see that the cards can easily be used as a Tarot Deck as well - the information inside is so well done and so easy to read that it makes previous knowledge of the tarot easy to use with this deck (if you read the book) There is only 34 pages to read, before you get to "each card meaning" and at the end of that section there is another (Approx. 40 pages), which is a "How To" section and very enlightening... There is also information at the back about each meaning for each card to make things easier for beginners... This set will work for both beginners and experienced - at the end of the book the author has a Last Judgment and in case she ever reads her reviews I would like to tell her that the book in fact was worth the sacrifice of the trees that went into making the pages, so filled with magick, and it has indeed brought me closer to the mystery's of life and will continue to do so as I continue my journey of life... I will add my own sacrifice to the Loa for leading me to this Treasure! Brightest of Blessings!

to note the superstitious gullibility that some people have! The deck is not evil nor is there any spirit residing in it. That reeks of the 70s and 80s tales of the Simon Necronomicon book. Or the morons who think they hear a Ouija board scream when it is tossed into a fire. (Actually it's their wallet screaming that they spent $20 for a Ouija board set and then burned it becuase some superstitious moron said it was evil! Hah!)The cards are amazing! I have used the various cards for my workings with and without the root. The cards don't speak to me rather they allow me to put myself into a trance setting and enter the realm of the loa after I salute Papa LEGBA of course!Lou is a noted Kabbala and Thelemic practitioner so if you look at how he's laid the foundation of the book, it follows the Hermetic scheme of the Tree of Life. The Simbi - masters of sorcery and magic - are alloted to the 8th cards which is the realm of Hod or Mercury. This is no accident and a very accurate placement in my opinion.The book offers some insight into the loa and the realms of Voudou. I have made use of the veves for minor talismanic work along in my conjures. Hoodoo workings are 'not' the same as Voudou and we are much more free form. In fact, my Hoodoo teacher was very infatuated with the modern Chaos Sorcery paradigm to the point even that he began to implement the use of servitors in his Hoodoo workings.Well worth the time and effort to use both. Though I do not use the cards for divination only because I tend to use a different form of divination all together.

The reason I bought this set was for the fabulous art on the deck of cards. Being an artist, this was the key fact for me. They were worth the price alone. However, the set also includes an instructional book so that you can read the cards for another person. I learned how to do this. It wasn't hard. Many people said they found the readings very accurate but I believe these are much like astrology forecasts where everyone's readings seem to make some kind of sense. As for the cards being dangerous, as another reviewer maintains, I bought the set almost a decade ago and have never felt any dangerous vibes whatsoever. You can instantly become the hit of any gathering if you show up with this set in hand. People just absolutely love having their cards read from it. It is easy to carry around since it comes in a boxed set.

I wish I could have the images from this deck enlarged, framed, and hung all over the walls of my home. I like to imagine the smells, sounds, tastes and textures of pictures, and the deck gives me plenty to work with. The plants seem ready to grow out of the edges of the cards, and the people *look* at you. Reading with these cards is a very satisfying visual experience. The book is nowhere near as satisfying. I know a little about tarot and nothing about voodoo or the Qabala, so I do have plenty to learn from the book. The information about voodoo, especially the descriptions of the characters portrayed on each card, is very useful. However, I find the divinations for each card unpleasantly limited and shallow, especially for the Court cards. When reading with these cards I find I'm better off using general tarot knowledge and the character descriptions to enhance my understanding of the images rather than the divinations offered by the book. Obviously I still enjoy the deck enough to give it a five, so the book isn't really a drawback. I'm starting to like the fact that its scanty divinations force me to turn to the cards themselves for interpretation. The images are more than rich enough to make up for the book's deficiencies.