I feel incredibly lucky and rather spoilt at present as earlier this week I received a rather large package that was filled to the brim with various Deckstiny Tarot Decks, all of which I will be reviewing and sharing over the next few weeks – how exciting!
Included in the package was the beautiful ‘Ganeshian Village Tarot Special Limited Edition Box‘ which I’ve since come to learn is one of only five hundred copies. Though there was a limited amount of ‘special edition’ versions of the Ganeshian Village Tarot printed and sold, there are still plenty of standard second edition copies of this deck available to purchase.
Who Is Deckstiny?
Based in Thailand, Deckstiny (a company originally named Shuffle Tarot) is a team collaboration of author Mate Horonumber, and artists Ruengkorn Jienwanalee & Oomsin Phumpat.
Brilliant Boxes
The Ganeshian Village Tarot Special Limited Edition Box is packaged in a sturdy, material-feel, black, cardboard, magnetic-close box, inside of which are two tuck boxes placed within secure black foam – The Ganeshain Village Tarot and the Ganeshian Village Tarot Luxury Edition add on pack.
Though I found the tuck boxes a little tricky to open, once I’d eventually managed to peel the lid out from underneath the box, I then removed the cellophane packaging which is wrapped around each of the decks, and took out the foam fillers which made the cards a lot easier to place back into the box and as a result, the tuck boxes now open and close easily without the risk of tearing.
The Cards
The main deck from the first edition Ganeshian Village Tarot Special Limited Edition Box features seventy-eight Rider-Waite-Smith inspired Tarot cards with gorgeous gold gilding and beautiful, blue card backs with gold detailing. Each of the cards features gold, shiny, titling and numbering which looks stunning against the darker colours of the artwork.
The cards are a standard Tarot size and the card stock is a marvellous matt that shuffles like a dream. I must say that Deckstiny decks have the most awesome card stock that I’ve ever felt – it is truly a joy to work with and I’d happily shuffle these cards all day long.
Certification Cards
Inside each Deckstiny Tarot deck, you will find certification cards identifying precisely which deck (out of however many were printed) you are the proud owner of.
Ganesha
The first edition Ganeshian Village Tarot (from the Special Limited Edition Box set) features imagery based upon Ganesha, a popular deity and figure in Indian art. Ganesha is a well-established sect with an independent deity that has the head of an elephant and four arms, in rare instances, he is depicted as having a human head.
Ganesha is featured right the way through this deck both in the major and minor arcana. The artwork is a soft, cartoon style that follows key imagery from the traditional Rider Waite Smith Tarot.
The Ganeshian Village Tarot Luxury Edition
As I mentioned above, The Ganeshian Village Tarot Luxury Edition deck are also included as part of the special limited edition box set. This is a majors only deck featuring only twenty-two cards, each of which is identical to the standard Ganeshian Village Tarot, only they have a shiny, gold border around each of the images featured on the cards.
I personally cannot decide whether to use these as a separate deck entirely or whether to swap these for the majors in the standard deck. I’m not sure whether I could work with only major arcana cards and I’m rather fond of viewing the full image on each of the cards as the artwork is divine and so for now, these will remain tucked inside my special limited edition box for if I ever fancy a change – it’s certainly a nice option to have!
The Ganeshian Village Tarot Special Limited Edition Box Walkthrough
Reading and Working With The first edition Ganeshian Village Tarot (from the Special Limited Edition Box)
Having spent the past couple of days working with this deck, I have grown rather fond of the Ganesha characters and imagery. The artwork is friendly, soft and gentle which is an endearing quality for any Tarot deck. I have really enjoyed shuffling these cards as they are smooth to slip and slide against each other, shuffling with next to no effort.
Readings with this deck feel friendly, vibrant, and seem easy to understand and interpret thanks to the detailed imagery created by Oomsin Phumphat.
Purchasing & Pricing Information
Whilst the ‘Ganeshian Village Tarot Special Limited Edition Box’ is sadly no longer available, the standard edition of the second edition of the Ganeshian Village Tarot is available to purchase via Deckstiny’s Etsy shop for only £36.14 whereas the Ganeshian Village Tarot Luxury Edition is available for £31.63 However, with postage to the UK costing a whopping £29.37, this brings the decks to over £60 each which seems a little excessive. For that reason, I would suggest it worthwhile checking out Deckstiny’s many other Tarot decks and bulk buying these to save yourself from any further shipping fees. Though it seems rather costly, I must tell you that the quality and feel of these cards are luxurious!
To Summarise
Having never worked with Deckstiny Tarot decks until this last week, I am shocked and stunned by the superior quality and feel of these cards. The ‘Ganeshian Village Tarot Special Limited Edition Box is such a beautiful, kind, and gentle read that I would most definitely recommend this deck for Tarot readers of all abilities – it is a delightful deck that I’ve grown incredibly fond of.
For further information on The Ganeshian Village Tarot or alternative Deckstiny Tarot decks click here.
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Product Rating
Update – October 2021
There has since been a second edition of the Ganeshian Village Tarot released by Deckstiny which you can read about here.
Disclosure: I was sent the above product for the purpose of this post however all opinions are my own.