Whilst I’m far from the World’s biggest history buff, I certainly enjoyed learning about the Greeks when I was in school. Though I’ve no doubt forgotten much of what I learnt way back when, I still find the historical mythologies and legends incredibly fascinating, especially since my own children have spent time learning about the Greek Gods, and Goddesses. I was, as you can imagine, therefore rather pleased to receive one of Deckstiny’s latest decks ‘The Pythia Tarot- The Great Oracle of the Greeks’.
Who Is Deckstiny?
Based in Thailand, Deckstiny (formerly known as Shuffle Tarot) first came about when they launched their first indy Tarot deck – The Shuffle Tarot A & B. Deckstiny is a team collaboration of Mate Horonumber, Oomsin Phumphat, and a number of other artists and contributors including Jujiir.
Over the past few years Deckstiny, alongside their contributing artists, has designed, developed, and produced a range of modern, cutesy, divination decks, all of which are available to purchase Worldwide via their Etsy shop.
The Pythia Tarot – The Great Oracle of the Greeks
Based upon the concept of Pythia – the Great Oracle of the Greeks, this modern take upon the traditional Tarot explores a range of Greek and Roman Mythology, appropriately linking major arcana cards to well-known Greek and Roman figures.
Packaging & Presentation
The Pythia Tarot arrives in a sturdy, solid cardboard box featuring cartoon-style imagery with a grey/ silver backing. The packaging is decorated on the front, back, inside and outside of the box making this ideal storage for Tarot collectors who may wish to store/ display their decks.
It’s pleasing to note that Deckstiny seems to have swapped their flimsier cardboard tuck boxes for much studier, rigid boxes which are far more likely to stand the test of time.
What, No Guidebook?
Though Deckstiny has included the odd guidebook with their decks from time to time, there aren’t many of their publications that have done so. The Pythia Tarot arrives without a guidebook thus beginner readers may wish to consider this.
The Cards
The Pythia Tarot is a standard-Tarot-sized deck (measuring 70 x 120mm) printed on a luxurious 330 GSM matt-style arts card. This uniquely designed deck is edged with gorgeous golden glitter 3D edging and features stunning white and gold ‘greek-style’ symmetrical card backs ideal for upright and reversed readings.
Additional Cards & Certification
The Pythia Tarot comes with eight additional cards including a certification card (certification cards are issued with each and every Deckstiny divination deck due to the limited number of decks the company produces). Certification cards are often a popular keepsake for deck collectors as they provide proof of the exact publication number of each deck.
Also included with the Pythia Tarot is a special note card, a signed title card, two plain title cards, a thank you card, a golden apple card, and two oracle cards, along with an extra ‘Strength’ card to offer readers alternative imagery within their major arcana.
The Major Arcana
Featuring bold, bright, cartoon-style, greek-themed imagery, the Pythia Tarot links each of the major arcana cards to particular Greek gods and goddesses. Deckstiny has added a short sentence explaining the God/ Goddess and what power/ skill they were famed for at the base of each card alongside the general titling.
Having spent time looking at each card in detail (which you may wish to do by watching the included video) I feel that Deckstiny has thought very carefully about their choices in Gods and Goddesses used for each of the major arcana cards as they seem to link and work really well together.
Though modern in style and structure, the Pythia Tarot makes use of the traditional Rider Waite Smith Tarot setup, titling, figures, and suits.
The Minor Arcana
The Pythia Tarot uses the traditional suits of Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles from the RWS Tarot and whilst the minor arcana cards still feature Greek figures and imagery similar to those within the major arcana, the minor arcana is only labelled with linking Gods/ Goddesses/ Figures/ Places on the aces and court cards.
The Suit of Wands
The Suit of Cups
The Suit of Swords
The Suit of Pentacles
Taking A Closer Look At The Pythia Tarot
In order to further illustrate and explain the Pythia Tarot, I have put together a video walkthrough which may help explain how the Greek and Roman figures link to those from the traditional Tarot.
Reading & Working With The Pythia Tarot
Though I’m a fan of cutesy, cartoon-style decks and I’ve enjoyed spending time reading and working with the Pythia Tarot, I feel the theming doesn’t really suit my personal style of Tarot reading. I’ve tried pairing this deck with a number of oracle and rune decks but I’ve come to the conclusion that this is more of a collectors Tarot deck than one which I’d read and work with regularly.
Purchasing & Pricing Information
First released in 2022, the Pythia Tarot is available to purchase via Deckstiny’s Etsy Store retailing from £60.20 (with an additional postage fee of £35.35). Whilst I understand that this is an expensive Tarot deck to purchase, I feel it is certainly far different from anything that I worked with beforehand and if it were to be ordered alongside a variety of alternative Deckstiny decks it may be worth paying the additional postage fees.
To Summarise
Whilst this isn’t my favourite Deckstiny deck to date, I appreciate the amount of work, effort, and thought that has gone into creating this unique and rather educational Tarot deck. Though the Pythia Tarot may not be my cup of tea, I’m absolutely certain that it would be adored and well-used by many other readers around the World.
Featuring a range of Greek & Roman gods and goddesses, the Pythia Tarot is a bright, bold, quirky, cartoon-style deck ideal for readers of all ages and abilities, especially those with a passion for Greek history, myths, and legends.
For further information on the Pythia Tarot- The Great Oracle of the Greeks’ or alternative Deckstiny publications visit www.etsy.com/shop/ShuffleTarot
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Product Rating
Disclosure: I was sent the above product for the purpose of this post however all opinions are my own.