Loosely based upon the traditional Rider Waite Tarot, The Kawaii Tarot is one of the sweetest tarot decks that I have ever encountered.
The Kawaii Tarot
The Kawaii Tarot is a beautifully modern, cute, clean, and simplistic deck designed and created by Diana Lopez. Diana was first introduced to tarot reading by her mother but felt that she was unable to connect with the artistry within the more traditional decks.
During her youth, Diana spent time working on graphic design projects and alongside her friends, she would often create simple pixel art and illustrations which would then be posted within Kawaii forums. Years later sitting at her minimalistic, clear, tidy, and modern desk Diana combined her knowledge of the tarot with her love for graphic design and ‘bippetty-boppety-boo’ the Kawaii Tarot was born.
Packaging & Presentation
The Kawaii Tarot is manufactured and packaged to appear like a hardback book, inside of which you will find a guide book and two cardboard tuck-boxes separating and slimming the Kawaii Tarot deck for packaging purposes.
I personally am not too keen on keeping tarot decks packaged in separate piles so I switched on the sewing machine and created a simple pouch in which to contain these cute little cards.
Getting To Grips With The Guide Book
Included within The Kawaii Tarot is a ninety-two-page guidebook featuring information upon the elements of tarot, six tarot spread examples, and a comprehensive guide to each and every card within the deck.
To conclude, Diana explains that practicing and working with tarot is based entirely upon trust, the cards are an effective way in which to connect to our personal truth and to the wisdom of the universe – there is no good or bad within tarot as every part of our lives is an important part of our journey.
Cute Cards
Honestly – I have never seen such cute, little tarot cards as The Kawaii Tarot!
I found it hard to describe these cards at first but my daughter hit the nail on the head and took the words from my mouth as she referred to this deck as “the emoji deck”. The Kawaii Tarot is very much an ’emoji deck’ as it is so simple, sweet and very much like reading through a set of emojis.
Unlike standard tarot decks, The Kawaii Tarot is far smaller and the card stock thinner than average. This deck has the card-stock-quality and size of a standard deck of playing cards thus is ideal for my dinky, small hands and for slinging in my handbag to use when out and about.
The Major Arcana
The Kawaii Tarot uses an abstract, systematic, color-coordinated, symbolistic method to convey clarity and meaning through the cards – the images are incredibly simple and easy to understand and to interpret.
The titles for many of the major arcana cards within the Kawaii Tarot have been shortened to single words, for example, ‘The Sun’ has been condensed to ‘SUN’ making for a quicker and easier read. I do however appreciate that the numbering for the major arcana has been printed at the top of each card – this certainly helps readers to learn and to understand ‘The Fools Journey’.
The Minor Arcana
Whilst Diana refers to the four suits within the minor arcana by their traditional names (Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles) within the guidebook, she has given the suit of wands some extra ‘sweetness’ by transforming each card into an item of confectionery.
From lollipops to candy canes, the suit of wands is ‘sweet like chocolate’ and I myself rather like the more modern designs.
Here’s a short video walkthrough guide that I have put together for the Kawaii Tarot.
Reading With The Kawaii Tarot
Whilst I feel that the Kawaii Tarot is the ideal tarot deck for younger readers due to its cute and colourful design, I would warn that due to the simplistic imagery featured within this deck that it would be advisable to make use of a guidebook or to have previous knowledge and experience of reading the tarot to fully utilise and understand these cards.
I have been reading tarot for many years thus find this deck really easy, cute, and quirky to work with. It’s certainly different from most decks and I’m not alone in my appreciation for The Kawaii Tarot as my six-year-old daughter is forever flicking through these cards as she adores the sweet and simple design of this deck.
Pricing & Purchasing Information
Published by Sterling Ethos, an American based publisher The Kawaii Tarot is available to purchase from a range of stores within the UK including Amazon. The Kawaii Tarot has a recommended retail price of £14.99 but as of July 2020, Amazon is currently selling this tarot deck (on offer) for only £10.75.
To Summarise
The Kawaii Tarot is a cute, sweet, and simple tarot deck which is very reasonably priced and rather enjoyable to use. Whilst The Kawaii Tarot is ‘mega modern’ in comparison to the traditional Rider Waite Tarot, it’s super-sweet and such fun to read with!
For further information upon The Kawaii Tarot or further Sterling Ethos products visit www.sterlingpublishing.com
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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.