Spirit Halloween Prism

Spirit Halloween Tarot Deck: Deluxe Prism Edition Review

I love the Spirit Halloween Tarot deck. The creator, Vera Petruk, put a huge amount of thought and care into its design. I’ve purchased several Spirit Halloween Tarot Decks over the years for giveaways and gifts because it’s fun, colorful, and so different from a Rider-Waite-Smith style deck. Now that local Spirit Halloween stores are opening, you may be wondering if you should spring for the Deluxe Prism Edition? It’s shiny, and magpie/crow brain says I might need it. Hopefully this review will help you make that choice.

Spirit Halloween Tarot Deck Design and Details

The Spirit Halloween Tarot Deck is a 78 card creature feature that gives readers a unique way to interpret the cards. While I don’t consider it a deck for beginners, tarot readers of all levels can appreciate the Halloween themes. I’m still trying to puzzle out why certain creatures were chosen for specific cards. Death, for example, seems obvious, but I still wonder at an angel for the 5 of swords, or a rainbow pegasus for the 8 of swords.

Tarot readers know that the minor arcana, the pips, are tied to the elements. Cups are water, swords are air, wands are fire, and pentacles are earth. There are loose ties to the elements in the Spirit Halloween Tarot too. With the suit of swords, many of the creatures have wings or fly through the air in some way, while the cups try to feature monsters in or near water.

All of this can be difficult to spot with the Prism Edition, however. When I originally spent time with this deck, I was outside on a bright sunny day. I do NOT recommend this without sunglasses because you will go blind. Even indoors the prism shine robs the cards of their sharpness. The details and colors are much more vibrant with the original Spirit Halloween Tarot, and it is much easier on the eyes overall. 

I do enjoy the back of the Spirit Halloween Prism Edition cards, but they commit the number one sin that many deck creators overlook. I can tell when a card is reversed. This was true of the original Spirit Halloween Tarot as well, but that design made it harder to tell.

Obvi

This might not be a problem for some readers. Many tarot readers don’t read reversals for one reason or another, but I do, so this is always a glaring error in design to me. But hey, that’s just one reader’s opinion. If you don’t read reversals, you may not mind. 

Another note for the Spirit Halloween Tarot Prism Edition deck is that it smells. Whatever process they use to make it holographic also makes it stinky. I’m going to leave it out and see if it loses some of its chemical aroma, but I worry that it will never fully dissipate. Maybe if I fumigate it with rosemary and various incenses… I’ll have to get back to you on whether that is successful or not. The original deck does not have this issue.

The Spirit Halloween Tarot deck in either edition does NOT come with a guide. This is one of the reasons I don’t recommend it for beginners, the other being that as a tarot teacher, I tell all of my students that if you can read with the RWS, you can read with any deck. So start there. If any of you lovely people want to petition Spirit Halloween to hire me as their official divination promoter/guide writer, I’d be grateful. 

Price

When I originally reviewed the Spirit Halloween Tarot deck, you could get the cards for $7.99. That was a steal of a deal for any tarot deck, most of which will run you around $20. According to their website, a regular Spirit Halloween Tarot Deck has gone up to $9.99, which is still a good deal. The Deluxe Prism Edition is $14.99. For 5 bucks more you too can be shiny and chrome for Valhalla

One small side note, not every Spirit Halloween will have the Deluxe Prism Edition in stock. I had to go to two stores to find one, but you can order them online, and they have a bunch of cool tarot deck accessories too. Might I recommend the Altar Cloth and Bag? Spirit Halloween doesn’t even pay me, but they totally should. I’m an absolute delight.

Conclusion

For my money, I’d stick with the original Spirit Halloween Tarot deck simply because it won’t burn out your retinas. The smell of the Prism Edition is also a turn off. But overall, I still love this deck. I think it’s a rad addition to anyone’s tarot collection. It stands out because it’s not a RWS clone. The monsters, warriors, and creatures of myth will make you look at the cards in a totally new way. If your magpie/crow brain still craves the new shiny, I say, “That’s the spirit!” 

5 thoughts on “Spirit Halloween Tarot Deck: Deluxe Prism Edition Review

  1. These look amazing! I especially resonate with that beautiful unicorn! i love to get my hands on decks that have images that really tell a story to me and that top pic.. that just looks like a deck i need to have in my life

  2. Thank you for sharing your tarot journey and for helping fellow enthusiasts discover intriguing decks like the “Spirit Halloween Tarot Deluxe Prism.” Keep up the fantastic work!

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