I find the vibrant colors and highly evocative imagery of this deck to be one of the more interesting I've ever used. The basic images aren't that different from other decks that you won't know what the cards mean anymore, but they're different enough to allow you to gain a whole new insight on the Tarot by using this deck.
The four cards that are shown in the picture section give you a good idea of what some of the cards from this deck look like. I'm particularly fond of the secondary interpretations that one can divine from these cards. Are those Gypsy children getting a drink from the cups on the stairs of the Six of Cups or are they spiking a cup with a Gypsy love potion? It's up to the reader to decide - based on the cards around you in a reading.
The art is fantastic and reminds me a lot of the supposed Gypsy heritage of Tarot cards, although some people might be put off by that type of imagery. The colors and symbolism give me a great insight when using this deck to give readings to others.
The book is very informative and it's use of the images from the cards enhances it's value to potential users of this deck.
But it's not too overpowering for new Tarot readers either, and that's a big plus. This deck might work well at a carnival or renaissance fair if you want to give it an ideal flavor. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in Tarot reading, especially if you are interested in Tarot readings for other people, and not just self discovery.
For thousands of years, people from Chinese mystics to Welsh pub goers have used the dominoes to look into the future. Indeed, domino divination is, according to the writers of "Predicting Your Future," a collaborative work by the Diagram Group, dominoes are still a popular method of divination in China and India.
Raymond Buckland's 1995 cards with booklet publication, "The Buckland Gypsies' Domino Divination Deck" is the first 20th-century English-language work to deal exclusively with domino divination. Many other writers have given it all-to-brief treatments as sections of books.
Buckland's card publication does an outstanding job of simplifying double-six domino divination, so even a beginner can get accurate readings from the start. Using Buckland's deck, people can divine for themselves in minutes.
The interpretation of each domino is printed on the cards, along with the dot patterns. The divination interpretations Buckland uses are backed by books published as long ago as 1814.
In addition, those taking up domino divination now have Carlos G. y Poenna's book "The Yoruba Domino Oracle" to use. The Samuel Weiser publication was released in March, 2000.
While Buckland and Poenna's works use different schools of double-six domino divination, they compliment each other, making it easier than ever to learn the practice.
About the Reviewer: Patrick McCallister is a domino-divination researcher, and is an experienced domino diviner. He's done thousands of readings using this augury method.
He's written an as-yet unpublished book about the subject, "Ya Pai Shen Po: A Complete Guide to Domino Divination."
He's a reporter for The DeLand Beacon newspaper and free-lance writer, who's published articles about domino divination in By The Numbers and Waxing & Waning.
This book could have been 5 stars except that Buckland lacks the necessary ingridients in making well fleshed out characters. The other problem with this book I felt is that the villian is given to us too early on along with his motives. We know exactly what he is up to and this detracts from the overall layout of the story!
If you are into magick, psychism, wicca, voudoun or any other type of esoterical beleif system, I think that you will find this book a good read!
List price: $12.00 (that's 20% off!)
I did find one and only one I used to find a new job because I felt the isolation and negative pressure in an old accounting position that left me in tears for several months. So I prayed with that one chant not directed at any business or anyone. My prayer chant was answered with a new position with $2.50 more an hour that almost led me to a lead position. I would truly say God took good care of me. I like the openess of success without pressure and refuse to go against God will be it Pagan or Christian or any other religion. I respect them all.
Sheila*
I also had a bit of a problem with his magick spells geared towards christians, however, in all fairness to Buckland, he does point out that Witchcraft is a religion, and magick is a practice. That said, I took a pencil and slashed every page that carried christian invocation of spells ( a personal choice so I wouldn't waste time reading the wrong version ).
Overall, it's not a bad book on candle magick. It provides some interesting spells to use, despite my disagreement with Buckland's choice of colors and what there suppose to be used for or what they represent, but hey, that's my personal choice. Which leads me to this statement..I don't believe any spell should be used per batem from a book. You look at the spell, you read it, and to make it your own, YOU CHANGE IT, even just a little..
So, if you want a book on candle magick, this one is ok. Take what you like from it and simply disregard the rest. Blessed Be.
Gypsy Fortune telling Features: Palmistry, Tea leaf reading, Dice, Poker Card, Tarot Card and others.
My favorite has always been the dice method, which is easy and accurate and the palmistry section, which is very informative and i hope that this section could be expanded.
This little book is worth the money and the time.
Overall, excellent and clear illustrations, definitions and explanations on every method. Ray gave good instructions in this book.
i only wish that every section in this book could be more elaborated.