Hello, soul friends!
I wanted to start off a section on my website where I review card decks that I have used over the years. I have owned over 80 various decks (currently own about 70), and thought I would write some of my notes, experiences, personal opinions, and information on the decks for anyone out there looking for suggestions. Diving into the world of decks can be a bit scary, fun, and also at times overwhelming with the sheer amount of choices.
There are various differences to the types of card decks people use, but the most common ones are Tarot, Oracle, and Lenormand. Over the years, I have come to collect various and eclectic decks ranging in artistic style and type. I always purchase what grabs my attention, and have learned that my aesthetic is not for everyone. So, as always, purchase what you feel guided to use for yourself.
I am just expressing my opinions and my own personal experiences with these decks and I hope that you can appreciate the candor. As always, use your own intuition and find tools that suit your tastes.
Chronicles of Destiny Fortune Cards
This is one of my newer additions to my deck collection. I found the cards to be so beautiful online and had to get my hands on them.
The Chronicles of Destiny Fortune Cards is by Josephine Ellershaw, Emily Ellershaw, and illustrated by Claudia McKinney and is published by Schiffer Publishing. I purchased my deck directly from Amazon, but I have also seen it available at Barnes and Noble and other bookstores.
From Amazon's Product Description:
From ancient times, storytelling has been an engaging method to impart ageless wisdom through underlying meanings and morals of treasured tales. Step into the magical Enchanted Emporium and, through the Guardian of Books, work with 60 beautiful destiny fortune cards to find adventure, immediate insight, and guidance as you interact with an original, themed story.
During your quest for answers to your most important questions, receive step-by-step instructions, keywords, in-depth meanings, exciting spreads, a timing method, cheat sheet, card combinations, and sample readings in an accompanying guidebook. No previous knowledge of cartomancy is necessary, and this deck and guide is also suitable for more experienced users. What will your destiny reveal? Don't miss the adventure...
About the Authors and Illustrator
Josephine Ellershaw's experience with Cartomancy now spans four decades. She is a professional card reader and mentor to an International clientele. She has many years of professional experience providing Tarot readings, personal development, mentoring and guidance, to an International clientele. She is the author of bestseller, Easy Tarot: Learn to Read the Cards Once and For All and Easy Tarot Reading: The Process Revealed in Ten True Readings. Josie lives in North Yorkshire, England, and loves hearing from readers. Emily Ellershaw grew up surrounded by books and Tarot cards, which influenced her passion for writing and Cartomancy. She is an English Literature graduate and lives with her husband near North Yorkshire, England, where she now has her own ever-expanding library and card collection. Claudia McKinney is a professional digital artist specializing in book covers for best selling authors, such as Amanda Hocking and Kami Garcia. Some of the publishing houses include: Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Llewellyn. Claudia is mom to four wonderful children and wife to Michael McKinney, residing in the beautiful seaside community of Carlsbad, California.
My Personal Review
This is a 60 card deck which includes a lot of various elements in lavish and illuminating illustrated cards. Each card features a character with a story behind it. These characters may appear menacing or tranquil. Others may appear like characters within a dream or out of your imagination.
The illustrations are very beautiful and deeply captivating. They are the fantasy digital art of Claudia McKinney. The cards blend well with one another to provide guidance that is simple in the same fashion of Lenormand. If Tarot and Lenormand could have a child, it would be the Chronicles of Destiny Fortune Cards.
The packaging of this set of cards is fantastic, kudos to Schiffer for presentation. The theme of these cards is novel and books. The box is created to look like a book and opens up like one revealing inside the companion book and deck. Watch my YouTube video to see the unboxing. The cards have gilt edges; they are glossy, black borders with classy thin gold lines around the images. The set comes in a book-like box, which I thought was a beautiful touch and goes along with the theme of the deck.
Product dimensions are 6.5 x 1.4 x 8.8 inches. The cards are larger than a traditional Tarot deck.
The cards are slightly bigger than a deck of standard playing cards and the card stock itself is solid; I recommend anyone with a new deck spend some time shuffling it and getting to know its feel, in addition to just "getting to know" any new deck. I've found that I can shuffle them quite easily, even with my small hands.
The card stock is thick, has a shinier finish than newer decks (which is annoying when trying to get a nice picture of the deck), and also allows you get a nice bend without cracking the card stock. This quality of card stock seems to be what most mass produced decks I currently own. It isn't my favorite card stock but I overlook this as some of my favorite decks do print on this quality.
This deck does really have a lot of beautiful digital art of these cards tells a great visual story. Excellent creative talents combined with many years of wisdom and hard work is evident in these Chronicles of Destiny cards. It truly is an enchanting deck with unique and ethereal artwork.
The backs are not reversible. The card backs show a blue colored female face surrounded by an ornate headdress which hovers over a stone stairway leading upwards into the mist. Graphic colors are often warm with reds and oranges and counterbalanced with some moody or quiet blues and indigo or greens. Using the cards, I did some practice readings and was able to get direct answers and saw how the cards when weaved together present a story.
I was less moved by the actual text of the guidebook, although it was beautifully designed and printed and a nice introduction to the archetypes of the deck. The presentation of this set is outstanding, I just wanted more from the actual book, as that is more of my preference. I love reading the stories of the images and how or why they were included in a deck. It appears as if some of the cards in the guidebook don't resonate with the images. If anything I found the structure of the storybook theme to be a bit overdone and almost forced. It appears the artwork is so lovingly curated and the structure was there within the images, but the guidebook left me a bit wanton.
I did find that this is a wonderful reading deck for symbols/archetypal work. They possess a progressive story telling structure like tarot and the simple fortune telling style of the Lenormand.
I do find it a wonderful and amazing deck to use for quick 3, 5, and 10 card spreads. It is versatile and also the images are beautiful enough to evoke a deeper understanding about the meaning of the cards. I feel as if the spreads that are included in the guidebook are amazing and beneficial.
I developed my own use for the cards outside of the guidebook, as I didn't resonate too deeply with the card meanings. The artwork does help in creating my own meanings, as some of the keywords didn't always bring forth any true meaning for the cards, either.
The Guidebook is just a little over 200 pages, more than usual because the authors went to great lengths to create a story/novel theme throughout the 60 cards. In atypical fashion for most oracle cards, this deck sticks to the theme throughout the deck, and does really focus solely on the archetypes.
SMXLLJosephine and Emily Ellershaw, the authors of the accompanying book, their concept was to write a fantasy story linking each card to a chapter in the book. There are a few additional cards not assigned to chapters that comprise a supporting cast of characters. These cards are useful for gaining further insight on persons that may be influencing the outcome of events. Four of the supporting cards are assigned to the seasons of the year to facilitate the timing of events. As you read each chapter, you experience the story through the cards, and the story enchants you, inviting the seeker to enter their world in order to discover his or her destiny. Yet, the authors have done more than write a well-crafted story. They have woven divination into the text, making it easy for the seeker to understand what the cards are revealing to them regarding their questions. Creating numerous spreads, including the Story Spread, Alternate Realties Spread, and Sequel Spread, I enjoyed working with the cards and found their specific descriptions to be concrete and connected to the surrounding cards.
Josephine and Emily also include additional definitions of the card depending on the other cards surrounding it. They have covered all the bases in the book by showing you how to clear the cards, perform readings for others, and explore your own interpretations for the cards to create your own story. Well-thought-out from beginning to end, The Chronicles of Destiny Fortune Cards would make a wonderful gift for beginners interested in divination, and seasoned readers who are looking for a new deck to inspire them. A love of books shines brightly in the creation of the deck. This deck and guidebook set is like having a never ending storybook at your fingertips. The card images are beautiful digital art creations that you can really “enter” and become part of the story that’s taking shape as the cards are turned over.
This is what makes The Chronicles of Destiny Fortune Cards unique. The cards in a reading flow from one image to another creating a distinct outcome, solving a common problem in divination decks when card meanings are too vague and have conflicting messages that confuse the reader.
Overall, I am highly impressed by the production and presentation. The theme of this work is carried through out every detail consistently. The premise of which the cards are built on is creative and is executed perfectly. The system that was created for this set of cards shows thoughtfulness and detailed care. These cards present themselves as a fully developed cartomancy system.
My overall opinion is that this deck is a 3 star choice.
Artwork - 5 stars
Card stock - 3 stars (not a fan of shiny decks)
Ease - 2.5 stars
Guidebook - 4 stars
I hope that you enjoyed my deck review, and also enjoy other deck reviews that I add to this site. I have a passion for exploring new decks and also finding various ways of connecting to my intuition. I appreciate you checking out my site and taking the time to read my review.
Happy Reading!
