DV's Archangel Tarot - anyone got hold of it yet?

Her work is spiraling out of control in my opinion...to put one's own image in a deck is bad enough, but to picture yourself as an angel seems to border on some serious issues, I find it scary and in extremely bad taste and I am surprised at Hay House for allowing it.

I wonder if sales will suffer this time or again be mind-boggling successful?

I take issue with the dignity with which Doreen treats the Tarot/Oracle deck. Which is to say it appears she is more concerned with seeing how many of her angelic ideas can be grafted onto card decks as quickly as possible. Deck after deck is being churned out at light speed by a powerhouse multimillion dollar corporation, no different from Sylvia Browne or other top psychics who have to put out tons of books a year to dominate the market. Strictly as a Tarotist uninterested in her books and other work, I see this as monster marketing to parasitically extend her DV Angel Brand into another area for her domain.

That said, while I bemoaned the earlier Angel Tarot, the Archangel Tarot certainly feels inferior in its presentation. It's one thing to choose your Minor suits according to the four elements with which few people would disagree. But I disagree with her selection of archangels, especially Ariel, to head and encompass all of them in four groups. Every single card thus falls under the dominance of one archangel, but the four Minor archangels have the added pleasure of ruling several Majors, giving the remainders short thrift and a feeling of imbalance. The Angel Tarot is smoother, simpler, and assumes the Tarot structure more easily, while this one just feels clumsy, choosing an archangel for whatever feels appropriate for the Waite card. This eliminates many of the patterns that can link cards, and I feel inclined to only use the deck for single card draws since each one is so individualistic.

I'm not entirely a fan of photo collage, but this is strictly preference. However, as several pointed out, the artwork of the Angel Tarot was culled from many artists and then angel wings were inserted digitally. I find this new deck's photo collage more preferable in that it's original and doesn't interfere with the work of others. At the same time, the art is clumsy and inferior to other collage decks I've seen, such as Cosmic Tribe. More focus is on the faces of the people than the actions or scenery of the card, lending a narcissistic feel.

In all I'd recommend Angel before Archangel as the lesser of two evils. The commercialist machine with which these decks are released by one corporation under its personal brand overshadows its enjoyment. There are certainly a large number of better angel decks out there that are not bound by Virtue's choices or attitudes towards angels.

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Thanks ravynangel. That is interesting and a bit surprising. She has tons of money (I assume) and I know there are a lot of artists who create angelic images who no doubt would love the exposure. I have some of her earlier decks, like you purchased during an emotionally 'heavy' period in my life. They all featured works by many reasonably good artists.

So that makes the question, if she can afford decent art and there angel artists who (I assume) would be happy to work for her, why the situation that you describe?

I believe part of it is the simple rush to produce. She wants to get her brand out on the Tarot shelves as quickly as possible, and assessing a deck's art for quality might be less of a priority than completing it.

There are many Angel Tarot decks out there and now DV has one too. But nobody's done an Archangel Tarot, so she has to be the first. And barely has the deck hit shelves when there's a Cherub deck in the making too. I wonder how long it will be before DV's worked her way through the entire Angelic Hierarchy and made nine decks, just to claim she's the only one who did, with her special brand of angelology.

But this is a photo collage deck, and most of her oracle decks involve painted artwork. Her Angel Tarot is full of artwork that was not produced by her. It seems several people are uncomfortable with the idea of humans photographed as stand-ins for cherished angels and archangels. A photograph feels so much more realistic than a painting of the same person, and there's less of an ability to suspend disbelief that this is not someone you might know with angel wings inserted on her back.

And as far as editing goes, if the Moon card with Doreen's image is meant to be a recent depiction of her as in her latest videos, St. Archangel of the Holy Airbrush was working overtime.

Alta said:

Thanks ravynangel. That is interesting and a bit surprising. She has tons of money (I assume) and I know there are a lot of artists who create angelic images who no doubt would love the exposure. I have some of her earlier decks, like you purchased during an emotionally 'heavy' period in my life. They all featured works by many reasonably good artists.

So that makes the question, if she can afford decent art and there angel artists who (I assume) would be happy to work for her, why the situation that you describe?

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Aeric said:

I believe part of it is the simple rush to produce. She wants to get her brand out on the Tarot shelves as quickly as possible, and assessing a deck's art for quality might be less of a priority than completing it.

There are many Angel Tarot decks out there and now DV has one too. But nobody's done an Archangel Tarot, so she has to be the first. And barely has the deck hit shelves when there's a Cherub deck in the making too. I wonder how long it will be before DV's worked her way through the entire Angelic Hierarchy and made nine decks, just to claim she's the only one who did, with her special brand of angelology.

But this is a photo collage deck, and most of her oracle decks involve painted artwork. Her Angel Tarot is full of artwork that was not produced by her. It seems several people are uncomfortable with the idea of humans photographed as stand-ins for cherished angels and archangels. A photograph feels so much more realistic than a painting of the same person, and there's less of an ability to suspend disbelief that this is not someone you might know with angel wings inserted on her back.

And as far as editing goes, if the Moon card with Doreen's image is meant to be a recent depiction of her as in her latest videos, St. Archangel of the Holy Airbrush was working overtime.

Click to expand...

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As a RABID collector, even I was thinking of NOT getting this - but I was given a book token, and I need more books like I need a hole in the head. So, as it was cheap in the local bookstore... (and as it will annoy the donor if she finds out what I bought.. ) I did.

I hate it. But I do at least find the art more consistent than the first - I think it helps that it is only one artist this time. Still - using family and friends CAN work (see under Chris Butler) - but here - no. And as for suits named for archangels....

And those reviews are telling.

Theese (sic) cards are useless for anything but a good laugh and I have already recycled them.

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and

I also do not respect the blatant advertisement for Doreen's book Flower Therapy on the Seven of Ariel card.

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- I MUST go look....

Even so - at least this one doesn't hurt my eyes. I do NOT expect to be able to read with it, though.

Please do let us know!

Epic fail! When I took a look at them - I couldn't take them seriously at all - imo - they're insulting to the intelligence of those who are serious in their studies of Tarot. I find them to be childish in their disregard or denial for the shadow side; the art badly executed - just another load of mass produced saccharine from a tired production line...

Hopefully there won't be a generation of "fluffy bunny" - "it's all light, there's no such thing as negativity" tarot readers wielding her cards...

Call me a cynic but it all seems a desperate attempt to stay relevant & grab the cash...