REVIEW: Cat’s Eye Tarot

Cat’s Eye Tarot
Debra M. Givin, DVM
U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
ISBN: 978-1-57281-685-5

This is a standard-sized Tarot offering from U.S. Games. The packaging, the LWB, the card stock are all what you would expect. I am hard on boxes so mine get beat to heck and back. It’s one reason I took up crochet. LOL

The suits are easily identified by color but also by the type of cat Givin assigns. The suit of Swords features whites and blues and yellows for color with the Siamese and Himalayan being the breed. Cups are red (for love, I assume even though this is the suit of water) with black and white cats on each card. Wands are orange with orange tabby cats. Pentacles have green and brown throughout with brown tabbies on the cards.

Things I love about this deck are the way Givin captured the cats. The Knight of Pentacles ears are pitched forward listening for the slightest sound as he prepares to pounce on something. The Tower cat has just begun to twist so all four feet will hit the ground as he or she plunges out of a window. Givin is also authentic in her representation of household felines. The Ten of Swords reveals a hoarder’s kitchen with cats everywhere including an overfull litterbox with an intact tom urinating. Some are heartbreaking as well like the which shows an obviously stray black and white mother cat watching as her kittens are taken away by a well-meaning person. Or the Three of Swords where no cat is seen. Just the empty snow-covered bowls and sad cat tracks in the snow. This cat knows the heartbreak of a loving home who abandons her. Just writing about it makes me want to cry.

But there is joy as well. The Two of Cups has two cats intertwining with their tails forming a heart. The Empress shows a beautiful, fluffy cat with two kittens snuggled up to her. The King of Swords shows a very stout Siamese (snowshoe variety for those who care) coming his cat door. The Page of Cups presents a young kitten sitting on a very comfortable red chair.

I think this is a very readable deck for anyone who is in tune with their inner feline. If you are soft-hearted, or your client is, it may not be as suitable for public readings. It’s kind of embarrassing to tear up when I see certain cards. But this is not just a collectible, art deck in my estimation. Because of that, I did FireRaven’s “New Deck Interview” spread.

The Major Arcana features

****** 5 ****** 6 ******
********** 4 **********
****** 3 ****** 2 ******
********** 1 **********

1. Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic? The Star! A pretty calico girl dabbles a paw in a moon-lit pool. The woods behind are purple and highlighted with a series of waterfalls as the stream comes to the pool. The pool itself trails off into another water fall. She is reaching for a star. This deck seems to be saying that the most important characteristic is that it can help me reach for my own star. And it seems, like a cat, to be quite taken with itself. The Star? LOL What cat doesn’t want to be the star in someone’s world?

Interestingly, the cat plunging from the Tower is the same cat as the one in the Star. So she did land on her feet and now she’s gotten a new sense of hope. Lovely!

2. What are your strengths as a deck? The Seven of Cups is my answer. A black and white cat watches an aquarium. He is mesmerized by the fish. Could it be this deck will help those who need to make emotional choices? Maybe the strength is that it will offer options. The books talks about “pouncing” on opportunity and genuine relationships as the key to this card.

3. What are your limits as a deck? Oh dear! The noisy Knight of Swords shows up. I am a Siamese person. I’ve had a Siamese in my life since I was six years old. Only in the past five years have I become Mese-less. And I’m poorer for it to be sure. But this is a mouthy mouth cat we see here. Limits of this deck would be the attidude that it is always right. I can see that this deck might be seen as a bit overbearing at times. And to the point. One thing about a Siamese is that if they don’t like you, they let you know right up front.

4. What do you bring to the table — what are you here to teach me? The perfect teaching card turns up with the Hermit. This jet black cat wears a star on his collar. He has mice with him, but he is not hunting. He is guiding instead. I can see that this deck can help me be a better teacher. Nice, since I will be offering some classes here in Austin beginning next year.

5. How can I best learn from and collaborate with you? The Six of Wands shows six cats. There is a sense of victory here. Again with the deck being a bit full of itself, yes? To learn from and collaborate with this deck, I need to be confident and bold. I need to assume my triumph. There is a nod to the word “pride” by showing essentially a pride of cats as well.

6. What is the potential outcome of our working relationship? The Four of Cups shows a disgruntle Black and White cat croched at a pond’s edge. Two koi fish are there but he looks as if he is defending his pool against some other cat to me. This is a warning to me to not be too emotional with this deck, I think. It is a reminder to make sure I find joy with this deck to avoid this unhappy four of Cups experience. The LWB refers to emotional overload and I can see where this deck might do that since Givin is so authentic with how we humans sometimes mistreat and abuse our animals.

So, I still think I would use this in a public setting. I do think I would have other decks available to read with though. See random images at the bottom of this post.

By the way? I’m running a contest this month. If you like my business place page on Facebook, you are entered to win a Blooming Spread reading with me. So go on! Click and like. You know you want to.

Click on images to bring up larger images.