Category: Products

Not too long ago I received an email promoting several products, one of which immediately caught my eye. After visiting the company’s website I was convinced that this product’s creator was a freakin’ genius. Maybe not whoever first thought to put spiced rum in ginger beer level of genius, but still, pretty high up on the list.

I’m talking about FortuneKeeper. What is a FortuneKeeper you ask? Let me ask you this. How many of you have gone out to eat Chinese food, or had Chinese take-out or delivery, and after having your fortune cookie have found yourself with a fortune that you really liked and wanted to keep? And how many of you soon after, despite your best intentions, have lost those fortunes, or had them mangled in your pockets or purses? Yep, that would be me. Well FortuneKeepers are these fantastic looking necklaces, keychains, and zipper pulls designed to hold a fortune from a fortune cookie in a manner where it’s protected and you can read it! Genius!

Better still is the variety of designs. The looks range from feminine to masculine, elegant to casual, the kind of Asian designs you’d expect to street graffiti styles. Most of them cost $20 to $24. If anyone wanted to go shopping for me….

To get an idea of how the fortune is kept and displayed, they have this handy “how to” video on their website.

I just thought these were totally clever and really beautiful and/or cute depending on design so I thought I’d take moment to mention them to you guys and see what you thought. To learn more about FortuneKeeper you can visit their website.

Yes, it is tarot time again folks! This time we’ve got the “Simply Deep Tarot” by Chanel Bayless and James Battersby from Schiffer Publishing.

First, since the deck is from Schiffer I’ve got to give it up again for their fantastic packaging. When you think about it, if I’m taking the time to gush about a publisher’s packaging methodology for their tarot decks, it’s got to be pretty freakin’ special. And it is. A very sturdy, rigid cardboard box that has a lift up top and features a magnetic closure. The magnet is so strong you can turn the box upside down with the deck inside and it doesn’t fall open. Add to that the book that comes with it fits in the box perfectly, is nearly a 100 pages, and has a full color cover, and well, you know why I tend to go on about Schiffer’s packaging when it comes to tarot decks. But enough about Schiffer, let’s talk about Bayless and Battersby’s work.

Chanel Bayless did the writing and created the deck and James Battersby did the artwork. Instead of viewing the tarot as a divinatory tool, Bayless prefers to consider it a tool for looking into your soul. To that end she created “Simply Deep Tarot” with the idea of “a tarot deck that would allow the reader to connect easily with the most simplistic meanings of each card, while paving a way to climb safely into the deeper meaning behind the card. In order to achieve this I started with a simplistic design, then I added little nuances to help the reader’s mind be open to exploration.”

Bayless doesn’t leave you alone on your journey of self discovery either, the book includes exercises for anchoring your energy and she even takes you through her journey of interpreting The Emperor card with regards to her love of the ocean.

“Simply Deep Tarot” is a 78 card deck utilizing Major and Minor Arcana and Battersby’s artwork for it is wonderful. I’m not sure how much of the art was directed by Bayless, but the results are outstanding.

Here is a delightful interpretation of The Fool:

The real stand out for me for this deck was the Chariot card. Normally I’m pretty neutral on the artistic interpretation of Chariot, but I found this interpretation truly stellar.

I don’t believe I’ve ever been excited about a Chariot card before now. This one really resonates with me and as far as I’m concerned leaves all other Chariots in the dust. See what I did there? They’re chariots, with wheels, that can kick up dust…..sometimes I’m just too darn clever.

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Guess what folks? You won’t believe the luck, but I just happen to have ended up with an extra copy of “Simply Deep Tarot” thanks to the kind folks at Schiffer Publishing. What to do, what to do. I thought we’d see about giving it away to one of The Magical Buffet’s loyal followers on Twitter. Why Twitter? Well, I’ve been under the weather as of late, so a contest in 140 characters or less seems just about the right speed for me.

So how do you enter? Just tweet me why you’d like the deck. Points will be given for creativity, amusement, and/or sincerity. Be sure to use @MagicalBuffet in your tweet so I see it! The contest will run from now until midnight eastern on Friday March 9, 2012. I’ll notify the winner via direct message on Saturday March 10, 2012 whenever I wake up, get my head on straight, and pick a winner.

Often times when people, sometimes including myself, talk about different tarot decks we can get tied up discussing detailed symbolism, the history and/or credentials of the designer, or the mechanics of the deck itself. What I’m saying is that although interesting, sometimes we suck the fun right out of a deck.

With the deck I have for you today, I don’t want to talk too much about it. I just want you to try and experience the joy and whimsy of it. In fact, it’s called the “Joie de Vivre Tarot” by Paulina Cassidy and joie de vivre is French for the joy of living!

I don’t think my scans really do them justice, but just look at Cassidy’s “High Priestess” and “The Fool”.

And folks, it’s been a long time since the Minor Arcana has thrilled me. When is the last time a “Seven of Cups” has delighted you this much?

The introduction to the book accompanying the deck says, “The Joie de Vivre tarot deck is designed to access the child-like energy in each one of us to help stimulate, enhance, and inspire joy in our own lives.”

Mission accomplished Ms. Cassidy.

Sometimes it takes a while for a review to get written for The Magical Buffet. It’s not because I disliked the product, or even because I find it particularly hard to figure out something to say. Just somehow, it happens. One of the big factors lately is just a lot of really top notch stuff keeps coming out and I find myself up to my armpits in awesome books and products (a fantastic problem to have, trust me!). Add my health issues that slow me down and the holiday season, and well, stuff takes time. It’s been forever that I’ve been meaning to share the beautiful “The Secret Language of Birds Tarot” by Adele Nozedar and Linda Sutton from Schiffer Publishing on the site, and the cold winter chills finally got me at the keyboard.

There’s a lot of stuff to talk about here, so let’s dive in and eventually I’ll hopefully remember to tell you how cold weather temperatures got me off my ass and writing this review of a truly unique deck. Let me start with, this is a deck from Schiffer Publishing, so I must again take a moment to gush about the quality. It comes in a sturdy oversized gift box that has the awesome magnetic closure that apparently all Schiffer tarot decks come with. The 78 card tarot deck features cards 5 1/2″ high and 4″ wide, which admittedly are a bit hard to handle, but frame the vivid artwork of Linda Sutton beautifully. The set comes with a slightly over 200 page trade paper back style book written by Adele Nozedar (author of “The Secret Language of Birds” and “The Element Encyclopedia of Secret Signs and Symbols” amongst others) and features an introduction from Philip Carr-Gomm (Chief of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids).

Much like when I reviewed “Cat’s Eye Tarot”, don’t think that some sort of cutesy bird “theme” is covering up for a lack of thought, intent, or depth on the part of the decks creators. You would be making a grave mistake.

“When the early priests and Shaman discovered what they believed to be a link between the random vagaries of the weather and the actions of the Gods, they naturally turned toward the skies for confirmation and justification of their actions.

Birds, with their flight patterns, naturally assumed the nature of messengers from the lofty realms of these multitudinous Gods, since of course birds, symbolically, come from the same place as both Gods and weather; the vast, impenetrable Above.” – Adele Nozedar

Nozedar expands from there showing how birds make compelling subjects for tarot exploration. Perhaps not as adorable as the “Hanged Kitty” from “Cat’s Eye Tarot”, (Curse you “Hanged Kitty”!) but multifaceted, sometimes cute, other times fearsome, mysterious, I think you get the idea here, right?

And just in case that wasn’t enough depth and texture for you, here’s some more for you!

“You will notice that the deck you are holding contains a lot of Italian terminology. This is not only because the artist Linda Sutton lives for much of the time in Italy, but is also in honor of the origin of the Tarot cards as we now know them.”

Nozedar goes on to say, “What we do know is that, as early as 1420, there are references to a certain ‘Game of Gods and Birds’ which was commissioned by Duke Filippo Maria Visconti of Milan.” The deck wasn’t the tarot deck we know today, it is a branch in the weird and winding family tarot tree, and so “The Secret Language of Birds Tarot” opted to pay a little homage with a touch of Italian.

This brings us how the cold weather finally prompted me to write my review. One of my favorite cards from “The Secret Language of Birds Tarot” is “The Fool”. After a chilly day of errand running my mind wandered to the beautiful, breezy, beach scene depicted by “The Fool” in this deck. The scanned image doesn’t do the art justice, but it gives you a bit of an idea of how wonderful it is. And I love Nozedar’s introductory description in the book.

“At the edge of a beach, pretty much where the sea meets the shore, we see a beguiling looking young woman wearing a strapless gold sundress and a gold bangle. She’s relaxed, looking over her shoulder in a come-hither manner, effectively flirting with the camera. This girl looks as though she’s more aware of her lipstick than her surroundings – but the lipstick is good, and, in some cases, lipstick can be important especially when there might not be much else to rely on.”

She goes on to discuss the significance of The Fool and the cuckoo. Also the crocodile our beguiling woman has no problem toying with. Remember, there is always a lot more going on with any of these cards than you might suspect at first glance.

“The Secret Language of Birds Tarot” is a bewitching deck that has certainly captured me in its spell.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and with that holiday starts for many people a very stressful time of year. For some, tomorrow’s holiday may be less relaxing day off, and more a tension filled exercise in restraint. You know, restraining yourself from telling Aunt Edna what you really think about her vintage coupon collection. As a bit of a preemptive salve to potentially frayed nerves I found something playful, whimsical, and all around anti-stress inducing, the “Cat’s Eye Tarot” by Debra M. Givin, DVM and published by U.S. Games Systems.

I’m not what you call a “cat person”, although Deborah Blake’s house of adorable cats is slowing chipping away at my hardened heart. Yet upon opening up “Cat’s Eye Tarot” the first words to come out of my cold, bitter, cat hair allergic mouth was, “Awwwwww…….how cute!” Yes Givin, a practicing veterinarian, has created an adorable deck of tarot cards. However before you write off “Cat’s Eye Tarot” as some sort of kitschy theme deck possessing no other value than cuddly cat art, let’s go to the accompanying book for some additional insights.

Givin admits that “the images in ‘Cat’s Eye Tarot’ are simple and uncluttered” and that there are “few, if any, esoteric symbols.” Her choice to work with cats was thoughtful and not just born out of affection for felines. She points out that, “cats are pleasing to the eye, complex in their behaviors, and mysterious in their motivation; an idea model for a visually evocative medium like the tarot.” Color in the deck is used to convey suit energies with “solid practical brown tabbies” for pentacles, “sweet black and white” for cups, “talkative Siamese” for swords, and “flashy red tabbies” for wands. Usual suit symbols are replaced with reptiles, fish, birds, and mice for wands, cups, swords, and pentacles respectively. All were chosen because they are natural prey for cats. See? There is a lot more going on here than just some cute cat artwork. But now let’s get to the de-stressing exercise of checking out some of that artwork…..

I was enchanted at the way The Fool and The Star not only mirrored the art of the traditional tarot, but managed to capture the feelings those two cards convey.

And most readers know my personal favorite tarot card is The Hanged Man, so I couldn’t resist sharing the adorable The Hanged Kitty card.

Who’s the cutest little representation of sacrifice? You are kitty! That’s right, you are! Why yes, I did just do baby talk to a tarot card. Wanna’ make something of it? In the fullest of disclosures I must admit to one weird mental hiccup that this Hanged Kitty card triggers in my mind. For some reason every time I say “The Hanged Kitty”, in my horrible mind I think, “hung like a kitty”. Honestly, I’m not sure anyone would ever make the boast of being “hung like a kitty”, but alas it is forever entwined with the beautiful, innocent, and pure The Hanged Kitty card.

This review took an odd, and perhaps unfortunate turn…..

Okay, so all the way back in May U.S. Games Systems sent me a fantastic widget to consider for review. Due to the nature of this widget, it took a while for me to get around to featuring it on the site. However, now it’s getting mentioned as we approach the holiday gift giving season, and since this would be an awesome gift for just about anyone, I’m kind of happy it took this long to get it up on the site.

I’m talking about the Mystic Pyramid! This gray pyramid helps those seeking answers with just a push down. Text doesn’t do the Mystic Pyramid justice. Sure, it may seem like just an electronic Magic 8 Ball. You ask a question, press the pyramid, and get an answer. But it’s so much better than a Magic 8 Ball! Even the most blasé of my friends couldn’t resist the charm of the Pyramid! And I suspect when you see this video, you’ll understand why…..

See what I mean? I couldn’t figure out a way to convey how absolutely fun the Mystic Pyramid is in simple text. It really needs to be seen and heard to get why it’s such a great time, and so it gets the distinction of being the item that finally forced us to do video for the site.

The suggested retail for the Mystic Pyramid is $24.95, putting it in a great holiday gift giving price range. Who wouldn’t enjoy having a Mystic Pyramid at home or the office? The day I put it out my friends could not stopping asking for its input, and these were people who scoffed at it when I first set it out to show them. Trust me, the Mystic Pyramid will be a fun gift appreciated by anyone on your holiday gift giving list.

I recently became aware of Schiffer Publishing when they contacted me about reviewing “Wicca? What’s the Real Deal?”. I was surprised to learn that they also publish tarot decks and so I jumped at the opportunity to see what kinds of decks their company published. In response to my interest I was sent “Tarot Leaves” by Beth Seilonen.

Seilonen combines her love of tarot symbolism with the leaves of the trees she is accustomed to seeing growing up and currently residing in Maine. The deck follows the traditional Major and Minor Arcana, but they are presented through the prism of nature. The author shares, “The beauty of life is reflected within the leaves through the color, symbols, and imagery which overlaps with the veins of the leaf, much like that of a palm of a hand to a palmist; that which is most relevant at the time is revealed to the querant.” Of course you want to know what everyone really wants to know about a tarot deck, what is the art like? I found many of the cards quite striking and have a few favorites here to share.

I should also note, since I’ve never seen a tarot deck published by Schiffer before that the quality of the product is amazing. The cards are beautifully produced on sturdy card stock, the deck and accompanying book come in a hard cardboard laminated box that has a lid that lifts up and is closed firmly by a magnet, and the book that comes with it has the same dimensions as the cards (so it fits in the box)but instead of just being paper it has a sturdy, full color, card stock front and back cover. Each card is given its own page in the book and Seilonen also offers suggestions for card spreads that she finds work well with the “Tarot Leaves” deck. The suggested retail price for the deck is $24.99.

“Tarot Leaves” is a wonderful deck filled with beauty and whimsy. It would make a fine addition to anyone’s collection of tarot decks, but it’s perfectly suited for tarot readers and enthusiasts looking for a deck that reflects the natural world as much as the spiritual world.