Dreams of Gaia Tarot--Large or the Small, Pocket Sized?

Dreams of Gaia Tarot / Large Deck and Pocket Sized Edition

Well, it really depends on what you prefer. This is just a short comparison on both decks created by Ravynne Phelan. I love the Dreams of Gaia Tarot, the art work is stunning and the restructuring of the Major Arcana just works for me when doing professional readings. You can find a description of the restructuring of the Major Arcana of this deck HERE. 

Sometimes this deck is more oracle in nature and some of the meanings of the cards are different than the standard Rider-Waite-Colman-Smith based decks, but that doesn't seem to matter when one is reading them in a spread and using one's intuition to divine the blending of the cards. I was drawn to the sigils for the elements and the use of them in lieu of the traditional suits of the Tarot deck.

My favorite difference in favor of the pocket edition is the lack of borders so the art really pops on the smaller deck! Also the pocket edition has the matte type of paper stock; the large deck uses shiny paper stock and the cards feels thinner.

The larger deck has lettering at the bottom identifying the name/suit of each card for the Major Arcana and the Court Cards--the Minor Arcana uses elemental sigils and numbers to identify the cards.

The pocket sized deck uses small burgundy boxes with numbers for the Major Arcana cards and elemental sigils and numbers for the Minor Arcana and Court Cards--to take up less space on the smaller cards. 

The larger, original deck is a bit larger and wider than the standard Tarot decks; the pocket edition is poker sized. The larger deck is gilded on the edges (only the 2nd edition), the pocket sized is not. The back of the large deck has a beautiful design in black and indigo with blue and white accents and orange bordering (I have the 2nd edition); the back of the pocket sized deck has a fractal design in a beautiful deep red with points of white. The packaging/boxing of both decks are branded with those respective colors.

What makes the larger deck is the book. Organized for ease with spreads and in depth meanings of each card, it functions as more of a manual and can be used with both decks. The smaller deck has a small booklet with keywords for each card and an example of a spread and information about the deck in the beginning pages. On the last page of the booklet, the reader is directed to go to BlueAngelOnline for a more expanded version of card meanings in PDF format.

All in all, this is a beautiful deck and it does not matter which version you get, just what you prefer. I use the larger deck for professional readings and the smaller one to carry easily in my purse and do quick readings and meditations for myself. Be sure to check out Ravynne Phelan on Instagram to see what she is cooking up next! She has a round deck she is creating now, very curious about it and some of her artwork for it has been posted there.