![]() What’s more, to use Dead Moon as an oracle deck, the practitioner would need to be quite advanced and highly knowledgeable already of the 64 hexagrams. Aren’t we beyond that kind of antifeminist and racist behavior yet? I know I said that that post-colonial social politics is beyond the scope of this review, but the scantily clad, sexually objectified Asian women were offensive to me. The deck did not work for me when I applied traditional I Ching divination techniques and it did not work when I applied it to my go-to tarot and cartomancy spreads. If I didn’t know the meaning of Hexagram 22 prior to encountering that card, I would not have guessed “grace and beauty.” Maybe melancholy. The image of the woman depicted therein kind of works for me but also kind of doesn’t. Hexagram 22, Bin, is about grace and beauty. Stunning artwork in Hexagram 11, but it makes no sense as applied to the meaning of Hexagram 11. Hexagram 11, Tai, is about reaping the fruits of your labor success. In fact, the woman on that card looks sexually inviting. I just don’t get that from the card’s imagery. For Dead Moon, not so much.įor instance, Hexagram 9, Shiao Chu, is about restraint and propriety. A divination fusion of I Ching and tarot, one would think, would mean the ability to interpret the meaning of the hexagram via the imagery and symbolism on the oracle card. ![]() When the tarot is used on its own for divination, you interpret the meaning through the imagery and symbolism on the cards. When the I Ching is used on its own for divination, you consult the book after yarrow stalks or tossing coins or what have you. No hints, anywhere.Īs a result I found it difficult to use. Not to mention there are no words on any of the cards to suggest what the hexagram you’re looking at is, other than the number. It’s an incredible work of art, no question, but perhaps not the most comprehensive image to symbolize Hexagram 2. There may or may not be a waterfall in the background. In the Dead Moon deck, we’ve got a half-naked forlorn looking woman who is kneeling, looking down. In other I Ching oracle decks I’ve come across, Hexagram 2 is usually represented by a tree or a Mother Earth type figure. ![]() It’s a hexagram that reminds us to be calm and receptive to the natural world around us. If that was Royo’s intention, then it may have failed, at least for me.įor example, Hexagram 2, Kun, or Earth, represents stability, support, strength, fertility, nourishment, etc. Other I Ching oracle decks, such as the I Ching Tarot by Kwan Lau, depict images that the illustrator believes represents the meaning of the hexagram. They don’t necessarily correspond with the hexagram it’s supposed to represent. However, the Dead Moon I Ching deck is haphazard with the illustrations. As it is based on the I Ching, the oracle deck has 64 rather than 78 cards, each corresponding with one of the hexagrams from the I Ching. It is an oracle deck, however, and not tarot in the traditional sense. Without question Royo’s Dead Moon deck is one of the best on the market when it comes to art. Sure, there’s some hypersexualization and exotification of Asian women in there, but let’s just agree that post-colonial social politics will be beyond the scope of this deck review. And the consistent depiction of inclement weather in the backdrop. Royo’s artwork in Dead Moon is what I’ll describe as East Asian post-punk gothic rock that borrows imagery from Japanese samurai culture and imperial China, altogether with lots of blood, wild black hair, and intricate tattoos. I love the I Ching Dead Moon oracle deck by Luis Royo… As a collector’s item, that is.
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