Sep 21, 2016

Tarot App Review: Pic Tarot App



There is a groovy new tarot app for your iPhone or iPod Touch called the Pic Tarot. I have both the Lite and Full versions.  (The full version is only $.99, and well worth the buck.) The Pic Tarot is a collaborative effort, and features modern, cartoony card designs by the artists of the Pictoplasma Project.  (The title image of the red, sword-wielding cyclops creature riding a horse is the image from the Emperor card)

The descriptions given for the cards are quite good, and not your standard canned meanings... in many cases offering fresh perspectives on the cards.
Sample card meaning: The Hierophant: Truth, Faith, Moral Integrity -what do these values mean in our age of self-interest and turbo materialism? The Hierophant is a timeless creature; he opens his mind to insights that may be gleaned from all sorts of signals and sources.  Yet for all his pious aspirations he is one of us: a mere mortal with all the usual failings and yearnings for salvation.  His appearance allows you to re-connect with forgotten values, while you join him on the unending quest for meaning in life.
(What a great reminder, that the Hierophant is human just like the rest of us... a trait I usually don't allow him, when he pops up.)

The flipping of each card is accompanied by dramtic, climactic music. (Whether you love it or hate it, the solution lies in the increase or decrease of your iPod's volume button.)  There's also a handy Facebook button if you'd like to share the card you drew.

I have used the app many times already, usually utilizing the quick single-card draw, and it has always brought insight into the situation I'm asking about.  For example, one time I asked if it was a good idea in a particular situation to focus my energy on "acting as if" I already had something, in order to attract it, and the description of the card I drew actually mentioned something along the lines of inflating yourself up until you became the very reality of the image you perceived yourself as becoming. Color me impressed!

Another time I drew a card with my son, asking him what his day would be like, and he drew a Court card featuring someone playing the piano, which inspired him to get out his keyboard.  And just the other day, he told me that he was on the iPod and he went to the app to ask if he was going to get something he wanted that day.  The card he picked was the Moon, which did not bode well for the question, and it turns out he didn't get it.

While writing this review, I tested out the Facebook share button, and asked the Pic Tarot what it wanted people to know about it.  I drew the Eight of Wands! How perfect is that? I think of FAST communication, email, etc. when I think of this card... so it's telling you that it's a super fast way to get a tarot reading on the fly!

All cards can be seen here.  And when you go to the home page, PicTarot.com, you can watch a video where a Yeti finger walks you through one of the spreads of the app.

There is also a physical deck available. While the app features 78 individual character cards, the deck itself has character cards for only the 22 Major Arcana and Court Cards. Instead of Minors, it comes with 56 playing cards.

Differences between the Lite and Full versions of the app:

Lite Version (free):
22 cards
2 spreads (1-card and 2-card... see below for details)

Full Version ($.99):
78 cards
4 spreads
 1 card  (Revelation)
• 2 cards  (Result of Action / Result of No Action)
 4 cards  (Current Situation / Warning, Don't Do! / Advice, Do! / Opportunity)
 7 cards  (Relationship Spread)

You can try the Lite version for free, and if you like it, upgrade to the Full version.  I definitely recommend shelling out the mere dollar for the full version, but also suggest downloading the Lite version as well, in case you ever have need or desire for a Majors Only reading.

This app review was originally published on my previous blog (Tarot Dame) on 3/23/11.