Psy Cards were invented by Nick Hobson sometime in the mid 1980’s.
At the time everybody I knew bought them– primarily, I think, because of Maggie Kneens’ beautiful and evocative illustrations – and worked with them for a while, but most of my friends are committed Tarot people so I suspect that many of those Decks met the standard back-of-a-drawer fate of loved, but not favourite packs of cards.
Psy Cards are not an alternative to Tarot Cards (although the present Psycards website likes to pretend that they are). They were designed to act as a mirror for your inner self, to help YOU, the reader, gain emotional insight into yourself; understand your own feelings and motivations; become aware of the possibilities your life offers, make informed decisions, and understand the messages your unconscious mind is trying to send to you.
In fact, Psy Cards are the only cards I know of that will let you read accurately for yourself, and they work like a charm.
One other plus: In the past there were books that acted as ‘companions’ to the cards – for all I know there still are – but (for once!) the little booklet that comes free with the cards is all you need to make a success of using them. There is no need to learn anything, the meanings given are just suggestions, and there are no right or wrong interpretations.
The 40 card Psy Deck consists of:
One card to represent the Querent (The Inquirer), Four Pointer cards designed to give straightforward answers to questions (yes, no, now and never) with the remainder divided into 5 sections of 7 cards each:
7 Fundamentals that cover everyday things like home, money and friends that are common to us all;
7 Archtypes (the father, the mother; birth, death, etc) that depict forces within us that are common to all men and women);
7 Symbols that have resonated in our hearts and minds for centuries (the sun, the moon, the wheel and so on);
7 Characters: different aspects of our own personalities and those of the people around us in our daily lives; and
7 happenings: events that take place inside us, and in the outer world that impact and transform our lives.
The Deck is available from The Psycards Store or The Holistic Shop.