Product: Konxari Cards
Artist: Paul Michael Kane (Photographer)
Producers: The IRM Foundation
Link: http://www.konxari.com
Retail Price: $14.95 USD
Notes: This product is originally designed to be used as an alternative method of ghost hunting, and not intended for immediate magical presentation. However with some creative approaches this product can be an excellent selection for the bizarre worker.
Includes:
1 Deck of 88 Konxari cards
1 instruction booklet
Konxari cards (pronounced Kon-zar-ee) is a card divination process that has apparently been around since the ancient Egyptians were working on their next pyramid construction project. The process of divination used in this product is a process known as Cartomancy. Which is fortune telling or divination through the use of cards. Another Cartomancy system that is more well known to the general public is Tarot. The idea is a simple one. The reader (the person using the cards) will deal out a number of cards in a certain way, discard a small number of the dealt cards as an offering to the dead, and then slowly turn the remaining cards over interpreting the specific cards, their meanings, and their over all importance in the spread. The cards revealed are suppose to answer the questions of Who, What, Where, When, Why, How, The Problem, and The Solution.
The First Impression: My first impression actually preseeds me even opening the deck. I have to say that the IRM team's customer service response was amazing! They promptly responded to my emails requesting to review their product, they quickly dispatched a box of product to me to review, and they did it all with a smile and a friendly “thank you!” You can't beat customer service like that. They respond fast, ship fast, and provide a quality service. If their product is half as good as their service, then I'm sure this review will be a good one!
When I opened my box of product and got the Konxari cards in my hand I have to say the box looks good in a commercial trying to be creepy kind of way. The images on the box (a skull, ghost legs sticking out from under the bed, someone suffocating), the font used, and coloring surely set one's expectations high. The box is twice as wide as a normal deck of playing cards, but about the same in height. It's like you would place two decks of Bicycle rider backs side by side, and you've got a good idea of the size of the product I'm holding in my hands. I'm not sure if it's because of marketing or what, but there is a slightly misleading statement in the upper right corner of the box. It says “For 2 or more players”. The word “players” would suggest that this is a game, and the intentions of the cards, and instructions for handling would prove otherwise. Had I be the person in charge of graphic layout, I would have replaced the word “player” with the word “user”, but that's just my own preference.
The Open: The cards are packaged and wrapped in two packets. Since there's 88 cards in the deck, I'll assume the packets are 44 cards each, though I'll admit I didn't count them to make sure. The card backs have a nice, worn, old and withered look to them. There's a diagram on the back of the cards which shows the position of the cards when you lay them out in the spread. For someone whose not familiar with this product, or its use I think this is a nice touch. The card stock is stiff, perhaps stiffer than a normal deck of Bicycle rider backs. The cards also have a gloss finish which makes them slick. The cards don't fan well when done with one hand, however if you use both hands to fan them, the fan looks only slightly better. Obviously, these cards were not designed to fan or flourish, so this doesn't surprise me. The cards are broken up into different categories. There are six sensory cards, eight character cards, fifteen location cards, eight victim cards, ten time cards, nine obstacle cards, six equipment cards, twelve energy cards, and fifteen message cards. To add further complexity to the system each card also has either a letter or number in one corner and either a color or symbol in the other. Some quick examples of the cards that you'll get in this deck is, Murder, Girl, Possession, Revenge, Graveyard, Video, Curse, Bedroom, Dawn, and Tactile. The cards artwork is exceptional. The symbology is strong, and suggestive. There are nice little elements hinting at a more sinister meaning also layered into some of the cards. For example the character card of “Boy” shows a young boy playing with wooden blocks with letters on them. Those same blocks also just happen to be arranged in such a way to spell the word “devil”. Creepy.
Wear and Tear: I've been using the deck for over a week now, and it's holding up well against constant shuffling, cutting, travel, wear and tear. The card box is actually in worse condition than the cards taking most of the beating from travel, being shoved into and pulled out of book bags, etc. Whether your intending to use these cards for their intended purpose, or if you plan to use them for bizarre magic, I would recommend ditching the box all together and getting something like a wooden box at a craft store to keep your deck in. Removing the commercialization of the box the cards came in appearance will enhance the mood these cards invoke naturally with their appearance. The cards themselves are holding up well. They show little signs of crimping or paper separation at the corners. The cards are still pretty crisp to the touch and shuffle, and I suspect with proper care they'll last for a good long time. The deck is difficult to manipulate, flourish, shuffle, and cut, but only because (I suspect) there are 88 cards instead of the normal 52 that I'm used to working with. After working with the cards for a week, and change I've gotten better at swing cutting and packet control. While this terminology will mean nothing to the average reader, to the magicians it's critical. These cards will accept a crimp, but removing it is next to impossible. I think that is in part due to the type of card stock used, and the gloss finish I would say all the layman would need to know is handling this deck will be no different for you than handling a deck of Tarot cards, should you be exposed to those.
Instructions: The 32 page instruction booklet that comes with the product is reminiscent of the kind of instructions that would come with collectable playing card games such as Pokemon or Magic The Gathering from back in the day. The instructions are well written and include a brief two page history of Konxari before it goes into how to set the cards up to do a reading. The pictures in the instruction booklet are sharp and clear, which is nice. The booklet gives you a couple of suggestions on how to spread the cards out to do your reading, which on top of the classic spread, consists of a “crossing the bridge” spread, and instructions to use a pendulum with your cards. In each spread there is a certain number of cards that you'll never reveal, which is explained as an old long standing tradition of being an offering to the spirits of the dead. Other than the offering, no other explanation is given as to why you never use a small number of the cards in each reading. Apparently after all these years there are some traditions that still remain. There are 88 cards in all, and each card is layered with it's immediate meaning which is often synonymous with the name of the card, as well as alternative or additional meanings that appear in the form of letters, numbers, symbols or colors. Anyone with the instruction booklet by their side could learn to do readings with the cards in as little as just a few minutes of study, however finding out all the intricate ways the cards can work together and decoding all the symbology as it applies to the immediate reading that you are doing could take years to master. The weekend warrior who just wants to have fun spooking out some friends, or the serious dedicated student who is always looking improve their knowledge, this product has a little something for everyone.