Tarot of the Wyrd

Thelema Tarot

A beautiful deck crafted in the Rider-Waite tradition. Enjoy!

Mystic Tarot

I've been MIA from this blog for a while, busy with a few new projects. I thought I'd return with something a bit different.....a video I made showcasing the Mystic Tarot by the UK's celebrity psychic "Mystic Meg." Enjoy!

Tarot of Pagan Cats

There are many "cat" theme decks out there and why not? Cats seem to have a air of mysticism about them. Their alluring eyes, the twitch of the tail, the long association with magic and as witches' "familiars".....

The Tarot of Pagan Cats is my current "go to" deck; the deck I LOVE to carry with me every day. This is the only "cat" theme deck that I have bought to date, although I have my eye on the Bohemian Cat Tarot as well as the "Cat's Eye" tarot, too. More the latter I think, as I love depictions of cats in their natural state.

 

This is such a charming deck. What better representative of paganism than cats? Following in the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition, the illustrations are colorful and rich in symbolism. Suits are wands, chalices, swords and pentacles. This deck is the brainchild of Wiccan High Priestess and prolific author on all things pagan, Dorothy Morrison. Like all decks produced by Lo Scarabeo, the card label is printed in several languages along the upper and lower borders. This is is distracting.

The Magician card in most decks includes representation of the four elements. This deck carries that idea through to over 20 of the other cards, including many in the minor arcana. Look closely at the 8 of Pentacles, the five of pentacles, the four of swords, the Hanged Man (cat hanging upside-down on living room curtains), the emperor, the 10 of swords, the eight of wands and many others. You will find the traditional pagan elemental correspodances of wand, cup, sword (or athame), and pentacle in all these cards and more! In addition to cards that picture the pagan or wiccan symbols of the suits, there are several cards that include the alchemical symbols of fire, earth, air and water.



The cat on the Temperance card is pouring water out of a fishbowl. But where, I asked myself, was the fire in the card? The cat is wearing a collar with a tag engraved with the alchemical symbol for fire. Then it struck me that the cat itself represents fire in this card. All the Kings are seated on emperor-style squares with animals engraved on the boxes that represent the element of the suit.

One card I am not fond of is Strength. It pictures a cat, draped in small green and red laurels, with its paw on the head of a VERY small chow dog. There is no way a dog, even if it were a puppy, could be smaller than this cat, so this card is not as well-done as the others in the deck.

Note alchemical elemental symbols on the cups in foreground.

 

There are so many cards in this deck that I absolutely LOVE, it is difficult to pick out just a few. Just look at that empress and her offspring. I find this deck to be very intuitive and simple to read.





Eight of Wands, a stone circle with the addition of a cup, pentacle and athame (sword)



Not Your Grandma's Tarot Decks

Thought it might be fun to do an entry on a few great decks that you can’t find just anywhere. These must be special ordered.  

First, the Victorian Romantic Tarot.

The Victorian Romantic Tarot is now available directly from Baba Studios in Prague. This second edition has been slightly revised and improved from the wildly successful and long sold out first edition. My deck is speeding to me in the mail as I write this.! J

http://baba-store.com/

The Gilded Tarot Royale - I’ve always sort of had the Gilded Tarot on my wish list, but not right up there at the top…I think it is the machiney-steampunk look that isn’t quite my cup of tea, or perhaps it was just that this deck was not “stunning” enough. But now, over ten years later, Ciro Marchetti has re-done his Gilded Tarot. He calls this version the “Gilded Tarot Royale.”

This latest edition is only available directly from Ciro. The cardstock is higher quality, the images have been re-worked and are spectacular!!  The card size is larger, a feature that I personally prefer. There is a greater depth of traditional symbolism in this newer edition, reflecting personal growth in Ciro’s own tarot journey. If you have held back on ordering the Gilded Tarot, the Gilded Royale may just be right for you! Check it out!!

http://ciromarchetti.com/Gilded_Tarot_-_Royale.html

The Aura Soma Tarot

Aura Soma Tarot is an exclusive deck with fabulous artwork of Pamela Matthews. There are 44 major arcana cards. Aura Soma is a system based on the healing properties of colors and focuses on the “aura” that surrounds each of us. These cards look lovely (there are pictures on the linked web page), I haven’t gotten up the funds to order them yet, but hopefully in the not-so-distant future.

http://s7.web-servers.com.au/~grailco/catalog/index.php?cPath=22&osCsid=ffd44452cb01e7f6dca23bf13bbc5f49

Then, just for fun, there is Pixie's Astounding Lenormand deck. A fun divination deck based on the artwork of Pamela Coleman Smith, who illustrated the world-famous Rider-Waite deck. This one is in its second edition and can be had for a mere $20.

http://delphischamber.bigcartel.com/product/pixie-s-astounding-lenormand-second-edition


And, last but not least, we have The Illuminated Tarot. This deck is a most lovely rendition of Pamela Coleman Smith's famous images originally done for the Rider-Waite deck. This is not your everyday RWS clone; all images have been handpainted in gorgeous vibrant breathtaking colors. The decks are handmade and only available by special order. You can even order versions with pearlized paint and glitter, if you want something really jazzy.

http://www.soul-guidance.com/tarotdecks/page_7.htm

Review of "Shapeshifter Tarot"

This deck is odd, to each his own, I suppose. Firstly, swords and wands are transposed, with swords representing fire and wands representing air. This would be OK to work with, except the card meaning are not representative of the elements....the meanings of the swords are still equated with knowledge, intellect, thought, justice and truth...but are now associated with fire, rather than air. The wands cards represent creativity, action, movement, enthusiasm, and career....but are classed under the element of air....this is rather confusing to new readers who are used to the Rider-Waite-Smith associations.

If you shamanic or druidic-themed artwork appeals to you this could be a wonderful deck to work with. Not recommended for beginners...there are too many variants from tradition to use this as a learning deck.




Rather busy representation of "The World" card.


The Court cards are Seeker, Warrior, God and Goddess. There are three additional Major Arcana in this deck, and almost all of the majors have been renamed. Traditional name first, then the card name in Shapeshifter Tarot:

0 The Fool - Initiation
1 The Magician - Sorcerer
2 The High Priestess - Sorceress
3 The Empress - The Mother
4 The Emperor - The Father
5 The Hierophant - Knowledge
6 The Chariot - Power
7 The Lovers - The Lovers
8 Strength - Courage
9 The Hermit - The Seer
10 Wheel Of Fortune - The Circle
11 Justice - Nature
12 Hanged Man - The Shapeshifter
13 Death - Rebirth
14 Temperance - Balance
15 The Devil - Choice
16 The Tower - The Serpent
17 The Star - The Star
18 The Moon - The Moon
19 The Sun - The Sun
20 Judgment - Transcendence
21 NEW - The Double
22 NEW - The Journey
23 NEW - The Dreamer
24 The World - Oneness

Cards all are labelled ( I suppose because with the strange imagery you do need some explicit guidance).The use of card labels restricts the reader from some of the more traditional interpretations and also from intuitive guidance. However, the deck itself can work if you enjoy a break from tradition, and it has beautiful artwork. If you're more of a Rider-Waite fan, don't bother.

Review of "Stella's Tarot"

This deck is one of the very nicest available!! Conceived by Stella Karoruko, with artwork by Takako Hoei. The art is breathtaking; colors bright and vibrant but not gaudy, the interpretations depicted are refreshing and bold.

The card backs are in muted blue and bisque tones, and the cards are fully reversible. The deck is a nice medium-size, not too large and not too small. The cards are easy to shuffle, and sturdy enough to hold up to frequent use. They were printed in Belgium in 2008 for the AG Muller company based in Switzerland. This company also produced another of my favorite decks, the “Vision Quest” Tarot, to be reviewed in an upcoming entry.

One of my complaints with most tarot decks in general is the excessive space taken up by a border, which reduces down the size of the art work considerably. The Stella’s deck is no exception. Cards measure 2-3/4” x 4-5/16” overall, but the central art image size is just 2-1/8” x 3-1/4”. Large enough to allow the reader to readily absorb the overall image at a glance, but so small that it is difficult to readily discern the details. This is a particular concern for those of my age who have joined the presbyopic crowd…and let’s face it, we will all get there soon enough if we are lucky enough.

I’ve seen that some Youtube reviewers routinely cut the borders off their cards, but why can’t the manufacturers just eliminate borders and opt for a larger card image?  It gets tiresome to have to get out the magnifying glass to view card details in so many decks. <SIGH>

But let’s get back to this deck’s outstanding artwork. Even the minor arcana cards get special treatment, with unique, detailed touches added by the artist to each one. As a Californian, I love the inclusion of oranges in the Princess of Swords card and the orange tree in the Three of Cups!  

For some odd reason the human figures in this deck are depicted with heads exceedingly small in proportion to their bodies. This is especially noticeable in the Fool, Justice, Temperance and Magician cards, which sort of spoils the otherwise nice artwork.

A card that is one of my favorites in general, the Star, is not appealing to me in this deck. The stars are golden rather than white or silver, and the central star appears to have a moon or sun face inside which detracts from the theme of Star in my humble opinion. The woman has an odd golden bouffant headdress on. Most "Star" cards depict a lady pouring liquid out from two vessels; one renewing the earth or the physical, conscious realm, and the other pours into a body of water, which represents renewal of the spirit or the subconscious. But the Stella "Star" goddess is receiving a bolt of energy from the heavens, and seemingly transferring that energy to the ocean. It's loosely similar to the traditional interpretation, and nothing too terrible, just not my favorite “Star” card. Other major arcana cards from Stella’s Tarot are particularly lovely, including the Tower, the Hierophant, Judgement, the Hermit, the High Priestess and the Lovers.

The corresponding elements are all incorporated into the court cards; the figures in the suit of Cups all rest in a body of water, those of the Wands all display the element of fire, the Sword court cards depict flight and emphasize the notion of “air”, and the Disk court figures are all pictured firmly planted on the ground, each one balancing a coin from his or her finger or hand.

The deck is definitely NOT a regurgitation of Rider-Waite-Smith. Structure is based in the Thoth tradition, which has some major differences from RWS decks. “Strength” is trump 11 instead of eight, and has been renamed “Miracle” (although the card description in the ‘Little White Book’ does portray strength as the meaning of the card). Trump 8 is “Justice.

If you normally read with RWS decks, you will need to adjust your interpretation a bit with the court card in this deck. The court cards are Princess, Prince, Queen and Knight. Note: there is NO “King”; in his place is “Knight”. Additionally, “Knights” are pictured atop horses, as one might expect of the Prince/Knight card in the RWS tradition. In one suit in the Stella deck, the suit of Cups, the Knight does sit on a throne, and the Prince is riding a swan.

“Princes” generally signify action or motion, and are described thus in the ‘LWB’, but in this deck the Princes (except the Prince of Cups) are depicted standing, immobile. It might be easier for those who learned RWS to interchange the Prince cards with the Knight cards and regard the Princes with the features of the Kings. BUT because of the suit of cups showing the more traditional depictions for prince/knight, you wouldn’t need to interchange them in that suit. Confused? For those well-versed in Thoth deck structure and imagery, this should not present any problem.

The exquisite artwork in this deck, extending into the minor arcana, make the Thoth quirks of the court cards less problematic. The only cards in this deck that I really found puzzling were the seven and eight of disks. Seven of disks is described as ‘Ingenuity, hard work, progress, wealth, successful dealings’ yet the card depicts a woman with a light-socket hairdo ensnared in a spider web. Not real clear on why this imagery.

Eight of disks is described as ‘Fast apprenticeship, craftsmanship, candour, frankness, modesty, effort’. This card depicts a man watering and nurturing a garden which is more often traditionally associated with seven of disks rather than eight, so an attitude adjustment might be necessary here as well.  

The LWB is excellent, with succinct descriptive phrases for the majors, followed by keywords that help to add to the interpretation of the card. Examples from the LWB:

‘”The Magician” Represents Willpower. Skill, diplomacy, self-confidence, flexibility, domination, strategy.’

‘”The Hermit” Represents the Guiding Spirit. Counsel, solicitude, prudence, caution, resignation, withdrawal, misguided, failure to face facts, possessor of secrets.'

Overall, I give this deck a hearty thumbs-up, and regard it as a “must have” for all serious  tarot enthusiasts.

To purchase:

http://www.amazon.com/Stella-Tarot-Kaoruko/dp/1572816457/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Review of "Tarot Nova"

"Tarot Nova", produced in 1996,  is marketed as a gift-shop or common amusement-type item. 

The deck comes nestled in a set with a pocket-sized palmistry book. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the folksy artistry of this deck. The cards are small in size, about 3-1/2" or so.

Tarot Nova's Empress, the earth mother. Passion, creativity, nurturing a new project, perhaps some risk-taking implied, and of course this could indicate a wedding or new addition to the family.

The butterfly symbolizes rebirth and the key symbolizes knowledge. New perceptions, renewed purpose, making amends, "seeing the light", clear thinking at last!

The gift set included a paper LWB and a little book on palmistry. Searching online, I found a small book by Dennis Fairchild sold separately from the deck, that explains the Tarot Nova with deck basics. The best thing about this book is that it is so small that you can easily carry it in your purse, and it's hard-covered so even with heavy use it won't soon be in tatters. Each card is also pictured in the book next to the card description, so you don't need to have the deck with you to study the meanings of the individual cards.

The book includes a few sample layouts and contains interpretations for cards in both the upright and reversed positions. The book is about 3" square, and it comes with a teeny tiny deck of cards about 1" in size, not very practical cards as you can't shuffle them or handle them at all, but it's worth buying this set in order to get the nice hardcover book.



Tarot Nova book with teeny tiny deck.

 
So once you have found the regular-sized deck and then the book which is sold separately (whew!), you can begin to work with the cards and enjoy them. These are simple images that are nonetheless suffused with symbolism, including astrological symbols on the majors.

Without a lot of distracting frills and busy borders, the cards are perfect for meditation work. This deck is sometimes described as a child's deck, but I find child-like wistful simplicity delightful to work with no matter how old I get!



The world - completion. 6 of Cups - Nostalgia, conviviality. Knight of Cups - a gift or a vacation. A charming man.

 Thankfully, the cards don't have distracting borders, but the corners are color-coded by suit. Purple for major arcana, blue for cups/water, yellow for swords/air, red for wands/fire and green for pentacles/earth. This perfectly satisfies my requirement for color correspondences that make logical sense. The simple yet elegant images rest on a black background.

Sorrow, separation

Too much emphasis on work, overburden, time to try something new. You may be in for a career change.

Knight of Pentacles - determined action toward your goals. Six of Pentacles - plenty, generosity

You'll get very clear messages with this deck!! I absolutely love it. It's definitely worth including in your collection.

If you would like to purchase this deck, click here.Tarot Nova
Illustrations: Julie Paschkis
"Designed by" Paul Kepple
Publisher:  Running Press, 1996
Mini edition: ISBN: 0-7624-0418-3
Fortune Telling Set: ISBN: 1-56138-756-8

Dreams, emotions rule, illusion, deception

Review of the "Sacred Circle" Tarot

Review of the "Sacred Circle" Tarot

The Sacred Circle Tarot, produced in 1998 by Anna Franklin and Paul Mason, has great appeal as a general theme. Pagans should find the earthy images welcoming and familiar. The cards are physically large in size, but the imagery is small due to large distracting borders on each card. There's also a smaller black border encircling the edge of each card, further reducing the all-important central image down to about 2-1/2 X 3-1/2. Any detail is difficult to note and, particularly in the wands suit with lapping yellow flames, the bright borders detract from the overall card appeal.

There are keywords listed on each card by way of interpretation. Some of these do not ring true for me, such as interpreting 10 of wands as "Force" rather than burden or oppression, 9 of wands as "recovery" rather than resolve or persistence, and five of wands as "grounding" rather than conflict. The five of discs is tagged as "restriction" rather than material hardship and isolation from institutions. The ten of discs is tagged as "tradition" rather than the usual interpretation of wealth and abundance. I guess they are loosely related although as others have noted, these interpretations are not easy for beginners to work with.

Some of the court cards are also tagged with odd labels. All Kings are tagged with the element of their suit. This does not address the fact that they are the "fire" of their particular element. Aces would better be tagged with the elements. 

The page of discs which should be 'earth of earth' is tagged as “health'. Again, while it could be accurate, this is a restrictive interpretation. Instead we find the King of Discs tagged as 'earth' when he is actually 'fire of earth'.

Knight of discs is 'husbandry', a concept few can visualize as it is vague and can refer to the cultivation of family life or crops and livestock. In any case, we see no other people or animals on this card, leading us to a restrictive interpretation of crop husbandry. His sword pointed toward the earth reinforces this. Yet as a knight, he should be the 'air' of his element. It's difficult to visualize air of earth as husbandry. This would have been better suited for the King of Discs as he is the fire of earth.

I didn't care for The Green Man as the fool, as the fool is usually the seeker on life's path, not the representation of the life force. A youth heading down the forest path would have been more appropriate. The High Priest is assigned Trump 1, which is traditionally reserved for 'The Magician'.  The actual druid magician with the elemental symbols in front of him is tagged as 'The Druid' and assigned trump 5, which is traditionally the Hierophant. No big deal as these two cards can be switched, just cross out and change the numbers but it is annoying to have a big change like that in your deck. Some sort of inclusion of the Green Man symbology on the Emperor card (which in this deck is called 'The Lord') would have been great. 'Justice' becomes 'The Web' and we see a woman with a dog and a knife in front of a spiderweb.

 'Temperance' become 'The Underworld'. 'Initiation' pictures a celtic maze symbol with a pot of incense burning in the middle. 'Judgement' becomes 'rebirth', somewhat easier for me to relate to than some of the other majors in this deck.

Overall a great idea but an updated revision may be in order...please?