Tarot Thrones | The Court Card Blog

Category: Deck Review

  • The Cards | Being Human Playing Cards

    The Cards | Being Human Playing Cards

    Being Human cards spread in fan
    The Cards: Being Human

    Let me make clear here at the beginning that the artist behind The Cards, Chrissie Nichols, is a dear friend of mine who is not involved in the divination business at all. In fact, nobody involved in the creation of this set of cards is involved in the fortune-telling business in any way (that I’m aware of). Unless you believe that at being an NHS doctor is a more legitimate branch of what we do! But that would be the subject for a different kind of blog post! Today I’m only interested in this set of playing cards as a possible divination tool.

    What are the Being Human Playing Cards?

    This is a set of playing cards that have been designed (by two of the aforementioned NHS doctors with 65 years medical experience between them) for use in a therapeutic setting as an aid to improving mental health, for everyone. There is a standard playing card deck at the heart of The Cards – Four standard suits (Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts and Spades) running from Ace through to 10 with the courts (Jack, Queen, King) with two Jokers and seven additional cards.

    Let’s look at one from each suit first of all.

    One card from each of the Being Human suits

    The Hearts suit guides us to orientate and know ourselves.
    The Clubs allow us to give of ourselves – connect and relate, have meaning and purpose in the world.
    Spades and Diamonds help us manage ourselves by resourcing and balancing so that we can do what we intend to do in order to match our values and beliefs ***

    The standard playing card symbols are in the top left, bottom right as usual, letting the card be read either way around with no trouble. The central portion of the card has an image which is not double-ended, but has a degree of duality about it – there are two rabbits in the 10 of Clubs, but they are not mirror images. Two animals in 8 Diamonds, but different animals etc. Each card carries two words which are often the same word, but not always – 2 Hearts has Shelter and Tranquil. These keywords are all soothing (maybe with the execption of Grief? What do you think?). Writing that offers some prompts, suggestions on how to activate the card’s keyword in your life runs around the perimeter of each card. In 4 Spades (keyword: Sleep) the writing reads: PRIORITISE SLEEP * KEEP A RHYTHM AND A SPACE * SWITCH OFF * PWER DOWN * KEEP COOL * MIND THE LIGHT AND MIND THE DARK * QUIETEN * SOFTEN

    The two Joker cards are the only two in monochrome and follow the same pattern as the other cards – they both feature that most beautiful of tricksters – Fox.

    The two joker cards showing foxes and the card back from The Cards: Being Human

    The card back shown in the same picture is a selection of creature profiles found in the deck, almost like an abstract.

    The court cards feature no ‘court’ images, but continues the theme of the deck. Any correlation between the keywords on the courts and how one might interpret the Tarot courts would be by accident rather than design: these are very much stand alone cards. We’ll look at whether it can work as an oracle in a few beats.

    Court cards from The Cards: Being Human
    Clubs Court Cards
    Court Cards from The Cards: Being Human
    Court Cards: Spades
    Court Cards: Hearts
    Court Cards: Diamonds
    Court Cards: Diamonds

    Looking at the additional seven cards, these slot together to make a single image. These are ‘explorer’ cards and they invite us to go more deeply into ourselves. There is an image on one side and on the other, where the ‘back’ should be, there are a few paragraphs with the card’s essential meanings and an invitation to go more deeply.

    The 7 Exploration cards – image side up. The other side has more information about the cards

    How to use The Cards

    I am such a big fan of Chrissie Nichols work and have attended quite a few of her workshops that it’s difficult for me to drag my eyes away from the artwork to the all-important lettering that she has made around the cards!

    I’ve used the cards in a variety of ways (and The Cards website offers some creative suggestions on how to use them) so here’s how I’ve employed them:

    CARD OF THE DAY/WEEK etc
    I have added one to my small altar at the beginning of the week (where it sits with whichever Wildwood Tarot cards are active too). At the beginning and end of every day (well, at least once a day – depends how tired I am going to bed or how frantic I am at getting up lol!) I take a look at the card and try to spend a few minutes at least contemplating the keyword – what does Anchor mean to me? How has it shown up in the day? Where can I be an anchor for someone? etc

    COMBINING CARDS
    I am also trying to make Jung’s studies of the psyche relate to my own Tarot work (in my own way, for my own self) and recognising the importance of my inner world and outer world being as congruent as possible. Yeah, a first world problem – I know. It’s a luxury and I appreciate having the time, space and freedom to be able to strive for that. I’ve found drawing two cards at random and smooshing the keywords together a useful tool for encouraging more difficult, deep thought. For example – carrying on with our Anchor – what does Grateful (Jack of Diamonds) Anchor look like to me? Lots of tasty ideas to journal with!

    JOURNAL AND CREATIVITY PROMPTS
    As I read around the carefully chosen prompts and keywords, I choose one to work with in some way – journalling, short-story writing, inner reflection, poetry, sketching …. whatever way you want to be inspired to move.

    RELATE KEYWORDS TO TAROT CARDS
    The Cards helps me freshen up my Tarot work – it’s easy to fall into the same kind of interpretations for cards, but by considering the keywords and trying to map them across to my Tarot work, not only am I extending my Tarot interpretations, it’s helping with my own Jungian Tarot quest too.

    COURT CARD AMPLIFIERS
    Finally, I have used these cards as amplifiers for court cards. It can be all very well to know what a court card means, but sometimes you need a bit of extra depth. So if I drew the Queen of Swords, for example, and then pulled … Become Wise (3 Diamonds), it sits very easily with how we understand her. But if we draw Welcome (2 Clubs) how does this sit with this famously stand-offish character? Thus a whole new line of thought springs up – how does someone who is not naturally very hospitable offer a welcome? Is the Queen of Swords going to act out of character? What does a Swords family welcome look like?! What else is written on that card that could be a message from the Queen of Swords to your sitter – read everything out – there is something that your sitter needs to hear!

    MATCHY MATCHY!
    I have even tried pulling the equivalent Being Human card with the equivalent Tarot card to see what pops up – 3 Swords, for example, is so often associated with grief and loss in most decks, but 3 Spades in this deck is Create/Play – with its prompts to – draw, cook, dance, weave, paint etc etc. What beautiful ways to work with grief.

    Are The Cards any good as an oracle?

    All in all I think that this is a lovely deck for all sorts of reasons – it’s lovely to handle and shuffle, the artwork is so lovely (of course!), the creative prompts, the keywords for contemplation, the additional depth that you can produce for a court card while working with your Tarot decks … and of course, you can play card games with it too!

    My only criticism is the size of the deck – it’s playing card-sized and I would like it to be larger to better read the writing and enjoy the artwork. But that’s a minor quibble!

    Have you got a copy yet? It’s only £10 and you can get it from Amazon HERE That is an affiliate link that generates 50p for me if you purchase a set of The Cards: Being Human cards. Discover more about them at www.thecards.org

    Find Chrissie Nichols on instagram @inkpotandpen

    ** This is a purchased item, not a deck given to me for review **

    *** – from the back of the Treasure is here card.

  • Nature’s Wisdom Oracle | Mindy Lighthipe

    Nature’s Wisdom Oracle | Mindy Lighthipe

    I first became aware of Mindy Lighthipe via her beautifully detailed botanical art. It was only as I drooled over the art on her website that I realised she had created an Oracle deck too – Nature’s Wisdom Oracle. I had to have a look at it, so here it is!

    Published by Schiffer’s REDfeather imprint, this is a 48-card oracle that consists of the fauna and flora that have had a big impact on Mindy’s life. You will find everything from a Dog and a Honey Bee to a Passion Flower and a Pansy.

    The cards are on good card-stock and quite glossy, so shuffling is easy from that point of view – no sticking. However, they are about 8.5cm wide, so if you have small hands it might be a bit tricky to shuffle. That said, there are lots of different shuffling styles to take advantage of. Although the backs are not designed for reversals, the book suggests that reversals can be acknowledged (a card that is especially relevant to you).

    There are 17 cards that feature flowers, leaves or trees and the rest are devoted to bugs, beasts and birds that the artist has a connection with.

    Bat – Beneficial – Nature’s Wisdom Oracle

    Each card has a central image in a broad border. Above the image we have the card’s title and beneath the image we have the main keyword for the card. The borders are all (bar three or four cards) drawn from the main image – which gives a very pleasing tonality to all those cards. The Ladybird card is totally different although it’s still a lovely ladybird image – you’ll spot it in the flip through!) And, if you are a bit phobic about spiders, there IS one in the deck – Resiliance – and therefore this video.

    There is a box-sized companion book, all in black and white, that runs to just over 100 pages. Each card has a full page image along with some information to help you interpret the card along with a nugget of historical or nature-orientated fact. For example, “The name Daffodil is derived from the Dutch word affodyle which means ‘that which cometh early’.” There are lots of exotic creatures such as Iguana, Hummingbird, Praying Mantis etc – probably not all native to your country of residence, but wherever you reside, you will have seen the creatures before 🙂

    The Bat’s entry in the LWB for Nature’s Wisdom Oracle

    The book also suggests a daily meditation, working with one card as well as a 3-card past/present/future spread.

    So, what’s it like to use? The artwork is undeniably good – Mindy received a Silver Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society in 2009 for her Symbiosis series of paintings. I have big hands, so the size of the cards didn’t bother me at all – it was easy to shuffle and work with. I think that this would be a great deck for someone who works closely with nature and would be a great deck to take to an event if you are reading there – perfect for single card readings!

  • The Fool’s New Journey Tarot

    The Fool’s New Journey Tarot

    Just published at the end of March, The Fool’s New Journey Tarot (TFNJT) is the latest offering from John Matthews to hit the esoteric shelves. It’s a 60-card deck billed as a tarot by its publishers, REDfeather, so that made me super-keen to see how the deck challenges what I expect from a tarot.

    First of all I wanted to make a special mention of the box! Gosh it is really quite lovely – dark blue with almost holographic clouds.

    Although it took me a bit longer than I cared to admit to realise that I had to sliiiiiide the sleeve off the box before it would open. Once I’d figured that out, I am pleased to report that the box is a flip-top style that fastens with a satisfying magnetic snap.

    I’m useless with tab-top boxes – my desire to Get At The Cards is supremely thwarted by fiddly little lips and slips of box that I inevitably end up tearing. A flip-top box gets a tick from me.

    Inside the box you will find a full-sized book and the cards themselves … and *resigned sigh lol!* the cards are in a tab-top box. Knew it was too good to be true! I promise that I have opened it extremely carefully and have not ripped the lugs off the side of the box yet.

    Let’s talk about the cards first.

    The artist, Charles Newington, has a successful career as an artist and print-maker and is perhaps best known for The Folkestone Horse which is carved into the chalk escarpment above the Channel Tunnel on the English coast. He is also the artist on John Matthews’ ‘The Goblin Market‘ Tarot (2021).

    Initially, I wasn’t sure how I was going to get along with this deck. I’m a big fan of tarot decks that have loads of symbolism. I love drawing out interpretations that may be tied to a gesture, a fold in a robe, the colour of a dog’s collar or even where a head sits in relation to distant cloud formations. The artwork of the FNJT deliberately strips that away and takes the idea of the card (well, the original 22 Majors) back to simple principals. That’s not to say that there is NO symbolism in the deck, but it’s definitely got the gas turned down low.

    Here’s a video walk through of all the cards.

    All 60 cards of the Fool’s New Journey Tarot

    The card stock is very good and I love the finish on the cards – there is no sticking together or clumping. I think you can see how slippy and divinely shufflable they are at the end of the video when my little pile of cards topples over.

    Given my love of symbolism, I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed the artwork – from the content to the colours. Several cards remind me of Matisse or Picasso in style – so don’t confuse simplicity of line with unsophisticated card art!

    The traditional 22 Majors ARE here, but interspersed throughout the 60-card deck. New archetypes such as The Future, The Believer, The Fisherman flesh out this new Fool’s Journey that is designed with 21st century seekers in mind.

    Let’s look at the book. It’s a box-sized companion book coming in at just under 250 pages and opens with an absolutely splendid foreword by fellow tarot artist and sometime-collaborator Andrea Aste. This is followed by an introduction by John who explains the genesis of the deck and lists the 60 cards of this new tarot dawn.

    The companion book is, as you would expect from an author of the calibre of John Matthews, very well-written – concise, clear and informative. There are two pages (including a small colour image) devoted to each card. The card descriptions include reversed interpretations and keywords – so you are really getting 120 possible single card scenarios from this deck as it IS designed to work with reversed images (btw the image on the card back absolutely lends itself to reading with reversals too).

    The second section of the book takes the form of The Fool’s Story, written intuitively by John. Firstly the Old Journey story takes our Fool through the Majors of the traditional tarot and then the New Journey, which leads The Fool through the new swathe of characters and situations offered by this deck.

    The final section outlines how to work with the deck and contains readings and spreads using varying quantities of cards for you to play around with and includes a few paragraphs on what to do with a card that feels unreadable – which I thought was an interesting idea!

    I’ve been working with the deck on facebook for the past few days, offering readings for friends and referring to the guide book for the interpretations. I think it works really well. The traditional Majors are still themselves, but some aspects are transferred to these new archetypes – and I find that it doesn’t diminish the originals at all.

    Three cards drawn for a daily ‘pick a card’ draw on Facebook. The Clown, Death and The Wasteland

    But the thing is – and I’m sure it’s the question that you are asking yourself – IS IT REALLY A TAROT DECK?

    Well, if that’s your query, you would really need to be very clear on what constitutes a tarot deck. For some it might be the quantity of cards – 78. But just take a look at a Minchiate deck – nearly 100 in those whopping decks and Minchiates are very much regarded as tarot decks.

    Your idea of what makes a tarot deck could revolve around the structure of the deck. A traditional tarot has a Major Arcana (usually 22 cards, but not always) and a Minor Arcana that consists of four suits, each running from Ace to Ten and then a quantity of court cards per suit – mostly four.

    The Fool’s New Journey Tarot does not have this structure.

    Of course you DO have decks that are Majors Only and usually consist of 22 card but there is no reason why a Majors Only HAS to have 22 cards. A Majors Only deck based on a Minchiate Tarot would have over 40, so why not 60, like this one?

    How would I describe the FNJ then? I would say that it is a Majors Only deck – a vastly expanded Majors Only deck. Or perhaps a Tarot Oracle? However you wish to describe it, the FNJ Tarot feels like a brand new green shoot on the gnarled old tarot branch of the divination tree.

    At the end of all this, what do I think about the deck as a working entity? I think that it’s an excellent divination tool that would form a natural bridge for those who like working with oracles, but who maybe feel that tarot itself is a bit fuddy-duddy.

    I also think that it’s the perfect gift (treat yourself or a friend!) for someone who has maybe lost their divining mojo because with these new archetypes and a refreshing freedom from tradition, this set of cards is guaranteed to re-ignite and revitalise their practise.

    Buy The Fool’s New Journey Tarot on Amazon
  • Review: The Orient Tarot by Alexander Daniloff

    Review: The Orient Tarot by Alexander Daniloff

    Sometimes you only need to see an artist’s name in your DMs and you know that something wondrous is afoot. So it was with Alexander Daniloff’s latest deck, the Orient Tarot. I only needed to see the first image to know that my greedy little Tarot heart needed and wanted its precious … *sounds and looks like Gollum*

    The Orient Tarot is a privately printed, limited edition (500) deck of 80 cards. As with other decks Alexander has created, we are given the choice of whether we wish to have Justice or Strength as Arcana VIII and XI.

    Inspired by the ancient culture of the East with a magical Scheherazade-1001 nights feeling, this deck sparkles with jewel-box colours and, being RWS inspired, reads like a dream, straight out of the box.

    See my flick through of the whole Orient Tarot. Yeah, Loki (my greyhound) gave it a good nose around as I was trying to place the cards. I fought him off though!

    There is a lot of detail in the cards, some of which will only yield itself up as you become more familiar with them. For example, check out the jewels that decorate the front of the turbans of the Emperor and Hierophant – they are the astrological symbols for Aries and Taurus. Although, I have to say, I can’t find the astrological glyphs in every card that has an astrological association. BUT that doesn’t mean that they aren’t there to be discovered, squirrelled away in the detail of a costume or the curl of a ribbon! There are gems dotted everywhere. I’ll keep looking – and you should too 🙂

    While the Majors are numbered and named as you would expect, the number and naming of suits of the Minors (with arabic numbering, of course!) are depicted with symbols – a curved blade for Swords, a stylised cup for Cups, a cudgel shape for Wands and a stylised coin shape for Coins. The beauty of this is that you can call the suits whatever you like – Vessels, Cups, Chalices …. Swords, Scimitars, Blades … Coins, Denari, Pentacles, Disks …. Wands, Batons, Sticks.

    Since this is a blog about court cards though, I’ll be looking more closely at the Courts in this review. Each court is depicted with a letter to indicate its rank – P for Page, a small k for Knights, Q for Queen and capital K for Kings.

    Where each Court has an association with Astrology, there is a symbol to indicate that link included in each image. Each Page stands in a background indicating the element associated with the suit and the Knights have the symbols on their shields, Queens on their tent flaps and Kings in the embroidery that hangs behind them. And just in case you need additional help, the astrological glyphs are included in the foot of the card.

    The Coins Courts

    Here you can see the Page in the element of Earth, with the Knight on a camel and sporting the symbols of Virgo. The Queen has the symbol of Capricorn and Earth and the King has Taurean bull imagery. I think there is a predominance of orange tones in these cards.

    Orient Tarot Cups Courts

    The Page stands in the element of Water, the Knight sports Pisces imagery, the Queen Cancer and the King Scorpio. A predominance of blue tones, or am I imagining that?

    Orient Tarot Swords Courts

    The Page stands surrounded by clouds and the element of Air. The Knight has Gemini, the Queen Libra and the King has the Aquarius water bearer and a pillow of clouds and swifts. Definitely a dark purple vibe going on with these guys.

    Orient Tarot Wands Courts

    Our final set of courtly characters from the Orient Tarot are the fiery Wands – the Page stands before a volcano, the Knight has Sagittarius icons, the Queen Aries and the King Leo. I am seeing an Alazarin Crimson vibe in these?

    I love the courts – the fleet-footed mounts for the Knights (hooray for the camel, although I would like to have seen an elephant included – but that’s just because I love an elephant and frankly, there aren’t enough of them in art!), the sumptuous robes and environments – what’s not to like?

    The card stock is excellent – nice and slippy for shuffling. It’s a nice size for working with in your hands (RWS sized) nice round corners to keep it looking in tip top condition. It’s a delight that your greedy little tarot heart will desire and I recommend it for beginners and experienced readers alike.

    Discover the Orient Tarot (and Alexander’s other work) at www.daniloff-art.it

  • The Rebel Deck

    The Rebel Deck

    I have been after a copy of The Rebel deck for such a long time now! Yes, you can buy it directly from the creator’s website but as someone in the UK who is completely punch drunk (and impoverished) from the additional Royal Mail handling charges and Customs and Excise charges on anything imported, I am very wary of ordering from abroad these days.

    ‘But why not just buy from Amazon?!‘ I hear you ask as you flick through the various tarot and oracle decks in the Big River Shop. I’ll tell you why, my tarot-lovin’ fren’, there are a LOT of fake decks on Amazon UK and The Rebel Deck is one of the decks endlessly ripped off.

    I am absolutely bible-banging-evangelical about buying legitimate decks (if you like to buy fakes, just walk away from me now before I rugby tackle you to the ground and give you a heart-felt lecture on the importance of paying creative people what they are due, not criminal copy cats). I contacted Rebel Deck creator Shannon Gomez and begged for details of a LEGIT UK seller and she gave me details of THE MANIFEST STORE. Reader, I fairly SPRINTED to the website and snagged myself a copy of the deck.

    Then I went onto the Book of The Face and shared the link there too – and now I’m sharing it with you here! I just hope Rebecca has got enough copies in store lol!

    So, what the heck is The Rebel Deck?

    It’s a 58-card deck that gives you an answer to the question ‘ what does life want me to know RIGHT NOW?’ and the cards have the most gloriously sweary – yet useful – answers!

    The answer cards come in four colours – pink, purple, orange and blue – not that it makes any difference, but just letting you know lol! One side of the card has a circle with a statement on it (along with a li’l unicorn motif) and on the other, the message from the deck for you about that statement.

    I bloody love it! Why? It’s like that friend whose tolerance for your bullshit ebbs away the more she has to drink – sweary, warm and fun. AND you don’t need to be able to divine in any way to be able to use it so everybody can have fun with it. And there is a younger teen user version available and a couple’s version available too. There’s no LWB – you simply don’t need it.

    Shuffle and fucking-well go, as the Rebel Deck might say.

  • Review: The Lilliput Tarot

    Review: The Lilliput Tarot

    The latest offering from that creative power-house that is Andrea Aste and Neil Kelso is the Lilliput Tarot. This is quite the sweetest tiny tarot deck that I’ve seen in ages and I pretty much bought one as soon as I saw it on facebook – a dinky, fully-illustrated 78-card tarot whose cards stand barely 2 inches tall in their stockinged feet (5.5cm in new money) and which arrives in a 2.5″ x 3″ box.

    Hands up, Andrea and I go waaaaaaay back to 2015 when I encountered him and his infectious tarot enthusiasm for the first time in Italy, so I am primed to love just about everything he does. HOWEVER – this is a bought and paid for deck, so rest assured, these are my honest thoughts.

    The cards arrive in the matchbox style box (of course!) in two little plastic sleeves within the partitioned box. I eagerly ripped off the plastic and started flicking through the cards. Reader, I liked what I saw: Each card, although tiny, contains the artistic essence of its Rider Waite Smith counterpart as well as the card’s name on the bottom.

    Making the cards monochrome – each figure picked out in white against a black background that is itself set against the whiteness of the card – is very clever. For those of us who need spectacles to be sure of sending tweets that won’t result in on-line carnage, it is very easy to distinguish what the card is that you are looking at – even if you don’t have your specs on to read the card name.

    This first image shows you the two compartments inside the little box, the specially selected font, the card back and that this is a Strength 8 and Justice 11 style deck. Look how easy it is to identify the cards! Avert your gaze from any fluff on the carpet! When the tarot muse compels you to write, she rarely also suggests hoovering first.

    I love the monochrome look. Too much colour would have complicated the small images and one would strain to catch details. As it stands, the deck is a simple ‘stick man’ type image which can be read very easily. I really love this little deck – it looks so simple and yet, if you have ever tried to create something yourself, you know that simple means ….really well thought through and faultlessly executed!

    The cards have a linen finish which makes them easy to keep fingerprint free (matt and gloss black images being horrendous for attracting oily prints lol!)

    Two things about the deck that I didn’t realise – check the back of the card tray for a link to resources for the Lilliput Tarot! AND, the smart font used on the box and cards has been specially selected by Andrea and Neil to help readers who may have Dyslexia read more clearly. Another well-thought through decision. And for those without Dyslexia – it’s a really nice font!

    Is this deck PERFECT?! Not quite; I do have one gripe. My area of interest is the court card section of any deck and I was disappointed to see that the court cards for all four suits are exactly the same stylised figures but with their suit symbol in the top corner. If all the other Rider Waite Smith cards could be distilled down to a line drawing for this deck – why not the courts too?!

    The Lilliput Tarot Court Cards

    I teach different ways to read the court cards and the most obvious, easiest way that does not rely on any kind of memory feat is to simply go by what you see in the image. Having all ranks (ie all Pages with the same image, all Knights etc) the same drawing apart from the corner suit symbol means that readers can’t do that.

    Now, before I throw myself down on a divan and have a cry about the court cards in the Lilliput Tarot, I thought I’d ask the lovely Andrea about the deck. This is what he said:

    “This aims to be a universal deck combining RWS and Marseille decks: so the Major arcana and the Court cards are more based on the Marseille, while the minors are more inspired by RWS. Our priority was to make this deck easily readable, immediately accessible by everyone, and even at a glimpse you can see the difference between court cards, major and minor arcana.”

    And this is very true – you can very easily tell which card is which, even the court cards that I am having a moan about lol!

    It was at this point Andrea pointed out to me the link on the back of the tray, that takes users to a set of video and pdf resources for the deck. So, don’t worry too much about the Courts – there is sufficient information on the deck’s downloadable and print-outable (is that even a word?) pdf to help you work with them.

    While you are over at the Oracolarium website, please check out the other amazing, inventive Tarot creations in the shop!

    The guys also have a new Tarot book out called The Lantern Collection. Andrea says: “The Lilliput Tarot is featured in the book illustrations, but the book goes beyond and far far away: it is a collection of essays, very user friendly but very deep too. So the book and the deck can be enjoyed separately or together.”

    Who would like this deck?

    A beginner – it’s an excellent, distraction-free first deck.
    An experienced reader – for exactly the same reasons!
    Anyone looking for a tiny deck.
    Anyone looking for a black & white deck to add to their collection.
    Anyone who appreciates an independently produced deck at mass produced deck prices (It’s a tenner!)

    In short, it’s a super deck for dreamers and diviners of all ages and levels!

  • Wisdom of the Cailleach Oracle | Jane Brideson | Review

    Wisdom of the Cailleach Oracle | Jane Brideson | Review

    I have been longing to meet the characters of the Wisdom of the Cailleach Oracle since artist Jane Brideson began to share her paintings for it a couple of years ago.

    On Friday, they arrived: The Wisdom of the Cailleach was finally here with me!

    I savoured the package: I carefully opened the black envelope with Jane’s details on it and slipped out the booklet and a black bag. I was so excited I could barely get the deck out of the bag and barely get the shrink-wrapping off it in a grown-up way (yeah, I used my teeth!)

    Wisdom of the Cailleach packaging details

    Reader, this is just the loveliest deck – take a look at my flick through.

    There are 22 Oracle cards and 7 Old Women cards. The theme of the deck is, of course, the wisdom of the Cailleach. Now who, or what, is the Cailleach, you might be asking yourself.

    You can see my first reading with the cards HERE.

    The word itself translates from the Irish Gaelic as ‘crone or hag’ but she is also known as ‘the veiled one’ and represents an important divinity figure in Irish, Scottish and Manx mythology. She is named within the landscapes of those countries; she is Winter itself; she is both creator and destructive force.

    The Long Road – I’m going to follow her!

    In this deck you will not find thin-waisted, lissome beauties, but old women absolutely at one with themselves and the world around them. For me, it’s exciting and wonderful to behold!

    The Oracle cards have insights from Jane on how to work with them – card interpretations along with the cards depicted in full colour. Jane has written a poem for each face of the seven Old Women and encourages us to work with them and create our own, unique relationships with them.

    I was ready for this deck. I look at the white-haired and elderly faces of the Old Women and I love them. I am entering their ranks and I am pleased to take my rest amongst them.

    The Wisdom of the Cailleach feels like coming home.

    Find Jane on Facebook and her Wisdom of the Cailleach page.
    She also has a website.

  • The Moon Oracle | Caroline Smith | John Astrop

    The Moon Oracle | Caroline Smith | John Astrop

    There are a few lunar oracles about, but this reprint of the Moon Oracle by Caroline Smith and the late John Astrop is well worth exploring.

    Originally published in 2000, it has been given a bit of a repolish and rebox and is now available to buy in a lovely silvery grey presentation box, from Eddison Books.

    The 72-card deck comes with a box-sized companion book of 129 pages. There is good and clear information to let you start working with the cards almost as soon as you have them out of the box!

    Even better, there are lunar tables at the back of the book that now go up to 2032, so you’ll be able to use this deck for quite some time!

    I would point out though that it was created for Northern Hemisphere work, so if you are Darn Under (g’day Aussie, Enzed and Tazi cousins btw) you’ll have some mental jiggling about to do.

    This is an Oracle and, as such, not structured the same way as a Tarot, but it does have three distinct Arcana:

    32 Lunar phase cards
    28 Lunar Mansion cards
    12 Lunar Goddess cards

    The 32 Phase cards correspond most closely to a Minor Arcana – there are four ‘suits’ based on the Elements – Earth, Air, Fire and Water – and each suit has eight lunar phase cards that run from the Dark Moon through to the Full Moon and back again. Each of those eight phases corresponds to a type of plant energy – seed, bud, leaves, flower, fruit etc. Each card is then allocated a keyword based on the quality of that energy (seed energy – the Balsamic, waning Fire Moon) and how it might interact with the Suit. So, the Seed card for the Fire suit is given the keyword of Compromise – which sort of fits with a waning Fire energy, I think.

    The accompanying book explains how to interpret the card, depending on which of the three astrological signs you need. In the example above, I’d be looking for the Leo information.

    There are 28 Lunar Mansion cards. There is a key word provided for each card, based on the astrology of the card – here it is MASK. The card is governed by Mercury and Uranus (info on bottom left of card) and covers 25.43 degrees of Capricorn to 08.34 degrees of Aquarius (bottom left).

    The book entry for the Moon Mansion cards begins with a description of the card – so that you know what you are looking at. Then some myth or lore around the card and then concludes with a couple of paragraphs about the meaning of the card. This one, for example, indicates ‘eccentric, unusual or even deceitful thinking’ and that when it comes up in a reading ‘somebody is lying’ and more besides, but that’s the gist of the thing!

    24th Lunar Mansion

    The Lunar Goddess cards are probably most like the Tarot’s Court Cards and are very beautiful! There are three categories of Goddess – White, Black and Red Goddesses.

    The Black Goddesses are associated with Death and Rebirth (the astrological signs of Scorpio, Sagittarius. Capricorn and Aquarius).
    The Red Goddesses are associated with Preservation (the astrological signs of Cancer, Libra, Virgo, Leo)
    The White Goddesses are associated with Creation (the astrological signs of Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini)

  • Tarot Majors Only Deck | Nick Stewart

    Tarot Majors Only Deck | Nick Stewart

    My lovely friend Nick Stewart is a super artist. He conjures glorious, almost cosmic images from fountain pen ink and bleach, like a real life Magician!

    Nick has created a set of Major Arcana cards – mostly as a project to show off the fabulous effects that you can achieve with fountain pen ink and bleach. I know, it seems like they are unlikely bed-fellows, but really, the results are fascinating – often serendipitous – and always beautiful.

    To help him with the project, I provided him with some keywords for the 22 cards of the Major Arcana and, as a thank you, he has provided ME with a set of his newly created cards! I am one very lucky bunny!

    I thought I’d review them for you because he will have them available to buy from his website and they are certainly VERY different to anything else out there in the market.

    It has taken DAYS for me to manage to get this video from my phone to the blog. I don’t know how to make it show up smaller though!

    The cards themselves have a high gloss finish and are small and square, measuring only 6cm x 6cm. The small size makes them a fab Majors Only mini, if you collect them, and easy to lay out lots of them in a small area.

    The square shape is also unusual and it means that as well as having a right-side and a reversed reading, you could also have a side-ways interpretation too. And whatever that might mean to you!

    The card corners are rounded off – which means they won’t get quite as much ‘dunting’ damage. Is ‘dunt’ even a word outwith Scotland? Is ‘outwith’ even a word outside of Scotland?!

    Each card features a medieval manuscript style image picked out of the gloriously luxuriant fountain pen ink shades with carefully applied bleach. I know. CRAZY, but it works!

    Around each of the simple images is a circle that contains the card’s name and some keywords to help you interpret the card.

    They are presented in a very sweet black bag with a wax stamp on the front.

    Also included with the 22 Major Arcana cards is a card giving details of each ink used and on which card – which is a nice touch if you are a bit of a fountain pen freak yourself. Which I am!

    Nick would be the first to admit that he is not a Tarotist, but he has picked very sympathetic artwork to the subject of each card.

    Although I have a clutch of Majors Only decks in my collection, I tend not to read with them because I find Majors are very SHOUTY to work with when there are no nuances from the Minors and Courts.

    Does this deck work?

    I thought I’d give it a go and ask the cards ‘what do I need to know about Coronavirus?‘ because, let’s face it, it’s impacting on all our lives at the moment.

    The cards that I drew were: Chariot + Fool + Devil

    Fool, Chariot and Devil
    Strength and Hermit
    Lovers, Justice and High Priestess

    I interpreted this as: I need to know that we are being pulled in two ways. One way, is The Fool, where people are ignorant of what keeps us safe and act irresponsibly, but not out of malice. The other way we are being pulled is The Devil – obsessed, addicted, wicked – this is us hanging on every bit of internet advice and being addicted to the horror. It also is the card of the hoarder, the stock-piler, the price gouger and the crook.

    I would consider neither of these options the way forward, but it’s where we are at the moment. Maybe what we really need to do is somewhere in the middle of these cards – 0 and 15. That’s a total of 16 cards, so the middle lies between 8 and 9. In this deck, VIII is Strength and IX is The Hermit. So maybe the middle way is the right way – we need fortitude and staying away from other people. That works for me.

    But, this much we already know. The final draw of three cards concerned the question ‘what is going to happen to me and my loved ones?’ The cards drawn – The Lovers, Justice and The High Priestess.

    We are going to make the best choices that we can – not for immediate gratification, but for the Highest Good. If we do our best or whether we act irresponsibly, we shall receive natural justice accordingly. The High Priestess indicates continued social distancing and focus on the inner life, rather than the outer.

    Nice, I can totally see all that as being useful, so as a Majors Only set, they work.

    What are the drawbacks of the deck?

    While the small size makes it easy to lay out lots of the cards in a spread, it also makes it tricky to read the keywords. And the titles and keywords themselves are very small. I needed my glasses!

    I love most of the imagery and how it has been applied, but some of them work better than others. That said, the card names and keywords ARE printed on the card too, so it’s not like you’d ever be in a position where you’d be unable to use the cards! Unless you don’t take your specs with you.

    Depending on interest, Nick might make a few sets of these available. So if you fancy a set for your own good self, get in touch with him.

    If you are interested in learning more about Nick and his alchemical method of creating art, check out his @quinkandbleach page on facebook, instagram and look at his website for details on how YOU can learn the same techniques.

  • Fake v Genuine Wildwood Tarots

    Fake v Genuine Wildwood Tarots

    So, I’m an admin for The Wildwood Tarot’s fb page and website. There are a lot of counterfeit decks out there. I made a video (8 mins?) to help you sift the fakes from the genuines.

    I hope it helps.