Tag: witchcraft

I don’t usually take to Marseille-style decks, but I really fell in love with this little deck. Tarot de Maria Celia is a reinterpretation of the Marseille deck by Filipino artist Lynyrd-Jym Narciso, who previously created the Vanessa Tarot. Like the Vanessa Tarot, this deck is small (close to playing card size) and comes in a tin. That’s where the similarity ends, though.

Maria Celia is a redrawing of classic tarot in a modern color palette. I realized, looking through it, that part of the reason I never took to Marseille decks in the past was the primary red, blue, yellow palette. Amazing what a difference color can make. The images themselves are redrawn but in a classic style. They don’t look modern, and in fact they have some ivory and cream distressing to look aged.

At first glance, I thought the backs didn’t show reversals, but as I playing with the cards a bit I realized that, although the design itself doesn’t show reversals, the distressing gives it away if you look closely.

The titles of the cards are in French, so the Magician is Le Bateleur. Suits are baton (wands), coupe (cups), epee (swords) and denier (coins). Court ranks are Valet, Cavalier, Reyne, Roy. Justice is eight, Strength is eleven. The Roman numerals are old school — nine is VIIII instead of IX, fourteen is XIIII instead of XIV.

There is a tiny stapled pamphlet (the LWB, or little white book) that explains briefly how to read pips if you’re intimidated by decks without scenes on the Minor Arcana. I think this deck will appeal even to people who think they don’t like this style of deck. It got me so excited I wanted to try again with traditional decks, which I sort of gave up on years ago.

I basically think this cute little deck is the most Tarot of all Tarot decks that I own. I absolutely love it.

Five out of five stars

Tarot de Maria Celia

Lynyrd-Jym Narciso

US Games

2018

I think this is currently my favorite RWS deck. People always tell you that you should start with the Rider Waite Smith Tarot, and there’s something to be said for learning the archetypal cards behind so many innovative new decks. It helps you read the new decks right out of the box. But the RWS decks themselves aren’t always something we enjoy reading with. I do think this version has made some helpful changes.

The first thing you notice is the new color palette. For a deck that’s been around more than 100 years, this soothing antique palette is a better fit than some of the more garish colors we’ve seen on other editions.

The second innovation is removing the borders. I remember several years back when people were talking on the now defunct Tarot Forum about using paper trimmers and corner rounders to remove borders from decks. I’m glad the publishers were listening, because I personally can’t get a professional cut at home using my arts and crafts supplies. Plus, if they’re published without borders (rather than trimmed) they are the same size as a standard deck (rather than smaller) so the illustrations themselves can be enlarged. This pulls you into the pictures more and helps them feel more immediate.

This is literally the most standard of decks (as in the RWS is a standard deck and this deck has changed nothing about the line art itself). Suits are Swords, Cups, Wands, Pentacles and Courts are Page, Knight, Queen, King.

Backs are reversible.

They come in a solid box (not the flimsy kind where you’re going to wear out the lid opening and closing it) with a small booklet written by Sasha Graham. The only spreads in the booklet are one card, three card, and Celtic Cross.

The card stock itself is as perfect as it can get. Thick enough to not feel flimsy, but not too thick to shuffle. Glossy enough but not plastic. They feel durable.

I would recommend The Radiant Wise Spirit Tarot for anyone looking for a RWS deck to study or read with, especially if the previous color palettes were the main thing turning you off from RWS to begin with.

5 out of 5 stars

Radiant Wise Spirit Tarot

Arthur Edward Waite, illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, colors by Barbara Nosenzo, text by Sasha Graham

Lo Scarabeo

2019

I love the Nightmare Before Christmas Tarot Deck! It’s beautiful.

It reads right out of the box for anyone who’s familiar with the Rider Waite system. It also comes with a little booklet that includes a full-color picture of each card and an introductory upright and reversed meaning. There are three sample spreads in the back, named Eureka!, A Peek Behind the Cyclops’s Eye, and Blown to Smithereens.

Backs are reversible (and they’re gorgeous — not enough decks have backs that I like as much as these).

Courts are Page, Knight, Queen, King. Suits are Needles, Candles, Potions, Presents.

The majors are all beautiful and a lot of the minors are as well, but some of the minors are basically pips and, while they look nice, they’re not as inspiring in a reading as the ones with characters.

The cards have a glossy finish that doesn’t shuffle well right away. I spent several minutes separating the cards into stacks in lieu of shuffling because they were clinging to each other. They become easier to shuffle the more you work with them.

Anyone who likes Tarot and The Nightmare Before Christmas will definitely want to get this deck. It’s not perfect, but it’s charming. It’s illustrated by the same woman who illustrated the Dark Wood Tarot.

4 out of 5 stars

Disney and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Tarot Deck

by Minerva Siegel, illustrated by Abigail Larson

Insight Editions

2020

If you’re a fan of Guillermo del Toro as well as Tarot, you may like this deck. It illustrates the major arcana and court cards with images from del Toro’s films (or, in the case of The Magician, the man himself!). For example, The High Priestess is Nuala, the elf princess from Hellboy II. The Lovers depicts characters from The Shape of Water.

The booklet that comes with it is small but engaging. It begins with a foreword from Guillermo del Toro, in which he says:

My mother read the Tarot to anyone that would ask her — regardless of the time or setting. She always carried her deck of cards, nestled in a velvet pouch inside her handbag, and treated it with great care and respect. The edges of the cards were worn and stained from the frequency and familiarity of their handling.

Guillermo del Toro

Most of the booklet is written by Tomas Hijo, creator of the deck, and it explains his process of rewatching the films and selecting how to translate the imagery onto the cards. There is a little story about a Don Miguel, blind tarot reader from the town of Salamanca, who helped in the deck’s creation and who teaches some spreads in the back. This may be true but it has a mythical quality to it that may be exaggerated. I found myself flipping to the Hierophant to see if maybe I’d find Don Miguel there (instead I found The Master, the supreme vampire from The Strain).

Tarot del Toro is in the Marseilles style, meaning the numbered cards of the minor arcana are “pips” which do not show scenes of people doing daily life things. If you don’t read with pips and you intend to read with this deck, that might disappoint you. Normally I would say, “Well, there’s no shame in using the guidebook” but in this case the book has longish explanations of the major arcana, brief paragraphs about the court cards, and almost nothing to say about the pips.

Suits are Blades, Wands, Goblets, and Discs.

Courts are Valet, Knight, Queen, King.

Backs show upright or reversed cards.

Though the illustrations and color palette are in the style of older decks, the card stock is slick and plastic. They could take some breaking in before they’ll shuffle smoothly, as they like to stick together. Some tarot readers use fanning powder in cases like this (available at magic shops).

If you’re a fan of del Toro, you’ll probably enjoy the deck. If you’re just looking for a Tarot deck and you’re not familiar with del Toro’s work, this may not be a great place to start. If you’re ambivalent about his films or find them too dark, you’ll probably feel the same way about the deck.

3 out of 5 stars (mostly because the pips were uninspired)

Tarot del Toro

Inspired by Guillermo del Toro, illustrated by Tomas Hijo

Insight Editions

2020

If you like Harry Potter or the magical girls anime genre, you’ll enjoy Witchling Academy Tarot. The book that comes with the deck is small but fun. It follows the adventures of Charlie, an apprentice at the Witchling Academy of Magic. The Major Arcana has a story about Charlie’s battle against Corrupt Magic, and it tells the Hero’s Journey through leaving home for the first time (the Fool) to completing the first year at the academy (the World).

Each of the Minor Arcana suits is a house that students are sorted into.

“House of Wands will learn how to channel fire magic through their wands and hone their wand-battling skills. The House of Cups will focus on the art of potion crafting while learning to enhance power with their water magic. The House of Pentacles has a full curriculum on healing and growing plants with earth magic. Last but not least, House of Swords Apprentices will be taught how to master their swords, using air magic to enhance their abilities.”

p. 1

Each of the suits has its own story to help you understand the progression from Ace through Ten. I feel like this would be great for a beginner, as it ties all the cards together rather than having a seemingly unrelated deck of 78 cards to memorize. The character of Charlie is central to the deck and this helps ground the story so we can remember what each card means and where it fits in the overall. Charlie also has a little blue and white parakeet familiar named George who appears on most of the cards.

This is a friendly deck that makes the cards approachable. Each card has a Daily Incantation, which is like an affirmation, such as for the Two of Pentacles, “I can easily balance all my tasks with beauty and grace.” Then it has a Magical Meaning, which is what we’d usually call the upright meaning. These are positive and upbeat and have advice like, “Manage your time, energy, and resources well, and you will not lose your balance. You can handle any challenges that are thrown at you.” Then there’s the Shadow Meaning, which corresponds to what we usually call the reversed meaning. For example, “The Two of Pentacles reversed is warning you that you might have overcommitted and are being overwhelmed by your schedule.”

There is a short section in the back about how to use the cards for spells or spreads. It keeps the upbeat tone of encouragement. “All the professors and I are so proud of your dedication. There are no right or wrongs, and everyone who attempts a spread will pass their finals! So what are you waiting for?”

I’d recommend this deck for beginners, young readers (or young at heart readers), girly girls, or anyone who wants to see how the Tarot can be integrated with storytelling. This deck follows the Rider Waite Smith (RWS) meanings and the backs are reversible.

five out of five stars

Witchling Academy Tarot

Pamela Chen, illustrated by Mindy Zhang

Llewellyn Publications

2021