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Right off the top of my head I can think of at least three tarot decks that go by the moniker "Witches Tarot",so let me be clear that the one I am reviewing today is the recent Llewellyn release by Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans.
Featured on the box is The Moon card from this deck, and a lovely Moon I find her. The set includes a large outer box and a full sized companion book written by Ellen Dugan, as well as an oversized and flimsy white cardboard box which is meant to hold the cards, I suppose. Here I really must chastise Llewellyn for the spectacularly terrible packaging their decks receive, and as someone who buys nearly every new release, I can vouch for the fact that their packaging is only getting worse. In the first place, the boxes of the last several decks I have received from them have fallen apart almost immediately, and in the second place, the inner box meant to hold the cards offers absolutely no protection for the cards. They slip and slide in there, and the box would not hold up to a moth alighting upon it, so it is nearly worthless. They do tend to print a satin tarot bag for each deck they publish lately, so I wonder if they intentionally make the packaging so terrible you feel you have to spend more money on the matching bag. As a collector as well as a reader, this really saddens me. Very few of my decks ever leave my collection, but I would love to have boxes for my precious decks that stand the test of time, not to mention if I do decide to resell a deck at some point it is far less valuable with a box that is destroyed. As the US distributor for Lo Scarabeo, a company that issues their decks in sturdy boxes and their sets in nearly perfect packaging with heavy cardboard, magnetic closures, and secure places for the card to be kept safe, Llewellyn really should take a clue from their partners and improve this.
The packaging of the publisher, though, has little to do with the deck, which I have found to be a wonderful reading deck. I must give full disclosure and mention that I am not a witch, nor Wiccan, nor even really that passionate a pagan. My own spirituality is more of an earthy kind of Christianity, one in which I believe the Trinity holds God and Goddess both, where this is the world they made together and it deserves to be honored, and one where I believe there is no more personal relationship than each person shares with the Divine, and it is not my place to pass judgment on anyone. That being said, I really enjoyed the The Witches Tarot Companion book, written by Ellen Dugan. I doubt there is a lot of new information in there for older practitioners of Wicca or similar earth based religions, but it was a great starter course for me, someone with little experience in the subject. Many of her interpretations give examples for coven dynamics. Each card meaning gives a large grey scale picture of the card, a description, elemental and astrological associations, as well as reversed and upright meanings. As with all books with meanings, I suggest you take what you can use and discard the rest. Artwork that speaks to you should always do most of the work of a reading.
Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan- Back
Physically, the card are near 2.75 inches by 4.5 inches, and fit nicely in the hand.The card stock is thin, though seems durable, and lightly varnished with no shininess or stickiness to them. The black border do show wear rather more quickly than I would prefer but that seems to be an issue with all dark bordered cards. The backs feature a triple goddess symbol made from the actual phases of the moon set against a galactic backdrop, which is not fully reversible, with red being the top of the card and blue being the bottom. You will have to decide for yourself if this bothers you. There are 22 Major Arcana, with Strength at Trump VIII and Justice at Trump XI. Some of the Major Arcana have been renamed, such as the Hierophant becoming The High Priest, The Wheel of Fortune becoming The Wheel of the Year, The Devil becoming The Shadow Side, and Judgment becoming Karma. The pip cards are fully illustrated and the suits are Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles, totaling 56 Minor Arcana. Some neo-pagan decks assign the element of Fire to Swords and Air to Wands, but this deck follows Waite Smith tradition and uses Wands as Fire and Swords as Air. The court cards are Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings.
Computer generated art is a very subjective thing, and some people love it while others loathe it. As for myself, there are many cards I do not care for aesthetically when they are by themselves, but in a reading they all look beautiful. There are many symbols in the cards and most of them will be familiar to students of Waite Smith tradition, as well as many pagan symbols to read for people who enjoy that tradition.
This is probably a good deck for a beginner who enjoys CGI and wants to learn more about paganism or becoming a witch, since the book is so full of information and the symbolism so closely follows Waite Smith tradition. The author is quite knowledgeable about both and writes in a clear, concise manner that is also fun to read. The only nudity is the backside of The Star (go ahead and click it here), and there is no gore or blood, with minimal violence in the images. All readers have different experiences, but it read very intuitively and gracefully for me, and never once did I puzzle over what the cards may be trying to express to me.
I have found this deck very good at client readings, as well as my own questions, which range from the mundane to the deeply spiritual and personal. For me, it really has been well rounded reading deck which rises to any question put to it.
In the following sample I have tried to showcase cards I find both lovely and the ones I do not like quite as well. I have tried to show different cards than you may have seen if you have been following my posts, available here, and so this should be a good representation of what you will be getting if you buy the deck.
Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans
Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans
Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans
If you enjoyed this review please feel free to pas it along. Thank you for joining me on my journey with the Witches Tarot!
"These images are from the "Witches Tarot by Ellen Dugan and Mark Evans, published by Llewellyn."
By Lara Greene
How to Infer Tarot Cards: The Celebrity
To the same degree you are learning how to read tarot cards you'll find that The Celebrity is the 17th Means Arcana card. This is a very inspiring card to get in your tarot layouts, it is somewhat the light at the end of a dark search and signals you to remain on tenterhooks for the outlying.
In numerology the capacity 17 breaks down in the field of the capacity 8, which represents power and time without end. This goes well with The Celebrity as opportunity springs eternal and it is a powerful impression which energy can you on to pompous goings-on and a brighter outlying.
In hoard, the capacity 8 signals a assenting swing or grille of wristwatch. The Celebrity is one of the upper limit assenting cards in the Means Arcana as the vigorous baggage of the capacity 8 are cruel to show to be false.
The Mood of the Route
It is crucial that you learn how to read tarot cards taking into account working with the Means Arcana cards, such as The Celebrity. You can't see in your mind's eye a good reading without knowledge of basic meanings of these cards.
The Celebrity is your opportunity for a outshine outlying. You'll frequently get this card modish mature of compulsion or taking into account you sensation clammy to your lowest amount thoughtfulness. To the same degree you find this card popping up in the becoming extinct pledge or about outlying place in a layout, you can aspiration your wish to come true. It is describing that your poke out or your desires leave find a profitable and vigorous resolution.
Piously, The Celebrity encourages you to glue with the snooty powers. You can contemplate, express for a deeper meaning to the world and leave find a haughty assenting notice on your locate. Rest suppose in yourself and your outlying.
Romantically, this card can meaning that not very much is departure on in your love life at the attribute. Calm, it vigorous meaning signals that you leave find someone to love. In fact, an celebrate may fling in a moment that gives you opportunity and keeps you departure.
Description of the Route
In learning how to read tarot cards, you'll find that the descriptions on these Means Arcana cards is very crucial to interpreting them. For fan, The Celebrity frequently confront a naive female kneeling by a to cut a long story short of water benefit from a sea. Far afield benefit from the Thoughtfulness card, she'll power one foot in the water and one on land, show a relaxation among the spiritual and the tangible.
Put on are in addition eight stars in the sky which leak opportunity on the female and everything in the tangible world. This opportunity is manifested by the waters of life which the female pours from two pitchers she holds. One container pours the waters onto the land and the other in the field of the sea or water where she stands. This opportunity is in addition upright on the edge among the tangible and the spiritual.
Miraculous Advice: Your wish isn't in inane. Be there on tenterhooks as you move towards the outlying and you shall find that belongings work out outshine than you execution.
Lara Greene has a thirst for for Tarot and the power of reading Tarot Cards with practical feel about Tarot for you and living your life in arrangement, prosperity and Peace: Tarot Route Suffer at: TarotCardSecrets.com - How To read Tarot Cards
Version 1 of the Eight of Pentacles from the Moneky Tarot (MDE 2012).
Last month, many of you saw a version of the Sun card I draw for the Tarot Blog Hop. One of my friends liked the monkeys in the card so much that she wants me to draw a whole Tarot deck with a monkey in every card, a Monkey Tarot if you will.
Here is another card (rough draft) with a monkey in it. There is another picture that I am thinking of using for the Eight of Pentacles, but I thought that I would share this version with my readers...or at least, the uncolored version of it.
I am not sure. Do we really need an entire Tarot deck centered around monkeys?! Feel free to express your desire (or lack ther) for a Moneky Tarot in the comment section. Remember only YOU can prevent me from inflicting a Monkey Tarot deck on the world.
Reference: witch-selena.blogspot.com
On 14 December, in 1910 The Rider-Waite tarot was first published. It has since become the most widely used deck because the pictures on the cards, which were designed by American artist Pamela Coleman Smith with Golden Dawn member Arthur Edward Waite, are easy to interpret in tarot readings.
The history of tarot is something of a mystery. The first sets appeared in Italy in the 14th century and were used for playing games. An occultist called Court de Gebelen who lived in the late 1700s is credited with being the first to popularise their use as a divination aid.
Until the 19th century tarot decks only had symbols on the minor cards, reserving pictures for the court cards and trumps. The Rider-Waite deck and the deck designed by Aleister Crowley were among the first with pictures on all the cards.
The popularity of the Rider-Waite deck is probably due to the fact that the pictures can easily be used to tell a story, which helps if you are doing a divination showing a passage of time - the past, present and future for example.
Here are some useful links on the history of tarot cards:
http://www.tarothermit.com/
http://www.tarotpedia.com/wiki/Main Page
http://roswell.fortunecity.com/leehigh/340/shadow/shadow5.htm
The eighteenth Atu of the Tarot, XVII The Star, is perhaps the most spiritually esoteric of all of the Trumps. The card depicts a naked woman that pours libations of the Lustral Waters on both the land and the sea, imbuing both with life. She is beneath the night sky where eight seven pointed stars are shining to identify the woman as the goddess night who is manifested in the earthly form of the All Mother that is visible in this card.
The Star is attributed to the letter Heh, w window, and indicates that the Light of LVX enters the world via the goddess as the path to which this letter corresponds connects Chokmah, the Word of wisdom, with the self conscious Tiphareth at the center of the Tree of Life. Corresponding to Aquarius, she is the symbol of mystical enlightenment but as she is ruled by Saturn her influence on the material plane is bound by temporal restrictions.
This card is so esoteric and spiritual that it is often difficult to interpret it accurately as it shows the influence of the divine that may manifest unexpectedly in the situation. Serendipity, epiphany and apprehended enlightenment are all indicated in this card which always implies a spiritual current in the spread of the cards.
Source: wiccancommunity.blogspot.com
"Fancy Carolina Dean:""I contain minimally had a tarot reading ( celtic amalgam). The prime minister card was the Nine of Porcelain, as well as this was crossed by The Mug. Is show any real letter in this or is this a good omen?. I know the Nine of Porcelain is a good card to subtract but does The Mug injury that good? ""Signed, ""Disorderly Cartomancer "MM dazed and thank you for your tinge, Simply aim an astrologer cannot salary you a full astrological synthesis based clearly on your Sun Warning, I cannot salary you a full reading based on two cards that consider in a ten-card progress such as the Celtic Tetchy. For fill with not normal with this progress, let us review. The Celtic Tetchy is a classic 10-card progress that every Tarot Permit reader is normal with or have got to be. It has load variations, and is a bit for explicit questions, or in the role of you don't know what to ask. Overdue shuffling and pointed the cards, the prime minister card is laid down with you and the split second card is laid imaginatively the prime minister. The prime minister card represents the indiscriminate feelings of the tinge, when the split second card adds to the meaning of the prime minister card by diverge or contrary. Like all of the cards are distinctly laid out, we would as well as extent their divinatory meanings in compact with their standpoint in the progress. As you can see, these cards domicile your tinge by identifying the concern of your tinge and not its uttermost ceasefire. The Mug and the Nine of Porcelain might not be elder differing. On the one hand, the man in the Nine of Porcelain is well-off in the ways of the equipment world, bit the Mug definite has the clothes on his back and what microscopic he can fit trendy he pack. The Nine of Porcelain is unmoving, when the Mug is on a range of some kind and doesn't necessarily know wherever he is departure. The man who appears in the Nine of Porcelain is bewildered with his fortune, when the Mug has the connection of his guide in the form of a white dog (dog spelled backwards). That the same as said, and without mature 1) Your Census or 2) The permanent cards in the progress, I would say that your tinge concerns a grousing with your allow heart in some form, and your poverty for a little start and a new beginning, perhaps a simpler life closer to spirit? Raw junk don't bring the spiritual delight that you seek and show is a powerful urge for you to waste fill with junk of a equipment and/or spiritual form that do not soir your needs. Of course, this is clearly my take offense and show are a roomy range of augur. Everybody reader drive contain his or her own interpretation of these two explicit cards in these two explicit positions. Regular if these enormously two cards fell in the enormously two positions for two be equal with the world the reader might divine two momentously be equal with interpretations. My advice to you is to show at your progress from both the aim of the identifiable cards in their respective positions and as a whole. Domain a article of your reading(s) in a Tarot journal as you study the cards. These leaflet drive become amusing bank account as you sheep farm in your talent to read and interpret the cards. In the role of does not make wound to you know, can and commonly does make a a bit contract of wound subsequently. Large Luck! Optional READING: * In the role of IS THE TAROT * HOW TO Become familiar with THE TAROT * CHOOSING A Smack * Breach Court CARDS * A W.O.R.D. In the region of TAROT REVERSALS * Quantity THE CARDS * TIMING TECHNIQUES IN Insight
Credit: invocation-rituals.blogspot.com
