Witches Tarot (Witches Tarot, 1) Cards – September 8, 2012

It’s the combination of the beauty and detail of the images with the adherence to RWS that makes this deck so attractive and useful.Despite the (mostly welcome) changes to the original, either it’s in the name (karma instead of judgment or the dark side instead of the devil) or in the imagery itself (5 of swords), the overall feeling of the deck is fantastic and the special pagan symbolism that is present in every card (and explained elaborately in the booklet) adds a lot of meaning and beauty to the cards.Despite the witches theme and the pagan symbolism, the imagery in the cards doesn’t come across as especially esoteric or particularly witchy, and those who are not into these themes can wholeheartedly enjoy the cards and their evocative (traditional) meaning nonetheless, given their closeness to the original RWS imagery.The secret in the beauty of this deck IMHO is the vividness and the richness of the imagery, that is achieved partly by the fact that the people portrayed there are real people and not some illustrations. Some find it weird, but I think that it adds a lot to the cards vividness and evocativeness.So IMO this deck achieves both the aim of being classically oriented and at the same time bringing additional meaning rooted in the Wiccan tradition and meaning, without one overpowering the other.

Ok,In the words of Monty Python, "I am not a witch!". I am not a fortune teller. I have always had an academic interest in these things though. I have always enjoyed Ellen's writing, so what with her kids going off to college and all that, I thought I'd do my part and buy the deck. It is a nice deck, no doubt about it.This deck shows why people, in my opinion, should use more than one deck if reading for others. Different strokes for different folks. Different decks for different clients.It appears that "Witchy" girls are pretty tough, with "Granny Weatherwax" attitude that says, "If you can't deal with a problem you have no business being a Witch. This deck follows that. With the 9 of Swords and the 4 of Cups, one gets the feeling that Ol' Ellen, who seems rather a sweet person, is saying, "Stop the drama and suck it up".There are lots of people facing real problems who see themselves in the old image of the woman on the 9 of Swords card. Such a person, wanting a reading for comfort and guidance, might be taken aback by the lack of compassion that they might find here. That's why I feel that for the Tough Cookie Hedgewitches reading for each other, this deck is great, but might not be good for everyone coming through the door.It doesn't have some of the extremely silly nudity I have seen on other decks. People have commented on that problem in other posts for decks. It's not distracting for Ellen to use images of family and friends. Tarot decks have done that for centuries with the designer's patron, and in Ellen's case, it's kind of cute. It's "homey" and many of us see the characters in our own friends. On many decks nudity is necessarily employed when it means something, but not in a way that makes one wonder about the people who made the deck. The people with the "full frontal" cards, it's a giant in-your-face from the author, going, "Whee, I can put naked people in my deck and no one can stop me". Me, me, me!. One also has to be careful buying such decks for others, as the deck with the nice nature pictures you get for your Greenie niece might get you an angry call from her parents.There is NOTHING that Ellen ever wrote that one has to worry about when sharing with others.It is a nice-looking deck, just think about who you are reading for. Some need a little gentleness when they are wounded, and if Witches are the stronger ones, they can afford to be gentle.

This deck has actually become my staple deck, at least for the moment. I switch between this deck and the Radiant Tarot depending on my moods/feelings/intuition, etc.The art is phenomenal across the board. The essence of many of the cards is captured very well. The 5 of Wands is represented in a fantastic way. Traditionally, the 5 of Wands represents conflict. In this deck the 5 of Wands portrays dragon-riders duking it out mid-air. Very phenomenal.My first staple deck was the Steampunk Tarot (Another great deck), and I was used to more a minimalist art--not in a bad way; in an artistic way. While I feel the Steampunk Tarot captures "the thing", this deck captures "a scenario".The only thing I don't personally care for is the change of some of the card names, which in turn changes some of the meaning. Of course, this is a Wiccan deck, and I knew of this as well as the changes before I purchased the deck. I don't purchase decks without watching a few reviews of the deck online and I find a video that goes through the deck card by card so that I can see each card art, so I knew of the changes beforehand.I'm not personally a Wiccan, so these changes don't resonate with me, but the art on EVERYTHING (even the changed cards) is perfect.The cards changed are:- ' V -The Hierophant" has been changed to ' V - The High Priest' (I believe to remove Christian influences, but don't quote me)- ' X -The Wheel of Fortune' has been changed to 'X - The Wheel of the Year'- 'XV - The Devil' has been changed to 'XV - The Shadow Side' (As Wiccans do not believe in a Devil figure.)- 'XX - Judgment' has been changed to 'XX - Karma' (Which I actually do find myself resonating more with.)None of the Minor Arcana have been changed. And as I've stated--and can't say enough--the art on every card is amazing. I'd personally like to see this artist take on the traditional 78 cards.Overall, if you can deal with those changes to the Major Arcana it's a must-buy for me.