Wicce's Tarot Collection

Robin Wood Tarot
by Robin Wood

This is a really pretty deck. It is light and comfortable in imagery and nothing offensive or bizarre is featured. The author of this deck has illustrated several books, including Scott Cunningham's books on Wicca, and there is a distinctive modern Wiccan flavor to the cards. Most of the people that I know who use this deck follow Wiccan religious traditions. However, this is far from necessary, as it's not a deck exclusive to any specific religious tradition.

The symbolism for the cards for the most part follows Rider-Waite symbology fairly faithfully, with a modern bias towards Wicca and most if not all of the Judeo-Christian symbolism has been removed. Any book on Rider-Waite tarot can be used to interpret this deck. I understand there is a companion book in the works for this, which is available at Robin's website, listed below.

Traditional suits of Cups, Swords, Pentacles and Wands are used. I did find it curious that the wands suit is pictured as being crystal-tipped magickal wands, every last one, regardless of whether a crystal-tipped wand would actually be practical in the applications shown. However, artistic license, and all of that. They're certainly the most gorgeous wands I've seen in any deck.

Court cards are the usual King, Queen, Knight and Page. The Pages are shown as girls to help balance the male-female energies in the entire court. This means there are two male figures (King, Knight) and two female (Queen, Page).

The deck is standard-sized, printed on rather heavy card stock which makes shuffling a little stiff. I found that after a while, they did break in, but it took a while. A matte finish coating protects them against wear and tear. The back design is a squarish Celtic knotwork design. This is a reversible design.

This deck has the most beautiful Queen of Cups I've ever seen. I'd like to comment on the artist's Devil card. Since the meaning of the Devil card has traditionally meant a metaphorical representation of the seeker's achilles heel, if you will, it is interesting to note that Ms. Wood departed from the traditional use of a devil figure to more appropriately portray the figures in the card as being chained to their own desires for material temptations.

I do highly recommend this deck for anyone who is looking for a deck with better imagery along the lines of the Rider-Waite, especially pagans.

Robin Wood has her own web page for anyone who would like to read more on her work, on her tarot, or on Livingtree Grove.

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