Winged Spirit Tarot Deck
by David Sexton
 
When I first opened this deck, I had that immediate and instinctive *oooooh* and *aahhhhh* reaction to the artwork that really didn't go away the whole time I looked at it.  Every time I take it out, that feeling comes back again.  Like many of the newer tarot designs, this deck has a refreshing, simple design that takes a lot of the clutter away and leaves you with a treat for the eyes.
 
The art style is elegant and reverent.  This is probably the first Angel-oriented tarot deck that I've really liked.  Generally the Angels thing bores me to tears, a New Age fad-phenomenon that has gotten way overplayed.  However, the angelic spirits in this deck are not your average, run-of-the-mill pretty things.  They have an exotic appeal but are garnered from many different cultures the world over, including the Zoroastrians, the Norse, the Babylonians and even some influence from the Egyptians.
 
This deck purports to explore the bridges formed between mankind and the angelic beings.  Many of the figures on the cards appear at first to be angels but when you look closer you note that they are human.  Such a blurred line of distinction is, again, food for thought.
 
The Major Arcana in this deck show the figures in the center of the card with a soft, subtle gray background.  If anything, I find this to be one of the drawbacks to this deck.  I think the background color is less than appealing.  In the suit cards, the color differs for each suit, but I wish a more attractive color than gray-the-color-of-casket-linings had been used here.  Traditional titling and order are used here.  Strength is 8 and Justice 11.
 
The Minor Arcana are very interesting in this deck.  Cards that are numbered Two through Ten in each suit use a technique I've only really seen in the Art Nouveau Deck -- that is, the same couple is featured from the Two through the Ten, and the cards explore the dynamics of the relationship between the pair.  Here in this deck, the relationship is shown to be between a human and an angel.  Suits are the traditional Wands, Cups, and Swords, with Spheres substituted for Pentacles.  Court Cards do not seem to really have much to do with the numbered cards, but are King, Queen, Knight and Page as in traditional decks.
 
The cards themselves are slightly larger and wider than standard sized decks and are printed on good card stock with a very nice semi gloss coating.  The edges are smooth and buffed and the corners well and evenly rounded.  Back design is a simple gray color with a double ended WS design (for Winged Spirit, obviously) and a grouping of 4 pairs of wings with various brightly colored orbs.  The little white booklet with which this deck comes is actually pretty darn good.  It actually describes what you see in each card and explains it in a way which lets you arrive at your own understanding of its divinatory meaning.  I'm impressed with this approach.  I'd love to see the author come out with a book on this deck sometime.  I cheerfully volunteer for the job if he isn't writing one!
 
This deck will appeal to angel collectors and art fans alike.  This is one of the new offerings in this year's US Games catalog; it should be easily available, but I've seen bidding on ebay go as high as double the retail value, which is $15.  If you have trouble locating a retailer near you who carries it, please email Wicce for purchasing information.  I can definitely recommend it.
 
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Review Copyright 1999 by Gina M. Pace
 
Winged Spirit Tarot Deck by David Sexton, 1999
published by US Games Systems, Inc.