Another New Deck: The Morgan-Greer Tarot

The Morgan-Greer Tarot, originally published in 1979, is an explosion of powerful '70s style and color. The imagery is a more creative departure from the Pamela Colman Smith imagery than some other clones, offering close-ups of the familiar figures.

In the case of the Four of Cups, the meaning is profoundly transformed. Pamela Colman Smith's drawing depicts a man with his eyes closed to his surroundings, focused inward and apathetic towards the potential for improving his situation. He may be depressed and has isolated himself; neither attitude is beneficial.

In Robin Voissey's Oneness Tarot, you become the seated figure, eyes open, hand blocking the blinding sun to better see a deer at the forest's edge. You are actively examining your surroundings, like an artist seeking a new perspective.

The Morgan-Greer Tarot reimagines this card beautifully. The main figure's human face emerges from the trees in the forest, mirroring the divine hand emerging from the clouds. Three cups stand on the ground, symbolizing the need for physical sustenance, while the fourth cup suggests that physical well-being also requires spiritual nourishment.

The Knight of Swords in this deck clearly delivers a crucial message: don't rush! The burning Tower is reflected in the knight's sword, indicating that his hasty actions have led to disaster.

Other cards also stand out. The Wheel of Fortune gives a humorous nod to Monty Python's Flying Circus while seriously portraying the downward turns of Fate. The Hierophant, meanwhile, sheds most (but not all) of the negative associations of oppressive power and ideology, offering a more positive representation. The deck’s borderless design enhances its appeal, with the image in the Four of Swords creating its own border.

The Morgan-Greer Tarot is a brilliant alternative to the Waite-Smith deck. Its powerful imagery invites your intuition and imagination to roam freely. Every tarot reader seeks "The Deck," and I think I’ve found mine. This deck reinvigorates Pamela Colman Smith's images.

The Hanson-Roberts Tarot is Delightful!

As a tarot aficionado, few things bring me more joy than getting a new deck. Today, I received THREE decks in a long-awaited package, and I’m thrilled to share my excitement about the Hanson-Roberts Tarot.

Years ago, I would spend hours browsing through deck images on the tarot site Aeclectic.net, and I often considered purchasing this deck for myself. I've always affectionately called it "the little girl's tarot," but after seeing it in person, I realize it's much more than that.

The cards are semi-matte rather than glossy, which gives them a more artistic and adult feel. The artwork is gorgeous, obviously intended to be a tribute to Pamela Colman Smith’s iconic 1909 deck. The colors are vibrant and add a fresh perspective to the images.

It will be interesting to see how changes in the imagery may affect interpretations of the cards. Will I find that meaning has been lost, or that new meanings have been unveiled? Typically, I study a new deck thoroughly before using it, but with the Hanson-Roberts Tarot, I feel compelled to tuck it away safely so that when read with it, the imagery will still be new, surprising, and enlightening.

After my first thorough shuffle of the deck, three cards were revealed that beautifully encapsulate what I hope is the essence of this deck.

The Queen of Wands encourages us to grow spiritually.
The Four of Wands celebrates the fruits of our endeavors.
The Star reveals our consciousness now awakening to new ideas and aspirations.

This deck has already begun to weave its magic! I'm very excited to have it in my collection. Have you had any experiences with the Hanson-Roberts Tarot? I'd love to hear your thoughts about it!

Tarot of Oneness by Robyn Voisey

INTRODUCTION
The Tarot of Oneness by Robyn Voisey is a captivating reinterpretation of the Pamela Colman Smith deck, offering the opportunity to immerse yourself in each card's imagery. In this deck, we are invited to be the figure portrayed in the traditional deck. Upon my initial flip-through, the deck's vibrant energy captivated me, with only a handful of cards obviously requiring that I spend more time in them.

QUEEN OF PENTACLES
The Queens—renamed Spirit in this deck—are particularly alluring. Robyn Voisey’s Spirit of Pentacles is wearing the same green dress as Robin Wood’s Queen of Pentacles. Since you are the figure in the card, you can gaze down at the pentacle in your lap and also see an adorable bunny at your feet. The usual interpretation is that the Queen of Pentacles is aware of her life’s limitations, but is grateful for what she does have. In a negative light, she may be overly concerned with money or unable to find satisfaction in her work. When I enter Voisey’s card however, I feel wealthy and lucky. My bare feet soak up the healing energy of the earth, my gown feels rich against my skin, and I feast my eyes on the colors and sights around me.

FOUR OF WANDS
The style of one card diverges from the rest of the deck, but it is a real place. The trippy portrayal of the Four of Wands can be nowhere other than the Nova Music Festival near Re’im. The card’s number, Four, associated with boundaries and borders, underscores the need to ensure one’s safety before celebrating life. The traditional imagery includes a couple near or under a chuppah at a harvest festival, suggesting that their goals are nearly achieved; often the wall of a fortified city is visible in traditional imagery. When we enter Robin Voisey’s card, we are in invited into an altered state, dancing to uplifing music, lovingly reaching out to others, and feeling at one with the universe. However, the association with the Nova Festival adds an underlying sense of vulnerability and anxiety.

TEN OF SWORDS
Many of the cards convey their traditional meaning even more effectively than their traditional counterparts. A particularly stunning example is the Ten of Swords. The traditional Pamela Colman Smith portrayal features a man face down on the ground with ten swords in his back; incongruently, the traditional interpretation focuses on the end of problems and the imminent sunrise. Robyn Voisey’s more nuanced rendition plunges us into icy waters amidst the wreckage of a ship. A life preserver and other objects nearby offer temporary assistance from drowning, but not from freezing. The rising sun reveals a military ship on the horizon, portending either salvation or destruction. In this card, I feel cold and afraid, but also hopeful and determined to do what I can to help myself.

FOUR OF CUPS
Robyn Voisey’s description of the Four of Cups adheres to traditional meanings, yet her imagery takes us far from that meaning. Instead of the pouting man under a tree, ignoring the three real cups on the ground before him as well as the cup offered by a divine hand, you are shielding your eyes from the blinding sun so you can focus on a small deer in the distance. Because your hand is blocking the light, little color is visible, but at any time you can lower your hand to observe what the sun can reveal. Traditional meanings are lack of passion, resisting change, being self absorbed, failing to see a new opportunity, and the need to honestly evaluate yourself or your situation. The Tarot of Oneness guidebook lists similar meanings:  apathy, dissatisfaction, and withdrawal. Robyn Voisey suggests that you need to change your focus and let down your guard but I can’t help seeing the positive in this card. In her image, we are more active than the person in Pamela Colman Smith's image; we’ve made a choice to focus on something that the bright sun obscures.

THE SUN
One card that deeply resonates with me is The Sun card! Its traditional imagery often feels disconnected from its meanings of safety and freedom, childlike joy, growth, and honesty. Typically, we see a baby precariously perched on a horse, a scenario more perilous than reassuring; the wall in the background seems more like Plato’s cave than protection and no infant could hold the enormous red banner. At least Robin Wood made the child’s mount a small pony. However, in Robyn Voisey’s Tarot of Oneness, we find ourselves on the back of a white horse that is cantering along a beach, with susurrating waves on one side and a child’s sandcastle on the other—a scene radiating joy, freedom, and (for the moment) security. In this card, we feel able to embrace life's boundless possibilities with exuberance, confidence, and clear vision.

EXTRA CARDS
Voisey's inclusion of five additional cards will hopefully enrich the deck and add valuable insights into various aspects of life. The Higher Self card, in which you are climbing a heavenly stairway, symbolizes intuitive guidance and self-awareness, facilitating a deeper connection with one's inner wisdom and fostering personal growth.

CONCLUSION
The Tarot of Oneness by Robyn Voisey is a profound tool for diving into the essence of each card, fostering a deeper understanding of its imagery. With its immersive imagery and thoughtful reinterpretations, this deck promises to be my cherished deck for exploration and introspection.

The Mary-El Tarot

Nine years ago, writing in a post called Tarophilia, I focused on two cards in the Mary-El Tarot that I had found particularly fascinating: The Hierophant and the Three of Swords. After all these years, I considered purchasing the deck today, only to discover that those two cards (as well as two others) have been changed!

The Hierophant of the first edition was intriguing because of its cleverly disturbing imagery. Perhaps because it was so unpopular, the artist, Marie White, replaced it with a new card. 

The imagery in the second edition Hierophant does not make you draw back in shock. It may even draw you in. Nice touches are the two tablets and bronze serpents. The single key is more prominent in this edition (which key is it?) and I wonder if that's a bee hive on top of it. Once again the figure is female and I wonder why. Those would be some of the questions to explore if I purchase the second edition.

The new card is more accessible and should allow for positive as well as negative interpretations. I can reluctantly accept the revised Hierophant since it would allow the reader to explore more than just the shadow side of religious tradition. This card could grow on me.

The new Three of Swords, however, is deeply disappointing. In the first edition, the card was an original piece of art showing a bird's flight hampered by the three swords (wounds) he clings to-- or perhaps showing a bird that has caught the swords before they could pierce him. 

None of the Minor Arcana cards in the first edition are RWS clones, but in the new edition, the Three of Swords has reverted to the usual, silly imagery of a heart pierced by three swords. Boring and cliché! (Tarot creators, please note: it only worked for Pamela Colman Smith.) Red roses have been thrown into the mix as well, with a rose bud growing from the left auricle.

Two other cards have been changed. They are Judgment and The High Priestess. Judgment is now a more fiery Phoenix. It may be an improvement, but not an essential one. On the other hand, the new High Priestess is amazing! She may even compensate for the desecration of the original Three of Swords. 

The original High Priestess was odd, its disparate bits of symbolism never really forming a single, coherent image. The first edition High Prietsess was too slender to be a Willendorf Venus as obviously intended, her fingers were like tree branches growing downward (but not from heaven), her headdress exploded into stars, the sefirot drawn in their original circular form on her broad, flat, naked belly made her look like a wheel of fortune, and there was all sorts of oddness just above the sea at her feet. (Maybe the guidebook would have helped me understand and bond with the card.)

 

Overall, the first edition High Priestess was jarring without adding depth to the meaning of the card. This card was one of the reasons that I did not purchase the deck.

The new High Priestess card is brilliant nod to the RWS, but takes the imagery in a more powerful direction. 

As in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, there are the two pillars of the Temple on either side of her, drawn in greater detail than in the RWS. A pomegranate curtain hangs between them behind her (screening a burning sun in a black sky). Her flowing robe, which begins as a veil over her head, merges into the reflective waters at her feet. 

What makes the image so much more powerful than the RWS, is that her hands caress and support Torah, the fire that burns within her. (Lo b'shamayim, it is not in the heavens.) The image connects the ancient tradition of Torah (black fire on white fire) with the more primal imagery of welcoming flames inside a sheltering cave.

This deck will remain on my wish list. Eventually, I may be extravagant and order a copy from the U.S. Before I decide, I'll have to review the images of the the Minor Arcana on her website and come to terms with the Aces and some of the courts. (Check out the sevens! And the decaying Queen of Pentacles!) 

I like that the Major Arcana cards seem to blend two concepts that have never been clear to me: "The Masculine" and "The Feminine."

*

Deck Review: Tarot Yehudi by Betzalel Arieli

During my trip to Tel Aviv yesterday, while walking back to the train station, I stopped at my favorite store in Dizengoff Center.

The store is called Fairies Forest. It takes up two store fronts and is bursting with goodies that would, in other countries, fill four or five New Age stores. They mostly carry Lo Scarabeo decks from Italy and a few Russian decks, but I enjoy seeing what decks they have as well as browsing through fairy tchotchkes, Hebrew oracle decks, fantasy movie paraphernalia, Tolkien books (in English!), and other New Agey gifts. 

Today I saw the kind of deck I've wanted for years and, in fact, started to create: a Jewish tarot deck. It's the Tarot Yehudi by Betzalel Arieli. I was fascinated and even had the clerk take one box out of the locked cabinet. I struggled to make up my mind because tarot decks here cost more than twice what they do in the U.S. I began to walk out of the store without buying it, but then asked myself how often I get to Tel Aviv...

This morning, I explored my new deck while lounging next to the Gulf at 9Beach. Here are some of images of my unboxing:

טארוט יהודי - בצלאל אריאלי

Deck quality: The deck is thicker than I'm used to and the cards are glossy enough to slide in every direction when I remove them from the box. It looks as if the cellophane covering each card may wear off quickly, damaging the cards, if the deck is shuffled much. The figures in the cards are predominantly male; I count 21 women and two babies of indeterminate gender in the deck. (The quintessential Jewish image of a woman lighting Shabbos candles is missing from the deck; in fact, only one card, the Four of Candles, shows Shabbat candles.) However, the card images and the organization of the deck are fascinating!

The Aces show human hands holding ritual objects related to the Havdalah ritual, rather than the hand of God offering gifts to us. The Aces in Arieli's tarot show humans becoming the primary partner in creation. "As below, so above."

The Princesses (represented by the prophets Miriam, Huldah, Avigail, and Devorah) correspond with the four elements. These are the Pages of the RWS, figures that are typically shown accepting the Divine gift represented by the Ace of their suit.

The remaining Court cards are aligned with regions of the zodiac. Fire signs (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius) are the King, Queen, and Prince of Candles. Earth signs are represented by Coins, air signs by Swords, and water signs by Cups.

The numbered cards of the Minor Arcana are not clones of the Rider Waite Smith deck, in fact, they stray pretty far from it. Following are the Three of Wands, Six of Cups, Six of Swords, and Nine of Pentacles:

Printed on each numbered Minor Arcana is a month of the Hebrew year, a region of the zodiac, and a sfirah on the Tree of Life-- all the twos are Ḥokmah (חָכְמָה), all the threes are Binah (בִּינָה), and so forth down to ten and Malkhut.

The Two, Three, and Four of Candles are aligned with the zodiac sign Aries and the month of Nisan (נִיסָן), in which Jews observe the Shabbat HaChodesh, Shabbat HaGadol, Ta'anit Bechorot, Passover, and the beginning of the Counting of the Omer.

Nisan falls in the half of the year called "The Days of Sun." Nisan and the other two months of spring are represented by three Wands, three Coins, and three Swords.

The Majors are aligned, unusually, with Sfirot on the Tree of Life. The Fool card, called Divine Breath, and is number 1, so it and cards 10 (The Prophet) and 19 (The Moon) are aligned with Keter, Crown. 

Since The High Priestess card, called HaShekhinah, is aligned with Binah, the third sfirah on the Tree of Life, she is given the third letter of the alphabet, gimmel, rather than the letter beit, which I usually associate her with.

The Magician card, called The Sage, seems to reflect Christian ceremonial magic-- I don't know how much the symbols reflect actual Jewish mysticism.

None of the Majors, only the number 10 cards of the Minor suits, are aligned with Malkhut, Kingdom.

Fairies Forest had decks for sale in both Hebrew and Russian. Images on the website seem to indicate that an English language version has also been published (with quirky transliterations of the sfirot).  

YouTube video of the Major Arcana

The video says that there are references to the planets in the cards, presumably the Majors, but I haven't found them yet.

Multilingual website (just click on the Union Jack for English)

You can view the cards with Hebrew, Russian, or English titles and descriptions. The English description of the cards on the website doesn't seem to contain exactly the same information as the LWB.

The LWB is in Hebrew (without vowels), so I'm relying on Google Translate. This has yielded several good laughs-- for example, this supposed quote from Megillat Esther: "And take Asparagus to the king on the eve of his kingdom on the tenth month, the new moon, at seven."

Of course, I'll turn to the website and the LWB, but I think the fun part of learning this deck will be creating my own meanings for the cards from my Jewish knowledge and memories and from the Sefer Yetzirah and other Jewish sources.

(I've used the image of the Two of Swords here because that card leaped out of the deck when I first unboxed it.)

Following are images of a few of the Major Arcana cards. The Empress is represented by Queen Esther, The Hierophant by Aharon (Aaron), Strength by Shimshon (Samson), and The Star by Batsheva (Bathsheba).

Tarot is not Kabbalah (and a brief review of The Raziel Tarot)

Many tarot decks show Hebrew letters on the Major Arcana cards. This supposedly indicates a long-standing connection between Tarot and the Jewish mystical traditions of Kabbalah. In fact, however, the tarot cards were created in Renaissance Europe, a Christian culture. It was only their continued development in the European cultural milieu that eventually led to the grafting of a faux Jewish mysticism onto the tarot.

The origins of tarot are distinct from those of Kabbalah. However, from its beginnings, Christian culture has appropriated and altered some aspects of Judaism. For more information about the reasons for Renaissance Europe's interest in Kabbalah, read The Rape of Jewish Mysticism by Christian Theologians by Robert Wang.

By the the mid-19th century,  faux Kabbalah had become a part of Western occultism. Éliphas Lévi posited a link between the Major Arcana cards and paths on the Tree of Life. According to Donald Tyson, it was Golden Dawn founder, William Wynn Westcott, who attributed specific Hebrew letters to each of the Major Arcana cards of the tarot deck.

Earlier occultists had created a list of astrological correspondences to the cards. Relying on those correspondences and his own quirky translation of a 4th century, Jewish text, the Sefer Yetzirah, another Golden Dawn member, MacGregor Mathers determined additional correspondences between those astronomical symbols and the Hebrew letters. For example, earlier tarot occultists had associated The Empress card of the Major Arcana with planet Venus, so in Mathers's "translation" of Sefer Yetzirah, Venus is associated with the letter dalet; so he concluded that The Empress was also connected with the letter dalet.

Jewish Kabbalah is not an intrinsic part of tarot, but today, Jewish tarot writers such as Isabel Radow-Kleigman and Rachel Pollack, are bringing authentic Jewish ideas and Jewish spirituality to the tarot. I appreciate that, and I want to explore the possibilities that connecting the two traditions might offer. So, although I am doubtful that including Hebrew letters on the cards is a meaningful exercise, I am willing to explore the idea.

The first Hebrew letter, alef (א), is often ascribed to The Fool, the first card of the Major Arcana. The last Hebrew letter, tav (ת), is ascribed to The World, the last card of the Major Arcana.

However, for nearly 100 years before Westcott compiled his Hebrew letter correspondences, tarot cards had been printed with numbers on the Major Arcana cards. (French occultist Jean-Baptiste Alliette, aka Etteilla, numbered the Major Arcana cards in his 1789 occult deck.)

To maintain the practice of numbering the cards, The World would be ḳhaf-alef (כא), 21, not tav (ת), which is the number 400. As there is no zero in the Hebrew numbering system, The Fool would be left without a Hebrew letter. However, Wescott was probably unaware of the numerical values of the Hebrew letters.

The correspondences between astrological symbols and the Major Arcana cards does seem reasonable, since astrology was a significant part of the Renaissance culture in which tarot began. However, dragging Hebrew letters into that mix is problematic. It may be a step away from the intentions of earlier tarot designers. It is certainly leagues away from the intentions of the meditation teachers who composed the Sefer Yetzirah.

Although the Sefer Yetzirah was composed during a period of intense syncretism between various Mediterranean cultures, religions, and philosophies, there is no link between that text and the much later Renaissance European culture which produced the tarot.

Furthermore, it seems unlikely that teachers of the meditation techniques presented in the Sefer Yetzirah intended a literal connection between the letters, days, organs, planets, or other items mentioned in the text.

If literal correlation had been intended, each version of the text would link the same planets to the "double letters" (the BeGeD KeFeT letters), but in fact, different texts present different correspondences. For example, the letter dalet (ד) is linked to the Sun in one version of the text, to Mars in another, and to Venus in yet another version of the text.

Rabbi Jill Hammer teaches that the Sefer Yetzirah was intended to offer meditative practices, "not to inform." According to Rabbi Hammer, the focus of the Sefer Yetzirah is the creative power of the Hebrew language, and the goal of its meditative practices is contact with the Source of Creation.

The Sefer Yetzirah is a meditation manual. It does not teach anything about tarot cards, which were created ten centuries after the Sefer Yetzirah was composed.

There is no authentic connection between the Sefer Yetzirah, or other Jewish Kabbalistic traditions, and the tarot. So, if we do wish to place Hebrew letters on the Major Arcana, we might first consider the attributions already given the cards by European occultists.

Four versions of the Sefer Yetzirah, as well as the Christian influenced Golden Dawn, agree as to the association of the simple letters to the constellations, and to the association of the mother letters to the three celestial elements of air, water, and fire. (See chart below.) So, for now, let's accept Westcott's further association of the Hebrew simple letters and mother letters with the tarot cards he attributed to those letters.

However, a difficulty arises connecting the double letters with celestial bodies. There are several different sets of correspondences between the Hebrew double letters and the seven planets. Section 4.8 in the chart shows correspondences in the Gra-Ari Version of the Sefer Yetzirah, in the Short and Long Versions of the Sefer Yetzirah, and in Donald Tyson's work.

Summary of attributions for Mother Letters, Double Letters, and Simple Letters

In the next few paragraphs, I'll show you how correspondences based on different versions of Sefer Yetzirah radically alter the traditional progression of the tarot Majors. Then I'll show you how the amended Golden Dawn more closely maintains the traditional progression of the cards as well as the order of the Hebrew letters.

Gra-Ari Version: If we relied on the correspondences from the Gra-Ari version (influenced by the later Zohar) of the Sefer Yetzirah, the result would be the following series of cards:

1 Priestess (Moon - Bet)
2 Tower (Mars - Gimmel)
3 Wheel (Sun - Dalet)
10 Empress (Venus - Kaf)
16 Magician (Mercury - Peh)
19 World (Saturn - Reish)
21 Sun (Jupiter - Tav)

In 19th Century occult thought, the High Priestess card was connected with the moon. In the Gra-Ari version of the Sefer Yetzirah, the moon is mentioned in connection to the letter bet. Thus, according to Wescott's rationale, the Hebrew letter bet should be associated with the High Priestess card of the tarot deck.

It muddies the waters further to point out that Tav is really the 23rd letter of the Hebrew alphabet, since Šin and Śin are different letters that form different Hebrew root words. In other words, is the Judgment card Šin or Śin, and why aren't there 23 Major Arcana cards? (And what about ghayin, the lost letter, that fell out of use?)

Short and Long Versions: If we used the correspondences of the Short Version or the Long Version of the Sefer Yetzirah, the result order of the first few Major Arcana cards would be as follows:

1 World (Saturn - Bet)
2 Sun (Jupiter - Gimmel)
3 Tower (Mars - Dalet)
10 Wheel (Sun - Kaf)
16 Empress (Venus - Peh)
19 Magician (Mercury - Reish)
21 Priestess (Moon - Tav)

In these versions of the Sefer Yetzirah, Saturn is mentioned in connection to the letter bet. In 19th Century occult thought, Saturn is connected to the World card. Thus, according to Wescott's rationale, the Hebrew letter bet should be associated with the World card of the tarot deck.

However, if we rely on Donald Tyson's amended Golden Dawn attributions, which he carefully considered, we would maintain the order of the double letters and something close to the order of the tarot majors, switching only the traditional positions of The Priestess and The Magician (and, among the simple letters, the positions of The Chariot and Temperance).

1 Priestess (Moon - Bet)
2 Magician (Mercury - Gimmel)
3 Empress (Venus - Dalet)
10 Wheel (Sun - Kaf)
16 Tower (Mars - Peh)
19 Sun (Jupiter - Reish)
21 World (Saturn - Tav)

The Fool as the
Biblical Yosef,
a fool and a visionary.

Any connection between the Hebrew letters and the cards is tenuous, so I see no compelling reason to make any changes to the correspondences presented by Donald Tyson. The appendix of his book, Portable Magic: Tarot is the Only Tool You Need, contains his rationale for the changes he made to the Golden Dawn system.

Since astrology is not part of my practice, I am not at all concerned with the astrological correspondences of the cards. It would be more interesting to consider other associations from Sefer Yetzirah, such the pairs of qualities associated with Double Letters, the months and tribes associated with Simple Letters, the elements associated with the Mother Letters, as well as the meanings of the letters' names.

For example, these are meanings of the Double Letters:

• Bet - house
• Gimmel - camel
• Dalet - door
• Kaf - palm or sole
• Peh - mouth
• Reish - poverty
• Tav - sign

These are pairs of qualities associated with the Double Letters:

• Bet - Wisdom and Folly
• Gimmel - Wealth and Poverty
• Dalet - Seed and Desolation
• Kaf - Life and Death
• Peh - Dominance and Subjugation
• Reish - Peace and War
• Tav - Grace and Ugliness

The Raziel Tarot: If you are interested in obtaining a tarot deck created specifically with Jewish ideas in mind, consider obtaining the majors-only deck, The Raziel Tarot, by tarot greats, Robert Place and Rachel Pollack. (Sefer Raziel is a Jewish Kabbalistic text; some portions of it are of slightly greater antiquity than the Sefer Yetzirah.)

In the Raziel deck, Hebrew letters appear on the following Marjor Arcana cards:

• א appears on The Fool
• מ appears on The Empress (the Golden Dawn placed it on The Hanged Man)
• The mother letters, אמש, appear on The Lovers and on Temperance
• the root צדק appears on Justice
• a portion of the word שָׁלוֹם appears on Strength
• the letters י and ב appear on the pillars Boaz and Yachin of The High Priestess, and the garment worn by her contains numerous letters, including some final forms

The Raziel Tarot shows only two of the mother letters: Alef (א) for air and Mem (מ) for water. Pollack and Place did not chose to include the penultimate letter, Šin/Śin (ש), which is associated with creative fire. I wonder which Major Arcana card could be linked reasonably with the third mother letter ש. What do you think?

The Empress as Miriam the Prophet, whose life
included many events associated with water.

The Modern Spellcaster's Tarot

I love that the creators of this deck have restored the elemental associations of Swords and Wands! I remember spending an entire evening, many years ago, repressing my natural inclination and reprogramming myself to think that Wands represented the element of fire and that Swords represented the element of air.

I'm glad they've made this change, but I don't understand why the images remain so similar to Pixie's drawings considering the "new" elemental associations! The Seven of Air (Swords) in Pixie's drawing shows a boat moving to smoother waters, while her Seven of Fire (Wands) shows a victorious horseman parading past adoring crowds. The new Seven of Fire in the Modern Spellcaster's Tarot is a redrawing of the boat and its passengers.

The question is perhaps, how much do I rely on elemental associations in my readings? And if elemental associations are only significant in meditations and spell work, why don't I use a Marseilles deck for the practices?

.

Prayers in the Medicine Woman Tarot

When I first encountered The Medicine Woman Tarot. I passed it by because I know nothing about Native American cultures. How could I use a deck whose imagery I wouldn't recognize or understand? 

People have cited this deck as an example of cultural appropriation. The artist describes the deck as an attempt to envision a "new reality of tribal ways based on native awareness of the land and drawing wisdom from many sacred traditions." 

With some hesitation, I ordered the book and deck last summer because I was attracted to the title, which suggests healing and empowerment. Although I'm not much moved by the deck's artwork, I can see why the guidebook is loved and recommended.

The Two of Stones fromMedicine Woman Tarot

The book alternately captivates and repels me. Sometimes the words sound like New Age dreck, sometimes they seem more profound.

The fertile ground of nature surrounds me,
 
     waiting with her gifts for me to notice...

What can I offer the world that will bring
  
      my earthly reward and soothe my soul... 

What can I do for the land around me? 


What can I do for my people? 


As I chose a direction and begin to work,

      the road to prosperity is cleared.

There is a flaky, NewAge ring to it, but there are deeper ideas, too:

• Acknowledging and developing your gifts can put you on your right path.  
• Seeking satisfaction is okay.  
• The most fulfilling use of your gifts is being of service to the land and other people.  
• The world is (sometimes) benevolent.

Two of Pentacles from
the Rider-Waite-Smith

So there is a contemplative aspect to the companion book. But are the cards really a tarot deck?

At first glance, Carol Bridges' Two of Stones (see above) seems entirely divorced from traditional tarot imagery and meaning. However, I eventually found some commonalities for the corresponding cards in the Rider-Waite-Smith and the Gaian Tarot.

The Two of Pentacles in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck indicates imbalance and struggle, divided attention, an attempt to do too much, and failed multi-tasking; those things aren't seen in the Medicine Woman Tarot. However, the lemniscate and ocean waves in the RWS image also suggest going with the flow and focusing on the task immediately before you, not letting your ego interfere with the flow of the moment. The two coins suggest a choice. You don't have to do everything at once; each moment has its appropriate action. And, remember to dance even when the seas are stormy.

Two of Earth from
The Gaian Tarot

The description of the Two of Earth in the Gaian Tarot guidebook conveys a similar message. Joanna Powell Colbert wrote this affirmation for the image:

I stay centered in the midst of many

demands on my time and attention.

All three cards suggest choosing a path, being flexible, and remaining centered while doing your work. The parent with two children may find joy in caring for them no matter the struggle.

If you are interested, I'd suggest getting the Medicine Woman Tarot Guidebook regardless of what deck you use.

Tarophilia

All tarot enthusiasts are inclined to collect. I love my Gaian Tarot and Robin Wood Tarot decks, and yet I still surf the net looking at other tarot decks. 

I haven't purchased a new deck since the Gaian Tarot arrived on my doorstep three years ago. However, I am intrigued by a relatively new deck called the Mary-El Tarot by Marie White. Sometimes I wonder if this deck is more art than tarot. At other times, I see amazing ideas in the images the artist has created.

The Hierophant card shows malnourished children nursing from aged breasts. My first reaction was, "Gross! Who'd buy an ugly deck like that?" Moments later, I realized how brilliantly this image interprets The Hierophant or Pope card.

It reminds me of the title of an old, New England primer: Milk for Babes Drawn Out of the Breasts of Both Testaments and of a saying attributed to the Jesuits, "Give me the child until he is seven and I care not who has him thereafter." Brainwashed with their mother's milk! And yet un-loved and un-nurtured. What kind of world will these babies know? This is a very clever visual interpretation, especially because it makes me uneasy.

The Mary-El deck has pretty cards, too. (Pretty is good!) In the Three of Swords, a sweet bird caught the swords instead of letting them pierce her fair breast. Now she just has to be careful where she drops them.

What decks call to you? What card images do you find particularly compelling?