this deck is so amazing, I just wish the artist had put together some sort of little book, even just to identify all the particular animals they used and some symbolism! great walk through though super helpful!!
For the jugement, the mushrooms are called trompettes de la mort in french which means death trumpets so, it works for me beautifully (they are very good mushrooms !)
I had admired this deck from afar for a while but it wasn't until I saw 'Two Sides Tarot' doing regular blog posts exploring the imagery that I finally put it on my wishlist. Great walk through and insights as always.
Oh my goodness. With conservation land behind us, wetlands across the street, wildlife everywhere and me a Greenwitch, this just made me drool! And then I ordered her tarot and her oracle. I am going to go broke watching videos! :) Thanks! lol
Oh, and I believe that is a Japanese Beetle and we have them here too! They are so hard to kill, very impervious to various repellents, both chemical and natural! So yes, tough as diamonds and determined little critters, though also very destructive in their path! The leaves may be what is left of what they devoured!
It's mercury (also Mercury) not Venus, Venus is without those "horns". :) So those symbols are mercury, sulphur, water, salt, 3 essentials in alchemy (mercury-spirit, sulphur-soul, salt-body) and water, I also read it's representation of 4 elements (mercury-air, sulphur-fire, water-water, salt-earth), but apparently according to alchemical tradition those three principles aren't pure elements, but compounds, mercury is water and air, sulphur is air and fire; salt is earth and water. But maybe Waite simplified this or used other tradition, I don't know.
HI Kelly, soooo.. I'm just a few ;-) years behind here, but my hubby just gifted me this deck and the oracle one together for Xmas. I immediately searched for your review! Loving it! In the 3 of Plumes (arrows) you pointed out that it's such an anatomical looking heart, and having been an OR nurse, the first thing I saw was what looked like a metal pacemaker. So even though the heart has 3 arrows piercing it, my first thought was that it will beat on... :-) And my husband told me that the 5 of Plumes with the Blue Jay and the broken eggs...he said they're known to be aggressive and raid other bird's nests, so there is what could be that "winning at all costs" attitude there with the Blue Jay cracking the other bird's eggs? And the Court cards of the Plumes, I noticed a little caterpillar on the Page, and then what appears to be stages of a butterfly on the rest of the Courts? One on the Knight that doesn't seem completely filled out, then a beautiful complete one on the Queen, and of course the Monarch on the King? Just wondering your thoughts on that progression?
The Moon card reminds me of Rahwana swallowing the sun where each time the sun escapes because his head is a beheaded one. Thought on the 9 and 10 of stones: I thought it is a very concise depiction with that bowing down antler, almost as if being completely burdened by the stones, so much so that it is surrendering its will to the heaviness of the stones / crystals. In the 10 of stones, there are just the stones running riot and totally dominating the scene.... EDIT: speaking of Rahwana, I just found out that he is also known as Rahu. According to Wikipedia: "In Hindu tradition, Rahu ( ) is the severed head of an asura called Svarbhānu, that swallows the sun causing eclipses. He is depicted in art as a serpent with no body riding a chariot drawn by eight black horses. Rahu is one of the navagrahas (nine planets) in Vedic astrology and is paired with Ketu. The time of day considered to be under the influence of Rahu is called Rahu kala and is considered inauspicious. In Vedic astronomy, Rahu is considered to be a rogue planet. [...] Astronomically, Rahu and Ketu denote the points of intersection of the paths of the Sun and the Moon as they move on the celestial sphere. Therefore, Rahu and Ketu are respectively called the north and the south lunar nodes. The fact that eclipses occur when the Sun and the Moon are at one of these points gives rise to the myth of the swallowing of the Sun and the Moon by the demon snake."
I love the eyeballs LOL I've been waiting to feel ready to connect fully with these cards properly, maybe your video is a poke ;) Beautiful deck, love hearing your thoughts
I'm sure someone has already said this somewhere, but the earth court cards are all skulls of extinct animals. Mammoth, sabertooth, western black rhino (declared extinct right around the time of creation for this deck), and thylacine.
Great and very thorough review Kelly! I have this deck and really do like the artwork but find it very hard to read with. You made some great connections! I think the pip nature of the minor arcana cards, makes them difficult for me. I also get a little freaked out by the god cards and I hate the sun, with my completely devoted love of the fox, replacing the fox head with a sunflower really bothers me for some reason, although I get the point, it seems more torturous than joyous, so it really flips the meaning of that card for me. I do really enjoy most of the beautiful artwork though, and really that is my main reason for having it in my collection. i know many people will not work with decks they can't read with, being an artist myself, there are certainly decks I own just for the pure beauty of them and look through them often. Thanks for sharing this!
So torn - I love the way the tarot and oracle work together they are stunning cards and after watching this review I can get meanings and intuitive hits from most of the cards however there are 2 or 3 that I still get lost on - like the 10 of pentacles didn't make sense - I kept trying to get something from that skull lol but it's missing it's teeth too. I think it's stunning and my knowledge on the cards RWS are about a year strong but that still makes me pretty fresh in comparison to readers like yourself lol so not sure. Great helpful review
DId you find out about the symbols on the wheel card? I am thinking of getting this deck I did get the Earthbound Oracle it is wonderful I hope I like the Wooden Tarot as much.
this deck is so amazing, I just wish the artist had put together some sort of little book, even just to identify all the particular animals they used and some symbolism! great walk through though super helpful!!
For the jugement, the mushrooms are called trompettes de la mort in french which means death trumpets so, it works for me beautifully (they are very good mushrooms !)
+Claire De La Lune Ahhhh love it!!! :D Thank you!
WOW!! You did a beautiful job interpreting this deck, especially for a quick go through! Your insight is just phenomenal 👏
I had admired this deck from afar for a while but it wasn't until I saw 'Two Sides Tarot' doing regular blog posts exploring the imagery that I finally put it on my wishlist. Great walk through and insights as always.
+Kelly Bear It really is quite stunning and worth being on your wishlist ;) :D
I'm going to need a bigger shelf...
Oh my goodness. With conservation land behind us, wetlands across the street, wildlife everywhere and me a Greenwitch, this just made me drool! And then I ordered her tarot and her oracle. I am going to go broke watching videos! :) Thanks! lol
I'm ordering it tomorrow! Are you happy with it?
This is a gorgeous deck. You did a great walk-through. It makes me want to look at my own deck again and play around with it.
+Emily Hall It really is a gorgeous one!!
Oh, and I believe that is a Japanese Beetle and we have them here too! They are so hard to kill, very impervious to various repellents, both chemical and natural! So yes, tough as diamonds and determined little critters, though also very destructive in their path! The leaves may be what is left of what they devoured!
I LOVE the Happy Squirrel!
+Roopa Dudley :D :D :D
It's mercury (also Mercury) not Venus, Venus is without those "horns". :) So those symbols are mercury, sulphur, water, salt, 3 essentials in alchemy (mercury-spirit, sulphur-soul, salt-body) and water, I also read it's representation of 4 elements (mercury-air, sulphur-fire, water-water, salt-earth), but apparently according to alchemical tradition those three principles aren't pure elements, but compounds, mercury is water and air, sulphur is air and fire; salt is earth and water. But maybe Waite simplified this or used other tradition, I don't know.
HI Kelly, soooo.. I'm just a few ;-) years behind here, but my hubby just gifted me this deck and the oracle one together for Xmas. I immediately searched for your review! Loving it! In the 3 of Plumes (arrows) you pointed out that it's such an anatomical looking heart, and having been an OR nurse, the first thing I saw was what looked like a metal pacemaker. So even though the heart has 3 arrows piercing it, my first thought was that it will beat on... :-) And my husband told me that the 5 of Plumes with the Blue Jay and the broken eggs...he said they're known to be aggressive and raid other bird's nests, so there is what could be that "winning at all costs" attitude there with the Blue Jay cracking the other bird's eggs? And the Court cards of the Plumes, I noticed a little caterpillar on the Page, and then what appears to be stages of a butterfly on the rest of the Courts? One on the Knight that doesn't seem completely filled out, then a beautiful complete one on the Queen, and of course the Monarch on the King? Just wondering your thoughts on that progression?
Thank you!! Just order the decks, it also comes with a new Lenormard deck too I think... so I am
Exited and you always do such of good reviews...😃
The Moon card reminds me of Rahwana swallowing the sun where each time the sun escapes because his head is a beheaded one. Thought on the 9 and 10 of stones: I thought it is a very concise depiction with that bowing down antler, almost as if being completely burdened by the stones, so much so that it is surrendering its will to the heaviness of the stones / crystals. In the 10 of stones, there are just the stones running riot and totally dominating the scene....
EDIT: speaking of Rahwana, I just found out that he is also known as Rahu. According to Wikipedia: "In Hindu tradition, Rahu ( ) is the severed head of an asura called Svarbhānu, that swallows the sun causing eclipses. He is depicted in art as a serpent with no body riding a chariot drawn by eight black horses. Rahu is one of the navagrahas (nine planets) in Vedic astrology and is paired with Ketu. The time of day considered to be under the influence of Rahu is called Rahu kala and is considered inauspicious. In Vedic astronomy, Rahu is considered to be a rogue planet. [...] Astronomically, Rahu and Ketu denote the points of intersection of the paths of the Sun and the Moon as they move on the celestial sphere. Therefore, Rahu and Ketu are respectively called the north and the south lunar nodes. The fact that eclipses occur when the Sun and the Moon are at one of these points gives rise to the myth of the swallowing of the Sun and the Moon by the demon snake."
I love the eyeballs LOL I've been waiting to feel ready to connect fully with these cards properly, maybe your video is a poke ;) Beautiful deck, love hearing your thoughts
+Joey Morris I love the eyeballs as well, it causes me to step sideways in some fashion that is pretty powerful! :)
I'm sure someone has already said this somewhere, but the earth court cards are all skulls of extinct animals. Mammoth, sabertooth, western black rhino (declared extinct right around the time of creation for this deck), and thylacine.
OH what a wonderful thing to point out, THANK YOU I didn't know it!
Great and very thorough review Kelly! I have this deck and really do like the artwork but find it very hard to read with. You made some great connections! I think the pip nature of the minor arcana cards, makes them difficult for me. I also get a little freaked out by the god cards and I hate the sun, with my completely devoted love of the fox, replacing the fox head with a sunflower really bothers me for some reason, although I get the point, it seems more torturous than joyous, so it really flips the meaning of that card for me. I do really enjoy most of the beautiful artwork though, and really that is my main reason for having it in my collection. i know many people will not work with decks they can't read with, being an artist myself, there are certainly decks I own just for the pure beauty of them and look through them often. Thanks for sharing this!
So torn - I love the way the tarot and oracle work together they are stunning cards and after watching this review I can get meanings and intuitive hits from most of the cards however there are 2 or 3 that I still get lost on - like the 10 of pentacles didn't make sense - I kept trying to get something from that skull lol but it's missing it's teeth too.
I think it's stunning and my knowledge on the cards RWS are about a year strong but that still makes me pretty fresh in comparison to readers like yourself lol so not sure.
Great helpful review
Hi Kelly! Is there a deck that you can think of (oracle or tarot) that has squirrels in them? I love squirrels. I may get this deck for the squirrel.
DId you find out about the symbols on the wheel card? I am thinking of getting this deck I did get the Earthbound Oracle it is wonderful I hope I like the Wooden Tarot as much.
That's actually a luna moth. Death's head moths have a really visible skull-type image on the back!
+Jamie Morris Oh. Wait. He's put a skull on the luna moth! Sorry!!
+Jamie Morris That Six of Bones? I see that as a hand that gives . . .
+Jamie Morris Love the "hand that gives" :D
You had to bring up Bambi's father. :'(
Do you still use this deck?