Magic users of many paths will love this breathtaking deck filled with adepts, spellcasters, boundless power, and deep mysteries. Each card comes to life in vibrant splashes of color and explosive displays of incredible magic. These wizards will delight you with every flip of the cards. So raise your sword, wave your wand, tip your cup, and draw your pentacle with this irresistible, Rider-Waite-Smith-based deck and full-color guidebook.
You can see the unboxing and flickthrough videos on Tiktok!
I've been trying to decide what attracts me so much about these cards, and I think I've got it. Almost all of them feel like windows into a real world. I have a lot of decks that I love and love working with, but the images in them feel static, a moment in time. Most of the images in this deck feel like we're taking a peek into a world that exists before and after the moment depicted on the card.
Ok, let's do this in order.
The deck comes in Llwellyn's standard box, a large, sturdy cardboard with a magnetic closure on the right hand side. It's about the size of a standard paperback. The book of words is the same size as the box and is well bound. The cards are standard tarot size and sit in a well in the box. The box protects them really well, but is probably too big to carry around easily.
The book starts with a basic intro to tarot and the deck, then gives some tips for reading, including cheat sheets. I loved cheat sheets as a beginner, and as an intermediate I still love them. I think they're a fantastic help.
The book then moves into the cards themselves, starting with the Majors. Each takes two pages; a full page image of the card in colour, and a page of meanings, with keywords for upright and reversed, a meaning and some advice. The meanings are clear and simple.
The Minors, uniquely in my experience, are arranged by number rather than by suit. Each Minor card has the full page image, keywords upright and reversed, a quick reminder of the suit and number meaning and then the specific meaning for the card. There's also a page for each number group discussing what that number means. I really enjoyed this, as I haven't delved into the numerology of tarot yet. This feels like a lovely, low stress way to start learning about it.
The Courts are also arranged by number. The layouts are the same, except that the reversed keywords have vanished. Everything else is still here though.
Chapter Six has some spreads to try. Chapter Seven talks about the specific inspirations behind some of the cards, which is really interesting to look at! It's helped me to make a deeper connection to the cards.
I have found that, after a few weeks of using it, the cover has pulled away from the pages at the front, but it's still perfectly useable and I could stick it back together if it really bothered me.
The cards themselves;
They're standard tarot size, glossy and shuffle easily without catching or stuttering. The images are borderless and feature a small golden bar at the bottom with the name of the card. The Majors include the card number in Roman numerals.
The back features a dragon curled around a sword hilt with a blade made of crystal. It's not reversible.
The images are absolutely amazing, bright, bold and true to life (Yes, even the ones featuring dragons!) The people look like actual people. The suits don't have themes, as some decks have.
Here are some examples:
I love this deck. I've found it eager to help and clear to read. It's definitely one that I often reach for. It's probably close enough to a basic RWS that it could be a first deck, especially if the reader is into fantasy - I've really enjoyed noting all the little nods to different series and universes, and I'm sure I'm missing plenty! This is a deck that's right near the top of my list and I look forward to using it for a long time to come.
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