Deck Review: The Winding
The Winding is a nature-themed deck created by Stephanie Burrows and illustrated by Adam Oehlers, the duo behind a whole host of decks for their publishing house Three Trees Tarot, including Oak, Ash & Thorn and Heartwood. Their previous collaborations are on my radar as they’re v. popular decks, and I absolutely get why: they’re undeniably beautiful. BUT they’ve generally been a little too whimsical-animals-skipping-through-Farthing-Woods*-y for my personal tastes. Apparently I have no soul, lol. In reality, I’m just not much of a cute-animal-deck person, and both Oak, Ash & Thorn and Heartwood sit slightly too far towards the twee end of the spectrum for me. The Winding, though, absolutely…
Deck Review: Jessup’s Magical Tarot Deck
In time for Halloween, I want to spend some time with the fabulously witchy & kitschy Jessup’s Magical Tarot Deck, which is equal parts spooky and fun, and thus pretty much the perfect Halloween deck. Plus, with its gorgeous oranges, yellows, faded greens and inky blacks, it has a wonderfully October-y seasonal palette. The deck is the creation of Karli Jessup, an artist and witch based in Saskatchewan, Canada. Formally trained in printmaking, Jessup’s work plays around with the boundary between commercial and fine-art printing – something that very much comes through in the deck’s distinctive retro aesthetic. She also owns and operates Jessup’s General Store, a shop selling clothing,…
Tarot Card Meanings: Temperance
Welcome to my temperate flow! Temperance is the fourteenth card of the Major Arcana, and traditionally represents balance, moderation, patience, harmony, and the blending of opposites. When I first started learning the Tarot, I didn't really like the Temperance card. I simultaneously found it a bit confronting (my little ADHD brain is not temperate! I am a person of chaotic, and often distressing, extremes, and this card calls me out), and also a bit wishy-washy (be virtuous, take the middle path, everything in moderation, blah blah blah 😴). However, having done a deep dive, I am now much more pro-Temperance, lol.
Currently On Kickstarter: Le Tarot de la Grande Ourse
You know when you see a card from a Tarot deck, and you think, “Wow! That’s smart. And I don’t really think I’ve seen it done like that before. That’s so cool. Something to think about. Huh. Huh.” And then you find your mind keeps coming back to it, turning it over and over and inspecting it, and every time it gives you a little jolt of pleasure and interest, and you know it’s just a really special card. If I feel that way about a card, that’s enough to make me buy the whole deck, even if I’m kinda ambivalent about the others. In a good deck, there’ll be…
Shag, Marry, Push Off A Cliff: I’m on the Boner & Mirror Tarot Podcast!
I was delighted to be invited onto the Boner & Mirror Tarot podcast by my new Portsmouth-Tarot-friend Molly, creator of Bone and Mirror Tarot. (This is very exciting. Local Tarot friends are the best!) Boner & Mirror is the cheeky little sibling of Molly’s more serious Tarot work, and is built around one extremely important question: which Tarot card would you hook up with, which would you marry, and which would you push off a cliff? Obviously, this combines three of my main interests: Tarot, sex and sexuality, and pushing people off cliffs, ahem, criminology – so it was an absolute delight to take part. Molly drew some real stinkers…
Deck Review: The Hayworth Tarot
It’s time for another throwback review, with one of my all-time, old-time favourites: Jessica Hayworth's Hayworth Tarot. I’ve had this deck for years and years, and it shows up in my deep dives a LOT. Because I LOVE it. It is dark and creepy and fabulously unsettling. There’s a lot of inky black blood, a lot of viscera, and a general sense that something has gone terribly, terribly wrong... But in a good way, you know.
Deck Review: Pixie’s Marseille Tarot
Pixie’s Marseille Tarot brings two of Tarot’s most influential traditions together, weaving Pamela Colman Smith’s familiar RWS figures into the pips, structures, and symbolism of the Tarot de Marseille. The result is clever, quirky, occasionally weird, and clearly made with enormous affection for both.
Who’s That (Manic Pixie Dream) Girl?: The Life and Art of Pamela Colman Smith
Who was Pamela “Pixie” Colman Smith? Artist, storyteller, feminist, occultist, and bohemian oddball, Smith brought a lifetime of folklore, theatre, symbolism and strange, visionary art to the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot. Let’s meet the woman behind some of Tarot’s most iconic images.
Deck Review: Wild Eden Tarot
The Wild Eden Tarot is a strange, sensual, and gloriously visceral deck from Lo Scarabeo, illustrated by Gloria Pizzilli and created with Tarot educator Alice Mastroleo. I take a deep dive into its distinctive artwork, symbolism, and very VERY naked bodies 😂
Tarot Card Meanings: The Star
Welcome to my Circle of Stars! The Star is the seventeenth card of the Major Arcana, and represents hope, healing, faith, and the long path back to wholeness. In this post, I explore the Star Tarot meaning, from classical and contemporary symbolism to literary reflections, deck interpretations, and personal experience – and what it means to keep going when the light is faint, but still there.
