A Collection of Tarot Decks

Postmodern Decks: Beginning With W-Z

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Wheel of Change Tarot. Alexandra Genetti. 1997 Destiny Books (Inner Traditions)
Major Arcana: modern occult titles
Suits: Wands, Cups, Swords, Disks
Court: Prince, Princess, Knight, Queen
Pips are scenic but do not show human figures; non-traditional numerology
This is a fascinating and unique deck, dense with symbolism. Its intent is to show humanity as fully one with and embedded within nature, nature within us and we within it. People and cultural artifacts from many races and many eras populate the deck. It recognizes both Goddess and God: Goddess because belief in her "brings a deep respect for the life-giving power of the female body and promotes a deep spiritual ecology", and God because "the mythologies of the Father God are a part of our history and culture, and the influence of these ideas runs deep in our consciousness."
It feels to me like an earth-centered twist on the Thoth deck, but not because of the system of correspondences embedded in the deck. Alexandra Genetti has devised a new Tarot Tree tableau which is used instead of the Golden Dawn version of the Qabalistic Tree of Life, and has modified the numerology of the Minor Arcana, the astrological correlations, and the system of symbolic color scales. Despite all of this, if you lay her deck next to the Thoth deck, you can see a strong family resemblance.
Alexandra has done a new synthesis of occult tarot with goddess spirituality. Especially recommended as a meditation deck to those drawn to the Goddess.

Wheel of Change Princess of Cups book with deck

The Whimsical Tarot. Designer Dorothy Morrison and artist Mary Hanson-Roberts. 2001 U.S. Games Systems. - fairy tales, nursery rhymes, fables - "A Deck for Children and the Young at Heart" - Very cute, the tales chosen and scenes posed are generally riffs off of divinatory meanings, though some of the choices are a bit baffling. While this is a Wands=Air Swords=Fire deck, the correspondence is not apparent in the imagery.

Whimsical Tarot Page of Cups deck book

Waking the Wild Spirit Tarot. Poppy Palin. 2002 Llewellyn - Divorced from expectations of tarot symbolism, I absolutely love the art on this deck. But alas, it goes rather far afield from base Tarot symbolism - to the point that it has the feel of a non-Tarot oracle deck rather than a standard Tarot deck. There is, however, meditative payoff in the comparative process of looking at this art next to more mainstream decks, and asking "how does this express the energy of card x?" For example, the Moon is a card that surprised me in how forcefully it responded to that question. The art is wonderful enough that it's in no danger of leaving my collection.

Waking the Wild Spirit The FortuneTeller book with deck

Wise Gal Tarot. Jane Burns and Dale Gottlieb. 2000 Crown Publishers (Random House) - This is a slim paperback with a full 78-card set of Marseilles style cards bound in, ready to be punched out. This set is designed for kids, especially older elementary grade girls and possibly middle school. The book covers Dowsing, Tasseography, Pyromancy, the Chinese Zodiac, Palmistry and Bibliomancy in addition to Tarot. This leaves the amount of text describing the cards to a quantity similar to a LWB. 3 spreads are also included. Dale Gottlieb is a veteran children's book illustrator, and these bright simple cards are quite appealing.

Wise Gal Princess of Cups book with deck

The Witches Tarot. Ellen Cannon Reed and Martin Cannon . 1989 Llewellyn Publishing - One purpose of this deck is to teach Qabala to Wiccans. So it is Qabala-based without being a Golden Dawn deck; astrological correspondences do not color the meanings. As is becoming more popular for Wiccan decks, Swords=Fire and Wands=Air. Some of the teaching concepts lead to strange illustrations, like bodybuilders in the library, and pelicans in piety. The court cards were rushed to get done in time for deadline, and all cards of the same title are essentially identical except for hair color, robe color and suit implement. As this deck is no longer in my colletion, I was unable to scan the Princess of Cups card, so I am showing the Prince instead. The books are quite nice, and so far this is the one deck I regret taking out of my collection.

Witches Tarot Prince Cups deck book 1 book 2

Tarot of the Witches (007). Fergus Hall. 1974 US Games Systems, Inc. - This Marseilles-style deck was featured in the 1973 James Bond movie, 007 Live And Let Die. If you like the art of Fergus Hall, you'll love this deck.

Tarot of the Witches Page of Cups deck book

World Spirit Tarot. Lauren O' Leary. 2001 Llewellyn. - Hand-colored linoleum block prints done up with thick black outlines and vibrant colors. Though generally classified as a RWS variation ("clone"), this playful deck is informed by visual concepts from RWS and Thoth, as well as Motherpeace and Daughters of the Moon, and updates images to include people of different ethnicities and body types. This deck is one of my all-time favorites and is highly recommended.

World Spirit Seer of Cups book and deck set

The Xultun Tarot Codex. Peter Balin. 1976 Arcana Publishing Co. - All of the Major Arcana join together to make one picture with this Mayan theme deck.

Xultun Servant of Cups deck book

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Copyright © 1994-2001 Joan Schraith Cole.
Updated August 26, 2001
Some graphics from Ann-S-Thesia CD, Number 76 variant A
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