Coneflower

When a deck creator goes through the time and effort to research and create a companion book for their deck I feel it is only right for me to take the time and make the effort to read it. Even if I never refer to it again, reading the book helps me understand the world from which the deck was born. It explains the story behind the images, the thinking and symbology used in those images and the intention of the creator of the deck. In the companion book for Wizards Tarot Corrine Kenner goes beyond what I expected. From the opening line of the Introduction, “Welcome to Mandrake Academy” I knew I was in for something different.

The companion book for her deck is a handbook for the students of Mandrake Academy. In other places I have seen parallels drawn with Harry Potter and while that is to be expected it is superficial. Do not take this deck lightly. Ms. Kenner, author of Tarot for Writers, Tarot Journaling, and her newest Tarot and Astrology, has created an academy where students are given the fundamentals in magical disciplines with notes on how to use them in real life. That is something you won’t find at Hogwarts.

Each of the Major Arcana cards is a professor of one magical skill or discipline. This is really quite clever. Take the Hanged Man for example:

Here is Odin , the Norse God who sacrificed himself by hanging upside down on Yggdrasil, the World Tree, to gain wisdom. As a result of his sacrifice he discovered the runes you see in the stained glass window behind him. He is the perfect choice for the Hanged Man in this deck and to be the Professor of Runes. On his knee and foot are perched his ravens, Huginn and Muninn who are Thought and Memory. The painting on the wall is of this same scene upside down and within it is the same painting turned round again. The astrological symbol for Neptune is on a piece of paper under the painting. Neptune is the planet of illusion and is the planet associated with this card. The Hebrew letter Mem is in the book on the desktop. Mem means water and symbolizes the unconcious and subconcious mind. For tarot reading this card is rich in symbolism. The Hanged Man is about sacrifice. He’s speaks of putting yourself in an uncomfortable position for a greater good. He is also about seeing things from a different viewpoint and piercing illusions. In the book Ms. Kenner goes beyond the card itself and includes a fundamental lesson in runes.

A brief history of runes precedes a graphic display of each followed by a list of the names, pronunciation and meaning for each rune. Suggestions for practical applications of the runes is next and then a tarot spread. A study of this section would give a basic understanding of runes and is enough information for the reader to decide whether or not to pursue further study.

Each of the Major Arcana are fleshed out in a similar way. The cards are professors in disciplines that are in line with their meaning within the tarot. The High Priestess is Professor of Divination, The Empress is Professor of Herbal Magic and The Emperor is The Headmaster (of course he is). The key symbols of each card are brought to your attention and explained. Their subject matters get a basic, fundamental explanation followed by a “Practical Magic” section showing how to apply what you’ve learned. A tarot spread relating to the meaning of the card and the discipline it represents wraps up the lesson and you are on to the next Major Arcana with the next professor.

The Minor Arcana are treated a bit differently. As with the Majors there is a black and white illustration of the card itself but the Minors are students at Mandrake Academy and are illustrations of people practicing the magic they are learning. First there is a description of each suit and the meaning of the numbers on the cards. In the explanation of each card there is first a ‘Magic Power’ followed by a ‘Magic Charm’ and then the ‘Key Symbols’ are explained. The ‘Magic Power’ of Ace of Wands for instance is “a card of spiritual passion and enlightenment.” Its charm is “Focus on the Ace of Wands when you want to be inspired.”

The cards themselves are physically the same consistency and body as playing cards though sized like tarot cards. The digital art by John J. Blumen is well done and pleasant. A querent new to tarot would not be frightened away by this deck. I would even use it in reading for younger people. The symbolism and detail is deep and rich enough that you know Ms. Kenner knows her tarot. The deck is very readable for a beginner but has enough depth and subtlety to satisfy a reader with much more experience. This is a good all-purpose reading deck and can be more if you want it to be.

I have spent the last month playing with Emily Carding’s Tarot of the Sidhe. (Sidhe is pronounced Shee) It’s an interesting and creative deck not unlike Ms. Carding herself.

The deck follows the standard tarot format with a few exceptions. Pan replaces The Devil and The Elder replaces The Hierophant. The suits are Dreamers/Air, Warriors/Fire, Dancers/Water and Makers/Earth. Pages are Princesses and Knights are Princes. In the ‘little white book’, which is actually black, Ms. Carding has written extensively about the Major Arcana cards. Each card gets an explanation followed by Artist’s Notes explaining the image and symbolism in each card along with the inspiration for the various components of the image. The Minor Arcana are each given a four line poem followed by keywords.

The deck itself is printed on very sturdy stock and after a month of being handled the cards are still fairly stiff. They are a nice size giving plenty of room for the images to be clearly seen within a generous black border. The back of the cards are solid black with a large central image of the Great Glyph of the Sidhe. This glyph is also present in each of the Major Arcana. Shiffer packs this deck and its book into a sturdy box that is more than adequate to house this deck for a long time.

I find the artwork rather striking. It is bright and dark, primitive and complex, cheerful and frightening, not unlike the Sidhe it represents. As a reading deck I had some challenges early on and I had to change the way I read in order to work with this deck. That’s not a bad thing. I purchased this deck last winter and had done nothing with it. In the intervening months I kept coming across it and told myself it was foolish to spend money on a deck and never even get acquainted with it. August is a down month around here and I chose to use some of that downtime getting to know the Tarot of the Sidhe.

The best way to learn this deck is one card at a time. Don’t try to read them just study the image. As you let go of the keywords in your head and the preconceived meanings you associate with each card these cards will tell their story. Each time I revisit a card I get a deeper and sometimes different spin on the story. Some cards are still keeping their secrets. Here’s what I do know: these cards would be great for meditation and they are fantastic at weather readings.

My birthday is August 28th. My husband was planning to barbecue dinner for me. I invited my son up from the city and planned a nice end of summer evening with my husband and children. Early last week there was concern about Hurricane Irene and some uncertainty about her track. I asked the Sidhe what weather I could expect for my birthday. I pulled The Hermit.

This was kind of jarring. The Hermit on this card is kind of creepy. I generally like The Hermit in most decks and it is the card for Virgo, my sun sign. This guy is kind of ominous. I live in New York. We haven’t been hit by a hurricane since Floyd 1999. Until I pulled this card I wasn’t really concerned about Irene. Look at this card. The Hermit is very serious and pointing toward a distant hill. I live on a hill in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains. There is also the red sun and sky in the direction he’s pointng. “Red sky in morning, sailors take warning” is an old seafarer’s rhyme that warns of impending bad weather. And while those clouds could be moving in or moving out, I asked about how concerned I should be regarding Irene. I took it to mean the clouds are moving in. He’s in a boat in the water and between him and the shore there is a giant spiral. It is the Great Glyph of the Sidhe but it looks like the wind pattern of a hurricane. Then there is the nature of hermits to consider. They are alone, isolated from the rest of the world. By their own choosing, yes, but isolated nonetheless.

So what happened? I waited a few days and sure enough Irene was making a beeline for the Northeast. All the projections put her path right on top of us. I cancelled the visit with my son because I was concerned he wouldn’t be able to get back to the city for work on Monday. That turned out to be the right move. New York City shut down their public transportation at noon on Saturday. Irene landed here as a slow moving tropical storm. The wind and the rain knocked out our cell tower and I was without service for three days. So I had no interaction with the outside world except over the internet and that was spotty. We didn’t have our barbecue and didn’t leave the house all weekend. Our county has been declared a disaster area. There is widespread flooding, bridges and roads were washed away in the storm and the flooding afterward. I haven’t ventured too far from home since then because of the road damage and flooding. I’d have to say this card was pretty spot on.

All in all this is a very interesting deck. I don’t see it becoming a deck I use to read for others but I won’t be putting it back in storage either. I think it’s going to take some time to really get to know these cards and I think it will be worth the effort.

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