Friends, I’d like to introduce you to the English Magic Tarot. Actually, I’m not introducing the English Magic Tarot in general – I’m introducing you to this deck specifically, the one in my pictures. Why? Because it’s not like other decks.
*plays ominous music*
Looks innocuous, right? Just an ordinary tarot deck waiting to be picked up and studied or read. Right? Wrong. This one drew blood. In the 20+ years that I’ve been reading tarot I’ve never cut myself on one. Not even close. But this one – this one bit me. And it is now (unintentionally) consecrated with a tiny bit of my blood. That makes this deck quite unique in my collection. So I thought it was appropriate to give it it’s own introduction.
This little cut was a reminder of the seriousness with with the deck’s subject should be regarded – a metaphor for handling magic with care. The focus of this deck is on the occult period in 16th century England when magic was abound. But magicians work in liminal spaces where energies both positive and negative can be drawn forth. Dabbling in the magical arts can get you in quite a bit of trouble if you don’t do things just right, or have your intentions straight.
I haven’t read with it yet – I’m a little nervous, lol. Actually, I’m still studying it – there are clues and riddles on each card, which all lead to some final answer. No seriously, this is like a puzzle tarot deck – how cool is that?!! Magical alphabets are what hide the clues and riddles on the cards, in addition to the images themselves. And the deck is a fantastic look at this magically-significant historical period, with all its colorful characters.
3 dislikes: 1.Card quality. Decent except for the edges – clearly, as my above example shows, this deck has sharp edges. 2. Large borders on the Minor Arcana – would love to have those images bigger and borders smaller. 3. Printing errors on several cards where a partial border shows that shouldn’t. Overall my issues are with the printing and publishing, and not the deck creators work – they made a fabulously magical deck!
Everything else is wonderful – decent card stock, beautiful and meaningful artwork, shuffles smoothly – lovely. It’s slightly wider than average which might make shuffling a bit harder for some. I’m enjoying it so far, and recommend it, so long as you handle it with care. For real.
Not a deck I would recommend for starting out with tarot perhaps, but if you’ve got a decent handle on the RWS system, and are intrigued by magic and puzzles (seriously, who isn’t?), I definitely recommend the English Magic Tarot.
Have a magical day, Beloved Community!
