The Gaian Tarot Hierophant

The other day I mentioned that I often thought of the Hierophant as the Teacher. Perhaps one of the many reasons I love The Gaian Tarot so much is that it names and depicts Arcana V as The Teacher.

The creator, Joanna Powell Colbert, says that this card is the Humble Teacher, as in a Holy [...]

The Pagan Tarot & a Special Guest

You are so lucky today! Instead of just reading my babble about the Hierophant, you get a behind-the-scenes peek at the what goes into creating decks. The creator of The Pagan Tarot, Gina M. Pace, has very graciously shared her story behind this deck’s Hierophant. It’s a fascinating tale, and, Gina, I thank you so [...]

Does The Hierophant Need a Makeover?

Yes, I know…everyone’s most favorite card, right?
Here is the image of the classic RWS Hierophant next to the image from the Tarot of the New Vision (a deck that shows the cards from behind the traditional image):

The High Priestess easily transitioned from the Popess to her current incarnation and is, consequently, one of the cards [...]

Quaint Meanings

Years ago, I read the 9 of Cups was related to the 9 of Hearts, which was considered the Wish Card in playing card fortune telling. So I’ve always thought of the 9 of Cups as the Wish Card. When it comes up, I get excited and act like I’ve just blown out the [...]

All a Twitter Over Tarot

We asked our Twitter followers a few questions about their first Tarot deck and giving decks as gifts. We had such a great response and enjoyed reading their tweets so we thought we would post them here for everyone to see and comment on.
Join the conversation here and follow us on Twitter as @LlewellynBooks.
Question #1: [...]

My Tarot Story

Do you remember the first time you saw tarot cards? Do you remember when you fell in love with them? I do.
My college roommate and I threw a party. We were both non-trads, which is a fancy way to say “older student,” and we lived in a condo off-campus. At some point she pulled out [...]

The Fairy Tale Moon

Lisa Hunt’s Fairy Tale Tarot features the lovely Sleeping Beauty. I love how the moonlight coming in the window is mirrored in the moonlight in the tapestry. This card highlights the idea of the moon representing the unconscious, comparing it to a dream state (since the princess is in a 100 year sleep, I assume [...]

A Sense of Belonging

Way back when I first became involved with tarot, there were not very many tarot organizations. I remember three: the American Tarot Association, the International Tarot Society, and Daughters of Divination. They were known for, among other things, their conferences. The ATA put on many regional conferences throughout the country. The Daughters of Divination hosts [...]

Aces from the Elves

Recently a reader named Lada responded to my question “what cards from decks do you want to see?” She was interested in the Aces from the Tarot of the Elves. Lada, here they are! Enjoy!
If there are cards from any Llewellyn or Lo Scarabeo deck that you’d like to see, let me know in the [...]

The Hourglass Spread

One of my all time very favorite spreads was published on the now defunct Tarot Passages website (the site www.tarotpassages.com is still up and filled with great information but has not been updated for quite a while). This spread, called The Hourglass Spread, was created by Teresa Michelsen, author of The Complete Tarot Reader and [...]