Pagan Way Tarot

Become initiated into the realities of
your own psyche and become you
guide to spiritual enlightenment.

~Quote from the back of the box

Title: Pagan Way Tarot

Author: Anna Franklin

Illustrator: Anna Franklin

Publisher: Schiffer Publishing

• Follow the path of the pagan way.

• The Pagan Ways Tarot features 78 beautifully illustrated tarot cards. In this cards, there are characters that are wanting to speak with and show you the way to a better path.

• The Fool card has to be one of the cutest cards in the deck. In this card there is a small child with blond hair and fair skin. It stands on top of a cliff, laughing with joy while holding a flower and dressed as a clown. The Fool indicates a new beginning, a fresh start, or maybe even an adventure that one is venturing soon.

• The Temperance card is by far a beautiful card that has caught my attention, and here is why. In this card there is a feminine angel dressed in a white gown and wearing a gold crown on her head. Her beautiful white wings are spread out as she is riding on her white horse. There is a rainbow in the background and birds fly around her. This card talks about keeping spiritual balance of things. Staying in harmony and learning to keep do and give in moderation.

• The last card that I found very nice is the Queen of Wands and I’m going to share a small trivia about this card. Here is a red headed woman who sits on a bench holding what appears to be a small wand (the kind that witches use). She is in a filled that is covered by red flowers. Her brown cat sits on her lap while looking at her. In reality, the model used for this card is Anna Franklin, the creator of this tarot deck. This card indicates feeling good about yourself. It tells about creations that are done with optimism.

• The back of the cards are very beautiful and they are reversible. The image consists of three moons that stand in the center of the image. On top and below the moon are clouds. Honestly, one can go in a trance just looking at the back of the cards!

• The texture of the cards are wonderful. They are not ridged nor flimsy. They have a matted feel and hold shuffling well. The size of the cards are approximately 3” x 5”.

• The storage is just fantastic! 39 cards rest on the left side of the box and the other 39 of the right side. The book lays on top of the cards. The box protects and keeps the products in place.

• The companion book for this tarot deck is written by Anna Franklin who has written other publications such as the Sacred Circle Tarot and the Fairy Ring Oracle (published by Llewellyn). This companion book is “chunky”, filled with good information for learning the meaning of the tarot cards. It contains a total of 190 pages!

  The book starts off with a Dedication and Acknowledgment. Then an Introduction featuring small and informative paragraphs called The Pagan Way Tarot, The Journey to the Fool, a brief summary of the meanings of the Swords, Wands, Cups, Pentacles, and Major Arcana.

  Then we are introduced to the Fool card who will play the role of the protagonist in this deck. After the Fool, then the chapters for the Minor and Major Arcana begin. For each card you will see a story/narrative, the upright and reversed meanings of the cards. Anna did not write a conclusion for her companion book, but she included something much better which is the appendix chapter that is delightful and very informative. Here you will find the meanings to the Symbols that appear in the cards, four tarot spreads that consist of The Zodiac Spread, Planetary Spread, The Romany Spread and The Celtic Cross Spread. This spreads are not new to seasoned tarot readers and are quite popular. Nonetheless, they are effective and easy to use.

  After the spreads, we come across to a section called “Using the Cards for Meditation and Spiritual Development.” Here you will receive helpful tips on how to meditate with an individual card to connect with it. The Elements will help you connect with your circle when you cast a spell. The Elemental Wheel Exercise will help you connect and stay in touch with the element of your choice. And last, the Wheel of the Year will help you stay attune to the eight festivals of the Pagan Year.

• The illustrations are done by Anna Franklin. The medium consist of photo manipulation/collage. Nowadays, illustrations that consist of photo manipulation/collage are not very popular because the characters physique appears out of proportion. Also, because the illustrator includes the faces of people in their lives, like family and friends, and in my opinion, I see nothing wrong with that, but I digress. Anna did a fantastic job creating the illustrations for her tarot deck. Not only that, but the background illustrations add such an impact. For the characters illustrated in this tarot deck, Anna did use the faces of people in her life.

• Ever since this tarot deck was announced and the making, I kept contact with Anna Franklin and would enjoy seeing the progress and development. In this tarot deck, the Fool is the protagonist and each card is an adventure he encounters. Each character in the cards, be it an animal or human is a deity from a different pantheon! Every card is beautiful and crisp and the companion book compliments it. I love that it stays true to the Rider Waite system, and for beginners, the keywords are printed in the minor Arcana only. Some of the cards original titles were changed, like the the Empress becomes the Lady, the Emperor is the Lord, the Hierophant is the Elder, the Wheel is the Wyrd, the Devil is the Underworld, the Judgment is Rebirth, and the Pages are called Princesses. The spreads are very familiar to me and they are spreads that I’ve used for such a long time. They are four spreads only, but do require a decent amount of cards that should be laid out. If you are a Pagan/Wiccan or if you are simply looking for a fantastic tarot deck, by all means, acquire this tarot deck by clicking here!

© 2010 – 2015 J. R. Rivera
Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.