Meet my Deck!

A few months ago, as I was procrastinating my end-of-term project for a cool self-analysis-through-writing course, I stumbled upon a book about casting horoscopes. I bought it, and my scattered thought process reminded me of another book I’d purchased at the same shop: The Mythic Tarot. My mind was on fire with connections between astrology and Tarot: I needed a deck!

Immediately I tried to picture what my ultimate deck would look like. I love the art style of Alphonse Mucha, and typed “Mucha Tarot” into Amazon.ca. To my delight the perfect deck came up, I ordered it, and waited two long months for it to arrive. I was not disappointed!

I felt an immediate connection to the Tarot Mucha deck, published by Lo Scarabeo. Besides the breathtaking images on each card, illustrated by Giulia F. Massaglia with colours by Barbara Nosenzo, the deck itself feels almost electric to me – when I use it the hairs on my arms stand on end! I find the imagery and symbolism light and pleasant, with a good balance of darkness.        The descriptions for each card, written by Lunea Weatherstone, are amazing to boot! When I was learning to read the cards, each visit to the Little White Book ended with new goosebumps after reading the interpretations!

I also love the three spreads included in the book. Each involves four cards, laid in a line to resemble Mucha’s posters – which I absolutely adore! In my first solo apartment, I had my living room decorated perfectly in Art Nouveau style, with a poster of The Seasons above my couch! Every time I use my cards I feel a connected, secure feeling, like relaxing in a favourite room with nowhere else to be in the world.

Deck facts:

Cards: 78

Suits: Cups, Discs, Staves, Swords

Court: King, Queen, Knight, Knave

Strength VIII, Justice XI

• Rider-Waite based, with much [Much-a! Haha!] original imagery
• Strong masculine and feminine symbolism
• Great emotional facial expressions
• Back artwork is not reversible, but LWB descriptions include both positive and negative aspects of the card

Favourite images:

3 of Cups: This image makes me feel so good – and it appeals to my childhood love of pink dresses and poofy princess sleeves, not to mention red mermaid hair! It also reminds me of young people drinking and dancing together and having the time of their lives, making me happily nostalgic.

9 of Pentacles: There’s that red mermaid hair again! I think this woman looks amazing – so comfortable and secure, relaxed and hanging out with her pet hawk. She is completely carefree and totally inspiring!

2 of Wands: This card reminds me of the song “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands!” I love the way a soft wind ruffles the young woman’s hair as she looks out over her homeland, holding a globe of the world and dreaming of exploring it someday. The colours in this card really appeal to me, especially the way the red robes are offset by the soft orange, blue, and green background, which melts almost seamlessly into the grey of the castle walls. Mm!

Queen of Swords: This is my favourite card, hands down! Not only does she have red mermaid hair, she is fierce. She doesn’t put up with any bull****, and she stares life down – remaining defensive, but strategically so. Everything she does is to maintain life balance, and her roots are deep.

XV – The Devil: Isn’t she cool?! Haha, that sounds terrible — but I like how, as opposed to the people in traditional decks, the people in this card aren’t chained in any way. They’re practically chillin’! Her message is to be aware of the interesting and mysteriously beautiful shinies that catch your eye, before they turn out to be all-consuming flames.

So there you have it! Now that the deck is introduced, maybe it’s time to introduce the cards in order, one by one! That was my initial aim with the card-of-the-day posts, but I keep getting repeats and wasn’t feeling the blog posts about them (find them daily on Instagram, @tarotscopemim!), but am feeling a card-of-the-week feature here, beginning with The Fool and the Major Arcana and working through the stories in the suits of the Minor Arcana!

I’ve just received a companion deck for Tarot Mucha: Astrological Oracle, illustrated by Antonia Castelli with LWB by the lovely Lunea Weatherstone! I can’t wait to present the project I’ve been working on with them in the next few days!

<3<3

Miriam