Faery Wicca Tarot Deck

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 24 May 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

RedWood	24 May 2002
I just got my deck...I have not done a reading..YET...For those of you who have it or want it..What do you think of the deck? I really like it so far..Based on looking at it and the book it comes with.

Marion	25 May 2002
Hi Redwood, I had the deck and traded it away to faunabay who wanted it. I have seen a post from someone who knew how to read Irish who said the mixture of English and Irish on the cards was disconcerting. Never bothered me, can't read Irish. Mostly I prefer more illustration on the pips, and I am not familiar enough with the mythology it uses to really be able to read with them. But I thought they were a very nice deck and several have posted saying it is their favourite deck. Like I said in the title, mixed reviews.

WolfSpirit	25 May 2002
I finally got my Faery Wicca (the first time they shipped it it got lost) and I love it. It really appeals to me a lot. I have not read with it yet, but I never do with a new deck. I just want to look at it and enjoy the pictures at the moment. I'm disappointed about the little book though. I guess there's lot of symbols and ancient stories in the pictures. Where does the door on the tree of life lead to ? What's with the salmon in the cup cards ? But I'm sure I will get along with a deck that calls the cup cards whiskey (well, almost ;)) I know there's also been written books about this deck. They're out of print now, but before I start a massive search on the net... does anyone know these books and if they're worth the trouble (and money). I can make my own story to the pictures, but sometimes you just wonder what the artist meant... especially in a deck that's based on an old culture.

RedWood	25 May 2002
Very true about the books Wolfspirit..I would like to know about them to.

truthsayer	26 May 2002
i have the deck. i traded it away once but missed it so i got it back in a trade. so it's mine to keep now! some of the cards i don't really like like the pips but some i really do like-major arcana. the book that comes w/ the set doesn't give too much info but i was able to trade and get a larger book called,"faery wicca: book one. theory & magick: a book of shadows and light" by kisma stepanich. i think it would help understand the deck better b/c it does explain faery wicca. this book itself doesn't cover the deck. if it's no longer in publication, maybe you can trade or get it second hand some place. there is also a book two.

WolfSpirit	29 May 2002
in the out of print section of a bookshop, but I haven't got it yet. It's the first book, I'll give it a try. Looks like I'm not going to buy too many decks at the moment (well, you never know...) but I'm willing to buy books on decks I really like if it helps me understand them better. I did not get too much from the little book, but I saw on page 54 the dragon's eye study, a lay-out to understand the pips better. I may try that one and see if it works for me. The other spreads in the book use so many cards they'll just confuse me...

Ravenswing	31 May 2002
these are definately well worth getting. they not only go into the cards, but the entire faery wicca system. i happened upon them in an old witch shop-- they went out to someone a long time ago. i'll check and see if i can find them around. let you know if i do LVX steve

WolfSpirit	31 May 2002
Thanks for your reply Steve. Seems like the books are really well worth it. I like the Faery Wicca deck as it is, but I'm sure I will even like it more if I know more about the background. And it seems like a theme I'm interested in anyway.

Jewel	31 May 2002
You might also try Amazon.com to find them. I have been really lucky in getting OOP books from them. Sometimes I place my order and what I am willing to pay and have had to wait a 2-4 months, but I have always gotten the books I was searching for.

WolfSpirit	02 Jun 2002
Jewel, that's what I did (placed an order at amazon for the second book) because it seemed like the best option. I was looking at a site that sells out of print books (I think bibliofind) that tries to sell the second book for 180 dollars (!) There must be a used copy somewhere in a reasonable condition I can get at a better price. Found the first book at Barnes & Noble for 28 dollars, don't remeber if it was new or used. Don't really care as long as it is not in too bad a condition (books are meant to be used anyway) Thanks for the advice !! :)

RedWood	03 Jun 2002
try abebooks.com.... I am having trouble with this deck...i want to do a reading..yet I feel I don't know enough to do one...I guess I need the books also..That will have to wait though...Have you done a reading wiht yours yet Wolfspirit?

WolfSpirit	03 Jun 2002
I don't know what to make of the world tree and the four extra cards... I could just leave them out I suppose, or make my own meaning for them... I think just more general knowledge of the system might help, not necessarily related to the cards. I find the small book...well...too small (duh) and too concise. I guess another book in general on wicca might help, but I don't know another good one. I saw a very silly one today, with broomsticks and kettles (probably black cats somewhere too) so I'll have to wait I guess...

Mairead	03 Jun 2002
I must say that I'm not particularily fond of this deck. And I was so excited when I got it. I haven't felt a bond with it. Not like the Rider Waite. The cards are beautiful, but for me, they just don't work. I just can't "feel" them. AARRRGGG! Peace and light to one all (regardless of my frustration!)

truthsayer	03 Jun 2002
the faery wicca is difficult to work w/. i can't read this deck either but i feel like if i spend time learning the deck it'll eventually work for me. i really like the images on the cards themselves. the major in particular have a real spirit about them but i have difficulty w/ the twists b/t irish and english. it's a bit confusing. i think practice w/ be the language difficulty will clear up the reading prob.

WolfSpirit	12 Jun 2002
Have you made progress with the Faery wicca, Redwood ? I let it rest a while, and just by chance I got one riddle solved. I just got the animal druid oracle, and it has a card salmon. Salmon was considered sacred and the oldest animal, and a source of wisdom. It searches its way back upstream to where it came from, and so mankind must find his way back to his origin. So that's why there's a salmon on cups 4 and 5. Maybe no practical info for reading, but I thought it was interesting. I guess if you read more about the old traditions, you can solve more of the symbolism in the cards.

Kellinator	12 Jun 2002
I believe the reason the Faery Wicca books are out of print is that large portions were found to have been plagiarized. Sorry that I don't have more details on this... I used to have the deck and I traded it to Truthsayer. I originally got it for the pictures and the Celtic stuff, but the more I learned about tarot the less accurate I felt it was and the less I connected with it. In particular it was a poor choice as a first deck for me. I know a lot of people enjoy it, and I'm still fond of some of the cards (the Princess of Wands!) but finally I felt the changes got it too far away from tarot. And while it wouldn't be an issue for many people, I didn't care to have Jesus on the Devil card! Kelly

truthsayer	13 Jun 2002
jesus is on the devil card? i don't remember that! must check that out! that is a bit strange. i haven't heard anything about the FW books being plagarized. one learns such interesting tidbits of gossip here. ;)

Mairead	13 Jun 2002
Quote: [i] And while it wouldn't be an issue for many people, I didn't care to have Jesus on the Devil card! Kelly [/b] Yeah, I must admit that this was a turn off for me.

truthsayer	13 Jun 2002
okay, you're right. jesus is standing behind cernunnos. i believe cernunnos is the greenman or what the church eventually twisted into being satan. when i see jesus' picture there, i hear the lord's prayer in my mind. particularly this phrase,"lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil". i read some from the book and i really don't think that kisma stepanich means the use of jesus as disrespect. "aibhirseoir cernunnos: the old one. which god do you follow? perhaps one or the other. perhaps both. perhaps neither. be aware of your own desires. find innocence w/in your heart.reunite w/ the fecundity of nature. merge w/ the law of love. there is peace. open yourself to it and find the blessings of the ancient ones." i think what she is trying to point out here is different than our traditional interpretation of #15. the card isn't even called the devil. to me she is indicating turn to jesus or cerunnos to help you find peace. she's calling jesus and cerunnos "ancient ones". she is merging the pagan and christian identities. i think all this is going to pull me out from studying what i was studying and working on this deck. i'm started to get really interested here.

WolfSpirit	13 Jun 2002
I was wondering...why does Cernunnos have those horns on his head ? They're not devil's horn as on a Christian devil. Are they branches or antlers ? I've seen this figure before in a book but they didn't give much explanation on this either. Interesting you bring up the subject of choice here. In the shapeshifter tarot, the deck I'm studying now, the # 15 card is called Choice: the choice is always yours, and you must make your own choices, not let yourself be chained by what your used to/think is expected of you etc. To me this makes the card much easier to read than the traditional devil card.

truthsayer	13 Jun 2002
if i'm not mistaken cerunnos is the lord of the hunt and the game of choice. so that's why cerrunnos has antlers. i will double check my facts. i wish i still had the shapeshifter. i foolishly traded it a while back. guess i'm in the market for another. i like the idea of #15 being choice instead of the devil. it takes away the darkness of that card but it still recognizes there are shadow choices.

jmd	13 Jun 2002
Cernunnos (also Kernunos, as there are disagreements about the pronunciation of 'C' in Latin) is antlered in traditional representations. In France, he is called Cernun (the '-os' suffix is from the Greek), and the French work for the Stag or Hart is 'Cerf'. It isn't so much that the church 'twisted' him to be Satan, rather, if one has a particular world-view and encounters another then, what can happen, is that the 'other' is sought to be understood in terms of one's own. 'Gods', then, which clearly do not correspond to the picture 'must' be delusions - which, within the dominant view, could only have come from the Devil (it isn't just because of the horns, by the way, for Moses, amongst a few others, is often depicted horned when in the presence of YHVH). I think that some 'revisionist' history has, at times, been duped by its preferred world outlook.

Jewel	14 Jun 2002
Truthsayer and I were corresponding about this before I read these lasts posts and I came to same conclusions of choice.

Kaz	14 Jun 2002
for all those that don't ahve this deck and want to have a look, go here to see all cards: http://phoenixskye.topcities.com/faerywicca.htm kaz

WolfSpirit	21 Jun 2002
Just got the book about Faery Wicca (book one) and I begin to understand why this is such a tough deck: I think it is intended for people who are already familiar with FW and want a deck belonging to it. It's a quite a big book, quite a lot of reading to do... The pictures in the book remind me a lot about the pictures on the deck, the same human figures as there are on the court cards (which I really love). Have you done anything with your deck yet Redwood ? For those of you interested in the books: there's a set of book 1 + 2 on ebay quite cheap, but they only ship inside US.

Ravenswing	21 Jun 2002
if you REALLY want to study/use the faery wicca cards, snap up those two books. it seemed to me that you need become a faery wiccan to use the cards 'properly'. these two books will initiate you into the faery wiccan system-- including divination by use of the cards. LVX steve

RedWood	25 Jun 2002
I have not done anything with this deck..I am really not sure if I want to put that much effort into it...It does not appeal to me as much as it did..I like the deck..I just don't see myself working with this deck so I am thinking of just trading it off to someone who wants to put the effort into it..

WolfSpirit	26 Jun 2002
I know what you mean, it seems a bit of working the other way around as well if you have to study books to be able to work with a deck. However, I've always had an interest in the Irish folklore so I'll give the books a try on their own without connection to the deck. I have not had much time for it yet, just browsed through but I already get the "aha" feeling when I see symbols used on the cards as well. It's certainly a tough deck, but I think I will never part with it anyway, I've fallen in love with the court cards. The book has that same kind of pictures.

RedWood	26 Jun 2002
I have decided to trade...Someday I may get another one when I have more time..Right now I just don't want to hold onto if I am not going to use it...Keep me posted on your progress I am interested, just not timewise I am willing to put into it..

truthsayer	26 Jun 2002
i traded faery wicca once but it called back to me so i traded to get it again. i won't trade it again b/c it has made itself at home w/ me. :) it's a difficult deck but i collect celtic style decks and the more i learn about the celts and faery the more the cards make sense. i don't dwell on any deck. i tend to be a card butterfly. it's like putting together a never ending puzzle. that way if one stops talking i go to another that does talk. i do have decks that i trade and never miss. the problem is that it's difficult to tell when to give a deck more time or go ahead and trade. it can be so tempting to trade when there's this deck you are just dying to have!!!!!!!

Starfish	26 Jun 2002
Quote: Originally posted by truthsayer I tend to be a card butterfly. I love this quote! :) I wonder if I will be one too. I'm still too new to Tarot to stray very far from my comfortable deck. I do most of my readings with my Robin Wood; however, I've really enjoyed working with both the Whimsical and the Halloween decks the past week. :TAC Starfish

truthsayer	26 Jun 2002
i have all 3 decks and enjoy them all. i think those are excellent ones for a beginner to dabble w/. sometimes beginners start w/ a deck that seems a tad over their head. i think you are definitely on the right path, starfish. *****truth is now musing to herself that if she is a card butterfly does that mean she cross-pollinates between her decks? could that be why her collection seems to be multiplying?**********

Jewel	27 Jun 2002
*LOL* w/ Truthsayer ... well if you figure it out let me know *LOL* ... but I am not a deck butterfly and mine keep multiplying too! Starfish, I own 80 something decks and although I look at them and use them at different times, I use my Cosmic Tribe 95% of the time. Before the CT I worked with the Robin Wood for 7 years, and the Tarot of the Old Path for 5 (used RW and TOP interchangeably and both a lot). So you see, you can still have a lot and not be a butterfly ;) ... I guess I am squirrel or something as I hoard decks *ROFLMAO*

The Faery Wicca Tarot Deck thread was originally posted on 24 May 2002 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.