Witches Tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 23 May 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Survival_Horror	23 May 2003
Hey yall. I'm new ^_^ I just purchased the witches tarot kit by Ellen Cannon Reed. I was just wondering what do you all think about it? is it a good deck?

Sulis	23 May 2003
Hello, welcome to Aeclectic. If you look in the top right hand of your screen you`ll see a search button. I`m sure there have been loads of past threads about this deck for you to read. This was one of the first decks that I got, I really tried to like it but I just couldn`t work with it and ended up trading it away. Some of the reasons I didn`t like it were: Wands are air and swords are fire:- I prefer them the other way round. The court cards are all the same, just different colours. The card meanings strayed a little too much from the traditional for me as I was just starting out. I found some of the artwork a little ugly (sorry), but the magician looks like a very ugly woman and those speedo`s - eugh........ Having said all that, I know that there are many on these forums who really like this deck, not for me though. Love and light Crystalmynx xx

Melissa`	26 May 2003
I can't really add much to Crystalmynx here. I did however enjoy the fact that the cards were borderless. Which was the main reason why I bought the deck. I did a few readings with it when I first had it. The readings, to me, seemed off. Really off. The guys in the speedos.. they scared me. :) Anyway, I hope that you have better luck. Blessings, Amaya

dadsnook2000	26 May 2003
This was one of those decks I was drawn to. I'm not a Wiccan or Pagan but there is a lot of energy in these cards -- the Magician, Temperance (one of two favorites), Seeker (Hermit), Wheel of Fortune (a different interpretation which I'm not sure of), the Horned One (Devil), the Tower (self-destruction from within, a very different view-point), Two of Wands, Six of Wands (my other favorite), almost all of the Swords, and others. Yes, the court cards of each suite are similar but I see them expressing the same energy through different tools and attitudes. I do like the idea of Wands = Air and Swords = Fire, I suspect this has some ties to Astrology. I feel comfortable working either way as the deck's pictures dictate. My sense is that the Witches Tarot works well with clients who are more free spirited, the Rider decks with those who are more conventional in nature. I think that many come to choose and use certain decks for certain situations. The diverse uses of two or more decks impresses me as healthy and keeps my perspectives fresh. Dave.

truthsayer	26 May 2003
i couldn't work with the deck for the same reasons stated above. once you get accustomed to reading swords as air and wands as fire it's very difficult to turn back. i have to agree the guys in speedos were the stuff nightmares are made of. i could have dealt with the repitious court cards if it had not been for my other issues with the deck. however, there were things i really liked about the deck. the art was simply superb. i loved there being no edges. i'm hardly conventional even though i'm not in love with the witches tarot. i suspect the reason i prefer reading with rws type decks is that i read with only them and the thoth for 24 years before i owned another deck. we are all creatures of habit b/c i'm definitely a free spirit. }) now for study decks, i prefer decks other than the rws style. i think some would argue that i like the "fluffy bunny" style. but i'm not so sure now what they think now that fluffy bunny has become bunnicula! LOL :D

Sobeknofret	26 May 2003
I actually like this deck a lot. It's very vivid and I get a lot of subtle meaning out of the cards, despite the non-changing courts. I really like the borderless cards and the less cartoony art aspect that bugs me sometimes about the RWS and its clones. It's also what got me interested initially in qabala, so for that alone it will always hold a place in my heart. That being said, I don't use the deck very much any more-- just got bored with it I guess. The guy in the Speedo, 2 of Pents I think?, could go, causing small heartache to me...ick. --Sobe

Shadow Wolf	02 Jun 2003
I love this deck !!! It's worked well for me.

Indigo_lady	02 Jun 2003
This is the deck I'm learning with I know it's a bit odd but from the choices I got (not too many stores around) it was the only I felt comfortable with. I feel zilch connection with the RWS and it doesn't really inspire me. Egyptian based were a bit intimidating for me. Besides those they had an Orishas deck, but I have serious "issues" with santeria and voodo style things, so that was a no no too. It was a combination of "I can't deal with the others they have" and "I feel really drawn to this deck" I've read through the book but it gets me lost at times so I decided to sort out the meaning of the cards by myself, using internet resources and other books, in any case the witches tarot is based on the RWS so it's perfectly valid I guess. The court cards I used them as Ellen Cannon Reed suggest and in the more traditional sense as well Yet hopefully soon enough I'll be able to start my little collection of decks ;)

The Witches Tarot thread was originally posted on 23 May 2003 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.