Celtic Wisdom First Impressions

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 12 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

RedMaple	12 Jan 2005
I've just started to look seriously at my Celtic Wisdom deck and want to share some first impressions. First, the artwork is stunning! Deep glorious colors. These cards are luscious and sensual, the reason I was moved to buy them. They have no borders -- another plus in my book, and are fairly large. I like the largeness, because I can see all the detail. But I'm always of two minds (at least) on the size of the cards, because I do enjoy decks that fit easily into my hands, and can be carried around without being cumbersome. The cards have a heavy gloss, and at first felt very stiff, so I gave them them all some rubbing against the edge of the table (I think Umbrae describes this process somewhere...?) bending them this way and that as I pulled them over the edge, and now they are very friendly in my hands. Matthews seems to assume the reader has some prior knowledge of Celtic lore - the book, though beautiful (each card is pictured in full color), could benefit by adding more background material. Other than what is given for each card, there is no comprehensive chapter on Celtic stories or mythology or culture that can really ground the images that comprise the deck. It is really necessary, I think, to do some research on your own in order to really connect with the stories and images used in this deck. That said -- the images for the Majors are, for the most part, easily translatable. Matthews has changed the names of the Majors - some of which I like, some of which I don't. I get hung up on the "er" sound at the end of nearly every card. I am sure she was trying to dwell on the active spiritual energy of each of the archetypes, what it is they do, but sometimes this is done at the expense of very resonant images. I much prefer "The Hermit" to "The Counsellor" for example, which brings up images of social workers and psychotherapy -- not the same thing at all. Especially since she dwells in her description on how unusual it was for people to live off in the woods by themselves away from the protection of the village. I like the title "The Rememberer" for the Hierophant. Yes, the keeper of traditions, the Bard. The Lovers becomes The Lover, and seems to combine the idea of choice with the idea of the internal beloved, which I like. The Wheel of Fortune has become "The Spinner" - and so naturally I thought of spinning and weaving etc., but the card shows a tree in the middle of a a circle of different colored rays that seem to be moving, spinning? The book, says this is the Winds -- and has a great explanation of how the winds were believed to influence fate. Why not call it the Winds, then? Two cards that seem not very connected to traditional Tarot meanings are The Balancer (Justice) and The Dedicator (The Hanged Man.) The Balancer is described as the Opener of Ways or Protector of Ways, and is a blue-skinned women with her arms open, in the center of what seems to be many different roads. I like the image, but it has little to do with Justice for me. Likewise, The Dedicator has to do with sacrificing because of your beliefs. The image shows a tatooed man with a black blind-fold, and a symbol that shows a person shoving a smaller person into a container. Gruesome. And very different from my idea of the Hanged Man. As she explains the card this is sacrifice that grows out of your beliefs, rather than the kind of turning upside of your world that happens when you empty your mind of beliefs and listen. So for me this will be a card of fanaticism and bondage to ideologies, and the kinds of foolish sacrifices people make and impose on others. The Challenger (The Devil) is by contrast, a liberating card. This is Cernunnos, and a soul trying to liberate itself from the illusions of thought accumulated through many lifetimes. Cernunnos is a helper in this, grasping both the serpent and the torc of civilization -- bringing the wild and the civilized into harmony. So these two cards seem as if the meanings had been exchanged. The Cernunnos, the card of release from illusions, and new vision; the Dedicator, the card of bondage to beliefs, fanaticism. Interesting. The last card, The Perfector, (The World) is frustrating, mostly because three out of four of the symbols are so phallic (sword, spear, stone is a tall dolmen, and the female bowl.) I just miss the woman dancing. I can see the illumination -- the three-fold spiral over the open crown is nice, and I like the way she hovers, levitating, over the bowl. But this meditative cross-legged pose seems inappropriate. I want to see the dancing. So much for the problem cards. I love the Lover card -- yes yes yes. And this is imprtant to me because it is my soul card. It immediately spoke to me. I like the Mover, also (the Chariot) where there is both the archetypal Mover, and Epona, with two white horses. We see Epona again later, as the white horse herself in the Sun card. Two cards I really like are the Liberator (Death) and the Mingler (Temperance). The Liberator shows the Cailleach and the Sheilah na Gig (you'll have to read up on these.) Both of these are non-human forces and the image is extraordinary. The Mingler is the image on the box -- it is a beautiful image of a woman holding a jug. She is sitting under and archway that has the shape of the moon. Her garments seem to flow like water and the night sky, as does her hair. This image truly embodies harmony. She is about to pout the water from her jug into the waters of the pool. This is all I have time for now. I hope someone else is exploring these cards. I think the Majors can be used as Tarot -- though I am tempted to cut off the titles and just have the images. I'm not sure about the Minors, which I think have less correlation to the traditional Tarot Minors. They are wonderful images, though, and maybe I'll find more correlations as I work with them. If not, perhaps they are best used as an oracle deck?

FantasyWorld	12 Jan 2005
I really like this deck!!! I see what you mean about The Perfecter card though. This card draws a blank for me looking at it, clueless! I'd like to spend more time with this deck. I've only really used single cards or sometimes maybe 5 or so for personal work and not so much for readings. The Liberator is one of my fav's as well and is one I've used in personal workings. The deck is a bit large and that makes it hard to work with but I've love the artwork and the colors.

WolfSpirit	12 Jan 2005
Thanks for this review of the deck, RedMaple and FantasyWorld. :) I had just put this deck back on my wishlist, I have been doubting about getting it or not. I meant to get it as a study deck, because the images are mostly beautiful and the subject interests me. I have read positive and negative reviews of this deck - but I am inclined to think I will like it. Just wonder if there is a picture of the Dedicator somewhere, that sounds so different from the Hanged Man...

Dark Inquisitor	12 Jan 2005
I have had this beautiful deck for a while , and I decided it was high time I started exploring it. I am reading the book , and have just finished the majors section. I agree with praise for the beautiful colors ! It will take a while to think differently about the imagery and decipher all the connections . But, that's ok - it's brain stretching. There are lots of C. & J. Matthews books available to explain the mysterious associated lore. (If you want more lovely cards, see Celtic Book of the Dead. Another one on the To Explore shelf. ) I am glad somebody finally put the Sheela on a card - strange little creature..

FantasyWorld	12 Jan 2005
WolfSpirit wrote: Thanks for this review of the deck, RedMaple and FantasyWorld. :) I had just put this deck back on my wishlist, I have been doubting about getting it or not. I meant to get it as a study deck, because the images are mostly beautiful and the subject interests me. I have read positive and negative reviews of this deck - but I am inclined to think I will like it. Just wonder if there is a picture of the Dedicator somewhere, that sounds so different from the Hanged Man... I wish I could scan a pic for you but alas, I do not have a digital camera:(

RedMaple	12 Jan 2005
Here are the scans of the Liberator and The Dedicator. Yahoo it works!

darwinia	13 Jan 2005
Dark Inquisitor wrote: (If you want more lovely cards, see Celtic Book of the Dead. Another one on the To Explore shelf. ) I just got the Celtic Book of the Dead--wonderful set! I have been considering the Celtic Wisdom, so perhaps will get that too after comments here.

WolfSpirit	13 Jan 2005
RedMaple wrote: Here are the scans of the Liberator and The Dedicator. Thanks ! The Dedicator looks scary and very different from the Hanged Man. It reminds me of the biblical story from my childhood, where God asks a man to sacrifice his son and when he has put his son on the stake he tells him: ok, now I see you can do it, you can take him down again. I always thought the Old Testament God was unnecessary cruel :( maybe this is the Celtic equivalent of it ? Love the Liberator - both the name and the image make you look at the card differently.

RedMaple	13 Jan 2005
Yes, I agree about the Old Testament God. But that story was taking place when human sacrifice was common in other religions. So the point was that this new God would not require human sacrifice. So what seems cruel from our point of view, was actually moving away from human sacrifice. I'm not at all sure that was the case in the Celtic card. I think the person sacrificed was supposed to do so willingly. So I see that kind of fanaticism in the blindfolded subject with the pig tattoo. The sow is the animal who will eat its own young. She does this when the babies are threatened. So the sow as an image of the great goddess might require sacrifice if the people were in danger. The earth would "eat" the person, that is, they would be buried in the earth.

The Celtic Wisdom First Impressions thread was originally posted on 12 Jan 2005 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.