The Hero's Journey Tarot

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 25 May 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Asher	25 May 2005
In honor of this deck's 10 year anniversary (it was created in 1994), Arnell Ando, creator of the self-published (and soon to be re-printed by US Games) Transformational Tarot, has begun offering this deck again. HJ was her original 1st deck, and as Arnell calls it, "the more wild and uninhibited older sister of my Transformational Tarot". Collage decks are my absolute favorite (the TT was my 1st I believe), so I emailed Arnell about getting an HJ. At that time, she was readying TT for publication by USG and was not making more copies of HJ, although she told me she would keep my name on her waiting list. Well, my name came up last week, and I am now a proud owner of this handmade set! The brown mailing box had even been made into a work of art, with stickers and designs by Arnell. I could not simply rip it open, I had to take my time. And it was worth the wait! Inside was the orange and yellow hand made wooden box which holds the HJ deck...every inch has been collaged. The lid is decorated with various Fool cards; inside the lid is collaged with various Strength cards and in the well of the box are reproductions of the HJ Star, 10 of Cups and Magician cards! Beautiful!!! And even the bottom of the box has been covered with orange felt. The deck was tied with a multi colored ribbon and wrapped in translucent paper adorned with stickers of one of Arnell's Fool cards. The deck itself has been cleaned up in Photoshop for this new edition, and some additions to Arnell's original deck have been added, she says. The cards are 3x5, backed with Arnell's trademark back: a lizard, snake and spider in a web, and are laminated on both sides. A title card and a signed card complete the deck. As if that weren't enough, Arnell has included a spiral bound book to accompany the deck. With small illustrations of each card (the Majors are in color!), she describes the images on each card, gives astrological and tree of life placement attributions, offers an interpretation of the card, and has left space for "notes/personal meanings". She also included some other goodies, too...postcard size copies of her Fool and Strength cards made for a limited edition 2005 Tarot calendar, a keyring with the Sun and Moon card on either side, and a few small reproductions of cards (all laminated). A totally gorgeous, handmade package, made with love for me! I met Arnell at the 1997 Tarot Congress in Chicago, and she is an incredible person as well as a talented artistand Tarotist. This is one of my most prized decks. You can read more about the deck here:www.arnellart.com. There is also a link to an amazing review of the deck on Tarot Passages. Overwhelmed, Asher

Annabelle	25 May 2005
Oh, Asher, what a lovely deck!!!!! You are very lucky indeed. Thanks so much for posting this; I can't believe those decks (the Hero's Journey and the Transformational) had escaped my notice so far. But they're on my wishlist now! :)

rosyelf	27 May 2005
Asher, I have the yellow-and-orange box version too ! (For the benefit of other readers, Arnell also does a blue box, more evocative of the Moon's energy). And I echo all you say about this being a gorgeous deck and box and everything ! I ordered mine early last year and exchanged several emails with the lovely and very generous Arnell Ando while she was making it. And I've also found it a great deck to read with and meditate on.

Emeraldgirl	30 May 2005
Asher, What a beautiful deck. Thank you so much for sharing.

The The Hero's Journey Tarot thread was originally posted on 25 May 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.