The WildWood Tarot - Stand Alone/Individual Deck/Positive Reviews

Alamaris

No female has to allow herself to be manipulated through sexuality, nor does an older woman have to be nor consider herself ‘unappealing’ or invisible just because she is no longer a teenager. It’s not up to another person to determine who we are.
I'm afraid that simply isn't true.

While it certainly isn't the case that all women rely on outside input to compile their selves, many women do, and it's because of that cultural pervasiveness. Not all women are confident enough to just stand up straight and believe in themselves when the world tells them otherwise -- nor are all women strong enough to bat off sexual manipulation, no matter how subtle. It's a great disservice to unconfident women of all ages to assume otherwise.

The clincher for the deck, in my case, is that it arguably depicts a wide panel of human experience, but in its lack of mature and older women it sends a clear message: you don't exist in the world of this deck. As a young and slender woman I see myself frequently illustrated in this deck, as well as the male members of my family, but I don't see my mother, or my aunts, or my grandmother. There are decks out there which I would like to see older people but don't expect them (vampire tarots, for example, or anime tarots), but in the case of a deck where older people could have been depicted but aren't...well. I didn't buy the Wildwood because I didn't like it on a number of levels -- mostly artistic, but I'm also not a large fan of this genre of deck -- and this was simply one more reason.

It certainly doesn't mean that other people aren't allowed to like it and derive great depth and usefulness from it, and I'm glad that so many people were able to afford a "Greenwood" if they missed out on the original (despite the differences). It's an important deck that holds and important place, but I feel it could have been executed much better, and not just in the area we're discussing.
 

greatdane

speaking as a Crone....

I have no problem with young women in decks, it's when it's so obviously slanted. There are either ALL just young women OR young women with usually older men. I mean look at the Secret Tarot. There are elements of that I really like,but I just feel it's SO one-sided. I would love to see a mix and some decks do that, but not enough. I neither am looking for All Crones, All the Time decks, nor ones that ONLY have young women for ALL images where there are women. The world is made up of so many different types, I just wish tarot decks, at least more of them, would reflect that. Not trying to take away from those who want their decks with all very young women, but I like variety...different genders, different ages. For me, I like tarot to reflect the world, not just the fantasies of a certain factor.
 

WyrdRaven

I have no problem with young women in decks, it's when it's so obviously slanted. There are either ALL just young women OR young women with usually older men.

I absolutely agree with this, and it is perhaps the single issue in tarot about which I feel most strongly. This is why there is such an urgent need for Motherpeace and Daughters of the Moon, and I am so grateful to have them as an antidote to the prevailing trend.

I had the chance to see all the cards in this deck before I got it, and yet I still wanted to have one. Why? Because WW is such a master at drawing animals and landscapes! I LOVE the animal courts! I am entranced by the lush, scenic (peopleless) settings. The Ancestor (#5) is magnificent and my favorite card in the deck. It is the main reason I had to have this! I would love to see a WW deck which omits people altogether in favor of animals dressed in human clothing. I would snatch it up in a heartbeat.
 

greatdane

you've convinced me Wyrdraven

I was on the fence re this deck, not because of the women portrayed, but whether I really wanted it or not. I do enjoy the artwork and the nature feeling about it, so I will likely get it now. Enabler! :))
 

greatdane

Now that I have this deck, I have gone back and forth about it, but have decided to work with it for awhile. I have decided to take it on it's own terms, not as tarot, strictly speaking, nor just as an oracle, but as what I think of as a tarocle. It would be easier for me if it either followed tarot standard meanings for all cards, or didn't for any, instead it's kind of some yes, some no. That's what's been most confusing for me. It would be easier just to kind of scrap the idea of tarot or see all the deck as tarot. That said, I think there is something I can glean from it if I can just wrap my head around each card. Even though the book is more for the Greenwood, and can be confusing because it wasn't just designed specifically for the Wildwood, without the book, I would be having more of a problem. I have decided to just work with a handful of cards a day, read the meanings in the book, journal and go from there! So many here seem to have gotten a lot from it, so I wanted to give it a chance and I do like some of the images quite a bit.