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

I received a trimmed Wildwood Tarot from a fellow ATer, Carla, and I'm so happy with it. I had previously read about this deck here on AT, but people talked so badly about it and trashed it so much, specially when comparing to the Greenwood, that I did receive the deck with some prejudice.

When I first looked through the cards, I didn't even find them so beautiful, because of my initial prejudice. But I know that I always seem to get along better with decks I dislike at first than with decks I love at first sight! I enjoy being challenged.

So I began to read with the Wildwood and I must say I am TRULY liking it. It's a deck that speaks to the soul. It makes me feel like going out into the nature and feeling its power. It's a nature-centered deck that really shows something wild, not those clean and polished version of druids we so often see in other decks. I like its wildness.

And the more I look through the cards, the more I find them beautiful. I confess I have the Druidcraft and, while I really like it, it feels "mellow" close to the Wildwood.

I am very pleased with this deck. I like the book, I love Will Worthington's art and I have always like John Matthews' work. I like the fact my deck came trimmed (thanks Carla ), because it makes the deck more "mine".

I never saw a Greenwood in my life, and I am sure it's a beautiful deck that deserves each fan it has. But I feel sad that people trash the Wildwood without giving it a chance - without looking at it with "fresh eyes" so to speak. I almost got caught into the trap of letting others tell how I should feel about this deck before giving it a chance!

I know what they feel though - I feel the same way towards the New Mythic Tarot... although I must say that the art of the Wildwood seems to be more "original" than the art of the New Mythic Tarot, when comparing these deck to the older versions.

All in all, I am very happy to be the owner of the Wildwood tarot!


EDITED TO ADD: The only downside of this deck is the fact the Wheel of the Year is made for the Northern Hemisphere only. As a Southern Hemisphere person, I feel I'll have to sit down and adapt the whole system to my reality.

If there are any other southern person here, I'd like to know how you work with the differences!

Perfect!

Melia said:

I've provided some thoughts here: http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?p=2909905#post2909905

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Thank you for this! I got the deck a couple of weeks ago and have been reading through the book, but still feeling a bit intimidated by the unusual nature of the deck. (Ironically, its unusual nature is what DREW me to the deck in the first place!)

I really adore the artwork, and feel an affinity for the deck, but... well, I don't know how to explain the dichotomy (but I'm sure someone out there will understand).

So I just really wanted to say "Thank You" to Melia for that particular post, and to ALL of you for this forum -- reading it has encouraged me to "get off my butt" and get to work!

@Marina - Up to now, I've have just ignored the Wheel of the Year System. Hard to adapt a system that is made for the northern hemisphere, and where animals that live there are non-existant in this part of the world. I've just been reading the cards as I see them, with good results.

By the way, the New Mythic tarot just looks like a bad airbrush job to me .... it's sad I think. The Wildwood on the other hand doesn't come across like this to me. The art style is just different to the Greenwood, which just never appealed to me (but it's fine that many others like and prefer this deck).

@Dave - the best way to become familiar with the cards is to simply do a reading. That works for me.

Marina said:

I received a trimmed Wildwood Tarot from a fellow ATer, Carla, and I'm so happy with it. I had previously read about this deck here on AT, but people talked so badly about it and trashed it so much, specially when comparing to the Greenwood, that I did receive the deck with some prejudice.

When I first looked through the cards, I didn't even find them so beautiful, because of my initial prejudice. But I know that I always seem to get along better with decks I dislike at first than with decks I love at first sight! I enjoy being challenged.

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I think that much of the art in the Wildwood is beautiful, especially the birds and animals. The people I do not feel the same way about, some of them are too comic book like. The Greenwood is much more desirable in my eyes. Still, I haven't traded mine, and probably won't. I like to look at it from time to time, and though I don't read with it, that could change in the future.

Melia said:

@Marina - Up to now, I've have just ignored the Wheel of the Year System. Hard to adapt a system that is made for the northern hemisphere, and where animals that live there are non-existant in this part of the world. I've just been reading the cards as I see them, with good results.

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Yes, I agree. I already have the Wheel of the Year 'adapted' in my mind... but I confess that with this deck it's hard because the book reinforces a lot a Northern Hemisphere view. I won't worry too much, and just enjoy the deck for what it is!

Melia said:

By the way, the New Mythic tarot just looks like a bad airbrush job to me .... it's sad I think. The Wildwood on the other hand doesn't come across like this to me. The art style is just different to the Greenwood, which just never appealed to me (but it's fine that many others like and prefer this deck).

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I couldn't agree more. The Wildwood is a whole new work of art - the New Mythic, sadly, is a photoshop rendition of the older edition. I wish they had allowed Caselli (the talented artist who illustrated the New Mythic) to re-make all the deck from scratch. I think it'd be a far better use to his talent. Or leave it with the older art.

Bhavana said:

I think that much of the art in the Wildwood is beautiful, especially the birds and animals. The people I do not feel the same way about, some of them are too comic book like. The Greenwood is much more desirable in my eyes. Still, I haven't traded mine, and probably won't. I like to look at it from time to time, and though I don't read with it, that could change in the future.

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Well... I agree that the people of the Wildwood are a bit comic book-like sometimes. But there's an intensity to them, a certain rawness, that I really really like! It attracts me.

I cannot speak of the Greenwood, as I have never seen one in person. The scans I have seen are VERY beautiful, and the art seems a bit more 'delicate' than the Wildwood. I think I'd like it too (I love the Seer card!), but honestly I don't feel like trading my liver for a tarot deck right now, lol! I'll stick to the Wildwood for the time being!

I'd love to see a Greenwood in person, because scans never really show the truth about an artwork...

I know the original poster wanted only positive opinions in this thread but I'd like to clarify that most of the negative posts in the other threads were aimed at the marketing of the Wildwood...THEY claimed the kinship, which no one with a Greenwood has found. IF they hadn't inserted that nonsense I expect many of us would have bought the deck sight unseen just because we like Will Worthington's art. Unless gifted with the deck I wouldn't give it shelfspace because of that marketing.

AJ said:

I know the original poster wanted only positive opinions in this thread but I'd like to clarify that most of the negative posts in the other threads were aimed at the marketing of the Wildwood...THEY claimed the kinship, which no one with a Greenwood has found. IF they hadn't inserted that nonsense I expect many of us would have bought the deck sight unseen just because we like Will Worthington's art. Unless gifted with the deck I wouldn't give it shelfspace because of that marketing.

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THANK YOU AJ. My position precisely. I do own the Wildwood, and I like it. My quarrel was NEVER with the deck, but with the marketing. I stand by that - but NOW that I have it, I also quarrel with the book, which is lazy and inaccurate - at times using material from the Greenwood book (which wasn't even written by Chesca Potter) that does not relate to the Wildwood - incorrect card descriptions which describe the Greenwood card instead of the very different Wildwood one, for instance. Some have said that there are also inaccuracies in its description of the Wheel of the Year Cycle, but I don't know enough to comment.

I don't use the book for that reason - but I do like the artwork a lot. And the deck reads very well - on its own merits.

The New Mythic is indeed just awful. Luckily there are a lot of the real ones still around !

AJ said:

I know the original poster wanted only positive opinions in this thread but I'd like to clarify that most of the negative posts in the other threads were aimed at the marketing of the Wildwood...THEY claimed the kinship, which no one with a Greenwood has found.

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gregory said:

THANK YOU AJ. My position precisely. I do own the Wildwood, and I like it. My quarrel was NEVER with the deck, but with the marketing. I stand by that - but NOW that I have it, I also quarrel with the book, which is lazy and inaccurate - at times using material from the Greenwood book (which wasn't even written by Chesca Potter) that does not relate to the Wildwood - incorrect card descriptions which describe the Greenwood card instead of the very different Wildwood one, for instance.

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Okay, I really do not want to start any fight or inspire any further trashing of Wildwood (as there is another thread for that). I want to give my point of view as a person who never saw a Greenwood for real, only scans, and who has been using the Widlwood. Correct me if I am wrong.

It seems to be many cards of the Wildwood resemble the idea of the Greenwood cards... many of the symbolism is similar, but done in an absolutely different style. I see that the writer of both Greenwood and Wildwood book is Mark Ryan... I don't know if he commissioned the art of both decks to their respective artists, or if Chesca Potter did the illustrations first and invited Mark Ryan to write about them.

The thing is that it seems that Mark Ryan intended the Wildwood to be a new version of the Greenwood. Not a new edition (in a sense it could replace the Greenwood), but I'd say. a new vision. If that's a noble thing to do or not, each of us will have an opinion, but I think the marketing was done on that fact. Perhaps their mistake was making people believe that the Wildwood would be exactly like the long OOP Greenwood - and turns out it isn't.

I agree with Gregory that some of the cards descriptions seem to not conform very well with the new vision of the Wildwood - they'd suit better the Greenwood. I wish Mark Ryan had been more careful in this aspect. It actually surprises me to see this happening, because was is working with John Matthews, who usually writer very good companion books! In fact, I fail to really see Matthews' participation in the Wildwood book... most of the time I feel like I am reading Ryan's words only.

I honestly can see a bit of kinship between the Greenwood and the Wildwood, albeit a superficial one. I think they are two very different visions of a same universe. It's like seeing Jesus Christ portrayed by Fra Angelico and by Salvador Dalí - two completely different vision on the same subject.

Now, to use the marketing campaign as a reason for attacking the deck as whole, I apologize for saying this, but sound a bit like an excuse. It's nothing personal, but I know some authors and publishers who use strange marketing campaigns to get their decks sold (like promising it'll never ever ever be reprinted again, and thus putting people into a purchase frenzy), and nobody attacks their decks for that.

Even if the marketing campaign was badly done and if it tricked the buyer into thinking this deck would just like the Greenwood (which is admittedly a horrible thing to do), I think that judging the deck for this ONLY is a bit unfair to the deck itself. You are free to not want to buy the deck based on that though.

This too is very fair. But - I do know at least one person who almost bought it because they thought it actually was a REISSUED GREENWOOD.... THAT was what I mostly had against the marketing. I said it could happen - people said buyers weren't that stupid - but.... People see the possibility of a GREENWOOD and run for the cash desk....

But it is a very nice deck. I like it to use; I very much regret the book, but I live with it. I wish it weren't quite so "Robin Hood", as I never saw him as that mystical and Wheel of the Year-ish, myself - but it is nicely done.

gregory said:

This too is very fair. But - I do know at least one person who almost bought it because they thought it actually was a REISSUED GREENWOOD.... THAT was what I mostly had against the marketing. I said it could happen - people said buyers weren't that stupid - but.... People see the possibility of a GREENWOOD and run for the cash desk....

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Yes, that was very nasty thing to do. You don't call a deck a reissue unless it is one - which means the very same deck exactly. The Wildwood is NOT the Greenwood - it's a cousin at best.

So I can understand why people would be pissed off, but I still think it's not a reason for dissing the deck without giving it chance. I saw some people receive the deck, look through the cards and say it's crap... obviously they were expecting something more Greenwood-ish. But they missed the opportunity of finding a very nice deck when seen on it's own.

gregory said:

But it is a very nice deck. I like it to use; I very much regret the book, but I live with it. I wish it weren't quite so "Robin Hood", as I never saw him as that mystical and Wheel of the Year-ish, myself - but it is nicely done.

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I get the feeling that Mark Ryan was overexcited about the deck, and that shows in the text - which is rather annoying. Robin Wood for us is the guy who stole from the rich and gave to the poor - not mystical undercover shaman hiding in thief's garment.

Mostly I ignore the book ramblings - I read the cards' meanings and keywords and that's it. I love Will Worthington's art and how expressive it is.