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

Shade

Ooooh Wildwood fans may have cause to rejoice, Matthews and Worthington will work together again but this time on a Camelot Oracle!

Since that's a topic for the Oracles section I started a thread: http://bit.ly/uDkrIr
 

karen0205

Just a Note to Anyone With a Sealed Copy of this Deck
If it was printed by Eddison Sadd, you should open it and
make sure all the cards are included. They had a problem
with the 10 of Vessels card being left out of decks.
Better check now and get a replacement before they
are all gone.
 

Autumn Moon

I love this deck!

I misplaced a few cards from my first deck, a traditional RW, and decided to find a replacement deck.

I searched for hours online and looked in every bookstore in my town, but no deck I looked at seemed to connect with me like the Wildwood.

Being the outdoorswoman I am, I was instantly drawn to this deck.

After buying it and looking through the cards, I seemed to have fallen in love with every single one.

The artwork is amazing, and it is obvious that Mark Ryan and John Matthews put a lot of thought and effort in developing this deck.

I am truly surprised by all of the negative feedback this deck has received. It is a beautiful deck, with deep meaning, and unbelievable imagery.

I cannot be more pleased with this deck.
 

OlympusMons

This is one of my favourite decks I own. I love the artwork and I find it very easy to read with. I love decks with a focus on nature / the environment.
 

Culain

I want to join the others in thanking you for opening this thread!

A pleasant surprise waited in this one for me. I had no plans to buy the WildWood because I don't like the idea of making nearly as many changes to traditional tarot symbolism as are found in it, but I bought it on a whim with a gift card. As soon as I laid out all cards for close study I fell in love with it, and that everything about the imagery is natural. My very first use of them was in conjunction with an Oracle card. I used the Alchemist's Spread (six cards at the points of the Davidian Star) with the original intention being a general personal reading of the year 2012.

As I shuffled for it, however, I kept wondering if a have an animal totem or guide (recently had one of the most intense dreams of my life about my cat who died a few years ago, so the question's lingered since). I laid out the cards and smiled, the animal question having now been given focus. With this, I brought out my Druid Animal Oracle (also unused till this point). I chose the Wren as a Significator for its beautiful simplicity; also because I'd recalled a phrase from a while back about Druids considering them the "guardian of Winter Mysteries." My favorite season is Winter and most close to me think I'm crazy for that, but reason enough, I picked that and centered it in the spread. I turned over the cards. I won't explain the entire reading (which is a story in itself) but I did get both answers I sought: a glimpse of the year grounded in things happening right now as well as animal guide: Look at the Page of Arrows in your WildWood deck. That card was at the far right of my spread, staring inward to its left at my Significator. It was the WildWood's Wren looking at the Animal Oracle's Wren! Both on a branch and both facing left, but with one key difference: the Oracle's Wren's head is tilted slightly upward (acknowledging my present position in the spread). I saw in the WildWood's accompanying booklet, after doing this spread, the same phrase "guardian of the Winter Mysteries."

The first card was The Wheel. The spot representing "very near future" was taken by the Eel (Knight of Vessels). Swimming downstream (toward the next card), then going around and up eventually to the Wren (second to last card), the overall view is of me just as the book says of the Eel card, "embarking on a quest of personal revelation, your vision leads you onward." I'll have a while to swim down and around, but am finding the Wren. From the position of the Wren on both cards, it has a clear, straight view of me and my present position, but I only have a glimpse of it from afar. At least now I have a better idea of where I'm going, as well as a happily unpredictable guide to travel toward the kind of simple living that I've long been craving (and needing).

Two days after this, my dad gave me as a Christmas gift a secluded and heavily-wooded land lot at the edge of Oklahoma's largest lake. I know I'm but a novice compared to many here, but this has been the most powerful and personally significant reading thus far. As you said, about it having a magical way of appearing in your life, that truly summarizes it. Maybe I needed to hear you say that too, just when I think I hear the word "magical" used too often in a way that's drained it of what it really implies, it smiles back at us and makes me realize that's simply the most appropriate word for what's happened. So...I'm very much with you on this deck, Lady Iron Side!

Culain
 

DaveInTexas

.... As you said, about it having a magical way of appearing in your life, that truly summarizes it. Maybe I needed to hear you say that too, just when I think I hear the word "magical" used too often in a way that's drained it of what it really implies, it smiles back at us and makes me realize that's simply the most appropriate word for what's happened. So...I'm very much with you on this deck, Lady Iron Side!

Well said. And thank you, Culain, for a beautiful post. I only had a moment to log in this morning, but in that moment found great inspiration for the day ahead. I could not leave without saying so.

Your neighbor to the south,
David
 

Alta

Culain, I also enjoyed reading your post. It is experiences like that which make tarot readers so appreciate their decks. That connection is deep.

Alta
 

VanillaLatte

Hi all! Enjoyed reading through all posts :)

I'm amazed by the beautiful artwork of wildwood and very tempted to get it. But I'm a newbie at tarot and I'm afraid that I may not be able to take the cards well. Any advice?
 

MareSaturni

Hi all! Enjoyed reading through all posts :)

I'm amazed by the beautiful artwork of wildwood and very tempted to get it. But I'm a newbie at tarot and I'm afraid that I may not be able to take the cards well. Any advice?

Welcome VanillaLatte!

The only advice I can give you is... you should try it. There's no way you can know whether a deck will 'speak' to you or not without trying to use it. Of course, it's expected that you'll need to rely on the companion book until you become used to the deck symbolism. :)

That said, I have found the Wildwood to be a rather expressive deck. I am not very into druid stuff and I have never studied druid symbolism in depth - and yet I have found the Wildwood reading quite meaningful to me.

My advice is... take a look at the scans of the cards on the web. Maybe see a couple of readings done by other tarot readers. If you feel this deck 'calls' you, get a copy of it and start using it. Take it easy - remember that tarot is a language, and nobody is fluent in any language in their first days learning it. It takes a while, but it gets much easier with the time.

And don't forget to come tell us about your experiences with the Wildwood! ;)
 

VanillaLatte

Thanks Marina for the advice :D

Have checked out many scans from wildwood facebook page. Gorgeous.
I find that it's strangely creative to use animals for the court cards, especially the salmon. To me, salmon are intelligent creatures. Certain species actually take on arduous journeys back to their birth places to spawn. Sentimental? Or do they believe that's the safest place for their offspring? Nobody knows.

I do know I'll need time to view two serpents as temperance though!

Anyway, going to order it. Hoho...