Customer Reviews

The Greenwood Tarot: Pre-Celtic Shamanism of the Mythic Forest

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have owned this deck for quite some time. I am very satisfied with the symbolic content of this deck, which is a mix of world culture without being so complicated that one has to understand in depth every culture it draws upon. This deck is not in the traditional configuration of the average tarot deck, some of the cards have been combined to create new cards such as the "Blasted Oak" which is actually a combination of the Hanged Man and the Tower. Whereas in a traditional deck one has the Moon card, in this deck you have "The Moon" card and another major arcana, lunar card, "Reflection." This removes some of the ambiguity of the singular Moon card, where the querent asks, "Does is represent the actual moon, or does is represent illusion or deception?" The Devil has been replaced with "The Guardian," which is a propped up bear skeleton at a cave entrance. It is a powerful statement about the relationship between fear and imagination and self limitation. The whole deck communicates in this manner of mystery, harmony and contradiction.
The illustrations are eye catching without being so complicated that the querent or reader gets lost in the picture. The only reason I would not recommend this to a beginner is that if you learn this deck, you will not be able to use all that you learned in order to read other decks based on the traditional Rider-Waite configuration. The books that one buys that can be applicable to any deck, may not work with the Greenwood Tarot, simply because the cards are produced in a truly unique fashion in terms of symbolism, configuration and value.
The deck promotes an egalitarian mindset. It is also steeped in ecological themes. It is an excellent deck for NeoPagans because it does away with the Abrahamic symbolism found in more traditional decks, such as the Heirophant, and Judgement and The Devil and replaces those figures with NeoPagan principles that often deal with the same issues from a vastly different mindset. This is the best deck and competes artistically and philosophically with the Crowley Deck, which is quite a feat when one looks at the multitude of cheap tarot knock-off decks that are vapid, cheesy and useless.

I am a big fan of Chesca Potter's work, so I was excited to find this deck. It does an especially good job as a companion to the Celtic Shaman's Pack (which Potter also illustrated).

This deck serves very well as a divination tool (unlike the CS Pack), and I have had great success with it. My major complaint about it, and the reason it didn't score a 10, is that the cards are huge; even for readers with big hands, they can be awkward to handle. They have a beautiful back design, though--more attractive than the fronts of many decks I've seen.

I am also a big fan of Chesca Potter and am fortunate enough to have several prints from this deck. I have both this deck and the Celtic Shaman's Pack. Chesca Potter is uniquely able to express the shamanic experience of ecstacy powerfully and with wonderful artistic technique in a Celtic context. She is able to express the contradictory feelings of movement and serenity, ecstacy and immanence, nature and spirit. She has a wonderful sense of color.

I have a copy of this little treasure that I found used at an estate sale for $10. I thought something may be wrong with it. It miraculously was intact! What a jewel in my Tarot collection. I am very familiar with the deck as it is only referred to in legend. It seems the edition stayed in print for a very limited time. I had little interest at the time. Now, after much critical praise and elevating prices, I feel this deck wouldve had a bigger life, given the chance.

Now, onto the actual deck itself. All of the majors are unnumbered and do their own thing as far as style goes. The whole feel is this tribal/shaman effect. This is easily passed off into Native American spirituality, had the author/designer not been careful. Instead there is a feel of a pre Celtic style that caught me off guard. Pre Celtic tribalism possibly dating from 10,000 years ago!

The accompaning book is a great study guide, as well a spiritual lesson in the modern global environmental movement. This is call for alarm accross the globe. It puts things in perfect perspective for me. That makes the meanings of these rather abstract cards deep. While these would not be great for beginners, the cards are more of an excercise in deep myticism regarding the Earth itself.

Some new publisher should pick this deck up and give it a second chance. If those who are luck enough to have a copy of this set, use it with the ancients in mind, with hopes that future generations get to see it.

This is the only deck I have ever been able to "read" without having to read the book first. Chesca Potter's illustrations are inspiring and are full of hidden depths.

The deck uses what might be termed pre-Celtic {?} British religious symbols, such as images of animals, landmarks and gods and goddesses, including the Green Man . The four suits are Wands, Arrows, Cups and Stones, each aligning to a different season and element on the Wheel of the Year, around which the deck is based.

The major arcana is also different in that some cards have been changed from the normal format. For instance, The ancestor takes the place of the Heirophant, The Archer replaces the Chariot, Balance is there instead of Temperance, The Greenwoman instead of the Empress, The Greenman as the Emperor, The Blasted Oak as the Tower, and there are a few other surprises, too.

The artwork is extraordinary and I am sorry that this deck is no longer in print. It is a great loss.

This is a wonderful tarot deck that is elaborately fixed in pre-celtic shamanism. Powerful images and beautifully rendered artwork team up to make this tarot deck a special experience. You will, however, get more out of this deck if you are an experienced reader. This deck takes the 20th century tarot and peels off layers of civilization and learned thinking to reveal the visceral meaning of the cards. To read a spread with these cards is like looking through a window and into your own subconscious or that of the person for whom you are reading. The power you will feel from reading this deck is a wonderfully enlightening spiritual experience. I don't think anyone could do a reading with this deck without being extremely moved and at least somwhat enlightened.

This is a beautiful Tarot deck. Unfortunately the Greenwood is out of publication and is quite pricy! This was an esoteric investment that I will enjoy for many years.

THE GREENWOOD TAROT IS A REMARKABLE DECK THAT DEPLICS THE FOUR SEASONS AND THE EVER TURNING WHEEL. YOU HAVE TO DO THE WHEEL CHART EXERCISE INORDER FOR THE REST TO FALL INTO PLACE. I PAID 75 FOR MY DECK THEY ARE NOW OUT OF PRINT.

It is a very interesting kind of tarot, which needs a thorough preparation to really understand it, at least I had to meditate about a few cards to understand them, and am still working on a few others. Whereas the Raider-Waite Tarot is much easier to undertstand, as its massages are very worldly, the Osho-Tarot shows insights into your psyche, this one is clearly focused on the subconscious and religion, as well as on your links to the spirit world. It goes very deep, and as such it is rather difficult to understand as the author uses archetypes of the pre-celtic shamanism in Europe, which are, often enough, even for me, a european, difficult to decipher. (You might want to use a search-engine to get to know some of the symbols)
But if you already are deep into the subject of Spirits, Otherworlds and Shamanism, it is great. I recommend it with all my heart to anybody interested.