Customer Reviews

The Merlin Tarot: Images, Insights and Wisdom from the Age of Merlin

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

 

 

Agreed, this is a powerful and original Tarot work - but be warned, the system put forward here is very, very foreign to Tarot lovers schooled in the Rider-Waite tradition. The Trumps are numbered differently, a couple are named differently, and they are structured in completely different configurations. Stewart openly scorns the numbering system and Kabbalistic correspondences developed by the Victorian occultists, although he does correlate his Trumps with the Tree of Life. In fact, the deck with its accompanying mini-handbook is barely useable without the additional material found in the full-scale book called "The Complete Merlin Tarot" by R.J. Stewart, which you have to buy separately. I was also a little disappointed that the Minor Arcana are not illustrated, though they do bear keywords that are not very different from the commonly used ones. I'd say this is a deck for the advanced Tarotist who has a special interest in the Celtic and Western Shamanic tradition, but to be treated with caution by others.

This was the first tarot pack I bought and it remains my favourite.It is based on original Merlin legends and Celtic traditions.It is superbly drawn by Miranda Gray.The cards pay great attention to detail and are very life-like.There is a strong emphasis on nature and animals, giving the cards a fresh and primal feel.A welcome feature is the replacement of the outdated Devil with the Guardian.(The Guardian is a liberator whose energies burn away our illusions.)Stewart emphasises using the tarot images for meditation and insight in order to reveal truth.He sees fortune telling as a lesser art of tarot.The book is very comprehensive and presents an ancient wisdom cosmology that is relevant today.A study of the relationships between the cards can reveal much about the nature of the world and life at deeper levels.The tarot links our personal growth and development with cosmic forces, patterns and cycles.This tarot is like a breath of fresh air, reviving us with the purest energies that are Nature's bounty.

This is one of those decks that was published in the early 1990s making it sort of unusual in presentation. To begin with, the author R.J.Stewart designed this deck on the premise that it originated Tarot several centuries before the Visconti-Sforza. Interesting,yet historically unproven. The author even re scrambles the major trumps numbering order giving some strange reasoning here that I still cannot figure out.

Now onto the cards themselves. I really like the artistry on the Major trumps. The moon depicts the pagan goddess Diana. Never seen before, male genitalia on the hermaphrodite in the World card. Bravo to the artist!

The minor arcana is where the deck fall short. There are no illustations here. The court cards are just fine, the faces on them and the major arcana seen a little peculiar. Almost humorous. The author may have been more convincing had more time been spent on illustrating the minors. I am not sold on the wacky revision of the tarot history however.

I will also add that I feel uncomfortable reading with this deck. This is probably because of the numbers on the major arcana, and the odd nudity. The deck is worth having to amuse yourself with the concept alone.

The value of this deck lies in its power for the Underworld worker (anyone who is working through RJ Stewart's book "Earth Light" and/or "Power Within the Land").

The Merlin deck's Major Arcana contain accessible gateways into the Underworld through empowered visualisation. For anyone working within the Western/Underworld/Faery tradition, these cards are invaluable as a meditative aid.

It was a wonderful, uplifting deck. Definitely not as plain as the Rider/Waite deck. I found it very moving although more geared toward the experienced tarot reader. I found myself switching between the book and the deck more than usual, but I think that with a little more use, one could really come to know and love this deck.

Ok, for those who like Rider-Waite then this may not be the deck for you, but if you have never tried tarot cards before, then this deck with the corresponding book are a wonderful investment in Tarot. I bought this back in '92 and spent the first week just reading the book to learn the cards and their meanings. And thankfully I had friends who did not mind me practicing the cards with them, despite for the first couple of weeks I did use the book alot to help me decipher the meanings of the layout and the cards. Once I got past the learning curve they became quite accurate for me, almost scary even, but as with all things you learn to trust in them. The minor arcana pips not being drawn I think helped me focus on the reading as a whole since I could focus on the bigger picture and read from that and the pips what lay ahead for the readee. I have included a link to another sight which does a better job of describing them then I do. Peace :)
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/merlin/review.shtml

Easy to understand book and very nice cards!!! I really recomend this set!!!

This deck does not have any art whatsoever on the minor arcana. They are basically blank. Ordinary playing cards are more attractive. I returned it the same day to the store. A big disappointment to me as a big Merlin fan!