Customer Reviews

The Shining Tribe Tarot, Renewed and Expanded

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've always felt strongly connected to Rachel Pollack's Shining Woman Tarot, and it's become my primary deck. And her paradigm of birds, trees, rivers, and stones makes it possible to do readings from the surrounding environment without a deck. But the Shining Woman has been out of print for years, and it's been extremely frustrating to try to find. Now it's back, as the Shining Tribe, and from Llewellyn, too, which should keep it available for a while.

The new deck is in an oversized poker format rather than the elongated Tarot style of the original. Accordingly, the artwork is substantially larger on each card. The colors have been altered a bit, too, to make them bolder, and the backs of the cards contain two "Shining Woman" glyphs, which are symmetrical and don't give away whether the next card is reversed or not, unlike the original.

I'm not so fond of the revisions, however. The new background and typeface changes the whole "feel" of the deck and eliminates its childlike quality. And six cards have been changed: the 4 and Gift of Trees, the 10 of Birds, and the 4 and 6 of Stones, with some minor cleanup on the 9. The changes generally seem to make the cards fit in better with traditional Tarot interpretations, but at the cost of such powerful symbols as the Nazca Thunderbird and the Petersborough Teaching Rock. I'm particularly sad about the loss of the old Gift of Trees, which looks just like a little park where I received a gift from the trees there at a hugely significant moment in my life.

The book is somewhat expanded from the Shining Woman book, and includes poetic stanzas for each card, not just the Major Arcana. The chapter on readings includes some nifty examples of how to customize new spreads for individual situations by intuition, but leaves out basics such as the Celtic Cross and Work Cycle that beginners would need.

In summary, this is a small step backwards from the Shining Woman (which I'd rate as a 5), but I'm really glad that there's a version back in print again, and just in time for our coven to use.

If you find the wide assortment of Tarot decks confusing, you might want to consider working with materials prepared by Rachel Pollack. If you have a relatively novel understanding of Tarot, a Christian or Jewish background, and limited exposure to ethnographic concepts, Pollack's 78 DEGREES OF WISDOM is the place to begin your studies. Then take up her SHINING TRIBE. Pollack's 78 DG uses the Waite pack which is about 100 years old and based on decks from the early middle ages. The Waite iconography is Judeo-Christian and very Western (Joseph Campbell and some of his followers uncovered connections that predate the Judeo-Christian).

The ST deck includes icons, motifs, etc. from around the world and as far back as the Neolithic (or further). Pollack's ideas seem quite right to me. I find an amazing connection between the painted and sculpted works from all over the world and the Tarot. But that is exactly what makes Tarot so amazing. No matter what belief system you "recognize" the information is in the cards.

For example, look at the Ace of Stones. Pollack substitutes Stones for Pentacles, which have also appeared as disks and coins. All are symbolic of earth or material reality. The Ace of Stones is an obelisk-like object in Pollack's ST. The obelisk can be found in ancient Egypt and on the Mall in Washington DC. (It's not terribly surprising that a penis-shaped rock should be named after the father of our country.) Pollack says the upright stones that can be found many places, including Stonehenge, form a connecting line with the earth, a vertical axis running from the world under our feet to the world of the spirits over our heads. The upright stone is known asa lingam (phallus of Shiva) in India. (You may recall Indiana Jones association with the lingam?). The Ace of Stones symbolizes connectedness, creative power, long-lasting achievement. Surprise, surprise. On the other hand, maybe you should go straight for the SHINING TRIBE. (THE SHINING TRIBE is not a reprint of the earlier THE SHINING WOMAN Tarot. The new Tarot is more universal than the older version per Pollack.)

It was inevitable that a tarot mistress such as Rachel Pollack would create her own tarot deck. She did so with the Shining Woman tarot. She revised the deck and renamed it The Shining Tribe. This is a powerful deck and a powerful work of art. The images are influenced by shamanistic traditions around the world. The art is reminiscent of Native American and Aboriginal Australian images. The images of the card are especially lovely. My favorites are the shining woman, the ace of trees and spiral of fortune. The deck is very earth spirituality centered and uses images from nature such as stones, trees and birds. As with all of Pollack's works I strongly recommend it.

Rachel Pollack is a well-known student of tarot and this is the deck of her devising. Rather than being another simple Rider Waite variant, it is a unique creation of images and ideas based on stone age, various aboriginal, and ancient historical arts and myths. Drawn in a primitive style, the images are compelling and from the discussion the book it's clear Pollack put a lot of careful thought into devising this deck. It's very interesting and I recommend it. Sadly, the packaging of the deck is poor, at least in the version I got, but this deck is so interesting I give it five stars anyway.

For many years, I'd browsed tarot decks and found them convoluted and confusing. This deck is so clear and free of the occult and difficult to understand allusions of medieval based decks. Plus, the artwork is stunning. A really wonderful spiritual guide.

I have worked with many Tarot sets over the years and have found this Shining Tribe Tarot the one that resonates with me. It reaches deep into the history of sharmanism but has all the properties of the Aquarian Age clearly defined. As a life guide, to assist you and your friends on your journey, add your life experiences with the clarity revealed in these cards for a miraculous direction you can choose to take. The companion book is all you will need to assist you on your journey to a happy and fulfilling life. A set of cards that will be used in the Aquarian Age for many ages to come.

I loved the SHINING WOMAN TAROT. And Rachel has improved on that one to create the SHINING TRIBE TAROT. It is the best tarot deck on the market.