The Witches Tarot Book (Llewellyn's Modern Witchcraft Series) (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The study of the spheres on the Tree of Life is a fascinating one, and you can devote years of study to that part of..." (more)
Key Phrases: card modified, yellow sphere, court cards, Golden Dawn, Witches Tarot, Description Waite (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The Witches Tarot Book

By Ellen Cannon Reed 0-87542-668-9 $12.95 U.S. $19.95 Can.320 pp. 5 1/4 x 8Inside this companion guide to The Witches Tarot deck are meditations and methods of working with the Qabalistic Tree of Life that you can use immediately. You'll learn the meaning of the mysterious pictures found in the Tart, and learn to use those symbols in your meditations and magical work.

You'll also find a new way of reading Tarot, and a complete description of The Witches Tarot deck, which is designed to include the Qabalistic symbolism in a way that speaks to Pagans. This guide includes complete descriptions of each card, as well as each card's Hebrew letter, astrology, color, scent, gem and Qabalistic path correspondences.

Also included in this book are magnificent illustrations of the 22 Major Arcana by artist Martin Cannon. Ellen Cannon Reed shows how each of the cards are associated with one of the paths on the Qabalistic Tree of Life. She has gathered data from multiple Qabalistic sources and combined this research with her own knowledge of Wicca. This is the first book that clearly discusses the Tarot from both the Qabalistic and the Wiccan points of view.

From the Publisher

If you're like most people, the first thing you will say when you see Ellen Cannon Reed's The Witches Tarot is, "Wow!" Let me tell you why.

First, you're going to be amazed by the brilliant artwork of Martin Cannon. The images are neither flat nor comic-like. The people on them are living, breathing beings. The depictions of the Deities are stunning and fill you with awe. And the natural backgrounds ó from rocky crags to verdant fields, from simple homes to magnificent towers ó beckon you to participate with the gods and people on the cards.

"The Hermit" card is renamed "the Seeker." It shows a person seeking the spiritual light. Is it you? Is it someone you know? Working with the deck in meditation and with readings will help you see if that card is part of your reality.

The deck combines traditional Tarot symbolism, the Kabalah of the Tree of Life, and the Paganism of Wicca and Witchcraft. That makes this deck perfect for many people. Whether you are a ceremonial magician, a Wiccan, a Tarot reader or collector, a beginner or experienced user, this deck is ideal for your use.

Included with the deck is a booklet explaining the meanings of the cards and giving two spreads you can use for divination. The booklet and deck make this a complete divinatory system.

If you want a deck that is both traditional and Pagan, and features breathtaking, realistic art, make sure you get the real thing. Remember the name: The Witches Tarot by Ellen Cannon Reed. Get your copy and start working with it today.


--This text refers to the Cards edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; illustrated edition edition (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875426689
• ISBN-13: 978-0875426686
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #725,063 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful deck!!, July 16, 2004

By	Acadia - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Witches Tarot (Cards)

I've been reading Tarot since I was 13, and I've got at least 4 dozen decks. Of all those decks, the one I love the most is this deck. There are some things about this deck which make it different then most decks, most notably that the suits that represent the Air and Fire element in most traditional decks is switched around in this deck (instead of representing Air, Swords represent Fire). If you are a Witch or a Wiccan, you will understand the change and most likely welcome it, but if not, you can easily work around this change and use the deck as you would any other deck.

Another fairly large change (for me, anyway) is that when you deal a face card (a Court Card) you lay another card on top of it to clarify and add to a situation. Sometimes it is a behavior that you could expect from a person, sometimes it shows two steps to an ongoing situation, sometimes it just restates what the face card was telling you, it all depends on the reading. Either way, this is a fantastic way to read and interpret the cards.

I see a lot of people complaining about how the Court Cards look the same, and to that I have to say that people are not really LOOKING at the cards. While they are similar, they very clearly express different meanings and issues. Frankly, in this day and age where it isn't uncommon to buy a deck only to find that there is a fully illustrated Major Arcana and the cards representing the Minor Arcana strongly resemble basic playing cards, or aren't different even in the slightest, I think to throw away the deck because the Court Cards look similar is really nitpicking. The complaints about how some of the cards look silly also shouldn't be "complaints." In every Tarot Deck, there are cards that are less appealing to the reader, and the cards and reasons it is less appealing vary from person to person. Most people who read cards professionally or have a lot of experience in doing so can tell you that to find a card unappealing is part of the way the Tarot works, and that should be translated into the readings, because it's the cards way of personalizing themselves to you. So while you might find pictures to be goofy, that is actually a good thing, not a bad thing, and should be translated into your readings.

That one review, where the person launches off into a diatribe against Wicca and Witchcraft totally baffles me. Why would one buy a Tarot Deck by a Wiccan, aimed at Wiccans and Witches, if they thought the whole idea of Wiccans and Wicca was a joke?? As a Wiccan, I have to say that while this deck is fantastic, it doesn't go into the practices and beliefs of Wiccans (that belief, by the way, is not do what you want as long as it feels good), and if one were picking up this deck in hopes of becoming Wiccan or learning about Wiccan practices, they would be confused at best. Sure the Devil card is replaced by "The Horned God," but that is because Wiccans and Witches don't believe in the Devil. As such, the card is changed to "The Horned One" but the meaning is not changed significantly, since the Horned God is not an all good or all evil being... He represents great power and great happiness, but also the opposite of that. He represents all that is good and bad, the flow of nature. It is very easy to get the same meaning out of "The Horned One" card as one would have gotten from The Devil card; bondage to power and false happiness, upset of balance, disrupting the flow of positive by indulging in the flow of the negative. Remember, for most Wiccans, The Horned One is one half of the dualistic nature of the God and the Goddess... He by himself is not balance, and this card reflects that beautifully. I also have to wonder at what type of mentality one has when one looks at the strength card which has a nude female holding the leash of a lion and automatically assume it has anything to do with giving in to or endorsing bestiality... The card is highly symbolic and does not imply bestiality in any way, shape, or form, through the illustration on the card or its meaning.

There are faults with this deck. If one were to buy the deck apart from the book, I suspect they will not be satisfied with the explanations of the cards or the deck that are in the basic booklet that comes with the deck. Some of the meanings are a little hard to understand as written, and there is an inconsistency in some of the translations are a large paragraph long, while the explanation of the another card is only two or three words long. However, as with all things, if you buy the accompanying book separately (which is only about $9), a great amount of this deck and how it functions will be cleared up.

As with all Tarot Cards, if it is the deck for you or not depends on your relationship and one could find, as some on here have, that the deck is not for them. I would also go so far as to say that this deck may not be the best beginner deck, but I could be very wrong. Before buying this deck, people should venture online sites that feature samples of the decks, like Isis Books, and decide if this is a deck that they want to get to know.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars love and hate, March 20, 2000

By	Tracy Loftus (Atlanta, Ga) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Witches Tarot (Cards)

I am so torn with this deck.....The cards feel good in my hands, and I am able to give accurate readings with this deck without looking up the meanings....BUT, there are a few things I really dislike about this deck.....some of the cards have a body builder image on them which seems to be comepletly out of place in this deck....it seems almost "cartoonish"....and I also don't like the fact that the court cards are all the same.....it makes it very difficult to read when there is no distinct imagery.... I do wish that all tarot cards were the same size so I could take out the few cards that I really dislike in this deck and substitute them with cards from another deck. This deck also has some of the most beautiful cards I have ever seen....as I said before,....... I am torn between love and hate of this deck.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Simplistic linkage of Tarot and Kabbalah, July 27, 1997

By A Customer

This book is an interesting if simplistic exploration of attributions between the Tarot major arcana and the paths on the most common version of the Tree of Life. She writes from an expressly neopagan bias, and the writing does occasionally devolve into self-congratulatory inspirational tone--fellow pagans are better than the run of the mill, etc. While I'm sure that's very reassuring for pagans to read, it doesn't add anything to the text except distraction. For each of the major arcana, she includes a short list of correspondences, some traditional, some not, and an essay on why she feels that card "belongs" on the particular path it does. Despite its flaws, they are interesting reads, as most sources (of all quality levels) simply don't pay much attention to the nature of the paths on the Tree of Life. Also interesting is the system she puts forth for interpreting the effects of court cards. In all, a mixed read; it will be of most interest to Wiccan (and Wiccan-similar) parties. Its treatment of Kabbalah is rather simplified, and many of the conclusions reached are less than convincing, and its segues into inspirational "we rule!" tone are distracting. Still, not a bad read