Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gorgeous, Positive Deck, February 1, 2000
I could sit and stare at the artwork for hours. The cards are incredibly beautiful. It may take some adjustment for the major arcana as they relate to goddesses rather than traditional tarot symbolism. I suggest the book that goes with the deck. The minor arcana follow in the more traditional Rider-Waite style. The cards are positive, with no scary negative cards found in other decks. The cards are a bit larger than normal but feel very good in the hands. Overall, I highly recommend this deck!
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Four and a half stars actually..., February 20, 2005
I have only minor quibbles with this deck; otherwise it is a pleasure to work with. As other reviewers have said it has a serene, gentle quality and gorgeous artwork. I've been working with Tarot for years and I don't find the deck oversized at all. I can only guess that those reviewers who make that claim are new to Tarot in general. The deck uses the 8 Justice/11 Strength configuration, which I prefer and was happy to discover here.
Each card has an intricate border that adds to the overall feel. The border on each Major card is unique and related to its Goddess. For example, Tradition/Juno is surrounded by two peacocks and little olive trees. Beginnings/Tara is bordered by a thick green forest with a tiger peaking out. There are 4 types of borders for the Minors related to its element. Pentacles have flowers with doves flying above, cups have rough blue waves, staves (wands) have a red and orange volcanic landscape. I just wish the border for swords had a more prominent feeling of air. It's a landscape of arid, craggy mountains, with a waterfall to one side. Only the very top of the border shows a few clouds.
I love the inclusion of Goddesses that are less "popular" in today's Pagan community as well as drawing from multi-ethnic backgrounds. Personally I think Waldherr does a richer, more evocative job with her non-European subjects and those cards tend to be my favorites. I don't like Gwenhwyfar being included on the Judgment card, as she is a legend, not a Goddess, though her card is very beautiful.
My biggest problem with the deck is that the little white book strikes me as being written after the deck was completed and tries to paint the deck as being more feminist than it really is as well as being more imaginative in scope. The booklet claims the deck's intention was to tell "women's" stories instead of men's. This claim breaks down for me when it comes to the Minors. They are all based on the images in the Rider-Waite deck and the Court Cards depict men where traditional. There's nothing new or particularly more feminist than usual going on here. Yet the LWB says the Minors are dedicated to 4 Goddesses and depict women's journeys related to those Goddesses. So the book's claims bug me a little. I also prefer more symbolism depicted in the Minors to give depth to a reading but if you are familiar with Rider-Waite, these are easy to pick up. Swords are supposed to show the Path of Isis and all cards have an ancient Egyptian theme given to the traditional poses. Pentacles are the Path of Lakshmi. I consider these East Indian pictures to best of the group. Cups are for Freyja but show generalized Medieval-ish figures with pale blond hair. Staves are supposed to show the Path of the Roman Goddess Venus but instead of having a Roman theme, there are Medieval-ish redheads in each scene.
These issues related to the booklet are minor though compared to the cards themselves. I expect to get many years of enjoyment working with this deck.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
very beginner friendly, July 18, 2002
The Goddess Tarot was my chosen deck when I first started out with the tarot. Its energy and imagery is gentle, soft, and lovely. There is no nudity and no 'scary' pictures.As a beginner, cards such as the death card and the tower card were particularly disturbing to me, so to replace the images with pictures of great goddesses was the only way I could feel comfortable working with the tarot. I've outgrown this deck for general purposes, but whenever I need guidance I find myself returning to this deck. This deck is more spiritual than any other deck out there and very gentle. It's really a very beautiful deck. The reason I don't use this deck all the time anymore is that the imagery of the tarot is really what speaks to me when I do readings. The major arcana in this Goddess deck consists of goddesses, thus much of the imagery is hard for me to delve into and get a good 'vibe' from without spending hours researching and working with each goddess. Also, I grew less afraid of the scarier images, and once I put that fear aside, the traditional tarot blossomed since I wasn't hesitant to handle it anymore. The Goddess Tarot is a beautiful deck. It's feminine in the best sense of the word. It's client friendly, children friendly, and beginner friendly with its gentle images. Sometimes when doing readings face to face with a querent, I'll pull out the Goddess Tarot deck with more jittery persons. There are some people that jump out of their chair when they see the death, tower, or devil card. It sounds and looks much gentler in this deck. Instead of Death you have Transformation. Instead of the Devil you have Temptation. It's really a deck that anybody can benefit from, even if it's just to appreciate its asthetic beauty.
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