Deck Review: Wizards Tarot (Moore and Janssens)

Barbara Moore (author) and Mieke Janssens (artist), Wizards Tarot. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2020. ISBN: 978-0-7387-6028-5. (link to publisher.)

 

Genre: Tarot decks

Subgenre: fantasy, wizards, magic

Format: 78-card deck with softcover companion book

Source: I own this one. 

 

Cover photo from publisher

This is the 2019 set published by Llewellyn. This set is not to be confused with a previous Wizards Tarot deck set (link to Aeclectic) by Corinne Kenner, also published by Llewellyn, which is now out of print. I do have a Spanish edition of the Kenner kit, but I'll review that later. 

Barbara Moore wrote the book for this set, and Mieke Janssens  did the art for the 78 cards. The kit with a paperback book and deck comes in a solid box with magnetic closure. It's the standard box Llewellyn is using for their Tarot kits these days. 

The book is arranged as follows: 

• Introduction. This presents the wizards theme. It mentions the deck has "nods to magic users and wizards from popular culture" (2). The introduction also describes the book's overall structure. 
• Chapter 1: Of Tarot and Wizards. This is the common chapter in these companion books explaining what Tarot is and a bit of its history. It also discusses how the theme of wizards connects to Tarot and learning. 
• Chapter 2: Reading the Cards. This is about learning to read the cards. It includes a couple of simple exercises and other tips and advice for doing readings. The end of chapter includes some basic cheat sheets that beginners may find useful. As an intermediate learner, I find them useful. 
• Chapter 3: The Major Arcana. The chapter starts with a one page introduction then we get the card entries. Each Major Arcana card entry includes keywords, reversed keywords, meaning (a paragraph or so), and advice (a paragraph or so). You also get a full page color image for each card.
• Chapter 4: The Minor Arcana. The cards are arranged by number: the Aces, the Two's, etc. Each number features a small introductory text discussing commonalities and traits, then get the card entries. Each entry has the keywords, reversed keywords, and three to four paragraphs discussing meaning, symbols, and imagery. It also includes the full color illustration for each card. 
• Chapter 5: The Court Cards. Entries here just offer keywords, no reversal keywords, and meaning in three or four paragraphs. Still get the full color illustration per card. 
• Chapter 6: Spreads. This features six card spreads you can try out. 
• Chapter 7: The Magical Path. This chapter discusses how the cards can relate to a magical path. You can use this deck like any other deck, but the magical path is an option. The Chapter goes over the Major Arcana, basically a telling of the The Fool's Journey plus some additional commentary on some Minor Arcana cards. 
• Conclusion. 

Seven of Pentacles

This is a good book for beginners. The text is easy to read, and it is written in an encouraging and affirming tone. The tone has a nice reassurance with some warmth. The meanings are well within Rider Waite Smith (RWS) system, and the text stays consistent with the wizards and magic theme. The book goes very well with the deck. I enjoyed reading it, and I found it helpful. There may have been one or two concepts or meanings I differed from but like other companion books you take what works and leave the rest (or you learn from it). 

The cards feature very nice art. Initially I was not sure how well I would bond with the deck. Art is more than just "nods" to popular culture. For some cards it flat out depicts something from popular culture in full. For example, that Nine of Wands is a straight on Dresden Files depiction.  In fact, it could be a cover for one of the books in the series. I am sure that fans of other fantasy series like Harry Potter may recognize some elements, albeit less blatant. In addition, a few cards appear to be a bit repetitive, or at least have very similar facial expressions. Examples of this are the Three of Wands and the Four of Cups and the Seven of Cups and Seven of Pentacles. That could make a reading a bit confusing if a reader relies on the imagery. Given some of the above, I was not sure I would like the deck, but I found myself warming up to it. 

The Hierophant-V

The deck art as a whole is bright, colorful, and detailed. If you like fantasy fiction and pop culture, you will likely enjoy this deck. The images are well within RWS so the deck works well if you read within that system. The art is good enough for those who read intuitively too. For some readers, it may be fun to identify the various "nods" and influences from pop culture. For me, despite some issues, I found myself enjoying this deck the more I kept using it. It is an easy to use deck even if you are not into wizards and fantasy; the images are clear and relatively easy to read. 

The cards measure about 4 1/2 inches by 2 3/4 inches with rounded edges. The cards are borderless. A small banner at the bottom of the card identifies each card. Card back features beautiful and bright dragon art; it has become one of my favorite card backs. Card back is not reversible. Card stock is the standard Llewellyn stock. Cards have a very light gloss; they are easy to shuffle. 

Overall, this is a good deck and book for beginners. It may be a good choice for fans of the fantasy genre, especially if they like wizards and other magic users. I am not sure I would recommend it for very advanced users, but I leave it to them to decide. Personally this is a deck I could use to read for others. In the end, I really like it. It grew on me. 

4 out of 5 stars. 

Note: Except for the cover photo, the card photos are mine from my deck.