Review of Llewellyn’s 2018 Tarot Calendar

Reviewed by Brigantia

On a purely functional level, this calendar ticks all the boxes. There’s enough space to add in notes for your personal key dates and appointments, it shows the moon phases (including the quarters), when the clocks go back and forward and lists all the major public holidays for the UK and the USA, as well as listing various religious observance dates. It’s certainly not a small calendar, when opened out the length and width are 24” x 12” (66 x 33 cm) so you would need a decent area of wall space to hang it.

Each month displays a card from different decks published by Llewellyn and chosen by Barbara Moore, and the images generally have a pleasant resonance with the month they illustrate, such as the tulips for April and the harvest for August. Alternate months provide a different spread to work with, and the other months provide information on how to expand your tarot knowledge, such as symbolism, journalling and interpretations of that month’s card.

I’m really not sure why this dark, indoor image was selected for July, though this image depicts a representation of Odin and maybe there is a deeper significance to that particular month. I do find it a very striking image though, even if it looks quite autumnal to me.

I’m not sure if there are any new decks shown in this calendar; having been on a tight deck budget for some time I try not to look around at different decks (I find it heartbreaking when I can’t afford them!) though I have heard of a few that are depicted in this calendar. Being so unfamiliar with the vast range of decks out there that is one thing I particularly like about this calendar – the introduction to card images from a range of decks. I think that it is a lovely learning tool for tarot beginners in addition to its functional use as a calendar; at the end there is a good deal of basic information such as tarot terms, the Celtic cross spread and the Fool’s Journey as well as the monthly themed information. That said, it’s a pretty calendar that would appeal to most  tarot enthusiasts, and there is always a snippet to learn or an interesting spread that you haven’t come across before.
Here are a couple of my favourite images (I do like the animal ones!):

Right at the end, this is an example of the type of information provided:
It gets the nod of approval from me; I like it on both functional and aesthetic levels in addition to all the interesting info that it provides, and I look forward to the progress of the year with this calendar on my wall.

Published 2017 by Llewellyn Worldwide
Reviewed by Brigantia