By Yasmeen Westwood
Published by Red Feather (Schiffer Publishing Ltd)
Date of publication 2022 Country of origin Scotland, UK
RRP £22.99 – £33.99
ISBN 9780764362811
Yasmeen is a photomanipulation artist who uses digital editing tools, techniques and skill to create mindblowing, surreal artworks. She is an award winning self taught artist who lives in Scotland. Her first deck was The Tarot of Enchanted Dreams, published in 2019; her other decks include the Hummingbird Wisdom Oracle, Lenormand of Enchantment, and according to her Instagram more are in the pipeline.
The theme of this deck is very whimsical and dreamy, a running underwater theme with the starfish and mixed blue background that runs throughout the box, book and deck. The deck is dedicated to the author’s late husband and she states that his character runs through the ‘tell it as it deck’. This deck was created by the author ‘as it happened’; it was not a planned or a preconceived idea but purely a way of expressing the author’s grief at the time. The stories for each card were co-written with her daughter and based on ‘once upon a time’ fairytales. The Page of Coins is actually the author’s son. Discussions with Yasmeen really bought the artwork to life – she explained the that cover is actually of her letting go of the past, a bride in grief and not quite in the moment, which really is present in this whimsical, Alice in Wonderland-like world.
The deck is based on the RWS system, using the Major and Minor Arcana and court cards.
The thoroughly detailed guidebook gives valuable information about the history of Tarot for both beginners and advanced readers, as well as other topics surrounding Tarot reading. I appreciated the section on ‘Misconceptions of Tarot’, delving into assumptions and preconceived ideas of black magic, fear and psychic abilities. Addressing that Tarot is not a rock solid predictor, stating that you (the querent) are the one who make the choices not the cards, is something I am very adamant to ensure that my querents understand, so this resonated with me and it was nice to relate to the author about this.
The book briefly touches on care of the cards, cleansing and another important subject, the ethics of Tarot, which I have not seen in many other guidebooks before, but is also something that I was very happy to see being highlighted and re-iterated to readers old and new. I wasn’t sure about the recommendation of a well known Tarot website in the book as a go-to for further information; many other free resources could have been cited here. But, when discussing this with the author this resource is sited as she found it a useful resource when learning. [Just please be mindful that cheaper Tarot courses are available; always read the small print when signing up for email resources, never enter your bank details unless you are fully aware of what your agreeing to.]
The Major and Minor Arcanas are explained in a well structured and understandable format. The guidebook provides guidance on learning the cards, a number of spreads and diagrams, and a full overview on a double page spread for each Major Arcana card. Each card is beautifully presented and comes with an affirmation/quote and keywords, which are printed on the cards as well as noted in the book. Each Major Arcana card is accompanied by a beautifully written fairytale-like story to help the reader understand the card’s symbolism and meaning, ending with questions for self-reflection, personal development and journalling, leaving you with food for thought.
The cards are beautifully illustrated and the stunning gold foil edging gives them a glamorous and expensive long lasting feel; the thick card stock does make them feel a little bulky if you are not used to a slightly larger deck, but you soon get used to them. The energy of the cards is very tranquil and calming–they have a soothing and comforting feel, they are a beautiful deck to work with and I have used them to provide some small readings which have given some lovely, straight to the point, guiding messages.
I was drawn quite strongly to this deck from the illustrations and in particular the ladies wearing hats; the images were so mesmerising and I was instantly drawn to them. I’d recommend this deck to readers of all levels, though the keywords on the cards make them particularly great for beginners. As an intuitive reader I would have liked larger images without the keywords, but this is just a personal opinion. This deck would be particularly lovely for self-development and meditations, as the stories and affirmations provide a strong platform for meditation and self-reflection.
I would always recommend buying a deck in person and being able to feel its energy before purchase, as online transactions have their limitations, but this deck called out to me and I have not been disappointed.
Reviewed by: Kirsty-Ann
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