• Deck Title: Stained Glass Tarot
• Author: James Edward
• ISBN: 979-8-88850-082-8
• Publisher: Inner Traditions Bear and Company
• RRP: $35 / £25
• Country: US
• Includes 78 color cards and 336-page book
• Reviewed by: Helen Diamond

The Stained Glass Tarot utilises a standard format of 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana. There is an accompanying book which tackles each of the major’s Astrological, Jungian, mundane and mystical interpretations. Between one and two pages each is dedicated to the minors. Each card has a poem dedicated to it as well.

The cards themselves have rich colour, and the card backs are embellished with a mandala-esque stained glass design. The card quality is fair; they are easy to handle and appear to be sturdy.

The minor arcana switches between the Waite-Smith and Marseille tarot systems. Some cards depict a detailed scene from daily life and others contain only the requisite suit symbols in the corresponding quantity (e.g. the Three of Swords is simply three swords, more like a pip card).

I wanted to like this deck, I really did. When I was first asked to review the Stained Glass Tarot, I did a quick Google search for online images and was happy to see detailed images with beautiful use of colour. Some of the cards looked incredibly detailed and I was curious about what could be done with stained glass to bring a new element to my understanding of the cards.

However, it is clear that an AI-generative program has been used in the design process. There are some commonalities across the designs that suggest the author has not left the entirety of the deck up to AI, but many of the images seem to suffer from a lack of consistency. For example, the way AI-generated imagery plays with depth of field and shadow is evident in some but not all of the cards, with no apparent reason for the variety. One would not exactly expect to see depth of field on stained glass. For some, that doesn’t matter; AI is here now and it’s a tool some choose to use. Personally, it’s not my cup of tea.

Focusing instead on the book, which promises in-depth study that one may use to deepen their understanding correspondences with tarot. It appears that, although the author will have had a hand in writing this book, AI has also been used to augment the source material. Again, the presence and use of AI is an accepted fact at this stage, the problem is what it does to the overall readability of one’s work. While it can help with grammar and spelling, AI-generated text is notoriously verbose.

The book would have really benefited from a human editor; the main issue I found was its overall cohesion was impacted by repetition and redundant language. For instance, in the chapter on the Hanged Man, I counted the words “surrender/surrendering” 20 times. This places the average reader at risk of semantic satiation, a psychological phenomenon that occurs when a word or phrase loses meaning after being repeated or examined for too long. Not ideal if you’re a beginner trying to remember card meanings! But tarot deck books aren’t often read from cover to cover, so a person could still benefit from flicking through to precise sections. That being said, the book could be condensed to about half the size.

Is the deck suited to beginners or more advanced readers? I would personally say that a person could begin their tarot journey with any deck that speaks to them. Although, the mix of RWS and Marseille systems creates a quandary: this could be a disservice to someone new to the tarot and could irk those with more knowledge, particularly because there is no apparent reason for this blended approach. Overall, it may be better for a student of tarot who already owns one or two decks and books, and is eager to expand their knowledge of the correspondences and archetypal associations.