• Deck name: Seasonal Power Tarot
• Author and artist: Leah Vanderveldt, illustrated by Emma Taylor
• Publisher: Cico Books – Product Page
• Recommended retail price:  $22.99 US / UK £20
• ISBN: 978-1-80065-429-7
• Reviewer: Helen M.

The Seasonal Power Tarot deck is written by Leah Vanderveldt, a tarot reader, astrologer and podcaster, and illustrated by Emma Taylor a freelance illustrator and designer.

The Seasonal Power Tarot deck comes in a beautifully illustrated rigid box with a slip off lid on the side, which contains an equally beautifully illustrated guidebook and 78 tarot cards. The cards are 8cm x 13cm (5″ x 3″), of standard card stock thickness. With their high gloss finish they are easy to shuffle (but therefore easy to drop too!).

This deck is rooted in the Rider Waite system, with traditional suits of Cups, Wands, Pentacles and Swords,  but reimagined in terms of seasonal themes and influences, with some of the meanings loosely tied to those of the Waite system.

The premise of the deck, is to “connect with nature’s elements for inspiration and fulfilment”. The author describes the deck as a creative companion and source of inspiration, a source of mirroring one’s internal seasons, for example feeling energised and ready to have fresh starts like spring, or wanting to retreat and rest, like winter. So, it invites you to draw on this seasonal symbolism both externally and internally, and consider the cyclical nature of life.

Each suit is related to a season: Swords to Spring, Wands to Summer, Pentacles to Autumn and Cups to Winter, with the Major Arcana relating to a fifth element of Spirit, representing important shifts in our personal growth.

The imagery is contemporary rather than traditional. As a very visual person I really love that the Major Arcana cards have colourful scenes, with no borders. Instead there’s subtle frame that overlays the cards. The names of the cards are placed in a banner at the bottom, which I think is very nicely done, as it’s not too obtrusive. For the pip cards, a keyword is given next to the card name, for example ‘Fulfilment’ for the Nine of Cups.

There is a light hearted and supportive feel to this deck, which seems intentional from the authors words “Remember: the tarot has a sense of humour, it’s not all serious”. The colourful illustrations and style certainly conveys this, and makes what can appear as more challenging cards seem approachable. For example, rather than the traditional skeleton on the Death card, the theme of rebirth and transformation is conveyed with a pleasant illustration of a butterfly and a cocoon, surrounded by autumn leaves and a full moon in the sky.

From this perspective this deck would be good to use for readings where a lighter mood or sensitivity to how the card images may be received is needed.

As someone who at times blends astrology with tarot, I really like the inclusion of the astrological associations on the Major Arcana cards (based on the Decan system), with symbols subtly placed in the lower right corner. 

This deck may appeal to tarot readers looking for cards with a feminine and modern vibe, or with more diversity, as the majority of the figures illustrated are women in modern attire (including the Kings), portrayed with different ethnicities, which is refreshing.  In addition, the tone of language in the guidebook has a modern chatty inflection, rather than formal one.

I found the guide book very easy to use. It has full colour illustrations of the cards and includes spreads for a daily, weekly and monthly check-in along with a spread for each solstice and equinox, tying in the nature theme of the deck.

Interpretations are given for both upright cards and reversals. For each card there are two further sections given in the guide book: ‘Practice’ (activities or exercises to help you embody the card) and ‘Reflection’ for further connection to the theme of the card, and how you can use it in your life. I really liked this addition for inspiration on practical action to take relating to the card’s meaning.

Keywords aren’t given for the Major Arcana cards, which I think could have been useful for beginners to tarot, to help understand the core concepts, nuances and themes of the cards. Personally I also feel the Major Arcana card meanings could have had more depth to them, especially considering how deep and meaningfully significant these cards are when they show up in a spread.

In the Minor Arcana section there is a page which gives theme keywords for each suit and the court cards, Moon phases for the court cards, and numerological associations for the pips, which is a very nice addition.  Again, I think there could have been more offered by way of interpretations for these cards (as well as the seasonal themes woven into the interpretations).

For those reasons I don’t feel this would be a good starter deck for someone who was trying to deeply learn tarot. However it could be a good deck for someone more well versed in the range and nuances of meanings of tarot, who reads intuitively, or is looking for a deck that has an easy-going, relaxed and cheerful vibe, unconcerned with having a fuller range of tarot meanings and interpretations for each card.

The deck is oriented toward internal psychological reflection, rather than externally oriented mundane questions or predictions. From that perspective, using the sample spreads given in the guidebook, I think this would be a nice deck for quick check-in’s with oneself, and for casual use. Have fun with it!