- Author: Maja D’Aoust
- Publisher: Destiny Books (Inner Traditions imprint)
- Publication Date: 07 April 2026
- RRP: US $30.00 / UK £23.99
- Reviewed by: Emma M
Seven months ago, three weeks after finding Tarot and discovering Shadow work, I quit therapy. After two years, I was still no better than when I started. Using Tarot, my life changed almost overnight.
I fully embraced the Shadow side of the standard Rider-Waite-Smith deck I was using and I felt I had learnt all I had to about myself.
Boy was I wrong!
In the BEST possible way, using D’Aoust’s Shadow Seer deck forced me to take a deeper look at myself and the Shadow aspects of the cards properly.
The 78, 7 x 11cm glossy black-and-white cards are gorgeous. A solid black background enhances white pencil drawings that range from simple to almost bonkers, but each one spot-on to the theme of the card. They come in a magnetic display box that houses them along with the equally stunning 256-paged guidebook. I’d pay for this separately, it really is amazing.
A few of my favourite images are on: Death/The Murderer, 3 of Cups/Debauchery, 6 of Cups/The Spoiled Brat, 8 of Pentacles/The Slave, and Knight of Pentacles/The Slumlord:
I find the simplicity of these pictures striking in the complexity of their meanings. The Murderer grasping at the living; the feminine imagery of Debauchery; the diamond eyes of the Spoiled Brat; the Slave being stood on from above; the chaotic mind of the Slumlord – each image immediately grabs the attention and while ‘simple’, you can really peel back the layers when you pay close attention.
So, to the reading. When looking at the reverse meanings of any deck, it’s easy to chose which lens you take notice of, and with all the best will in the world, it’s also easy to listen to the ‘nicest’ aspect. D’Aoust almost removes that option.
She’s developed a deck which details a specific reverse meaning of each card in the RWS. Making it almost impossible to look away from that truth.
Her understanding of the human condition, from numerous PoVs, is evident from page one and the way she’s applied that knowledge to the Shadow self is inspired.
For example: The Shadow of Major Arcana #6, The Lovers, is Nemesis. This card challenges you to look at how you love to hate. D’Aoust explains that just as our lovers are destined for us, so too are our enemies. And that’s OK. We have to appreciate that before we can start working towards letting them go. Recognising that these emotions and attributes are part of you as a person, enables you to regulate them. Being fully aware of these aspects means you can fully integrate our Shadow self without picking and choosing the bits we want.
The Shadow Seer deck forces you to look deeper and harder which, in turn, forces you to become your higher self, and I can’t find a better reason than that to have a deck to hand …Can you?
About the author:
Maja D’Aoust, known as the Witch of the Dawn, is a practicing Witch and scholar of alchemy and occult lore. After completing her bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, she studied Oriental medicine and acupuncture and later earned her master’s degree in transformational psychology with a focus on shamanism, the I Ching, and ancestors. She is the author of A Witch’s Bestiary: Visions of Supernatural Creatures, co-author of The Secret Source, and creator of a Tarot deck, The White Witch Tarot. She lives in California.
Shadow Seers Tarot can be purchased here: https://www.innertraditions.com/shadow-seer-tarot# and is also now available from all good online bookshops.
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