- Author: Luna Marie
- Artist: Lilia Danchenko
- Publisher: Findhorn Press (an Inner Traditions imprint) https://www.innertraditions.com/the-warrior-of-love-tarot
- ISBN: 979-8-88850-391-1
- RRP: USD $22.99; UK £15.99
- Reviewed by: Gwen Enstam @goldenpomt on IG
When I was first learning Tarot, there seemed to be so much wiggle room. How could a single card mean one thing in a reading about work, something else in relation to spiritual matters, and something else again for a relationship reading? And how was I ever going to learn how to read from so many different perspectives? The Warrior of Love Tarot would have been an immense help. More experienced readers will also enjoy working with the deck, as it includes deeper symbolism of astrology and the decans; but its uniqueness comes from the new lens it lays over the Tarot cards that we think we know so well.
Each page of The Warrior of Love Tarot guidebook gives a colour image of a card, keywords, a ruling planet and a general description. Next there is an upright meaning and a reversed meaning, and it is here that we get the extra layer we have been promised: the specifics of what it means in a relationship reading. And these are very thoughtful and creative. For example, the Judgement card upright is:
Your self-approval will allow you to step into your power and embrace new beginnings or endings. It is an opportunity for second chances and a fresh start, leading to positive transformation.
And reversed:
You are delaying choosing your relationship due to self-doubt. It is necessary to decide whether the relationship should continue or cease. You may revisit a previous relationship (p.64).
For me, the really good stuff appears in the border. Modern planetary correspondences are given for the Majors, e.g. Uranus for The Fool, Neptune for the Hanged Man, and Pluto for Judgement. The Minors give us the symbols for the planet and zodiac sign that correspond to the decan each card is assigned to, e.g. the 2 of Cups is Venus in Cancer, and in the bottom border, we see the symbols for Venus and Cancer. The correspondences for the Aces, three entire zodiac signs each, are also illustrated on the cards, which is unusual and very helpful. The court cards are associated with three decans but, as usual with them, it’s complicated. Luna Marie has resolved the issue by choosing one zodiac sign for the dominant energy of each one. This is, of course, information you don’t have to use at all until or unless you are ready. But it is an elegant touch that can add impressive depth to a question about relationships.
There are even more symbols coded in the artwork of each of the suits, in terms of colour scheme and theme. The suit of Wands is all golds and oranges, with the stag as its symbol; the suit of Cups is light blue, pink, and pearl, and here we have the seahorse; the suit of Swords is elegant black and silver with an owl worked into the imagery; and the suit of Pentacles is rich green and gold, with a peacock symbol, whose feathers add stunning flashes of bright blue. We could say, looking at the colours in particular, that Wands are the Autumn, Cups are the Summer, Swords are the Winter, and Pentacles the Spring – helpful for those tricky “When” questions that can be so central to readings about relationships.
The Majors are more like a collection of independent works of art than a series, which I have seen in other decks as well, and for me, it’s not something that works. I like them as individual cards, but I read the Majors in relation to each other, and here, the colour schemes are just too different – from golds, browns, and oranges of the Strength card to light pink and ice blue for The Hierophant.
The Warrior of Love Tarot is clearly a diverse deck, and I always love to see how artists and creators update the cards to truly reflect the real world. The only thing I would say here, and I don’t want to limit this comment to the Warrior of Love Tarot, is that I would really love to see one that is a little braver when choosing who, for example, should represent The Magician, and to see more elder women represented as boldly as the older men.
The Warrior of Love Tarot would be a great deck for a beginner, particularly one who is focused on relationship readings. Even more helpful than having the tailored Upright and Reversed meanings is the way the guidebook leads us to them. First we have the general meaning and then the specifics. Seeing the process is how we learn to do it ourselves – how to relate the general to the particular, so we can do it on our own, and become stronger, more intuitive readers.
More on the Creators:
Luna Marie is a psychic channel, intuitive Tarot reader, and spiritual coach dedicated to empowering women. She lives in Bath, UK.
Lilia Danchenko is a Russian illustrator whose creative portfolio includes digital design.You can get The Warrior of Love Tarot from the Inner Traditions website and all good booksellers. https://www.innertraditions.com/the-warrior-of-love-tarot
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