- Deck name: Pistis Sophia: The Goddess Tarot
- Author and artist: Kim Huggens and Nic Phillips
- Publisher: Schiffer/REDfeather – https://schifferbooks.com/products/pistis-sophia
- Recommended retail price (RRP): £23.52 (Amazon UK) / $34.99 (REDFeather)
- ISBN: 978-0-7643-6001-5
- Date of publication: 27 September 2020
- Country of origin: United States
- Reviewed by: Beth Rees (Instagram: https://instagram.com/neurodivergenttarot)
Kim Huggens is an author (Tarot 101: Mastering the Art of Reading the Cards) and co-author of decks such as Sol Invictus: The God Tarot and Tarot Illuminati. She has been studying tarot since she was a child but also has a degree in Philosophy and an MA in Religion in Late Antiquity from Cardiff University. She is a speaker and has run several tarot courses.
Nic Phillips is an artist specialising in the ‘religious and the spiritual, the mythical and the mystical’, otherwise known as ‘Sacred Art’. He is author of Celtic Saints of Western Britain, Breaking Chains: The Evolution of the Black Madonna and co-author/ illustrator of Sol Invictus: The God Tarot with Kim Huggens.
When I first received the deck, I was curious to explore it fully as I’d never used a Majors-Only Deck before. Pistis Sophia: The Goddess Tarot consists of the 22-cards of the Major Arcana; each associated with different goddesses from ancient mythology. The premise of the deck is to use inspiration from the Rider Waite Smith, Crowley Thoth, and the Marseilles and combine them with the ‘divine feminine, academia and the process of research’. Within that, there are elements of archaeology, anthropology and history from both Tarot and early media influences (Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero’s Journey which is very familiar to me as an ex-Media Studies student/creative writer).
Admittedly, I had no idea who/what ‘Pistis Sophia’ was but on reading the amazing guidebook (which we’ll get to shortly), discovered that it means ‘Faith-wisdom’.
It was also great to see that the deck isn’t ‘too feminine’ in its colours, artwork or intent. The authors state that ‘This is not just a deck for women. This is a deck simply for anybody’ which I thought was important, and differentiates it already from many other goddess decks out there.
The box, which is A5 in size, uses muted and natural colours with almost an Aztec design on it. There’s a lovely white ribbon to help with opening, attached to the bottom of the box. The inside is a lovely burnt orange colour, similar to that of the card backs.
All I can say about the guidebook is WOW. It is 133 pages of fascinating insight, history and of course, tarot too. The introductory pages were very useful as someone who doesn’t have in-depth knowledge of goddesses and really helped me to understand where the authors were coming from when creating this deck. I especially liked that they opened the guide with ‘Why another Goddess Tarot?’ and preceded to explain why this was necessary. They wanted to capture the true nature of each of the goddesses and returned to original sources for both the words and imagery. There are also sections on getting started with the deck, how to read with it and dedicated spreads to use.
When we get into the card descriptions themselves, the level of detail is phenomenal. This is where the academic element comes through, and Huggens’ knowledge is apparent. There are five A5 pages dedicated to each card with information about the goddess’s origins, ‘As Above’ which talks all about the mythology, which she is associated with, and ‘So Below’ providing the divinatory meaning and tarot guidance. I was a bit overwhelmed with all of the information, including quotes from academia and ancient texts. There was almost too much information for me to properly digest and, sometimes, the language didn’t feel fully accessible unless you’re familiar with these documents. I also would’ve liked a bit more information about the imagery the artist used or certain things in the artwork to look out for.
Nonetheless, I learned a lot, especially about goddesses from different cultures that I hadn’t heard of before.
The cards are standard tarot card size (7cm x 12cm), printed on glossy but sturdy cardstock with lovely gold edging. My hands are a bit small, so I did find them tricky to shuffle (but that’s just me), however the fact that it’s a Majors-Only deck did help in this respect. The card backs replicate the design on the front of the box but are a ceramic orange colour that matches the inside packaging of the box.
The artist has done an incredible job of giving each goddess her own unique personality and colour scheme. The cards are like 22 mini pieces of abstract artwork that you could display on a wall or an altar. The level of inclusivity and cultures represented in this deck is amazing and has allowed me to learn about those goddesses I hadn’t heard of before.
I decided to do a deck interview to understand its purpose and introduction into my life, and I’m glad that I did. The first card (‘What are you here to teach me?’) was ‘XX Rebirth’ (or ‘Judgement’ in the traditional Rider Waite Smith) and launched itself from the shuffle, onto the floor face up. I took that to be a very decisive and assertive way of letting me know that it’s here to help with anything limiting my emergence into something greater. The goddess on the card was ‘Inanna’ who is shown to be almost a phoenix rising from the ashes from her earthly to divine body. The powerful imagery captured me straight away and it’s the first time I’ve seen a Judgement card that has resonated and meant something to me.
The second card (‘How do you like to be used?’) was ‘I The Magician’, represented by the goddess Isis. The deck wants to be used for manifestation and to help me tap into my personal power after releasing the limitations in the previous card. Again, the strong image of Isis with her arms at ‘As Above, So Below’ surrounded by geometric and ancient symbols was so intricate and full of detail. Looking at this card, it reminded me of imagery from the Thoth deck.
The third card (‘What’s your overall goal as a deck?’) was ‘XVII The Star’ with a bright and beautiful image of goddess Ushas. In most decks, I feel quite drawn to this card however, I didn’t feel that connection in this one. As I mentioned, I connected more to the previous two cards. This card did however come as a message that this deck can be used as a messenger for hope, to provide guidance and encouragement to look for synchronicities in the Universe.
I enjoyed getting to know this deck and liked the simple keywords and poeticism of the guidebook. I felt like it took me on a calming journey. I also admired the creator for sharing her personal challenges that led to the creation of this deck which then added another layer to the cards.
I was struck by the originality of the imagery but found it tricky at times to translate and connect to. The alchemical process also went a bit over my head as I didn’t really know anything about it to start with. However, I did learn about the process through the guidebook which was interesting.
I feel like this deck would be great for those interested in, or with prior knowledge of, alchemy. It would also be great for those readers who enjoy a more abstract, intuitive deck as there’s plenty of scope for interpretation in the cards.
You can find out more about Kim (the author) here and Nic (the co-author and artist) here.
You can also purchase the Pistis Sophia deck here.
0 Comments