- Authors: Barbara Moore & Franco Rivolli
- Publisher: Lo Scarabeo
- Publication Date: November 2025
- RRP: 30 Euros / £29.99
- ISBN: 9788865273111
- Country of origin: Torino – Italy
- Reviewed by: Diva De Faria
Introduction
This is a redesigned version of the Silver Witchcraft Tarot (2014) that comes with silver edges on every card and the Lo Scarabeo multilingual instructions booklet. This deck has been and continues to be very popular since its first release over 10 years ago.
At first, I was expecting Silver Witchcraft to be just one more pagan themed deck following the RWS structure. However, once I started browsing through the cards I came to realize that it is a deck with much more creativity and thought behind it.
For instance, some of the major arcana deviate from the traditional concept of the “Fool’s Journey” thus freeing the characters from any similarity with the standard depiction of the 22 Majors.
With the first card, The Fool, arcana zero, there is a clear departure from the typical image of a naive young man and his dog. Instead, the Silver Witchcraft card shows a pathway that leads to a tree under the light of an eclipse, while in the background there is an outline of a person that is unknown to the reader.
At first glance, the Minor Arcana in the Silver Witchcraft Tarot can be easily mistaken for scenes inspired by the RWS tradition. Yet, a closer look reveals that the stories told here differ significantly from those created by Pamela Colman Smith. In Barbara Moore’s deck, the narratives are rooted in the Pagan “Wheel of the Year,” unfolding through seasonal and ritual imagery rather than the everyday life scenes typical of the RWS system.
Barbara Moore begins with the traditional meanings of both the Major and Minor Arcana, but she expands on them through Franco Rivolli’s artistic vision, presenting familiar concepts through a fresh narrative of symbols and imagery.
Art style, medium
The deck’s illustrations appear to be contemporary digital paintings. The colors are beautiful, soothing yet intense, and the soft, glowing light that often radiates from the background creates a distinctly mystical atmosphere. In the Minor Arcana, each suit’s palette reflects its connection to the four seasons that form the foundation of the Pagan Wheel of the Year.
The numbered cards reveal an interesting relationship between each suit and the environment depicted in its scenes. The Wands show desert landscapes with bonfires and a strong sense of summer heat. The Chalices, corresponding to the traditional Cups and the element of water, unfold in moist, fluid settings where water or snow is almost always present. The Swords, aligned with the element of air, carry a cold and windy feeling throughout their imagery. Finally, the Pentacles, representing earth, depict grounded scenes filled with various kinds of trees, evoking stability and rootedness.
Card stock type
The Silver Witchcraft Tarot is a 78 cards deck following the traditional tarot structure, with 22 major arcana, 16 court cards and 40 numbered cards. For the cards stock, the paper is good quality satin, ideal for easy shuffling without peeling on the borders. The silver‑gilded edges and borderless artwork give a distinctive characteristic to the deck.
The majors are numbered and have the name of the arcana at the bottom of the card. The minors have their names and numbers also at the bottom of each card making the identification and meaning easier for the reader.
Information about the packaging / guidebook
This new edition of the Silver Witchcraft Tarot comes in a box depicting the Ace of Chalices on one side and the Five of Chalices on the other. The guidebook is a regular “LWB” with a black cover and the deck’s title in white letters. The small guidebook has 127 pages, but it is because it comes in 5 different languages. In fact, it has just a small introduction about the deck and 3 kinds of spreads besides the cards’ meanings.
Conclusion
I particularly appreciate that this deck is illustrated entirely with Pagan symbols. The color palette is lovely, soothing yet still carrying a certain intensity. However, I feel that some cards (for example, The Chariot VII, The Devil XV, and The Tower XVI) lack enough symbolic information for the reader to form an ideal interpretation.
For instance, if The Chariot VII appeared in a reading without its title, I doubt the reader would immediately grasp the ideas of movement, speed, achievement, and the responsibility involved in choosing and maintaining the chariot’s direction.
I have no issue with artistic freedom in tarot decks. My point is simply that this is a beautiful and thoughtful Pagan‑themed deck that might function better when paired with the large 160‑page guidebook included in the Silver Witchcraft Tarot Kit: Book and Card Set. A deck with such distinctive imagery would benefit from a more detailed companion book explaining the reasoning behind certain artistic choices.
For this reason, I don’t consider it a deck suited for beginners. The level of artistic freedom here shifts some card meanings far enough from traditional definitions that a new reader may struggle to interpret them confidently.
Creator Bios:
Barbara Moore is the creator of “Silver Witchcraft Tarot” and has been in love with tarot for over 35 years. Nowadays, she provides professional readings and consults for both Llewellyn Worldwide and Lo Scarabeo. Some of her works are the Steampunk Tarot, Good Fortune Tarot, Trick or Treat Tarot, The Gilded Tarot, The Mystic Dreamer Tarot, Tarot of the Hidden Realm, and also the books; Tarot for Beginners and Tarot Spreads.
Franco Rivolli born in Venice Lido in 1979 is a freelance artist. After graduating from art high school, he enrolled in the illustration department at the “Arte e Messaggio” school in Milan. Now, he works on school textbooks, children’s books, book covers, and magazines. Franco is the creator of “Angels”, one of the iconic images of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and has had his work featured in Infected by Art Volume 6 in 2018, Infected by Art Volume 6 in 2019 and the Autori di Immagini Annual in 2022.
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