The Fairytale Tarot Kit: For a Happy Ever After... [Paperback]

Okay, I should say outright that I'm biased. I wrote the foreword for the book on this deck, and have followed its progress from before publication. But I didn't see the full art until it was published, and didn't try to read with it until then as well. The colors are stunning, bright and clear without being too dark or too pastel, and all the pictures truly have the quality of a story. While the art all holds together there are stylistic varations that evoke the different cultures. When I got my full copy I experimented with readings. I found that you can look up the story for the card in the book (which in itself is a terrific collection of retold tales from all over the world). But you also can see new stories in the pictures, letting the exciting scenes spark your own imagination. My favorite way to read with this deck is to ask questions like "What story am I in?" and "what story do I want to avoid?" We all tend to act out certain stories--or try to, such as the woman who avoids the messiness of relatonships because she is waiting for Prince Charming to sweep her away. The Fairytale Tarot helps us see the many *kinds* of stories we act out, and make conscious choices to enhance or alter or change those stories to enrich our lives. As far as I'm concerned, that is what Tarot is all about.
I asked the cards what story we enter when we read with this deck. The card was the Page of Cups, the story for which is called Sadko. The picture shows an elegant young man who seems to have stepped off a dragon-headed sailboat. He holds a cup with a lid. The lid has tipped back because inside is a golden fish. When we read with this deck we sail to a magical world. The deck is like the cup. Open it and inside there are wonders. In the book the story tells of a musician bard, who sings to a lake and learns of a magic fish, that if you eat it you become young again. Most of us learned fairytales as children, and when we read from this deck we indeed can return to a childlike state of wonder and delight.
So--given that the writer of this review is not an impartial observer, I hope people find it worthwhile.

"Fairy stories open out a parallel and hidden world in our own minds-and therein lies their power and fascination, and their great potential as a partner for tarot. Because after all, isn't tarot at its best, also a form of story?" - From The Fairytale Tarot companion book

Like the tarot, fairy tales weave layers of shadow and light, with interpretation often in the eye of the beholder. Containing brutality and beauty, the obvious and the ambiguous, the complexity of fairy tales seemed a suitable partnership to the tarot in the mind of Karen Mahony. The designer of The Fairytale Tarot, she and Alex Ukolov (illustrator) and Irena Triskova (artist) have created an exquisite set of 78 cards reflecting mostly European tales-in addition to several Asian, Indian, and Middle Eastern stories.

Rather than merely grafting fairytales to fit Rider-Waite-Smith iconography, the Magic Realist Press team selected stories and designed images that are congruent with acceptable card meaning, yet expand these correlations into something more: a deck that is fresh, thought provoking, and potentially transformative.

Blending the transcendent and the ordinary, fairy tales have captured the imagination of children around the world for centuries. However, The Fairytale Tarot doesn't "Disney-fy" the stories, making this deck decidedly adult. For example, the stepsisters hacking parts off their feet to fit into the glass slipper in Cinderella (The Empress) preserves the vision of the Brothers Grimm. Hans Christian Anderson's tale of The Little Mermaid (Nine of Swords) finds the mermaid permitting the sea witch to take her singing voice by cutting out her tongue in exchange for "legs...that felt like walking on knife blades."

Like life itself, both fairy tales and tarot reflect sorrow, sacrifice, betrayal, and loss-as well as the happier themes of marriage, recovery, justice, and fortune. As is often the case, some stories lack satisfactory resolution-and Ms. Mahony is sure to include several of these untidy tales which stir the imagination and beg for a closer look. However, even the well-known stories that are chosen-The Ugly Duckling (Ace of Cups), The Sorcerer's Apprentice (10 of Wands), and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Judgement) offer new, intriguing insights into the cards. This is in large part to the magnificent prose of Ms. Mahony, whose astute observations make the companion book a treasure in itself. But when these tales-many unfamiliar-are coupled with the exquisite artwork and illustration of Mr. Ukolov and Ms. Triskova, the result is truly magical.

The Fairytale Tarot uses the suits of Swords (Air), Cups (Water), Wands (Fire) and Coins (Earth), with the Court cards following the Page, Knight, Queen, and King designation. Cards measure approximately 5 x 3 inches, and although the card stock is flexible, they appear to hold up acceptably. Nevertheless, I've noticed a few of the edges beginning to turn up, so you may want to take extra care with this deck. At first glance, the backs appear fully reversible, but upon closer inspection, they are not. However, since the design is rather intricate and filigreed, you'd only notice the position if you paid particular attention to the four corners.

As previously mentioned, the Fairytale Tarot comes with a companion book: 232 glossy pages that feature a smaller version of the card image, corresponding fairy tale, keywords and phrases, Ms. Mahony's adept commentary, and additional artwork. Several spreads, with interpretations, are also included, as is some historical background and a bibliography. A unique addition to the companion book is a tale created for the 10 of Coins by Rachel Pollack. Ms. Pollack did not know the original tale and used the picture to suggest a fresh story culled from her own imagination-The Girl Who Was Too Shy. In the book proper, Ms. Mahony provides the actual tale for the 10 of Coins-The Goose Girl by the Brothers Grimm.

As a professional Tarot reader, I've used The Fairytale Tarot the last several weeks with great success-especially with a 3-card Life Purpose spread using a "separated" deck (dividing the deck up in Majors, Courts, and Minors). My clients report amazing accuracy, and reading with this deck has been a joy. The expressiveness of the images lends itself to personal intuitive interpretation, and the tales themselves add depth to readings. There are many symbolic "jump off points" in the Fairytale Tarot!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading the companion book, especially discovering new tales and gaining fresh insights into several tarot cards. Some of the tales-such as The Nightingale and the Rose (3 of Swords) and The Constant Tin Solider (10 of Swords) were positively heartbreaking. Other stories-such as The Emperor and the Nightingale (The Emperor) and Water and Salt (Temperance) seem ordinary at first (as far as fairytales go!), but their lessons add depth and breadth to these two Majors. I look forward to re-reading the tales and working further with the Fairytale Tarot. Kudos goes to Ms. Mahony, Mr. Ukolov, and Ms. Triskova for creating a most delightful deck! It may not be a good deck for beginners, but for those who enjoy the complexity of fairytales, it is a very readable, very engaging deck.

(To see 10 images from The Fairytale Tarot, visit the Reviews--Decks section at JanetBoyer.com)

Janet Boyer, author of The Back in Time Tarot Book: Picture the Past, Experience the Cards, Understand the Present (coming Fall 2008 from Hampton Roads Publishing)

I got these cards just as a collectibles. Or so I thought. When I ordered them, I already had The Tarot of Prague from The Magic Realist Press and had a very strong connection to it. I was convinced I'd never use another deck. Still, my life-long love of fairytales and the quality of the Prague deck compelled me to send for this deck too. Just for curiosity's sake - I wasn't actually planning on reading with the cards, I was only going to add them to my collection. Well, that theory was pretty much blown out of the water as soon as I actually saw these cards: there's no way you can have this deck and not want to use it.

Visually, this is an entirely different deck from my beloved Tarot of Prague. True to what the name promises, The Fairytale Tarot is a deck of illustrations for a wide assortment of fairytales. Beautiful illustrations. The rich and vibrant colours and the luminous quality of the cards are perfect for the fairytale worlds the cards portray: they are magical and somehow mysterious yet without being dark. And, much care and thought has clearly gone into marrying the style of each illustration to the part of the world each tale comes from be it Asia, the far east, Russia, or central Europe among others.

But I don't just like this deck because it allows me to revisit the world of fairytales I read as a child. I've been using the cards for several months now and I actually love reading with them. Yes, doing a multi-card spread takes a bit more time than with a standard Rider Waite facsimile, but the readings gain so much new depth from the fairytales that the extra time is well compensated for. My readings have gained a whole new layer of meaning as I find the themes of the stories, so intelligently linked to each card, greatly embellish the cards' traditional associations. Plus, I generally don't do a reading of more than five cards anyway so, for me, this deck works wonderfully.

I definitely recommend the book as well. Even those who aren't familiar with the stories, and there are many stories that will be new to even fairytale experts, can learn all they'll need to know from the book. And, as with Karen Mahony's other writings, the book is witty and wise and wholly enjoyable to read. It gives an excellent synopsis of each story used as well as providing the traditional meanings for each card. When I first got these cards I went through them one by one, reading a different story each night- a treat at bedtime.

If you're considering this deck because you a) like fairytales or b) you like lovely illustrations or c) you're looking for a new slant to your readings, these cards will not disappoint. They are definitely worth every penny.

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