Customer Reviews

The Celtic Tarot

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I can't imagine why some people really don't like this deck. The illustrations are muted, instead of bright; I think they are simply beautiful! The deck is easy to use & the cards (unlike a lot of other decks) aren't too big to shuffle. The book is paperback, but informative & easy to understand & use.
If you like bold colors, you may not like this deck, but if muted pales enchant you, then you'll like this deck as much as I do.

I can't imagine why some people really don't like this deck. The illustrations are muted, instead of bright; I think they are simply beautiful! The deck is easy to use & the cards (unlike a lot of other decks) aren't too big to shuffle. The book is paperback, but informative & easy to understand & use.
If you like bold colors, you may not like this deck, but if muted pales enchant you, then you'll like this deck as much as I do.

I'm the type of person who colors outside the lines, so when I get a new tarot deck & I don't like how it's supposed to be used, or I think the author's interpretations are off, I follow my heart. Yes, there are some flaws in this deck, but not with the artwork. The cards are lovely & display enough Celtic images & characters to give a thorough & accurate reading. As a previous reviewer has said, there are no animals in this deck, & animals were a big part of Celtic myth. True, but I don't know if adding all the Celtic animal figures wouldn't have made this deck too big...For animals lovers, try the really superb Druid Animal Oracle.

You will find associations throughout this deck and book set that comprehensively associates the tarot with ash trees, oaks, mistletoe, blase-blase, and the four elements. It associates traditional tarot meanings with well-known figures of Celtic, mostly Arthurian, lore. You can't do better than this deck for tying the tarot to Celtic lore. It also links many cards to astrological symbols that predate Arthurian legend. These are meanings that come from the more Druidic times, and history is essentially covered in the descriptions by Helena Paterson. The book could benefit from structure, putting each description on a single page with the single card. Other than that, it is a comprehensive linking of Celtic lore and the tarot.

While the deck has the traditional Celtic interwoven knots and designs and mentions figures from Celtic mythology, I didn't get much of a Celtic feel from it. There are almost no animals in it and no trees, not even in the Hanged Man card. Pagan Celtic mythology is strongly overlaid--to the point of being muffled and erased--with Christianity, Greek zodiacs, and the Olympic pantheon. (A Valentine's cupid in the Lovers card, and Janus as the Celtic god of death?) Sexuality is not positively portrayed. The woman in the Lovers card crouches over, hiding her breasts, and Queen Margawse is characterized as "fatally flawed" because she is lustful. The Culdees are described as holding onto the remnants of Druidism and being a "lower cultus of spiritual development." There are no pictures for 1-10 of the minor arcana, only symbols, and I found that difficult to relate to. I gave this deck away a week after I bought it.

if you have read "the mists of avalon" then this might be the deck for you. it has the the personalities in the story of king arthur and the holy grail. if your soul is touched by these stories, this deck will speak to you.

the colors are watery and the art work is wonderful.

The trumps of this Tarot deck are undeniably pretty - a little cartoonish, but a nice attempt to stay within the Celtic idiom of illumination. The minor arcana aren't as interesting because they aren't as pictorial. Instead of little scenes as with the Rider deck, Courtney merely shows us the symbols (cups,swords, etc). I find that this didn't help with my tarot readings. Nonetheless, the artwork overall is great. The book, on the other hand, is fairly worthless. Too bad it only comes as a set.