Forest Folklore Tarot - tarot decks

Price: US $15.59

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• The Forest Folklore Tarot is inspired by the New Forest, an ancient woodland in England. The blended watercolour and
• photographic cards feature forest wildlife and fairies, gnomes and nymphs from legend.

Kessia’s artwork is predominantly watercolour with a few photographic elements. Friends and family of the artist posed as models for the cards, and each has been assigned a card that matches their personality (or failing that, their physical attributes). Where their faces have been included, this works well, but not all cards seem have a ‘real’ face. Over deck, the art varies from very photo-realistic in cards like the Ace of Wands and the Chariot, to a more blurred style in the Lady, Knight and Queen of Wands.

The twenty-two major arcana are described as the ‘heart’ of the Forest Folklore Tarot, and can be used on its own for readings, according to the companion booklet. These cards have a reasonably standard Tarot image with a woodland flavour. I liked the blue-cloaked High Priestess, who sits holding a ball of white light, a black cat at her feet, under a trilithon of stones against a starry night sky. The Empress, who has a broad smile on her face and holds a scepter in one hand, a bunch of wheat stalks in the other, and is surrounded by a waterfall and lush plant growth. The World, in which an ox and a lion lie in the foreground of the card, and a woman dances with an arrow in each hand under a thick canopy of trees in the background.

The minor arcana are all fully-illustrated in a similar artistic style as the majors, and are divided into suits of Cups, Wands, Swords and Rings. Each suit is depicted by a different forest folk: water nymphs, fairies, imps and dwarves respectively. The Cups depict nude women on several cards (they are nymphs); the Wands are the suit of the blonde, blue-eyed fairies of all ages; the Swords cards are painted in pink and rose hues and have a one-foot tall pink imp interacting or observing the people on the cards, devil-on-the-shoulder-style. The suit of Rings, associated with Dwarves, has elves with pointed ears, barefoot hobbit-like creatures and fairly human-like dwarves. The Aces each feature an animal native to the New Forest – the kingfisher, native pony, deer, and tawny owl – while the court cards are all people cards with titles of Lady, Knight, Queen and King.

The suit cards show the relevant number of symbols for each card – four wands in the Four of Wands, for example - but only have a vague resemblance to Rider-Waite scenes. The deck’s info says it is based on traditional tarot interpretations, but some artistic licence has been taken. A sample of the book’s card meanings:

The Wheel of Fortune: A large wagon wheel, representing perpetual motion, stands on the edge of the wood. Resting on top is a black cat, while entwined within the wheel is a snake, and a small dog clings to the spokes. The animals have temporarily halted this perpetually spinning wheel. Meaning: Now may be a good time to jump on board and make the most of life. Good luck. Abundance. Success. Reversed: The opportunity has passed on this occasion. Misfortune.

The cards have a reversible back design in various shades of green, and a dark green border on the face of the card. In the hand they are also very glossy and rather adhesive. I found they required some working-in before they are usable -- I had to unstick all the cards from their neighbours before I could look through the cards, let alone shuffle them.

I liked the varying ages and faces of people across the deck -there is a small girl of about four in the Two of Wands, to a white-haired couple in the Ten of Rings, and people of all ages in between. There are moments of humour in the cards, too: the Seven of Cups shows a boy gazing at seven cups, each with a naked nymph inside. The booklet says, “A mortal man comes across a group of seven goblets, each containing a beautiful naked nymph. If he is dreaming, he does not wish to awake.”

The Forest Folklore Tarot is a pretty deck of Tarot cards based in a down-to-earth yet fantastical world. It could be used by a beginner with a connection to the art or the New Forest, but is probably best for the Tarot reader with some experience.