Deck Review for Llewellyn Tarot
Llewellyn Tarot
By Anna-Marie Ferguson
Published by: Llewellyn Publications
Published: 2006
Availability for purchase/in print: In print
Average price/MSRP: $29.99
Cardstock: The cardstock is your typical modern day Llewellyn cardstock (flexible, shuffles easily, not thick, not too thin). Easily riffle shuffles, bridges, and or for overhand shuffling,
Card finish: Glossy
Deck theme: Celtic Welsh Mythology
Deck box: This deck and guidebook kit comes in a beautiful sturdy box with magnetic side flap closure.
Card size: The cards are shorter than and wider than standard tarot size cards. I have small hands and I can still riffle shuffle them easily and without having to really stretch my fingers to hold onto them.
Reversibility of the cards: The card backs are mostly reversible. There is a small red dragon at the center of the backs (see picture below) of each card and when a card is reversed the dragon will appear upside down but if you don't pay close attention to that, then you won't know the card is reversed. Even if you can't help but realize the dragon is upside down, of course you won't know what the reversed card is until you turn it over for the reading. For me though, it's not an issue at all.
Deck system: This deck is RWS based which makes it easy to read intuitively for more experienced and seasoned tarot readers.
Where to legitimately purchase:
Amazon - The Llewellyn Tarot: Ferguson, Anna-Marie + Free Shipping (amazon.com)
Barnes & Noble - The Llewellyn Tarot by Anna-Marie Ferguson, Other Format | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Walmart - The Llewellyn Tarot (Other) - Walmart.com
Llewellyn Worldwide - The Llewellyn Tarot
Guidebook Information:
The Llewellyn Tarot comes as a kit with a full, thorough, and very impressive guidebook. It's 264 pages long and it includes two tarot spreads, the Celtic Cross Tarot Spread and the Horseshoe Tarot Spread. I also want to mention what I feel are important forms of information that this guidebook includes. The Table of Contents, Index, Pronunciation Key (for the Welsh names of the popular figures in some of the cards), Bibliography, Glossary, The Noble Tarot (a brief explanation of the tarot), greyscale pictures of the cards (major and minor arcana), and of course their meanings (both upright and reversed). As with other decks' full guidebooks, this one has 4 to 5 pages for the major arcana explaining the character seen on the cards, along with the mythology/lore, and the meanings (upright and reversed). For the minor arcana, at the beginning of each suite, there's an introduction like page explaining the suite, and for each card there is approximately a paragraph for both, the upright meanings and for the reversed meanings. The author truly did not miss a beat with this wonderful and very thorough guidebook! It's packed with information, and I love it!
The Major Arcana
These cards are so beautiful and rich with symbolism, beauty, and meaning. Most of the names of the cards of the major arcana are the normal names with the exception of three of the cards. The High Priestess became 'The Priestess', The Devil became, 'The Horned One', and The World became, 'The Universe'. For me, it's not complicated and is easy to know which card it is when it shows up. Any beginners might struggle a little with this deck if unfamiliar with the common imagery but if the common imagery is familiar, even as a beginner, then it should be alright. I hope you will enjoy the pictures below of the Major Arcana from this gorgeous deck!
The Minor Arcana
Just as with the major arcana, the minor arcana is also rich with beautiful imagery, symbolism, and meaning. The suits of the major arcana are the typical and common suits of Wands, Swords, Cups, and Pentacles. They are easily recognizable to any level of reader who knows what each minor arcana tends to look like and portray. Please enjoy the pictures below of all of the suits of the minor arcana.
The Court Cards
The court cards of each suit follow the standard court characters of the minor arcana and are unchanged. The Page, Knight, Queen, and King. The courts are also just as rich with beauty, symbolism, and meaning as the major arcana and the minor arcana. Please enjoy the pictures below of the court cards from each suit.
My Honest Thoughts and Opinions
This tarot deck kit is definitely one worth having and or adding to your tarot collection! It's REALLY well done, quality, gorgeous, and is very accurate! It doesn't sugar coat, but it also doesn't pull any sucker punches. It's straightforward, honest, informative, caring, and friendly. It won't kiss your tush though! lol This deck has really great energies. I'm really in love with it and I even bought a backup copy of it which is not something that I do very often, if that tells you anything. In fact, this one may stay in my regular use box that I keep near me. If you feel drawn to this deck, I strongly recommend buying it! You won't regret it! You can find the links to the websites that you can purchase it at, above, by scrolling up.
Do I recommend it to beginners? Absolutely! Since you can look up the cards in the guidebook (included) and read all about each card, you won't need to refer to other guidebooks to use this deck. I also very much recommend this deck to novices, experienced, and professional tarot readers!
Final Thoughts
This tarot deck is by far one of my favorite decks (and I own a lot of tarot decks)! It's just gorgeous, easy to read, comes with a wonderful and thorough guidebook and all in a beautiful sturdy box to keep the cards and book inside of on a shelf or a table. If you choose to purchase this tarot deck kit as well, it's my hope that you will get a lot of enjoyment out of it and discover a beautiful connection with this beautiful deck!
Thanks for reading my review and I wish you many positive tarot readings!