Deck Review for The Robin Wood Tarot
The Robin Wood Tarot
By: Robin Wood and Michael Short
Published by: Llewellyn Publications
Date of Publishing: September 8, 2002
Availability for purchase: Yes, In Print
Average Price/MSRP: $23.99
Cardstock: Average Llewellyn cardstock. Thin but not like paper, flexible and easy to shuffle by riffle, bridge, and overhand.
Card finish: Light gloss but slides easily.
Deck theme: Celtic
Diversity: There's really not any diversity in this deck but it was also created and published a while back.
Deck box: This deck comes in a cardboard paper book like tuck box and it's honestly not sturdy. If you're going to carry this deck around with you, I recommend keeping it in a tarot bag or tarot wrap because the box will not hold up long term.
Card size: The cards are a little smaller than the standard tarot size cards which is great if you have small hands like I do. lol Pictured below is a card from both The Robin Wood Tarot and the Smith Waite Centennial Tarot (which is standard tarot sized).
Card backs reversibility: They are fully reversible so if you read reversals, this will not be an issue for you.
Card backs: Pictured below.
Deck System: Based on RWS.
Where to legitimately purchase this tarot deck:
Amazon - The Robin Wood Tarot: Wood, Robin: 9780875428949: Amazon.com: Books
Barnes & Noble - The Robin Wood Tarot by Robin Wood, Other Format | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Walmart - The Robin Wood Tarot (Other) - Walmart.com
Guidebook or LWB:
The Robin Wood Tarot comes with a LWB (little white book) in the box with the cards. The LWB has 51 pages, upright and reversed meanings, and includes 3 tarot spreads in the back of it. The meanings that it gives are very brief and are not detailed. It will get you started if you're new to tarot. This is the part where I would normally advise buying an extra book on tarot and the meanings of the cards for the RWS system, however, I have great news for you! There is a thick full guidebook for this deck in print! It's sold separately from the deck but it's absolutely worth it! Below I will include a picture of the book, links where you can buy it, and more information about the book. (Note, I plan to do a separate review for the book itself at a later date, here on my website so the information that I am giving here today is going to be minimal for that reason.)
Robin Wood Tarot The Book has 254 pages, includes a Table of Contents, Appendixes, three tarot spreads, histories (as you seen in the table contents in the picture above) and black and white pictures of each of the cards with each of their meanings. However, there are no specified reversed meanings in this book. Robin Wood really goes in depth about each card and explains her vision for it and the reasoning for colors, for the environment the characters are in, the symbols and symbolism, and so on. It's really an excellent guidebook to really dive deep with this deck and learn everything about it which will help you to get the most of your readings with this deck. Its price is only $14.95. I HIGHLY recommend purchasing it to have for with this tarot deck! Links are below where The Robin Wood Tarot The Book can be purchased from.
Amazon - Robin Wood Tarot: The Book: Wood, Robin: 9780965298414: Amazon.com: Books
Barnes & Noble - Robin Wood Tarot: The Book by Robin Wood, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® (barnesandnoble.com)
Walmart - Robin Wood Tarot : The Book - Walmart.com
Major Arcana:
The major arcana of The Robin Wood Tarot are all the standard names for each card and are unchanged. I really do like the depictions of most of the cards. My only qualms are with The Wheel of Fortune and Temperance. The Wheel of Fortune reminds me of the show (Wheel of Fortune) and Vanna White. lol It doesn't really give me the sense of good luck, bad luck, and fate. But that's only my own opinion. I do, however, appreciate the facial expressions around the wheel to give illustration to how one would feel during whichever part of the wheel's cycle that one finds themself at. My only beef with Temperance is that the angel appears to be juggling what looks like bubbles and there doesn't appear to be any kind of transfer between the three bubbles which I feel takes away from part of the meaning of Temperance. Again though, that is only my opinion but it's not a deal breaker. Pictures of the major arcana are below.
Minor Arcana:
In the minor arcana, the suits are unchanged from the commonly known suits of Pentacles, Swords, Wands, and Cups. They are also fully illustrated and are not only pips. I really do like the depictions in the minor arcana as they very well represent the widely familiar imagery of the RWS and they also do well to carry the energies of each card. There are no titles on the cards of the minor arcana but there is a number on each card to show which card it is for each suit. So that should make it easy to figure out what card is what for beginner tarot readers and inexperienced tarot readers. Pictures of all four suits of the minor arcana are below.
Court cards:
The court cards to The Robin Wood Tarot are also unchanged from the familiar and common Page, Knight, Queen, and King. You will find a common coloration theme with the court cards of each suit representing their suit. What I mean is that with the Page through King of Pentacles, there is a lot of green, with the Swords court cards there's quite a bit of blue and white, with the wands court cards there's a lot of yellow, and with the cups there's a lot of blue purple and pink. I have to say that the court cards for the Cups suit are my favorites in this deck. They're beautiful. Pictures of the court cards for each of the four suits are below.
The deck as a whole:
My overall thoughts, opinions, and feelings about this tarot deck are that I really do love this deck and enjoy working with it. It's a very accurate deck. The colors are vibrant, and the imagery is very clear and easy to discern and read with. Also, there is something about the fine line work in these cards that seems to appeal to me for some reason. It's a very well put together and very well thought out deck. I can tell a lot of love, time, and energy went into making this tarot deck and I feel like it's one that will always be considered a classic. If you don't yet have The Robin Wood Tarot, if you like Celtic themed decks, I highly recommend buying it and if you're a deck collector, adding it to your collection. I'm very happy to have it in my collection.
Do I recommend it for beginners?
Definitely yes! The LWB that comes with it can help start you off and you can buy the full (and wonderful) guidebook to it (sold separately) to get a strong grasp on the cards' meanings and the artists viewpoint for each. I also strongly recommend this deck to intermediate, advanced, and professional tarot readers!
Final Thoughts
This is a beautiful, very well put together, extremely well planned out, and wonderfully executed tarot deck and I'm grateful that Robin Wood created it! If you don't have it yet and if it appeals to you and or if you feel drawn to it, I absolutely think you should buy it and own a copy of this wonderful deck!
Thank you for taking the time to read my review of The Robin Wood Tarot. I hope that it's been helpful, insightful, and answered any questions that you had about this tarot deck. I wish you all much love and light and many positive tarot readings!
