Category Archives: Tarot Talk

The Shadowscapes Tarot: Review

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Packaging. Guidebook.

The Shadowscapes Tarot, published in 2009, is a popular deck and rightfully so! The images on these cards are delicate, beautiful, and powerful at the same time.

Death

Deck creator Stephanie Pui-Mun Law is a painter and illustrator with a wealth of experience in the publishing industry, working with such clients as Harper-Collins and the children’s magazine Cricket. In the Shadowscapes Tarot deck, the images are set in a fantasy world of fairies, dragons, mermaids, crows, and other creatures from nature, legend, and myth.

Eight of Wands

The basic interpretation of the cards follows the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition without duplicating the imagery. For instance, the Death card shows a phoenix lifting their head as they voice a tragic song of pain. The Eight of Wands shows a woman blowing dandelion seeds to scatter with the wind. The Knight of Cups is riding a unicorn on a quest to follow their dreams.

Knight of Cups

Each card has a story to go along with it. Pui-Mun Law describes each illustration in detail in a beautiful guidebook that is more than 250 pages long and includes a full-page picture (black and white) of each card.

Guidebook illustration

Interpretations for each card are provided by the guidebook’s co-author Barbara Moore. Moore is a writer and Tarot/Oracle card expert who has a long career writing guidebooks. Her credits include the guidebooks for the Mystic Faerie Tarot, the Gilded Tarot, the Tarot for Hip Witches, and the Enchanted Oracle.

Back of card

The Shadowscapes Tarot guidebook includes sections on Tarot basics, Tarot spreads, and how to incorporate your own personal experience when reading the cards. Pui-Mun Law did not intend for the Shadowscapes Tarot cards to be read in reverse; however, they encourage readers to use reversals if they wish.

The World

I adore this gorgeous, imaginative deck that both new and experienced Tarot readers can enjoy. From my own experience using this deck, I would say don’t let the pretty pictures fool you! This deck is capable of answering the hard questions with love and with brutal honesty.

Tarot Card Meditation: Queen of Wands

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Hi, All! I hope you all are well. The Queen of Wands shows is a master at harvesting energy, as the Wands represent fire, passion, and energy. So, this may be a good day to channel any energy you have into creative projects.

What exactly is creativity? My definition of creativity is to turn whatever you do into an expression of how you feel.

How can you express yourself today? If it’s writing or drawing, that’s great. But it could also be dancing. Just turn on some music and move: You don’t have to be a ballet dancer. Simply express how you feel with your body.

Sing along with music that mirrors how you feel today. Or, gather up different flowers and make your own flower arrangement.

You don’t have to limit yourself to expressing only happy emotions. If you need to let out some anger or sadness, find creative ways (that don’t hurt you or others) to express those emotions.

There are as many ways to express yourself as there are people in the world. Find the way that uniquely expresses you. 

What is creativity to you? How do you express yourself creatively? Feel free to share in the comments. Have a great day. (A version of this post originally appeared on my Patreon page on June 15, 2019.)

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The Wild Unknown Tarot: Review

Tarot deck review, Tarot Talk,

The Wild Unknown Tarot is an incredibly popular deck by Kim Karns that has been around since 2016. I think its calm, grounded approach to Tarot is the reason for its popularity. It’s a 78-card deck in the tradition of the Rider-Waite-Smith. However, the images follow the theme of nature, mostly with animals, flowers, trees, and such.

The color palette is fairly muted, with splashes of color scattered here and there. The card stock is sturdy and the packaging is elegant. The guidebook is comprehensive—over 200 pages—with pictures of each card alongside Karns’ interpretations in addition to spreads and an explanation of how the Tarot deck is structured in general. The cards are meant to be read upright only, but Karns does not discourage using reversals if the reader prefers to do so.

Karns makes it clear that this deck is meant to be for beginners. As such, the author’s interpretations of the cards are simplified versions of the traditional Tarot meanings. Because the images on these card don’t necessarily mirror the Rider-Waite-Smith, there’s a looseness and freedom of thought.

From a personal standpoint, I think it is invaluable to have a good understanding of the traditional Tarot. If you know the RWS, you can use that knowledge to read any alternative deck. But I absolutely respect if others would prefer to start somewhere else or even never learn the Rider-Waite-Smith system. People change over time and as they change, the world changes. New ways of expressing the changing times is important.

I compare it to the English language. I remember taking a class about the 14th century poet Geoffrey Chaucer in college and marveling at how the Old English spoken at that time sounds like a completely different language from what we speak now. Perhaps Tarot interpretation will be completely different centuries from now, if it still exists.

Part of the appeal of the Wild Unknown Tarot for me is the use of the natural world for the imagery. It’s nice to detach from the workings of human thought and belief systems and tap into the essence of our physical and instinctual being. I think that this deck offers that opportunity.

Trump Cards in Tarot: The Major Arcana Explained

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The Trump cards in Tarot, also known as the Major Arcana, deal with major turning points in life. In this video, I explain each card in the Major Arcana, giving broad definitions.

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The Suit of Pentacles in Tarot: Tarot Card Meanings

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The suit of Pentacles in Tarot talks about money, material possessions, your job, your home, your health, and staying grounded. In this video, I explain each card in the suit of Pentacles, giving broad definitions.

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The Suit of Swords in Tarot: Tarot Card Meanings

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The suit of Swords in Tarot talks about thought, verbal communication, decision making, and mental clarity.  In this video, I explain each card in the suit of Swords, giving broad definitions.

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Ms. Joyce Tarot on YouTube: Mission Statement

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Hi, all! This video is an official welcome to my YouTube channel.

It describes what I do: I am a spiritual consultant who uses Tarot as a tool to help empower people become their authentic selves.

I lay out my schedule: I post a card-of-the-day video every weekday around 8:00 a.m. On Saturdays around 10:00 a.m., I post a video talking about spirituality in general, Tarot card interpretation, and other similar topics.

I also ask people to hop on this train as we continue our spiritual journey. Subscribe! 🙂

The Suit of Wands in Tarot: Tarot Card Meanings

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The suit of Wands in Tarot talks about energy, creativity, career, and sexuality. In this video, I explain each card in the suit of Wands, giving broad definitions. Feel free to comment about your own take on the suit of Cups. Also subscribe to my channel and give it a thumbs up.

The Suit of Cups in Tarot: Tarot Card Meanings

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The suit of Cups in Tarot talks about emotions, especially love. In this video, I explain each card in the suit of cups, giving broad definitions. Feel free to comment on your own take on the suit of Cups. Also subscribe to my channel and give it a thumbs up.

What Is Tarot and Why Does It Work?

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In this video, I give a very brief history of how Tarot began. But how is it possible to get answers from a seemingly random shuffle of the cards? Here’s my opinion and perspective, for what it’s worth.

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