The Llewellyn Tarot [With BookWith Tarot Bag]

by Anna-Marie Ferguson

Book Overview

The Amazing, Century-Spanning Tarot

The Llewellyn Tarot is a stunning achievement that has already drawn acclaim for its depth and beauty. Its watercolor imagery invites you into a mystic world of ancient forests, sensuous seascapes and wondrous waterfalls brimming with mystery, meaning and magic. This lavishly illustrated deck is based on the traditional Rider-Waite-Smith deck, making readings easy. It also reveals a compelling...

• Format: Misc. Supplies
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738702994
• ISBN13: 9780738702995
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.5" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

NO Tarot cards are included!

I was so excited to get this set, as it says with the book and the tarot and tarot bag, But They only sent the companion book! The description was very misleading and I'm so disappointed.

Very Disappointed

The item description stated book and cards. It was not made clear the purchase was for the book only. Very disappointed, tarot cards were not included. No rating given.

No deck

For the buyers’ information: there’s only book here, without the deck.

No cards!!!

I read many reviews that talked about how beautiful these tarot CARDS are. This was also in the category of miscellaneous! I am beyond frustrated with the description and things not matching up. I'm very disappointed. WHY would I want a Tarot book with no card deck?!

Beautiful!

When I first heard that Llewellyn was putting out a deck titled after itself, I thought the concept sounded a little too gimmicky. Once I saw it, however, I reconsidered. The deck is based on Welsh mythology, in honor of the publisher's founder's Welsh roots, and is actually very artistically attractive and usable. The first thing you will notice when you open this box set is that some extra bells and whistles have been put into the packaging. Anyone who has bought any of Llewellyn's recently published box sets will now be familiar with the standard inclusion of a paperback companion book, white card box, and sheer black bag. For their namesake deck they went a step further. The card box is decorated with a red dragon motif that matches the card backs and the bag is the fancy gold bag with beads you see in the picture. Luckily, Llewellyn didn't stop at pretty packaging. Ferguson did a superb job, particularly on the major arcana. The structure of the majors and minors follows the Rider-Waite convention. Titles, suits and court cards are the same or only altered slightly, with the exception of the substitution of The Horned One for The Devil card. The imagery, however, often departs from the RWS counterparts. Each major shows a figure or scene from Welsh mythology, which is identified at the top of the card. They are done in very detailed and atmospheric water-color paints. These are beautiful cards, and the computer scans I've seen do not do them justice. Some of the scenes are fairly close to the RWS illustrations. Gwydion as The Magician, for example, is pictured in a pose very close to the RWS Magician. Others have been changed drastically. For example, Temperance has moved underwater, where a water nymph tends to her sacred well. The Universe is represented by an austere, starlit view of the mountain Cadair Idris. The dancing woman of the R-W card is honored by the faint image of a spirit woman against the snow. After the luscious majors, the minors were a bit dissatisfying. The mythological theme of the majors is not carried over into the minors. Ferguson explains in the companion book that mythology is the realm of the majors, while the minors represent ordinary life. This seems reasonable to me, but I'm less convinced by her assertion that the minors should be "minor art in comparison to the trumps." The art is still nice, but definitely looks second-rate when viewed side-by-side with the trumps. There is not only less detail on the minors, but the style is also slightly changed. Whereas the majors all have soft lines, the minors are line drawings colored with water-color. I do not find the visible line drawings particularly appealing, but this is a matter of personal preference. The illustrations are RWS derived, but include a few changes. I particularly noticed that quite a few cards (the 5 of Swords, the 8 of Cups and several others) depicted women where RWS has a male figure. As well as keywords for upright

Llewellyn's Flagship Tarot Deck

This is not the first deck by Anna-Marie Ferguson. Previous to this she has "Legend: The Arthurian Tarot". Her artwork has graced the pages of books and has been exhibited in museums. I must admit, her work is lovely and exquisite. Very detailed, the figures are full, graceful and inspired. Looking through this deck, it is well worth it for the artwork alone. But a tarot deck is much more than just lovely art. It needs to be functional and be able to illicit a response from both the client and the reader. The book acknowledges Lewellyn Publishing's Welsh heritage as the inspiration for the topic of the deck. Llewellyn George, the founder of Llewellyn Publishing, was born in Wales, and was also a well known astrologer and theosophist. So, the inspiration from the Welsh tales become the foundation for this deck. Ms. Ferguson is a member of the Arthurian Society and the Pendragon Society, and was a good choice for the research and attribution of this deck. Her background in these myths and legends lend to some good references and insightful attributions of the figures for this deck. I needed to reference the book for some of the insights, as I was unsure where the author/artist was going with this. As an example, while Peredur is perfect for the Fool card, Ceridwen I needed to reference, and her attribution of "Queen of the Witches" as told by the folklorist Elias Owen put that into better perspective for me. The choice of "Taliesin" for Hierophant was interesting, softening the original Raider-Waite interpretations. Yes, there is the word - softening. This deck softens many of the edges off the original interpretations of the Rider-Waite system. Reading through the interpretations of many of the cards, The Death Card, which is usually images that make some folks cringe, here is Arawn, and truly represents the meaning of evolution, change or transformation. While death is mentioned, the story that accompanies this card is more suggestive of the idea of change and evolution. In the book, each of the Major Arcana cards has a story explaining the choice of the figure by retelling a shortened version of that figure. A nice touch, as it clearly helps the reader identify the elements suggested in the imagery and how to read the card. The cards do follow the Raider-Waite system, with 21 recognizable Major Arcana cards, four suits of ten cards and four court cards. While some of the names of the Major Arcana cards are changed, they are still easily recognizable. The Court cards remain Page, Knight, Queen and King. Again we return to the images on the cards. Going through the deck, the traditional elements of the cards are held on to. We have Swords, Wands, Cups and Pentacles. We see familiar elements, like the Two of Cups reflects the traditional meaning of lovers, often considered a minor lovers card. We even see some of the familiar imagery of the Raider-Waite deck. The Four of Pentacles is almost a dead ringer, with the

A truly lovely deck

I haven't gotten a new Tarot deck in years, and now I have a new favorite. Years ago I began working with Anna Marie Ferguson's Arthurian Tarot which has been a favorite of mine, and I must say she has definitely topped herself with her latest project, The Llewellyn Tarot! The first thing I noticed was the classy way Llewellyn packaged their new signature deck. I love their new box style, as you don't have to destroy the box to get everything out, and you can store everything in there if you want and keep it on a bookshelf. The little inner box for storage is lovely featuring yet more of Anna Marie's decorative art, and the organdy bag is pretty fancy with sparkling beads dripping off the bottom. I appreciate her creation of a beautiful back design for this deck featuring the Welsh red dragon as there is nothing worse than a beautiful deck with a boring, or worse yet, unattractive back design. Her warm and inviting back design enhances the overall effect very well. This deck is stunning on so many levels. First of all she has clearly researched her subject matter intently, and the connections that she has made between the old Welsh tales and the Major archana are sound. Her portrayal of the Gods and Goddesses are truly inspired and in the scope of her work she seems to be deeply in touch with another plane. It is interesting the way her techniques differ a bit from the major to minor archana, the high amount of detail in the major archana denotes the importance of the card in the reading. Her use of color and light are amazing, and her figures are beautiful and wonderfully expressive. She manages to keep her images rooted to the classic Tarot but with a fresh interpretations that often makes the cards even more accessible. For example, I was intrigued by the angle that she chose for the Magician card, the viewer is looking up a slight incline towards the figure at his altar, giving him a very larger than life air, you feel as if you are an audience to this highly charasmatic figure. I sincerely hope that she offers prints of these pieces. The book is very well written, as I would have expected by Anna Marie's previous efforts, her text is a treasure trove of the legends and mysteries of Wales. Her definitions of the cards are clear and easy to understand, and give enough variety to be intuitive as well. The stories behind each card offer insight into the meanings of the cards and they are also a great reference to the legends of the Gods of Wales. I often used the book accompanying the Arthur deck as a quick reference anytime I was looking up something about Arthurian legend, and I can see myself using this book in the same way. So far the readings I have done with it really hit the mark, it is very intuitive to read and speaks quite well. I would highly recommend The Llewellyn Tarot skillfully crafted by Anna Marie Ferguson. Mickie Mueller, Illustrator of The Well Worn Path deck

Destined for glory...

This is the only newly published tarot set I planned to purchase this year, and I was not disappointed. This is a loving tribute to the founder of Llewellyn publications. It could have easily been called the "Welsh Tarot". It is named after the now famous astrologer who established the prolific magical publisher. Tarot is not new. This deck bears this in mind as the Minor arcana are careful reinterpretations of the Rider-Waite images. These symbols are now recognizable all over the world. Beginners can easily study and memorize the images. Now, looking at the major Arcana, we get to the heart of the deck, as well as Celtic(Welsh) mythology. Other than the Mabinogion, very little is written concerning the subject. Miss Ferguson's accompaning book clearly tells of the Welsh Myth, with the "Gods" and larger than life personalities contained herein. One must see these images to truely appreciate them. The Star 17 is the most beautful I have ever seen! The colors are warm, unlike the artist previous Arthurian Tarot. She has outdone that deck by leaps and bounds, creating images that are welcoming and endearing. One may wonder if she actually visited this Otherworld she talks about and illustrated it. In the great forest of Tarot decks. This one stands out like the tallest Sycamore. Included in the set is the book and matching beaded Tarot protective bag. The cards themselves are a bit wider than average and a little too thin. I dont plan on reading with them often. As far as themed decks are concerned, this one is one of the best! Bravo Miss Ferguson!

A LOVELY Deck and the Presentation is TOP RATE!

I just tore open the box and dove into this new deck and it is everything I had hoped. The artwork is luscious, the book is very, very well done and the organza bag is delightful. Can you tell I am just a little bit smitten with this deck? I have gone through the deck a couple of times and after this initial "looking over" I did not have any negative feelings about any of the cards. The artwork is totally mouth watering, each card is just spectacular and I am lusting for a big print of quite a few of the majors. The minors are more so in the RWS style and more of a watercolor with pen and ink overlay, but it works! The majors should be more lush and opulent and i can see why the artist created the deck in this way. The minors round out the majors. Any beginner could pick up this deck and learn to read with it very, very quickly. A more seasoned reader will enjoy the new tales of Welsh mythology (many of somewhat familiar) and will quickly see how the myths blend into the tarot symbolism. This deck is destined to capture the hearts of readers, collectors and enthusiasts alike! BIG BIG recommendation!