The Illuminated Tarot How to Read Guide
Review by Valerie Sylvester
The first deck most kickoff tarot readers encounter when starting out on their tarot journey is the Passenger-Waite-Smith deck, (which I'll refer to as "RWS" after this initial mention). It's often the "default deck", the one that people acquire the basic meanings of the cards from. It as well serves to illustrate many tarot books and websites, and about experienced tarot readers have some familiarity with it, even if they don't use the deck regularly. Many new Tarot decks are published each year; quite of few of these decks are based in some mode upon the RWS deck.
I haven't read with the RWS deck for many years, simply I do take several copies of it (and its variants) in my collection. My own current "go-to" deck is the Robin Wood tarot deck. I like the RWS deck and its clones, but oasis't had whatever neat interest in ownership or using another deck closely or fifty-fifty loosely based on the RWS–that is, until I heard nigh the Illuminated Tarot.
The Art Behind The Illuminated Tarot
The Illuminated Tarot is merely bachelor from Carol Herzer, the artist who created it. The web page on her site that features the Illuminated Tarot (she also has designed other tarot and chakra decks) can be constitute at Illuminated Tarot.
During the fourth dimension I was painting, Neptune was conjunct the moon in my birth nautical chart, mayhap the most psychic of all transits.
On the folio of her website titled "The Story of the Illuminated Tarot", Herzer explains how her groundwork in art and painting intersected, the catalyst being a striking dream in which a tarot deck came to life and the cards showed themselves to her as paintings. It took her 2 years to paint the unabridged deck, basing these paintings on a black and white set of the RWS deck. She also describes the way the cards were painted, using a the "misch technique", which she learned from Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs. This technique involves using layers of colors and painstakingly building these layers (non mixing, but layering), one upon some other. This results in the amazing colors that shine though in this deck. The colors are rich and yet ethereal at the aforementioned time; they remind me of 17th -century stained drinking glass windows with light shining in and through the glass. My copy features iridescent paint, which adds a shimmering quality to the already beautiful colors. It's very hard to depict the coloration of the Illuminated Tarot, and the photos accompanying this review cannot completely convey the furnishings resulting from the gleaming light that plays upon the cards when highlighted with the iridescent paint colors.
From a Dream to Life
One of the near fascinating things to me well-nigh this Tarot deck is that the thought for information technology came to Herzer in a dream, and she notes on her website that "During the time I was painting, Neptune was conjunct the moon in my nascence chart, perhaps the most psychic of all transits. Besides, at that time, a neighbor'due south child was seriously injured. Every mean solar day I, along with others, sent heartfelt energy for his healing." She explains that she feels this energy was incorporated into the painting of the Illuminated Tarot.
Those who have a background in star divination will note that Neptune is the planet that is associated with dreams and with psychic energy and healing states. I tin predict that Pisceans in particular, water signs in general, and those with a stiff Neptune in their chart will love this deck! (Annotation: I have Neptune in Scorpio in the first house). The deck does take an impressionistic/visionary quality that likewise makes it perfect for study and meditation. Everything seems to have an aura around it, and the clouds and waves of energy around the main figures on the cards pulsate with energy. The colors are rich and varied. Ane of my general complaints almost many tarot decks is that the colors are flat, washed out, or too nighttime/sepia toned–they aren't e'er visually highly-seasoned. The Illuminated Tarot is very colorful without beingness garish, and each carte du jour, as a mini-painting, is its ain unique universe (which is one reason these cards are excellent for meditation purposes).
Deck Specifics
Before I discuss specific Tarot cards, I'd like to add that the Illuminated Tarot is available in three sizes: pocket size, medium, and large. My deck is the medium size with iridescent paint. This medium size (2 5/8″ 10 4″) is perfect for readings and is big enough to showcase the glorious colors. The modest size (i 5/8″ 10 2 5/viii″) would work well equally an auxiliary deck to carry around in purse or pocket, and the big size measures 3 iii/8″ x v″. The cards also have hand-cutting corners.
You can buy the Illuminated Tarot as a "regular" deck (the layered paint technique, but no iridescent or glitter added), with iridescent added only, double painted iridescent, iridescent plus glitter, total glitter, and light touch glitter. The artist explains each diverseness in detail on her website. With the double-painted iridescent option, you can specify which colors you'd like to add or emphasize in your deck, in addition to the basic colors used for each deck.
When you gild the Illuminated Tarot, you are requested to specify favorite colors for the handmade pouch, and the artist also asks that you name several favorite Tarot cards (one will exist fastened to the exterior of the pouch). My pouch is a lovely aqua slubby silk with an electrical blue lining; the card affixed to the outside is the Globe, from the Major Arcana. An "extra" card, signed and dated past Carol Herzer, is also included (I received the Temperance card.)
All cards are laminated to preserve the colors, and the quality lamination also makes the cards more durable, a huge plus for me, since I often carry my cards with me to exercise readings at parties and restaurants. The lamination protects the paint but isn't and then heavy every bit to make shuffling difficult. The carte backs are an attractive periwinkle blue colour studded with white stars. As you tin see, the artist has put a tremendous corporeality of attempt into this deck, and every detail has been well thought out. It is a handmade deck and the price reflects it (toll range is from $35.00 through $223.00, depending on what configuration you lot gild), merely I suspect when well-nigh people receive their deck, they'll hold that the cost is more than reasonable for owning a mini work of art.
Name Changes in the Illuminated Tarot
The cards themselves feature the traditional titles and numbers, with the post-obit exceptions:
- The Forcefulness card is #11 and the Justice card is #eight
- The Hierophant is called The Initiate
- The Hermit is called The Guide
- The Hanged Man is called The Unconscious
- Expiry is chosen Transformation
- The Devil is chosen Illusion
- Judgment is chosen Enkindling
- The World is called The Universe
The medium and pocket sized decks take numbers, and not full titles, at the bottom of the menu (For example, the 2 of Wands has a "2″ at the base). The large deck has total titles, i.e.; "Two of Wands".
The Minor Arcana
Before discussing private cards, I'd like to note that one matter I particularly like about the Illuminated Tarot is the consistency in colors used for each suit of the Minor Arcana.
- The Pentacles cards feature an array of greens. The figures in the cards wear greenish tunics or robes, pentacles are greenish or else are highlighted in green, or the auras or and even the clouds surrounding the figures in the card are tinged with green. This to me reinforces the association of the Pentacles with the world element, with nature and green and growing things.
- The Wands cards feature cherry-red and orange hues, highlighting the association of the wands with the burn down element and energy transmission.
- The Cups cards are dominated by a wide variety of blues, as befits the Cups' association with h2o and emotion.
- The Swords cards feature the color yellowish, a color I associate with the intellect and powers of the heed.
More than than whatever deck I've seen, the skillful utilise of colors on these cards allows the reader, at a glance, to decide the predominant energy of the reading. As an experiment, take out the adapt of Cups and arrange the cards one later on the other. The range of blue colors is not just aesthetically pleasing, it is a "signifier" as to the type of free energy expressed by the Cups cards.
Some other interesting uses of color involves the artist's colour choices for the Fool card. The sun in this card is black, and the clouds surrounding the Fool remind me of deep space. The Fool appears to exist striding out from the origins of cosmos, from a vast nothingness full of possibility (the black sun), into a universe that is in the process of creating itself.
Spotlight on Individual Cards
Moving from the cards as groups allied by color to individual cards, I'd like to mention a few cards that stand out:
Transformation (Decease)
The figure of Death glows ruddy, a visual lucifer for the red sun rising in the groundwork. The body of Death (especially the leg) reminds me of the people used in the "Bodies" exhibit, stripped of their skins, with muscles and sinews exposed. It's a subtle touch which graphically illustrates ane of the major themes of the Decease carte: what happens when everything mortal is stripped away?
Ten of Swords
The X of Swords reminds me of the Death menu in that the mankind of the figure on the ground seems to be disintegrating–in this case, into ropes of light. I've always thought of the ten of Swords every bit beingness the "cosmic acupuncture" card and this version brings this thought to life. Each sword seems to connect with 1 of the snakes of light that illuminate the effigy, and the hilt of each sword glows with a luminous halo, speaking to the theme of the swords interim as agents of illumination once that which is no longer of use has been left behind. Starbursts illuminate the heaven at the superlative of the card, calculation to the feeling of hope and cosmic energy bachelor to those who make the journey of transformation.
5 of Cups
The Iluminated Tarot features eloquent clouds and auras in many of the cards. In the five of cups, the figure, wearing a deep blue cloak, is surrounded by a bank of extremely active clouds that swirl in circles, representing the turbulent emotions felt by the solitary figure. There'due south i deject at the far left that reminds me of a human ear, which to me augments an estimation of the card as the demand to finally "hear" the truth of a situation, rather than remaining enmeshed in the sadness or the avalanche of emotions that cloak the person in sadness and inaction.
The Guide (The Hermit)
This is a gorgeous card, executed in deep shades of blue and royal. The Guide holds his lantern of illumination, with the purple-hued calorie-free of wisdom softly falling to the basis, while behind him wispy clouds seem to cloak figures from the unconscious. His staff shines brightly and seems to emit waves from the peak, which reminds me of the radio waves emanating from the towers in the erstwhile RKO films logo–only the Guide is transmitting wisdom and agreement to all who would listen.
Eight of Pentacles
This is another card that reminds me of the chakra system. Each of the pentacles is executed in a slightly different color combination, and a rainbow wave of colors stretches above the seated figure'due south head. It also seems to reinforce the idea that the apprentice builds upon his or her work layer by layer, until mastery is achieved.
Three of Swords
This card looks like the heart is suspended in a prism of light, and all three swords are connected past a spiral shape. If y'all notice the hilt of each sword, one is dark and inappreciably illuminated, some other is starting to emit lite, and the tertiary is lit, emitting colorful rays. This illustrates the process of healing and understanding, moving from darkness to light equally you begin to realize the true lessons and meaning that are brought forward through grief.
Ix of Swords
At that place'south then much going on in this bill of fare. Behind the 9 shimmering golden swords suspended in the air, a dreamscape (nightmare-scape?) blusters, dominated by windblown deject shapes and what looks like an all-seeing center. The fears and pressures of the upright figure are graphically illustrated in this card, yet the emphasis on the shining swords, with the glowing halos around their hilts, hints at the idea that illumination is needed for the person to cutting through the credible darkness of their situation.
The Tower
The deep blueish/black background of this card and the cluster of what look similar tall crystals at the base of operations of the Tower illustrate the need to break through deep, night crystallized and ossified structures of all kinds, equally the divine daze (a rainbow- colored lightning bolt of enlightenment) knocks a flaming crown off the Tower itself.
Illusion (The Devil)
The black background, like the black background in the Tower card, illustrates the lack of "light" of understanding in the scenario; notwithstanding, lighter blueish peeks through the left side of the menu, with stars shimmering, allowing a bit of hope even in the murkiest of situations. The iridescent paint is put to great use here – a shimmer of golden paint runs from the lower chakras of the Devil to the top of his head, illustrating that overvaluing the fabric can result in enmeshment/enslavement, merely that opening upwardly to the light (the shimmering yellow) and really looking at our addictions and our shame, tin can be the route to a new understanding of the many facets of our psyche.
Temperance
The colors truly tell the story in this carte du jour. Temperance wears a robe of a low-cal yellow hue (with yellow as a symbol of intelligence and the mind), yet her wings are a striking shade of ruby-pink tinged with xanthous, showing the integration of the heed and spirit with the energy and passion of fire. The rays of her halo mirror the rays of the sun blazing over the mountain in the card'southward background, and a peaceful bluish background, with shimmering stars, emphasize the feeling of peace and harmony the represent this card working at its highest level.
Last Thoughts
The cards I've selected above represent the most interesting use of color and symbolism in the Illuminated Tarot, yet many others are worthy of a detailed discussion as well. The Illuminated Tarot holds many rewards for Tarot readers, from beginners to those with years of experience and study. The jewel-similar colors and evocative artwork, the care and attending to technique and detail by artist Ballad Herzer make this a truly unique tarot deck.
To see more of the cards, read most the genesis of Illuminated Tarot, or to order a deck, go to Soul Guidance.
Valerie Sylvester
Make certain you bank check out Valerie's excellent astrology web log, Neptune Fire.
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The Illuminated Tarot How to Read Guide
Source: https://tarotelements.com/the-illuminated-tarot-a-review-of-carol-herzers-handmade-deck/