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THE ARTHURIAN TAROT |
The Arturian Tarot (also known as Hallowquest) is a modified Tarot deck combining the traditional Tarot images with those of the Arthurian legend. A knowledge of the stories of Arthur is not necessary, since "The Hallowquest Handbook" ,which comes with the deck, explains each card's Arthurian background as it relates to the card image and meaning. For a more in depth study of the system, the authors have written "Hallowquest: The Arthurian Tarot Course" (ISBN 0-7225-3448-5) which is a year long course involving card meditation, guided journaling, tasks in the real world and solstice rituals. Should you not wish to give up a year to master a new system, my suggestion would be to read the book which comes with the deck and supplement the background material by struggling through a good edition of Malory's "Le Morte D'Arthur". I recommend the adaptation by Keith Baines (ISBN 0-451-62567-6) published by Penguin Books out of New York, 1962.
The soft watercolor renderings on these cards immediately capture the observer. Even the darkest cards have an appeal to them. The color palate is largely pastel giving the entire deck a dreamlike quality. Having done a few readings with these cards, I find the cards like "Death" and "The Tower" don't have the immediate shocking effect on the querant when they appear in a reading because they are so serene and calming. I like this quality in the deck. It allows me to ease negative messages into the reading at a place that I feel they would be best received. I have found that when I turn "Death" or the "10 of Swords" in the Rider-Waite, I am immediately expected by the querant to explain what this "horrible" card represents.
Each card is framed in a black arched doorway. Because of this design feature, the visual effect is of standing outside and being invited into a beautiful kingdom. This design element is definitely effective. None of the Minor Arcana cards numbered 1 - 9 have any living creatures in the scenes. Instead the viewer is welcomed into a variety of landscapes representing various times of day, seasons and weather conditions. For any Tarotist who enjoys meditations which actually take you into the cards, the Arthurian Tarot gives you 36 rich landscapes to explore. The other rule this design element enforces is reversals will not work. Who wants to travel into an upside down landscape? Even the Major Arcana and the Court Cards, with more traditional scenes, are impossible to interpret due to the upside down arched doorway which, quite frankly, makes the whole scene just look upside down-and nothing else.
This deck replaces the Page with the Maiden. I guess a mention should be made here that the four suits are Sword, Grail (Cups), Spear (Sword) and Stone (Pentacles). I am particularly fond of the Court Cards in this deck due to the fact that they all show action and motion as opposed to "just standin' there". Each "10" card is represented by a castle of one of the four rulers of the Hollows. This is the only problem I have with this deck. I personally find it hard to incorporate my usual interpretation that the 10's represent a completion and a new beginning to the four "castle" cards. I just don't see that in these four cards, yet.
The Major Arcana definitely needs some research into the Arthurian legend to understand the meanings of the cards, since many of the familiar cards have been replaced with cards depicting scenes and people from the Hallowquest world. The tone of the cards remain very similar, but I don't feel the emotional connection to these images that I feel with my more traditional decks, yet. I am trusting that with more study of the included booklet, coupled with the coursework and my own additional reading , I will build a solid background of who these people are on the cards and why they represent the essence of each card. For example, card 13, the Washer at the Ford, is depicted as a spirit or zombie rising from the waters with a shroudlike material draped between her hands. There is no question that she represents Death, but unless you know the depth of her legend (she is the oldest Celtic representation of Death. Legend has it that warriors had visions of her before the battle in which they would die) there is the possibility of using the cards on a very shallow basis. I consider this departure from the traditional system an element which may dissuade people from picking this deck up casually.
The book which comes with the deck is one of the more useful I have seen because it gives both a quick description of the cards, clarifying elements in the landscape which may not be familiar to the 21st century reader, plus the Arthurian background of the area or person depicted in the card and finally, the meanings as the author interprets them. There are also 6 original spreads at the end of the book that seem to be truly original, not subtle reworkings of older spreads. I guess that's what a new divination system encourages.
The Arthurian Deck and Book Set (ISBN 0-85030-843-7)
is published by Harper Collins Publishers, 1995. This is a beautiful and
connected deck, well worth the energy required to bring it into your realm
of tools. If you have reached a plateau of learning and are wondering
what to tackle next, you may really enjoy the one-year Hollowquest Tarot
Course. Look for my review of it in Summer of 2001. Seriously, I will
try and write an article on my progress at the half way point.
"The Arthutian Tarot",
by John Matthews & Caitlin Matthews
©1995 HarperCollins Publishers LTD
Images used by kind permission from HarperCollins
Publishers LTD.