The Light-Seer’s Tarot
Chris-Anne
Hay House Publishing
$24.99
I haven’t bought too many new tarot decks recently, but in this case, these gorgeous cards just showed up on my doorstep thanks to my student Ashley. It is always an honor to receive a deck as a gift, and I’m exceptionally grateful.
The Light-Seer’s Tarot is a 78-card Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) style deck that makes many nods to the original imagery, but does not take that duty too seriously. In other words, if you’ve worked with RWS, you’ll see many familiar things, but it’s not even close to a clone. They are about the same size as a standard RWS deck.
This deck caught my eye immediately. The presentation is fantastic; it comes in a sturdy, alluring turquoise box with a guidebook. “Little white book” is far from the case here; it’s an excellent introduction for tarot beginners. It discusses the setup of the deck and gives an entry for each card, but it also provides some basic spreads and even discusses reversals.
Entries in the book have a “light seer” and a “shadow seer” description for each card. I really like that idea; it gives the reader a place to start in either direction, positive or negative. Each card also has an affirmation, which is honestly a great way to remember the cards. For example, on the Two of Wands, the affirmation is, “The world is filled with opportunities for adventure, and I welcome them into my life with planned action.” I’m all for a positive message that helps you remember the card.
I love the design on the back of the cards; it’s simple and powerful with muted colors and doesn’t distract from the images.
The images themselves provide a lot of depth for divination. There’s no scare factor here, though; many of the RWS images can seem too severe for readers, but there are none to be found anywhere in this deck. In a nod to equality, all races and genders are liberally mixed on the cards, and to my surprise and delight, there are more females on these cards than I have seen in a long time.
The Seven of Wands, for example, shows a woman in prayer pose seated cross-legged on a mat with the seven wands pointed in her direction. Behind her is a landscape of a hill scene inside a crystal ball. Unlike the RWS, the woman isn’t holding a wand and there’s no visible conflict. Is she defiant because she chooses not to engage others and continues to pray? Certainly, that’s one of the many ideas to consider.
I also liked the thematic development here. The Swords suit, for example, has birds on almost every card, a reminder of the element of air, of course. But on almost all of the Swords pips, there are ravens. The Eight of Swords is a great example; a woman looks in the mirror and in the reflected image, she sees four ravens tying her hands and blindfolding her. It’s a fantastic reminder of the idea that how we see ourselves does help determine our reality—are we really restricted, or is it just how we’re seeing it in our mind’s eye?
The Queen of Pentacles is one of the most beautiful images in the entire deck. A woman sits comfortably on a chair in the forest, a turquoise wrap covering her head with branches sticking out the sides. To me this was a nod to the Horned God. Her eyes are closed, and the turquoise eye shadow shows she’s resting or meditating, holding a large pentacle. I love the simple elegance of the design.
On the majors, the Wheel of Fortune jumped out at me. A woman is standing on top of the wheel, which is very similar to the RWS wheel in many ways but without the Hebrew letters this time around. The woman looks elated and is in a modified tree yoga pose, arms out to welcome whatever comes next. I loved the little reminder of the “luck” idea of the card in the pair of dice attached to a string around her neck.
The only negative I could really come up with was that the cards are a little slippery. That’s purely my personal taste; I always worry about the cards slipping out of my hand!
I’d highly recommend this deck for anyone who enjoys bright, positive decks with amazing colors and some subtle RWS imagery. I’d also say this is a great first deck for children, as there is almost no nudity in it and the images are so welcoming.
To me this deck is like your favorite movie, book, or video game: The first time you experienced it was magical, but each repeat shows you something new. The small touches and nods to the RWS make the Light-Seer’s Tarot absolutely worth putting on your wish list, and I can’t wait to use it with clients!
