Tarot of the Celtic Fairies
Deck by Mark McElroy
and Edar Minibaev
© 2010 Lo
Scarabeo
Sometimes you just know when a deck wants
to be a part of your world. The Tarot of the Celtic
Fairies definitely found its way to let me know that it
was a deck for me.
Initially,
I had seen this deck online when it first came out. I
thought it was quite pretty and fascinating, but at the
same time, I was really trying hard not to be such a
"tarot deck-a-holic" at the time, too. I
rationalized to myself that I logically did not need
another fairy deck, as I already have decks with fairy and
elf themes. I have tons of decks, in fact, in
all sorts of varieties.
A little bit of time passed, and I had somewhat forgotten
about this deck that had attracted me. One morning, a
friend of mine emailed me with an image of the Knight of
Stones (shown above, bottom right) and its card back, asking
if I knew which deck the card came from. She found it on her
living room floor and didn't know what to make of a Tarot
card seeming to appear out of nowhere.
I didn't immediately recognize the card, but felt I had
surely seen it somewhere. I did some quick research
and discovered it was the very deck I previously had my eyes
on. I emailed my friend back and told her it was the
Tarot of the Celtic Fairies Deck. She indicated that
the card must have somehow been included in the package of
decks she had ordered, although she did not order this deck
specifically.
I thought surely the sign was meant for her to get that
deck, but she was concerned the deck might be a little too
"dark" for her tastes and didn't feel ready for it.
Apparently, the sign was then meant for me! I ended up
ordering this deck that same week, and I don't regret this
deck purchase one bit! The signs were loud and clear,
and I'm glad I listened. I would have missed out on
something not only beautiful, but also fascinating and
educational, had I ignored that calling.
The book and deck kit come packaged with a
lovely box featuring the High Priestess card on the
cover. This is a box that opens from the top, like a
hinged lid, and has a magnetic closure on the side.
The cards are contained inside a box of their own with a
little white booklet inside. And the 158-page full
color book that comes in the kit offers a great deal of
value in itself.
There is a fairy bag that can be purchased separately if
you'd like to store your cards in a bag instead of the card
box. I ordered the fairy bag, because I simply
couldn't resist! The bag also features the High
Priestess.
The Tarot of the Celtic Fairies can be purchased as a deck
and book set, or you can purchase the deck all by
itself. But I highly recommend getting the book/deck
set! The accompanying book is 158 pages in full color
and explores each card in detail. In fact, because
this deck is not traditional, you'll get a lot more out of
this deck if you have the beautiful guidebook to accompany
these lovely cards.
In the book, each card begins with a couple of keywords,
followed by the creator's commentary. In the
commentary, the card is described with details on why
certain things were chosen for the card. This is a
great section, because the writing feels like the author is
having a conversation with you. The writing is relaxed
and natural and doesn't feel forced.
Next, important symbols are noted. Following the symbols is
a section on interpreting the card, and then a section
entitled "Questions to Ask" completes the card's
information. That final section holds as much value as
the rest of the information. Through those questions,
the meanings of the cards are summarized into a question
format for self-evaluation or consideration of your
circumstances, thoughts, and feelings.
The book is a fascinating read, offering some new insights
into the cards. The interpretations provided in the
book don't necessarily change the tarot meanings, but they
enhance what a card can represent. It was a lot of fun
to go through the cards and look up the meanings and
interpretations for cards that I couldn't associate a
traditional meaning to in terms of the imagery presented.
While there are no reversed meanings included in the book,
writer Mark McElroy talks about both the light and shadow of
the cards, and some of what he mentions for a given card is
how I would relate to the card if it were to appear in
reverse. The backs of the cards themselves are not
reversible. They feature a knotted Celtic design with
jewels and two faces seeming to peer at one another.
There is a useful exercise presented in the companion book,
following all the card meanings. It's called "Meeting the
Deck." I think this section should have been placed at
the beginning of the book after the Introduction, because I
didn't see it right away as I glanced through the book and
looked up some cards that seemed odd to me. Had I read
this section first, I would have immediately done the
exercise instead of waiting until I got to the last part of
the book.
The exercise consists of going through your ordered deck
(before you shuffle the cards and get them out of order),
and making three piles. The first pile will include
the cards you like or resonate with for whatever
reasons. The middle pile is for cards that you feel
uncertain about (a "neutral" pile) -- such as why the card
is presented with certain images that don't seem to fit for
what you already know about that card. The final pile
is for cards that you dislike or that evoke a negative
feeling upon seeing the card.
Once you've made your piles, it's very educational to first
go through the 2nd and 3rd piles (the "uncertain" or
"neutral" pile and the "dislike" pile). Hopefully your
"like" pile is the biggest, or at least the "neutral" pile
might be the larger. You may have a change of
perception about the neutral or disliked cards once you read
the corresponding meanings and interpretations in the
book. Fortunately my "like" pile consisted of 43
cards, the neutral pile had 22 cards, and my "dislike" pile
only had 13 cards. This is an indication that I can
work well with this particular deck.
This could be a great exercise to use with any new deck
that doesn't seem to fit the molds of tradition in the way
you know it. If you find that you just cannot resonate
with the majority of cards in a deck, even after reading
what the guidebook has to say, it may be a deck that just
won't work for you. And that's okay. That is why we
have so many deck choices available today. There will
be decks that are right for you, just as there will be decks
that aren't right for you personally.
Let me
give you an example of one of my "dislike" cards in this
exercise. The Knight of Cauldrons (Cups) seemed very
strange to me. I certainly didn't get that "loving
feeling" upon gazing at this card! It made no sense at
all to me to see this card portrayed like this. So I
turned to the book's meanings and information, and it
certainly shed some light on a card that is presented in a
"dark" manner.
The keywords provided for this card are "delight versus
depression." Okay, so I could feel that traditionally
"delight" would represent the upright Knight, and
"depression" would fit the card if reversed.
In traditional tarot, we see the Knight of Cups on his
horse, and the horse is taking a tentative step to cross the
emotional stream. In the Tarot of the Celtic Fairies
Deck, the Knight of Cauldrons speaks about what may seem
uncertain or depressing in the dark of night.
Things can be foggy within the emotional realms. But
in the light of day, things can look very different.
It's a card that asks you to get in touch with your true
feelings, because if you don't, any joy that is there can be
spoiled --just like this figure in the card is spoiling
things around him.
That's a very different take on the Knight of
Cauldrons/Cups, but the book further explains things, and it
made a lot of sense after reading the interpretation,
symbols, and meaning in the book. In a reading about
love, I could see this card to literally be asking the
seeker to "sleep on it" and see how they feel the next
day. If there are unresolved emotions or
uncertainties, those need to be acknowledged and addressed
before one makes a commitment in love.
This could equally apply to a job situation. You
should ask how you really feel about a current job, a new
job, or changing jobs, etc. Get in touch with your feelings,
and don't try to avoid what seems negative that you may
hesitate to admit to yourself.
I don't really find this to be a "dark" tarot deck, but
there are certain aspects that can make it feel that way
through some of the cards. It is perhaps "darker" in
terms of your average RWS deck. And this is definitely
not a Rider-Waite cloned deck! When I mention "dark,"
I'm not referring to the coloring, but to the theme and the
general feeling that a deck tends to evoke -- like the
Knight of Cauldrons mentioned above.
The cards have a slick matte finish and the cardstock is
fair to good -- perhaps just slightly on the thin
side. So you'll want to be careful when
shuffling. Don't use a hard snapping poker-style
shuffle with this deck of cards if you want them to last a
long time. Be a little gentler with the Tarot of the
Celtic Fairies, and they will serve you well.
The cards measure approximately 2-1/2" x 4-3/4" and they
shuffle easily. But again, shuffle with care.
Each card has a thin dark blue border with an etched
outline in the color of the suit which you can see in the
sample images at the top of this page. The suit names
are as follows:
- Cups = Cauldrons
- Wands = Spears
- Swords = Swords
- Pentacles = Stones
Only the Swords hold their traditional title. The
Major Arcana cards all have traditional titles for the most
part. The High Priestess is simply the "Priestess" in
this deck, and the Wheel of Fortune is entitled
"Wheel." But those are the only slight variations from
the traditional Major Arcana titles. Additionally,
Strength is #8 and Justice is #11, which follows the RWS
system.
From the back of the box:
"The enchanted, marvellous, and strange world of
the fairies emerges from Celtic mythology to a dizzying
array of colours, sensations, and emotions as old as air
and stone. The confines between two worlds are
always near, and an innocent heart is capable of observing
from beyond and understand such eternal magic."
As you explore this deck, you can expect to be greeted by
some surprises in the imagery. This deck was obviously
not designed strictly on tradition. It combines the
folk wisdom of traditional Celtic fairy stories with the
structure and symbolism of traditional tarot. The
cards are therefore presented in a unique and very useful
way.
This will not be a deck for everyone. If you don't feel
comfortable with exploring things that go beyond what you
know or that reaches outside of tradition to some degree,
you might not enjoy this deck as much as I do.
Personally, I love the fresh perspective that the cards
provide. This is not to say that tradition goes out
the window with this deck. The tradition is still
there, but it's expanded upon in such illuminating
ways. This deck takes tradition even further. Yet the
"common threads" in terms of meanings are still there --
perhaps just not as obvious for some of these enchanting
cards.
This is certainly not a "fluffy" fairy tarot deck by any
means. It's a deck that is worth spending some time on
to explore. It might not be a deck you can pick up and
immediately begin reading, although some probably can do
just that! I just wasn't one of them. I know
that when I use this deck, the information I obtain tends to
be richer in meaning and value than when I use a more
traditional deck of cards. This deck is one to really
get you to think about things from a new perspective -- to
"think outside of the box." For me, it's been a fun
challenge and adventure to experience this deck.
Is this deck on my favorites list, you might ask.
Well, I honestly haven't decided one way or another whether
I classify this deck as one of my favorites . . . but I know
it certainly has the potential to be on that list.
However, I'll continue working with this deck before I make
up my mind on that. The stories behind each card are
fascinating, and I look forward to all of my adventures with
the Tarot of the Celtic Fairies! I know there will be
something new for me to see or learn each time.
Deck Details - Tarot of the Celtic Fairies
Number
of Cards in Deck: 78
Size of Cards:
2-1/2" x 4-3/4"
Included with deck:
A 63-page little white booklet (14 pages are in English,
and the remaining pages are written in other
languages). The kit comes with a fully illustrated
book of 158-pages in a card box, contained in a larger box
that holds both cards and book. The larger box is
very nice with a hinged opening and magnetic closure.
Major Arcana: Fool, Magician, Priestess, Empress,
Emperor, Hierophant, Lovers, Chariot, Strength,
Hermit, Wheel, Justice, Hanged Man, Death, Temperance,
Devil, Tower, Star, Moon, Sun, Judgement, World
Suit Names: Cauldrons
(Cups), Spears (Wands), Swords, Stones (Pentacles)
Court Cards: Page,
Knight, Queen, King
