April 14 - 20, 2012 ~ The Merlin Tarot

The Merlin Tarot
RJ Steward
Art by Miranda Gray
Element, 2002

In November 2011, I bought this deck from a member at AT.  It sat on my shelf, unused, until April 14, 2012.  What a loss.  So much time lost when I could have been enjoying the unique wonder of this deck.

Physically, it is a nicely constructed deck.  The cards are a nice size, easy to shuffle, and not terribly slippery.  The packaging is a bit excessive as it comes in a large box with a very small book.  The book is a watered down version of Mr Stewart's more complete book on this deck. 

After about 5 minutes with the book, I learned I was missing two cards.  Not a huge issue as the person from whom I purchased the deck happily emailed me scans with the pertinent information from another text by Mr Stewart.  This is a deceptive deck in appearance.  It looks so simple and plain.  But don't be fooled.  There is serious depth in these cards.

One thing that was a bit off-putting at first was the numbering on the majors.  The Priestess as XXI was causing the numerology processing part of my brain to over heat.  But after reading his disclaimer that numbering had no place in the majors and that the numbers on the cards were for convenience only, I calmed down.  Whew! I can accept that.  I just ignore them.  Really, if there were no titles on these cards, it wouldn't be a bad thing. 

The minors are unillustrated pips (a misnomer because they are very well illustrated!) and the suits are Beasts, Fish, Birds, Serpents.  They fit well as the suits.  Really, there was no problem using my personal system with these cards.  Mr Stewart has outlined a system in the book, but it requires more study than one week.  And truthfully, I am not sure that if I will ever really use it.  However, his insights do add depth to my own understanding.  For example, he divides the majors into groups of 3 cards each, with the Universe card existing outside any group as "One Manifest Destiny."   Makes alot of sense.

As a reading deck it was very nice.  I like the simplicity of the artwork and the way that so much can be learned from facial expression and body language.  I look forward to using this deck in the future.

Rating: Keeper +