The Shadowscapes Tarot deck, created by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, is a stunning and diverse Tarot deck that has been ranked Top 10 of All Time by Aeclectic community site. The deck is based on the Rider-Waite Smith deck and features 78 cards, each with ten numbered cards (Ace through Ten) and four court cards (Page, Knight, Queen, and King). The deck is a delight for fans of fantasy and is available in a bordered edition with a companion book.
The deck is based on the traditional tarot imagery and symbolism of the Rider-Waite Smith deck. The meanings in the booklet are well-written and insightful, but the artwork is stunning. The deck is popular among dreamers, with the Queen of Wands being a prime example. The deck is available in a boxed card set of 78 cards, 3×5 inches, and comes with an autographed box from the artist.
The deck is a standard 78-card deck, with all major arcana cards corresponding to the Rider-Waite deck. Suits are Swords, Wands, Cups, and Pentacles, each represented by a different card. The deck is a masterpiece in a diverse Tarot world, with 78 exquisite images that could single-handedly define the word exquisite.
The Shadowscapes Tarot deck is a must-have for anyone looking to explore a fantastical world of floating mermaids and dancing fairies. The deck is available for purchase from Llewellyn in a bordered edition with a companion book.
📹 Shadowscapes Tarot Deck – Cards Review and Walk Through by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law – With My Cat
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How many cards are supposed to be in the tarot deck?
The modern tarot deck, based on the Venetian or Piedmontese tarot, consists of 78 cards divided into two groups: the major arcana (22 trumps) and the minor arcana (56 cards). The major arcana features pictures representing various forces, characters, virtues, and vices, numbered I through XXI. The cards are arranged in a series of order, from juggler to hanged man, death to temperance, devil to lightning-struck tower, star to moon, sun to last judgment, world to the fool.
The minor arcana consists of four suits of 14 cards each, similar to modern playing cards. Each suit has 4 court cards and 10 numbered cards, with the value progression from ace to 10. The adaptation of tarots to occult and fortune-telling purposes first occurred in France around 1780. Each tarot card is ascribed a meaning, with the major arcana cards referring to spiritual matters and trends in the questioner’s life, while the minor arcana cards deal with business matters and career ambitions.
The tarot deck is shuffled by the questioner, and the fortune-teller lays out a few cards in a spread pattern, with the meaning of any card modified based on its position in the spread and the meaning of adjacent cards.
What is the oldest known tarot deck?
The Visconti-Sforza Tarot, painted in the mid-15th century for the rulers of the Duchy of Milan, is the oldest surviving tarot cards. In 15th century Italy, the set of cards included in tarot packs, including trumps, was consistent, with two main exceptions. Some late 15th century decks, like the Sola Busca tarot and the Boiardo deck, had four suits, a fool, and 21 trumps, but none of the trumps match tarot ones. The Visconti di Mondrone pack, one of the Visconti-Sforza decks, originally had a Dame and a Maid in each suit, along with the standard King, Queen, Knight, and Jack.
The pack also included three trump cards representing the theological virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. Despite a Dominican preacher’s criticism of the evil inherent in playing cards, no routine condemnations of tarot were found during its early history.
How big is a full tarot deck?
The 78-card tarot deck, first known as trionfi and later as tarocchi or tarocks, is a pack of playing cards used in Europe since the mid-15th century for card games such as Tarocchini. It has evolved into a family of games including German Grosstarok and modern games like French Tarot and Austrian Königrufen. In the late 18th century, French occultists made elaborate claims about their history and meaning, leading to the emergence of custom decks for divination via tarot card reading and cartomancy.
Tarot has four suits that vary by region: French suits are used in western, central, and eastern Europe, and Latin suits in southern Europe. Each suit has 14 cards: ten pip cards numbering from one (or Ace) to ten; and four face cards: King, Queen, Knight, and Jack/Knave/Page. Additionally, the tarot has a separate 21-card trump suit and a single card known as the Fool.
The use of tarot playing cards was once widespread across Europe except the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula. However, they later experienced a renaissance in some countries and regions. For example, French Tarot, which was largely confined to Provence in the 18th century, took off in the 1950s and became the second most popular card game in France. Tarock games like Königrufen have experienced significant growth in Austria, where international tournaments are held with other nations, especially those from eastern Europe.
Denmark remains the only Scandinavian country that still plays tarot games, with Danish Tarok being a derivative of historical German Grosstarock. Italy continues to play regionally popular games with distinctive Tarot packs, such as Ottocento in Bologna and Sicilian Tarocchi in parts of Sicily.
How many cards are in an eternal deck?
The text posits the acquisition of eight cards, each imbued with an enduring quality, for incorporation into an eternal deck, the backs of which bear matching icons. The objective is to amass these cards for incorporation into the player’s eternal deck.
How many cards are in the celestial tarot deck?
One may engage in a process of exploration with our collection of confirmation cards and celestial tarots, which are priced at $899 and $1349, respectively. The dimensions of these items are 3. 5″ H x 2. 5″ W and 4. 75″ H x 2. 75″.
What is the 37th card in the tarot deck?
The Ace of Wands is a minor tarot card from the Minor Arcana, which focuses on minor life mysteries and less important archetypes. Modern tarot readers interpret it as a symbol of optimism and invention. Tarot’s pictorial symbolism embodies intellectual, moral, and spiritual lessons, connecting self and others, similar to the “I-Thou” relation in Martin Buber’s metaphysics. The Ace card in a deck signifies success in all aspects, backed by luck and hard work. This combination of success and luck forms the basis of the Ace card in the Tarot deck.
What is the No 1 Tarot card?
The Magician, also known as The Magus or The Juggler, is the first trump or Major Arcana card in traditional tarot decks, used for game playing and divination. In the occult context, the trump cards are recontextualized as the Major Arcana and given complex esoteric meaning. In this context, the Magician is interpreted as the first numbered and second total card of the Major Arcana, succeeding the Fool. In French, Le Bateleur, also known as “the mountebank” or “sleight of hand artist”, is a practitioner of stage magic.
In Italian tradition, he is called Il Bagatto or Il Bagatello. The Mantegna Tarocchi image of the Magician is labeled Artixano, the Artisan, and is the second lowest in the series. 18th-century woodcuts of the Magician reflect earlier iconic representations and can be compared to free artistic renditions in 15th-century hand-painted tarots.
What is the most used tarot deck?
The Rider Waite Smith Tarot is a popular deck for tarot card reading, first published by the Rider Company in 1909. It was based on the instructions of academic and mystic A. E. Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, both members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The deck has been published in numerous editions and inspired a wide array of variants and imitations. Over 100 million copies circulate across 20 countries.
The images in the deck are simple but feature abundant symbolism. Some imagery remains similar to earlier decks, but overall, the Waite-Smith card designs are substantially different from their predecessors. Christian imagery was removed from some cards and added to others, such as the “Papess” becoming the “High Priestess” and the “Lovers” card resembling naked Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Minor Arcana is illustrated with allegorical scenes by Smith, unlike earlier decks.
Symbols and imagery in the deck were influenced by 19th-century magician and occultist Eliphas Levi and the teachings of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. To accommodate astrological correspondences taught by the Golden Dawn, Waite introduced several innovations to the deck, such as changing the order of the Strength and Justice cards to correspond with Leo and Libra, and based the Lovers card on Italian tarot decks.
How many cards are in each suit of a tarot deck?
Cartomantic Tarot cards, derived from Latin-suited packs, typically have a Minor Arcana of 56 cards, with 14 cards in each suit: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles. The four court cards are page, knight, queen, and king. Some variations have princess and prince cards, while others have damsel and mounted lady cards. The historical Tarot of Marseilles contains 56 cards, while later packs based on French suits have only three court cards per suit. The Minor Arcana is believed to represent mundane life features, while the court cards may represent people one meets. Each suit has distinctive characteristics and connotations.
How many cards are in a mythic tarot deck?
The package includes a 224-page illustrated guidebook, a full deck of 78 cards featuring artwork by Tricia Newell, and a cloth for card layouts and the secure storage of the deck when not in use.
How many cards are in the Universal Waite tarot deck?
The Universal Waite Tarot Deck is a tin box-bound deck featuring 78 cards and an instruction booklet with an introduction by Tarot expert Stuart R. Kaplan. The deck offers a subtle alternative to the Original Rider Waite Tarot Deck, featuring softer colors. A. E. Waite, an American-born British poet and scholarly mystic, created a series of 78 allegorical paintings under her guidance, exemplifying her mysticism, ritual, imagination, fantasy, and deep emotions. The deck was published by William Rider and Son in the same year.
📹 A Month with the Shadowscapes Tarot | Review, Deep Dive Walkthrough & Pairings
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This is my soul deck. It was the deck that I clicked with the most and that I could read instantly, my thoughts flowing so freely that it was surprising because I was (and still am!) a newbie to tarot. I used the Shadowscapes exclusively for almost a year because I was so in love with it. It was the first deck where I didn’t have to reach for the guidebook for every card or pull, and it was the deck that got me recording all my readings in a journal. I have a lot of fun just looking back and re-reading my interpretations of the cards, and seeing how they slowly evolved or got more detailed as I realized more things the more I worked with it. The sad thing is, I was discouraged from buying this deck for a long time because people constantly put it down as being ‘meh’ because it was too small, too detailed, too messy, difficult to see/read with, etc. … When I finally did get it (because I couldn’t stop thinking about it), I was blown away by how beautiful the artwork was and how much the deck clicked with me. So my takeaway from that experience was to try to be more genuine to my own feelings and not let others sway me so much — a problem I’ve always had, because of past traumas that have made me always doubt myself and have too little self-love and self-worth. The Shadowscapes has been my constant companion on my healing journey, and I will cherish this deck forever, no matter how many other decks I might fall in love with.
This is possible my favorite deck! I have had mine for years. I also have the larger Czech version and both of the art books; The Art of Shadowscapes Major Arcana (paperback), and the Art of Shadowscapes Minor Arcana (hardback) which have so much insight into the art, symbolism, and Stephanie Pui-Mun Law’s reflections. I also have the coloring book, and the app for my iPhone/iPad by Fool’s Dog Tarot apps. If you have any issues with seeing the artwork, the app makes up for that. You can really zoom in and see every detail in backlit glory!
I bought Shadowscapes originally in a tuck box, I loved it so much when I saw an edition with a larger guidebook I bought it too. The artwork in the book is still only black and white but it’s an upgrade from the lwb in my tuckbox. If anyone prints a version of this with larger cards or borderless cards I will not hesitate to buy a third copy because I adore it that much. It’s one of my all time favorites, the deck I’d grab if I had an emergency evacuation. I’d love to see it on oracle sized cards like Dreams of Gaia or Tarot of Mysical Moments. I already wanted this new edition of the Messenger oracle (I wasn’t a fan of the old borders) but seeing you pair it with Shadowscapes is making it a must-have.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts in this deep dive Lisa, I always learn something new in them 💕 I trimmed 3 sides of my shadowscapes and left the title because that grey/silver border ate the artwork, it stands out so much better without them, the images have movement now. I also did multicoloured pastel edging but mine pulled a little too bright so I went over it with a Momento lilac which match the backs perfectly but you can still see the multicolour, so I’m really happy with it. So I did a Lisa on mine 😂 I use Shadowscapes when I’m feeling particularly emotional because of the flow and movement I get from the images.
The Shadowscapes deck is the first Tarot deck I ever got. I LOVE the artwork. But you’re right, Lisa, I do hope they’ll reprint the deck bcz I’m a bit sad the finer details in the cards get lost. It’s still one of my favorites though. Stephanie, the artist of this deck, had actually started to work on an Oracle deck, you can see some of the artwork online (it’s called Dreamdance). I’m not sure why she stopped working on it but I do hope that she’ll continue with it. I want Dreamdance to happen!!
I love this deck, but I have never gotten on with it as a reading deck. Her work is absolutely stunning, but it’s so small. I’ve had it sitting on my shelf for like 8 years and have only read with it a handful of times. I always get her shadowscapes calendar every year, but there wasn’t one this year -that made me so sad. It translates so well in that format(it’s different paintings than the deck). I hope eventually they listen to the kajillion of us who have mentioned the deck should be bigger. I feel like this is a great deck for doing a single card draw deep dive for inner work. When you can sit with the image and analyze all the intricate symbolism. It’s funny timing tho, I literally just pulled this off the shelf last night to edge and work with again. I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on this, Lisa -as always. I super dig your deep dives. Thanks for sharing with us! Edit: I love the messenger Oracle pairing. I am also going to try it with the oracle of the dragonfae-Lucy cavendish. I feel like that may pair well also
Enjoyed seeing those pairings, and was especially happy with how well it went with Spirit of the Animals. (It would probably also be great with your pocket Dreams of Gaia). I don’t think I’ll buy the actual cards unless there is a reprint, but I did spend 5 bucks on the app, which lets me expand the images and really appreciate them. Also, you can buy enlarged prints of some of these cards from the artist; I gave my friend a print of the queen of cups and my sister a print of the lovely tea party six of cups.
12:49 … OK. I’m going to get the deck. The Wheel of Fortune did it. You’re rememberance of the meaning of the Celtic knotwork … combined with the flowers beneath. I wish growth, blossom and decay would be less subtle, however it’s there. The faerie holding the skull, the small closed buds, … There are also the sun, the star and the moon in the card (day, dusk, night, dawn). Sleeping and awake faeries. The inevitability of rhythm and fate. Edit: Having completed the article … I do very much relate to pairing the deck with the Spirit of the Animals Oracle. I can also see it being used with the Olde Fae playing cards and Portals of presence. The 4 of them used in combination seem to make a lot of sense (=> Shadowscape + Animals + Fae + Tree/Nature Spirit Faces).
Your guidebook is so big, woow! Czech edition has only small guidebook as big as cards. The information seems the same (you did one tarot by the book with this tarot and when I saw the guidebook I took out mine to compare when you were reading from the guidebook and it was the same), but you have bigger pictures, even just in black and white! I heard Anya Esma on Youtube saying the czech edition has a bit bigger cards (I don’t know, they have 7,6 cm x 12,6 cm (including small border, and yes I just went to measure it just because of this comment :D), is it bigger?), but anyway artwork really is so detailed that it could be much bigger to see it properly. This is one of the decks I bought more recently – I think two years ago – though still before I watched walkthroughs on YT, I just saw the picture (even just part of the original picture actually) on the box and thought – I must have this one. I was going around it for half a year or maybe a year, before I finally bought it year (and something) ago. When I got it and finally could look at all the cards I was amazed and enchanted (and still am) by the artwork and tried to start to work with it (actually it was when I got more back to tarot after some time when I wasn’t working with it very much (or at all)), I did some spread but mostly daily draws, but it somehow wasn’t quite right so I put it aside after some time. I think the biggest problem was that when looking at the artwork at first (even only the piece on the box), I’ve thought – these are so beautiful, they’re so much telling, they will be great for intuitive reading and maybe I won’t need to reach for the guidebook so often, but when I was actually trying to read with them, it didn’t work this way and – with two or three exceptions – when I pulled the card and looked at it, I saw there’s lots going on and it could tell a story but it seemed so foreign country to me that I was slowly discouraged to use them.
I’m going to watch this later. First my thoughts as a means to present them without being influenced by the article and as a means to distance myself from them before delving into the article: Just got the app for the Shadowscape some time ago to see if it works for me. It may become part of my fantasy art/ tabletop gaming artist cycle of decks. Others are: – Ian Miller’s Grim Tarock (Ian Miller & Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay), – Mausolea: Oracle of Souls (Jason Engle & Magic: the Gathering, Legend of the Five Rings), – Curse of Stradh Tarokka (a D&D accessory, that works well as an archetypical role deck with shadow aspects), – My Everway Oracle (built from Vision Cards of the Everway RPG, art includes Amy Webber, … it includes also more than usual diversity), – Olde Fae (Heather Hudson & old school M:tG; The work of the Changeling Collective. Still not too to sure how this Faerie deck is going to work – but it’s all about how binaries/polarities work and don’t work at the same time. So this adresses a very important issue.) … the Shadowscape (Stephanie Law & Blue Rose RPG) … would fit here.
I just bought this deck recently and am starting to work with it. After seeing it trimmed I’m kinda inclined to do it but am not sure if I should. Since I have sweaty hands (just a natural condition, but little sweat) does the clear glitter pen make it a little better for colour not to wear off? Loved this article btw!
I’m so glad you made this article! I absolutely adore this deck! It’s one of my fave decks that I have, I do find myself always looking at the images as much as I can because they’re so detailed and it’s really great to just look at the little things! I would adore if they made a bigger version of this deck, I’d buy it in a heartbeat for sure because the images are so gorgeous and I just adore it’s energy. This deck definitely gives me fae vibes and it really feels like home! That Oracle deck definitely pairs well with it, I just might have to order it to pair with my Shadowscapes! Thank you so much for another wonderful article! 💙
Thanks so much for sharing! I have had this deck for a while, but I haven’t used it yet. Hearing you talk about each card, and seeing which oracles you paired it with helped a lot. I am really keen to start working with it now. Also, borderless looks SO much better! I need to do that. Just not sure if I should do it with my scissors or save up to buy a guillotine and trim it properly.