Monday is Tarot Day: Revisiting a Deck - The Fairytale Tarot

Maybe it's because I've been helping out with set painting for a local production of "Into the Woods", a play which takes fairytale archetypes and builds a thought-provoking musical around them.  Maybe it's because it's been three months since I've walked the hallowed paths of Disneyland.  Whatever it is, I've been drawn to my Fairytale Tarot deck once again.  It's been a long while since I've worked with it; I'm enjoying the reunion.

The deck, published in 2005, is the handiwork of the incredible folks at Magic Realist Press, the immensely-talented Karen Mahony and Alex Ukolov (aided by Irena Triskova, illustrator) who are responsible for me purchasing all sorts of magical, beautiful items from Prague, Czech Republic.  I'm on tenterhooks about their upcoming Alice in Wonderland deck - but that's a story for another day.

The deck follows the classic Rider-Waite "template", and each card has the same relevance as its RW counterpart.  But what sets this deck apart is gorgeous artwork and the way the authors have taken famous tales, like Cinderella and Puss and Boots, as well as lesser-known stories from around the world and deftly fit them to each card's inherent meaning.

Here's a sample, so you can see some of the cards for yourself.  A quick, three-card, past-present-future reading.  I'll keep the topic to myself, but I'll show you the spread:

So, what we have here is the Four of Cups in the recent past position.  The fairytale for the card is "The Boy Who Wanted to Learn Fear".  It's a Brothers Grimm tale about a boy who feels ... nothing.  He's disconnected from emotion.  And, yes, this applies to my query.

The card in the present position is The Tower, here represented by the tale, Deirdre of the Sorrows, an old Celtic fairytale, which you can read about here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deirdre.  It's wickedly sad.  It's also about necessity of shaking things up.  And, yes, after having dealt with a flood in our house and having to re-evaluate much, this definitely applies to my situation.  It's a no-brainer, actually, a "well, DUH."

Finally, the Nine of Wands takes its place in the near future position.  It tells the story of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, a Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm "household tale".  And, yes, it's definitely ringing true: I'm battle-weary, but know that better things are just ahead, waiting for me to seize them.  I've been through a lot, and there's even more to deal with, but I'm persistent!

The Fairytale tarot deck's accompanying book is a "must" if you're planning on getting the deck itself.  I've spent many an hour just sitting back and relaxing with it, learning tale after tale from all over the world.  As for picking up your own Fairytale Tarot - it's going to be a tad difficult: when visiting the Baba Studio website (http://baba-store.com/tarot-books/out-of-print-decks/fairytale-tarot.html), I noticed the book is still for sale, but the cards and card/book set are out-of-print.  If you stop by Amazon, you can still find them, but for a pretty penny.  You can also try your luck on Ebay, but, again, it'll cost you.  But is the hunt worth it?  Most definitely!