Connolly Tarot

As the box says, this bright, yet subdued, tarot deck created by the mother and son team, Peter Paul Connolly and Eileen Connolly, is “reminiscent of medieval stained glass.” The artwork is full of rich, royal purples, emerald greens, pinks ranging from soft dusty tones to bright magentas, deep blues, aquas and teals, and golden yellows. The Connolly Tarot is a really pretty Rider Waite inspired deck.

The Connolly Tarot Deck

Like every deck this one will not appeal to everyone. Some people are critical of what they perceive to be the overly gentle nature of these cards. I don’t find this an issue. It isn’t as if the deck shies away from the messages themselves. It just doesn’t show people pierced with swords, or skeletons with scythes. I have to admit that I was initially hesitant because reviews had suggested the cards were all light and overly positive but I don’t find that to be the case. Just because we need to deal with an issue doesn’t mean it has to be presented in an overwhelming and frightening way.

In fact, I think sometimes that can be a bad thing. When people see the Death card appear, with its sometimes gruesome imagery, they can either become fixated on it or try to avoid it – neither of which is overly helpful. After all, what reader doesn’t see the Death card and seek to reassure their client that it’s indicating a process of transition that, whilst it may be painful, is a sign that it’s time to leave a painful situation behind. Of course that isn’t an exhaustive interpretation, but I’d like to think, that no-one would say, “yeah, it’s the Grim Reaper, someone’s going to die.”

So, renaming the Death card Transition isn’t skirting the message. On the card you can see his world, or at least part of it, has been destroyed in some way and that something foundational that was once black and white for him is no longer. His power and beliefs have been challenged. It seems he is favouring connecting to Spirit (please insert whatever word feels comfortable for you when you read that), but whatever his choice, he is ready to move on. The sun is rising on a new day and there is a new path available to him. It might start off feeling a tad rocky underfoot, but the way forward is there. Much more information is contained and can be interpreted from the card. I don’t think it is shallow or ignoring what needs to be acknowledged.

The Devil has also been renamed to Materialism. I don’t think it ignores the message of being chained to damaging thoughts, actions, material possessions at all. It just presents the idea without incorporating a satanic figure – as do many other decks. The Robin Wood Tarot comes to mind. Many of the images align closely to the Rider Waite but some are quite different. For the most part I love how they have been represented.

Apart from the two Major Arcana name changes I have already mentioned, the deck follows the standard Rider Waite namings. The suits are Pentacles, Swords, Cups and Wands and the court consists of Kings, Queens, Knights and Pages. Strength is VIII and Justice is XI. The cards themselves measure 7cm x 12cm and have a distinctly plastic-y feel. I’m not saying that as a bad thing, just that they feel different to my other decks. Whilst fairly slippery, they are still easy to work with.

All the cards are numbered using Roman Numerals which I’m not entirely in favour of. I prefer only the Majors to be numbered that way. Also, the suit is not written on the card. It is still easy to see what the suit is, because they are housed within the pictures, but I find when glancing at the cards overall, it isn’t as readily obvious if there is a preponderance of a particular suit as it is in most decks. The suit is written on the Court cards though. As you can see from the images I have put up, unfortunately the labels invade the cards of the Court and the Major Arcana. I would much rather if that wasn’t the case.

The Connolly Tarot Book

The little white book doesn’t offer anything other than the meaning of the cards. The Major Arcana has a description of the card and a “key” which explains what the card represents. Meanings are also given for reversals. For the Minor Arcana they’ve only provided a “key” and reversed meanings. If you’re new to tarot it’s definitely enough to get you started. There’s also a brief bio of both creators; however, the information is dated, even taking into account the deck’s publication date. It mentions Eileen Connolly is the President of the Connolly University of Parapsychology which indeed she was. But, the University was dissolved in 1989. This takes nothing away from the cards and the creators contribution to Tarot though.

There was an accompanying book, Eileen Connolly’s Tarot – The First Handbook for the Master, which uses these cards. Yet even second hand it isn’t readily available. If you’re after a way to delve more deeply into these cards, I’d recommend 21 Ways to Read a Tarot Card by Mary K Greer.

Spreads

Only one spread is offered:

The Celtic Cross (10 cards)

Overall, I think this is a beautiful, user-friendly deck that has something lovely to offer as it has reimagined several of the cards in such a way that makes the story easier to interpret. It’s lack of “dark” imagery makes it a great deck to use when introducing people to tarot, without compromising the integrity of the Tarot system it is based upon.