Tarot at the End of the Rainbow
Flip through the Tarot at the End of the Rainbow and you’ll discover a world inhabited by leprechauns, satyrs, faeries, and centaurs, harpies, mermaids, elves, and goblins, giants, sprites, dwarfs, and trolls, gnomes, treants and orcs. You’ll even come across a kelpie and a unicorn-centaur. So yes, there’s many magical folk to meet. Each is there to take you on an adventure but don’t be mistaken on where that may lead. It isn’t all sunshine, although there is always a rainbow. After all, there is magic to be found in the shadow as well.
About the Tarot at the End of the Rainbow Deck
When looking at brightly coloured cards filled with magical creatures it can be easy to dismiss the deck as something that’s nice to look at but not much more. Yet if you approach this deck from that perspective it could be easy to miss what it has to offer.
Many mythologies feature rainbows. The Tarot at the End of the Rainbow focuses on Celtic lore and its assertion that “rainbows contained riches at their end and lead people to another place.” Where that place ends up being is totally up to you.
In my deck interview the deck described itself this way, “I am a deck that wants you to take hold of the magic at your disposal. I want you to see the magic you hold in your hand.” It went on to add that its “strength is to encourage you to access all that is available to you.” When I asked how, it answered with The Hierophant – connect with your core values and go from there. It’s not going to give you the answers necessarily but, just like the rainbow that features in some form on each card, it’s going to point you in the right direction.
Follow the rainbow
It makes that aspect as simple as possible. The book encourages you to “look to the rainbows for clues in where to focus the cards meaning and energy.” In other words, when you look at the 2 of Wands, the focus is on the world. How small is your world? Have you outgrown it? Is it time to leave it behind and move on? Unlike a typical RWS clone, which this deck very much is, he is not holding the world. In this instance he has placed it down and kept moving. Therefore, it appears he has already made the decision to leave his comfort zone.
On the Wheel of Fortune it is the butterflies and the fairy wings that are rainbowed. Thus transformation and movement come to mind. But, there is something mischievous about this card. It feels cautionary. The multiple “rainbows” suggest it is easy to become distracted. Further, the book warns that, “a snake hides in the roots below waiting to strike.” That made me look back at the 2 of Wands.
Now I wonder whether his decision was a bit hasty. Has he fallen prey to the-grass-is-greener type thinking and too readily dismissed the magic that exists in his current world? Now I’m questioning whether the clouds in the distance are forming or clearing? Nothing is ever black and white. Only we can provide the answers. The deck’s job is to get us to ask ourselves the questions.
Comments on some cards
IV The Emperor and III The Empress
I really like this Emperor. In most decks I prefer The Empress but here her face looks mask-like. I recognise the wheat indicates abundance, and Venus features the rainbow but this card doesn’t feel alive and bursting with creative energy whereas The Emperor does. When I look at him I see that true success and leadership brings light and growth to everyone. He has the power, but, as the flow of the rainbow suggests, the focus is on how to use it to light other people’s worlds. To me, it feels like their energy has been reversed.
A note on the Kings
This idea carried through to the Kings too. Normally I would expect to see the suit symbols on these two cards reversed. The King of Swords often appears cold, ruled by intellect alone, while the King of Pentacles is a successful yet generous business man.
In the Tarot at the End of the Rainbow you can see that the King of Swords has dedicated himself to growing his intellect which allows him to understand information others don’t. Therefore his clarity is a source of light.
When I first looked at the King of Pentacles I found him to be harsh and not a version I liked all that much. But, then I thought about what it represented and I saw something different. In many versions of the King of Pentacles we see the grapes, the lush clothing, and the level of comfort he’s achieved but nothing to indicate the work it took to build his wealth. Here you can see the work involved. He didn’t inherit his wealth; he built it. If the armour is anything to go by he did so with his own blood, sweat and sleepless nights. I like that these versions celebrate both intellect and effort.
Physical aspects
All in all though, as I said earlier, this is a RWS clone. Therefore the suits are Pentacles, Swords, Wands and Cups. This is only obvious when you look at the book because each sign is shown symbolically with the Major Arcana represented only by its Roman numeral. While the card backs are not reversible, I don’t think they will cause an issue for those who read with reversals.
The cards measure approximately 6.5cm x 12cm and are great to work with straight out of the box. They are on the slippery side but I much rather that to clumpy. It makes them easy to fan and quick to flip through when searching for a particular card.
Some randomly selected pairings
I’ll keep this fairly brief so this post doesn’t become overly long.
XIX The Sun & 2 of Swords
The obvious story could be that trying to focus on what will make us feel happy and abundant can lead to indecision. Or that thinking life is always joyous and wonderful will likely lead to us questioning our life choices. I can see that.
But I see this pairing as a warning. Comparing yourself to others can leave you feeling indecisive and aiming for things that aren’t for you. I mean come on, The Sun features a unicorn-centaur, as if either on their own isn’t enough. Further, it can be easy to look at the surface and judge things against what we see rather than what is true for either ourselves or the person we are comparing ourselves to.
This may seem like a strange interpretation to have come to but I followed the rainbow. The grass is definitely greener in the background on the Two of Swords but it’s not shown as nice, flat, grass-covered fields. Rather they are grass-covered mountains which for me represents challenges. And, that’s without considering the waters she’ll have to cross to get there and what that could suggest.
XX Judgement and 10 of Wands
The Judgement card raised questions around fate and destiny, particularly what it all means, and how I feel about the idea. Fortunately, the 10 of Wands brought me back down to Earth. Regardless of what my beliefs may be around these topics, and to be honest they change, the important thing is to hold the belief that, just like this satyr, I can manage the journey. Better still, rather than worrying about the challenges, (look where the rainbow begins), I can focus on where it is I’m heading, even if all I can see at this stage is the potential end of the bridge.
The Tarot at the End of the Rainbow Guidebook
As this is a Lo Scarabeo deck it comes with a multilingual LWB. This one is in English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. However, while short, (the English section is 20 pages), it offers enough to get you started with the deck. It opens with an introduction that shares the relevance of rainbows both throughout the ages and within the deck before heading straight into the card meanings.
The structure for both the Major and Minor Arcana are the same: a quick description of the image followed by keywords for both upright and reversed presentations. Since they are brief I will share two complete entries.
XII The Hanged Man
A faery holds a leprechaun by his boot. The hanged man reaches precariously out towards a bucket of gold at the end of the rainbow. A bit stereotypical, wouldn't you think? Keywords: Sacrifice and surrender; perspective; desire for what is ahead. Reversed: Stagnation; being selfish; waning faith; awake to new challenges.
3 of Pentacles
Three trolls sit around a late-night fire telling stories. Rainbow flames rise into the sky. Keywords: Teamwork; every small step counts; work in harmony with others. Reversed: Operating alone; not taking advice; fighting against authority.
The book wraps up with a simple 8-card, theme-based spread, The Rainbow
Wrapping it all up
Okay, full disclosure, I don’t reach for Tarot at the End of the Rainbow very often. In fact, I was surprised that it was the next one that I felt called to write about, but I figured there was a reason. Most of the time I find that the deck I’m writing about has a specific message that only it could deliver. However, in all honesty that wasn’t the case here.
For the most part it’s an RWS clone that uses fantasy characters to “people” the cards. I don’t have an issue with that in the slightest though because I know that many people coming to the tarot, and even many that have been working with it for years, don’t connect with the RWS. Maybe that is why it called to me. That would make sense since one of my main aims when starting this blog was to showcase a wide range of decks so people could find one they connected with.
However, many of the decks I have written about of late, while generally adhering to the RWS system, have their own take on some of the cards which, while great for those like myself constantly looking for something different and new, isn’t necessarily great for those starting out. The Tarot at the End of the Rainbow is though. It’s a brightly-coloured, enchanting deck with several cards that artistically I’d rank alongside my personal favourites. Plus the inclusion of the rainbows provides a helpful focal point. Now I’m left wondering why I don’t reach for it more.
Summaries
Tarot at the End of the Rainbow cards
| Artist | Davide Corsi |
| Card Size | 6.5cm x 12cm |
| Card Stock | Satin |
| Shuffle | Great to shuffle in any manner |
| Fan & Flip Through | Fine to fan and flip through |
| Suits | Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles although only represented symbolically so can be anything you choose. |
| Court | King, Queen, Knight and Swords although also only symbolically represented on the card title so you can allocate any title. |
| Strength / Justice | Strength VIII, Justice XI |
Other decks by Davide Corsi include Viceversa Tarot, Tarot of the Elves, Pictorial Key, and Ghost Tarot.
Tarot at the End of the Rainbow Guide book
| Written by | Jaymi Elford |
| Pages | 63 pp covering four languages |
| Appearance | LWB |
| Spreads | The Rainbow (8 cards) |
Other decks in my collection with guidebooks written by Jaymi Elford include Triple Goddess Tarot, Heaven and Earth Tarot, Runic Tarot, and Vox Arcana. If you click her link in the publishing details below you can discover all her work.
Publishing Details
Created by:
Davide Corsi with text by Jaymi Elford
Pictured Version:
Published by Lo Scarabeo in October 2021
ISBN 13: 978-0738770864
Websites/Socials:
