Tarot of the Sidhe
The Tarot of the Sidhe is a very present deck. It helps you to see and to connect with the source of your thoughts and emotions and to understand how you’re bringing them to light. Therefore, I find they are great to use when I’m looking for guidance on the best way forward in the present moment. Better than that though, aligning with the Sidhe aligns us with our deepest and truest aspects. Identifying with these parts of ourselves enables us to present and embrace that self in our everyday lives. For me this isn’t a deck to help you plan what you may need to do in the future. This is a deck that shows you what you can do now.
The Tarot of the Sidhe Deck
I have had the Tarot of the Sidhe for many years. From the moment I flicked through it I felt a connection. So, when someone who shares my love of cards baulked at the imagery saying they found it too dark, I became hesitant to use them to read for others. I don’t feel that way now and I embrace the decks I connect with because I believe there’s a reason I do. I’m also aware that I don’t feel drawn to many decks that others love. That’s why it is so wonderful that there are so many decks available and why I continue to collect them. I truly believe there is a deck for everyone and I love that we have such different tastes. Each deck speaks in its own way which is great because it opens the way for so many different interpretations and general ways of seeing things.
These cards are structured along standard tarot lines in that there are twenty-two Major and fifty-six Minor Arcana but whilst they follow the standard RWS meanings their emphasis differs. Two of the Major Arcana have been renamed. V The Hierophant becomes V The Elder and XV The Devil in this deck is XV Pan. I really like the change to V The Elder for the exact same reasons cited in the book. I feel too often The Hierophant is weighed down with negative connotations that associate the card with rigidity rather than connecting it with Ancient Wisdom. I also believe that before we reject something out of hand, we should have an understanding of what it is we’re rejecting. This relates to the other meanings associated with the card as well – structures, institutions, traditions, dogmas etc. The Devil has been renamed due to its negative associations too. For those that are interested, Strength is XI and Justice is VIII in this deck.
The Major Arcana cards all have a glyph on them which, like the mandorla in the Healing Light Tarot, can be used as a point of focus. This offers a way into the card, especially for those who like to use their cards as a meditation tool. This glyph can be seen below on the tree stump of V The Elder (what are you bringing to the table comes to mind for me here) and in the water beneath II The High Priestess.
The Minor Arcana in the Tarot of the Sidhe, whilst adhering to the four suits of fourteen cards, differs more though. The suits are based on their elemental associations and have been renamed. Pentacles are Makers, Cups are Dancers, Wands are Warriors, and Swords are Dreamers. Once you connect with the suit names they make a lot of sense. For example, at the start of the Dreamer’s section, Emily Carding writes:
Dreamers teach us the power to create our own reality with our thoughts. When the self is balanced, then positive progress is made and dreams may be manifested. When the self is out of balance, then dreams become nightmares and we may inhabit a world of fears and delusions of our own making.
When considered in this way, calling the suit Dreamers seems more relevant than its more usual Swords.
Since the Minor Arcana are elementally focused, you cannot discern a card by looking for the number of cups, swords, wands or pentacles because the answer is always none. There is generally the applicable number of something although what that is isn’t always clear. The Dancer 8 card for example has eight hands and eight mountain peaks, and the Warrior 10 has ten “people” but knowing the card number makes that easier to notice. How powerful is the imagery on both those cards by the way?
What I appreciate about the cards may seem to contradict what I say I love about other decks but I don’t feel that is the case. I love the directness of this deck. Below you’ll find cards that are not the chirpiest in the deck yet I appreciate that they ask us to consider the role we are playing in the situation being represented. If you’re curious about the ribbon like wings, they represent the expansive energy of the Sidhe. This adds another layer to consider when interpreting the cards.
For example, on the Dreamer 5 card, the figure has cut away their “wings”. They have disconnected themselves from their own energy and given up hope because of someone or something that has happened. When we give up on our dreams, or let others diminish us, we are giving up on a part of ourselves that can and does endure. We may not be able to control our external circumstances, but we can handle how we react to them.
Dreamer 9 reminds us that it is us that breathes life into our nightmares. And it is us that allows them to take root in our mind. I acknowledge that knowing this and doing something about it are two very different things. Believe me as I sit here writing this I am actively trying to stop my mind from replaying the actions of someone I once called friend so I know it isn’t easy. I also know that until I learn to leave that hurt, that anger and my frustration behind, I am continuing to sabotage myself. Fortunately, I feel as if I’m almost there. I’m realising that I’m grieving the idea of what might have been rather than the true reality.
Dancer 4 serves as a powerful reminder that we can become focused on the “wrong” things and not see what is actually there. Whilst Maker 5 suggests that we should not lose sight of the fact that after the harshness of winter comes spring. We can choose what we focus on. It is ultimately up to us whether or not we focus on the current struggle or the reality that “this too shall pass.” Further, we can also consider what the situation may ultimately mean for us. Every experience, good and bad, offers something.
The cards when purchased measure approximately 9 x 12½ cm but I trimmed the thick black border from the sides on mine so they now measure 7 x 12½ cm. This makes them much easier to handle. The card stock is semi-gloss and a perfect weight – not too thick and not too thin – which makes them a delight to shuffle.
They have titles printed on them which is necessary since they are not easily discernible in their own right if you’re not already very familiar with general tarot card meanings. The Minors all have keywords at the bottom; however, these are printed in a smaller font so they don’t effect the aesthetic. Even though these are water colour and ink images drawn without pre-sketching, they have very bold colouring and clear imagery.
The Tarot of the Sidhe Book
The 96-paged card-sized book opens with a foreword by John Matthews. To be honest, I know for marketing reasons getting others to endorse you in some way is beneficial, but I enjoyed the creator’s Introduction much more. That is nothing against John Matthews. I have and love his Arthurian Tarot and the guide book that comes with it. I just like that after providing a brief insight into her understanding of the Sidhe, Emily Carding focuses on sharing her motivations and reasons for creating the Tarot of the Sidhe. I also really appreciate her approach. When she seeks to describe the Sidhe she writes:
Trying to describe the Sidhe is rather like trying to capture liquid light in a glass box, as their true nature is more truly felt and experienced than can be expressed in words or theories.
Therefore, rather than telling you what they are or are not, she urges you “to meet and experience their energy for yourself.” As I’m sure you’ve guessed I am a fan of this approach.
This is her overall advice for working with the Tarot of the Sidhe too. Form your own opinions/insights/connections with the cards before reading their meanings. Then, add what you discover in the book to your own insights. Not the other way around. If I was to teach tarot, that would very much be my approach so I appreciate this sentiment when it appears in the accompanying guidebook. She shares very much the same message with her other deck, The Transparent Tarot, which also has a wonderfully written book. I don’t usually quote directly from the guidebooks but I have done so when reviewing both of her decks. As you can guess, I like the way she writes.
In the card meaning section, the Major Arcana open with an oracle message which is then followed by a set of keywords and an “Artist’s Notes” section. This section shares the inspiration for the card as well as a description. The description unpacks the relevance of the various colours and aspects of the image. She also shares where the glyph is located. On some this is harder to find than others. I found this section interesting to read and it adds another dimension to the cards as it point out things that may have either been missed or just not considered previously. It also highlights that every inclusion has meaning.
She has taken a very different approach with the Minor Arcana. They are ordered by suit, which is common enough, but rather than providing explanations, each card has a four-lined poem followed by keywords. This may not appeal to everyone but I like this point of difference and I feel she has still managed to capture the essence of the card.
The book also offers a section on Meditation and Other Uses for the cards and five spreads.
Spreads
Three of the five spreads utilise a star shape:
- Single Card Spread
- Three Card Spread
- this includes several variations
- The Pentagram Career Spread (6 cards)
- The Hexagram Relationship Spread (7 cards)
- The Septagram Spread of the Whole Self (8 cards)
I found each of the star-shaped spreads beneficial and feel I will use them again. I followed the book’s advice and only used the Major Arcana for the Septagram Spread which I found provided a very straight up message. Overall I find the Tarot of the Sidhe is a great deck that I believe will connect you to you and encourage you to sing and own your own song. The book provides enough for a beginner to utilise the deck but if you’re looking for imagery similar to RWS decks then this isn’t the deck for that.
Publishing Details
Deck Creator:
Emily Carding
Pictured Version:
Published by Schiffer Publishing in 2010
