Tarot of the Witch’s Garden

Tarot of the Witch’s Garden is the second of Sasha Graham’s tarot decks. But please know they are very different. Her other deck The Dark Wood Tarot encourages you to embrace the shadow, while this one focuses on the light. In the opening pages of the guide book she shares a quote from Frances Hodgson Burnett’s book The Secret Garden

Everything is made out of Magic, leaves and tress, flowers and birds,

badgers and foxes and squirrels and people.

So it must be all around us. In this garden — in all the places.

which encapsulates the energy of this deck perfectly. It encourages you to both see the magic around you and feel the magic that exists within you. It also inspired me to re-read The Secret Garden which was a joyful and inspiring experience as well.

My experience with the Tarot of the Witch’s Garden Deck

It has taken me a long time to actually write about Tarot of the Witch’s Garden and initially I had no idea why that was. I’d actually started to wonder whether maybe I didn’t in fact like the deck and that was why I couldn’t write about it. But, each time I looked at Natasa Ilincic’s artwork, I just couldn’t convince myself that was the case. Not only did I find her watercolour art soothing and beautiful, I found the cards themselves easy to read. Nevertheless I couldn’t find a way to get started.

Finally I worked out why. When I did the Deck Interview Spread the 5 of Pentacles, 10 of Wands, and 3, 6, and 8 of Swords appeared. At the time it was pretty clear to me that this deck wanted to help me process some pretty heavy emotions, whereas I was happy to / hoping to leave facing those until later, much later. Awareness meant I would have to do something about the things I pretended weren’t bothering me. I may not have wanted to, but this deck wasn’t going to let me move on until I listened. What a gift that has been. The Tarot of the Witch’s Garden did indeed help me rediscover the magic by showing me both the locked door and where to find the key.

Some general information about the cards

Firstly, I noticed that the Tarot of the Witch’s Garden makes use of recurring motifs. One that really stood out to me is the house. The same house that you can see pictured above on the Ace of Swords and the Five of Cups also appears on the Ace and Nine of Pentacles; the Ace, Four and Ten of Wands; the Eight and Ten of Cups; the Seven of Swords; and XVIII The Moon and XIV Temperance. Not only does this create cohesion in the deck, it can also adds a layer of meaning.

In the Ace of Swords the house is bathed in sunlight whereas on the Five of Cups it appears dark and desolate. Is all as lost as she feels it to be? Or can she just not see? There is smoke coming from the chimney on the Five of Cups so the house itself is not deserted.

Court cards

Another thing that stood out to me is how accessible the Court cards are in this deck. There is no confusing the energy of the two Queens pictured above. You can see that the Queen of Pentacles is very much a part of her surroundings. She is connected to her environment whereas the Queen of Wands clearly dominates hers. Everything else fades into the background. Both seem comfortable with who they are though.

Card nominations

In Tarot of the Witch’s Garden, Sasha Graham has retained the standard RWS nominations with one small change – XII Hanged Woman. The suits are Pentacles, Swords, Cups and Wands with Kings, Queens, Knights and Pages for the Court. However, since she writes in the Introduction, “Welcome to the Tarot of the Witch’s Garden. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Magician (Sorceress or Witch, if you prefer) of the garden,” I’m surprised there aren’t a few more name changes. You may have heard about the numbering issues of earlier versions where Justice was numbered 10 and The Wheel of Fortune 11 but that printing error has been corrected in my version.

As for Strength and Justice, as can be seen above, Strength is VIII and Justice is XI. I love both of these cards. There is such gentleness in the Strength card. My initial notes about this card was about Mumma Bears and thus the link between, and impact of, mother/child relationships which is a very different take to how I would normally see this card. For me it raises questions such as, “Is she soothing mother wounds?” “Soothing and supporting the mother by listening to her concerns, her fears, her battles?” or “Being welcomed into the fold because her energy is non-threatening?”

On the Justice card, I like that the blindfold is around her neck. This card is about weighing up actions and consequences, not trusting in blind justice or hoping someone isn’t aware of the part you played in events. This deck focuses on the light but it doesn’t let you fluff over anything.

Card stock

The Tarot of the Witch’s Garden is printed on 7 x 11.75cm, linen card stock which is an absolute dream to shuffle. They are quite slippery but I prefer that to clumpy cards. Mine also have a slight bow. If you’ve noticed some colour bleed around the edges on my images, that is because as soon as I got these cards I felt compelled to edge them in a deep, leaf green. I used alcohol markers which on some card stock, such as this, does bleed. That doesn’t bother me, but it is something to be aware of.

Discussions on some card pairings

Two of Swords & Eight of Pentacles

When I look at the Two of Swords it looks to me like she’s sitting on a ground nest hoping to hatch something. But if that’s the case, her actions don’t make sense to me. Did she also build the archway hoping the wall would disappear? Is this Two of Swords about trying to ignore a bad decision or not making a decision because she’s holding onto an unlikely outcome? Or does the ivy growing over the wall suggest the opportunity has long gone?

Meanwhile, the crone on the Eight of Pentacles suggests all is not lost. It looks like she is making her wreaths from the archway leaves and teaching others how to do so as well. This also promotes the idea of apprenticeship that is often seen as a meaning for this card. I would add that both women have an opportunity to share their experiences to help those that are to follow though.

Four of Pentacles & XVI Tower

I’ve mentioned the recurring motifs already but here we can see another – the badgers. Badgers are said to symbolise persistence, the ability to dig deep to find the resources that reside within, and bardic traditions. They are here to share stories. For example, it is stated that the man on the Four of Pentacles broke into the garden with the intention to steal things that weren’t his. For his greed he was turned to stone. This is a cautionary tale.

But, one of the badgers wants people to know there is another way. Break the cycle before you become trapped by it. If the false beliefs created by false stories reach crisis point, he wants you to know that in the end you will be okay. If all else fails they’ll catch you before you hit the ground. Or better still, they’ll remind you to trust that you will find a way to break your own fall. Tower moments are usually not pleasant, but they seem favourable to being trapped indefinitely in an unfavourable situation.

Seven of Cups & Ten of Wands

This Seven of Cups is up there as one of my favourites. When I look at all the options she has available to her, the fact she has a lavender bush in her hand suggests to me she is going to choose peace. Sometimes things can look great from the outside but that doesn’t necessarily make it so. The woman on the Ten of Wands knows that. She knows she needs to leave. Generally, if a house is shown in this card, the person is moving towards it suggesting their journey is coming to an end. Here I believe that is still true, but not in the more traditional sense.

For this woman I see that something linked to the home was creating the burden and, unlike the man on the Four of Pentacles she was not prepared to sacrifice her life for material possessions. She’s heeding the badger’s call and trusting that she can create a better story by leaving what doesn’t serve her. For her and her child, a new story is to be found elsewhere. Sometimes the best choice isn’t any of the ones others are offering. As I said earlier, this deck focuses on the light but it doesn’t suggest it will always be easy. But, it will be worth it.

The Tarot of the Witch’s Garden Guide Book

The Tarot of the Witch’s Garden comes with a glossy, 300 paged, full colour guide book called Secrets of the Witch’s Garden. It is divided into four parts.

1. Tending the Soil which introduces basic tarot information
2. Planting Seeds which provides general information on the Major and Minor Arcana, tarot and astrology, tarot and numerology, reading colours, and meditation.
3. Cultivating Depth and Meaning, the section for card meanings
4. Harvesting Magic which shares spreads and spells

The layout is the same for both Major and Minor Arcana entries. For each card there is a full page illustration of the card. This may appear on either the left or right hand side which means it doesn’t always open the card entry but I like that random “notes” pages haven’t been included.

Each entry has the title followed by a keyword, the planetary or astrological associations, and a four line poem. Several paragraphs are dedicated to explaining the relevance of the card inclusions before an explanation of the card meaning is given. Next are keywords for both upright and reversed presentations. These are not just your typical, read-them-all-before iterations which is nice. Then she wraps it up with a section that reads “To right the reversal, ask:”

For XXI World the question is, What helps me live in the moment?”

and the poem is:

Dance of freedom, pleasure's gaze
Spirits gather in magic's haze.
Perfection threads your every move
There's nothing left at all to prove.

Wrapping it all up

Tarot of the Witch’s Garden is a gorgeous deck and despite the questions it forces me to ask myself I find it soothing. Some of the imagery feels a tad melodramatic, Three of Swords I’m looking at you, but I find those cards serve as a potent reminder to consider those traits within myself when confronted with those cards.

Overall, I would say this is a wonderful deck suitable for all levels of experience. Its rich symbolism ensures it can be read on multiple levels which is something I always appreciate and the artwork itself is beautiful.

Summaries

Tarot of the Witch’s Garden cards

Artist	Natasa Ilincic
Card Size	7cm x 11.75cm
Card Stock	Linen
Shuffle	Easy to shuffle in any manner
Fan & Flip Through	Easy to fan and flip through
Suits	Pentacles, Swords, Cups and Wands
Court	King, Queen, Knight, Page
Strength / Justice	Strength VIII; Justice XI
Miscellaneous	Solid box with magnetic closure

Tarot of the Witch’s Garden Guide book

Written by	Sasha Graham
Pages	300 pp
Appearance	Full-colour, A5 sized book
Spreads	Soul Mate Spread (3 cards) New Lover Spread (6 cards) Witch’s Garden Spread (5 cards) Finance Spread (4 cards) Happy Home Spread (4 cards) Ancestral Wisdom (5 cards) Love Spread (5 cards) Health Spread (5 cards) Life Transitions Spread (5 cards) Past Life Spread (3 cards) Life Choices Spread (4 cards) Sacred Soul Spread (5 cards) Dreamwork Spread (3 cards) Meet My Spirit Guide Spread (3 cards) Sign of Things to Come Spread (5 cards) Destiny Spread (6 cards)

Publishing Details

Created by:

Sasha Graham with artwork by Natasa Ilincic

Pictured Version:

First edition, Second printing, Published by Llewellyn Publications in 2023

Websites:

Sasha Graham

Natasa Ilincic