The Intuitive Night Goddess Tarot

As soon as I saw the hands on the inside of The Intuitive Night Goddess Tarot box I felt connected. That might sound strange but a) I have a thing about hands and b) when I looked at the box as pictured below, I thought yes the power of the Universe is in our hands. This is not the first thing that usually comes to mind when I’m looking through my tarot decks but I think it should be now.

Most decks have a sales pitch of sorts on the back of the packaging. On this box there’s no card images. Instead it feels as if it’s all about the reader rather than the cards or the creator. The box simply says:

If you’ve read much of my stuff you would know how much I connect with that sentiment so without realising it when I bought it, this deck and I have the same philosophy.

The Intuitive Night Goddess Tarot Deck

When I flick through The Intuitive Night Goddess Tarot no individual card stands out to me. When I do a reading with them though, they speak to me clearly through the many clever details woven into each card. Some decks I see on You Tube, Instagram or wherever else, jump out at me. In these cases, I’m totally drawn to their artwork. Yet even though that wasn’t the case with this deck, without me totally understanding why at the time, it went straight into my on-line shopping cart, left very briefly, only to be returned again very quickly.

I knew very little about The Intuitive Night Goddess Tarot before I came to find myself flicking through my copy. This is quite unusual for me as I usually research decks before I buy them. Though, if I’d known more about it, I doubt it would have ever left my shopping cart. If I’m honest I still wouldn’t say it is up there with my favourite looking decks, but it’s up there with my favourites all the same because of how well I find it reads.

As you can see, this is a collage deck that combines digital artwork and hand drawn illustrations to “present an abundant nature scene beneath a starry sky.” That’s what draws me in. Nature scenes which include some of my favourite animals, combined with stars and some crystals make me feel at home. That’s the best way I can describe how I feel about this deck. I’m at home with it.

Plus, even though I love mythology, I like that in this instance the Goddesses shown are archetypal representations rather than depictions of specific Goddesses. This ensures the cards are open to everyone. I also love the creators main mantra:

Unfold your own myth

If you have read any of my writing, you’ll know how dear to my heart that idea is. All the work I do emanates from my belief that we should be the author of our own life stories.

The Intuitive Night Goddess celebrates the power of intuition and intention. For me, the focus on intention is the real strength of this deck. In line with this, many of the Major Arcana have been renamed. In The Intuitive Night Goddess Tarot the Major Arcana is as follows:

• 0 Potential (The Fool)
• I The Witch (The Magician)
• II The High Priestess
• III The Empress
• IV The Monarch (The Emperor)
• V The Mystic (The Hierophant)
• VI The Wayfarer (The Lovers)
• VII Freedom (The Chariot)
• VIII Strength
• IX Introspection (The Hermit)
• X Chance (The Wheel of Fortune)
• XI Justice
• XII Meditation (The Hanged Man)
• XIII Death
• XIV Temperance
• XV Reclamation (The Devil)
• XVI Revolution (The Tower)
• XVII The Star
• XVIII The Moon
• XIX The Sun
• XX Awakening (Judgement)
• XXI The Universe (The World)

These cards raise questions in order to help you find the answers you seek. Well that’s been my experience at least. I mean look at the The Mystic. She is a mermaid and yet she is predominantly out of the water. This says to me, at this moment at least, look within but then come to the surface to act on what you find. And what is the purpose behind the two moons? They are the same and yet look very different. I see the poppies and think remembrance and opiates. I see the book in the water and think aagh wet book on one hand and write from what you discover within on the other. Then there’s the tail and the candle, the fact the poppies appear to be growing out of the water, the relevance of the keys in or on the book. This speaks to me so much more than most depictions of The Hierophant.

That’s what I love about these cards. They draw insights out and create understanding and I find they encourage me to consider the aspects of both the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine. They don’t just uncover things, they also encourage you to act on what you uncover.

I don’t necessarily find them beautiful to look at but I do find they show me clearly what I need to see, consider, and do. They encourage me to question not just what I’m doing but why which serves to make me accountable for my thoughts and actions. If you don’t already do so, if you start working with these cards, I suggest keeping a journal close at hand.

The Minor Arcana retains the typical nominations: Cups, Wands, Swords and Pentacles. However, the Court has been largely renamed. Here you meet The Nymph, The Warrior, The Queen and The Spirit. They too have a lot to say.

The cards themselves, at 7 x 12 cm are standard tarot size, matt, and printed on reasonable card stock. They riffle and bridge okay but they don’t fan smoothly. And, since they don’t slide easily, it’s a fairly slow process to make your way through the cards one at a time. I noticed also that the cards appear to have slight variations in size which, as someone who trims borders off with scissors, I can live with but I was surprised to see nonetheless.

Unfortunately on my copy many of the cards have a slight crease in the upper left hand corner which I’d really rather wasn’t there. It doesn’t make me want to send them back but I’m not sure how well they’re going to hold up. Time will tell. Although, I have just spent some time shuffling them every which way and they seem to have held their shape well so hopefully they’ll be fine. I’m sure they’re going to get a lot of use.

The Intuitive Night Goddess Tarot Book

The card-sized book has a white font printed on black gloss paper which can make it a bit difficult to read in certain conditions. Too much bright light is not favourable, but it’s worth persisting because the book is insightful, encouraging, supportive and uplifting. If you’ve read many of my deck overviews you’d know that’s not something I’d normally write about an accompanying book but it really feels appropriate here. Maybe I just really have a soft spot for these cards.

The book opens with a page of mantras followed by information about the deck and how to work with the cards. The creator, Linzi Silverman, then explains how she sees the tarot and what the suits and court represent before moving on to a breakdown of each card. For each card of both the Minor and Major Arcana a description of each card and what it can represent is followed by four or more keywords. I like that the keywords are presented at the end of the information. It really changes the focus.

At the end of the book there’s a quick reference guide that provides the keywords for each card all in one place which is helpful for those wanting easy access. Here you’ll also find the deck’s origin story and information about the creator. The book definitely provides enough to get you started.

Spreads

There are sixteen spreads included in the book:

• Four Card Spread
• 11 suggestions for Three Card Spreads
  • Some examples are:
    • Intention / block / solution
    • Logic / emotion / decision
    • You / direction / potential
    • Start / stop / continue
• Seven Card Chakra Spread

This deck is different to many of my others but I feel that’s it’s strength. It’s a deck that feels as if it’s really there for the user. That may seem strange to write but there’s something about how the images are woven together that really encourages you to act upon the insights it helps to uncover. It’s not a straight up beginner’s deck since it doesn’t strictly adhere to the RWS nominations and meanings but if it appeals to you then I believe the guidebook provides enough to make this a useable deck for anyone drawn to work with it.

Publishing Details

Deck Creator:

Linzi Silverman

Pictured Version:

Published by Ulysses Press Licensed Edition 2020