The Penumbra Tarot
Introduction
I find it difficult to nail down and easily describe The Penumbra Tarot. Everyday scenes, merpeople, animals, sea goats, and fae all feature, so inclusive, mythical, elemental, traditional and fantastical all come to mind. Inspired by the RWS, Mary-El, Thoth, and the Shadowscapes tarot, artist Eris Elisabeth says it “straddles the mundane and the otherworldly” and I can see that.
The first word that came to mind for me though was generous. There are two additional cards. On one you’ll find a William Blake quote and clear contact details to cover you just in case you have any issues with the deck. On the other you’re given access to a Moon Guide Spreads Book and an “Interview your new tarot deck spread”. Then there’s the 300 plus paged book, the quality card stock, the solid packaging, and the incredibly reasonable price for an independently produced deck. So yes, I believe generous is definitely appropriate.
The Penumbra Tarot Cards
Creator Eris Elizabeth took seven years to create the artwork for The Penumbra Tarot. She notes that for some cards she, “veered well off established rails” and to be honest that threw me a little bit. I think I was thrown off because while I have dedicated a lot of time to the study of tarot, and continue to do so, I am very much an intuitive reader. As such, rather than rattle me, different imagery generally stimulates my thinking. However, I am always layering my knowledge onto the cards. With this deck that just didn’t work with some cards.
A deck that has a system all of its own I am comfortable to work with because I commit to understanding and learning that system, but when many cards are familiar with only random cards suddenly very different I felt a bit lost. In the end I did what felt the most logical thing to do, I asked the cards how to work with them.
Firstly, I noticed that in the main section of the spread there is only one Major Arcana. This suggested to me that I was blowing things out of proportion. And, to be honest, when I looked at the spread it read pretty clearly. Through the overview, I discovered I had the necessary resources, but I had become caught up in a certain way of seeing things. To be fair to this deck I needed to overcome that. Trying to think your way through The Penumbra Tarot won’t work. Just sit with it, relax, trust and it will have a lot to say. I did, and it has. Shaking up my thinking has been a good thing and now I enjoy working with it.
Cards that initially surprised me
Nevertheless I’ll show you some of the cards that initially baffled me. For starters there’s the 8 of Torches pictured below. It gives me 8 of Cups vibes and indeed Eris Elizabeth’s description supports that feeling. She writes in her explanation, “It is time to move away. No longer will your energy be given to that which no longer serves you,” which sounds very 8 of Cup-py to me. I actually think it would have made a powerful 8 of Cups but 8 of Torches it is. I’m curious about how it reads I’ll interpret it in a spread.
The 9 of Cups pictured above is another card that confused me. Albeit it has really grown on me. I didn’t initially find this card appealing though so it didn’t feel right to me for the 9 of cups. Therefore now it serves as a reminder that essence is more important that appearances. This “sea-goat counts their fishies after hatching them and cares for them as well” which is lovely. There is a need to see past the superficial. That is also the case in what we wish for. I was surprised that Eris Elizabeth consciously linked the 9 of Cups to Capricorn but it made me consider the link between effort and contentment. Now I look and wonder why I baulked at this card.
Another thing that stood out to me, and it still does, is that the Throne (King) of Torches and the Crown (Queen) of Torches have swapped genders. That in itself doesn’t bother me. It’s that this is the only suit in which this occurs and I can’t quite understand why. I definitely don’t believe that court cards represent the specific gender pictured on the cards but I do see them as representing an energy that these cards have reversed. Nevertheless I like the art on each of these cards and I think personally I will reverse the titles when I read with them. Although my opinions on so many things to do with this deck have changed so who knows.
Things I loved from the outset
Moving on to some of the cards that I liked from the first flick through., I’ll start with XV The Devil pictured above. There really is something appealing about him which I think is great. After all that is the lure of The Devil. Initially things look and/or feel good and that aspect of The Devil is great. But, we can’t let it take hold, no matter how good it looks and initially feels. Fun and pleasure and contentment and service etc are great in whatever form they take but taken to excess they can impact our lives, our thinking, and our ways of being. Often we don’t realise that though until whatever it is has become firmly entrenched and hard to shift.
I just realised that I had placed the 6 of Swords alongside The Devil. How apt. I find there is something peaceful and supportive about this 6 of Swords. The presence of the dog feels reassuring. It’s like he has your back and will keep you safe as you move away from what has troubled you. Also, I see him as a working dog, there to keep urging you to move forward and not to turn back even if you are afraid. They have both turned their backs on The Devil.
I love the choice of the spider on the web for the 9 of Torches above. A spider has to constantly repair its web if it is to survive and so it does. There’s no question, the spider just has to put in the work each day. Therefore, for me, this card is about doing what needs to be done in order to achieve your objective. This has stuck with me to such an extent that I flashed to this card when the 9 of Wands came up during a reading with another deck.
I The Magician stood out to me because, like many cards in The Penumbra Tarot, it helped me to relook at certain ideas. For example, since the snake doesn’t form a complete lemniscate it suggested to me that when we expand our thinking to explore something new, that is when we leave our centre point and head out in a direction, we are not the same when we return. Whatever we choose to manifest will bring about change. So we need to give careful consideration to what we think it is we want and where it will lead us.
I also like the connection that the artwork choices create between certain cards. For example, I see that the seeds on the Judgement card have become your legacy on the 10 of Pentacles. Seek to understand who you are, and what you have and want to offer, then go ahead and live accordingly so you can grow into, and share with others, the most authentic version of yourself. I find this to be a powerful combination and as someone drawn to tapping into the ancestral knowledge contained within us, I feel drawn to write further on this Judgement card in the future.
Another example is the Ace and the 5 of Pentacles pictured below. Here, when set side by side, I see that the 5 of Pentacles wants us to see that we are the gift. We hold the potential within us to change our circumstances. The trusty dog is there to protect, comfort, and provide unconditional love until we realise our worth. She doesn’t care about appearances because she sees much deeper than that. Imagine if we could all see ourselves through our dogs eyes and not by how we think we should be and what we think we should have.
Other cards, such as the 10 of Torches and the 4 of Pentacles, pictured below, encourage a different focus. The 10 of Torches focuses more on the idea of leadership rather than being weighed down by the number of responsibilities you have taken on. This feels to be more about the actual burden of responsibility, on the need to do the “right” thing and to set an example for others to follow. It’s about owning that responsibility and acknowledging what is involved.
The 4 of Pentacles is more nurturing than is usually depicted. Growing a nest egg came to mind as did the need to gather your resources so you can nurture your creations. It focuses on creating stability rather than hording or greed or being miserly. I like that and I like how this deck makes me view myself.
The Court and the Suits
As has no doubt become clear, the Court cards and the suit of Wands have been renamed. In The Penumbra Tarot Wands are Torches and Elements (Pages), Agents (Knights), Crowns (Queens), and Thrones (Kings) make up the Court. It probably comes as no surprise that the Knights (Agents) aren’t all men riding horses. Nevertheless, animals still feature. Each card is represented by a different animal. I particularly like the Agent of Cups and the Agent of Pentacles.
The Agent of Cups appeals to me purely because I love octopuses. Whereas I like the kangaroo on the Agent of Pentacles for two reasons. One is because it is nice to see an animal native to Australia on a deck created by an Australian artist and two because of the symbolism. Kangaroos can’t jump backwards. They can make great leaps, up to 9 metres in a single bound, but they can also move quite slowly. The point is they move forward just like the Agent of Pentacles. I often hear people say he needs to get moving or he’s too slow but I don’t see him like that. I see him as reliable and dependable and like the kangaroo he keeps moving forward towards his goal.
Finally, I find the card back an interesting choice. Looking at the cards, I would have expected it to be more in keeping with the artwork. That’s just a personal thing. I do like the backs and the gilding. I just don’t see how it relates to the deck.
The Penumbra Tarot Guide Book
The chunky 343 paged, card-sized, full colour guide book is a collaboration between Ethony and Eris Elizabeth. It opens with a definition of penumbra. “A space of partial, illumination between the perfect shadow on all sides and the full light” is the first of three definitions given. Next is a detailed contents page that includes the page numbers for every card. This is an attractive and well put together book.
Ethony identifies as an eclectic witch and as such provides an Elemental Deck Blessing complete with instructions. I always love reading people’s personal approaches even if I don’t partake in them myself, as was the case here. She has also included a section titled, “Tarot Activities” designed to help you to get to know the cards. Next are four spreads, all of which I liked.
The card meaning section is broken into four parts:
- Legacy which provides upright and reversed meanings
- Apogee where artis Eris Elizabeth shares the channelled insights that inspired the card images
- Perigree where you’ll find additional snippets of information about the artwork
- A song that relates to the card.
I said earlier that this is a very generous offering and here is further proof. A full playlist titled “Penumbra Tarot” has been made available on Spotify. I have never seen this before.
Plus, I always enjoy when the artist shares her inspirations. For example, for 0 The Fool she explains that the rat is a shout out to the Fool in Robin Hobb’s trilogy. I haven’t read those books but now I’m curious. I enjoyed reading Ethony’s sections as well. Her explanations are more traditional so this book caters to all.
For VI The Lovers Ethony writes, “You may find that this card represents the balance and integration of opposing forces within you” which made sense to me. When I look at this version of the card I see healing what is sabotaging your peace, and choosing growth by shedding whatever it is that is holding you back, so you can soar. This is not how I normally perceive The Lovers card. I see the element of choice with my interpretation yes but the choices are different to the ones I would normally imagine. Then I read the Apogee. The serpent and the dove represent “divine twins who are so different and yet their aspiration to meld is a sweet ascendence to the most perfect, the most high,” and I saw even more. The two authors work so well together.
The book gave me more clarity on the two cards above too. Bushfires may initially ravage landscapes but afterwards the bush regenerates. Furthermore, certain seeds require the intense heat generated by fire to open. This is a powerful way to share the message of the 10 of Swords. I just didn’t understand that was what the card image was representing until I read the book.
I needed the book to help me understand the 2 of Torches too. It felt so very different. The story behind the card is that the elderly woman offers you a drink from her cauldron that will sustain you on the journey ahead. Reading that and incorporating my knowledge of the 2 of Wands made me think that we need to trust that if we leave our comfort zones we will find and receive the support we need to help us keep going. Now that I understand the idea behind the drawing I really appreciate this card. It came up in a personal reading I did this morning and the message was perfect.
I’ll end this section by sharing a quote worthy sentiment written by Ethony when describing the 4 of Swords:
Your value as a person doesn’t come from how useful you are to other people; it’s okay to allow yourself to just be.
Ethony
What a beautiful and powerful message to end on.
Conclusion
I wouldn’t normally consider a deck like The Penumbra Tarot to be a beginner’s deck but the wonderful guide book helps to make it so. Also I wonder if beginner’s mind would make it easier to fall into the world Eris Elizabeth has created. To click with this deck I needed to put my knowledge aside and speak to the deck directly and in some cases I needed the guide book to help me understand the story the artist was trying to convey. However, the more time that I have spent seeking to understand this deck on its own terms, the more connected I have become. Initially I struggled with the language of Penumbra but now I feel we communicate well and it was worth the time it took for me to understand what it was trying to tell me.
Summaries
The Penumbra Tarot Cards
| Card Size | approx. 8cm x 12.5cm |
| Card Stock | 350gsm, gilded, matte |
| Shuffle | Nice to shuffle overhand and/or long edge riffle but I still find it a bit stiff to riffle and bridge. It is a big deck though so may be a bit more challenging for those with smaller hands. |
| Fan & Flip Through | Thicker deck so initially a bit of a handful but once you’ve got it started, easy to flip though and easy to fan |
| Suits | Pentacles, Swords, Cups, Torches |
| Court | Element, Agent, Crown, Throne |
| Strength / Justice | Strength VIII / Justice XI |
| Miscellaneous | Solid box with magnetic closure. |
The Penumbra Tarot Guide Book
| Written by | Ethony and Eris Elizabeth |
| Pages | 343 pages |
| Appearance | Perfect bound, full colour, card-sized |
| Contents | Using the Deck Card Meaning Sections Elemental Tarot Deck Tarot Activities Tarot Spreads The Major Arcana (each card listed with page numbers) The Swords The Torches The Cups The Pentacles About Ethony Eris The deck’s journey |
| Spreads | Penumbra Tarot Spread Elements Guidance Tarot Spread Out of the Muddle Tarot Spread Navigator Tarot Spread |
Publishing Details
Deck Creators:
Eris Elizabeth (artist) with guidebook by Ethony and Eris Elizabeth
Publisher:
Published by Ethony Enterprises Ltd in 2021
Websites:
