The Raven’s Prophecy Tarot

For artist and author Maggie Stiefvater, writing a book that mentioned tarot led her to create The Raven’s Prophecy Tarot. Now in its sixth printing you’d have to say that it’s proved to be a pretty successful offshoot project!

I’ve been aware of this deck for a while but until recently I chose not to add it to my collection because I wasn’t sure how I would work with it. However when I read the first line of the guidebook, “I love stories,” it became clear. Maggie Stiefvater is a storyteller and she has created this deck from that perspective. Throughout the guidebook she urges you to tap into you own inner creative life and that’s how I use it.

The Raven’s Prophecy Tarot Deck

The first thing that jumps out about these cards is the orange borders. Now normally I’m not a fan of borders but for me these work. I read a review that suggested that both the borders and the font gave the deck a pre-pubescent feel but, as someone with a granddaughter nearing that demographic – so definitely not me – I didn’t get that feeling at all. Rather, whether it was the intention or not, I link the orange borders with the creativity aspect of the sacral chakra.

The Raven’s Prophecy Tarot is a minimalist deck that requires you to build on the scene. When I read tarot I look for the story the cards are telling but with this deck the images act more like a writing prompt than a representation of the story itself. As a result some of the stories that come to mind are very different to those generally associated with the individual cards.

Take the Four of Cups and the Three of Cups pictured above as an example. The image on the Four of Cups is more appealing than the portrayal on the Three of Cups to me. I see two ravens emotionally connected spending time together in a way that reflects them both. Further I see that they are looking in the same direction so I see them moving forward together. And, I wonder whether they are relieved not to be caught up in the commotion happening over on the Three?

The Three is said to be a card of celebration and friends joining together but for me it looks chaotic. I have to admit that I’m not up on raven body language so maybe they are playful postures but since I’m creating the story I interpret it as I see it. Nevertheless, I also take the standard meanings into account. This leads me to question why I see the cards as I do. Therefore I believe it adds to the interpretative possibilities. After all, all stories are open to interpretation.

As Maggie Stiefvater writes:

Every spread is an opportunity to shape our current life events into a story with ourselves firmly installed as the hero at the heart of it.

General information about the cards

Maggie Stiefvater has retained standard names for the suits, Cups, Coins (Pentacles), Swords and Wands, however she doesn’t use the suit symbols to illustrate the cards. Birds or feathers represent the Cups suit. Roses and the tools used to cultivate them feature on the Coins cards, with hands for Swords and fire for Wands. Although for the Swords suit the hands do not carry through to the Court. There she uses blades on all but the Page. The Page features a feather which, given that she uses feathers to represent Cups, I find an odd choice. Therefore I’m curious as to how I will interpret the Page of Swords when it appears in a spread. Time will tell.

As far as the physical attributes go, The Raven’s Prophecy Tarot cards measure 7 x 11.75cm and are printed on low sheen cardstock. However since the largely black backgrounds are highly reflective, they are quite hard to photograph. Apart from that I find them easy to work with. They shuffle nicely in any manner and fan well. Worth noting for those that read with reversals, as can be seen above, these card backs are not reversible.

Discussions on some card pairs

1 The Magician & Eight of Swords

As someone with a thing for hands, I appreciate how they are used in The Raven’s Prophecy Tarot. When I look at the two cards above I see that The Magician has all the elements at his disposal. So what is he doing on the Eight of Swords? And, since the hands seem younger, is the action childish?

On the Eight of Swords the right hand is restraining the left with a vice-like grip. One hand is visibly causing the other discomfort. The story seems simple enough. Any restrictions this Magician feels are self imposed. But maybe that is too simple an interpretation. No individual card is always and entirely negative. As Maggie Stiefvater writes,

Even the most negative cards in the deck are ultimately focused on emotional health and becoming a better version of yourself.

So, what does that idea suggest? Maybe, these two cards presenting in this fashion are urging The Magician to reconsider his intentions. Could what they are wanting to manifest ultimately create pain and limitation? Or maybe they need to focus on creating a new reality that will free them from the restrictions caused by previous actions?

Now when I look at this pairing the saying, “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should,” comes to mind.

Maybe The Magician’s intended manifestations are childish, overly elaborate, or potentially dangerous and more thought is necessary. This deck is a powerful reminder that we should never default to a single story when we read the cards. Doing so could mean we miss the message altogether.

13 Death & 20 Judgment

This combination appeared in a spread I did recently. With the repeat of the crown and the way it is positioned on both cards I saw it as the end of an old story and thus the opportunity to write a new one. What that looks like is up to me.

Since, for me, a crown signifies power I started to think about some power dynamics that I need to address. Further it encouraged me to explore the thoughts I was giving power to and how they were impacting my choices. It always amazes me how powerful minimalist decks can be. A crown, a skull, a book and the colour orange have given me so much to consider.

I just flicked back through the images I have posted and I have to say that I can’t imagine this deck without its orange borders. Plus a strange thing happened. I found myself looking for where orange appeared within the image and now I see the Three and Four of Cups differently. The sunset on the Four suggests endings to me now and the orange on the feathers on the Three led me to think that they are creating their own fun.

One of the many, many things that keep me drawn to tarot is how dynamic it is. I wonder what will catch my attention next time? In this instance, I can’t ignore that the new impression follows me writing about Death and Judgment.

Seven of Swords & Page of Coins

For a minimalist deck to be interpreted in a plethora of ways it needs to use symbols that are readily open to interpretation. The Seven of Swords is a perfect example. Often the Seven of Swords is associated with deception. This is depicted here because the crossed fingers could indicate someone that has no intention of keeping a promise or doing as they suggested.

But on the flip side, this card can be read in a more positive manner. Sometimes, for various reasons, we are not ready to share our plans yet. In that instance the fingers might be crossed to indicate ultimately hoping for a good outcome. They could even suggest hoping for a positive outcome after some deception.

The Seven of Swords sitting alongside the Page of Coins gives the story some focus. It could be that the gardener is hopeful that a new or unusual approach will lead to the seedling growing well. Or maybe this isn’t the rose seedling you’d expect, (since roses are used for Coins), and the person who planted it is hoping that no-one will realise that until it is too late.

Or this could be interpreted along another line. Some decks, for example the Good Fortune Tarot suggest the Seven of Swords represents being in too much of a hurry and therefore not paying attention to details. Maybe that is the case here. Maybe the fingers are crossed because someone planted the seed without considering the timing. Now they are just hoping for the best. Each potential story is metaphorically strong. That is the power of this deck.

The Raven’s Prophecy Tarot Guide Book

The accompanying 184-paged guide book, Illuminating the Prophecy, is an enjoyable and easy read. This comes as no surprise since the creator is a prolific author. The book opens with an “Introduction” followed by chapters titled: About the theme; How to do a reading; The Spreads; The Major Arcana; and The Minor Arcana.

One of the spreads, The Ten-card Reading, has quickly become a favourite and at the moment is one of my “go to” spreads. I’ll share it in a post very soon.

Next, I like that both the Major and Minor Arcana are given the same attention. A black and white card image sits below the title with a few keywords along side it. This is followed by Maggie Stiefvater’s interpretations of the card. One of the aspects of her meanings that I believe makes this book so valuable is how she ties together cards. Nothing is interpreted in isolation. Nor does she hold tight to standard meanings when she doesn’t agree with them. I’ll use 8 Strength and Two of Coins as examples.

8 Strength

She lists the keywords for Strength as Patience, Control and Self-Belief. This is different to those you would normally see but in the write up she supports why she chose them. She writes that she finds the standard choices “unsatisfyingly thin” and “a little redundant” because to her “much of the the tarot deck is about internal strength”. She argues that, “this card begins to make more sense if you read it as fortitude in the long haul and if you replace the word strength with patience.”

Adding, “When this card shows up, you have been being strong, but this card says that you’re not done yet. Whatever burden you’ve been throwing yourself against is not going away any time soon, and you’re going to have to dredge up all of your patience and self-belief to get past it. This card asks you to be resilient, a far more difficult task than mere strength.”

The entry concludes with, “The art shows a fist – the Magician’s fist – held in solid belief. Remember everything you have learned about yourself before now and realize that you’re going to learn a lot more before this is over. And don’t just be strong. Stay strong.”

Two of Coins

Here, her interpretation made me see this card in a new light. She opens her explanation with the idea of having to balance and prioritise multiple concerns before adding, “Rather than stripping down to what you can handle right now, consider what can change to allow yourself to adequately tend all your concerns.” Normally when I see the Two of Coins I interpret it as trying to juggle too much which in the short term is manageable but if it is ongoing becomes unsustainable.

But when I read, “The art shows two rosebuds of equal size. A gardener could snip one bud off to allow a single bud to flourish more easily, or it could tend and feed the plant so that the bush can support both buds at once. The Two of Coins encourages you to do the latter,” I could see both the cost and a different option – ask for help rather than abandon something that is important to you. As I write this I realise just how pertinent that message is for me right now.

Both entries showcase the writing style you will find throughout this book. Maggie Stiefvater is a talented storyteller. In creating simple stories around the image, she brings each card to life.

Wrapping it all up

So who’s this deck for? The book makes it accessible to everyone but I wouldn’t straight up call The Raven’s Prophecy Tarot a beginner’s deck. Why? Firstly because I can’t claim that I could comfortably read this deck without relying on pre-existing knowledge. But I am aware that since I have been reading cards for over twenty-five years that is obviously going to happen with every deck.

Secondly, in my opinion, and I’m aware it is an opinion not shared by everyone, I believe a good beginner’s deck is one that uses RWS-based imagery because the knowledge gained is easily transferable from one deck to hundreds and hundreds of others.

Ultimately though, all I can rely on when deciding if I consider a deck is good for beginners, is whether I would suggest it to someone just starting out. In this case the answer is no. But, and it’s a big but, as always my default position is that if you’re drawn to a deck then it’s worth trying it out.

If this was your first deck I’d love to know how you found learning with it. Or if you have anything you’d like to share about your experiences working with minimalist decks, I’d love to hear about that too. You can either leave a comment below or send me an email by clicking here.

Summaries

The Raven’s Prophecy Tarot cards

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

The Raven’s Prophecy Guide book

Written by	Maggie Stiefvater
Pages	184 pp
Appearance	B & W, A5 sized book
Spreads	The Single Card Reading The Three Card Reading The Ten-Card Reading

Publishing Details

Created by:

Maggie Stiefvater

Pictured Version:

First edition, sixth printing, published in 2020 by Llewellyn Publications

Websites:

Maggie Stiefvater

Llewellyn Publications