Mythic Tarot

The artwork in this edition (1986) is absolutely fantastic and very detailed. The medium appears to be hand-drawn pencil in a storybook style, but don’t be deceived - the imagery is incredibly detailed, down to blades of grass and wings of insects, feathers on birds and and rock and field and cave surfaces! Nothing less than you would expect for a depiction of the Greek myths! (There is a later version - 2011 - where I personally do not find the artwork as appealing, but each to their own!)

As far as Tarot Tradition, I feel this belongs in the RWS camp, although there is nothing specific that would indicate so other than the assigned card titles themselves. The cards of the Major Arcana are not numbered, so you can place them in any order you like - RWS or Thoth, whichever - or even something that fits your own interpretation. Others have deemed the deck to be of “mixed” tradition, so, as always, the decision is in the eyes of the beholder. Some of the variations to the RWS symbology I am describing here, so that you can make an informed decision over whether you would buy this deck to use for divination or esoteric study, for meditation or self-reflection, or just to collect as a representation of the Greek myths themselves.

The Fool - Gone is the little dog companion and the bag on a rod with his dreams and hopes. Instead, we have an eagle watching dispassionately from the branch of a tree. No flower to distract our erstwhile friend either. Instead, he is waving at either the rising or the setting sun as he steps off the cliff.

The Magician - He still points as above, so below, but gone is the wand and, interestingly for a Greek myth, his Ourobouros belt is also missing. He does have the four symbols of the Minor Arcana suits on a rock, but the Roses and Lilies are also gone.

The High Priestess - carries what appears to be a pomegranate, and still guards the passage to a brighter, green and pleasant land. But gone are the references to the Moon - mystery and deception - as is the Torah - so missing the Book of Law and Wisdom.

The Hierophant - Gone are the acolytes and, naturally, any Christian symbology. However, a mythical Centaur peers from a cave, and while he may be a fount of tradition, there dearth of symbols from which to derive additional meaning.

Strength - The meaning is somewhat changed here, with our RWS woman being transformed into a muscular man subduing the lion by brute force rather than by strength of will! Interestingly, there is a discarded club (Wands?) and a broken Sword on the ground, indicating their futility against the wild animal.

Details of the Deck:

Tradition: RWS

Major Arcana: 22 cards

Minor Arcana: 56 cards

Court Cards: Page, Knight, Queen, King

Fire Suit: Wands

Air Suit: Swords

Water Suit: Cups

Earth Suit: Pentacles

Designer(s): Juliet Sharman-Burke, Liz Greene

Artist(s): Tricia Newell (1986), Giovanni Caselli (2011)

Publisher: Fireside Publishing (1986), St. Martin’s Press (2011)

Where to buy… WIP

Wheel of Fortune - Gone are the four fantastic beings to be replaced by the three Fates - Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos - weaving the Thread of Life. When enough of your Thread has been spun, Atropos will cut it with her shears, killing you off!

The Hanged Man - is no longer suspended from the Tree of Wisdom and Knowledge. He is not manacled to a wall of rock. His halo has gone too, so less chance of self-enlightenment.

Death - No Horseman of the Apocalypse here, as is only correct. This is Greek mythology, not Judao-Christian theology!

The Devil - has been reduced from being Satan or some other demonic being to the lesser god Pan playing his pipes to make his captives dance.

The Tower - is here being ravaged by Poseidon - albeit to similar effect as the RWS version.

The Star - is played here by Pandora, as I previously explained. But no Waters of Life and Spirit feed the pond and land, so while the Evils all escape, the Star of Hope replaces the flowering lawns.

That’s probably enough to give you and understanding of the variations possible within the RWS tradition. These changes do not detract from the deck, but they do make it more difficult for a beginner to use the deck.

Another unique aspect of this deck is the way in which each suit of the Minor Arcana portrays one legend from Greek mythology. The Wands tell the story of Jason and the Argonauts searching for the Golden Fleece, while the Swords tell the tale of Orestes and the curse of the House of Atreus. (I almost wrote Atreides there - slipping back to Dune! LOL) The Cups relate the love story between the god Eros and the mortal Psyche - a precursor to Romeo and Juliette, albeit with a much happier ending, and the Pentacles tell of the craft of Daedalus and the building of the Labyrinth.

All in all, this is definitely a deck worth investing in, as it satisfies on so many levels. Having said that, the cards themselves are not very thick - somewhat less than 350 gsm I’d say - so are rather flimsy and easily bent. I’m not sure if the new edition resolved that.

Anyone who is familiar with Greek Mythology will easily identify each of the tales woven into the deck. Being a fan of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, I also was pleased to see how many of those tales found their way into this collection of artwork. The ability to tie these images back to something as familiar as the Gods of Ancient Greece helps to build that psychic relationship between the cards and the reader's emotional involvement, making for a better reading experience.

One of my favourite cards in this deck is The Star, from the Major Arcana, which shows the erstwhile Pandora, kneeling naked before the box of evils which she has just unleashed upon the World.  Above her shines the beautiful, radiant Star of Hope, which, if you remember the legend, was the only thing remaining in the box when everything else had fled. You may find, as you wander through this website, that I hold great interest for The Star cards in any deck.  It is the great card of Hope, bringing a successful outcome to most readings. Other cards that tend to grab my attention are the Ten of Swords, with its abrupt and often gruesome connotations, The Devil or its representation, and, naturally, the great leveller, Death! The last two cards are, of course, some of those that, for many, tie Tarot back to the dark side of the Occult, with its black magic connotations - more of which I touch on in other pages on this site.

Major Arcana:

0 - The Fool

1 - The Magician

2 - The High Priestess

3 - The Empress

4 - The Emperor

5 - The Hierophant

6 - The Lovers

7 - The Chariot

8 - Strength

9 - The Hermit

10 - Wheel of Fortune