Legend: The Arthurian Tarot

Overview

Coming slightly forward (perhaps) in time from the previous deck, the next deck I collected moves into the true Celtic/Druidic tradition, and takes us into the The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table! (Sorry, Rick! :)) Or, more accurately, the Legend: The Arthurian Tarot!

This deck, while very similar to the Wildwood Tarot we discussed previously, is much more tied into the familiar people and stories that make up the various Arthurian cycles. While we find recognizable deities such as Cernunnos and Lleu among the denizens of this deck, we also find representations typical of the stories we have been told about Arthur, Merlin, Guinevere, Lancelot, Galahad, Percival and so on.

The deck comes in a tuck box with a LWB. The cardstock is reasonable although not wonderful, but the cards shuffle easily and are standard Tarot card size. The LWB has a small overview of the Arthurian legend, and a couple of spreads - Celtic Cross (but of course! and a Horseshoe spread which I haven’t seen anywhere else. While there is not much detail abut the cards other than basic meanings in the LWB, there is a book by the deck designer, A Keeper of Words, that goes into detail about the Arthurian legend and British pagan tradition, and which maps the cards to the stories.

Details of the Deck:

Tradition: British Pagan into RWS

Major Arcana: 22 cards

Minor Arcana: 56 cards

Court Cards: Page, Knight, Queen, King

Fire Suit: Spears

Air Suit: Swords

Water Suit: Cups

Earth Suit: Shields

Designer(s): Anna-Marie Ferguson

Artist(s): Anna-Marie Ferguson

Publisher: Llewellyn, 1995

Home

Major Arcana:

0 - The Fool

1 - The Magician

2 - The 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

The tradition of this deck moves us into a blend of Christian and Pagan symbology and mythology, with the introduction of the Grail and its associations with Christ, and oaths taken on Christian values, while still remaining strongly within the Pagan remit, with representations such as Cernunnos, the Lady of the Lake, the druidic Merlin, and the Green Knight, as opposed to the Green Man of the previous deck. The transition from the Old Path to the New is in progress, but far from complete.

As pretty as this deck is, it is more a curiosity of the ancient British tradition of Arthurian legend, and more useful as an aide memoire to those tales, or, perhaps, a guide through them, than a divinatory or meditative tool. We British might prize such references to our glorious and, most likely, mythological past, but does anyone else? In any case, a nice deck to own, if not too useful to work with.

Flipping through the deck, it is interesting to see how the designers have married some of the modern Tarot meanings to the pagan and Dark Age mystery and myth. For instance, Igraine as the Queen of Shields (Pentacles) replete with the black cat of the RWS Queen of Wands, the Holy Grail as, naturally, the Ace of Cups, and the celebratory message of the Three of Cups depicted by the celebratory rights of Spring.