Halloween Tarot Review
by Yvonne Rathbone
©2003
Deck Reviews
Wheel
Of Change
PoMo
Tarot
Halloween Tarot
Nigel Jackson Tarot
Every year
the various tarot deck publishers put out a crop of special theme
decks. Most become not so bad doorstops, but some rise above
the others. Reminiscent of Pinocchio, these decks transcend their
humble beginnings and kitschy tricks to become Real Decks. One
of my favorites of these successes is the Halloween Tarot.
Karin Lee and Kipling West joined forces to twist the Waite-Smith deck into a collection of goblins, ghosts and little kids with candy sacks. The deck uses the full range of Halloween symbolism to convey the traditional meanings of the cards. Most of the images come directly from Waite-Smith but are transformed through West's magic into Halloween land fun. The images that do differ, gain meaning from their divergence with the norm.
West's illustrations are charming and clever, illustrating a wonderful familiarity both with the Tarot and the customs of the holiday in question. The images don't sink into cutesy tricks, but their innocence relieves the deck of any threat. These witches and monsters are not the Satanic forces so feared by the dogmatically religious. They also have nothing to do with modern Wiccans, nor do they serve as allegories for other marginalized groups. As symbols, the Halloween images work squarely as childhood icons.
What's surprising abut this theme deck is that it READS. When I look through the cards, the images suggest stories. As I gaze around the elements of a card, taking each symbol in, the meaning of the card comes together as a whole. The childhood subjects evoke simple, easy to recognize feelings, stripped of silly adult pretensions.
In each card we see an artful blend of Halloween images and traditional Tarot meanings. A wonderful example of this blending is in the Magician card. Here the main character is a classic magician in tuxedo tails, pulling a white rabbit out of a top hat. Around him are the representatives of each suit, an imp, a ghost, a bat and a pumpkin. The magician holds the rabbit up with one hand, the other hand non-chalantly pointed to ground, and so assumes the position of the traditional tarot Magician from Waite-Smith. On his table, next to his top hat is a wand in the form of the symbol for Mercury, the traditional astrological correspondence for the card. In the mouth of the jack-o-lantern can be seen an ouroboros, a snake biting its own tail, similar to the belt worn by the Magician in WS.
The deck is not bound to Waite-Smith, however. Some of the cards are quite different in composition, but still use the holiday theme to convey traditional meanings. In the Lover's card for instance, we are shown a woman in bed reading a letter from her love. Through the window comes a dashing vampire ready to ravish our heroine. Does he want to make her his bride? Or simply kill her? Is she loyal to her love, or does she find him boring compared to the dangerous vampire. On the curtains are bats, which in this deck represent swords, and on the bedspread we find the symbol for Gemini, which is often "of two minds". Clearly there's a decision to be made and clear thinking is called for.
The Minor Arcana suit names have been changed to Imps (Wands), Ghosts (Cups), Bats (Swords), and Pumpkins (Pentacles). These suits work for the most part, the similarity to Waite-Smith images makes it easier to remember which suit is which. But I did have a little dissonance with using Ghosts for Cups. Ghosts seemed to me to be more related to air as they float around incorporeally. The books says though that ghosts are "mysterious, changeable, sometimes murkily obscure and sometimes transparent" like water. They also "slip through barriers or appear out of nowhere" like our deepest feelings. This make a lot of sense. I also really like the use of Bats for Air/Swords so while the Ghosts/Cups thing doesn't always jive with me, I can use it.
The images on the Minors continue the process of turning stodgy Waite's images into Halloween fun. I wonder what the straight-laced occultist would think about a winged black cat flying over two ghostly lovers in the 2 of Ghosts (Cups). Or a pirate stealing candy sacks from other children in the 5 of Bats (Swords). Many of these images are quite clever and even when they are almost exact replicas of Waite-Smith, the Halloween theme does not feel forced.
Through the deck, there is one character who appears in every card. Part commentator, part fellow traveler, the Black Cat walks through the cards with the reader. Sometimes she assumes a traditional role. She replaces the little dog in the Fool card, peering much more cautiously over the precipice that the traditional canine companion. She is also the central figure in the World card dancing somewhat warily in a wreath of bones and ivy. And of course, she is the black cat for the Queen of Imps (Wands.)
In several cards, the cat interacts with the other characters. She snuggles with the Queen of Pumpkins (Pentacles) illustrating that queen's nurturing nature. She travels with the boat people on the 6 of Bats, a constant companion in life's troubles. Or in the 8 of Bats she plays gleefully with the stray bandages that bind the woman showing that our bonds can be laughed at.
In other cards, the cat is a commentator on the action, passing judgment on what she sees. She scowls at the Wolfman in the Moon Card, admonishing him to get his wildness under control. In the 9 of Bats, she sympathizes with the despairing woman. In the 3 of Bats, she cowers beneath three bats attacking a giant heart.
The book is a bit of a disappointment. For a LWB, it's pretty good, giving full descriptions on each card, as well as some historical background on Halloween. But there are a few glaring errors. Baal, a Babylonian deity is listed as a god of the Celts. And in a couple of places, the author asserts that Tarot cards came before playing cards. Most historians agree the historical evidence all indicates the opposite. Despite these errors, the book does give some interesting historical background. For instance, the custom of trick-or-treating started some time in the 1930's.
The second chapter gives some information about the kinds of images found in the deck. The sources for images are traditional Halloween images, Hollywood monster movies, circuses (which can be far creepier than a monster movie!) and German Vegetable People from the 1920's. The book gives a description of some of the more common images. Trick-or-treating, jack-o-lanterns, skeletons and witches are all given space. I was disappointed, however, to find nothing specific about one of the more obscure sources of imagery, the German made "Vegetable People" that were popular Halloween toys in the 1920's.
But the cards are so similar to Waite-Smith that one does not need the book. The images and clearly drawn and the symbolism is systematic and readable. Furthermore, the charm of the images shows an evident love of both Halloween and the Tarot that brings a smile to my face whenever I use this deck. I recommend it for anyone who loves Halloween.