Forest of Enchantment Tarot

I don't even use tarot, I'm an oracle card person, but in all honestly who could resist these amazingly delightful cards, full of magical enchantment and excitement. They're everything they promise to be and more. The images speak to me on a deeper level, the guide book in full colour is wonderfully informative. The images call me in deeper. They focus on folklore and myth from British culture, I am a big follower of welsh folklore and old Briton so these cards and their images are familiar to me. I feel like I know them. The way the cards are depicted feels like home. I love how the people look and how they're dressed, I love the landscape, the trees, the colours, the energy, the stories, the fantasy of it all is just like slipping back in time to a world I remember. The box is beautiful and looks stunning on a desk or would even look lush out in a room. The box is rather large so I was surprised about that, but it allows for the guide book to be a decent size. My only gripe would be the card stock isn't great. They're a bit flimsy and bendy. I prefer thicker card stock, but that's not enough to take a star off the review. The cards themselves are full of mystery,magic and portals to otherworlds. Delve into the wonderful, magical world of the forest and see where the path takes you.

Absolutely gorgeous deck! The cards can create such beautiful, inspiring narratives. The images are complex and the attention to detail exquisite! It comes in quite a big box, these are slightly bigger than usual cards. Beautiful, one of my favourite decks, with such rich meaning from European folk fairytales and forest folklore and each card explanations is like a mini story. LOVE IT!

I bought this tarot at the same time as the famous 'Wildwood' deck, and of the two I much prefer this one. Whereas the Wildwood tarot is trying a bit too hard to be authentically ancient and Celtic/Viking, using somewhat obscure pictures which make it harder to interpret, the Forest of Enchantment tarot has imagery based on traditional northern European 'fairy tales' or folk tales. As these tales and images are the basis for a Jungian view of the subconscious of Northern/Western European cultures (including the worldwide diasporas and derivative nations), these cards speak straight to your subconscious - you just know what they mean. We all know about trolls under bridges, magic mirrors, children abandoned in the forest, wizards and witches of all varieties, black-armoured knights, unicorns, dancing princesses and dancing fairies, spinning straw into gold, dwarves, giants, dragons, foxes, toads, swans, (and many other animals), magic thorn bushes, goblins, wolves, wishing wells, and on and on. The pictures are beautiful, with the characters' faces being realistic enough, not too cartoony or too vague, with a 'story picture book' vibe that is entirely detailed and deep enough to for adults. Many of the pictures include botanically recognisable flowers, trees and birds, such is the attention to detail. The deck is also suitable for children - the devil becomes 'the liar' - a fully clothed man beckoning you off the path with a bony finger, and the tower becomes 'the folly' - a carved tree trunk blasted by lightening but with no falling people. The scariest card is 'Black Shuck' for death, picturing a black wolf with red eyes coming out of the mist (based on an East-Anglian tale). The 3 of challenges (i.e. 3 of swords) shows a man in tears with his back to his small boy and girl abandoning them in the forest (like Hansel and Gretel). The deck does not shy away from difficult issues and situations, but presents them without over-the-top gory or shocking images. The accompanying book has a full page glossy picture of each card, so you can really study the details. The text has just enough interpretation given to spark your own imagination and intuition. The meanings are related to the classic Waite-smith, but with whole new imagery. For example, the Waite-Smith 5 of cups (with the black robed figure and some cups knocked over, some standing) in this deck becomes a princess at the moment her golden ball falls into the pond in front of the frog - much has been lost, but carry on and things will turn out well. Similarly, the six of wands, now the six of spells, changes from a triumphal horseback procession into a group of wizards celebrating the successful hatching of a magical wyvern (type of dragon) from its egg - meaning success and applause. The box has a ribbon for easy removal of book and cards, and a magnetic closure. Small details like this are representative of the care and quality of this deck

Having waited such a long time for this deck, I am disappointed, sad and torn in writing this review. I would give the artwork, book and box 5 stars, but as for the main event - the cards - just 3 stars. Too thin, too dark and too small. I feel for the authors. I have written to Llewellyn as I would love them to produce a better quality deck to do justice to the stunning artwork. This is what I said. "Dear Llewellyn, I have just received this tarot deck via Amazon.co.uk after a very long wait. As a long standing tarot student and reader who collects cards, I am compelled to write to you as I am so disappointed by your publishing quality. Several reviewers have already noted the same. The artwork is stunning, but has been let down terribly. a) The small card size makes it difficult to see the image b) The image itself is dark and grainy c) The quality of the card is far too thin for shuffling safely. The cards will get damaged too easily. The book and box are superb, but the main content i.e. the deck, is of such a poor standard. I would love, and pay for, a decent version of this deck, so please consider reprinting to a usable standard that tarot readers expect from established publishers such as yourselves. It would be such a shame to waste the beautiful artwork and the fresh take on the tarot suits. I would not bother writing to you if I did not value this deck." If anyone else feels as strongly as I do, please let the publishers know, maybe they will listen and give us a deck worthy of the lovely artwork. UPDATE: I have decided to give 5 stars as I do love the artwork and feel it is unfair on the authors to downgrade because the printing does not suit.

I am blown away by the quality and the beauty of this deck. The art for each of the cards is beautiful and tells a magical story with each card. The weight and quality of the cards is lovely. They are a little slick so as to glide smoothly out from a draw, but not so slick to be slippery or actually stick to each other like some other decks’ cards. I have large hands and the size of the cards feels large to me - those with smaller hands may have challenges comfortably holding the deck. They feel great to me, though...like I need to be present to the cards as I handle them. One of the reasons why I love this deck so much is the companion book it comes with. It’s printed in 100% color, with full-page images for each card to help see the amazing details. The way the author crafts the wisdom of each card is positive without being a “positive” deck: shadows and challenges are there and presented in relatable ways. My favorite thing about the book, though, has to be its organization of minor arcana by number instead of suit. Each number starts with a generalization of what the number represents in the overall deck’s journey, and provides key phrases to sum up the essence of each suit’s take on that number. This is followed by a full-page discussion of each card, paired with its full-page illustration. This approach is deepening my understanding of deck’s progression and helps bring new insight to old cards. If you’re thinking about this one, do yourself a favor and enter this Forest of Enchantment. It’s a wonderful journey!

Uno de los mazos más bellos que he visto sobre la naturaleza. Las ilustraciones son espectaculares y el libro es completo y a todo color. Viene en caja dura y las cartas no tienen caja a medida, así que tejido una bolsa.

Questo mazzo si caratterizza per la confezione molto curata (scatola di cartone con magnete interno invisibile di chiusura, alloggiamento interno in cartoncino in tinta verde pastello come 'culla' per le carte e una linguetta di raso per sollevarle, libretto di istruzioni molto ricco, patinato e completamente a colori ), le illustrazioni dettagliatissime e la splendida gamma cromatica. Gli amanti del verde, degli animali e delle creature magiche dei boschi probabilmente lo ameranno molto. A livello di significati e interpretazione fornisce un approccio alternativo e complementare a quello RWS classico, cambiando i nomi degli Arcani Maggiori e anche il genere delle figure alcune carte e rinominando i semi anche per gli Arcani Minori; il tutto rimuovendo i riferimenti religiosi e di corte cristianeggianti in favore del mistico e del magico della Natura e del 'pagano' . Forse per chi volesse usarlo per divinazione, al di là di uno sforzo di adattamento e memorizzazione delle corrispondenze, le carte hanno un tipo di patinatura che potrebbe renderle quasi 'scivolose' al tocco e quando si mescolano. Ma come carte da collezione sia il mazzo sia il libretto risultano eccellenti e piacevoli da sfogliare :) , tra i migliori per qualità prezzo specialmente se trovati in promo e sotto i 25 euro. --- Consegna e spedizione ottime, sia le carte all'nterno sia la bella (e voluminosa) scatola contenitore sono arrivate incellophanate e senza un difetto.

Lovely packaging box. The book is a good read.

My current favourite tarot deck! Comes with a large, glossy, full-page illustrations guide book. Great evolution of the tarot in interpretation. Card stock is very Llewellyn (extremely flexible), for those who like to riffle & bridge during shuffling. Glossy finish. Beautifully illustrated by Meraylah Allwood, borderless. Suites go by the names or boons-pentacles, Challenges- Swords, Spells-Wands, Visions - cups. Many of the major acana cards have different names also. For example: The high priestess is the wise woman, & the Tower is the folly, but easy to work out which is which. I am excited to buy the oracle deck when it is released.