Deck Review- Ghosts & Spirits Tarot

I love October, I love Halloween, I love all things spooky, and Ghosts & Spirits Tarot, by Lisa Hunt, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc, has fit right into my Samhain mood this week.

Usually, I do three card Daily Draws, but for me, right now, this deck has worked better as a single draw kind of deck.  To compensate for that, I have been doing morning and evening draws, which you can see here, for more card images, if you are so inclined.  The fact that I am doing single card draws as opposed to full readings is not a fault of the deck, but a fault of my own.  Lisa puts a lot of research into her decks, and the images are absolutely chock full of meanings, which sends me scrambling for Google or my own library of books concerning myths, ghosts, and fairy tales.  I actually love doing this, but it means making her decks reading decks, for me, is a long process.  Her Fairy Tale Tarot has become one of my favorite decks for my personal readings, but it took me some time to get there with the deck.  This is actually a bonus is my book, and I appreciate decks that I can connect to so deeply, that have me learning and doing research, but I do think unless you are a purely intuitive reader or are willing to do the work thee gorgeous decks may require, you may feel you are not getting as deep with the deck as you would like.

Ghosts & Spirits Tarot- Back

I am not crazy about the backs of the cards, but they are not my main concern when using a deck.  They are somewhat more cute than the rest of the deck.  The cards were printed in Italy, on card stock that is lightly laminated and slightly shiny.  This should make the cards very durable but they are pleasant to hold and shuffle.  The cards are what I consider a "standard" tarot size, about 2.75 inches by 4.5 inches, and the borders are a yellowed ivory, meant to mimic aging parchment, I believe.  I am a famous border remover, but these ones do not bother me at all, and in fact I think they are lovely.  The deck comes in a tuck box with a Little White Book written by Lisa Hunt, where she explains succinctly the stories her cards are depicting and how they relate to tarot.  I feel she has done a great job with this in the small space allowed, but I feel this deck, and Lisa, deserved a full sized companion book to really go into detailed explanation of her choices and the stories.

Ghosts & Spirits Tarot-The High Priest

Ghosts & Spirits Tarot- Chains

There are 78 cards in this deck, 22 Major Arcana, with Trump V being renamed from The Hierophant to The High Priest, and Trump XV being called Chains, as Lisa has done in her previous decks, rather than The Devil.  You'll find Strength at Trump VIII, and Justice at Trump XI.  The suits are Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles.  In Lisa's previous decks, she has used the neo-pagan correlation of Wands to Air and Swords to Fire, where different tarot traditions have Wands as Fire and Swords as Air, but I see no evidence in either the cards or the Little White Book that she went that direction in this deck.  I personally am not bothered by elemental switches, as I just read what I see in any card, but for readers who use elemental dignities or just really care, it can matter.  There are 56 fully illustrated pip cards, including Court Cards named Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings.

Lisa also included a bonus card for which she says is to be used for questions that require deeper contemplation.  I did not draw this card this week, and I don't think I can remember a time I have drawn a card that does not usually come in a deck.  My personal theory is that I don't really know what to do with these cards, so they don't come up for me, but I do like having another beautiful image over a promotional card, since publishers tend to put 80 cards in each package, simply because of the math of printing.  Card sheets come in 80 images, not 78.

Ghosts & Spirits Tarot- Bonus Card

Some of the cards are really saturated in color, such as my favorite card in the deck, the Ten of Cups, while some are more delicately colored.  All the images are ethereal and quite detailed.  They tend to follow Waite Smith meanings, but Lisa has her own slant on the cards, so you should be prepared to stretch your mind and learn some new meanings.  The very theme of the cards, Ghosts & Spirits, does tend to make the readings a bit more focused on the shadow aspects of the meanings, for me, but that is a perfectly viable kind of reading to do, and is even necessary for me.  If I could only have one deck in my collection, this one would not be it, because I would be looking for something a bit more well rounded, but I find the art sumptuous and I am happy I can have many decks for many types of readings!

Another thing I use tarot cards for are writing prompt and help with "what happens next" and this deck has excelled at that, for me.

There is no gratuitous nudity in these cards, and any violence is only alluded to.  I feel that intuitive readers that connect to the art will really love this deck, and there are lots of symbols to draw meaning from.  I feel people who enjoy ghost stories and myths will find many relatable themes in this deck.  People like me who love to do research and really dig deep into decks will find hours of entertainment here.

The images I have included are some I really love, and some that are not my favorite cards.  Some of them are cards I think need some contemplation and the reader should spend some time deciding what they really mean to them, although some of them I had "flash of light moments" in which it made perfect sense!

Ghosts & Spirits Tarot by Lisa Hunt

Ghosts & Spirits Tarot by Lisa Hunt

Ghosts & Spirits Tarot by Lisa Hunt

I hope this has been a helpful review, and I enjoyed writing it as much as I enjoyed using the deck this week.  Lisa Hunt is a talented artist with a real love of tarot and connection to the other side.

These cards are from Ghosts & Spirits Tarot by Lisa Hunt, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Daily Draw- The Hanged Man (The Undead/Vampire)

Ghosts & Spirits Tarot- Hanged Man

Here is one lesson I have learned in life- if it feels awful, looks awful, smells awful, and makes you dread any aspect of your life, it IS awful and you had best get the hell out of Dodge.

Our current culture presents vampires as seductive, sexy, attractive, romantic, sympathetic and friendly, but older lore portrays them as utterly evil detestable creatures with no hope of redemption and no compassion for human suffering.

I have no doubts that psychic vampires exist, and I am trying my level best to not make myself a willing sacrifice for any of them.  If you have any questions about what a psychic vampire is or does, please check out Pip Miller's succinct post about it.  When we continually expose ourselves to people who feed off us, even figuratively, but offer nothing in return, we are being drained, and that can have no happy ending for us.  Not all sacrifice is noble; some of it is just stupid, harsh words but it has to be made clear.

Don't lay your neck bare.  Fight for your life.

This card is from Ghosts & Spirits Tarot by Lisa Hunt, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Daily Draw- Nine of Cups (The North Wind)

Ghosts & Spirits Tarot- Nine of Cups

Clearly, as my week with Ghosts & Spirits Tarot winds down, this deck wants to seduce and entrance me with favorite cards and gentle messages.

This card is based on the story "On The Back Of The North Wind", which you can read in its' entirety here, a story about a boy who got exactly what he wanted (and then he died, but this is the Ghost & Spirit Tarot).  I am lucky, blessed, and have earned, in part, a life that is exactly what I want- an amazing marriage, children who are smart, articulate, well spoken, talented, passionate, and creative, a home I can care for and arrange just the way I want, time to cook, time to write, tarot to stimulate all my senses, and really, I am just happy.  I wish the baby mama drama would end, more for my sweet sons' sake than my own, and more money could be put to judicious use, but by and large this is a happy life, and exactly what I wanted.

One thing Diamond, the boy from the story, and I have I common, is we both knew what we wanted.  I didn't know how I was going to get this husband and this business and grow these kids up right, but I knew those were my priorities.  And even more than that, being me, the most authentically possible me there could be, because in my mind, that is where the secret lies.

This card is from Ghosts & Spirits Tarot by Lisa Hunt, published by U.S. Games, Systems, Inc.

Daily Draw- Ten of Cups (Day of the Dead)

Ghosts & Spirits Tarot- Ten of Cups

This is my very favorite card in the deck and I am always so pleased when I see it!  The Ten of Cups, the "happily ever after" card is usually a good one in most deck, but I particularly love Dia de los Muertos themes and art.

This is a traditional Mexican holiday which takes place on November 1, squarely between Halloween and Samhain, right before All Saints Day.  Despite the macabre theme, it is a jubilant celebration in which we remember the people we have loved that have passed over, and we understand that life is brief but when it's gone, love goes on and on (these are lyrics from Disney's animated Robin Hood, the scene in the hidden glen in which Maid Marien remembers her love for Robin.  If you have a nostalgia for it, you can see the clip here.  This was one of my favorite movies as a kid.).

Earlier this week, I talked a little bit about love bridging time and space, when the Two of Cups made an appearance.  Although it is cold comfort when we are missing a loved one, really death is only hard on the living, those of us left behind, and if we can be brave enough to face that pain our memories of love and warmth have enough to see us through most anything.

I live in a very happy marriage, crazy in love with a man who is absolutely perfect for me, who I couldn't have hand crafted to be a better for me.  I love him with my entire being, and I believe he feels the same.  The great paradox of this is, for me, that while I would not change a thing about my life, while Mark is absolutely my destiny and the soul mate I have been getting ready for my whole life, as well a being the one I will finish my days out with, this love does not diminish any of the ones I have had before.  I have room in my heart for this great, all encompassing love for Mark, and have probably loved him most of my life, but when I think of S, all I feel is warm and happy and grateful for that love, too.  They don't interfere with each other.

No one will ever hear me say I didn't love my kids dad, because I did, and regardless of what he may have said after the split, I believe he loved me.  I hope his now wife is what my husband is to me, but in that time and that place, there was love, and I try to keep that in mind when he is irritating me (which happens less and less as I get happier and happier).

The time and the place,and even the people, passing for a particular love, don't mean that the love has to end, even if the way we express it changes.  In fact, I believe that real love has no beginning, and no end.  Feels like I'm dreaming but I'm not sleeping (a little Mariah Carey sampling Tom Tom Club for ya'll).

"Love is from the infinite, and will remain until eternity.

The seeker of love escapes the chains of birth and death.

Tomorrow, when resurrection comes,

The heart that is not in love will fail the test."

From Thief of Sleep

by Shahram Shiva

Love is never wrong, and it doesn't simply go away.  It can be killed or denied, but real love is as infinite as the Universe.  I am comforted by this card, that this family, this man, these children, are mine for all eternity, and I am theirs, and there are bonds that cannot be broken by anything, even death itself.

This card is from Ghosts & Spirits Tarot by Lisa Hunt, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.

Daily Draw- Queen of Cups (Groa: Mother of Svipdag)

Ghosts & Spirits Tarot- Queen of Cups

Groa is the ultimate mother, and represented quite a bit fiercely than many Queens of Cups often are.  This makes perfect sense when considering that the Queen of Cups is Cancer, astrologically speaking, and crabs come well equipped to defend themselves.

In Norse mythology, Groa had already passed into the Underworld when she was summoned by her son through his extreme desperation.  Mother love is so strong not even death can stop it, or keep a mother from her child in need.

This story is one that involves a wicked stepmother, too, but as I interact with a stepmom to my kids, as I have become one myself, I am beginning to understand that wicked, as much as beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

I am drawing a lot of mother and child cards this week, which makes sense as the custody situation with two of my kids heats up.  I can't make their mom understand that I am not her enemy, that my only concern is that the kids get enough of their dad, get the proper medical care, are supported and told they are amazing, and that they not be used as pawns in a power struggle.  I am not her enemy, but she shouldn't want me to be.  Blended, peaceful families ARE possible, as the other part of mine is living proof of, but the cards I am pulling lately don't seem to point to that.  Court proceedings will begin sooner rather than later, but unfortunately common decency and unconditional love for children that supersedes all negative feelings for their other parent can't be court ordered, and I fear this situation may never resolve peacefully.  Prayers and light are much appreciated, for her as much as for us, and most of all, for our kids.

This card is from Ghosts & Spirits Tarot by Lisa Hunt, published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.