REVIEW: Modern Spellcaster's Taro

Melanie Marquis and Scott Murphy have brought us a superb deck that quickly became my working deck for the foreseeable future. Modern Spellcaster's Tarot is a deck built for those that use tarot in their daily magical practices, visual meditations, or simply as a affirmation to focus on during the day. 

The Deck

What this deck does best, however, is fuse cards of extreme fantasy-such as the Death card or the High Priestess-and stand them side by side with cards that depict people from all walks of life within the mythical tarot landscape. To be plain, there is finally a deck out there from a mainstream publishing house that showcases the beauty of all people, not simply the cis-gender heteronormative white washed landscapes we have grown used to in the tarot decks we reach for every day.

The images are as diverse as they are nonchalant in their design. The four of wands features two women in a hand fasting ceremony and the two of cups depicts two men in celebratory drink, arms linked as close as any lovers. 

A visual feast for the eyes, this deck succeeds in its accessibility, both for the novice and adept alike. It creates strong intuitive pulls that are only strengthened by the book material-the meanings therein adding to the layers and nuances the reader can pull out from any one image.

Llewellyn has taken the first steps to listening to its audience and providing a deck that is magical, inclusive, contemporary, and versatile in use. If this is the future of tarot decks, I am excited to see what more progressive creative endeavors artists and houses can bring to life for the many wonderful tarot lovers out there. 

The Verdict

Modern Spellcaster's Tarot is a must have for all tarot lovers, regardless of level.