Tarot: The Tarot of Jane Austen (2)

My preferred deck for Tarot use is “The Tarot of Jane Austen” by Diane Wilkes (2006).  Based on the novels of Jane Austen, this deck depicts her understanding of human society.  Each card gives her advice for that human situation.

The deck includes scenes from her lesser known works –“Lady Susan”, “Mansfield Park”, and “Northanger Abby”, as well as popular ones such as “Pride and Prejudice”.  The minors are divided into Candlesticks (Fire), Coins (Pentacles), Quills (Swords), and Teacups (Water).  The Aces set the theme for each suit.  Unlike the other cards, the Aces are the novels themselves – “Pride and Prejudice” for Candlesticks, “Sense and Sensibility” for Coins, “Persuasion” for Quills, and “Emma” for Teacups.  Each of these novels conveys the elements of each suit.

Moreover, certain card combinations take on additional meanings in a spread.  The Lord of Quills (King of Swords) depicts Fitzwilliam Darcy of “Pride and Prejudice”.  Meanwhile, the Lady of Candlesticks (Queen of Wands) is Elizabeth Bennett (Lizzy) from the same novel.  When these two appear in a spread together, it takes on additional meaning because these characters eventually become husband and wife.

I use this deck most since it mines the richness of Austen’s books for the Tarot. The writings of Jane Austen add to the basic meanings of the Tarot cards. While pondering a particular situation depicted with the cards or in a spread, I often ask myself, “What would Jane do?” 

The rick literary lode that is “The Tarot of Jane Austen” counteracts the deck’s lack of color and roundness.  The muted colors do enhance the images from the novels.  Shades of meanings can be derived from which characters appear in spreads.

The Fool (0) shows Lizzy walking alone to a manor house.  In Regency England, a young woman going off unaccompanied opened herself up to scandal.  However, Lizzy by asserting her independence finds her sense of self and heroic destiny.

The Tower (XVI) depicts Louisa Musgrove of “Persuasion” lying injured on a cement walkway.  She was trying to leap into the arms of Captain Wentworth.  Heedless of his warnings, she rashly jumps from a tall seawall.  Her foolish action sets into motion changes for the other characters.  Her leap shattered an intolerable situation, and offered relief to everyone.

The 10 of Quills has an enraged Darcy leaving Lizzy.  She has informed him of her sister’s elopement with the devious George Wickham.  He has decided that her family is not worth knowing.  At this point, their budding relationship has reached an impasse.  However, this disaster frees both of them to begin a new relationship, and eventually become married.

Tarot: My choice of decks

Style and Theme

When choosing a Tarot deck, I consider the theme to be of primary importance.  Themes that I am drawn to are nature and world myths.  Because I relate well to nature, I often see more meaning in the cards beyond the usual Tarot ones.  For example, in “The Tarot of the Animal Lords” (Angelo Giannini, 1999), The Empress (III) is a she-wolf and The Hierophant (V) is a reindeer.  If these two cards show up in spread, this adds to the basic meaning of the Tarot cards since the wolf/deer pairing is the dynamic predator and prey balance.

I enjoy the literary overlay of the Tarot and a particular myth because both enhance the other.  Choosing cards based on myths leads into choosing the culture depicted in a Tarot deck. The cultures I gravitate towards are Egyptian and Middle Eastern, since I find them fascinating.  Because I do no resonate with the Celtic culture, I usually do not buy decks about this popular culture.  

An example of what I see in the cultural decks that I do enjoy is “The Jane Austen Tarot” (Diane Wilkes, 2006) which presents the “myths” of the English Regency period. This Tarot deck features Jane Austen’s perceptions of English life at the time, supplementing the Tarot card’s meaning. For example, Elizabeth Bennet as The Fool (0) goes off unaccompanied, which was frowned upon for young women of the time.  This gives The Fool (0) the added dimension of great daring.

Another major criterion of mine is the art style.  Because I express myself in color, it is important to me to have decks with bold colors and striking lines.  I also see time and words in color (synesthesia).  For these reasons, I do not seek out decks that employ muted colors.  Since color is important, I have made exceptions to owning certain decks such as “The Celtic Wisdom Tarot” by Caitlin Matthews (1999).  The Mingler (Temperance, XIV) of this deck positively glows with greens and blues to soothe you.  The Remember (Hierophant, V) uses oranges, reds, yellows offset by greens to startle you beyond The Hierophant’s (V) staid role.

Besides colors, I do enjoy decks in water colors or in the style of the Impressionists.  I enjoy these styles of painting and look for them in Tarot decks.  Again, “The Celtic Wisdom Tarot” won me over with its expressive artwork.  Meanwhile, “The Tarot of the Animal Lords” by Angelo Giannini (1999) shows art with a sense of joy and humor.  I appreciate a well-realized picture gracefully drawn.

When choosing a deck, I rarely think about the time period.  Most of the decks I own (outside of the Rider-Waite ones for Tarot class) have no particular period.  As nature-themed decks, they exist in the now.  The decks focused on Egyptian myths of course are in ancient historical periods.  However, I do find it jarring to see modern things in Tarot decks.  I tend to avoid such decks as “The Housewives Tarot” by Paul Kepple and Jude Buffum (2004) or “Baseball Tarot” by Mark Lerner and Dan Gardiner (1999).  However, I do enjoy “Science Tarot” (various, 2010) because of the topic and execution of style. The telescopes, Bunsen burners, and microscopes seem to be soft and fitting in this particular deck.

In choosing a Tarot deck, I prefer lively art work with a mythic or natural theme.  There are exceptions because of the theme or well-designed cards.  However, time periods are rarely a factor for my choices.

Tarot: The Tarot of Jane Austen (1)

My preferred deck for Tarot use is “The Tarot of Jane Austen” by Diane Wilkes (2006).  Based on the novels of Jane Austen, this deck depicts her understanding of human society.  Each card gives her advice for that human situation.

The deck includes scenes from her lesser known works –“Lady Susan”, “Mansfield Park”, and “Northanger Abby”, as well as popular ones such as “Pride and Prejudice”.  The minors are divided into Candlesticks (Fire), Coins (Pentacles), Quills (Swords), and Teacups (Water).  The Aces set the theme for each suit.  Unlike the other cards, the Aces are the novels themselves – “Pride and Prejudice” for Candlesticks, “Sense and Sensibility” for Coins, “Persuasion” for Quills, and “Emma” for Teacups.  Each of these novels conveys the elements of each suit.

I use this deck for personal use since it mines the richness of the books for the Tarot.  For me, The Tarot of Jane Austen is perfect for meditation.  While pondering a particular situation depicted with the cards or in a spread, I often ask myself, “What would Jane do?”  

However, this deck is not really for divination.  In fact, the suggested spreads in the accompanying book focus on relationships and self-actualization.  Moreover, the cards as drawn do not lend themselves to prediction.

As for public use, this deck would be useful in exploring romantic relationships or for general questions about situations.  However, the reader would probably have to explain certain cards to the querent.  The majority of the cards do depict scenes from “Emma” and “Pride and Prejudice”.  However many people are more familiar with the film adaptations, which usually leave out some aspects of the novels.

For example, certain card combinations take on additional meanings in a spread.  The Lord of Quills (King of Swords) depicts Fitzwilliam Darcy of “Pride and Prejudice”.  Meanwhile, the Lady of Candlesticks (Queen of Wands) is Elizabeth Bennett from the same novel.  When these two appear in a spread together, it takes on additional meaning because these characters eventually become husband and wife.

“The Tarot of Jane Austen” is good for problem solving and for meditation.  The writings of Jane Austen add to the basic meanings of the Tarot cards.  However, the main focus of this deck is self-actualization.  Because of this, the deck is not suited for divination.  Moreover, a deep knowledge of Austen’s novels is needed to understanding the cards.  Therefore the deck is suited more for private use.

------------