Category: The Wooden Tarot

  • Introduction to the Wooden Tarot Series

    Introduction to the Wooden Tarot Series

    The Wooden Tarot is a 79-card self-published tarot deck by Atlanta-based artist A. L. Swartz in 2014(?). The deck was conceived in the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition, but Swartz’s unique style and artistic preoccupations make this deck a big departure from  mainstream visual tarot traditions. The Wooden Tarot features no human beings, with the exception of a…

  • Reading With Reversals

    Reading With Reversals

    If asked the question, Do you read with reversals? I will have to say, “Yes and no.” Mostly, it depends on the deck. I haven’t been asked this question, but it seems like an Obligatory Topic, so I want to talk a little bit about my practice and why I think tarot readers will strengthen…

  • The Wooden Tarot: Court of Stones

    The Wooden Tarot: Court of Stones

    This is part of an ongoing series in which I write about my interpretations of the cards in A.L. Swartz’s Wooden Tarot. You can find the other posts here. The Court of Stones features animals that are by and large more familiar than the other courts–at least for North Americans (the Page of Stones as…

  • The Wooden Tarot: Suit of Stones 6-10

    The Wooden Tarot: Suit of Stones 6-10

    This is part of an ongoing series in which I write about my interpretations of the cards in A.L. Swartz’s Wooden Tarot. You can find the other posts here. (Notice the switched order of the Six and Seven in the picture–Six is on the top right and Seven is on the left right. The switch…

  • The Wooden Tarot: Suit of Stones 2-5

    The Wooden Tarot: Suit of Stones 2-5

    This is part of an ongoing series in which I write about my interpretations of the cards in A.L. Swartz’s Wooden Tarot. You can find the other posts here. Two of Stones Two ram’s horns with a large, gem-like stone in the middle. A smaller stone appears directly underneath. A lemniscate hovers above. Here we…

  • The Wooden Tarot: Introduction to the Suit of Stones

    The Wooden Tarot: Introduction to the Suit of Stones

    This is part of an ongoing series in which I write about my interpretations of the cards in A.L. Swartz’s Wooden Tarot. You can find the other posts here. Fire/Wands/Stones Since stones evoke images of earth, and since other nature-based decks like the Wildwood Tarot have used stones to represent the suit of Disks/Pentacles, it…

  • The Wooden Tarot: Court of Plumes

    The Wooden Tarot: Court of Plumes

            This is part of an ongoing series in which I write about my interpretations of the cards in A.L. Swartz’s Wooden Tarot. You can find the other posts here. Page of Plumes The head and shoulders of a bird with an extra eye appear above two crossed arrows. From the arrows…

  • Checking in, January 2016

    Checking in, January 2016

    Well, I had some big blogging plans for this month, but this month did not want to go along with them. It’s been a very interesting time for me, and as I look at my planner, I see where I’ve written down the cards that I drew for January for my big Year Ahead Spread.…

  • The Wooden Tarot: Suit of Plumes 6-10

    The Wooden Tarot: Suit of Plumes 6-10

    This is part of an ongoing series in which I write about my interpretations of the cards in A.L. Swartz’s Wooden Tarot. You can find the other posts here. Six of Plumes A Common Mallard swims away, looking over his shoulder with two eyes on the same side of his head. Six dark-brown feathers trail…

  • The Wooden Tarot: Suit of Plumes 2-5

    The Wooden Tarot: Suit of Plumes 2-5

    This is part of an ongoing series in which I write about my interpretations of the cards in A.L. Swartz’s Wooden Tarot. You can find the other posts here. Two of Plumes Two partially folded, white-gray wings appear on either side of a waxing crescent moon. Above it floats a lemniscate. As with the other…