Some decks live up to our expectations better than others. I feel like I’ve had several decks fall short of my hopes recently, and have been approaching new decks with a more skeptical eye as a result. But the Shadowland Tarot happily far, far exceeded my expectations and skated right into my top 5 decks for personal use.
The Shadowland Tarot was released in 2020, created by artist and tarotist Monica Bodirsky, and published by RedFeather, an imprint of Shiffer Publishing. The quality of the cards is the best I’ve seen in a mass-market deck including LoScarabeo’s. The heavy cardstock is thick, smooth and sturdy, and has (so far) resisted warping the way lighter cardstock can.
The deck includes a full-sized 208-page paperback guidebook, which is a tremendous resource by itself. Along with the usual LWB contents – intro to tarot, card descriptions, spreads – Monica Bodirsky includes reflections on each card. As an experiential educator, I know the importance of processing impactful experiences, and I believe these reflections are valuable assets to any tarot practice.
My only minor dislike is the gold gilt edging. I’m not a fan of it in general (when the gold fades from use, it looks much more worn and used than a deck without). And I don’t feel like it fits with the feel of the cards or their yellow and black backs (which I LOVE!!).
More fabulousness: this deck’s emphasis is on non-binary gender identification. The figures on the cards are drawn as gender-identifying (or lack thereof) instead of a fixed gender. I enjoy the artist’s intent, as well as the clear gender ambiguity of many of the deck’s characters.
I fell in love with the artwork of this deck first: sort of a Tim Burton/Edward Gorey/Addam’s Family feel. Fabulous! But what ultimately compelled me to get this deck was its purpose – it is designed for shadow work and the card images gently reflect our shadows and fears: sort of a light take on our dark side. I’ve done my share of shadow work, and have been formalizing shadow work spreads and readings for clients. I love the idea of having a specialized deck that I can integrate into this work, both for myself as well as for my clients.
In reading with this deck, I found it to read comfortably and easily while helping me reconsider some standard tarot assumptions. It felt like a familiar friend by my second reading, which was a pleasant surprise. There are some nods to other tarot styles in here while staying mainly in the Rider-Waite-Smith system; if you’re comfortable with RWS imagery, you’ll find this deck easy to intuit.
The Shadowland Tarot comes as a high-quality box set which makes it a bit pricy – $40 list price – but well worth the cost. If the artwork in this deck speaks to you, I strongly urge you to get a copy. This deck has a beautiful, transformative power – I’m certain you will benefit from its use.
