The Christmas Tarot, conceived by Tarot author Janet Boyer in 2008 and illustrated by artist Ron Boyer, is a 78-card deck in the spirit of the Rider-Waite tradition. Images will reflect a warm, timeless quality, with inspiration culled from familiar Christmas motifs, customs and stories.
A few of the Majors are renamed to reflect the spirit of the season, as well as offer a more non-threatening approach:
Magician – Magi
High Priestess – Priestess
Hierophant – Faith
Hanged Man – Sacrifice
Death – Renewal
Devil – Bondage
Judgment – Awakening
Court cards have also been renamed: Page becomes Daughter, Knight becomes Son, Queen becomes Mother and King becomes Father. Minor Arcana suits will be Wands (fire), Cups (water), Swords (air) and Coins (earth).
Card imagery will be borderless, with a color banner at the bottom. Major Arcana will be named but unnumbered. The Minors will be unnamed, too, but numbered with a color-coded banner at the bottom according corresponding to traditional suits. Masculine Aces (Wands and Swords) will show bare hands (more aggressive approach) while feminine Aces (Cups and Coins) will show gloved hands (“softer” touch).
The color coding will be:
Major Arcana – Forest Green
Wands – Burgundy
Cups – Blue
Swords – Silver
Coins – Gold
A full-length book filled with card profiles, keywords, spreads and much more willl accompany the deck (that we hope will be gilt-edged!).
You can join the official Christmas Tarot Facebook page at this link. There, you'll get to share instant feedback on our card ideas and see Ron's art as the deck progresses. The picture in the upper left of this page is The Moon card from The Christmas Tarot.
In the future, we'll post fun Christmas goodies here, as well as updated images from The Christmas Tarot. May the spirit of joy, wonderment and peace surround you not only during the holiday season, but all year long.
Ron and Janet
