First off, I love these cards! I’ve only ever owned one version of the RWS because I never liked the colours. The first one I found where I did like the colours was the Centennial version that was supposed to be a faithful reproduction of the original 1909 printed cards. Then recently I saw these cards and was surprised how much these colours really appealed to me!
In approaching this project, Weiser consulted respected tarot experts Mary K. Greer, Rachel Pollack and Theresa Reed. It is thought that Pamela originally did the art in pen and ink, likely over a pencil drawing, and then painted them in watercolour. Weiser has thus stripped down the images to the original ink drawings and then painted them in a fresh palette of watercolours. With this palette they also have added more variety in skin tones, something if not for the time, Pamela may have wished to do herself. The publisher also notes that when stripped down to the ink drawings many of the individuals are very androgynous.
If you feel drawn to the watercolour style and the shades of colour, you will find this deck well worth adding to your collection. It’s inexpensive, the card stock is a nice thickness and matte which is always my favourite, and it’s easy to shuffle. As a bonus for those that it may interest, the major arcana has added Hebrew and astrological correspondences.
The deck comes with the standard LWB that includes a publisher’s note, a brief tarot history, a brief write-up on the RWD and it’s creators, and a bit of information on the Weiser Tarot itself, along with card meanings and spreads. There is one spread called The Ankh Spread designed especially for this deck.
You’ll note from the illustration below that each suite favours a certain colour, cups are blue, wands are yellow, swords are purple and pentacles are green, all which reflect the elements associated with each suite nicely! All in all, I think they did a great job with this revamp of the classic RWS. Thank you Weiser Books!
Buy it here: https://redwheelweiser.com/book/the-weiser-tarot-9781578637959/ Also available on Amazon or check your local book shop.
Originally published in the Covenant of Hekate's newsletter, Noumenia News, Issue # 64: https://www.hekatecovenant.com/noumenia-news Also published on https://www.hekatepotniatheron.org/post/review-of-the-weiser-tarot