The Star Tarot by Cathy McClelland
Posted: 18 May 2018, 12:13
On a lovely day some time ago, I stumbled upon a thread on AT that celebrated the appearance of the Star Tarot. It seems that quite a group of fans waited for the artist to bring the full deck out into the world. A majors edition was released earlier and much beloved.
I own this deck now and love it very much. It comes with a wonderful book - with an introduction by Mary K. Greer, no less! She praises the deck, and every word she writes is true. This deck is beautiful, innovative, easy to read, and evocative.
The Star Tarot follows the RWS structure, Strength is VIII and Justice XI, and the majors' names are traditional (including Death and Devil). The Hanged Man has turned into the Hanged One, gender-inclusive and easy to recognize.
The cards come beautifully packed with a full size, substantial book. You can either decide to study the cards (and the book gives you wonderful information if you want to), or you can just look at the cards and understand their message just by connecting to them. I have hardly ever seen a deck that is so easy to connect with.
Look at this magical card for example.
It's the card of the 2nd decan of Aquarius. There's the Sun, it's a number Six, so Tif'eret and the Sun. But it's also hope, after all this minor is associated with the Star, and we have the bridge over the water made by the sun light - and that's where the boat shall go. The whales in the water - and in the sky. The crescent moon in one corner. The swords like sun beams - they have their best moment here in the Six.
We move towards healing, renewal, hope and new beginnings. This is how we know this card from the RWS, but what a departure from RWS iconography. The artist re-invented the card and added more layers to it. The living orca, guiding the boat, and the celestial orca, reflecting a higher self and a reality beyond our earthly existence.
Now I open the book and I'm struck to see that the moon phase associated with this card is the lunar eclipse - which we had two nights ago (even though I couldn't see it from my part of the world). Cathy McClelland gives all the astrological information we need about the card, explains the background of the card, what happened before to bring us to this situation, what will happen next. She builds a flow of time and we can understand this card not as disconnected "this is it" but as total "here it is as part of a whole".
In the last paragraphs, she explains her use of symbols. The names of the symbols are written in bold letters, so if you only want to know what the orca means, go and look for its name. "Orca symbolize the guide and protector who creates the portal where one can return to their inner home of Cosmic Memory in the soul, awakening one to their true self".
In this sentence, you can see one slight problem I have with this book (and why I like to read the explanations AFTER interpreting the cards for myself) - the interpretations tend to be very complete and cosmic, which makes them sometimes a bit vague.
But obviously, you can have your own associations with every card. I for example see in the orca a little hint to Mercury, with his communicative talent and speed of movement. Very intelligent animals.
Then, I can decide for myself whether the figure in the boat is dead and being buried (to rise again with the sun) or just on a journey of self discovery in a state of deep sleep (like in a depression, fatigue or burn out slowly passing).
These cards have an openness which the book enriches, and our own mind enriches even more.
Some cards are scenic, like the Six of Swords, and others are like esoteric glyphs, nearly abstract. Have a look at the Eight of Pentacles:
The divine hands come down to a divine earth, eternal starry skies and ages-old earth meet. I love the inclusion of native American motifs (the hint to Spider Woman), the moon phases, the animals that run around the wheel of time, an image of cosmic harmony. You have never seen any tarot artist take this card so seriously, connect this humble, pragmatic Pentacles card to the eternal laws of nature, to its bounty and beauty.
The text makes it all clear - we see the weaving of a prayer blanket. Actually the turning wheel of time weaves with our world. And yet, you can easily connect this card to the commitment and serious work of Virgo, the beauty that can be created once you let yourself get into the "flow" of creative, repetitive work that you do very very well.
Aren't these minors magical? They take every card's core message and connect it to the tapestry of the cosmos, of time and different human cultures. This is a deck to be consulted when the big questions of life knock on your door.
The majors are beautiful, too. Cathy McClelland found new ways of expressing their significance, too.
The High Priestess - again the spider motif, as it says in the book, "the veil between the conscious and unconscious" - the well known veil of the High Priestess, connected here to myths and the natural world. Beautiful colours, the crown looks like a skull, and again the symbolism of the moon.
This is a strong interpretation of the Death cards (always one of my favorites and one of the cards I check when I look at a deck). Along with the Anna K. Death, this must be one of the most beautiful Deaths, with symbols of hope and renewal (butterfly and Phoenix) but also telling us that we won't and can't go on as we did before.
And the Star, the major that is associated with the zodiac sign of these weeks - the Star is often the most beautiful and perfect card in the deck, but this one really stands out. Again, I don't even need the interpretations of each waterfall given in the book - it's interesting and enriching to read but I can connect to this image intuitively and even hear the water.
There is no way of showing the three dimensional depth of these cards. On Amazon, some buyers complain about the card stock quality, and indeed, these cards are so smooth and laminated with a sort of lacquer that makes them sticky and hard to shuffle. (Some people had a problem with peeling edges etc, my own copy is perfect so I can't say anything about that). So when I unpacked my copy, I was a bit baffled at first by the card surface and asked myself: why did the artist choose that lacquer?
And I took my time and trusted Cathy McClelland because an artist who spent so many years painstakingly re-inventing tarot wouldn't choose card stock on a whim. The great revelation came when I trimmed the deck (I know, not everybody is a trimmer but I am).
The large dark blue borders are beautiful but they make the deck too large to handle for me, then the cards stick together, and they diminish the card images, at least imho.
The moment these borders fell, the pictures came alive. I remember from my youth lenticular postcards that looked three dimensional - but they were not smooth like this deck. I promise you, when you look at these pictures in person, they have depth. You can enter them. After a while, you hear birdsong, waves, everything.
And the lacquer finish that disturbed some buyers reveals itself as stroke of genius. It's like a transparent membrane that you can push through to enter the picture. I can't describe it any better. And when the pictures are smaller, they're not sticky anymore.
Without the borders, they also connect well with each other. The starry backgrounds give visual unity.
I don't exaggerate when I say that reading with this deck reminds me of a ritual under the starry skies.
This deck has such a high quality that you will enjoy it, with or without borders. (One should probably have a copy WITH borders for ritual and altar and meditation, and one WITHOUT borders for readings
)
More links:
Artist website (and the place where you can purchase an autographed copy of the deck)
AT review by Kim Huggens
an interview with the creator of the deck, Cathy McClelland
Amazon reviews
I own this deck now and love it very much. It comes with a wonderful book - with an introduction by Mary K. Greer, no less! She praises the deck, and every word she writes is true. This deck is beautiful, innovative, easy to read, and evocative.
The Star Tarot follows the RWS structure, Strength is VIII and Justice XI, and the majors' names are traditional (including Death and Devil). The Hanged Man has turned into the Hanged One, gender-inclusive and easy to recognize.
The cards come beautifully packed with a full size, substantial book. You can either decide to study the cards (and the book gives you wonderful information if you want to), or you can just look at the cards and understand their message just by connecting to them. I have hardly ever seen a deck that is so easy to connect with.
Look at this magical card for example.
It's the card of the 2nd decan of Aquarius. There's the Sun, it's a number Six, so Tif'eret and the Sun. But it's also hope, after all this minor is associated with the Star, and we have the bridge over the water made by the sun light - and that's where the boat shall go. The whales in the water - and in the sky. The crescent moon in one corner. The swords like sun beams - they have their best moment here in the Six.
We move towards healing, renewal, hope and new beginnings. This is how we know this card from the RWS, but what a departure from RWS iconography. The artist re-invented the card and added more layers to it. The living orca, guiding the boat, and the celestial orca, reflecting a higher self and a reality beyond our earthly existence.
Now I open the book and I'm struck to see that the moon phase associated with this card is the lunar eclipse - which we had two nights ago (even though I couldn't see it from my part of the world). Cathy McClelland gives all the astrological information we need about the card, explains the background of the card, what happened before to bring us to this situation, what will happen next. She builds a flow of time and we can understand this card not as disconnected "this is it" but as total "here it is as part of a whole".
In the last paragraphs, she explains her use of symbols. The names of the symbols are written in bold letters, so if you only want to know what the orca means, go and look for its name. "Orca symbolize the guide and protector who creates the portal where one can return to their inner home of Cosmic Memory in the soul, awakening one to their true self".
In this sentence, you can see one slight problem I have with this book (and why I like to read the explanations AFTER interpreting the cards for myself) - the interpretations tend to be very complete and cosmic, which makes them sometimes a bit vague.
But obviously, you can have your own associations with every card. I for example see in the orca a little hint to Mercury, with his communicative talent and speed of movement. Very intelligent animals.
Then, I can decide for myself whether the figure in the boat is dead and being buried (to rise again with the sun) or just on a journey of self discovery in a state of deep sleep (like in a depression, fatigue or burn out slowly passing).
These cards have an openness which the book enriches, and our own mind enriches even more.
Some cards are scenic, like the Six of Swords, and others are like esoteric glyphs, nearly abstract. Have a look at the Eight of Pentacles:
The divine hands come down to a divine earth, eternal starry skies and ages-old earth meet. I love the inclusion of native American motifs (the hint to Spider Woman), the moon phases, the animals that run around the wheel of time, an image of cosmic harmony. You have never seen any tarot artist take this card so seriously, connect this humble, pragmatic Pentacles card to the eternal laws of nature, to its bounty and beauty.
The text makes it all clear - we see the weaving of a prayer blanket. Actually the turning wheel of time weaves with our world. And yet, you can easily connect this card to the commitment and serious work of Virgo, the beauty that can be created once you let yourself get into the "flow" of creative, repetitive work that you do very very well.
Aren't these minors magical? They take every card's core message and connect it to the tapestry of the cosmos, of time and different human cultures. This is a deck to be consulted when the big questions of life knock on your door.
The majors are beautiful, too. Cathy McClelland found new ways of expressing their significance, too.
The High Priestess - again the spider motif, as it says in the book, "the veil between the conscious and unconscious" - the well known veil of the High Priestess, connected here to myths and the natural world. Beautiful colours, the crown looks like a skull, and again the symbolism of the moon.
This is a strong interpretation of the Death cards (always one of my favorites and one of the cards I check when I look at a deck). Along with the Anna K. Death, this must be one of the most beautiful Deaths, with symbols of hope and renewal (butterfly and Phoenix) but also telling us that we won't and can't go on as we did before.
And the Star, the major that is associated with the zodiac sign of these weeks - the Star is often the most beautiful and perfect card in the deck, but this one really stands out. Again, I don't even need the interpretations of each waterfall given in the book - it's interesting and enriching to read but I can connect to this image intuitively and even hear the water.
There is no way of showing the three dimensional depth of these cards. On Amazon, some buyers complain about the card stock quality, and indeed, these cards are so smooth and laminated with a sort of lacquer that makes them sticky and hard to shuffle. (Some people had a problem with peeling edges etc, my own copy is perfect so I can't say anything about that). So when I unpacked my copy, I was a bit baffled at first by the card surface and asked myself: why did the artist choose that lacquer?
And I took my time and trusted Cathy McClelland because an artist who spent so many years painstakingly re-inventing tarot wouldn't choose card stock on a whim. The great revelation came when I trimmed the deck (I know, not everybody is a trimmer but I am).
The large dark blue borders are beautiful but they make the deck too large to handle for me, then the cards stick together, and they diminish the card images, at least imho.
The moment these borders fell, the pictures came alive. I remember from my youth lenticular postcards that looked three dimensional - but they were not smooth like this deck. I promise you, when you look at these pictures in person, they have depth. You can enter them. After a while, you hear birdsong, waves, everything.
And the lacquer finish that disturbed some buyers reveals itself as stroke of genius. It's like a transparent membrane that you can push through to enter the picture. I can't describe it any better. And when the pictures are smaller, they're not sticky anymore.
Without the borders, they also connect well with each other. The starry backgrounds give visual unity.
I don't exaggerate when I say that reading with this deck reminds me of a ritual under the starry skies.
This deck has such a high quality that you will enjoy it, with or without borders. (One should probably have a copy WITH borders for ritual and altar and meditation, and one WITHOUT borders for readings
) More links:
Artist website (and the place where you can purchase an autographed copy of the deck)
AT review by Kim Huggens
an interview with the creator of the deck, Cathy McClelland
Amazon reviews
