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If you ever wondered what’s happening outside the frame of a card, this is the deck for you. Tarot of the New Vision shows a rear view of the images from Rider-Waite-Smith. This technique enables the artists to reveal, for example, what acolytes are doing behind the Hierophant’s back (handling a snake) and what Strength sees in the distance (a stone giant). In many cases, this shift of perspective allows us to take the character’s view, showing for example the angry mob the 7 of Wands is facing or what the 2 of Swords sees – a horse walking up the beach, ready to take her away once she decides to take action. This fanciful behind-the-scenes glimpse into each card allows for a new layer of interpretation. The subtitles in Italian, Spanish, French, and German are also helpful for further study

A quintessential reflection of second-wave feminism and eclectic Goddess-centered spirituality, this is an important deck in the history of Tarot. This is the first widely-distributed deck of round cards, and Karen Vogel (one of the deck’s artists) published the Motherpeace Tarot Guidebook which gives inflected interpretations on the card positions: upright, left, right, and reversed. This deck is also the first widely-distributed feminist, multi-cultural Tarot deck – breaking free from traditional Rider-Waite-Smith card depictions and interpretations. That being the case, some cards are shown in a more negative light, some in a more positive: The Hierophant wears fake breasts, imitating priestess-power, while Judgement is a rainbow woman cloaking the earth in light. Most importantly, Motherpeace brought an entirely new perspective to court cards, changing the names and gender-associations and exerting a strong influence on later decks. The book Motherpeace: A Way to the Goddess Through Myth, Art, and Tarot by Vicki Noble (the second artist of the deck) describes the deck’s history and underpinnings and provides insights into working with and interpreting the cards. One criticism of this deck is that the artwork isn’t very sophisticated and is too reflective of its era, for example, women doing aerobics in 80s workout gear on the Sun card. Another criticism is that while some cards reflect African and Native American cultures, the images lack insight from people who live in those cultures, as was common in second-wave feminism.

This deck is so rich in symbolism that people can (and do) devote decades to studying just that aspect. However, I am more interested in the psychological interpretations of the cards. This deck offers up more intense interpretation than many other decks, both through the names on the minors and through the unusual artwork. For example, the Nine of Swords is titled “Cruelty” and depicts swords dripping with blood. While some cards in this deck are portrayed more negatively than in many other decks, some are portrayed more positively, for example, the Hierophant who is shown as a keeper of the mysteries rather than as a tradition-bound cleric. Two books I’ve found helpful in psychological interpretation of this deck are The Tarot Handbook: Practical Applications of Ancient Visual Symbols by Angeles Arrien and Tarot: Mirror of the Soul: A Handbook for the Thoth Tarot by Gerd Ziegler.

While the court cards and pip cards are underwhelming, the majors are unusual and thought-provoking, with gorgeous artwork. I recommend this deck for anyone with some knowledge of angels in the Judeo-Christian tradition who wants to study the major arcana in this light.