The Shadowland Tarot

The Shadowland Tarot

By Jewel – April 6, 2023

The Shadowland Tarot, by Monica Bodirsky, was published as a deck/book set by RedFeather Mind, Body, Spirit an imprint of Schiffer Publishing on March 28, 2020.  This is Ms. Bodirsky’s first tarot deck, though at time of its printing she had already published a Lenormand deck and an oracle deck.  She is both author and artist of this deck.  The focus of the deck, as stated in the deck name, is the shadow and this is a perfect deck for shadow work or the exploration of the hidden and/or unaccepted parts of our being.  One of the greatest strengths I find with this deck is how the whimsical quirky art speaks directly to my inner child in a straightforward yet humorous manner, coaxing that side of me out to explore and accept the parts of myself and/or situations that I deny, hide, and run away from.  This deck is a straight shooter, do not let the art style fool you into thinking otherwise.

The art is composed of pen and ink drawings painted with watercolors. It is disturbing, whimsical, scary, funny, inviting, and very intentional.  The denizens of this deck though discomforting, are familiar and invite you to go back to a time when you imagined the monster under your bed or inside your closet.  Best of all it has a way of bypassing the ego which can be a large hurtle when reading for oneself.  The deck gives you a glimpse at your fears, aspects of yourself you deny and/or reject through child eyes making them very approachable and opening you up to a new understanding, compassion, empathy, integration, and healing.  Equal artistic attention was given to the Majors and the Minors, which is always a plus in my book.  One of the things I really love about this deck is the design element used to represent our own power to change things by noting areas where we have choices or have made choices or decisions by the visual cue of red booties on the characters.  Any time I see these I know I can make changes and adjustments or that my choice/decision was right or mine to make.

The cards measure 4.75” x 2.75”.  I am not overly pleased with the card stock.  The cards feel like pieces of thin cardboard to me, and I am not fussy when it comes to card stock.  Shuffling them makes me think of shuffling manila folders, not that I have ever done that, I am just saying ….  What I do like is the cards are of a matt finish and the colors are vibrant.  The deck also has gold gilded edges, which may in part contribute to my shuffling issues, but it looks beautiful and is holding up really well.  There are no borders, another plus in my book, and the card titles are written at the bottom of the cards in yellow block lettering which makes them unobtrusive but easy to read.  The card backs are bright yellow with two bats that are mirror images making the cards reversible.  The card backs have a black border that reminds one of whimsical spooky trees.  Simple but nice.

The majority of the imagery of the Major Arcana is RWS based, with some exceptions (Seeker, Hierophant, Strength, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Moon, and Discretion).  Two of the Majors have been renamed: The Fool becomes the Seeker, and Judgement becomes Discretion.  The Seeker is headless and carries a black cat in his right hand extended forward to guide him.  The Hierophant is rooted by a lake and has no apprentices but holds a golden orb in his hands. Death wears a nest as a hat, there is one cracked egg on the ground, and it appears the hatched creature is between Death’s hands reading and raising his hand.  Temperance is a bat skeleton with awesome red booties standing at the edge of a lake and her back is on fire, The Devil is a statement against Capitalism and urban decay.  There is no water in the Moon card, the individual is traveling a country road with a lobster on a leash.  Discretion, which replaced Judgement, is an owl flying over the countryside. Strength is at position 8 and Justice at 11.  Overall, the Major Arcana brings forth the traditional archetypes though a few of them will require some extra study, like Discretion for example.  The book gives this card a pretty straight forward meaning equal to the traditional Judgement card but the image is what will require study.  Both the Major and Minor Arcana are numbered with Arabic numerals.  To be completely honest I prefer the majors to have Roman numerals and the minors to have Arabic numbers, but it is not that big of a deal.

The Suits of the Minor Arcana are Cups, Wands, Swords, and Pentacles and follow the elemental correspondences of Cups/water, Wands/fire, Swords/air, and Pentacles/earth.  The elements are visually present in the art and color scheme of the cards.  The Court Cards are more challenging, as their imagery is very different from the RWS and in most cases really convey the shadow aspects of the card.  This makes it somewhat difficult to see the traditional meanings of these cards within the imagery itself.  These Court Cards would not be a good starting place for those new to Tarot or those who struggle with Court Cards in general.  Several of them are monster animals, have shells for a head, or look like Cousin It from the Adams Family.  Don’t get me wrong, they are good Court Cards, intuitive, but not a good starting point with Court Cards.  The rest of the Minor Arcana are RWS based with some shadow twists.  I personally love the 5 of Pentacles showing Big Foot gazing upon some campers with a warm fire and lots of food in the middle of the woods, poor guy must be hungry.

As noted in the Preface of the guidebook, the purpose of the deck is to allow us to explore the shadow realms and shadow work to help us gain wisdom and self-awareness safely and with humor.  The 208-page companion book, titled The Shadowlands Tarot, is written by Monica Bodirsky.  The book has glossy pages and includes small colored versions of the cards.  The Forward is written by Liz Dean, which is then followed by a Preface, and then an Introduction section which introduces us to the House of Shadows.  Then we have the Major Arcana Section followed by the Minor Arcana Section.  Both card sections include a description of the card image, Key Words, Shadows, Message, and Reflections which poses several questions to ponder. The writing is succinct and to the point, and includes health (physical), financial, and love related interpretations at the end of each Message.  Starting on Page 178 you have the “How to Use the Cards” section, and it is very informative and useful.  This is the section where you find out information on what the Major Arcana are, detailed descriptions of the Suits, their elements, symbols used, etc.  There is a section on Court Cards, a section on Reversals.  On page 186 you can find a listing of keywords for the Major Arcana, and on the next page basic numerology for numbers 1-10.  These aids are great for those just starting their Tarot journey.

Where I find the companion book goes above and beyond is in with the Card Layout section, it is robust at 11 spreads (plus the one card reading) none of which are the Celtic Cross or the Horseshoe spreads.  There are four three card spreads:  Transitions; Past, Present, and Future; Mind, Body, and Spirit; and the Blockbuster.  Additional spreads include:  the Four Seasons Spread which identifies challenges and advice for each of the four seasons of the year; the Five-Card Element Spread to help us achieve harmony in our environment; the Six-Card Integration Path to integrate your life path with your career; the Seven-Card Shadows of the Past to explore a past life; the Nine-Card Blockbuster for creative breakthroughs and inspiration; the Four-Card Moon Cycle Spread to identify cyclic issues and break unwanted patterns; and last but not least, The Thirteen-Moon Spread which is for advice from your ancestors in the coming year.  I have to admit I wish more spreads were focused on the shadow self and troubled times, but that is just a personal thing for me. Few companion books have this plethora of spreads so I still give it a thumbs up.

If you like The Adams Family, The Munsters, Monsters Inc., and/or The Nightmare Before Christmas, you will enjoy working with this deck.  The art is whimsical, spooky, humorous and serious all at the same time making it a great deck for exploring the shadows or uncomfortable/bad situations.  If you are in a place where you need to just be honest with yourself either about you or a situation this deck will shine a bright light on it, so you better really want to know.  The tough messages are brought with humor to help your mind accept them and your role in resolving the issues as it holds you accountable as if saying “don’t say I did not tell or warn you.”  It is really hard to explain, but the simplest way to put it is that the deck is that good friend that is not judgmental but just tells it like it is leaving the choices and actions to you to follow or not as you see fit.  Personally, I love decks that just tell like it is, especially when they do so in a straight-forward but supportive manner.  I have to admit, I thought this deck was cute when I bought it, but it has truly exceeded my expectations and is one I will definitely keep and read with.  It has become a beloved friend.  It can be used for other types of readings, but it really shines in troubled times.

I would recommend this deck to those that enjoy Halloween themed decks, shadow work, like dedicating a deck to work with during troubled times, to those that love whimsical decks and yearn for a darker deck to address hard times or do shadow work, to those who read from a psychological perspective, and for intuitive readers.  If you are looking for esoteric symbolism, or do not like name changes in your Major Arcana you will most likely be disappointed.  I would not really recommend this deck to beginners due to the changes in the Major Arcana, the court cards could be difficult to grasp, and the imagery would differ significantly from anything they would find in a beginners course or website.  The book is good, but yeah, I would still recommend holding off on getting this deck for a bit.   I would recommend it to intermediate and advanced readers. Would I read for my dear aunt Fifi with this deck?  Absolutely, she has a great sense of humor and would love the cues those red booties give.  If she was going through a difficult time or wanting to explore her darker or hidden side this would be the first deck I would offer to her for the reading.  Even though the imagery is on the darker side, the art style mitigates deep scariness.  There is nothing I would consider offensive in this deck, and there is no nudity.  As for diversity … well this deck is populated with witches, ghosts, goblins, and monsters so it is not racial diversity but a different type.  Gender balance does not really apply to this deck either due to the nature of the characters that populate it.  I would be comfortable using it in readings for teenagers and adults.  I would also not hesitate to use it when reading for squeamish querents so long as they like Halloween.