Motherpeace Tarot (Mini Deck)

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.