Review by Lalia Wilson
The 78 Tarot Mythical (2018) was created by eighty-one artists, written by Trish Sullivan, published by Kayti Welch and is available at 78tarot.cards.
The deck actually has 81 cards, the three extra cards being Meditation, The Dragon Tamer, and The Guardian. These extra cards can be used in readings, or as a focus of meditation. Each of the 81 cards has a different creator, thus the 81 artists. Each card is labeled with the name of the card and the name of the individual artist for that card. The cards are large, 3 ¼ X 5 ½ inches, making them too large for many to be able to riffle-shuffle them. The card edges are gilded, and there is gold foil on the card backs. The remaining 78 cards are the traditional 21 trumps, unnumbered, so there is no need to parse out their order, and the traditional four suits: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles.
The 78 Tarot Mythical comes in a sturdy cigar-style box with a magnetic closure that will be a good permanent home for this luxe deck.
The eighty-one artists mean that the artistic vision of the deck is not consistent. Each person will find cards that they really like—either the artistic style or the card’s intent—and cards that they don’t like. Some will find that the cards they especially like will change from day to day. For that reason this deck is not especially good as a deck to use when you read for others. The best uses of this deck, other than artistic appreciation, are for your own meditation, and for personal readings. This is a deck that I would do personal readings with the cards face up to pick your card or cards. Should you do that, you will find that you don’t always pick the same cards.
You will find six cards shown on the Tarot Scopes page. Here are three more.
The Nine of Pentacles is associated with the Green Man in Celtic mythology. Here you see the nine pentacles, and the bird, associated with this card. You may want to think of this as the Green Woman. Notice that the bird, while not small, is nicely camouflaged by the greenery. Contrast this card with the Nine of Earth in the 78 Tarot Elemental review elsewhere in this issue of Tarot Reflections.
The Nine of Swords, to me, really gets at the meaning of this card. It shows a woman overcome by her own fears, fantasies, or perhaps, memories. The mythical connection is to the Night Hag.
The Seven of Swords as Coyote is a super-connection to the meaning of this card. Coyote in Native American mythology is a trickster. This card is about tricking others, or sometimes tricking oneself. So, when you look at Coyote, who is he tricking? You?
Treat yourself with this deck. There is so much here to enjoy.