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Title: W.I.T.C.H. Tarot - Woman in Total Control of Herself
Written by: Angi Sullins
Art by: Silas Toball
Publisher: US Games
Price: $38.95
Number of cards: 78
Card size: 5 x 3 in
Box size: 6.25 x 4.50 x 2.5 in approx
Guidebook pages: 208
Purchased or gifted?: review copy gifted by US Games
Absolute favorite card: High Priestess
Other favorites: (in order from most beloved): Six of Wands, The Devil, Four of Wands, The Star, The Fool, Seven of Pentacles, Eight of Pentacles, Seven of Wands, The Chariot, Knight of Cups, Ace of Pentacles, Nine of Cups, Knight of Pentacles
Notable detail: Beautiful Box
Season: Autumn
Sabbat: Samhain
Sign: Scorpio
Element: Fire
Deck compliment: W.I.T.C.H. Oracle
Collective Pull: Four of Swords

Add to Your Altar

First Impressions

I saw this on US Games’ Instagram page first and knew I wanted to review it right away. I absolutely loved W.I.T.C.H. Oracle and really I’m just a fan of Angi’s work in general. I think she has a really unique perspective and some of the writings in W.I.T.C.H. Oracle are among my favorites of all time. So for me, I was eager to get my hands on it and couldn’t have been happier when I opened a package in the mail and saw that US Games had sent me one.

Sadly though, there were some negative comments on the post. Many people believed this deck to be AI generated although it's the same artist from W.I.T.C.H. Oracle. I have my thoughts about that but I’ll get to that during the artwork section. For now, let’s go through the whole thing and be sure to tell me in the comments if you decided to add this deck to your altar.

The Packaging

I think the box on this is gorgeous. There are little details here and there that make it feel special but my favorite part is the printing inside of the box. I love the intricate pattern and the color choices. Lately, I’ve been talking more about the other half of my life, which is interior design. I bring it up here because this box perfectly complements the shift in my design eye. Like much of the design world, for a long time I lived in neutrals like beige, grey, tans and blacks. But in the past couple of years, the interior design industry has really started to embrace colors and so have I. I have finally admitted to what I’ve always known, which is that I’m a maximalist but still in a deep, moody kind of way. And the box just feels like that realization wrapped up into one package.

Now this is obviously very personal to me and you might be wondering what this has to do with the deck and you. I like to point things like this because a deck can go so much further than just a tarot reading. It can be a piece of art in your home, or a way to express who you’re becoming. It can represent the ways your taste or understandings have changed over the years and even specific cards might embody the way you wish to carry yourself. But more than that, I want to encourage you to see how tarot is reflected in all areas of your life, and not just when you do a tarot reading.

The box itself is a two piece rigid box. Some parts of the box are done in a shiny texture while others are foil. The main imagery of the box is in matte so you get this really nice play of textures which is so interesting. A key detail you’ll see on the box and throughout the deck is the pomegranate. Even the bottom of the box is the color of a pomegranate.

I will say that the box itself is a little thin but it's a nice size. I often think Llewellyn’s boxes are much too big and that Lo Scarabeo’s boxes are way too small. But this is a good, happy medium. And the same thing goes with the details. It isn’t over the top but it isn’t a plain old box either.

*The Chariot, The Star & The Seven of Wands*

The Guidebook

The guidebook is quite healthy. First of all, it's beautiful and in full color. I thought I wouldn’t have to point this out anymore but surprisingly, a lot of decks have had black and white guidebooks this year for some reason. One of the most pleasant features can be found on the major arcana pages. Every single card has a different design element. For example, both the Devil and the fool have roses but they look completely different. Temperance has a cauldron and The Hanged One has a mermaid tail. It makes every page unique. You don’t see that with the minor cards but honestly, that would’ve been an enormous amount of work so I don’t mind.

Inside the guidebook you’ll find:

An introduction
A section called “What Keeps A Good W.I.T.C.H. Down?”
Casting a Circle
Two spreads
Several poems spread throughout
A number of smaller sections
The card meanings

Angi always includes poems spread throughout her guidebooks and I’m happy to see that here as well. Including a rather long one starting on page 26. Each suit has a lovely introduction as well. They aren’t poems but man are those pages beautiful.

For each card interpretation, you get the name of the card, keywords, the meaning and description wrapped into one and then a short saying at the end in bold. It’s pretty easy to find the difference between the description and the meaning. The card interpretation always begins with “When this card appears…” and that is the case for both the major arcana and the minor arcana.

The front of the book is also quite stacked with a variety of sections like the Defense Against The Dark Arts and Enter Sovereignty. The front section of the book is a worthy read, one that I don’t think you should skip. Read it through at least once as I have found these sections to be empowering and really speak to the heart of this deck.

Theme

W.I.T.C.H. stands for Woman in Total Control of Herself. The author talks a great deal about how women have been subjugated over the years and how women are never seen as equal to men, worthy of greatness or being given the chance to feel powerful in their own right. She then goes on to talk about reclaiming sovereignty and what it means to be a woman in charge of herself. This deck really speaks to feminine empowerment and not just in the burn your bra way. It’s about the small ways a woman can choose herself, even when nobody is watching.

The Artwork

Earlier I mentioned how many people thought this deck to be AI generated even though it's the same style and artist as W.I.T.C.H. Oracle. And it makes me sad. This deck is done through photo manipulation which in my opinion, is not all that different from AI. Hear me out. Photo manipulation and AI look similar because they are similar. Both take images created by other people and manipulate them to look different enough that it's not a complete copy. Photo manipulators might cut out a person from a photo or piece of artwork, and add layers of other details, creating a new image. That’s basically what AI is doing too, it's just a computer doing it rather than a person. Now of course a person doing it is always better but my point is that I can see how photo manipulation is often mistaken for Ai generated imagery.

Now, I’m not advocating for or against AI. I think this is not a subject that we can cleanly organize in black or white. There are some really great things about AI (maybe not in art or in some industries) but that doesn’t mean we should universally embrace it. And there are some really bad things about AI but that also doesn’t mean we should universally reject it. I think it's a lot like social media or with anything really. There are positives and negatives that require a much bigger conversation than yes or no.

Anyway, that’s not an answer I have and you probably don’t either. I’m sure all of you reading have your own opinions so if you do share it, please do so with respect. The energy you give is the energy you’ll receive.

“In order to loosen the bindings of the external patriarchy and free yourself from the jail of the inner patriarchy, you must first learn, then demand, sovereignty. ”

Having said all that, I think the deck is beautiful and I think it's a shame some people won’t even look at it because of the style. My favorite card is the High Priestess. I’m not really a HP kind of girl. I feel like that’s the one card everyone says represents them and every time I roll my eyes. It reminds me of when every single spiritual person claimed to be Cleopatra reincarnated to which I always responded, how is it that hundreds of people are all the same person reincarnated?

But I really like this version of the High Priestess. There’s the pomegranate first of all which again, you’ll see all throughout the deck as well as the snake which is another recurring symbol. And I love that you don’t have the pillars here. It's like she lives in the subconscious realm rather than standing at the gates. Like you have to take the descent before you can even find her and her wisdom.

The Devil card in this deck reminds me of the Devil card from my deck, the Autumn Tarot which you can see previews of here. I have often thought my own writing style reflects Angi so in a way, it feels validating to have a similar idea.

I feel really attached to the four of wands, featuring Baba Yaga’s house. I guess because I didn’t immediately see the connection between Baba Yaga and this card. When reading the guidebook, it says this card is about coming home which I already think is a unique way of viewing this card. But I still can’t say that I totally understand the connection. But I kind of love that. It’s been a while since I’ve felt so stumped by a card and I’m really looking forward to sitting with this and pulling out a deeper connection.

Reading With this Deck

So me and this deck are not really friends. Let me explain. This deck is super honest, almost in a mean way. It's thrown some really heavy cards my way. The first two cards I pulled were the moon and the tower and no one wants to start off a relationship like that. But I pulled some additional cards and of course everything made sense. This deck, at least for me, is a face your shit kind of energy. And ultimately, the tower isn’t as bad as it seems.

In this context, the tower was about me breaking down emotionally which is accurate. I pulled the king of cups to ask why I’m breaking down which to me means I don’t have any control over my emotions which is also accurate. Lately (or at least at the time of writing this), every single little thing has sent me tears. A member cancellation email, something I say on tv, the book I’m reading, the little watermelon bulb that broke off of my watermelon vines. I’ve been an emotional mess and the cards called me out about it.

And pretty much every reading has been the same since. I found W.I.T.C.H. Oracle to be so supportive and nourishing but I’m not getting that here, at least not in the same way. This one is much more aggressive and I guess that makes sense. This deck told me its the Hermit which is all about going on an inward spiritual journey and man that is what working with this deck has been like.

Ready to get this deck?

Season, Sign, Element and Sabbat

I chose autumn for the season and I think you’ll probably understand why. It’s deep and dark and moody and has that Samhain quality about it. And not just because it's called W.I.T.C.H. but because it's in those dark tones that are associated with that time of the year and everything that comes with it like shadow work and the subconscious realms.

Which is also why I chose Samhain and Scorpio for the sabbat and zodiac sign. In addition to the prominent feature of the pomegranate and references to Eve. The pomegranate of course corresponds to Perspheone and her descent into the underworld which is Scorpio/Samhain/Fall all day long. But one can argue that Eve’s fall from grace is a mirrored descent to Persephone and I often see them come up together in my research. In fact, when you search Eve for example on Pinterest, you will see a collection of images for her, Lilith and Persephone all at the same time. So the idea of the descent and the W.I.T.C.H. woman who isn’t fit for society kind rings throughout this deck and makes it easy to assign the seasonal aspects.

Where I struggled is with the element. I wanted to say earth but also fire and then also spirit. I kept going back and forth between the three but ultimately settled on fire. I think the idea of a woman in total control of herself is a fire energy. That idea of following your passions and what lights you up, letting your light shine, taking control of your narrative, all of that speaks to fire for me. There are some obvious pieces of artwork which embody fire but ultimately these correspondences are not really about how the deck looks or not only that. Here, I think the way the deck speaks is much more aligned with both the creative and destructive nature of fire.

Collective Pull

I pulled Four of Swords for you. The four of swords is a signal of stress. You have been so thoroughly depleted that rest may no longer be enough. This is a deep kind of fatigue. One that cannot be cured with a nap or an extra hour of sleep. Sleeping more may help but you are beyond that now. It's time to start looking at the quality of your sleep in addition to the duration. You may also need to consider ways to replenish your spirit during challenging times. Perhaps a problem has taken its toll on you in which case, this card might mean needing to learn to manage stress better. Rest for this card means a return to peace, whatever that looks like for you. Don’t see this as a failure. Be honest with what you're feeling and take steps to address it before you find yourself doing so in a way that is beyond your control.

Who is this deck for?

I say buy this deck if you’re looking for some badass feminine empowerment. If you want to be more in touch with your feminine power or if you’re working on being more true to yourself, your wants and your needs. Don’t worry about the word witch if that isn’t your thing. It’s called W.I.T.C.H. but really it’s about finding your voice and as the name suggests, taking control of your life.

Deck Companion

I chose W.I.T.C.H. Oracle of course. The guidebook doesn’t specifically say the two decks are meant to work together but it's the same theme, the same general idea and of course the same name and style. There are even several images which are nearly identical in both the tarot and oracle (see photo above). I think if you like the oracle, there’s a fair chance you’ll like this one too.

Read my review of W.I.T.C.H. Oracle

W.I.T.C.H. Oracle