Shaman Tarot Deck
The sky, streaked with sparkling lightning, formidable girls with black crows and frightening shamans riding reptiles – at first glance, this world seems wild and gloomy. But if you continue the search, you can see wise elders, strong healers. The Shaman Tarot deck shows a multifaceted world that is hard to drive into the framework of good or evil. It can only be described as an ever-changing play of energies. And what was on top of the world today, tomorrow is just sand in the desert.
History of creation of the Shaman Tarot Deck
The author of the Shaman Tarot deck is Massimiliano Filadoro, an Italian mystic who is fond of yoga and various spiritual practices. Partly, the man’s hobby influenced the creation of a new mantic instrument. After all, this deck immerses the fortuneteller into the radiant world of visions, energy flows. For the first time, this Tarot was published in 2012. Although the cards are directly related to reality, nature, they are nevertheless a springboard to an altered state of consciousness. And this is the world of the gods. Man himself is a creator in his essence. All events and phenomena revolve around this axis of the observer.
The main idea for creating the Shaman Tarot deck was the concept of connecting two worlds. On the one hand, the questioner sees beautiful landscapes – forests, fields and meadows. These expanses are inhabited by indigenous people dressed in colorful clothes. Shamans, ordinary people, healers, leaders – they are all strongly connected with nature. But here the author also shows another world – the modern one. Office clerks in classic suits, girls dressed in casual style and "spiritual" guys in wide shirts, very comfortable for practice. The interweaving of the two universes made it possible to find a golden mean.
The artists of the Shaman Tarot deck cards were two women – Sabrina Riganello and Alessia Pastorello. They took the classic motifs of Indian, African and many other tribes as a basis and combined them with modernity. Everything that the querent sees in the picture is alive, energetic. This effect was achieved thanks to the poses of the characters, their facial expressions. As a result, the viewer is immersed in a completely different reality, although very similar to the ordinary world.
Key features of the Shaman Tarot
The Shaman Tarot deck belongs to the English school. Strength here comes at number 8, Justice – 11. The author took the Waite system as the basis. But if you look closely at the cards, then the differences with the classics are clearly visible. The Major Arcana of the Shaman Tarot deck have their own names. For example, the second card of the major group is not the High Priestess, but the Mother of the Worlds. The Wheel of Fortune has been renamed to Shield-Spinning Wheel. The Sun here is the Dawn and the Moon is the Illusion.
The Minor Arcana of the Shaman Tarot have also undergone changes. Now Cups have become Stones, Swords have become Bows, Pentacles have become Drums, and Wands have become Bones. All cards have a blue border. The symbol of the suit is visible at the top, and the numerical designation at the bottom. There are no astrological correspondences. The images are very bright, lively, filled with symbolism. Even from one picture, you can get a prediction without references to Kabbalah or to the stars.
If we take a closer look at the suits of the Shaman Tarot deck, then the choice of new names is quite obvious. Much attention is paid to spirits and elements. Thus, the Fire group is represented by the skull of a horned bull. This animal personifies strength, power. Stones are more inert, softer. They show beauty, subtlety. Bow is like a symbol of achieving a goal, a sharp mind. Drums, on the other hand, correlate with existing skills that can be used to obtain material wealth.
The court Arcana of the Shaman Tarot remained classic. There are Pages, Knights, Queens and Kings. Each rank has its own symbol. So, the Pages are shown with feathers, the Knights with a stone figurine of a horse, the Queens with a necklace of beads and fangs, and the Kings with a classic headdress of Indian tribes. All the heroes of this group of cards have a bright appearance, which allows you to draw analogies with real people in the spread.
Style and symbolism of the deck
In general, Shaman Tarot is replete with symbols. Birds, animals, plants, even inanimate objects have their own energy. On the cards you can see stone idols with human faces, spirits arising from the air or from the flame. This world consists of souls in various incarnations. There is no god here in the usual sense of religious people. Rather, you can call the whole reality divine, where everyone is a particle of the whole.
If we talk about the style of the Shaman Tarot deck, then it is very bright, unusual. The images here look like comics. At the same time, the artists paid great attention to the color scheme. So, yellow symbolizes the mind, intellect. This color most often appears on the suit of Bows. Scarlet flames are characteristic of Bones. The pink and blue tones are soothing and perfectly reflect the energies of the Stones group. And the suit of Drums is ocher, greenery, symbolizing fertility, generosity.
Interpretation of the Shaman Tarot cards
The interpretation of the Shaman Tarot can partly refer to the interpretation according to Waite. However, the deck is softer, more harmonious. It does not have a clear framework, definitive answers. Each message can be replayed, changed. After all, everything depends only on the person himself and his perception of reality. By the way, in the Shaman deck, great attention is paid to the concept of connecting several worlds. So, one soul can simultaneously be on different planes, levels of being. Endless suffering or the pinnacle of bliss – the choice of the querent.
Therefore, the spreads of the Shaman Tarot should be taken as some kind of advice, and not a sentence. Here, even conditionally negative Arcana have a positive connotation. For example, the Seven of Bows (Swords) shows not the traditional deceit, theft, but only an escape in an illusion from a difficult situation. On the Five of the same suit, there is no fight with rivals. The hero sees his reflections in the window from different angles and does not know which one is correct. Therefore, the struggle here is shown internal, with oneself. That is, external enemies are illusory, they simply remind that a person is not whole, still chasing the ghostly shadows of the mind.
What questions is the deck suitable for?
Fortune-telling on the Shaman Tarot will allow you to look into the depths of your soul and find the true answers there. Therefore, the deck will work best in the context of spiritual issues, searches. But the arsenal of mantic tools does not end there. Here is the signification of people according to the court Arcana, and advice on the situation. If you learn how to work with a deck, you can view business, health, and relationship issues on it.
Separately, it is worth mentioning the aspect of interaction with totems. Shaman Tarot is replete with images of various birds, wild animals, reptiles. All this can be used to your advantage. The cards will show a way to awaken the inner "I" through working with a consonant archetype. After all, each person has his own correspondence with the world of fauna. For example, a bear is distinguished by physical strength, endurance. But he also has disadvantages – clumsiness, excessive directness. A person can turn all the shortcomings into virtues and find his own way.
Who are the Shaman Tarot cards for?
Of course, the Shaman Tarot deck is suitable for those people who are immersed in spiritual practices and are looking for themselves. Working with crystals, totems, plants will become much easier if you follow the advice from the cards. Fans of Castaneda’s work will also learn something new for themselves – the Arcana here humanizes the spirits of the elements. In addition, the world of dreams is intertwined with reality. Those who practice astral travel will be able to find reference points in this deck. In general, the cards are very versatile when viewed from a spiritual angle. After all, even the characters here belong to different cultures.
Also, Shaman Tarot will appeal to fans of light decks. This tool has a soft energy that directs attention to self-development, inner growth. It is intuitive and easy to read. Therefore, beginners will also be able to work with this predictive tool. However, do not get too attached to the classical values. Yet the deck is strikingly different from Waite. Even the images themselves, the scenes are original and unlike the traditional ones. Fans of this style of illustration will also appreciate the deck.