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El Tarot de los Cuentos de Hadas
Your happily ever after awaits . . .
Transport yourself to a faraway land of enchantment—a magical world where wondrous fantasies abound and anything is possible. Created by internationally renowned tarot artist Lisa Hunt, this unique tarot deck brings to life our most beloved fairy tales from around the world.
See the cunning Puss in Boots as the Mentor (High Priest), Little Red Riding Hood as the Fool, and the Fairy Godmother as the Empress. Built within the Rider-Waite tradition, The Fairy Tale Tarot invites you to call upon your imagination and find your own adventures.
~ Charming and evocative artwork in the tarot card deck and book vividly portrays each fairy tale
~ Delightful retellings of the stories and an explanatory discussion of the symbolism
~ Suggested tarot card spreads and layouts for divination
- GenresTarotFairy Tales
376 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 26, 2018
It's not often these days that I read a whole tarot book, because most tarot decks come with useless little booklets instead of proper guidebooks, and there's all sorts of apps and other things that aren't books that I can use to study.
This is not the case for my newest deck, The Fairy Tale Tarot by Lisa Hunt, which was a gift from Kyle and Jess as they purge their apartment. Each card in the deck illustrates a fairy tale; for each card, the guidebook contains a retelling of the fairy tale, a short guide to the symbolism in the card, and a brief discussion of the card meanings. The result is that the tarot guidebook doubles as a fairy tale anthology, making it extremely relevant to my interests. I read it this weekend before and after the convention when I could not brain; the ultrashort versions of these tales--just two or three pages apiece--was just what I needed.
The fairy tales are more or less from around the world, although the selection is a bit heavy on the European tales. The labels for which culture the tales come from is also a little inconsistent--one tale will be "Welsh" and another will be "Celtic" but with names in it that are clearly Welsh; another tale is labeled "Native American" but then within the text it's specifically identified as Ojibwe. This might in part be due to the source materials Hunt was working from, which are listed in a bibliography at the back of the book and feature several fairy tale anthologies that I own, because I'm a dork like that.
While the ultrashort versions of the tales aren't always the most satisfying retellings, they were very charming, and they served to remind me of the tales I did know and educate me a bit on the tales I didn't know. Lesser-known favorites of mine that made it into the book include Tatterhood, East of the Sun West of the Moon, and The White Cat. I mean, nobody retells Tatterhood, ever. Which is a pity, because it's a great story.
Anyway. Did reading this entire book help me memorize my card meanings? No, I still have to do flashcards for that. But was it a delightful use of my time and did it help familiarize me with this new deck specifically? Yes on both counts.
Originally posted on Once upon a time, there was a girl who liked divination and fairy tales.
This is not the case for my newest deck, The Fairy Tale Tarot by Lisa Hunt, which was a gift from Kyle and Jess as they purge their apartment. Each card in the deck illustrates a fairy tale; for each card, the guidebook contains a retelling of the fairy tale, a short guide to the symbolism in the card, and a brief discussion of the card meanings. The result is that the tarot guidebook doubles as a fairy tale anthology, making it extremely relevant to my interests. I read it this weekend before and after the convention when I could not brain; the ultrashort versions of these tales--just two or three pages apiece--was just what I needed.
The fairy tales are more or less from around the world, although the selection is a bit heavy on the European tales. The labels for which culture the tales come from is also a little inconsistent--one tale will be "Welsh" and another will be "Celtic" but with names in it that are clearly Welsh; another tale is labeled "Native American" but then within the text it's specifically identified as Ojibwe. This might in part be due to the source materials Hunt was working from, which are listed in a bibliography at the back of the book and feature several fairy tale anthologies that I own, because I'm a dork like that.
While the ultrashort versions of the tales aren't always the most satisfying retellings, they were very charming, and they served to remind me of the tales I did know and educate me a bit on the tales I didn't know. Lesser-known favorites of mine that made it into the book include Tatterhood, East of the Sun West of the Moon, and The White Cat. I mean, nobody retells Tatterhood, ever. Which is a pity, because it's a great story.
Anyway. Did reading this entire book help me memorize my card meanings? No, I still have to do flashcards for that. But was it a delightful use of my time and did it help familiarize me with this new deck specifically? Yes on both counts.
Originally posted on Once upon a time, there was a girl who liked divination and fairy tales.
February 12, 2012
Great! This deck is by far my favourite deck I own. The book has a fairy tale for each card, which makes the tarots easier to remember. The artwork is great, too =)
November 15, 2019
Un libro maravilloso!! Me alegra que lo haya encontrado. Soy fanatica de los cuentos de hadas y por lo tanto me tenia que leer este libro. Ahora, como libro de Tarot como tal es bastante vago. La autora aplico su amor por los cuentos de hadas al diseno de las cartas y trato de acoplar las moralejas de los cuentos para expresar significados de las cartas, no tan exitosamente, si hablamos del Tarot tradicional. Mucho de los cuentos fueron recortados (El de la Reina de las Nieves no llega al final) para adaptarlos a lo que la autora queria explicar. Yo lo que encuentro mas valioso en este libro es la Bibliografia!!! Ya tengo como meta chequear de la lista todos aquellos librosque aun no he leido y uno que otro que me parece interesante acerca de simbolismo y mitologia. Recientemente lei la version original de los cuentos de los hermanos Grimm y es gracias a ello que pude llenar el vacio de muchos de los cuentos que aqui se mencionan, ademas de que la obra de Andersen es muy importante para mi, en especial historias no tan populares y muchos de mis cuentos favoritos son de el.
Resumiendo: Como libro de cuentos y abre bocas el libro es una maravilla.
Para aplicarlo al Tarot tradicional es bastante vago y creo que bien dificil para principiantes, PERO, lo encuentro util como metodo de inspiracion y herramienta de meditacion como tambien la autora sugiere. Incluso para practicar el metodo de contar la historia con las cartas. El libro por si solo, sin tomar en cuenta que es un acompanante de un mazo de tarot es ALTAMENTE recomendable. Y solo para chequear la bibliografia es una obligacion para cualquier amante de los cuentos de hadas e historias fantasticas del mundo.
Resumiendo: Como libro de cuentos y abre bocas el libro es una maravilla.
Para aplicarlo al Tarot tradicional es bastante vago y creo que bien dificil para principiantes, PERO, lo encuentro util como metodo de inspiracion y herramienta de meditacion como tambien la autora sugiere. Incluso para practicar el metodo de contar la historia con las cartas. El libro por si solo, sin tomar en cuenta que es un acompanante de un mazo de tarot es ALTAMENTE recomendable. Y solo para chequear la bibliografia es una obligacion para cualquier amante de los cuentos de hadas e historias fantasticas del mundo.
April 30, 2019
Absolute one of my favorite.. artwork is beautiful ❤️
February 21, 2012
The Fairy Tale Tarot by Lisa Hunt
$28. 95, Llewellyn
ISBN 978-0-7387-0866-9
Many experienced readers talk about the tarot “telling a story”, that doing a reading is very similar because the reader is using the cards to tell a story to the querent. The difficulty for many readers isn’t that they don’t know the meanings of the individual cards, but that they have difficulty putting the whole picture together. Enter the Fairy Tale Tarot, a deck based entirely on folk tales throughout the world.
The book that comes in the set, appropriately entitled “Once Upon a Time…” is an absolute must, and I was really pleased to see that the fairy tales used to represent each of the 78 cards are here for your reference. Some of them you will undoubtedly know, like “Jack and the Beanstalk” shown on the Four of Wands; “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, pictured on card 16 of the major arcana (entitled “Deception”, replacing the Tower); and “Thumbelina”, on the Princess of Swords. Others you may not know include “The Glass Mountain” from Poland (Seven of Cups), “The Flying Ship” from Russia (Nine of Wands), and “The Goose Girl” (11-Justice) from Germany. While some of the card titles for the majors have been changed, both the majors and the minor arcana cards all have their title by number and suit at the bottom center of each card. The stories that provided the inspiration are listed in the book but not on the card.
The card backs are very simple, with a filigree key design and leaves on a plain off-white background. The image is uncomplicated but goes with the theme very well; you might expect such an image to separate fairy tales in an old book. The cards themselves lacked the very slippery nature of many other new decks out of the box so I found them easy to pick up and handle; they are about the size of the standard RWS as well.
The imagery is very imaginative but is definitely a departure in many cases from the standard RWS symbology. For example, Temperance, whose inspiration is drawn from a Spanish folk tale, “The Water of Life”, shows a woman next to a stream dipping a cup into it. For me, the idea of “balance” which is a standard meaning for this card wouldn’t come out in the image alone on the Fairy Tale Tarot. On other cards, however, the meanings were enhanced for me. One of the meanings I use often for the 3 of Wands, which is represented by the Chinese story “Hok Lee and the Dwarves”, is “leadership”. While the RWS shows only a lone figure looking out over the ocean, the Three of Wands in this pack has the “leader” surrounded by a group of people.
The Fairy Tale Tarot deck is a rare find: It uses a unique cultural medium—folk tales—to enhance the meanings of the cards for both young and old querents. I’d definitely recommend this deck to anyone interested in fairy tales, to those with very little experience reading the tarot, and more advanced tarotists who want to add to their palette of meanings through these stories.
$28. 95, Llewellyn
ISBN 978-0-7387-0866-9
Many experienced readers talk about the tarot “telling a story”, that doing a reading is very similar because the reader is using the cards to tell a story to the querent. The difficulty for many readers isn’t that they don’t know the meanings of the individual cards, but that they have difficulty putting the whole picture together. Enter the Fairy Tale Tarot, a deck based entirely on folk tales throughout the world.
The book that comes in the set, appropriately entitled “Once Upon a Time…” is an absolute must, and I was really pleased to see that the fairy tales used to represent each of the 78 cards are here for your reference. Some of them you will undoubtedly know, like “Jack and the Beanstalk” shown on the Four of Wands; “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, pictured on card 16 of the major arcana (entitled “Deception”, replacing the Tower); and “Thumbelina”, on the Princess of Swords. Others you may not know include “The Glass Mountain” from Poland (Seven of Cups), “The Flying Ship” from Russia (Nine of Wands), and “The Goose Girl” (11-Justice) from Germany. While some of the card titles for the majors have been changed, both the majors and the minor arcana cards all have their title by number and suit at the bottom center of each card. The stories that provided the inspiration are listed in the book but not on the card.
The card backs are very simple, with a filigree key design and leaves on a plain off-white background. The image is uncomplicated but goes with the theme very well; you might expect such an image to separate fairy tales in an old book. The cards themselves lacked the very slippery nature of many other new decks out of the box so I found them easy to pick up and handle; they are about the size of the standard RWS as well.
The imagery is very imaginative but is definitely a departure in many cases from the standard RWS symbology. For example, Temperance, whose inspiration is drawn from a Spanish folk tale, “The Water of Life”, shows a woman next to a stream dipping a cup into it. For me, the idea of “balance” which is a standard meaning for this card wouldn’t come out in the image alone on the Fairy Tale Tarot. On other cards, however, the meanings were enhanced for me. One of the meanings I use often for the 3 of Wands, which is represented by the Chinese story “Hok Lee and the Dwarves”, is “leadership”. While the RWS shows only a lone figure looking out over the ocean, the Three of Wands in this pack has the “leader” surrounded by a group of people.
The Fairy Tale Tarot deck is a rare find: It uses a unique cultural medium—folk tales—to enhance the meanings of the cards for both young and old querents. I’d definitely recommend this deck to anyone interested in fairy tales, to those with very little experience reading the tarot, and more advanced tarotists who want to add to their palette of meanings through these stories.
October 2, 2011
L'idée de présenter le Tarot avec des contes de fées est bonne. Il y a beaucoup de recherche dans ce jeu à tenter de trouver le conte, voire même de trouver le personnage qui va représenter la symbolique du Tarot de base. J'ai fait quelques découvertes de contes que je ne connaissais pas et je me suis amusé à les lire. Coté graphique, les images sont tout aussi belles et inspirante.
Cependant, je ne recommande pas ce Tarot pour les débutants puisque certaines Arcanes ont changés de nom et cela pourrait être déstabilisant. De plus, j'aurais aimé des explications sur les choix et les personnages qu'elle a prise pour ce jeu.
Néanmoins, ce jeu est agréable et j'ai bien hâte de lire les autres contes!
Cependant, je ne recommande pas ce Tarot pour les débutants puisque certaines Arcanes ont changés de nom et cela pourrait être déstabilisant. De plus, j'aurais aimé des explications sur les choix et les personnages qu'elle a prise pour ce jeu.
Néanmoins, ce jeu est agréable et j'ai bien hâte de lire les autres contes!
August 15, 2018
This was the first tarot deck I owned when I was 18. I thought that because I already knew the ending to most fairy tales it would be easy to decipher the meaning of each card. This reasoning is also why I think this deck would be great for children. If a child was interested in tarot this deck would be the easiest to introduce to them. The stories that each card has included can also be read as a bedtime story. Not to mention that the fairy tales are stories from all over the world. Not just Europe.
The artwork of each card is phenomenal. There are no reversed meanings.
The box the cards come in is not strong. I have tape all around the top and the bottom. Be gentle if one keeps the cards in the box. Otherwise, find another way to store these tarot cards.
The artwork of each card is phenomenal. There are no reversed meanings.
The box the cards come in is not strong. I have tape all around the top and the bottom. Be gentle if one keeps the cards in the box. Otherwise, find another way to store these tarot cards.
March 17, 2010
I wish there were half star ratings for this, because it's a little better than a three but not quite a four, largely because this wasn't quite as in-depth as I was hoping. The stories she chose for the cards are intriguing, but the explanations are scanty, and while the art is fairly good, it often slides into cutesy (not my personal taste). Another part of the problem with the illustrations is that Hunt is much better at drawing animals than she is at drawing people, which is fine, except when there are people in almost every card. Overall, though, a good deck.
January 31, 2011
I love how each card is from a different fairy tale. I enjoyed reading new stories and the the cards are beautiful. There were some little errors, such as describing where certain tales are from (The Little Mermaid is from Denmark -- not just Europe, in general), but that didn't ruin my enjoyment of the book.
Want to Read
November 1, 2018excellent
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews