By Sheri Harshberger
The Light from Within: White Light Tarot, 78-card deck by Jessica Fisher Willson
White Light Tarot: The Power Within--Combining Reiki with Tarot, 232-page companion book by Jessica Fisher Willson
ISBN 978-1438294728
Cards distributed nationally through New Leaf Distributors, book available from Amazon.com. Both are available on Ms. Willson's website, www.whitelighttarot.com (sold separately)
I am always interested in exploring the possibilities that exist when Tarot is partnered with oracles or with other metaphysical practices. The White Light Tarot, created by Jessica Fisher Willson is a new deck that fuses Reiki and chakra color with the Tarot with successful results. Ms. Willson is a Reiki Master Teacher as well as a very experienced and successful Tarot reader, so she is highly qualified to bring these two superpowers together.
The Light from Within deck follows Tarot tradition for a 78-card deck consisting of 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana. There are 3 double-sided informational cards included in the deck. One is a title card and introduces the deck and where it fits within the expansive lifespan of Tarot. On the other side of the card is a human figure and diagrams indicating the location of the chakras and what they signify. The next is a quick reference to the attributions assigned to the suits, courts and pips. The back side of it is spread diagram for a 3-card spread--Problem, Action, Outcome. The last information card is devoted, front and back, to the Celtic Cross Spread. The cardstock is sturdy but flexible and shuffling is easy. The cards are not slick and glide together nicely.
The deck suits are Swords, Wands, Cups and Disks. The courts are traditional as well, with King, Queen, Knight and Page. The elemental assignments of the suits follows the familiar tradition of Swords as air, Wands as fire, Cups as water, and Disks as earth. The Majors are numbered with the Fool as 0, Justice as 8 and Strength as 11. What is normally the World card is called the Universe.
Each card features a stunning original artwork by Ms. Willson bordered in white. At the top of each card is a keyword surrounded by a color as if it were an aura. The title of the card is located at the bottom. There are meanings for reversals given in the book, but the backs of the cards feature a human figure with glowing chakras on a black background are not reversible, so if you can ignore the backs there should be no reason to not use reversals if that is how you read.
I have no background in Reiki and chakra work, and found this deck very readable as just a Tarot deck. The artwork is beautiful. Some of the images are almost impressionist, which leaves the reader's mind to fill in the details. The depth of the cards is amazing.
The companion book is great! I read an Amazon review that someone posted because they thought they were getting the book and deck and only got the book... but decided to keep it anyway. Yes, it's that good, or at least I thought so. Much of the information on Tarot is familiar and available in any number of Tarot books, but the cards and the chakra information (which is color oriented) is in color. There is also an introduction to Reiki and a section from the perspective of the 7 chakras relating to the cards.
I think this is a great deck for any one who wants to read with Tarot aspects only or for anyone who wishes to add depth to their readings via the addition of Reiki and chakra attributes... in much the same way that some readers incorporate Astrological or other attributes to Tarot cards to add depth to readings.