Forgive the not-so-great picture here – we are having yet another thunderstorm and the lighting in my house isn’t good. But I wanted to share a tarot deck created by Benebell Wen – the Spirit Keeper’s Tarot, in it’s latest (and greatest!) edition, the second printing of the Revelation edition which I think is the third iteration of the deck.

Before now I only had the original, first edition, black and white line drawing version, that Benebell somehow miraculously created in like, a few days – don’t ask me how she could do that. That edition is impressive for that alone, but also for how well thought out the system and the names of the cards are.

But now I have this latest edition, all I can say is wow! How it has evolved is nothing short of amazing. She took those black and white hand done line drawings and went digital on them, transforming them completely . I’m totally impressed. And I like, am the most pickiest of customers when it comes to tarot. No, I’m not at all one who nitpicks card stock or dents or minor production flaws and such as if I like it, I’m going to use the hell out of it anyway – but I hate shallow tarots where someone just copies RWS and calls it a day. This is not that. At all! And the art has really gotten a huge upgrade with the digital work she has done.

Everything and I mean everything, in this deck shows Benebell’s most thorough contemplation and consideration. It has her signature and sharp mind all over it. Do I agree with every single cards interpretation? Not totally in all cases, but they do all speak eloquently from a place of profound understanding of tarot. I’m really happy to see someone elevate tarot somehow when they create a deck, by including something to it that actually adds to a system and an understanding of tarot, instead of just changing stuff in a more personal way that is too specific to the creator.

The cards shown above in the top row are the three Fool cards the deck comes with, that you choose from as a significator based on your needs for the reading. The bottom row are just three cards I drew at random: Ace of Swords, the Golden Shield (Queen of Wands), and the Two of Chalices.

I love that it has three Fools, that the courts have their own unique system, and that the cards have the numbering system in the corner for doing the Opening of the Key (even though I only rarely in times of great need resort to that particular whole deal!)

The production values are awesome too. The “little white book” is actually a perfect bound book, and has tons of great information. Very well done. The cards are pleasingly matte printed, with really nice gilded edges – the mirror-like kind that doesn’t seem to flake. I wish I could do those but my printers don’t do that – I only print in US and that seems to be an overseas thing. The box is sturdy and attractive with a great quote from the Book of the Dead on back.

Plus it smells good – she personally anoints every outer deck wrapper with hand crafted herbal oil and a magnet to hold the magical charge. Lots of love there. Gotta love it!

So I think you can still order Spirit Keeper’s Tarot here, but probably not for long. Benebell sells more decks in a year than I can sell in 5 years, LOL seriously, so don’t wait as they are numbered and I’m sure they will sell out fast!