Winter Season Tarot Deck Review

You might be surprised to learn that, despite having 50+ Tarot decks in my collection, very few resonate with me on a deep level. Don’t get me wrong. I love many of my decks: the modern interpretation of the RWS I find in Isabella Rotman’s ‘This Might Hurt’ Tarot; the magical, esoteric voyage I go on each time I use Benebell Wen’s “Spirit Keepers: Revelation” deck; or the nostalgic, horror genre journey of Todd Alcott’s ‘Horror Tarot’. Many decks remind me of a certain time in my life or of the person who gifted it to me. They sometimes point to where I was, what I was doing or who I was with when I acquired it.

But only two decks I have touch my soul. The first is the RWS. It was my first deck. It is my teaching deck. It is the deck I can visualize in its entirety without any great effort.  The second is Joanna Powell Colbert’s ‘Gaian Tarot’ deck. It was gifted to me by my now wife while I was attending the readers’ Studio in 2010. It has been a constant companion to my spiritual work.

However, a third deck looks like it is an early favourite to enter the fray of deeply connected Tarot deck… ‘The Winter Season Tarot’ by Dani’el Norman.

Winter Season Tarot by Dani’el Norman

This deck found me based on the in-store recommendation of Meghan, co-owner of my local witchy shop, ‘Healing Moon’. It was sitting for sale ‘second hand’ on the Tarot shelf, the seal of the deck still unbroken. It had been dropped off by someone who received it via Kickstarter but didn’t connect with it. The deck connected with me right away.

It was something about the Winter theme. As a Canadian, as an avid hockey fan and player, as a skier, I have the typical love/hate relationship with the season. It can be dead and bleak but also breathtaking and revitalizing. I’ve always said that there is a magic to the beauty of a crisp, clear blue sky on a -20C winter day that must be experienced. (Yes, you read that right -20C)

Dani’el Norman’s deck captures that magic.

But first, let’s look at the general details. These cards are a standard Tarot sized deck on beautiful, thick card stock. They feel solid in your hands. The back has a blue and white snowflake motif that is laid out so that upright and reversed and undiscernible. Most of the cards colour scheme falls in the family of whites, blues, greys and black with the occasional splash of other colours. These colours make every card scream ‘Winter!”

It is a standard 78-card deck with two beautiful ‘extra cards’ entitled ‘Christmas’ and ‘Sleigh Ride’. The nomenclature primarily follows a RWS system, although ‘Pentacles’ are ‘Coins’ and a few of the Major Arcana have been renamed. The Little White Book (little blue & white book in this case) is very clear and provides information about the card’s specific image as well as an ‘Upright’ and ‘Reversed’ interpretation. I usually toss these (I know) but read this one from cover to cover.  The brief summaries are clever and clear, providing occasional descriptions of what’s going on. Other times, you get three simple words – ‘The Wolf Whisperer’, I’m talking to you!

I’ll share two of my favourites.

the Eight of Swords - Winter Season Tarot

The first is the Eight of Swords. Most people know the traditional image. A figure, often a woman, usually blindfolded, and surrounded by 8 swords planted in the ground.  The general interpretive theme is one of perceived entrapment. Sometimes it’s about a situation where you seem to have no way out. Or it’s about a mental construct that is surrounding you. Or many variations on that theme. In this deck, we see a woman who’s crying because her tongue appears stuck on an icicle. A simple rite of passage for any child living in a cold climate. A feeling of helplessness, of entrapment, of fear. If I move quickly, if I panic, the surface of my tongue pays the price. But if I move slowly, if I’m patient, my tongue will dislodge. A perfect and unique description of an 8 of Swords situation.

Seven of Wands - Winter Season Tarot

The second is the Seven of Wands. In most decks it shows someone who needs to defend their position. This person may be facing challenges or attacks coming from multiple places at once. They are called on to hold their ground and stay the course, despite the threats coming from opposing forces. Often, it’s a person on a hill, weapon at the ready. Here? A goalie, in their net facing not one but two shooters. Guard your net at all costs. You’re being tested. How will you cope? How will you succeed?

Both cards are perfect winter analogies for their cards’ meanings. And there are more! Strength, The Empress, the Three of Cups, the Seven of Cups, the Two of Swords… I could go on.

The only part of this deck I have yet to connect with as strongly are the court cards, each represented by a winter (I’d state Canadian actually) animal such as the Snowy Owl, the Brown Bear, and the Raccoon. But I’m sure, in time, this too will grow on me.

This is a deck that I can see myself using for quite some time. It’s images are unique but link so nicely to the RWS-based interpretation system I’ve been using for so long. And a winter theme connects with so much of who I am that this deck almost feels like I commissioned it.  Clients who are curious should book a reading. It is going to be my go-to for a while.

And if you’re curious, go and check it out for yourself. Dani’el’s Etsy shop link – Astral Mermaid Canada - is here:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/AstralMermaidCanada

I give this one 6/5 stars! 😉