When you buy A Year In The Wildwood, it’s either an e-book or a paperback copy. If you buy the paperback, I always encourage people to make the book their own personal grimoire by scribbling their own notes and observations in it. However, you can further customise the book by replacing the paperback spine with a spiral binder.
Why is this a good thing to do?
It allows the book to lay flat when you are reading and working from it, so you have both hands free to work with your cards.
I took my copy to my local print shop where they cut the paperback spine off and inserted the plastic spiral binding for the princely sum of £6.00! That was a few years ago and your print shop may be more expensive, but given that this is a book that is designed to be used 365 days a year for many years, I figured that it was a good investment on the initial cost.
I have made sure that the margins can accommodate a spiral binding, so no copy is compromised by the de-spinification (yes, I just made that word up lol!) of your book.
Very handy thing to do with any text or reference book and will vary in cost depending on thickness of book and size of binder required.
This post was inspired by a question on the Wildwood Tarot Study Group page.
The Wildwood Tarot is based around the eight festivals that make up the Wheel of The Year. We have four festivals that are the Solstices and Equinox and four that mark the periods between, roughly half way.
When exactly ARE these festivals?
The Equinox and Solstice festivals (Spring and Autumn, Summer and Winter respectively) are literally moveable feasts. They vary between the 20th and 22nd of March (Spring Equinox), June (Summer Solstice), September (Autumn Equinox) and December (Winter Solstice). The reason for this movement is pretty complicated, but basically the earth goes round itself but it also goes around the sun and there is a bit of ‘wobble’ on the earth’s axis AND a full solar year is not exactly 365 days … so by inserting a leap year extra day we try to keep things roughly on track. But eventually, in several thousand years time, the Northern Hemisphere’s Spring will swap places with the Southern Hemisphere’s Spring. This gradual shift is known as the Precession of the Equinoxes. Truthfully, there’s a great deal more to the Precession than that, but I don’t know all the ins and outs of it all – enlighten me in the comments if YOU do!
The remaining four festivals of Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas and Samhain tend to be celebrated on the first of February, May, August and November respectively. Is that astrologically correct? Is the first of those months exactly on the midpoint between the Solstice and Equinox? Nope. If they were, they would change every year. Not impossible to calculate, but probably only astronomers and astrologers would have access to lots of ephemera, reference information calculating formulae and tools (which is absolutely not me lol!). Or google (which absolutely is me!)
These four remaining festivals tend to be celebrated (since at least medieval times) on the first of the month because a specific DATE meant that contracts could be agreed, debts settled, unpaid debts pursued etc because the DATE could be easily verified by the most educated person around – the Church priest or minister.
We’re all just whizzing around the sun!
What about prior to medieval times? I’m not sure, but I wouldn’t get stressed about it at all. Calendars are artificial markers of time and not all calendars are the same. For example – when you are talking about the first day of Spring, is that the first day of astronomical spring, ritual spring or meteorological Spring? On which hemisphere?!
Even when you have settled on the date that you want to celebrate your festival, when exactly do you do it on the day?
For me, for the festivals of Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas and Samhain it’s from dusk the night before until dusk on the day. I went to the Beltane Fire Society celebration in Edinburgh one year and it began at dusk on the 30th of April. If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me! As far as the Solstices and Equinoxes are concerned – I celebrate them on the day!
The point of this blog post is to show that the absolutely correct day for all eight of the festivals CAN be worked out from first principles if you have the right resources (and endless time!). Or you can use Google. Or you could go with the fairly standard practice of celebrating the Solstices and Equinoxes on the days that they occur (which changes) and celebrate the other four on their traditional dates of the first of the month.
The trick is not to get too caught up in the fact that what YOU do might be different from when *I* do it. Which might be different again to when friends on-line celebrate a particular festival. It’s not worth an argument, that’s for sure! Tolerance of different approaches is always a good thing in life.
I have the good fortune to have been involved with The Wildwood Tarot since it was published back in 2011 and still maintain and run the Wildwood Tarot website as well as administering their official Facebook page.
I noticed in the past few years that the number of emails I was receiving from the website had increased and it wasn’t anything to do with the decks that I had posted out, but the decks that people had purchased elsewhere. It seemed that people had been buying decks (think Amazon, Etsy, TEMU etc) that did not have the large (excellent!) companion book, just an online link that was supposed to supply the guidebook as a download. And guess what? The links didn’t work.
These emails come in at sometimes 3 or more per week. Sometimes they are polite requests for me to send the guidebook pdf, but not always.
So let’s take the opportunity to restate what traits a fake tarot deck is likely to have – and these apply not just to the Wildwood Tarot, so that YOU are better prepared for when you see that unmissable Tarot bargain on the big sales platforms:
A screenshot of a counterfeit Wildwood Tarot that I have had successfully removed from Amazon.
It comes in a ‘pocket size’, ‘handbag-size’ or ‘travel-size’. Do your due diligence – does the publisher offer the deck in this size? If not, it’s a fake.
It is not only smaller than the legit version, but it doesn’t come with the companion book. If there is a link to download a pdf version of the companion book then it’s a fake.
If it costs a fraction of the price of the legit version (the RRP of The Wildwood Tarot is over £20), say £5.00 then it’s a fake. Although – pay attention – I’ve seen fake decks being sold for as much as £60!
If it’s from a seller on the sales platform that is just a random bunch of letters and numbers ‘leg5056’ there is a good chance that it’s a fake. Click through to the seller’s details – if there is not a legit looking bricks and mortar address for your country there, there’s a good chance that it’s a fake. If it’s from a warehouse at Heathrow, it is definitely a fake.
If the seller seems to have unlimited numbers of the cheap decks for sale and offers a wide selection of Tarot decks, not just the Wildwood, it’s a good chance that ALL the decks are fake.
If the publishers ISBN number and logo is missing from the box, it’s a fake.
The real Wildwood Tarot is only ever sold WITH ITS COMPANION BOOK in a large presentation box (see the feature photo to this post)
Now you might be one of those people who say ‘Alison, £24.99 is far too expensive for a tarot deck and book, I can’t afford that and I’m going with the fake version, thanks all the same.’
Well here are a couple of things to think about. If you think that your £5 will not be missed by the deck’s creators, think again. All the artists and authors and everyone else involved in the process who work diligently to create, distribute and stock the cards and companion books that you love so much (all of them, I’m not just talking about The Wildwood Tarot here) need to be paid for their skills. Otherwise, what’s the point in those talented people spending years creating something? I already see people quitting the industry and preparing to quit by moving into other areas.
Counterfeiting tarot decks might not seem like a big crime, but the people who are raking in the money (and they ARE making a LOT of money) are not just one or two independently minded little people. This is organised crime and your money is going towards criminal enterprises that I reckon most tarotists would not want to be funding – drugs, trafficking, extortion … the usual suspects.
So, dear tarot friend, if £24.99 feels like a lot of money (and god knows we are in a tight spot with the cost of living crisis) please save up for a legitimate copy or add it to your Wish List.
Can you guess what kind of email I had in my inbox today?!
So if you have been sold a counterfeit tarot deck, what can you do about it?
Firstly, contact the seller and get your money back. Usually mentioning the word ‘counterfeit’ is good enough to get your cash back.
Secondly, report the seller for selling counterfeit goods, to the sales platform.
Thirdly, dispose of your counterfeit deck. Do not post it back, do not give it away, do not sell it on. If you do, then you too are part of the counterfeiting chain.
Fourthly, if you see counterfeits being sold on line or in shops, I hope that you will have the courage to sing out and report the sellers. No bricks and mortar shop wants a visit from Trading Standards officers and a big fine.
Help the artists and authors whose work you love by supporting them whenever you can – either by buying their work or at least not buying the counterfeited goods.
In my book, A Year In The Wildwood, I have a list of over 50 secret paths between cards in The Wildwood Tarot. What is a secret path? You can read about them HERE.
Today I thought I would look at the symbol of the flaming heart which is found in two cards of the Wildwood Tarot: Two of Vessels – Attraction and Three of Arrows – Jealousy.
In the Two of Vessels the flaming heart hangs in the sky between the horse- and stag-headed figures who stand palm to palm with one hand as the other pours out water into two vessels. In the Three of Arrows, the burning heart is a bloodied wooden target hanging from a tree, pierced by three arrows.
What is a flaming heart about? The first thing that comes to my mind is the Sacred Heart which symbolises Divine Love, rather than love between two people.
A burning heart also has an alchemical feel to it and indeed ‘attraction’ is a complex chemistry that often cannot be explained.
Let’s compare and contrast the two cards:
The TWO is green and verdant, the THREE is dry and barren.
The former has water falling the latter has blood falling.
The former catches liquid in cups, the latter falls onto the ground.
There are two figures in the first card, no figures in the second.
The heart in the TWO is aflame, in the THREE only partly.
The first heart is 3D, the second is flat.
The first is undamaged, the second is wounded and bleeding.
Vessels are of the emotions, Arrows are of the mind.
What else would you add to this list?
What might the secret path be between these cards? Attraction comes before Jealousy (TWO moves to THREE) and emotions become influenced by the wild thoughts of the mind. Jealousy is a barren, destructive force that destroys the jealous person. St Augustine said: ‘He that is jealous is not in love.’
But lest we think that Jealousy is to be avoided at all costs – it might provide the spur to galvanise a person to work towards achievements in their own lives instead of envying what is in other people’s. The blood that falls on the ground can be, after all, a great fertiliser for growth.
What do YOU think of the secret path between these two cards?
It’s a dark sky at the moment but the light will be returning even as we speak, so today is a great opportunity for a single card draw from your Wildwood Tarot deck made with the intention:
What will light my path until the full moon?
I drew the King of Vessels. What did you draw?
The KoV lights my path until the full moon. There will be a lot of waiting (possibly even standing on one leg – not even joking lol! My exercise routine involves balance work ) Patience will be the virtue I’m tasked with developing until the full moon this month … let things arise, don’t rush about hunting.
I also associate this King with tact and diplomacy too. I might need some divine intervention to be developing those skills lol!
We have lots of grey herons around these parts, so plenty of living, breathing reminders of the King of Vessels for me to see on a daily basis.
I know that we have spoken about this technique before in the Wildwood Tarot Study group on Facebook, but it came back into to mind today after the Page of Arrows/Hooded Man’ link was suggested in a comment on a Pathway Spread reading there.
The Secret Path technique originated with Ruth and Wald Amberstone in the US, I believe. Ruth and Walt said that a secret path could be created between cards that shared common symbolism. This path strengthened links between those cards, deepening the interpretations of each one, by being able to refer to the other(s).
I have also included a list of over 50 symbolic links between Wildwood Tarot cards the at the back of my book, A Year In The Wildwood. The list is not exhaustive and won’t have everything, but I think I’ve included most of the shared symbols that would be interesting to take a look at). Please feel free to let me know about symbolic links between cards that I have not included, I will happily update my list and give you full credit for the spot!
This Secret Paths technique can help when working with single card pulls especially – you automatically get paths to other cards, even if they are not part of the cards dealt in the spread. If both/all ‘secret path’ cards for a symbol ARE dealt in the spread, the link is clear.
The Queen of Arrows, for example, shows up in 6 Arrows TRANSITION in the Wildwood Tarot.
As you can see by these two cards – we could add the idea of Transition from 6 Arrows to our understanding of the Queen of Arrows and conversely, we could add our interpretations for Swan to our 6 of Arrows if it turned up in a reading – if we felt that it would add deeper significance to the reading for our client. Perhaps we could say that the traits of the Queen of Arrows could assist in any transition that the client might be going through?
What do you think? Is it a technique that you already use or would like to use?
) Patience will be the virtue I’m tasked with developing until the full moon this month … let things arise, don’t rush about hunting.
