Once out of print, most tarot decks sink into the mists of history, leaving barely a ripple behind them. Not so the Greenwood Tarot, created by Mark Ryan and Chesca Potter. This deck has reached almost Grail-like status amongst collectors, with original copies of the deck changing hands for the sort of money that would make a Russian oligarch’s eyes water.
Although rare and expensive, the Greenwood has left us a magnificent legacy in the form of another tarot deck – the equally beautiful Wildwood Tarot, which remains in print and allows the ethos of the Ryan-Potter deckto live and breathe in the 21st century.
“When the Greenwood was published back in 1996, it was ground-breaking,” recalls Mark Ryan as we video chat together over coffee. “I think that the Greenwood Tarot was the first to consider the structure of the Wheel of the Year as a framework for a Tarot deck.
“Independently, Chesca and I had each done a lot of research into Britain’s mythic and esoteric history. For Chesca the focus was on Elen of the Ways and Elen of the Wells. For me, things began to gather speed within my involvement in the Robin of Sherwood TV series in the mid 1980s [Ryan played Nasir, a Moorish companion created especially for the show by Kip Carpenter]. I began to more seriously research the themes and concepts embedded in the show and which I had grown-up with in Yorkshire as a child. It really pressed home, for me, the importance of the Hooded Man and our ancient relationship with the seasons, nature and landscapes in which we lived. These are even more important in our world today.
“Then, when Chesca and I began to work together, everything just dove-tailed perfectly.
“The fit between the Wheel of the Year and tarot is natural and organic. It was a sound structure for us to build on, positioning the cards on and around the eight major festivals and relating them to the inner and outer realms of human experience. It just worked.”
Indeed, after the Greenwood Tarot was published the Wheel of the Year began to be incorporated into other decks – most notably the stunning DruidCraft Tarot in 2004 (created by Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm, with artist Will Worthington).
By the time the Greenwood Tarot went out of print, Mark’s friendship with Arthurian and tarot experts John and Caitlín Matthews deepened, and by 2011 Mark and John, together with Druidcraft Tarot artist Will Worthington were ready to birth The Wildwood Tarot.
“The Wildwood Tarot is the direct descendant of The Greenwood Tarot,” says Mark, “But there are some significant differences between the two decks. Firstly, the artistic approaches to the deck are very different. For the Greenwood, my co-creator was Chesca Potter. The art of the Greenwood is much more primitive – and by that, I mean that it harks back to a more ancient and tribal existence. People react to the Greenwood’s art in a very visceral way. Chesca and I made pilgrimages – together and individually – to various ancient and mystical locations to gain insight and inspiration from the landscape which was to be included in the final artwork.”
For anyone fortunate enough to own a Greenwood Tarot and a Wildwood, it is fun to work through both decks to see what evolved from one to the other – the DNA of the Greenwood in the Wildwood – some of the court cards, for example, are completely new characters and others changed suit.
“For the Wildwood Tarot, my co-creators were John Matthews and Will Worthington. John flipped some of the East and West associations and we added some new esoteric Wildwood denizens to provide a more traditional way of viewing the Wheel. In the Wildwood, we managed to add more details, refining and redefining the structure to give more clarity for users.
“Unlike Chesca, Will was completely comfortable depicting the solar aspects of the system and needed very little input from myself or John. The resulting artwork for The Wildwood Tarot is stunning. And very different to the Greenwood.”
Mark agrees that each artist brought their own unique vision to the table: “To me, the Greenwood feels lunar and the Wildwood solar. But working with tarot decks is such a personal thing, isn’t it? It’s about the connection that you make with the artwork and the ethos of the deck. If both touch your soul, you’ve found a tool that you will work with for the rest of your life – and for users of the Greenwood and the Wildwood, that seems to be the case.”
That original ancestor, the Greenwood Tarot, may be out of print, but these days that doesn’t mean that it is gone for ever. Could it come back into print? Certainly, the rights to the deck reverted to Mark in their entirety several years ago and it is his goal to reprint the deck; a view that is not without controversy – something that he freely acknowledges.
Mark says: ‘I had intended to reprint the Greenwood in 2019, but life and lockdowns got in the way. I want to reprint it for a few reasons, really.
Firstly, genuine copies are incredibly expensive now and people are paying enormous amounts of cash for a deck. Even worse, there are counterfeits getting into the market now which means that someone can spend a lot of money believing that they are buying an original deck and end up getting a fake. Where does that counterfeit cash go? Nobody knows – in buying a
fake, you just hand over your money to criminals.
“There have been objections from some people online, mostly believing second-hand hearsay or rumour. However, these folks who claim some ‘inside knowledge’ were never involved with the original creation of the system, let alone the artwork. They’ve made it clear that any reprint is not for them. And that’s fine. That’s their choice. But overwhelmingly the reaction has been positive and most of the people who were involved at the time, or knew Ches personally and actually supported her when she needed help, think that this is the best way to honour her legacy.
“Nobody knows where Chesca Potter is [Potter is recorded as a Missing Person in the UK], but her royalties from the reprinted deck will be set aside for her in exactly the same way as her royalties are for The Celtic Shaman Pack, which she did with John Matthews.
“I promise her fans and friends that Chesca will be loved, honoured and respected in any future reprint.”
With vast improvements in self-publishing and ease of access to the internet, deck creators are no longer limited to the whims of a publisher nor to what can fit in a deck’s box and Mark is excited about what is possible today, that was not imaginable when the deck was created over two decades ago.
“There will be a limited number of reprinted Greenwood decks available, but how we go about the process is still to be decided – there are so many different ways of funding now. And we could offer an online course where people can learn directly from me how the system was created and why Chesca and I arrived at the use of certain symbols and the processes that we went through.
“I am particularly excited at the thought of revisiting many of the ancient sites that played such an important role in the creation of the deck and sharing those experiences. So much more is possible to create for the Greenwood now than I could in 1996!”
And the legacy of The Greenwood to The Wildwood is not the end of the line for the family tree either. Mark and John, together with British artist/illustrator Yvonne Gilbert are already at work creating the next generation in the family – The Sherwood Oracle! This new set of cards (to be published by Sterling Publishing in the USA) will draw heavily on the legacy of both the Greenwood Tarot and the Wildwood Tarot.
At this point, John Matthews provides us with the most up to date
information about the new Oracle and says: “The idea for this was discussed by Mark and myself some time ago, but we decided to shelve the project for a while as sales of the Wildwood Tarot and the book Wild Magic were romping up – as indeed they still are!
“Also, we learned that Will Worthington was unsure about working on a new deck, so we had to look for a new artist. Having known illustrator Yvonne Gilbert for many rears and greatly admiring her work, when I came across a small book on Robin Hood which she had illustrated it was a light bulb moment. We contacted her with some trepidation, thinking she would be far too busy to work with us – but amazingly she had a window and before we knew it, we had some beautiful and powerful images to look at. It took us all of two seconds to agree she was the best possible artist for our new deck.
“As Mark says, The Sherwood Oracle is truly child of the earlier decks. Though it’s an oracle and not a tarot, and focusses primarily on the Robin Hood mythology, it is underpinned by the magical essence of the Greenwood and the Wildwood, where so many of the stories of Robin and the outlaws are set. We chose to focus on Sherwood Forest because it has such a strong association with Robin that nowhere else would have worked as well. It’s now well under way with some familiar – and some not – characters that most fans of the older decks, as well as of the great Robin
of Sherwood TV series, will know and love. The deck will arrive in the shops some time in 2023, so hang onto your excitement, watch the websites for glimpses into this new/ old world, and prepare for your own adventures in the depths of the ancient wood.”
“The Greenwood Universe is expanding,” smiles Mark. “Watch this space.”
This interview was first published by The Cartomancer in 2021 and is kindly reprinted here with permission from Mark Ryan.
Update: The Sherwood Oracle was released in early 2024 in the US and on 21 May 2024 in the UK.
There are plans in the pipeline regarding the long-awaited Greenwood Tarot reprint.
