Top: Seasonal Fox Tarot Day and Night Bronze editions. Bottom left to right: The Black Violet Tarot Deluxe Edition, Tarot Mucha, Baba Studio’s The Fantastic Menagerie Tarot

Ah March. Not really winter, definitely not spring, it is the month of slush and ice. Some years we get really lucky and have beautiful Marchs, but most years its a smattering of sun with a lot of drear. It’s the month I need some pep!

It was not hard picking decks for this month. I recently have received several Kickstarter decks along with some preordered decks, so I have a lot of newness to explore as far as cards go!

If you cannot tell by the opening picture, I like big decks and I cannot lie! Actually, this beauty is a recent acquirement, but a deck I’ve been longing to exist in the world—this is the Seasonal Fox Tarot, but it isn’t just a single tarot, its the Day and Night variations smashed together into one really-too-big-to-be-proper deck. Not only is there a “dark” and “light” variation of each card, but each card has an associated season (as do the minors), and can make panoramas. And, um, KITSUNE! There are so many little tiny details that went into making this not-your-everyday-RWS clone that I feel like this deck was made just for me. I’m totally obsessed with this double-deck and I’ll have to do a proper full on review by the end of the month.

Because this is actually TWO decks I’m using as one giant deck (that’s awkwardly shuffle-able), I pulled TWO cards—and I pulled two night cards at that! The first, the four of swords, tells me that I need to let the mind take a break! Appropriate that we see the Inari statue standing stoically in the snow, but still given the winter bib! I can see this four of swords at night speaking to letting the racing mind rest, as in stop over thinking things. Then the second card is the two of wands. Can we just have a moment to appreciate the wands are SUMIE brushes??? The brushes remain unused, and the fox stares out into the Milkyway. Now is a time to consider the possibilities of your projects and passions! Time to get your feet wet and just try things out!

Another new deck that made it just in time to be part of my monthly decks (I feel I jumped into the deep end choosing three new decks to try to learn in the same month), is the stunning The Black Violet Tarot. This is the PERFECT March deck—its the only true black and white deck I own, and its by far the most minimal. It’s both stark but references some profound motherly sort of creativity—much like the stark March here that only gives glimpses of spring. I can tell just from using this deck a few times that this will be a deck that I grow with. I really love how calm this deck reads, and how the simple shapes lead the eye around the card.

I pulled the Knight of Wands from The Black Violet Tarot. What an interesting Knight of Wands! The rider wears a helmet, yet she does not have a lance but a witch’s wand! This Knight of Wands seems to be saying “Do not worry if your path seems unorthodox, if you’ve done your due diligence, there’s nothing to stop you from charging forward!”

And, because spring is supposedly around the corner, I had to choose my quintessential spring deck, which is the once outrageously popular Tarot Mucha. This extremely feminine deck, while not exclusively portraying feminine figures like The Black Violet, is everything the simplistic Black Violet is not; chintz, floral patterns, grandmas dishes, a riot of pastels and a general Art Nouveau–muchness. I’ve had this deck a long time and it’s a really easy RWS reader with a strange tongue-in-cheek sort of humor that will be much needed in the days of snow ahead.

Here I pulled the Seven of Wands—while I usually think of this card as a defensive card, this variation seems to be a rather successfully defended hill! The man looks skyward to the rising or setting sun with no noticeable signs of harm to him. Perhaps this card is leaning more towards the idea that you have what it takes to defend your hill, rather than the notion imminent defense is needed. You got what it takes!

And finally, the bright and snappy Fantastic Menagerie Tarot. While Baba Studio’s has designed many iconic decks, this one is perhaps the most unique; the artists took historic French cartoon drawings (that were pretty politically charged at that) and slotted a collage of them into the tarot system. This deck is clever, funny, and frankly, kinda mean. I definitely consider it a “darker” reader deck, but wrapped up in pretty spring colors and shiny foil. There’s a reason that this is such a divisive deck!

It seems that the Queen of Wands is following me around this month as well! You are high-spirited, imaginative, shine brightly and are charismatic. If you can use wisdom and are compassionate (and are not self-obsessed) you will garner friends that will help you reach your goals. There are not enough hours in the day for you. It is better following your own heart than what convention tells you to do.

Well, quite the wand energy this month! Lots of opportunity for creativity to flourish! And a good time to stop getting hung up in my own head!