The Feral Mother deck, acquired 2021, indie edition second printing

Overall: 9/10 On rare occasion, a deck comes into our lives at the precise moment we need it. The Förhäxa was one of those decks for me and I’ve clocked so many hours of use on it, its in my top-ten most-used decks even if I don’t really reach for it all that often currently. I considered it my deck of the year in 2021! At the time I purchased this deck I was going through profound grief and loss of a family member. I find that when I’m faced with those sorts of feelings, I reach for this deck. I’m not entirely sure if the deck was filling the need in the moment and therefore I feel as if this deck is meant for those troubling times, or if there’s something intrinsic about the art that helps hold the soul in an honest way.

The Förhäxa really stands out from the artists other decks in that it is focused on the Fae which in this deck often take humanoid forms (though interestingly, negative human elements/human impulses are often portrayed monstrously in this deck). This very much has Shadowscapes vibes in its intricate and “busy” art, but it is also quite a bit darker, bolder, and more violent in nature. There is a certain frightening empowerment to cards that traditionally have bothered me with being too “feminine submissive” (ahem, The High Priestess). There’s also a LOT of play of repeat images between different cards which in a strange way reminds me of the Sola Busca tarot (and I am here for it!). I love how Death’s image appears not at all subtly in the Moon, holy cow!

In many of the cards there is mirroring of imagery through out the deck in clever and profound ways.

This, to me, is very much a witches deck–not the new age, everyone and their mother is a witch, but, I was a witch before it was cool and I didn’t go around telling people because I was afraid of still being burned at the stake–witch.

There’s also subtle nods to Nordic myths and stories, with no small portion of the deck featuring snowscapes and dense forests, which along with the beautiful wild floral motifs and fire imagery is *chef’s kiss*. But, the deck is solidly grounded in a very modern sensibility that makes it super easy to start using right out of the gate as there is no need for knowledge about myths.

I really appreciate how there is a defined difference in “action” cards vs “passive” cards, and I like how even though our figures are coded female, they do not at all fit the traditional western idea of a passive woman.

This deck is caring and does a good job at holding space for the querant but it’s positively ferocious. I get strong, protective mother vibes from the art. You won’t get a “well, maybe you ought to do…” it will be very blunt and clear in its readings.

Most of the traditionally hard cards (except the Five of Air) are unflinchingly hard in this deck! So it’s not a gentle reader in any sense.

Card Quality: 4/5 Very nice overall. These cards are quite BIG which on one hand is great for the intricate art work, on the other difficult for my creepy little doll hands to shuffle. I can shuffle, but I have to take my time. They are the right amount of flexible, semi gloss finish, no core, but are quite slippery. The backs are lovely and mostly reversible, except the coloration is slightly darker on the bottoms, but it’s so mottled that unless you were really paying attention you wouldn’t notice. There’s also color variation in the backs (at least with this printing) so that’s kinda unique and fun!

Readability: 8/5 This may be my most favorite nontraditional “reading” deck. Is it intermediate? Yes as it does take some pretty serious abstract liberties with the RWS (the Four of Swords with the shed snake skin is pretty rad imo), I think it would be relatively easy to “learn” from this deck, though it does not strictly follow the traditional meanings. It totally is RWS in sensibility, but it really…twists the traditional meanings to be something quite different. The book is absolutely excellent (the writing has a very “grandma once told me” sort of thing going for it) giving a little story of each fairy figure but the stories don’t dictate necessarily how you should “read” the card–rather it gives additional ideas to meditate over which I think is great especially if someone is wanting to expand their reading beyond route memorization. It is exclusively feminine figures, but it does not exclude the masculine nature nor does it demonize the masculine (which is some serious beef I take with other decks that are female only). The females are showing very strong masculine attributes without sacrificing their femininity, which for me, so scratches an itch. It holds space in equal temperaments for creation, destruction, peace, and violence in both masculine and feminine forms. It shows both shadow and light and both are okay and celebrated along with warned against in excess. I really, really resonate with this sensibility. The artist is super color sensitive and used the color and brightness to tell as much of a story as anything else.

The Nines in this deck are all top tier!

The minors are divided up into their respective elements rather than the wands/cups/swords/pentacles, but don’t worry, that imagery is heavy and prevalent in the suites and it reads either way very easily. I actually am starting to prefer the elements to the traditional symbols (I know, burn me at the stake).

Some of the lovely cards

Art: 5/5 Yes its fairies, yes its collage, but there’s something very organic about the art work. There’s a true, serious sense of magic. There’s a surprising array of colors, textures, and light and dark, balanced and juxtaposed. Some of the imagery very much deviates from the RWS but retains a bluntness that isn’t difficult to decipher. The artists’ Crow Tarot might be her most popular deck, but this art is very much the next skill level up for her (and some of her new decks really look excellent as well!). I hope this one doesn’t fall into obscurity.

Some of the most interesting cards to me, but they all have a similar pose don’t they!

Favorite Card: I really like the Hierophant, which is usually one of my least favorite cards. There’s so, SO many really excellent cards. The Chariot, The Ace of Wands (all the Aces are absolutely spectacular actually). Death, The Moon, The World. I could just list the whole deck honestly.

Least Favorite Card: Because the V of Swords is so important to me, I wished there was something different for the V of Air–I find this a very petty V of Air.

Card I Identify As: Ace of Wands

The deck Identifies me as: The Hierophant

Boxes it Checks: Witchy, fairies, Nordic, dark, colorful, textures, nature, collage, Fae

Similar Decks: The Enchanted Tarot, Shadowscapes Tarot,  The Runic Tarot (for the Norse mythology–this is a really beefcake/boobies deck that while beautiful and dark, is not really anywhere near this art style), The Dreaming Way Tarot, Tarot of Mystical Moments, The Secret Forest Tarot, The Fairy Lights Tarot, Tarot of the Hidden Realm

Seasons: All Seasons