Tarot of the Divine – a deck and guidebook inspired by deities, folklore, & fairy tales from around the world by Yoshi Yoshitani.

Yoshi Yoshitani is a creator, concept artist and incredibly talented illustrator based in California. Tarot of the Divine is a tarot deck and guidebook reimagining the RWS system of tarot with characters and motifs from folklore and fairytales from around the world.

First Impressions

Now listen, I have to be totally honest about my first impression of this deck when I’d only seen it floating around the internet, the first impression which barred me from immediately knowing that it was the deck for me. I have a deep distrust of the word divine. Call it religious trauma, call it an excess of scepticism but anything that brings to mind images of angels simply isn’t my journey. This may well change, I’ve worked hard to open myself up to all sorts of aspects of the magical, mystical, mythical world – but I’m not quite there with angels. So the name “Tarot of the Divine” turned me off completely. It wasn’t until very recently, I was looking to pick up a deck for my first market, when it fell across my path again and I took the time to look a little closer. I’m still kicking myself at how wrong I was with my first impression.

A tarot deck based on world mythology and fairytales?! Sign me right up!

With a matching book that tells you every single story to match each card?! Immediately add to cart.

Before the deck even arrived I was devouring the book. Each story is neatly summarised into one page, opposite the matching (exquisite) artwork. Some of the stories I know, others are completely new to me. I can imagine if there are stories of your own culture featured there may be an element of frustration at how little detail is able to be covered, but I think given the sheer number of stories covered, it makes sense for it to be formatted as it is.

My Thoughts

I’ve been using this deck now for two months, including a baptism-by-fire of a busy witchcraft market. It has quickly become a favourite and most trusted deck, it sticks closely enough to the RWS system for reading for people who are familiar with tarot whilst still maintaining its own unique point of view.

Working with these cards has further widened my perspective on the meanings of the tarot and has inspired much meditation and reflection (more on this in a future post). I’ve found myself agreeing and disagreeing with the stories chosen to align with each card, but each decision has opened my eyes to possible interpretations that had not yet occurred to me.

The artwork is exquisite and strikes the perfect (for me) balance between honest and comforting. While some of the cards are quite dramatic, there is enough story in each to show the fully rounded meaning in any given context.

The cards themselves handle nicely, they are a normal size and have slightly textured cardstock which prevents them sliding all over the place while shuffling. The deck has a very distinct colour palette but also uses elemental imagery clearly enough to be able to tie these aspects together in a reading.

Overall, I love this deck and will continue to use it frequently. I think it would be a good deck for those familiar with tarot but looking for a deck that brings in new elements and perspectives. I can also see this being a good beginner deck, especially if paired with the book of fairytales because it gives you so much to work with for each card while leaving room for your own feelings and the context of the reading.