Despite having over fifty different Tarot decks (which should be more than enough for any avid Tarot reader) I still have a very small wishlist for particular select Tarot decks which have stood out to me over the years, the Ascension Tarot was one of my ‘dream decks’. You can, therefore, imagine my delight when, earlier this month, I was gifted this extraordinary deck to review.
The Ascension Tarot
Designed and created by the incredibly talented Dani’el Norman, the Ascension Tarot is an eighty-card, modern, collage-style Tarot deck designed to explore life in a more holographic, multidimensional way.
Dani’el Norman
Dani’el grew up in Fredericton, New Brunswick – a place that she continues to refer to as ‘home’. Dani’el is an energy worker, intuitive, crystal enthusiast, writer, light warrior, spiritual and affirmation junkie, mindful mediator, gym buff, yoga lover, and mother. Her main focus in life is to aid her family, friends, and those that she is attracted to throughout life by their mental, physical, and emotional well-being.
Shortly after losing her Grandmother, Dani’el’s Mother was diagnosed with cancer. Already armed with books full of information on how to live a positive and healing lifestyle, Dani’el’s Mother began questioning the unknown – what happens to us following this life? In her search for information, Dani’el’s Mother purchased the book ‘Angel Medicine by Doreen Virtue and Dani’el found herself hooked, she then strove to continue learning within this area.
Dani’el and her Mum attended spiritual classes each week between 2005-2008 where they learned about energy work, Tarot and Oracle cards, meditation, intuition, calling upon guides, and how to speak to their higher selves. They found these classes to be hugely informative and Dani’el now refers to the sessions as her Spirituality 101 classes.
“The universe listened to my soul’s cries to learn even more. I still remember where I was and what I was doing when I asked the universe to provide me with a deeper understanding and knowing of who I actually was.”
Dani’el was unfortunately entangled in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship which she continued to endure until 2011 when she finally found the strength to leave. It was however this relationship that revealed to Dani’el who she was and the strength that she possessed. This was an enlightening time for Dani’el and though she spent years healing from that trauma, she took solace in her Mother – her spiritual teacher and her best friend.
Dani’els Mother was sadly diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2001 and was given between two to five years to live. Despite her diagnosis, Dani’el’s Mother battled on and proved to herself, and to her family and friends that ‘we are all our own ships master and she had cracked the code’. In January 2017 Doctors confirmed that Dani’el’s Mother had indeed beaten the disease though it was then revealed that she now had Leukemia. After following contracting a virus, Dani’el’s Mum sadly passed away in Pembroke, Ontario on April 9th, 2017.
After losing her beloved Mother, Dani’el created her own website as a dedication to her Mother’s spirit, and strength, and to continue channeling her knowledge to this physical world. She hopes that her website helps to motivate, enlighten, inspire, and offer knowledge to others as their souls awaken to cosmic shifts in consciousness.
Dani’el moved back from Australia to Canada with her eldest son in October 2022, this was the time she claims to be the start of her spiritual enlightenment into adulthood.
Dani’el has created three Tarot decks in total; The Ascension Tarot being her first deck, followed by Odin’s Playbook A Norse Tarot Tale, and Dani’els most recent release – The Walking Meditation Tarot.
Perfectly Packed & Presented
The Ascension Tarot arrives perfectly packaged and presented in a beautiful pastel purple and green box. Featuring handy ‘thumb’ slots to make for easy access to the cards, this heavy-duty packaging is ideal for presentation and storage purposes.
Each and every aspect of the packaging has been created with thought, love, and care as signed messages and imaginative illustrations have been printed inside, outside, and around the box to make for a very personalised presentation.
The Guidebook
Included with the Ascension Tarot is a seventy-nine-page, black-and-white printed guidebook. This includes an introduction, information on the major arcana keys, a guide to each of the suits (wands, cups, swords, and crystals), information on the characters of the Ascension Tarot, a thank you note, and a short biography.
Dani’el provides a short informative guide to the meaning of each of the cards within the Ascension Tarot for both upright and reversed positions.
The Cards
The Ascension Tarot is a borderless Tarot deck printed on 350 GSM card stock with a wonderful Matte UV finish. This deck has eighty cards in total (featuring one extra major arcana card titled ‘Unconditional Love’ and numbered 22) and follows a modern setup based on the traditional Rider Waite Smith Tarot system.
The Ascension Tarot is stunning with gorgeous green and purple symmetrical, reversible card backs featuring cosmic artwork and awesome accenting with the amazing aqua blue/ green edging.
Included with the Ascension Tarot is a bonus card highlighting some key spreads that readers may wish to use.
The Major Arcana
Whilst Dani’el has used the traditional RWS Tarot setup, she has adjusted a couple of the titles of her major arcana cards. Though this is fine for practiced readers, it may be a little confusing for first-time amateur readers thus the guidebook can come in handy from time to time.
The Fool has been renamed as ‘The Soul’, The Hierophant has been retitled as ‘The Teacher’, The Wheel of Fortune has been renamed as ‘The Maze’, The Hanged Man has been altered to ‘Perspective’, Judgement has been modified to ‘Transcendence’ and Dani’el has then added an additional major arcana card to the traditional system – Unconditional Love.
Dani’el’s metaphysical, collage-style artwork is quite simply stunning and she’s highlighted the imagery by ensuring the titling and labeling of the cards don’t take away from this as each of the cards is titled and numbered in a subtle, white, italic-style font.
The Minor Arcana
The collage-style artwork continues throughout the minor arcana of the Ascension Tarot. Dani’el has continued to follow the RWS though has altered the titling of the suit of pentacles/ coins to ‘Crystals’. This reminded me somewhat of Dani’el Noel’s ‘Starchild Tarot’ and that’s when it became apparent to me that Dani’el’s styling is also similar to this deck.
A particular card that stood out for me whilst flicking through the deck was the Knight of Cups as the setup, layout, and styling of the image reminded me very much of Chris Anne’s Light Seers Tarot. I sense that perhaps Dani’el may share similar preferences in the Tarot decks that she owns and may well have taken inspiration from the likes of Dani’el Noel and Chris Anne when creating the Ascension Tarot, which is perhaps why I adore this deck!
The Suit of Wands
The Suit of Cups
The Suit of Swords
The Suit of Crystals
Reading & working with the Ascension Tarot
I’ve spent just over a week reading and working with the Ascension Tarot and already it has become one of my most treasured decks to date. I adore the borderless, collage-style, pastel-coloured cards and I love the smooth matte card stock as it’s quite simply dreamy to shuffle with!
One of my all-time favourite decks (The Light Seers Tarot) was originally released with bluey-greeny coloured edging and whilst I never managed to get my hands on the original ‘indie’ version of this deck, I have modified my own deck to look similar by using Sharpie pens to create aqua blue/ green edging. I, therefore, found it rather odd when I opened the Ascension Tarot and there it was – the blue/ green edging I’d spent hours creating myself with another deck – it’s as if the Ascension Tarot was practically made for me!
Though I cannot help but compare the Ascension Tarot to the likes of The Starchild, The Moonchild, and The Light Seers Tarot as they each share similar styles, colours, and layouts to Dani’el’s deck. The Ascension Tarot is a combination of all my favourite styles, colours, card stock, and set up within Tarot thus reading and working with this deck felt incredibly special.
Whilst the guidebook makes the Ascension Tarot accessible to readers of all ages and abilities, I would personally suggest this is a deck more suited to advanced readers and quite possibly collectors due to its astonishing aesthetics. The clear, dreamy-style artwork is easy to interpret though some of the re-titling and renaming of the cards may cause confusion for beginners.
I personally tend to pair Tarot with oracle cards in order to gain clearer readings and having done this on a number of occasions with the Ascension Tarot. I have found that the Ascension Tarot pairs beautifully with numerous oracle decks, providing clear and concise readings time and time again.
Delving Deeper into the Ascension Tarot
In order to further illustrate and explain the Ascension Tarot, I have put together a detailed walkthrough of both the guidebook and each of the cards within the deck.
Purchasing & Pricing Information
The Ascension Tarot is available to purchase online from www.danielnorman.ca for $66.00 (£53.38) (as of January 2023, this deck is currently on offer for only $49.50/ £40.04!). Postage fees may vary according to location.
To Summarise
The Ascension Tarot brings you into a universe of both traditional and non-traditional archetypes, animals, and outer-dimensional symbols. This deck is a delightfully modern take on the traditional Rider Waite Smith Tarot which invites you to explore your life in a more holographical, multidimensional way through stunning celestial and collage-style imagery.
Though the modern titling may be slightly confusing for beginner readers, the Ascension Tarot is the dream deck to learn, work, and read with. Whilst a little pricey, the Ascension Tarot is more than worth its cost as the sheer quality, feel, aesthetics, and loving thought and care that has gone into producing this Tarot deck are beyond exceptional.
For further information on the Ascension Tarot or Dani’el’s other publications visit www.danielnorman.ca
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Product Rating
Disclosure: I was sent the above product for the purpose of this post however all opinions are my own.