I love it when a new Tarot deck comes my way, especially one which is a little to the ‘norm’ thus I was elated to receive a copy of Paige Ozma Ashmore’s ‘Tarot of the Kingdoms‘ via Schiffer/ Red Feather publishing earlier this month.
Paige Ozma Ashmore
Paige Ozma Ashmore is a professional Tarot reader and artist based in Arizona. She first began reading cards thirty years ago and enjoys combining her love for the arts with Tarot reading to form a sacred art, seeking to bring forth enchantment/
The Tarot of the Kingdoms
Published in 2020 by Red Feather, by The Tarot of the Kingdoms features eighty large. lavishly painted Tarot cards, including two additional cards (one to allow you to reign over your own sovereign kingdom and the other to receive personal messages from the Universe).
Pastel Perfect Packaging
The Tarot of the Kingdoms arrives beautifully packaged in a pale pastel blue and pink, sturdy, magnetic-close, cardboard box that includes a cardboard template/ housing for the cards and the guidebook to be stored neatly together.
The Guidebook
The Tarot of the Kingdoms arrives with a 144-page-colour-printed-guidebook that includes a wealth of information upon the cards, their meanings, spreads, numerology, and additional information upon how to find your purpose, Tarot and alchemy, and a short but handy guide upon how to link and to read cards by looking at the cards drawn beforehand. This is a great guidebook which I’ve already started pencilling notes into in order to remind myself as to which suits are which (as the suits are altered from those in the traditional Rider Waite Tarot).
The Cards
This is a large, paper-feel, matt-printed, Tarot deck featuring pretty, pink and blue pastel coloured cards backs with a yin-yang style sunshine being central to the design. Whilst these cards are quick thick and seem to shuffle fairly well, I can see that they damage easily thus may have been better printed on a glossier card stock.
The Major Arcana
Whilst the major arcana uses the traditional RWS titling, the imagery is entirely different as rather than figures, it includes pretty, pastel-painted bold, beautiful, animals. I really like how each of the cards are bordered with beautiful, bright, radiant rainbows against a wash of chalk-pastel-style colour.
The Minor Arcana
Each of the minor arcana suits within the Tarot of the Kingdoms feature a different coloured border, this helps to tell each suit apart. Paige however uses alternative suit names; Air represents the suits of Staves/ Wands, Water represents the suit of Cups, Fire represents the suit of Swords, and Earth represents the suit of Pentacles/ Coins. Though I find these suits a little confusing at times as I personally associate air with swords and fire with wands (and this deck has switched these elements around). The court card are traditionally titled (using the titles of Page, Knight, Queen, and King) featuring images of both human and animal figures.
The Suit of Air (Wands/ Staves)
The Suit of Water (Cups)
The Suit of Fire (Swords)
The Suit of Earth (Pentacles)
Additional Cards
The traditional Rider Waite Tarot features a set of twenty-two major arcana cards, and fifty-six minor arcana cards which are usually separated into four suits (much like a deck of playing cards). However, the Tarot of the Kingdoms is different in that there are five suits, as Paige has altered not only the names of the traditional suits, but she has added an extra feature – another suit (The Suit of Spirit) which has been specifically tailored to represent the querent.
Walking Through The Tarot of the Kingdoms
Here’s a short video walkthrough detailing and further explaining The Tarot of the Kingdoms.
Reading & Working with the Tarot of the Kingdoms
I’ve been working with the Tarot of the Kingdoms for a fortnight now and though I find these cards a little on the large side to shuffle, that and I struggle with my confusion over the suit of air and fire (as they relate to alternate suits from that which they are intended) I adore the soft, pastel-style art work featured throughout this deck.
I have found readers rather awkward with this deck as though the imagery is delightfully dreamy, soft, and serene in style, the messages are difficult to deduce and often I find the confusion between suits can cause hiccups during readings. Though I wouldn’t suggest that this is a deck for beginners, I would recommend the Tarot of the Kingdoms to those that appreciate art, especially that of a bohemian style.
Purchasing & Pricing Information
The Tarot of the Kingdoms has a recommended retail price of £31.99 and is available to purchase online directly via Schiffer Publishing for $34.99 , or alternatively if you are in the UK you can grab a copy of this deck via Gazelle Book Services for £31.99 or from Amazon (as of June 2021) for only £21.75.
To Summarise
Whilst the Tarot of the Kingdoms is an enchanting read featuring fabulously pretty, pastel imagery of fairies, dragons, merfolk, treefolks, and spirit, it’s not ideally arranged for advanced readers who are accustomed to particular elements within set suits.
Though I adore the artwork, the Tarot of the Kingdoms isn’t an ideal set of Tarot cards due to the reorganisation of the elements, thus I would recommend this to art appreciators rather than Tarot readers.
For further information upon the Tarot of the Kingdoms or alternative Schiffer Publishing/ Red Feather publications visit www.schifferbooks.com
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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.