A Spiritually Enlightening Online Magazine. September's Theme: "Relationships"
Volume 4 Issue 6 ISSN# 1708-3265

Index Meet Our Staff Free Subscription Donations Come Shopping Advertising Archived Issues

Illuminations Aleesha Stephenson About the Cover Jeanne Cameron The Bookshop Chapter Five Jennifer Kusz All my Relations Toria Betson Building Bridges Not Walls Rev. Cheryl Jewett Impermanence Jacqueline Kramer The Kindred Bond of Universal Breath Dj Brown The Last Time Iain Pennington Loss of a Friend Dr. R.A. Myers David Suzuki PhD Wisdom Michael Levy Reclaiming Oneness A Conversation with Brian McClure, Creator of the Universal Flag Lexi Soulios You Are What You Love How Spiritually Healthy Are You? Vaishali Dial-Up the Girl of My Dreams Derek Wilken Lifetalks Dawn Baumann Brunke Being Mindful Janet Alston Jackson Pet-sense Jean Hofve DVM Walk Your Talk Aleesha Stephenson Wyrd Lynx John Sacelli Meditate a Moment Featuring: Aleesha Stephenson A Cry for Light Janet Alston Jackson A Sacred Sex Devotional 365 Inspiring Thoughts To Enhance Intimacy Edited by Rafael Lorenzo Complete Illustrated Kama Sutra Edited by Lance Dane Magical Motion - DVD Belly Dance with Atea and Friends Lord of the Rings Tarot Developed by Terry Donaldson

The Lord of the Rings Tarot Deck and Card Game Developed by Terry Donaldson, Artwork by Peter Pracownik, Game rules by Mike Fitzgerald ISBN#: 1-57281-017-3   "WOW! COOL!" were the first words to come out of my son's mouth when he saw the Lord of the Rings deck. My son is a pragmatic 10 year old, who has trouble saying the word 'tarot' without rolling his eyes. And to make it even better, this tarot deck came with a game!   As an avid Harry Potter game-card collector, and a big fan of Tolkien's books, "The Hobbit", and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, I expected my son to be a pretty harsh critic. He did notice the backs of the cards had an image of two rings, which bothered him a little… and some of the pictures of the hobbits had them wearing shoes! But this wasn't enough to dissuade him from grabbing the deck and disappearing with it for hours.    We have had a lot of fun playing the game. The players begin as Free Peoples of Middle Earth, who are on a journey to Mount Doom to destroy the One ring, to keep it out of the hands of Sauron. While playing, a person can decide whether to join the forces of evil and earn dark points, or play on the side of Gandalf and the forces of good. My son especially enjoyed the score keeping.    Tarot itself began as a card game called Tarocchi, so it seems appropriate for a tarot deck to also be a card game. However, I was not impressed with these cards as a tarot deck - they are much too cluttered. The light and dark symbols for the game do not fit at all with the tarot meanings.  The only way to easily differentiate between the different suits, or even the Major and Minor Arcanas, is to read the name of the card; which is written along the side. The images illustrate several scenes from the books, and the text at the bottom of the card describes the scene. All of this leaves little room for the illustrations.     While I would never choose this as a tarot deck for myself, I am grateful to have it, for it has improved my relationship with my son. Not only do we enjoy playing the game together, but also because of it, I have heard words I never thought I would hear: "You know Mom, I kinda always wanted a tarot deck. It doesn't make sense, but they do seem to work somehow. Would you teach me how to read them?"  Reviewed by Toria Betson If you wish to purchase this (or another) deck, please visit the Tarot Garden. They have many decks from which to choose. If they are not currently stocking a specific deck, please note special orders are welcome at: sales@tarotgarden.com.

Copyright (c) 2007 by Timeless Spirit Magazine. All articles are the copyright of the particular writers and cannot be reprinted without their expressed permission. All rights reserved. International copyright laws prohibit reproduction of or distribution of this page by any means whatsoever, electronic or otherwise, without first obtaining the written permission of the copyright holder. We retain legal counsel to protect our copyrights.

Any advice given is for informational purposes only.