Haindl Tarot

This smokily surreal deck has wonderful Major Arcana and Court cards. The Court cards for each suit are distinctively different in style and based on particular mythologies -

      

Wands

      

The East

      

India

      

Cups

      

The North

      

Celtic/Norse

      

Swords

      

The South

      

Egypt

      

Stones

      

The West

      

North America

The pip cards, unfortunately, are fuzzy and a bit perfunctory, and all much of a muchness within a particular suit - though they do have names which help one to remember their meanings.

The meanings of the cards are fairly standard but they are described in unusual and spiritual terms, and incorporate numerology and references to a variety of mythologies and cultures, including Christianity and Judaism. The pip cards carry I Ching numbers, hexagrams, names and interpretations. For example:

Ten of Wands
54 The Marrying Maiden. The background shows a bat, a flying mouse, swooping down on frightened cats, a reversal of power. Hope is shown by the feathers on the bat's wings, indicating that the bat is transforming into a bird, symbol of spirituality. Oppression is giving way to wisdom. Divinatory meanings: Oppression. Depression. Transformation from cruelty to liberation. Possible fall. Reversed: Emerging from a bad situation. Wisdom gained from adversity.