Robin Wood Deck Companion Book

Emily

I've had the Robin Wood tarot app on my phone for a few weeks now and I find that I'm getting on really well with it. Now the Robin Wood was a deck that I really took an instant dislike to and traded it off years ago about the same time as I joined this forum.

But I found out that she had written a companion book to the deck and she is an amazing writer, every little detail on the card images are explained, and she goes into great detail without waffling on. And for the first time in a very long time, I'm finding that I can appreciate even the cards I don't like because I know why they look like they do. This companion book is included with the tarot app, which is actually quite good value, both deck and book for a few pound albeit digital.

But I thought I would mention the fact that a companion book is available, it was available as soon as the deck was released in 1989 (I think) but I never bothered with it back then. Maybe I should have.
 

rwcarter

The deck came out in 1991 but the book didn't come out until 1999. And yes, it is definitely one of the better written companion books.
 

tarotbear

I always found Chapter Two the best - where she explains the history of the Tarot - and it's a blank age!

Both of my copies of the book are signed, and one is number 62/500 - it pays to be in the right place at the right time!
 

Emily

I haven't got the paper book yet. I'm still reading the app version and I have just checked Chapter 2 lol - Quote - "The true history of the tarot can be told in a single sentence - No one knows, and does it really make any difference?" Unquote.

1991 and the book 1999 - I have no idea where I got the date of 1989 from. I didn't mean to enable myself on the Robin Wood Deck or the book but the cards I don't like make so much sense now after reading through the book and now I'd like to work with the deck proper again.
 

tarotbear

1991 and the book 1999 - I have no idea where I got the date of 1989 from.

I believe the deck was supposed to be released in 1989 - Robin had to work feverishly to get it done - only for Llewellyn to change their mind and use it to illustrate the original 'Tarot Spells by Janina Rene' and stalled the release of the deck until the book was finished.

Life gets that way sometimes.
 

starlightexp

That book is the benchmark that I hold all other companion books to. It is such a well written book explaining every choice that I wish it was required reading to own that book.
 

Emily

That book is the benchmark that I hold all other companion books to. It is such a well written book explaining every choice that I wish it was required reading to own that book.

I wish I had seen this book years ago, I'm only reading it on my phone but the way she writes keeps me reading. And the other thing I like about her style of writing is that it doesn't go straight over my head - so many other companion books go so technical that they actually seem to waffle on and I get bored and then start to skip pages. I haven't skipped one page of this book yet, but I do have to keep skipping back to the card image when she explains the artwork lol - I gave in and ordered both deck and book earlier. :)
 

tarotbear

I gave in and ordered both deck and book earlier. :)

Excellent! You will not be disappointed! :thumbsup: {The RW is my favorite go-to deck}
 

3ill.yazi

I haven't got the paper book yet. I'm still reading the app version and I have just checked Chapter 2 lol - Quote - "The true history of the tarot can be told in a single sentence - No one knows, and does it really make any difference?" Unquote..


But we do know. They don't gel with some of the more fanciful stories, but there is a history, albeit disputed to some respect.

Books that engage in the "shrouded in mystery" assertion usually end up in my "don't need" list. But I'd still give this one a look, because it at least seems she has a sense of humor.
 

tarotbear

But we do know. They don't gel with some of the more fanciful stories, but there is a history, albeit disputed to some respect.

Yes - but Robin felt that she was not about to write 'another Tarot history lesson' chapter; she was writing the companion book to 'Her' deck, not any historical deck - so to put forth a bunch of theories NO ONE can prove or disprove would have been silly and detracted from what was important - what the images in her cards meant. So - she decided to treat the subject with humor, instead.

'Humor - difficult concept.' :livelong: