Cozy Witch Tarot Review
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By: Amanda Lovelace
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Artwork: Janaina Medeiros
Number of cards: 78
Card size: 3 in x 5 in
Box size: 5.5 x 3.5 x 1.75 in
Guidebook pages: 123
Release Date: October, 2023
Purchased or gifted?: review copy by Amanda Lovelace by way of Andrews McMeel Publishing
Absolute favorite card: Three of Wands
First pull: The Magician
My favorite cards: all of the ace cards, the empress, seven of pentacles, the sun, nine of pentacles
First Impression: I thought we did a pretty good job in the SOTW decks with representation. After seeing this deck, I know we have so much more work to do to be truly inclusive.
Amanda does an amazing job with inclusivity. I saw everything from characters with what looks like vitiligo (five of cups) to disability (three of cups) representation, and every shape size, hair texture (five of wands, page of pentacles to name a few), age (nine of pentacles) and a wide variety of skintones. Even someone with a mask (the empress) and a hijab (four of swords). Men are the only thing that’s missing. Which I understand, men have had more than their fair share but, men are often overlooked when it comes to the witchery. But honestly, that’s pretty much the only ding I can find and even that’s being picky. This deck is so well done.
I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. I thought the illustrations were more on the cutesy side when I say it online which is not really my style. But now having it in my hands, I don’t find it cutesy at all. In fact, it reads as very mature and well thought out. There’s a lot of color but the tones are still nice and muted. It isn’t overly saturated at all. It’s very earthy and “cozy” is absolutely the perfect description for the feel.
Speaking of feel, the cards are matte — Hallelujah!! They feel like they have a powder coating on them which is even better. Matte cards are much better for shuffling. The glossy ones stick sometimes and I even have glossy decks where the film is peeling off and I’m sure you can imagine, it isn’t attractive. These shuffle really well which is so important for tarot. It’s not as big of a concern with oracle cards when they’re smaller but once you hit the 50 card mark, it becomes a lot more challenging to hold and shuffle big shiny cards. These are a little bigger than your traditional tarot card but not as big as a traditional oracle card—still a nice size and easy to hold.
It doesn’t have gilded sides which is usually something I roll my eyes at. It’s so common now that I feel like you have to have them. But I actually think the gilding in this rare case would’ve taken away from the cozy feel. The cardstock isn’t white, more like a very light beige or dark ivory. White is the lack of pigment and pure white is actually quite bright and aggressive but because the color is much warmer, I think it was the perfect choice for a cozy deck.
The box is a sturdy two piece box with a small guidebook inside. I wish the book could’ve been bigger but that probably wasn’t Amanda’s choice. Publisher has the most say over packaging. Obviously a bigger book and box makes it more expensive and tarot cards are already more expensive to produce because of the number of cards. Having said that, the book is small but mighty. It has a wonderful introduction. I especially love the bit about oracle having no structure and tarot being highly structured. I’m about to start working on my first tarot deck and I really resonated with what she said.
Then it goes into a bit about the structure of tarot and using key phrases which are similar to the poems —written by Juliet Diaz— you see on my Seasons of the Witch deck. From there, it has a nice selection of tarot reading tips and a variety of spreads to choose from. Reversals are included in the guidebook if you choose to read with them.
My absolute favorite card is the three of wands but it was a really hard choice. I loved a lot of them but ultimately chose this card because of the phrase on the card “put yourself out there and you’ll be rewarded one way or another!” The phrases are a fresh take on what can feel like stale or even antiquated tarot meanings at times. I’m also very fond of the ace cards. They are very reminiscent of the OG Rider-Waite-Smith style but updated with a cup of potion for cups and a candle for wands.
Something I’m going to start doing is sharing my first pull— for this deck is the Magician which is written as non-binary in the book btw. This card, and especially the interpretation from the book was spot on. I’ve been struggling with bringing together two very important but very different elements of my life and Amanda’s words gave me a lot of encouragement.
So there you have it. I genuinely don’t have a bad word to say about this deck. And similar to the Mythos Tarot, I think this is a new favorite. It’s been a really long time since a tarot deck really hooked into my heart but there are some truly remarkable creators now. I can’t wait to see what Amanda comes up with next.
Any decks you’d like a review on? Have any questions about decks at all? Leave me a comment and stay tuned for more reviews.
This page may contain affiliate links which may allow us to collect a commission when you click and make a purchase through the links on our site. There is no additional cost to you for doing so.
