GREEK MYTHOLOGY READING CARDS,

Greek Mythology Reading Cards, Alison Chester-Lambert MA (author) and Richard Crookes (illustrator), Bear Co., Rochester, VT, 2018, 50 full-color cards, 112pp book, $19.99.

There is something exciting about getting a new deck, and I’m of a mind that you can’t have too many. The possibilities are always there waiting to be discovered, and frankly, I am not always patient enough to see if a deck resonates for me before taking it on as my own. Each deck has its own personality, and it’s an adventure for me to meet and get to know each one on their own terms. Some I like more than others, but they all seem to have their charm. That is definitely the case with the Greek Mythology deck.

        This is a beautiful deck to view, and the first thing I did was look through all of them. With a traditional tarot deck, I don’t always do that. Tarot has a discipline that most decks follow, and the nuances are learned more from watching their behavior in a reading and interpreting them by where they fall and what questions are being asked. The artwork uses classic works of art (paintings, sculptures, frescoes, etc.) depicting various figures from the Greek myths, and it is a joy to look at. Take a moment to read the introductions by both the author Alison Chester-Lambert and the illustrator, Richard Crookes. This is a labor of love.

        The Greek Mythology reading cards are described as an oracle deck which I find, in general, tell less of a story and give more of an intuitive insight into a situation. For me, tarot and oracle are complementary rather than interchangeable, so I tend to pay more attention to the guide word or descriptor on each card before examining the image. For instance, the card for Eos has Dawn on it. The picture is of the winged goddess Eos driving her chariot above the breaking sunrise. As I look at the card and think of my current situation, I see this as a harbinger of new beginnings. The dawn of new things. A sunny future lies in front of me as the light breaks through dark clouds. The chariot brings to mind the tarot Chariot, which implies forward motion, overcoming obstacles and essentially underscores my initial impression of the card’s meaning. Kind of exciting.

        My knowledge of Greek mythology (and Roman for that matter) is not very deep, and I did take the time to read some reviews after briefly looking through the book that accompanies the deck. Some people loved it and thought the information was on point while others said the descriptions were not always accurate. Personally, I have no idea which might be true. Not all of the cards are of gods or goddesses, but I found that a basic understanding of who the image depicts is enough. So, knowing that Ares is the god of war, having the word ‘warmongering’ on the card, and viewing a painting of a furious battle tells me to be careful about creating conflict when it isn’t necessary. Ares could be shortsighted in his need to be right. Maybe I need to be aware of when it’s time to step back and examine the situation and when I need to fight for what’s right.

        Overall, I think I really like the mythology deck a lot. It could be time for me to do more work with oracle cards as I found that looking through this one expanded my thinking process in an interesting way. My good friend and mentor is much braver than I am and has mixed most of her tarot and oracle decks into one giant pool. For a long time, she’s held that there are times the same card needs to show up several times in a reading so more than one deck lets that happen. As I said above, I think that the oracle complements the tarot and rather than reading them separately, comingling could be key to deeper readings. This deck seems to be pushing me a bit further down that path of exploration. For that reason alone, I would recommend taking a chance on it.

-          Janet Byrne