Review by Lalia Wilson
The Trippin’ Waite tarot is a deck closely following the standard Rider-Waite-Smith deck, but with many 60s images added to each card in the deck. For sixties fans, this deck will be a lot of fun.
The deck has 78 cards with borders. The cards measure 2 ¾ X 4 ¾ inches (7 X 12 cm). Strength is trump number 8 and Justice is number 11. The suits are the standard Pentacles, Cups, Swords, and Wands. Curiously, the Tower card is shown as under water. The High Priestess is shown with a third eye. The only card with a different name is the Hierophant, which here is The Guru. The Magician has doves of peace, and a peace sign on his robe. The two of Cups has the lovers, but also “Make Love, Not War.” The Five of Wands also has the doves of peace, flying around looking to see it they can land anywhere. You will see all the flowery dresses and robes popular in the 60s, notable on the Five of Cups as the central figure is wearing one of these robes and carrying a guitar strung across his back.
On this page we have the attractive reverse of the deck, which captures the sixties’ artistic and hallucinogenic themes, plus the Queen of Pentacles and the Nine of Swords. On the Scopes page in this edition of Tarot Reflections you will see six cards from this deck: The Emperor, Death, The Moon, the King of Pentacles, the Knight of Cups, and the Ten of Swords.
The Queen of Pentacles, like the other queens in this deck, is subtly more beautiful than in the standard R-W-S deck. She holds a peace sign. There are symbols of fertility in front of her, the birds, flowers, rabbits, and greenery, with a hallucinogenic sky behind her—remember this was the sixties!
Following the hallucinogenic theme, the Nine of Swords, shows the protagonist suffering from an overdose of hallucinogenic drugs, how apt!
The team of Aguliar and Battersby has created a number of decks. Among them are The Winter Waite deck and the Dead Waite deck, the latter still in production. Each partner is familiar with the tarot’s archetypes, and ready to riff on the themes. The Trippin’ Waite deck is a wonderful addition to your collection of tarot decks.
The Trippin’ Waite Tarot (2019) is created by Christine Aguliar and James Battersby, and available at https://www.tarotcollectibles.com/store/p160/The_Trippin%27_Waite_Tarot.html