Review by Lalia Wilson
Tori Hartman created the Chakra Wisdom Oracle Cards in 2014. The artwork is by Gretchen Raisch-Baskin and the publisher is Watkins Publishing. The Chakra Wisdom Tarot is published in 2019 with illustrations by Katarina Sokolova and published by Watkins Publishing. Both decks feature the Seven Chakra system familiar to students of yoga and Hindu mystical systems.
The 49 card oracle deck comes with a 4½” by 6½” full color 96-page guide book. The cards themselves are 3” by 4 ½” with colored borders corresponding to their chakra connections. Recovery, a sixth chakra card, indicates that pain from our past unlocks the door of understanding. There are seven cards per chakra. Each card has a dedicated book page. Each has a brief story illustrating the theme of the particular card. The book concludes with a variety of spreads. The deck is not reversible friendly. While the spreads listed can be made blind, one can also do readings by choosing cards face up… going with what speaks to you. Oracle decks can be overly Pollyanna-ish, or overly negative. This deck strives for a neutral stance, though each card shows a lesson for advancement, or a need for improvement.
The Chakra Wisdom Tarot comes with a 112 page full color 4½” by 6½” guidebook. The deck is the standard 78 card deck of 3” by 4½” cards which are reversible friendly. While there are four court cards per suit, what is usually the page is the Princess in this deck. The cards are bordered with the color of their chakra according to a system devised by Tori Hartman. Indeed, the chakra-tarot correspondences is a major innovation in working with the tarot. Each card is assigned to a chakra: the pips, the court cards, and the trumps. Thus numbered cards across suits correspond to the same chakra, indicating more reliance on numerology than on the four elements. Just as a taste, the fourth or heart chakra, with its green-colored border is associated with all the Fours, all the Princesses, and these Trumps: The Empress, The Wheel of Fortune, and The Star. Only the World card is different. The World is a synthesis of all the chakras.
In addition to the borders, and the full color illustrations, each card shows images for interpretation, yet they are not your standard Rider-Waite-Smith images. If this is your first tarot deck, then you are pretty much left to the accompanying text for learning how to use and interpret the cards. If you already are familiar with RWS, then there is a bit of learning, but you will be fine with the guidebook. For those ready to experiment with alternative visions of the tarot, this deck will be a good path.
My favorite cards in the Chakra Wisdom Tarot deck are: Six of Coins (Pentacles), the Queen of Swords, The Magician, and The Wheel of Fortune. The Wheel of Fortune is shown on the Tarot Scopes page, along with five additional cards from this deck. The Magician appeals to me because it suggests that manifestation is a male-female process, that instruction is part of the process, in addition this card highlights the four symbols of the elements and suits. The Queen of Swords is very much her own woman; she is not going to fight unless you take the fight to her. Then, look out! Plus her loyal dogs will protect her as well. The Six of Coins shows free flowing abundance. Everyone can prosper as there is plenty for all. The Wheel of Fortune is a more tarot-centric interpretation of this card. Are you going to be blessed with the Cups? The Coins? The Wands? Or the Swords?
There is a lot to like in the Chakra Wisdom Tarot. It is well worth checking out.