How to recognise a fake Wildwood Tarot

 

The Wildwood Tarot is an extremely attractive Tarot deck, thanks to Will Worthington's artwork and the creative forces of Mark Ryan and John Matthews providing the narrative structure for the cards. As a result, the deck continues to be in the best-sellers lists on Amazon* and it's hardly surprising that the Wildwood (and many other beautiful decks!) has caught the eye of the counterfeiting trade.

I manage the Wildwood Tarot website contact form and I have lost track of the number of requests I have received for copies of the deck's companion book - mostly because the person contacting me has been sold a fake Wildwood Tarot.

Hopefully the video above will help people make an informed choice when thinking about buying a new Tarot deck.  I'll make a new video to show what the newly published Wildwood looks like (new publisher details etc).

If you love a Tarot deck - not just the Wildwood, but ANY deck - the best way to support its creators is to buy a legitimate copy of that deck.  Even if that means saving up for a few weeks. When people buy counterfeit decks, the money goes straight into the pocket of a criminal and counterfeiting is rarely a crime committed on its own; folks will be unwittingly supporting all kinds of crime.

Get clued up on what the legitimate deck is like - check out the publisher or creator's website.  Double check what options there are for the deck you want to buy - the deck sizes, box designs, box content etc.  

I would also point out that the counterfeiters are pulling up their prices to further try to catch people out; so even if a deck is being sold at the RRP, please check to make sure that it's legit.  Message the seller and ask whether the paperback book is included - if it's not, well, you know that the deck is pirated.

If what you see on a selling platform doesn't match, then it's a counterfeit.

Today I notified Amazon of 15 counterfeit products.

And tomorrow I will no doubt do the same.

Please support the Tarot creatives that you love and don't buy fakes. 

*as of today's date, the deck is the 3rd best-seller in the occult shamanism category of Amazon UK, the 12th best-seller in shamanism and in the 90th best-selling Tarot deck)

John Matthews | Celtic & Ancestral Shamanism | March 2018 and September 2018

Here is the chance to step into the shamanic practitioner training for 2018. This two part Foundation Course in Celtic & Ancestral Shamanism is led by John Matthews and Margot Harrison, and Wil Kinghan, and is starting on10-11 March 2018 and continues on 8-9 Sept 2018.

WALKERS BETWEEN THE WORLDS

Podcast | Mark Ryan

Eddison Books will be publishing a podcast with Mark Ryan on their new youtube and soundcloud accounts.

The date for your diary is Tuesday, 19th December 2017

The video will be crammed full of images!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DUEMHqNe3KzQZzRgz5UvQ

or soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/eddisonbooks

John Matthews | How can Happiness be a negative?

We received a question this week from a Wildwoodean via Twitter asking how a card such as the 10 of Cups, which is over-brimming with happiness, could ever be considered negative, as when it falls in a position such as ‘Actions to avoid?

John Matthews | 9 and 10 Stones

Reaching Home – the Nine and Ten of Stones

A number of people have commented over the years on the fact that in The Wildwood Tarot the two cards, the Nine and Ten of Stones seem to be reversed. Traditional meanings for the Nine of Pentacles (Stones) include affluence, achievement and a more settled way of life; while the Ten is about realising one’s potential, archiving things and creating a settle home environment. They are thus quite closely related, and are traditionally seen as ending the sequence of the suit by bringing to fruition the efforts exercised by the previous Eight.

Many of the changes implemented in the deck came about as a result of working with the pattern of the Wheel of the Year. The process thus revealed was revelatory. We could see the progression of the Fool through the Wildwood more clearly than ever before – and when it came to these two cards we felt that the traditional conclusion was arrived at too quickly. Rather than seeing the Nine as a point of rest and reflection, of achievement and completion, we wanted to show how the recognition of this lead naturally to a consideration of the established patterns and rhythms of life – in other words, tradition. Tradition is the holder of these things, and can always be accessed. Only then, when we have into focus the magical possibilities of life, can we safely reach the haven of Home (Stones 10)

Caitlin Matthews | Keeping The Hermit's Lantern Shining at Hawkwood

Hawkwood College

This year John and I celebrate our 28^th annual December gathering at Hawkwood College, which has become our midwinter mystery school, open to anyone who wishes to deepen their experience. Hawkwood College is a gracious Cotswold house in the limestone hills above Stroud in Gloucestershire. It has been an adult college since 1948. With its own grounds, mature trees, and a spring, it has a wonderful atmosphere, with comfortable rooms and nourishing food. It is our second home and the place of gathering for many of our friends and students.

Tarot Landscapes | Stroud 13-15 December 2013

Join three international tarot creators this solstice as Caitlín & John Matthews and Mark Ryan explore the magical landscapes of the tarot.

With new spreads and deep ways of interacting with tarot, we will conclude our divinatory adventures through the tarot landscape with a group ritual The Paths of the Wildwood. Bring at least one tarot! This course is held in a beautiful 19th century Cotswold house, once the home of the Capel family and now a Steiner College: set in its own gracious grounds, with ancient trees and a sacred spring, Hawkwood has been the home of the Matthews’ annual open mystery school gatherings since 1985.

We are joined by special guest, Mark Ryan, who returns home to UK to join for this once in a lifetime magical weekend.