A simplified guide to the cards — and a free “Mini-Ma’at” tarot deck!
I’m pleased to announce the release of my newest publication — the Ma’at Tarot Workbook! It’s a simplified guide to the stunning Ma’at Tarot deck by Julie Cuccia-Watts, which was named one of the top three decks of 2006 by tarot enthusiasts at Aeclectic.net.
You can order the workbook from lulu.com/content/1068962. There are two versions: a professionally printed book (in full color) for $24.95, and an ebook for $12.95.
I’ve admired Julie’s work ever since I first met her at a Chicago tarot conference in 1999. That’s where she displayed the 22 life-sized oil paintings that made up her Blue Moon Tarot.
I’d heard of her even before that, of course, because she also created the widely renowned Ancestral Path tarot deck published by U.S. Games … but the Blue Moon was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Julie had aligned all of the Major Arcana cards with solar and lunar events on the Wheel of the Year — specifically, equinoxes, solstices, and full moons. Over the next few years, Julie’s Blue Moon system grew into a full 78-card deck, which she named the Ma’at Tarot.
The Ma’at Tarot is a beautiful deck, in and of itself, and you can read the cards just as you would read any ordinary tarot deck. What ultimately makes the deck so special, however, is the fact that it’s based on a foundation that completely revolutionizes our traditional way of thinking about the cards.
The Ma’at Tarot is directly linked to one of the world’s most popular astrological tarot decks, the Thoth Tarot by Aleister Crowley. Thoth was the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom. His wife Ma’at was the goddess of justice.
Crowley designed the Thoth Tarot based on the principles of solar astrology. Fascinated by his system, Julie designed the Ma’at Tarot as a feminine counterpart to the Thoth, but she based her work on lunar astrology.
The switch is ingenious — and it’s fitting. In myth and legend, the sun is usually assigned to male gods, while female goddesses are linked with the moon.
It’s a fairly radical change, but the workbook explains it all in plain English, with full-color illustrations of each card, and charts that clearly define their placement on the Wheel of the Year. It’s the workbook I wish I’d had when I started studying Julie’s system, back in 1999 … and it’s a useful supplement to the comprehensive guide that Julie wrote to accompany her cards.
As an added bonus, the workbook even includes a free miniature version of all the cards — a “Mini Ma’at” tarot deck that you can use for practice readings.
For more information about the workbook — or to order a copy for yourself — click here.
