The Arthurian Tarot - A Hallowquest Handbook by Caitlin and John Matthews accompanies the Arthurian Tarot, better known as Hallowquest. “Conceived and designed by Caitlin and John Matthews and beautifully executed by Miranda Gray, this original pack reveals the ancient traditions of the Arthurian Mysteries as a living mythos for creative visualisation and personal transformation… [The authors] explore the divinatory and archetypal meanings…”
The cards measure 3 1/8 x 4 ¾ inches. The backs show “Sovereignty”, the Spirit of the land of Britain, shown as a young woman, dressed in pale, golden yellow and seated in profile, facing our left. Her hair, bound at interval with cords, stretches far down her back. In her raised right hand she holds a Cup, a Spear lies along her right side. Her left hand grasps a Sword by the hilt, pointing down and backward. A stone draughts board, the fourth Hallow, stands on edge behind the blade of the Sword, partially covered at the top by her loose sleeve. Behind her is a dark night sky, speckled with many stars. Around this is a border of wound oval bands in rainbow colours. In the four corners of the card stand simple, massive stone towers, each with crenelations at the top and one high window. There is a ¼ inch white border around the design, with bits of night sky showing between it and the rainbow area at the very corners.
On the front of the cards is a narrower white border all the way around. Inside this is a black border, rounded at the top like a Romanesque arch. Inside this is the image. In rare cases (I noticed 3 of the Majors, but none of the Minors) a bit of the image overlaps part of the black area. It gives me the feeling of looking through a window. The colours are a little brighter than those of the Legend deck, but still somewhat subdued.
The number and name of each Major is printed near the bottom (XVIII. The Moon, X. The Round Table). Some have the traditional names, many do not, although they are apt to resemble the traditional, e.g. I. is Merlin, III. Guinevere.
The Minor suits are Sword, Grail, Spear and Stone. Aces are “Sword Hallow”, “Grail Hallow”, etc. and show the “hallow” of the suit. The cards from Two to Nine show various scenes - landscapes, mostly, but also buildings, occasionally animals and artifacts, like a kettle or ship - but no people. The Courts are Maiden, Knight, Queen and King and show humans.
From the book: “The images which appear on the Greater Powers depict characters or major themes from the Celto-Arthurian legends; the images which appear on the Lesser Powers show the Four Hallows of the Quest for spiritual wholeness. The landscape of the Lesser Powers depicts the land of Britain itself…
“This small handbook is designed to accompany the Arthurian Tarot deck and give support and a brief background to all seeking to use it for divinatory purposes. For those who wish to leave the beaten track and explore the hinterland of the British Mysteries and work with the Arthurian legends in a more magical way, there is a companion volume entitled Hallowquest: Tarot Magic and the Arthurian Mysteries. This give meditations, shamanic journeys, rituals and teachings on the Mysteries which will lead you deeper into the native heritage of these islands…
“…the characters of the Arthurian cycle are really archetypes of the highest order, having a reality far and above that of ordinary literary creations. The nature of their lives’ adventures is always such that they perform archetypal actions. This is their mythic function, for they perform essential roles on behalf of the rest of humanity and this makes them suitable for esoteric work…
“You will notice that the Arthurian Tarot does not have any reversed meanings given. The reasons for this are both esoteric and practical. Every aspect of life has its dual quality or application. However the archetypal or Otherworldly levels function differently for they are powers in their own right: they are neither good nor evil, beneficial nor detrimental in their essence. They are nondual - the reversed or contrary meanings are therefore implicit in each card by virtue of their placement in a spread. If you are using one card alone, then it is always ‘neutral’. When the cards are placed side by side certain combinations automatically call into being a response which will be different, depending on the querent, the reader and the cards chosen.”