Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. I received a free copy of this deck in exchange for an honest review.
You would think spending the last several weeks sick would have left me with plenty of time to read and write, but alas, my mind was so foggy I could do little more than sit up in my chair or lie in bed. I could barely watch TikTok in my stupor. I was hoping to use the time to read several of the books that publishers have recently sent me to review, but without the ability to focus on anything for more than 5 minutes at a time, I wasn't able to. I was, however, able to look through some of the tarot/divination decks they have sent me. Staring at pictures and letting your vision unfocus is easy when you are unwell, at least for me.
Needless to say, that is where today's review comes in. I had the pleasure of receiving a copy of
Ogham: Diving in the Celtic Way by Jane Matthews from Weiser/Red Wheel, and while I am not a practitioner of Celtic magic or divination, I do find the deck rather inspiring. The symbols are similar to runes and even have some overlap in meaning.
The deck features 25 cards and a 192-page guidebook. The guidebook is thicker than the cards, but for a good reason. It fully details how to read Ogham, which is vastly different from tarot. In the guide, you will find a brief history of the Ogham and a detailed guide on how to read the cards. Just like runes, the Ogham is broken up into sets, which are known as aicme. Each aicme has a different theme or story it tells, just like each runic ætt. Matthews does an excellent job breaking down each card's meaning and its relationship with others in the deck. And, as with all deck guidebooks, Matthews includes a number of spread ideas and how to read each spread. This is honestly one of the longest guidebooks I have come upon and is perfect for those new to the practice of reading the Ogham.
As for the cards, they are simply designed to avoid distraction and printed on sturdy cardstock. They are medium-sized cards, making it relatively easy to shuffle. The edges are a beautiful green, but it was starting to rub off as I was playing with the cards. They aren't shiny or gilded as previous decks have been, but they are still beautiful nonetheless. Overall, I believe the cards will hold up well over time.
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