The New Edgar Allan Poe Tarot – Rose Wright and Eugene Smith

Edgar Allan Poe is a part of many of our childhoods, whether we read this at school or through someone we knew. So the fact there is an Edgar Allan Poe tarot has literally made my year!

I was approached by the lovely Rose Wright to have a look at the beautiful creation, The Edgar Allan Poe Tarot.

I’m going to talk about the creator, also the illustrator and my thoughts on it overall.

We all know one of my favourite publishers is Llewellyn and I adore the large book style tarot boxes they do when they bring out tarot decks. I have quite a number of them now and they adorn my shelving.

Tarot and Edgar Allan Poe, I mean, is there anything better than this? We know the answer to this.

Let’s take a look at this beautiful deck and talk more about it.

Just to let you know, this is currently available on pre-order and the details are below. Some links are affiliate links and I make a small amount of money from this but you are happy to wander to the sites without clicking. This just helps support what I do for you guys.

Waterstones currently £30 and on pre-order

UK Amazon currently £30 and on pre-order

The release is scheduled for 1st October 2020 in the UK and already available in the US.

You can check out the Edgar Allan Poe Tarot site as linked for more information.

Edgar Allan Poe Tarot – The Review

About the deck

Rose Wright created this beautiful deck. Rose is a writer and known for being a certified Reiki healer, amongst other things. Her love for Poe spurred her to create such a wonderful tarot deck that I will long treasure and use in many of my readings going forward.

I’m excited to see what else Rose brings out as I thoroughly enjoy the Edgar Allan Poe Tarot and I can see a bright future in creating tarot decks.

Eugene Smith is a wonderful illustrator, creating decks such as Tarot In Wonderland which you know is a deck I really love!

I’m able to spot certain illustrators work now simply by their style and Eugene has such a beautiful style of illustrating. Dark, beautiful with a slight cartoon style to it. Out of all the illustrators I can think of, I really think Eugene is a perfect choice.

I really admire the use of numerology scattered throughout the book, along with a Rider Waite Smith style tarot and giving a reverse meaning as well as upright.

Now I am the type to read both upright and reversals so I really like that you can with this deck.

Thoroughly impressed so far, let’s look at the packaging and quality of the deck.

You can flick through the companion and learn about Edgar Allan Poe and his writings, it’s a really well-made tarot! You don’t even really need to understand tarot, it is certainly something to collect for the Edgar Allan Poe fans and simply read the book only.

Packaging and quality

The Edgar Allan Poe tarotdeck has the beautiful Lewelleyn style large box packaging holding the beautiful book and the cards. I collect these as I really do love the box as it looks like a large book. However, inside is the companion and the cards, safely and securely stored when you are ready.

On the side of the box where it opens, is a magnetic strip to keep the box closed. Regardless of the number of times you open and close, this box will retain the quality. I’ve had no issues with cracking or wear and tear and some of these boxes I have had for years and opened regularly. Almost daily with some.

We know I am a sucker for quality packaging! You also get this with the Edgar Allan Poe Tarot.

There is a ribbon inside the box which makes it easy for you to get the companion and the cards out, in a lovely navy blue. There is also a thick card insert inside the box to hold the tarot cards in place. Again, no wear and tear with regular use with these style of boxes.

Here we are, at the cards! I know you really wanted to know about the quality of the cards.

Thickness, we have a pretty standard tarot card. Not thick like cardboard, but not thin like the thin card. It’s the middle of the road with the thickness and in my opinion, perfect for a tarot card.

There is a slight sheen to the card but it is not sticky, not like a varnish where it sticks to other cards. You are able to shuffle these cards with ease.

Really good quality cards, they are similar to others I have recently and they have lasted daily use and plenty of shuffling.

Going into the printing quality, it is exceptional as always. Clear, vivid and detailed. I always enjoy the quality of the cards from Llewellyn, they print exceptionally well.

Below I go into more about the companion, but the quality is perfect, I would expect to pay quite a bit for the companion alone.

Booklet/companion review

With some decks, I do an extra part where I review the book/companion that comes with the deck as with some decks, you receive a beautiful companion too!

So included with the boxed version of this deck is a 288 page companion. I really wanted to get into detail about how wonderful this book is in my Edgar Allan Poe Tarot review.

One thing I really enjoy about tarot decks from Llewellyn is the booklet/companion that comes with it. Gone are the days of the small white booklet with barely any information and we welcome thick, 250+ page books that are beautiful.

I knew that the companion for the Edgar Allan Poe Tarot would be fantastic!

The front of the book adorns the Magician card, very apt and super detailed and beautiful. A raven hovers above the table with the suits on there in some fashion. The pentacle coins, a chalice for cups, sword for swords of course and candles for wands.

There is nothing basic about this companion.

Overall, the quality of the book is wonderful. Each page has a beautiful glossy look. With a blue background and a cream block where the text is about the card.

On the first page is a beautiful skyline with a large, dark moth floating. This moth is truly beautiful with the swords on the wings and a skull on the body of the moth.

Each card has 3 pages, one page for the illustration full-sized, which gives you a better look at the card in a larger form. Then we have one page as ‘Tell-Tale Heart’ where it gives you information on the story that the card illustration is based on as well as information about Edgar Allan Poe. then going into what is on the particular card, such as symbols and images. Then we have ‘Into the maelstrom’ which gives you the information of the meanings of the card, then keywords for upright and reversed.

You get a beautiful introduction into Edgar Allan Poe and the cards, but also giving you more in-depth information about the tarot cards and how to read them. Even things such as how to care for them, how to shuffle and general use of the cards. This is perfect for those that have not read before. Then some spreads that match the Edgar Allan Poe Tarot.

If you wanted to learn more about Edgar Allan Poe then this tarot really is for you. Each page has some information on Egar, how he was when alive, about his writing and even things such as how a particular poem came about.

After the cards, there are spreads such as the Raven spread, the Tell-Tale heart spread and a number of others which are perfect for the tarot deck.

Finally a beautiful conclusion and a list of Edgar Allan Poe’s works which will have people wanting more once you read this companion.

You can read the companion alone, it’s seriously a good read and I struggle to put it down! So you can see why I was so eager to do an Edgar Allan Poe Tarot review.

Review of Edgar Allan Poe Tarot

Everything about this deck is me. I love Edgar Allan Poe and since reading the poems as a child, I instantly fell in love.

Amazing quality as highlighted above, from the packaging to the cards and companion book. We have a truly wonderful tarot deck here and if you enjoy Edgar Allan Poe, you will really like this deck.

As you flick through the cards, you will see many illustrations depicted from a range of Edgar’s works. Whether you have read most of his work or a few, you will recognise some of the cards, if not all.

One thing I wanted to point out about this deck is the use of candles as wands. Although they are labelled as wands on the cards, they show candles. When I think of wands, I think of candles. Given they are a fire sign and have a similar shape.

Readings are eerily accurate and using the details contained with the book give an interesting read. It really does make you think as you use this deck. Even if you read for other people, they will be enamoured by it and want to know more!

It’s really easy to love the Edgar Allan Poe Tarot due to its sheer beauty and intriguing nature. A delightful sight and I really do enjoy what it has to say.

From the quality to the illustrations, this is a really well-made deck and I really adore how well written it is. Without using every tale directly, it’s keeping with the theme without being solely on the poems themselves.

Each card is different to the next and I love the stories that the cards tell.

The Edgar Allan Poe tarot cards themselves are borderless and just a smidge smaller in height and wider than the Rider Waite Smith tarot. This gives them a more playing card look than the slimmer, taller Rider Waite Smith cards.

On the bottom of every card is the card number and name for the major arcana and name of the card for the minor arcana. They are in a bronze metal design and the writing is in black so they stand out from the body of the image.

Final thoughts on the Edgar Allan Poe Tarot

I really enjoy the Edgar Allan Poe tarot and each and every card had me reaching out to the book just to find out more about Edgar Allan Poe and why this particular image was used for this card.

Each card is represented by a part of Edgar Allan Poe and his works. From the well-known works such as The Tell-Tale heart to the more unknown works of Berenice – each work is comprised into this wonderful tarot and gives you the knowledge and passion to read but also aching to learn more.

Whether you love gothic writing such as this or enjoy tarot, this is certainly a deck you can enjoy and lust after over and over.

Step into the dark and let the works of Edgar Allan Poe take over! You will really enjoy the Edgar Allan Poe Tarot.

What do you think of this beautiful deck? Will you be ordering it?

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This deck was sent for me to review by the author and this review is of my own words and thoughts.

The pictures are taken by me and I own the copyright of the pictures. The copyright to the imagery in the pictures are of Llewellyn.