#wyspell

The Hermit

isolation. introspection. secrets of the self. internal life. introversion. reflection. meditation. guidance of and by the self.

When you draw The Hermit most often it is time to retreat into the self. Perhaps it's time to turn off the background noise and spend alone time with your thoughts. Perhaps there is an internal wisdom you are close to reaching, if only you cut off distractions. The answers are within you, and you are your own mentor. Perhaps you might even be an inadvertent mentor to others who see your understanding of yourself as an admirable character trait, something to which they aspire. Embrace your inner universe to reach a higher understanding of the universe without.

I bought a deck instead of dealing with my problems.

Who is Wyspell?

This company feels like a dropshipper, so time for some internet sleuthing. From what I can gather, Wyspell is a Ukrainian company that creates Tarot cards and other witchy stuff. Based on their brief foray into Reddit (3 years ago, oof), they focus on human-made art, but have flirted with making an AI-based deck, at least once. The company claims that this deck is human-drawn, but it’s right on the cusp of our “AI takes over art because meaningless slop is easier than human expression” era. The credited artist on the back of the box (Ira Kozlovska) is not included in the Kickstarter team. The company has a storefront, an Instagram account, and other social media, but I can’t find any company employees, except for the website of a designer of a different deck.

My internet stalking skills are not up to snuff. If any of them are actually in Ukraine, they have bigger problems than keeping up with social media. Everyone I checked in the deck had the right number of fingers and toes.

The deck is printed in China; that’s just how it works to get a sub $20 deck. If you printed it in the United States and want a reasonable rate of return, the deck needs to cost $50. It’s fine that it's printed in China, I just like to know where my decks come from.

The Deck

The deck is beautiful. The blue, orange, red, and gold palette is a great choice and looks better than its gold-and-black sister deck. The art mostly follows the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, and even when designs vary, it follows the same vibe. The Paige of Swords in this deck still has the guarded paranoia of their RWS sister card, even if they're in a different stance. The deck has some diversity, which is great, but everyone is still beautiful, voluptuous, yet lithe. It’s ok to put bigger, unshaven, or androgynous people in tarot cards (e.g., Lisa Sterle’s deck, the Modern Witch Tarot, or the Change Tarot’s Xaviera Lopez). If you are going to go with nudity, put a hint of a penis on the nude male characters. Smith did, it’s fine.

The cards blend well with my magpie deck, as they are the “standard” 2.75 x 4.75 cards, and they shuffle well with everyone else. I don’t have the terminology for this, but decks in my tarot journey have come in two flavors: shiny and deal easily, or matt and vaguely sticky. The sticky ones just muck up my mixed deck. 

Favorite cards so far include the Page of Swords, which better explores that card’s paranoia, The Emperor, who is holding a child, and the Page of Cups, who looks like a fun drinking buddy.

As for the cards I didn’t vibe with, 

The Devil is missing the chains, which I consider an important part of the card’s symbology. 

The Chariot, which misses out on the whole stuck-in-concrete symbolism of the original RWS;

The child in the Sun is just on the wrong side of the uncanny valley. That card is cursed.

In general, the artwork is strong and makes a good addition to any collection. 

Is it worth $20?