Why Voyager Tarot ?

  What really grabbed my attention at the beginning of my first Tarot reading with Patricia was the deck she used. I'd been expecting to see ancient symbols of Castles, Kings, Swords and such on an obscure dusty old deck .What I saw instead on these beautiful Voyager cards  before me was completely unexpected. Medieval European symbols and obscure  meanings were replaced with modern vibrant images and photographic collages that were immediately recognizable to me. Even the back of the cards was new and relevant . "That is the cross section of human DNA" Patricia explained about the dancing images on the cobalt  backs - Wow ! I was intrigued. As the reading progressed I saw and understood what Patricia said about the cards and their relationship to each other and to me.The cards painted a clear picture of my life .They all made sense to me and I saw my life with all its myriad challenges , trials and victories in them as well as paths to take me "onwards and upwards"

  There are probably thousands of different Tarot decks in print or in collections today. Everything from the Rider-Waite "traditional" Tarot deck to Baseball Tarot, Transparent Tarot and countless others. For a while I collected them as miniature galleries , however I always returned to Voyager Tarot. Why? Because other people could also see into the images just as I had that first day 16 years ago. Voyager Tarot is anything but dark and obscure. It is light accessible and relevant to our busy 21st Century lives. We don't need a translation to understand them because the symbols in Voyager have the same intimacy for us today as our dreams.

  I asked James Wanless, the brilliant creator of this gorgeous deck about the genesis of Voyager Tarot.
"I wanted to create a big Roadmap to aid people today " James said "I didn't want to depict images from medieval european nobility but a multi-cultural 20th Century deck that people could use and identify with now.
I didn't want court cards but family cards just as we all have in our lives. So I replaced the King, Queen, Knight and Page with Man, Woman, Child and Sage because these are the archetypes everyone understands and lives with."

I asked James "Was that why you replaced Discs (or Pentagrams) with Worlds  and Swords with Crystals?” "Yes" James replied “after all who even knows what a Pentagram  or Disc is or has a Sword today? However we all immediately understand
the meaning of Crystals or Worlds".

Another striking aspect of the Voyager Tarot Deck was its imagery and color. Each card is a collage of photographic images symbolically linked to the cards meaning . James explained "Everyone has a different perspective on each Major or Minor Arcana and different images on these cards collectively become more universal. So each Major Arcana card in Voyager has a major, recognizable piece of sculpture featured and this is surrounded by complementary images. Minor Arcana cards are also collages each centered on a theme and its suit ( Worlds , Wands, Crystals and Cups ) in it's imagery . Each minor card also has a descriptor i.e. Fulfillment , Preserver etc. to give guidance , sometimes ironically to the cards focus "

  Now what finally caught my attention was the name Voyager Tarot! “How did you get this name  James " I asked? “I’d always , like you , been a traveler" he explained " and so when I was in San Francisco in the 80's about to escape into a flotation tank I noticed that its name - "the Voyager" , which was about taking a journey inwards , was identical to the name given to the  spacecraft "Voyager" , then departing Earth and taking an outer journey. Both these "Voyagers" were universal and both relevant!  Eureka - The cards were named."

  James had to leave and resume his busy life preparing to go to Japan to discuss using the cards to train Japanese businessmen as to how to blend business with intuition using his cards.
        I thanked him then as I thank you all now.
      May your journeys be splendid and your paths enriching.
         Lloyd and   www.onthepathtarot.com