Review: The Lover's Path Tarot

I wanted a copy of Lover's Path Tarotever since last Valentine’s Day Eve when I read the illustrated story by the deck’s creator Kris Waldherr, also called The Lover’s Path. I was given the tarot set as a Yule present and I’ve delighted in using the cards ever since.

There are just so many things I like about Lover's Path Tarot.The artwork, which has an Italian Renaissance style, is gorgeous. The pictures are beautiful and full of symbolism that really helps with intuitive readings. Each of the major arcana cards is based on a traditional love story. For example, Wisdom (the High Priestess) shows Shahrazade, Tradition (the Hierophant) shows Romeo and Juliet, Transformation (Death) shows Persephone and Pluto.

What I like most is the deck’s emphasis that: “All love relationships mirror our relationship with ourselves. They ultimately reflect our relationship with the world around us – how we think others see us, what we believe we are worth of. Our beliefs about love relationships can even embody our thoughts about how we feel the universe nurtures and supports us.”

The Lover's Path is about our own personal development through the stories love weaves in our own lives – the good times and the bad, the joy and the pain.

Kris Waldherr writes in the booklet that accompanies the deck: “Experienced authentically, love relationships offer the sweetest rewards and the thorniest challenges. They also present us with unparallelled opportunity to gain awareness and wisdom.”

The questions I get asked most often when I do tarot readings for friends are about love – usually because the friends are either having trouble finding the right partner or because a relationship has gone wrong. In the past I’ve mainly used a standard tarot deck for these readings rather than a specific love-related oracle set. This is because I feel such questions are better answered in terms of personal insight and development.

Specific love-related oracle sets tend to be designed to give answers about what a future spouse will be like or whether an errant partner will come back. I prefer to be able to say things like: “You will find happiness in love when you have overcome your own self-doubt and put the past behind you.”

The Lover’s Path Tarot isn’t like the oracle sets I’ve tried. It *is* a traditional tarot deck, but one overlaid with themes based on the great love stories of mythology. I think it is perfect for answering questions about love in terms of our own personal journey through life.

The deck comes with a spreadsheet detailing several card layouts that are ideal for readings about relationships and questions involving a couple rather than just one person. For example, there is a layout for showing the past, present and future for two individuals.

My personal favourite way of using the cards is described as having a conversation with the deck. This starts by randomly drawing a single card to answer a single question. Depending on the card chosen, a new question might arise. As in conversation, new cards are drawn until a satisfying closure is reached. I’ve been using this technique quite often and found it helpful for understanding all sorts of issues in my life – although particularly about decisions and plans I might make with my own beloved.

I was going to post this review on or just before Valentine's Day next week, but I decided to post it earlier than that because I think it would make a fantastic gift for a loved one. If you don't think they would want to be given a tarot set, then consider gifting them the story of The Lover's Path instead. Both are beautiful and perfect as gifts of love.

Links and previous related posts
Lover's Path Tarot: Premier Edition
http://kriswaldherrbooks.com/main/
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/02/divining-love-with-eros-oracle.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/02/astrology-for-lovers.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/02/tarot-lovers-card.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/12/pagan-eye-some-presents-i-got-for-yule.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/02/valentines-day-lovers-path.html