The Alchemystic Woodcut Tarot

It's very rare to see a tarot that encompasses overtly Christian themes throughout -- so D. W. Prudence's Alchemystic Woodcut Tarot fills a void in a much-needed area of tarot studies. The deck's name is not in any way deceptive, however -- spiritual alchemy is the point and purpose of every card, and there's a heapin' helpin' of Qabalah/Kabbalah, sacred geometry, and astrology included in the mix to satisfy the appetites of any student of mystic studies. The images are pulled from an assortment of 16th - 19th century texts, and placed against colored backgrounds which indicate suit. The suit names themselves are non-standard, and the accompanying guidebook does not provide any overt mention of their correspondence with the traditional tarot minors; our guesses would be as follows: Alchemists = Wands, Mystics = Cups, Shekinah = Swords, Mages = Pentacles. While some may argue that Prudence's approach to blending Judeo-Christian mysticism with tarot is flawed, we see this work as providing a fresh jumping-off point for finding one's own path to contributing to the Great Work.