The Goddess Tarot is by far my favorite tarot deck. This pocket-sized version is a must have for lovers of the full-sized cards! I found the original deck is a little too large to fit comfortably in my purse, but this smaller deck is just right and now can be carried with me everywhere.

The artwork is a little less richly colored but still just as detailed. The cards are just the right size; not too small to shuffle comfortably/effectively but compact enough to travel with daily.

This is one of those decks that attracted me on the shelf, but about which I felt a little ambivalent when I got it home and started using it. While there are many good things about this deck, it also has some drawbacks. The Goddess Tarot has a very soft, pleasant feel, both emotionally and aesthetically. Waldherr's images, especially in the major arcana, are very visually pleasing. Pastels dominate the color scheme, and the lines are soft. The backgrounds, with a few exceptions, feature beautiful natural landscapes. The overall effect is very pleasant and easy on the eyes.

The major arcana are a very nice exploration of goddess archetypes. They only loosely follow the Rider-Waite system. The 22-card structure is there, but Waldherr used none of R-W's imagery. Instead, each trump card features a different goddess. The goddesses are drawn from many cultures and feature both goddesses who are well-known in the West and some that are more obscure. Many of the card titles have been altered from the R-W system, but they relate thematically to the more traditional cards. The new titles tend to act more like keywords than the more allegorical traditional titles. For example, The Empress has been changed to Fertility, The Hanged Man to Sacrifice, and The Tower to Oppression. This does have the potential of limiting the interpretation of the cards, but it can also be helpful if you pull a card with an unfamiliar goddess on it.

Unfortunately, the innovative approach of the majors does not carry over into the minors. This was especially disappointing since the LWB presents each suit as representing the "path" of a different goddess. (Swords = Isis, Staves = Freyja, Cups = Venus and Pentacles = Lakshmi). I was really intrigued by this idea, but Waldherr did not carry through on it. Instead she simply plopped the suit's goddess into basic R-W derived scenes and makes no reference to the goddesses' particular mythologies. Furthermore, the many of these cards seemed shoddily drawn in comparison to the majors. The court cards are also confusing. They are Prince, Princess, King and Queen. All of them, including the men, look vaguely like the goddess in their suit, and it's unclear if they are supposed to be a part of the goddess path. If they are, does this mean that the paths include a sex change? I suspect they represent getting in touch with the animus, but I don't think this was the clearest way to relate that concept. These court cards are also so generic visually that I do not see a way to read them intuitively. Overall, the minors seemed like an afterthought.

As a result, I like using the majors for meditation on the goddesses or as an oracle by themselves, but I rarely read with the entire deck. I do think some people might like this as a reading deck though, especially for public readings. I expect most men and some women might feel put off by the nearly exclusive female imagery in the deck, but for the most part this is a very inoffensive deck. The most frightening cards in most decks are considerably toned down here, and there is no nudity. It would even be suitable for children. Personally, I prefer a deck that appeals to my shadow side here and there, so this is another reason I don't use this deck much. However, if you prefer a deck with minimal disturbing imagery, this is a decent choice.

I liked the artwork on this deck. The cards are a bit unusual size to handle, but nothing that couldn't be overcome. The artwork is unique and rather nice, not artifical in any way and rather natural. This is a very positive deck with the LBW and even it's companion book with a very positive spin oon the meaning of the cards. Now the majors are a little unusual as they aren't your typical Major Arcana, but the do work and are refreshingly differant then most decks. I really didn't get the "Path of the Goddess" stuff all that well, but it didn't bother me as that had no real bearing on readings or just sharing cards. The minors are the usual fair, but with very differant artwork and style. The court cards are slightly differant an almost natural feel to the artwork. I do like this deck and would use it to give readings to females. If you can find the companion book, it would be a good investmeant.

This is probably the first deck of Tarot cards I own that actually "feels right." Many of the tarot decks out there are decidedly male and the energy of them can feel very aggressive. But not so with the Goddess Tarot. With the mind centered and concentrating on the question, it will answer with such accuracy that it's almost scary. There are times when it will answer the question you will not ask, showing that it gently taps into the unconscious mind and gives what is needed, not what is desired. The four suits enlist the imagery of Isis, Freyja, Lakshmi, and Venus in a way that don't overwhelm or cause upset when the meaning of a card is revealed. For those seeking a deck that is both gentle and powerful, this is the deck for you.