Maya Land Tarot Deck Review — The Willow Path Tarot

Recently, I was gifted a new tarot deck from some lovely friends of mine. They admire an artist named Maya who makes surreal vintage collages and has made some of her work into a tarot deck. The deck is called the Maya Land tarot deck. Today, I thought it would be fun to write a little review of the deck for you.

This is my first time writing a tarot deck review, so we shall see how this goes. I’m not one to spend time writing about or even exploring art that I don’t enjoy, so rest assured that this is going to be a positive review. I was inspired to write it because I really enjoy the deck and I wanted to share that with you.

Don’t worry, if you like the drama, I will impart a few things that didn’t work for me about the deck as well. Nothing major that would make me not want to work with the deck. Honestly, I don’t think there is any perfect deck out there. There’s always a card or two you don’t resonate with, or something about the deck that doesn’t do it for you. Art is subjective!

So, to start at the very beginning, the deck comes in a simple box with a flip top lid. It has images of 11 cards from the major arcana on it, which is nice. You can get a feel for the imagery of the deck from the outside of the box. It is a functional box, but it’s lightweight and opening and closing the top will quickly wear it out, I’m sure. For that reason, I would suggest getting a bag for this deck since the box isn’t likely to last as long as the cards.

Luckily, I make my own tarot bags so I have plenty to choose from. If you ever need a tarot bag, I have lots for sale on Etsy and take special orders.

Next, let’s talk about the card stock. It’s matte and what I would call a light weight. It has good flexibility to it, but it’s maybe the tiniest bit heavier than your average Rider Waite Smith deck. Of course, I’m judging from my RWS deck that I got in 1996, so maybe it’s not a good comparison. Okay, I checked it against the Shadowscapes tarot, which is also mass market and it is very similar in weight and flexibility.

I like this card stock, personally. It is really easy to rifle shuffle, which is my favorite way to shuffle, as you know from last week’s blog post. I also like how it is a little bit matte, so it’s not as shiny as some decks. Shiny card stock distracts me, and is especially difficult if you’re trying to take a nice picture for your blog post. Luckily, this deck photographs great.

The image on the back of the cards is symmetrical and simple. I am a big fan of symmetrical card backs because I read reversals and I dislike it when I already know if a card is upright or reversed before I flip it over. That is just a personal pet peeve of mine, when you can tell before you flip. I end up judging before I have used my intuition, which makes the reading less fluid.

Now, let’s get down to the imagery! What we have here is a deck made up of collage art. The vibe is vintage, I’m guessing 1940s or 1950s, “golden age” type of images. Many of them look like they were cut out of black and white magazines like Life. The Wands, Swords, and Cups appear to be handmade while the Pentacles are images of coins from around the world. This makes me think that the author probably uses the term Coins instead of Pentacles to refer to this suit.

Oh, this suddenly makes me notice that this deck does not come with any guide book or other information about the deck. I checked online as well and there is nothing on Maya’s website about the meanings of the cards. This deck is very much a Rider Waite Smith clone, so if you have a tarot card meaning guidebook that offers RWS interpretations, you will easily read the Maya Land deck. I just think it’s interesting that there is nothing included with the deck in terms of guidance.

Now, given that the imagery is vintage, I should also say that it is very white, heterosexual, conservative type of imagery as well. The cards featuring romance or love type photographs are of men and woman together. Everyone is definitely white, and some of that is a little problematic as there are scenes from what looks like different cultures that have a bit of a colonial exoticism vibe.

As a white person, I sense a certain romanticism in this artwork, as it feels culturally relevant to me. That might not be the case for someone from a different culture. Still the artwork is beautiful and decks from all cultural traditions are welcome in the tarot space. You’re just not gonna get any diversity here. If you like to see yourself reflected in the cards and you aren’t white, this deck might not be for you.

As a queer person, I do love a deck that plays with gender, sexuality, and societal norms, and there isn’t much of that on offer here either. There is some though, more on that later. As a microcosm it is cohesive and comes off quite magical; I’m not harshing the vibe. I’d love to see the artist also create a similar deck that breaks some social norms, though, wouldn’t that be fun!?

Maya Land tarot deck cards: The Hierophant, Justice, The World, The Hermit, and The Wheel of Fortune

I posted a picture here of my favorite cards from the major arcana: The Hierophant, Justice, The World, The Hermit, and The Wheel of Fortune. I think my favorite card in the whole deck is The Hierophant, which just delights me to no end. I don’t usually resonate with the energy of The Hierophant but the collage from the Maya Land tarot makes me want to spend time with this card. I want to dive into the subtle meanings here and explore different ideas about the card. Look for a post about this Hierophant card soon, is what I’m trying to say!

The image for the Justice card also strikes a particular interest in me. This is another great surprise as Justice is also one of those cards I just don’t resonate with usually. For me, there is something really wonderful about a deck that makes you reconsider cards that aren’t the ones you tend to like to look at or spend time with in most decks. If I’m delighted to pull the Justice or The Hierophant card in a reading, that is something that I look forward to when using this deck.

Maya Land tarot deck cards: X of Cups, X of Pentacles, X of Swords, IV of Wands, and V of Wands

You’ll notice by the minor arcana cards I chose to showcase here, that the imagery is very much in the vein of the Rider Waite Smith. The image here has the X of Cups, X of Pentacles, X of Swords, IV of Wands, and V of Wands. As I wrote before, using the RWS tradition works well for me as this is the system that I am comfortable with and like to read. It makes it easy for me! And many of the cards in this deck are a wonderful homage to the work of Pamela Coleman Smith. They are faithful clones but with a vibrance and unique quality of their own.

You will notice that the cards I choose as some of my favorites are pretty spot on. I’m not sure why I chose these ones, I just like them. Art! The X of Cups is such a great card and I like to think the three figures in this image from the Maya Land tarot are the best of friends. Instead of a happy family dancing like in the RWS image, here we see happily ever after can be three friends having a pool party, which suits this woman who doesn’t want children just right. The V of Wands looks like people playing a game, which I feel like is a useful interpretation of this card: competition, but in a friendly sports type of way. The IV of Wands has a clock on it, which reminds me of the benchmarking energy of this card. The clock is a nice symbol of acknowledging our milestones. The X of Swords has a sheen of the melodrama that I associate with this card. I see a faint smirk upon the face of the man holding the overcome woman, he gets that things have taken on an almost comic level of dramatics. And finally, with the X of Pentacles I just like the artwork. But you can kind of see the cultural appropriation here- are these white woman dressed up in the traditional dress of another people? Still, I think the collage is beautiful…

Maya Land tarot deck cards: II of Pentacles, The Moon, The Hanged Man, The Fool, IX of Wands, II of Swords, VIII of Swords, and VII of Pentacles

On the other hand, there are some cards that feel a bit off to me. It seems to have something to do with the facial expression of the person in the card. I put a photo of the ones that feel weird to me here: II of Pentacles, The Moon, The Hanged Man, The Fool, IX of Wands, II of Swords, VIII of Swords, and VII of Pentacles. This is just my personal opinion, but these cards don’t quite work for me. Like I said before, art is subjective and I don’t think that makes the deck bad or wrong, it’s just a preference that I have for some cards over others. The different facial expressions might really add something new to the interpretation and I’m just being a stick in the mud about tradition. I’m interested to see how over time, working with this deck, if my opinion of these cards evolves.

Maya Land tarot deck cards: The Emperor, The Magician, The Sun

Lastly, there are a few more major arcana cards that I want to showcase. I feel like these ones deviate a bit more from the Rider Waite Smith imagery in a way that I really like. First off, we have The Emperor. Here is a card that does play with gender! Of course, I love that The Emperor is portrayed as a woman. There is just something delightful about how she is kicking back with an ice cold beverage. I feel like there is an Empress just out of the scene and they are having a nice little chat over sangria about how to rule the empire as power dykes. She isn’t stoic or commanding, showing that power doesn’t have to be aggressive.

Then there is The Magician card. This image seems simple but compelling. The expression on the woman’s face as she peels back reality to reveal the universe is just perfect. She looks like she’s saying, “Well, there it is, just like I said. Take it or leave it.” This gives me the impression that the Magician card is about seeing what isn’t there, and believing in the magic of the Universe. You know it’s there, but will you accept that or will you put the flap back down and ignore the magic?

And finally, The Sun. This is the card that deviates most wildly from the traditional Rider Waite Smith deck, in my opinion. There’s no child on a horse in a field of sunflowers under a blazing sun. Nope! I’m not sure what to make of this eye in the sky or the wandering soul in the tidelands, but I like it. The image is mesmerizing. I feel like it could be saying something about the eye-opening illumination of The Sun. Once something is out in the open, you can’t un-see it. Maybe I just like an eye in the sky, like in that Hierophant image I already mentioned. How about a whole deck of eyeballs in the sky? Lol.

Ok, I feel like I have rambled on for just long enough. It is difficult to do a deck review! I could write so much more, or maybe I’ve written too much! There are so many aspects to think about when reviewing a deck, from the actual cards themselves to the imagery and reading style of the deck. I haven’t even done a reading with this deck yet, so I can’t tell you how it performs in a reading, but I’m imagining that it is going to be similar to reading with a standard Rider Waite Smith. But we shall see! Let me know if you want me to report back. Or better yet, follow my Instagram and I’m sure you’ll see it pop up in some of my daily reading posts!

If you’re interested in a flip through of the entire deck, check out this video on my YouTube channel. Ciao for now!