The Astrology Center of America, 207 Victory Lane, Bel Air, MD 21014
Tel: 410-638-7761; Toll-free (orders only): 800-475-2272
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The Transformational Tarot Deck

Developed by Shirley Gotthold, illustrated by Peggy Gotthold.

The Transformational Tarot Deck, $29.95

Don't forget the book for this deck:

The Transformational Tarot, a book for the deck, by Shirley Gotthold, Foolscap Press, $22.95
180 pages, 6.25 x 10 inches, or 15.9 x 25.4 cm. Not illustrated, but there is a fold-out sheet in the back with all 100 cards, printed in color. Book printed in the US.

Number of cards in deck: 100

Measurements: 3.3 x 5 inches, or 84 x 128 mm. Large.

Back of card: White lines on a light gray background. The lines swirl to suggest flames. In the center, a jumping man in peasant dress. Not symmetrical but low contrast, so you can invert if you don't look closely.

Book included: No. Book sold separately (see above).

Publisher: Foolscap Press, Berkeley CA. Country of origin not given. Presumably US.

Comments: This is a personal fantasy deck, based around the traditional Rider-Waite deck. There are 27 major arcana cards, plus the Fool, and 72 minor arcana. The extra cards are:

Major Arcana extras:
22 The Master
23 Galactic Force
24 The Androgyne
25 Mystical Life
26 Transcendent Mind
27 Universal Will

Minor Arcana extras:
Appearing after the King (card #14)
15 Teacher/Student
16 Reformer
17 Oracle
18 Sage

In Pentacles, the Teacher/Student card shows both a teacher & a student. The other Teacher/Student cards show only one figure.

Another Waite-based deck is another Waite-based deck. Rather than show the usual range of cards in the second row, I've shown four of the 22 extra cards. Many of the 78 traditional cards have subtle changes. Notice the Two of Swords, above. Normally she sits on the edge of the water. This shows her on an island, stranded. On the traditional card, the water is choppy. Here it is still, which means she is sitting on an island in a lake. On the traditional card, the sky is completely blue. On this card, a massive thunderstorm is brewing (saw too many of those when I was a kid, growing up on the plains). Compare here. So in this deck, the Two of Swords is a card of abandonment. Someone deserted a phony choice (the woman with the swords) on an island while the real storm is brewing behind her. Will someone come to her rescue? Will the storm blow over? If not, what will it bring? These are questions that can be answered by subsequent cards.

I'm not a fan of blind obedience, so I didn't care much for The Master card. The master's heart is the very apex of the pyramid, the ultimate destination for his many asexual admirers (the apex of the inner pyramid comes to his feet). Now look closer. In the clouds on either side of the master are disembodied winged heads. More than one of them look very much like skulls, in fact I had to use a magnifying glass not to mistake all of them for skulls. Fans of the decks I review sometimes take me to task for my bizarre remarks. I can only say that if the creators of this deck wanted to show angels or cherubs, that's what they should have drawn. Disembodied shaved heads are downright spooky, even if they don't look like skulls. For the record, there are 22 submissive humans on the bottom of the card, 22 winged spirits on the top & one master that connects them all together. That's a total of 45 creatures, which adds up to 9, the number of completion. I mention this as at the top of every card is its number in the sequence (either the minor suit or the major arcana), followed by an equal sign & the numerological total. So on the top of the Master card is "22=4". You might think this obvious, but the creators of this deck leave nothing to chance.

A printing note: There is a limited use of gold & silver inks on a few of the cards.

The Astrology Center of America

207 Victory Lane, Bel Air, MD 21014
Tel: 410-638-7761; Toll-free (orders only): 800-475-2272

Tarot Home Tarot Decks Tarot Books Astrology Home E-Mail:

Established 1993, The Astrology Center of America is owned & operated by David Roell. Except where noted, this entire site (AstroAmerica.com) & its contents are Copyright © 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 by William R. Roell. All rights reserved. Tarot card images are Copyright © by the copyright holder (generally the publisher).