By Shula J Asher Silberstein

The Light and Shadow Tarot Deck is a more impressive deck than it may seem upon first glance.  Each card features a seemingly simple black-and-white line drawing. The drawings are meant to depict the balance between light and dark; each image takes up the entire card and uses symbols from a variety of religions and cultures.  Animals, chalices and masks feature heavily in the deck. The drawings on the cards have multiple layers of meaning; when using the deck, answers to questions sometimes pop up in the form of symbols that previously went unnoticed on a particular card's image. For example, there are some snakes hidden in the background of the King of Wands card, which are easy to miss if concentrating on the image of a king atop an angry-looking horse.

Besides the complexity of the images, this deck is very easy to use because the cards are large and easy to grasp or turn over. The large size of the cards also helps catch the attention of people who have problems with staying focused and provide an anchor when meditating prior to choosing or turning over cards. This can help you get a more accurate reading when consulting the deck about a particular question or problem in your life.
If you use this deck, however, you have to keep in mind that everything in the deck revolves around the theme of balance. Each picture depicts equal measures of light and dark, masculinity and femininity, or good and evil. Thus, when consulting this deck you'll tend to get answers related to areas of your life that need to be brought back into balance. This can be useful if you're dealing with a significant problem or a major decision; however, you may not be able to get the clear-cut answers you seek about what to do or what is likely to happen. For this reason, the deck is not always appropriate to your circumstances and you may need to purchase a second deck to answer questions that aren't related to how to bring your life more into harmony with the universal flow.

This potential limitation of the deck is more than made up for by the multiplicity of interpretations for each card. The deck comes with a 208-page book that gives each card's history and several possible interpretations for the card's meaning. This book serves a double purpose; it both helps you familiarize yourself with the deck and gives you a jumping-off place for interpreting each card's presence in a reading.
The Light and Shadow deck isn't for everybody. The black and white drawings may not capture the interest of those interested in a more artistic or aesthetically pleasing deck. However, anyone who is interested in ancient religions and cultures will enjoy the symbols in the images, which are taken from Middle Eastern, Asian, African, Celtic and Native American cultures. If Kabbalah or Buddhism is part of your spiritual tradition, you will particularly enjoy this deck because it echoes the theme of balance found in these traditions.

The Light and Shadow Tarot Deck

By Brian Williams and Michael Gopford
Tarot Deck - 78 Cards
Published by Inner Traditions 1997