Modern Witch Tarot

Sinderella's note

The Modern Witch is the Rider-Waite if Rider-Waite finally let women be the protagonists. Every figure on every card is a woman with phone, attitude, and good shoes. Same structure as the standard deck so the books still work, but now The Magician's wearing slip dresses and The Hierophant is *clearly* somebody's terrifying aunt. Pilgrim, this deck is *fun.*

The long version

Lisa Sterle drew the Modern Witch as a direct response to the Rider-Waite — same structure, same symbolism, every figure replaced with a contemporary woman. The Magician has tattoos and is holding a tarot deck. The Hierophant is a woman in a black turtleneck holding court at what looks like a rooftop bar. The Empress is pregnant, lounging, fully herself. The Three of Cups is three friends at brunch. *Madonn'.* It's a deck written in dialogue with the canon — every Rider-Waite reading book still works, every traditional meaning still applies, but the *images* are images you actually recognize from your own life. Sinderella loves this deck for women who came to tarot through Instagram and assumed it was going to be all goddesses-and-moons-and-incense. This deck says: *you are the Magician.* The art is contemporary illustration — Lisa Sterle's other work is in horror comics, and you can feel that edge. The colors are saturated, slightly punk, slightly lipstick. The deck is a hardcover boxed set with a guidebook. Saint Cecilia for the women who saw and stayed. Saint Brigid for the new ones, the ones in slip dresses with iced coffees and tarot decks.