Angel Tarot
The Angel Tarot (originally released as The Angel-Evoking Tarot) is a deck of Tarot cards created by occultist Travis McHenry.
Like its companion deck, the Occult Tarot, the Angel Tarot was highly influential among the esoteric and metaphysical community for its adherence to Kabbalistic teachings and its depiction of angels as more than just humans with wings.
Development
After the success of his first Tarot deck, The Demon-Possessed Tarot, which featured the 72 Goetic demons, Travis decided to create a companion deck utilizing the 72 Kabbalistic angels.
To research the deck, he traveled to the Arsenal Library (Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal) in Paris, France and examined three grimoires of black magic. These handwritten manuscripts were previously unpublished, and contained the oldest-known source of the seals used to summon specific angels. Travis photographed these seals and copied other information in the books, before returning to the United States, where he created the deck.
Content
Each card in The Angel-Evoking Tarot combines a Kabbalistic angel with a Tarot card. The correspondence between the cards and the angels is based on the skill or ability that the angel possesses, matched with the traditional meaning of the Tarot card.
In addition to being used for divination, the cards can also be used to summon (or evoke) angels. Each card contains two summoning sigils for each angel, plus an invocation for the angel on the back of the card.
Because there are only 72 Kabbalistic angels, an addition six archangels were added to the deck for a total of 78 cards.
Six Archangels
- Archangel Michael = The Chariot
- Archangel Haniel = The Lovers
- Metatron = Wheel of Fortune
- Samael = The Devil
- Archangel Uriel = The Tower
- Archangel Gabriel = The Moon
Publication history
The Angel Tarot was originally published in March 2019 as The Angel-Evoking Tarot by Bloodstone Studios. This edition was limited to 1,300 decks. The cards were gilded with silver metallic edges. It was simultaneously published with a grimoire of angel magic called The Angenomicon.
In early 2019, the author signed a five year licensing deal with Australian mind-body-spirit publisher Rockpool Publishing to reprint the deck as the Angel Tarot for a broader audience. This new version of the deck went on sale in April 2020. It is a companion deck to the Occult Tarot. This edition has sold more than 60,000 copies around the world since its publication.
French edition
In November 2021, a French edition of this deck, titled Le Tarot Angélique was created and published by TresDaniel Groupe under their Editions Exergue imprint.
Pocket edition
In 2024, a smaller edition of the deck was released with a tin box as a "pocket edition."
Anniversary edition
In 2024, a new edition was released to celebrate the deck's 5th anniversary. This new version had updated packaging and an added Archangel Raphael card as the Wheel of Fortune card. It was limited to only 500 copies, most of which were sold during the initial Kickstarter campaign.
Reception
When reviewing the Angel Tarot on his livestream, author and occultist Damien Echols stated: "This is an amazing deck. I highly, highly, highly recommend. If you are going to get a deck to use for magick, this is the one to get."