Winnie-the-Pooh is my childhood, and to date remains one of my favorite characters and accompanying series of stories. To see one of the most beautifully produced tarot tributes to Pooh come alive by Rue & Vervain is an incredible honor.

The production quality of this box set is top tier, whether you’re talking indie or traditionally published. Not just production value, but Amsel’s artwork, staying true  – simultaneously – to the spirit of what Milne and Shepard created and to the spirit of the RWS tarot is no small feat, and few in the past have achieved it with a themed deck.

Also I just noticed the compass in the map — it spells out POOH!

The Special Edition Christopher Robin Box Set comes with two sibling decks, the Standard in a magnetic clasp box and the Mini deck-in-a-tin.

However, you can also buy either the Standard ($82) or the Mini ($52) separately.

The set also comes with a Wisdom of Pooh tarot spread cloth and a matching drawstring bag.

For a limited time, you can also get a complimentary Pooh “The Fool” plushie with your Box Set!

The keepsake box for the Christopher Robbin set has this fold-out design that immediately starts you on your immersive journey into Pooh’s and Christopher Robbins’ world. And here you can even see how tarot symbolism gets translated into the world of the Hundred Acre Wood — the ankh half-buried in the ground next to the tree stump and the detailing of the snake with its head just at Pooh’s feet. Piglet, given his character’s personality, in the place of the Leo lion is too cute!

The above photo shows a size comparison between the Standard and the Mini, and also a closer viewing of the card back design, which is reversible.

My favorite cardstock for tarot decks is a matte, almost papery-canvas finish edged in gold to give it that extra elevated aesthetic. And that’s exactly how this deck has been done.

Sidebar comment: If you do get this deck, may I recommend that upon opening your box of cards, read Serefina’s Blessing aloud to yourself. I found doing so to be a rich, beautiful experience before starting my adventure with these cards.

This is a linen cardstock with a luxurious feel to it. As a tactile experience, handling these cards just feels elevated.

Wisdom of Pooh Tarot is faithfully keyed to the RWS system. You’ll see in the subsequent photos that it’s a very readable deck.

Psst… take in that imagery of The Fool card to compare with the alternate bonus Fool card you get with this deck!

I mean come on now, look at that Three of Swords! How cute is that! Also, in some of these photos, if you look closely, you can see the texture of the linen cardstock, adding a lot of vintage character to the cards.

The character of Pooh Bear was inspired by a stuffed bear toy that the author, A. A. Milne, bought for his son Christopher Robin, and I love that you can get a limited edition plush bear in tribute of that. The plushie is of “The Fool” Pooh, based on the artwork in the Wisdom of Pooh Tarot.

The original map of the Hundred Acre Wood, or The Woods, where Pooh and friends live, featured in the 1926 first edition of Winnie-the-Pooh appears in the fold-out lid of the box that the cards come in. The caption — “Drawn by Kat (i.e., the illustrator of this deck, Kat Amsel) and Mr. Shepard Helpd,” spelled and written in a very Pooh-esque voice.

Click on the card spread photos for a close-up viewing of the illustrations. Like that Hierophant card, or how Key 6 The Lovers has been renamed to Precious Friends.

The artist Kat L. Amsel worked from the classic E. H. Shepard’s 1920s illustrations in the Winnie the Pooh books. You can see Amsel’s background in wildlife biology come to life in the deck art.

Love all the little ways Amsel translated RWS symbolism to fit the Pooh world, like in The Lovers card (renamed Precious Friends) and The Chariot. I love the additional hints at card meanings this deck provides the reader, like the addition of a forked path in Key 6.

That Devil card with Pooh Bear wearing Halloween horns having eaten all the candy is too cute. Does the clock in The Devil card read 4:00 or does it read 12:20? =)

The World card is everyone having a tea party. In the background you see the sign, “Welcome Home.”

The suit of Cups is renamed Honey Pots, so in the courts, you’ll see Page of Honey Pots, Knight, Queen, and King of Honey Pots. With the theme of friendship and togetherness strong in the Winnie the Pooh stories, I like how they reinterpreted the Eight of Chocolate Pentacles (yes, that’s the suit re-naming, which is adorbs!), showing the characters putting in team effort rather than just the single individual in the classic RWS.

How whimsical is the above nod to the RWS Nine of Pentacles! The snail is now a throw rug! I can’t with the cuteness overload! =)

You’ve got the iconic astrological blankie in the Nine of Swords, with Pooh dreaming of Christopher Robbin and Piglet sword-fighting a Heffalump! If I recall correctly, Heffalumps only appear in Pooh and Piglet’s dreams.

Another tweak I appreciate is in the Queen of Swords, a tarot court that’s traditionally associated with one who tends to stand alone, but here, we see Kanga as the queen, surrounded and support by Christopher Robbin, Pooh Bear, and Piglet. Owl as the King of Swords is perfect.

I’m also loving the interpretive distinction between the Two of Wands and Three of Wands here, with Christopher Robbin focused on finding his way per the map in his hands in the Two of Wands, and then in the Three of Wands, using the telescope to look outward.

The ways the creators and artist depicted tarot card meanings and symbolism with Winnie-the-Pooh stories is quite genius, right down to the choice of characters to be featured for conveying that card meaning, like Eeyore in the Ten of Wands —

— or depicting games and competition in the Five of Wands with the potato sack race, featuring Christopher Robbin, Pooh, Piglet, Kanga, and Roo. The creators of the Wisdom of Pooh Tarot fully memorialized the voice and vision of the Pooh stories, and that’s what I love most about this themed deck — it went above and beyond in achieving its goal.

Had to zoom in to that Seven of Wands card to read the quote: “He climbed, and he climbed, and he climbed, and as he climbed, he sang a little song to himself.” It’s sourced from Winnie-the-Pooh (1926), Chapter 1, “In Which We Are Introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh and Some Bees, and the Stories Begin.” I’ve pasted for side by side comparison the original E. H. Shepard illustration and Kat Amsel’s. Kinda cute that in the scan of the book page I’m showing, it’s page 7, and this art is featured on the Seven of Wands card.

Special to the Wisdom of Pooh Tarot is depicting the court cards as narrative scenes, showing the Page, Knight, Queen, and King in context, whereas more often you’ll find tarot court cards depicted as portraits. And that’s significant for this themed deck because of how the Winnie-the-Pooh stories consistently explore friendship, togetherness, inclusivity, and the magical power of group imagination.

There’s an alternate Key 0: Fool Card in Spanish with a slightly different illustration. We still have Pooh and Piglet looking skyward, but instead of the bindle over the shoulder, we’ve got a walking cane and fanny pack, with Pooh wearing a hat. Still got the white butterfly on the tip of his nose though! =)

The Majors are extended in this deck, with the bonus Key 22 titled Pure Joy, Key 23 titled Bravery, and Key 24 titled Togetherness. Thus the Majors in Wisdom of Pooh seem to follow the Biblical 24 Elders motif and the Throne of God.

For the Bravery card, I read that as a message to embody fearlessness in the face of an imminent danger or adversity the querent is presently facing. It’s challenging the querent to push past one’s comfort zone. I love that in the keywords-at-a-glance cards that come with each deck also ascribes the word “Spunk” to the Bravery card. There’s a stronger physical “call to action” in this new Key 23 compared to Key 8, Strength, which exudes the courage to embody compassion when you’re tempted to feel otherwise, and strength through Grace.

The Pure Joy card is in some ways a polarity to the Bravery card — it’s the absence of fear and worry, and the embrace of the delights this world has to offer us. Comparing that to the traditional Ten of Cups in the tarot, which might be construed as more thematically family-oriented togetherness or symbolic of completion of an emotional cycle, Pure Joy as a new Key 22 is the delight and good vibes that come from a collaborative team effort, the cooperation of different resources and talents toward a shared mission.

Though “togetherness” is a listed keyword for the Ten of Cups (I’m citing from the meanings at-a-glance cards that the deck comes with), it’s also its own standalone card and thus field of thought in this tarot.

How might the Togetherness card be distinguished from, say, the Three of Cups (or in this case, the Three of Honey Pots)? There’s a more celebratory energy to the Three of Cups, whereas the Togetherness card may be more indicative of cultural togetherness, being individually distinct and yet being able to unite and share a common sense of values, beliefs, inclusivity, and belonging.

The deck is created by sisters Serefina and Angel Mesa, who I had the great opportunity to meet in person at the Northwest Tarot Symposium in Oregon a few years back. Their vivacious energy and radiance resonated strongly with me. Another tarot colleague-friend of mine, Jessi Huntenberg, is the Executive Director of Rue & Vervain. I’m thrilled to see this collaborative effort from the tarot community, right in line with the core theme of Hundred Acre Woods world — the theme of collaborative imagination and togetherness.

I love how Rue and Vervain offer a variety of merch to go along with your Wisdom of Pooh Tarot, like the tarot stickers set, which also come with stickers of the moon phases.

My set came with a hefty collectible gold coin dated 2023. One side features Pooh with the phrase, ” A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey.” Awww! The reverse side features Christopher Robin, Eeyore, and Pooh, plus the phrase “Oh bother” and “It’s not much of a tail, but I’m sort of attached to it.”

There’s also this spiral-bound Wisdom of Pooh Tarot Journal for jotting down all your readings with the deck! By the way, there’s a whole series of videos on the Rue and Vervain YouTube channel for you to deep-dive into the Wisdom of Pooh Tarot.

If there are any Winnie-the-Pooh fans out there, you’ll want to get this deck, and particularly, the limited edition box set. A wave of nostalgia comes over you as you look through Amsel’s illustrations. The care with which the creators took to stay true to RWS imagery means this is a fully functional deck of cards for tarot readings, as much as it is a treasured collectible.

A pitfall that themed decks can run into is such focus on the source subject matter that it compromises the functionality of the deck as tarot, and the Mesa sisters steer clear of that pitfall. That balance of staying true to the source material and also actually designing a tarot deck for practical use is what’s most incredible about this project.

FTC Disclosure: In accordance with Title 16 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 255, “Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising,” I received this box set from Rue and Vervain for prospective review. Everything I’ve said here is sincere and accurately reflects my opinion.

$5 DISCOUNT CODE: BENEBEL5

I was given a coupon code for $5 off to share in my deck review.