Tarot of the Wendigo is an ancient Chateaugay Lake tarot deck that goes way back before the Abenaki came to these parts, and it’s a fairly advanced, though antient, as well as complex set of cards that tells the known history of the Wendigo; because no written instructions exist, the oral tradition of transmitting their antient wisdom from Master to Apprentice is still used to this day.
This tarot deck was invented by a Wendigo named Loonchas. He got the recipe from a group of Wendigo who lived in the Arctic around 3000 B.C. when the Loonchas’ ancestors’ migrated from the North to settle there. Apparently Loonchas’ ancestors got sick of being frozen stiff from winter, and so they migrated back North where they met up with some very interesting Wendigo!
The deck consists of 20 Major Arcana, 40 Minor Arcana, and a very unusual 20 Major Arcana of the Ancients or Ancestors (14 of the Arcana of the Ancients are shown, above; the remaining 6 are restricted due to disturbing issues that these images would raise). The Minor Arcana have the Major Arcana cards reversed. The Minor Arcana also have 5 cards at the bottom that are blank and 5 that have the letter “I” repeated until the whole deck is completed. Each card has a story and picture of an ancient Wendigo. There’s also an amazing list of Tarot meanings included for each card to give you the full scope of information about the Wendigo. They also have their very own special type of card. (The Ancients)
Wendi is known to be the spirit of change, and the Wendigo cards are like a history book to learn how to live this change. The meanings given to the cards tell us the things that we can learn from the Wendigo cards that tell us the past. We can learn from the cards. This is what’s known as the lessons of the ancestors.
This deck of cards goes back to the Wendigo that live in the northern mountains, where it’s always cold, and we never see the sun. They live in the shadows, in their own darkness, just like we do. We can learn about them, and in turn help them live more in touch with their natural energies.
The Loonchas made a small mistake in the way they created the cards. If you have a chance, check it out.
