Imbolc Playing Cards
The Wheel of the Year continues to turn. Looking forward to the light of the coming Spring, the festival of Bridgid (the most important goddess of the Celts) is celebrated as an important symbol of the changing seasons. Imbolc represents this festival.
The ancient peoples of Europe lived not by a calendar of months and days, but by observing and listening to the signals from nature. These civilizations lived and died by the harvests and the changing of the seasons. This deck, as is the entire series, is a tribute and honor to those rituals.
Released alongside the Samhain deck, together they represent the festivals that came at equal distance from the points of Beltane and Lughnasdh, and signalled the beginning and the end of the coldest and harshest times of the year.
After the hard winter months, Imbolc was a time for renewed birth and energy as the snow melted to give way to new life. Snowdrops began to spring up through the melting frost and livestock once again started to produce milk.
The Imbolc deck comes in a luxury tuck made of a muted gray matte paper, finished with green metallic foil accents and an interior foiling. Both the front and back of the tuck also have embossed accents which give it that little extra umph!
The back design of the cards is the same design as the back of the tuck, but the difference is seen in the color. The back of the cards is a deep green, the candles and flowers and other accents are all colored as well. The symmetry and pattern across this card will look really great in different flourishes.
The faces are fully custom from the courts to the pips. Artwork and sketches are strewn about all of the number cards, but the courts themselves are elegant portraits. Some of the courts even have one-way elements to them if you know where to look.
This deck is one of a series that form The Wheel of the Year. This is the relatively modern amalgamation of the seasonal festivals of the Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse peoples, and features eight different festivals that take place roughly twice every season -- most importantly, during solstices and the mid-points between them. Jocu is commemorating these festivals with this deck series.
The deck consists of 56 cards:
- 52 playing cards
- Two non-identical jokers
- Two ad cards
This deck was originally available via a Kickstarter campaign that was fully-funded in 2021.
Where to buy?
Last I checked, you should be able to pick up Imbolc Playing Cards at Jocu Playing Cards. The last price tag I saw for this deck was set at $17.60.