The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals observed by the Pagans. These festivals are celebrated by observing natural signs. Jocu Playing Cards has picked this theme for a series of playing cards; which started in 2021. After two years of hiatus, the Wheel of the Year is back with Yule and Ostara Playing Cards.
The Wheel of the Year explores the eight festivals that go around in a cycle, thus this playing cards series will have eight decks in total. So far, there are four decks already finished: Beltane – Lughnasadh – Samhain – Imbolc. The remaining four: Yule – Ostara – Litha – Mabon, will be done within this year.
Collecting all of these decks will complete an image aligned with the sides of the decks. This series is proudly in collaboration with artist Zhade Evgenia.
Yule and Ostara explore the folklore of the ancient European civilizations Anglo Saxon. Yule explores some of the traditional origins of modern Christmas, while Ostara explores most of the traditions of modern Easter.
The Aces and Courts illustrations for both editions are different, with each set exploring the mythology and several aspects of the holidays. The tuck box design is similar to other decks in the series – creating one single design, with differences only in the colors, symbols, interior pattern, and foils.
Both decks featured a very thin white border, allowing the detailed artworks to showcase at full potential. In Yule, the back design features a circular wreath wheel wrapped with purple ribbons. There are a pair of antlers poking out and there are evergreen leaves surrounding it.
In Ostara, the back design features a natural wreath made of purple flowers. In the center is an array of colorful eggs. There are yellow flowers around the corners, and you can spot butterflies and caterpillars on the artwork – signifying springtime.
The Aces featured detailed illustrations of enlarged pips containing references to rituals and celebrations of respective festivals, including some that are adapted to modern holidays. The pair of Jokers for each edition represents the lighter side of the festivals – such as in Ostara, the Jokers are shown to hold a rabbit and a basket of eggs.
The courts are representing characters related to the myth and folklore of each festival – you can learn more about them in the companion booklets available as add-ons. Some of the number cards of the deck will have small symbols to correspond with the Lenormand divination system.
Pledge starts from $15 for a single deck between Yule or Ostara or $28 for both decks on Kickstarter. The cards will be produced by Cartamundi, and tuck cases by Boschiero and Newton.
