It's common knowledge that the Brothers Grimm were story collectors. But what few know is that the brothers weren't just interested in folk stories and fables. The pair were among the world's most fevered purveyors of magical knowledge. It is rumored that the brothers descended from a long line of midwives and witches on their maternal side, which ignited a flame of curiosity the brothers found impossible to extinguish. That curiosity was focused, more often than not, on the stories, teachings, and lessons of soulcraft. Some called it witchcraft, some called it high Fae art, most wisdom teachers simply referred to the knowledge as the Old Ways. But no matter the name, their pursuit was for a wisdom and self-healing craft unsanctioned by Calvinist and Catholic eighteenth-century Europe.

Relegated to the dark side and viewed as the devil's handiwork, witch wisdom was a closely guarded secret. Magical knowledge was banished at best, burned at worst. Those who did record their teachings did so in private and often kept the tome (known as a grimoire) buried until such time as it was needed. When the brothers' quest unearthed a dusty deck of cards hidden at the bottom of a barren well, they told no one.

Not until many years later, as they collated the numerous stories collected on their journeys, did they realize the cards were connected to the tales. That somewhere, somehow, before their grandmothers' grandmothers walked the earth, the world must have contained great magic. But, like the faeries themselves, the magic had gone underground rather than suffer the starch of scripture and stricture. The stories—and their card counterparts—confirmed that traces of wild magic remained in this world. Some were shared in song and dance. Some rustled softly from branch to leaf among ancient trees and saplings. Some were told as tales by firelight, then captured and bound in cloth and ink. And some, it would seem, were distilled into images and symbols like the ones found on the cards.

Though the brothers never learned to use the cards, they remained fascinated with the symbols contained in them. The cards were clearly connected to the heroes and heroines that appeared over and over again in tales told by the hearth, around dinner tables, in high court, at the edge of night over a pint in the pub. Unlike stories, which have one beginning and only one end, the cards themselves seemed to be characters able to lead multiple lives and tell individual stories depending on the way they were shuffled then laid on the table.

It is believed that the brothers kept the cards close while pursuing their tales, collecting and recording their findings. After the brothers shaped their discoveries into story form, folks began referring to them as faerie stories, or fairy tales, since they brought to mind the ancient race who roamed the earth long before humans. The cards, however, remained unknown and unnamed. There is no record of what happened to the cards after the elder brother died in 1863, but eventually they wound up at a small book auction in southern Germany where my great-grandmother Tilda was attending university, and a smitten professor purchased a relatively obscure version of the brothers' Children's and Household Tales. The story goes that the auction house shipped the book to said smitten professor, who then wrapped the parcel in velvet cloth and gifted it to Tilda. When unwrapped, the box contained both the book and a tiny wooden box of seventy-eight cards. When queried, no one at the auction house could explain what they were nor how they got in the shipment. Tilda kept them.

Today's Grim Tales
While this deck, The Grim Tales Tarot, isn't directly related to any particular tale the brothers released publicly, it contains the characters who populated the once-upon-a-time land where magic was possible, self-healing an innate right, and self-agency assured. Witches were healers and waymakers. Dragons were guides. The devil was your own fear, hiding in your unconscious shadow material. And dreams … dreams were winged, carrying any soul through time and space when one dared to ride.

The Grim Tales Tarot is as close as you can get to the brothers' original cards found at the bottom of a long-lost well. The images, symbols, and environments you will discover within this deck have been married with the traditional tarot format and rendered fresh by my own hand. When used with your intuition, they create one-of-a-kind fairy tales full of magical knowledge, instructing your life in the ways of magic. They have the power to guide your life path as you shape your real-world, real-experience, real-life fairy tale.

The Witch's Broom Tarot Spread
The witch's broom is my own spin on the Celtic cross. It is an eleven-card spread and the most detailed reading I do with my own cards.

1. The present or the psyche in its present predicament:
This first card reveals the current situation and what is now happening. The current state of mind of the querent is represented here and offers a view of who the querent is at the current moment in time.

2. The issue:
This card presents the current challenge. Here is the issue the querent is facing at this time, a situation or quandary needing resolution in order to make forward progress.

3. The past:
Past events are represented in this card, giving context to the current situation. Influences that have colored or given shape to the issue at hand can be found in this card.

4. The future: This card shows the most likely outcome if nothing changes. This position typically reflects short-term happenings rather than any kind of final resolution to the situation.

5. Conscious: This card offers a reflection of where your mind is and what has your conscious focus. This can represent your desired outcomes and your preoccupations, as well as your beliefs, convictions, or assumptions about the situation.

6. Unconscious:
This card reveals what is truly driving this situation. This is the unconscious bias that contains the feelings, the beliefs, and the values that are often hidden but very much influencing the situation.

7. Internal influence:
This card relates to how you see yourself within the current situation. It also reflects how that perception is influencing the situation. This card invites you to look to your beliefs about yourself, others, and the situation because your internal world is directly affecting the situation.

8. External influence:
The world around you and how it affects this situation is held within this card. It may represent the emotional or physical environment you're operating in as well as how others perceive you or your situation. This card invites you to consider the outside circumstances and energies affecting your reality.

9. Hopes and fears:
This is a subtle and beautiful card. The movement from hope to fear can be subtle and many-layered. This card can reveal what you secretly desire as well as what you resist or avoid.

10. Outcome:
This card is meant to summarize the messages of previous cards. The likely outcome, without any intervening action, is what's offered in this card.

11. Next step:
This is an actionable step to take. If the outcome in card 10 is a favorable one, this is the step you want to take toward accomplishing that outcome. If the outcome in card 10 is unfavorable, this is the action to help move you toward change, to find a new direction.

Excerpted from The Grim Tales Tarot.