Tarot: Oak, Ash and Thorn Deck

[chomiji]

I backed this on Kickstarter after a friend pitched it online. She is a very serious practicing witch, and so even though the idea of a woodland animals Tarot sounds twee, I took a look. And was captured by the beautiful images, as I imagine she was.

The cards are printed on heavy, sturdy stock. I always forget that my hands are fairly small, but this deck reminded me. I had to use a variety of methods to shuffle them initially and well, because they wouldn't riffle for me at first. They come in a strong brown Kraft cardboard box with a lovely ochre "belly band" stamped with flowering herbs and a mandala composed of the four creatures used in the minor suits. As part of the Kickstarter backing package I also got a hand-dyed rough silk reading cloth, but frankly, it's a little too earthy for me: it looks like I should be throwing it into the wash ASAP. I don't think I will be using it (in these pictures, I'm using a clean cotton table napkin).

The images themselves are endearing but with a constant edge of wildness, particularly in the images of predators. The wands are foxes, the swords crows, the pentacles hares, and the cups squirrels. The Major Arcana covers the gamut from owls (the Hierophant) to badgers (Strength). The Tower is a lightning-struck old tree, the Emperor a stag with a magnificent rack of antlers.

Deck with my hand for scale.

Deck and open box

Inspired by yhlee's tarot blogging, I did the Interview Spread to get to know the deck. The various documentation materials I found online for the spread said you could lay the six cards out however you liked. I did a circle, starting from the top center and running clockwise:

First things I noticed: lots of reversals, and lots of swords. Now, this could simply be that I didn't get the cards well shuffled - it's a new deck. On the other hand, I did turn sections/groups of cards head-to-tail as I "washed" them (spread them out on the table and stirred them around, like shuffling Mahjong tiles), then manually divided them and rearranged the piles one atop the other, then finally managed to get some good riffling in as they loosened up.

Biddy Tarot, which I use for everything but Thoth-only interpretations (my beloved Urban Tarot is actually a Thoth-inspired deck), suggests that one way to read a spread with lots of reversals is to assume that most of the processes involve internal rather than external energy. (Her alternate suggestion is that you could assume that blocked energy is involved.). This seemed a reasonable interpretation for using a new Tarot deck. A possible reading for lots of swords is that the reading mostly involves mental processes - also reasonable for this particular reading.

Card 1: Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic? Three of Swords reversed — Permitting release of blockages, allowing one to move on

Card 2: What are your strengths as a deck? Two of Swords — Making a choice.

Card 3: What are your limits as a deck? The Chariot reversed — So this is *also* about making choices! Specifically, about getting stuck. Maybe this is a reminder that it's just a Tarot deck - it can't actually make up my mind for me!

Card 4: What are you here to teach me? Page of Wands reversed — Don't act impulsively - research before you leap.

Card 5: How can I best learn and collaborate with you? 6 of Swords reversed — Be patient and deal with your problems

Card 6: What is the potential outcome of our working relationship? Queen of Swords — Being frank, confident, clear-headed.

Comments

[ambyr]

Oh, those are really nice! I'm waiting for this one myself.

[chomiji]

Wow, that's a stunner! And what a lot of money was raised for it.

I think I'd have a hard time using the cards, though. For me, the meanings would be very abstract in relation to the images.

Urban Tarot was also a Kickstarter - my first Kickstarter, in fact.

[lauand]

A straight-forward, honest relationship with your Tarot deck does sound like good advice. Nice interview.

I love the design, it's really beautiful! I've always wanted to draw a Tarot deck but I never get to it, dammit!