Animals in Tarot Decks?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 20 May 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

falconwing	20 May 2003
Hi fellow-addicts ;-)), as an animal-lover I was wondering whether there are decks out there, which feature a lot of animals or in which they play an extraordinary role....?? The ones coming in to my mind are: - of course, Ted Andrews "Animal Wise Tarot" - Bird Oracle - Tarot of Australian Animals - Wild Spirit - Cat Tarot - Crow's magick Tarot - Shamanic wisdom Tarot - .... These are the more obvious decks....but there MUST BE more *greedy-grin-from-my-side..... On tarotgarden.com e.f. I found the "Lords of the Animals" Deck...does anyone own it and can tell me about it? It looks a bit "too funny" on first sight..but maybe I am wrong. Best, Falconwing

rostie	20 May 2003
not tarot: there is also the druid animal oracle, wich i find very good!!! http://www.aeclectic.net/druidanimal/ http://www.wicce.com/druidpix.html http://www.learntarot.com/dddesc.htm

falconwing	20 May 2003
oh yes, rostie, I have forgotten to name it!!!! Thanks! And - speaking of non-tarot-cards - I have also not mentioned the "Medicine Cards". Falconwing

darwinia	20 May 2003
I don't have it, but someone was telling me there are quite a few animals in the cards of the Gendron Tarot.

Freespirit	20 May 2003
Hi Falconwing. In Legend, the Arthurian Tarot, the Pages are all presented as animals. So although there are only four of them, they have quite a unique role in the deck. As the pages are messengers, I rather like this use of animal totems. Someone already mentioned the Jamie Sams medicine cards - I sometimes include one of these as a guide, at the end of a reading, to provide 'medicine' to the querent on the next stage of their path.

baba-prague	20 May 2003
I hope this doesn't sound like self-promotion or something - it isn't meant to be :-) but our deck The Tarot of Prague features quite a lot of animals: a cat (Puss in Boots) several lions and one lioness (grinning!) four dogs (in The Fool and The Moon - naturally but also one in the Ten of Pentacles and one in the Page of Pentacles) several horses, one upside down (come to think of it, every tarot has several horses) a strange beast that we THINK is a monkey a stork a kingfisher an elephant (I almost got two elephants in, but restraint prevailed) the usual oxen, eagles etc (but one of our oxen is - on purpose - a cow in disguise ;-) ) a seagull (a prize for whoever spots it though) two "special" eagles (The Chariot) a ram a sheep (but these two are on separate cards) numerous fish (I think there is nothing surprising in that) a dragon (is a dragon an animal? I suppose so?) a dove a stag a Phoenix (rising from the ashes of course) a flock of something - Seven of Pentacles, we cannot work out what these are. Our best guess is some sort of strange "goatsheep" and some others I think... But sorry Hudsongray - no ferrets! Goodness - this is actually a revelation to me. I had no idea there was quite this much of a menagerie until I typed all this, so thanks for this thread. I've learned something about our own deck :-) Alex and I both decided at the outset that we wanted to include animals but I hadn't realised that so many of our cards feature them. oh - and I should say that we have had feline help throughout the design process (nothing helps like having your sketches chewed or slept on LOL!). Our cat comes to our studio every day with us and we couldn't manage without her (well, that's what we tell her anyway). Karen

falconwing	20 May 2003
Hi Karen, *LOL - yes, it's really amazing: if one takes a close look around, one finds animals in almost every deck; it's funny... Hey, but you mentioned a kingfisher - what a great bird!! On which card?? Thanks for your contribution, Falconwing

Woof	20 May 2003
By Robert Place has many animals. In fact, all of the kings are represented by animals. A great deck. I like the dogs on the moon card. Woof

baba-prague	20 May 2003
Hi, Yes, it's true, I think many decks feature far more animals than you'd think. Our kingfisher is on the Nine of Pentacles. The kingfisher was the medieval symbol of the baths here in Prague - and the baths were all about luxury, sophistication and comfort, so symbolically it fits pretty well. The actual bird we used is a carving on the Charles Bridge "Old Town" Tower (it isn't all that accurate as a portrayal of a kingfisher. but it's very delicately done.) It was put there in memory of one of the Bohemian kings who spent a lot of time at the baths (strange but true :-) ) Oh - this has made me remember - the same card also has bees on it - as does our Nine of Wands. BTW, I also remembered that we have at least two serpents and a bear also in there! (goodness knows what I'll remember next LOL) I hope other people respond to this thread by listing some of the animals on other decks, because I think it really is an eye-opener when you actually look for them. Best wishes in your searches... Karen

Marie	20 May 2003
Hi:) Karen you mention the revealation of listing the animals that appeared in your deck, I totally understand as I did that a while ago with my deck and felt the same way!! I have also sat down and made a list of all the animals I would LIKE to include somewhere in the deck but I have found it makes no difference, the deck seems to have it's own agenda And some animals are just more 'out there', more likely to have lots of symbolism bestowed upon them and more likely to appear in tarot art such as lions, tigers, elephants, hawks, eagles, crows and ravens (!!!!!!!!!!), bulls, butterflies, snakes and probably several more I am just not thinking of off the top of my head. Do you think these are animals that have had the greatest impact on humans and therefore pop up more readily in our symbolism? Such as what we eat to survive: bulls, what we need to watch out for or it might kill us: snakes, lions, tigers, and what reminds us of ourselves: wolves, coyotes, crows, ravens, elephants. Extreme beauty: butterflies, and manyo f the others. Epitome of good health and strength: bulls again, wolves, the big cats, the predatory birds. You could probably make lots of lists like this! I know there are a couple of major animals I would like to get into my cards and I am hoping!!!!! I want still, at the very least: Bear Orca (!!! What an awesome symbol!! Especially when I think of the art of the Pacific Northwest) Coyote Vulture, it's already there in the Moon card but I feel like it should appear again, more clearly Snow leopard clouded leopard cheetah elephant I thought Bear might come up in one of the Kings, but so far it's not, yet Marie

galadrial	20 May 2003
The Swedish Witch Tarot has a LOT of animals, both realistic and fantasy. I don't read the language, but I find the deck very easy to use nonetheless, and Jema has a thread (keywords swedish witch tarot) where she has translated the keywords into english. You can order it from Saxo.com even if you don't know the language if you order a lot off the net and are used to the typical shopping cart format (I did, and got it fairly quickly too- though watch out for the postage, my total in U.S. dollars was $40.56). Also, due out later this year is the Animal Lords Tarot by Lo Scarabeo, which I've been anticipating for some time. You can see it at www.tarotpassages.com/LSpreview1.htm , (though sometimes I can get that link to work and sometimes not:-( BTW, Karen was kind enough to send me a Big pic of the 9 of Pentacles (thanks!) and I was wondering what kind of bird that was- now I don't have to wait to read the book to know! She also sent the Knight of Swords, who is on a very cool (or is that hot?) red horse.

baba-prague	20 May 2003
Well, I was intending to reply to you on the kingfisher but I'm glad you saw this! The horse is originally one of the horses of Mars (we loved his expression - and the fact that in a way he is a little like a unicorn - but symbolically the absolute inverse). Thanks for the link to the Animal Lords deck - puffins AND mandarin ducks, I sort of like it. When I was a child I had a real obsession with the mandarin ducks in our park, I couldn't believe that they looked so sort of "painted" - extremely exotic in Ireland! I'll look forward to seeing this one when it's published. Oh - our deck also has a parrot (okay, okay, I will stop there, it's getting ridiculous and I can imagine Diana looking to the heavens LOL)

scorpio	20 May 2003
i'm a big sucker for animals in tarot, sometimes i think it would be cheaper just to go to the library and get animal picture books lol. i have a black cat who is 'featured' in the halloween and a gray striped cat who thinks he is #1 so i had to find a deck with him in it and i did, the good witch cards that have a grey striped cat along with the cutest little owls, bats, snakes, squirrel, crow, lizard, spider (even he is cute). the merryday tarot also is replete with animals, my favorite is the hawk in the 9 of pentacles but there are ostriches, zebras, elephants, snails, dragons, unicorns, horses, a fawn, leopard, bunny, dragonfly, white fox, and i could go on. i also love the all animal court cards in the greenwood that i seem to especially draw the water ones (normally the swords in other decks) the page is the kingfisher and the king is the reindeer that the book describes that they drink in the autumn toxic red fungi and seem drunk, and that shamans would drink purified urine for its hallucinatory properties but the picture really makes me feel the water in the card.

falconwing	20 May 2003
Oh Scorpio, so you also belong to those happy few who are in the possession of a Greenwood Deck....I am really dying to get one but I just don't succeed *that-sucks...;-(((( What are these cards..."good witch cards"....I have never seen them, I think, but the collection of animals sounds really cool!! Karen, I am afraid I also have to have the Tarot of Prague...with all those animals you are coming up with and they get more and more *LOL Marie, you are right, mostly we find the same animals around the decks...and yes it seems, man chooses those animals which are somehow linked to mankind or have some special meaning like power, clairvoyance, cunning.... Maybe we should create our own animal-deck to give those poor creatures a chance, who are just not represented yet......such a pity I am a real bad artist...*hmpf I read in another thread that the Dürer-Tarot also has a lot of animals in the Minors? Falconwing

tabbycat	21 May 2003
I seem to keep posting about this deck but you'll all have to forgive me as it is my latest acquisition and I'm still head-over-heels in love with it - there are a lot of animals in the Brian Williams Minchiate tarot. In the minors there are unicorns, flying monkeys and even a porcupine, and there's a lovely smiling dog on the Air card. I especially like the Knights, as they're all half-human centaur-like figures. There's a very nice tabby cat in the Norse tarot - it's with Freya, but I forget if she's on the High Priestess or Empress card. The Beasts of Albion is a nice oracle set with a great assortment of creatures. Jilly

WolfSpirit	21 May 2003
I like this thread, can't believe I haven't seen it before. So many decks have already been mentioned - but I would like to add the Australian Animal Tarot, and the Vision Quest is not just animals but has a lot of animals in it. Not-tarot, but animal-lovers might like this review of animal oracle decks: www.tarotpassages.com/animaloracles.htm Then there is also the wolf pack tarot, which is not tarot but oracle (confusing name) at www.wolfpacktarot.com There is also an oracle called Wolf Song Cards, which is not just wolves but other American animals as well. O yes, and the shapeshifter tarot has lots of animals in it (some of them half human ;) ) And the Merlin tarot has animals on all the minors, don't like the minors in this deck though.

baba-prague	21 May 2003
"I seem to keep posting about this deck but you'll all have to forgive me as it is my latest acquisition and I'm still head-over-heels in love with it - there are a lot of animals in the Brian Williams Minchiate tarot. " Ah - someone else has this deck. I got it in a trade and I really like it - the book is great too. This might be getting too off-thread (if so apologies to everyone) but have you tried reading with it? I haven't had a chance yet, but I just wonder how it works? Also - isn't the porcupine fantastic? (we have a running joke here that I keep trying to get a hedgehog into our cards - it is one of the first words I learnt to say in Russian - however, I failed - I'm glad Brian Williams succeeded!) Karen

scorpio	21 May 2003
falconwing, i saw one website that had the greenwood listed (of course that doesnt mean its current) but you could try dreaming goddess.com it says to email to order, good luck with your search. the good/bad witch cards are by gillian kemp and i havent seen any pics online, but cover of box kinda reflects style of cards at amazon. wolfspirit, i have the wolfsong cards and never saw anybody talk about them but got an amazing reading with the wolf song spread (i added a significator) and out of five cards i got three of the four owls available in the deck. i love the colours, but the eyes are a little off on the wolves. my fav animal oracle is the animal wise, when i dont feel like reading intuitively for myself, ted andrews book with this deck answers all my questions and i love the animals selected to represent tarot (the dolphin is such a perfect empress). ted andrews is supposed to appear at a local bookstore in october and im very excited and hope to get my stuff signed!

falconwing	21 May 2003
Thank you, Scorpio, I will check out the bookshop you have mentioned. You said, there are four owls in the WolfSongDeck? Well, that's interesting (I am an owl-lover)...what other animals besides wolves and owls are part of the deck? I also use Ted Andrew's "Animal Wise" a lot...almost on a day-to-day basis, e.f. when I draw a single card for the day; it's so damn accurate!! I love the way Ted explains the meaning of the animals and the way he connects it with the original Tarot-symbolism. Awesome deck! Thanks also to WolfSpirit...I had never heard of the "Beasts of Albinion" before....so another item to add to my wishlist *grin Falconwing

WolfSpirit	21 May 2003
scorpio - I hope you will be able to meet Ted Andrews, I love the animal wise very much too and I also has his book Animal Speak which elaborates more on the spirit of animals, if you like the book with the animal wise you will love this book too. falconwing - other animals in the Wolf Song are 4 types of wolves, 4 types of foxes, and hawks, eagles, raccoon, beaver, buffalo but also mouse...altogehter 62 cards. I don't use it very often but when I used it I got good readings with it. There is a book with it which explains the animals well. Should delve into this deck more...

AmounrA	21 May 2003
Its good fun this counting animals in decks, I wish I had done it before. Amun Re tarot so far has- Crocodile, Tigers, Vulture, Butterfly, Rams, Pelican, Bumble Bees, Pigeon, Sparrow, Owl, Goats, Dove, Lions, Leopard, Crayfish, Wolves, Snakes, Great White Shark, Scorpion, ‘Various Fish’, Crab, Bulls, Eagles, Hawks, Scarab Beetle, Dolphins….and of course Humans. (If Dragons and a Phoenix count, add them:-) Elephants & Whales will feature soon. :-)

scorpio	22 May 2003
WolfSpirit as much metaphysical stuff i read, it was kinda funny how i came across animal speak. i came home from work and my sister-in-law said there's a peacock walking around! and i was like no way. so the next day sure nuff there was some kind of funky chicken walking in my nieghbors yard. i gave it some hamster food and called a bird society and some other people but really couldnt figure out what it was. so i looked for some books at the library and came across ted andrews book and mystery solved there was a pheasant hangin out. he disappeared after a couple of days and i missed him after all the excitement. AmournA and baba-prauge should stop tempting us till we can actually get their decks! im trying not to obsess!

falconwing	22 May 2003
YES..Scorpio you are soooooo damn right!!!! All these guys tempting us with their yet unavailable decks...I feel like one of those "Pavlov's dogs", with saliva running, cause I hear of all those marvellous animals in those awesome decks...*aaarrgghh... the AmounRa will take soooo much more time until we can get it...can't you work a bit faster *heyhey Falconwing (Scorpio aszendent *grin)

baba-prague	22 May 2003
Okay, so I now definitely want an Amun Re when it's finished! A great white shark? Where? I'll go and look... it sounds fabulous. The good news (she said touching wood) on our deck is that it will be published in June, bad news is that it looks more and more like towards the end of June. It's sort of our own fault, we want the cards packed in a "hard-back book" style of cover, with ribbon ties. We've seen this done on Italian decks, and it can be beautiful and functional too - we hope we can have it done to even higher quality here (well, we will know Monday when we see a full "macquette" of how it will be). Of course, the printer and bookbinder keep saying that as this is mostly hand-work they can't rush it. Which I suppose is true. Meantime we keep "tweaking" the cards, although they are really finished now (and I still didn't get that hedgehog in - I'm determined to feature him in the book though - he is, after all, a renaissance hedgehog!) By the way, to keep this thread going I'd love to hear of any other "animal counts" in decks - it is quite a revelation and I love it. Karen

WolfSpirit	22 May 2003
I don't know if you know the Animal tarot: www.tarotpassages.com/animalpg.htm I believe it is privately published and very expensive, but people who fear the tower and death card will like this one :D There is a lot of humour in this deck and it is very original. Anne Franklin, one of the artists of the Sacred Circle, has also published an animal oracle deck, I think it is all animals native to England, I only saw the hare and I find that beatiful (*sigh* another one...) The Sacred Circle tarot has a lot of animals in it as well: badger in the Strength card, the Shaman (hermit) is accompanied by a wolf, the high priestess a swan, the empress a hare (symbol of fertility), the Underworld (devil) has a pig and a dragon, temperance has a woodpecker (symbol of rebirth), the moon has bats, the druid has a wren and a robin, the web (justice) has a big spider. There is some renaming of the cards which may sound confusing here, but the animal symbolism is well explained in the book. Now I am going to check out the other decks mentioned in this thread that I have not seen yet :)

SherryZoned	22 May 2003
Wheel of Change Durer are the two that I can think of that have not been mentioned. That i actually own.

scorpio	22 May 2003
baba-prague there is great white shark in the australian animal tarot that is impressive, you can see the card at the authors site. and somebody beat you to the punch, there is a little hedgehog in the grandfather of pipes card in the healing earth tarot. this deck has my favorite card ever, a two of wands that shows 'an aborigine couple who have made a fire together, and a kangaroo spirit flies above the aboriginal people adding the power of abundance to the event'.

WolfSpirit	23 May 2003
there is a family of hedgehogs in the 10 of wands of the Swedish witch tarot, they are running away from a blazing fire.

All Is One	23 May 2003
Had to post a small mention of a deck my sister gave me and the one that started me back upon a reunion Path, in 1996. The Merlin Tarot. Not heard much of here - it is OOP. not illustrated for pips...and I will confess that, between you and I, I would never have bought it...but since I was gifted with it, it reunited my Self with Tarot. The plain pips made me work harder. I learned. I did more and better readings than ever before. And the book (s) are simply amazing. I can't describe this deck well and the pictures will not convince you . (Good... I will keep it for me) BUT: that has not a thing to do with it's absolute dead on grasp of animal nature in regard to tarot. only real pagan deck I have used, and none of the "animal" tarots agree with me in the least. No link I know of...and - as I said - oop. Anybody out there with knowledge of the Merlin?

WolfSpirit	23 May 2003
I have the Merlin tarot, but I could never work with those pip cards. I think the majors and the court cards are beuatiful, it is almost as if the artist ran out of time and thought: o, have to hurry on those pips, just draw a few fish and that's it... I tried to combine the majors with minors from other decks and I tried to revive them by drawing and writing on them... I have kept them to one day put scans from other decks over them so I can use this deck for once *LOL*. I bought it very cheap at ebay, all I had seen of the deck were the majors and I was really disappointed at the minors. Maybe I should get the book too, there is some renaming and renumbering of the majors. If noone likes this deck the book may be cheap somewhere ;)

All Is One	23 May 2003
No! Don't say a word. I want to keep it (like the M Tarot and a few others) all for me. If no one likes it, all the better, of course... still~ I do so love the consistent use of animals throughout the Merlin deck (Cat lovers ~ see the Q of Serpents) ~a (rushes off to eBay to snatch up oop Merlin decks)

falconwing	23 May 2003
I do own a Merlin deck, too. And with me it's just the same - the pips are confusing and boring...in spite of the use of animals. I was really disappointed when I saw them for the first time. At present I can't imagine to work with the minors...but maybe I should give it a try. I have the set (deck plus book). I really can't understand why and how somebody creates such awesome Majors and Courts and leaves the Minors like that *grumble. WolfSpirit: thanks for the link of the "Animal Tarot" - in fact I didn't know this one and it has a lot of funny motifs, true. Somebody mentioned the "Swedish Witches Tarot" before and named an online-shop where to purchase it from; I tried that one, but I can't find the deck there. Any suggestions? Today I received the "Celtic Book of Dead" by Caitlin Matthews, it also has about 30 illustrated cards with it. Folks, a lot of animals in there!!! Eagles, falcons, seagulls, puffins, a parrot, owl, horses, all sorts of fish (esp. salmons)...but sorry, Karen, no hedgehog around *g. Falconwing

WolfSpirit	23 May 2003
Falconwing, the ISBN for the swedish witch is 9170549478. That worked for me. There is also an earlier thread for this deck: www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11525&highlight=swedish+witch+tarot That also gives a link that shows a few cards of the deck so you can see if you like it. I think it is cute and it works well for me, I use it for daily readings.

falconwing	23 May 2003
WolfsSpirit...you are a tempter *grin....I found the pics of the deck and yes (unfortunetely) they are really cute....so what did I do...yes, of course I ordered the deck and I don't have a clue what those swedish krones are in Euro...I am really afraid, the postage seemed thrice as much as the deck itself *gulp...but I HAD to have it.... Being on AT is leading straight to empty pockets (well, in fact pockets empty of money, but full of tarot-sets ;-))) The swedish language reads really funny...I even understand quite a lot...there are some common word-roots in German. Falconwing, a bit mad on herself for being so greedy ;-((

Hedera	23 May 2003
Falconwing, the total for me was about 35 euros (I live in the Netherlands). I think the postage to Germany would be similar. Not really cheap, but well worth it! :) It's been my main deck (daily 3-card draws) since I received it. Somehow, in spite of all the whimsicalness (I'm pretty sure that's not a word!) it feels really deep. The only thing is I feel a little posessive of it, somehow. I'm not sure why, but I don't like the idea of using it for others. Oh well. Plenty of decks I feel less 'intimate' with!

falconwing	23 May 2003
Hi Hedera, yes, I also checked "the Krones vs. Euro" via Yahoo and it should be around the price you have mentioned....I was afraid it was much more though....*sigh It's funny, you mention this term "whimsical"...I don't like that either, these fluffy-bunny-stylish decks, I mean...but I have to admit my MerryDay (which is my favourite at the moment) is also a bit "light" ahem..too light *g..maybe I am getting old and sentimental*LOL. (but there is also a Templar Deck on its way and this one should be a bit "darker").... How long did it take until you got the deck? I have never ordered anything in Sweden so far.... Falconwing

Hedera	23 May 2003
It took about 1 1/2 weeks, I think. LOL, in a weird way, I think the Templar could be considered quite whimsical.... But then again, skulls etc don't necessarily mean 'dark' to me, I am very fond of those 'happy skeletons' you can find in Mexico. I mean, skulls always smile, don't they? ;)

falconwing	23 May 2003
*ughh...templar whimsical? *ooops....I hoped that this one was a bit of darker flavour...not because of the skeletons but the angels with broken wings and so on...well, let's see, it should arrive these days.... Falconwing

Hedera	23 May 2003
Falconwing, I was just kidding, really.... ;) I do think the Templar would be considered a rather dark deck by most people. I just seem to get an enormous sense of *struggle* when I look at the pictures, a lot of the people / angels have a rather tortured look on their faces. I do like it, though, I like the colours and all the winged and horned people in it. BTW, maybe not the most obvious deck, but I've always felt the Phantsmagoric Theatre tarot is quite dark, in a Nightmare Before Chrismas-kind of way. I don't really work with it, but I know some people who use it a lot!

falconwing	23 May 2003
Hedera wrote: "BTW, maybe not the most obvious deck, but I've always felt the Phantsmagoric Theatre tarot is quite dark, in a Nightmare Before Chrismas-kind of way." That sounds really funny...I would never have thought about this deck in the context of "dark-flavoured" tarots.... Hey, maybe we should open a new thread on this...its quite interesting but "off-topic" concerning the "animal-stuff"...I'll do it right away... Falconwing

WolfSpirit	23 May 2003
Quote: Originally posted by falconwing WolfsSpirit...you are a tempter *grin....I found the pics of the deck and yes (unfortunetely) they are really cute....so what did I do...yes, of course I ordered the deck and I don't have a clue what those swedish krones are in Euro...I am really afraid, the postage seemed thrice as much as the deck itself *gulp...but I HAD to have it.... Ha, that is taroholism for you }) But don't worry, I think you will really like the deck and find it very useable. Yes, I was also in shock at the shipping costs - maybe Sweden is further away than we realize.

WolfSpirit	25 May 2003
Has anyone mentioned the Pet owner's tarot yet :D ? There are a few cards here at AT, I don't think it is for sale... But I just love that pig in the mud.

falconwing	25 May 2003
Wolfspirit: yes, I have browsed this one too...it's funny, but as you have already mentioned nor for sale (what a luck, hey ;)) Yesterday I browsed Alidastore.com and they offer an italian Animal Deck (Tarocci di animali)....well, the scans don't look that tempting and neither does the price - anyhow, does anybody here own the deck? Falconwing

WolfSpirit	03 Feb 2005
*blowing the dust bunnies and cobwebs of this old thread* I enjoyed this thread long long time ago...and now that there are so many new animal decks since this thread, I decided to make a bit of an update. Decks not mentioned yet in this thread: Baroque Bohemian Cats' Ferret Chat du Marseille Tarot du Chat Crow's Magick (not new but just got overlooked) Medieval Cats Dolphin Daze Deck Decks that are not purely animals, but have a lot of them: Greenwood Golden Tarot Sacred Circle DruidCraft If you know more, please add :)

Cerulean	03 Feb 2005
Aces are all animals and many animals in the New Forest setting, as well as otherworldly folk. The beautiful, out of print Ukiyoe (but still available through abebooks.com and some store shelves) has animals and landscapes (especially lots of Asian-style birds) and the Hallowquest Arthurian Tarot has animals and landscapes--two I like to revisit. But for my own readings, I'm coming across some fun animal-as-Asian-motifs in the Royal Thai--the Lady Riding the Tiger in Strength was that pivot card...that and an intro price of twelve dollars...it goes along very well with my introduction to Buddhist art book.... Roots of Asia probably was a good introductory deck to Asian animals and Buddhist style concepts, but I actually work better with the art and format of the Royal Thai right now. Regards, Cerulean

FantasyWorld	03 Feb 2005
falconwing wrote: Hi fellow-addicts ;-)), as an animal-lover I was wondering whether there are decks out there, which feature a lot of animals or in which they play an extraordinary role....?? The ones coming in to my mind are: - Bird Oracle Best Falconwing What is the Bird Oracle? This sounds interesting but I googled it and didn't see it .

souljourney	03 Feb 2005
Animals are in a lot of the cards in the Gilded Tarot. They aren't really the major character in any card...humans are, but quite a few cards have animals in them...I would say at least half. I don't know much about the animal symbolism but I want to learn more about it. I've considered some of the tarot decks/oracles with animals, but I've got so much else going on right now I don't think I could add one more thing. I've always had a huge affinity for cats. Not just domesticated, but Big cats...more like leopards, jaguars, cougars... I wonder what that means? I have found I don't like many of the decks where the animals are dressed up as people...like in the Animal Lords deck. It's cute but not me. Well thats my 2 cents. SJ

WolfSpirit	04 Feb 2005
FantasyWorld wrote: What is the Bird Oracle? This sounds interesting but I googled it and didn't see it . It has been a long time since falconwing was at Aeclectic. As she is from Germany, I think she may have meant a German deck called Vogelorakel (which translates as Bird Oracle): http://www.tarotwelten.de/vogel.htm And while I was in the bookshop, I noticed a Dutch deck+book oracle set called Vogelkaarten. You can see a few cards here: http://www.inspiratie.info/assets/s2dmain.html?http://www.inspiratie.info/ I don't know of an English bird deck.

FantasyWorld	07 Feb 2005
WolfSpirit wrote: It has been a long time since falconwing was at Aeclectic. As she is from Germany, I think she may have meant a German deck called Vogelorakel (which translates as Bird Oracle): http://www.tarotwelten.de/vogel.htm And while I was in the bookshop, I noticed a Dutch deck+book oracle set called Vogelkaarten. You can see a few cards here: http://www.inspiratie.info/assets/s2dmain.html?http://www.inspiratie.info/ I don't know of an English bird deck. I like the 1st one:) Thanks for the links WolfSpirit!!!

The Animals in Tarot Decks? thread was originally posted on 20 May 2003 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.