If you really connect with the Animal Kingdom or you’d really like to work with Spirit Animals and Animal Totems then The Ark Animal Tarot and Oracle Deck Special Deluxe Box, which includes a full tarot deck plus 71, yes 71, animal oracle cards is well worth considering. It’s a well thought out and very generous set that can be used in so many ways. The Ark Animal Tarot and Oracle Deck In a collection that includes 149 cards it’s hard to know where to begin. I’ve decided to simplify the process by beginning with the Tarot and then moving on to the Oracle. Yet, as I say that, I realise it isn’t that easy because the Ark Animal Tarot and Oracle Deck really feels like one huge, dynamic deck. The lay-outs are the same except the tarot have their title included and the card backs are identical. If you had hands capable of managing such a gigantic stack, you could combine them and use them as one huge oracle. The owl and the snake are the only two creatures represented twice. However, the imagery is completely different, so neither feels redundant. I guess this highlights just how well these decks work together and I love that they give more animals representation in the process. As pictured above and below there are those animals you’d expect to see appear on an animal-based deck. Maybe not the sloth, although they’ve continued to grow in popularity. My grandkids have sloth onesies and who hasn’t smiled when a smiling sloth image appears on Facebook. I think they’re perfect for the 4 of Swords. They give it a slightly different spin which I like. One of the many strengths of the Ark Animal Tarot and Oracle Deck is the variety of animals included. This very much comes to the fore when incorporating the Oracle cards but throughout I find the correlation between the animals chosen for the tarot cards and their general meaning is on point. I love the Pig for the 10 of Pentacles. I thought of Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web (E. B White’s beautiful book) and the layering of meanings that link generated gave me a much deeper appreciation and understanding of the 10 of Pentacles overall. This is another reason I love working with multiple decks. It increases the associations I make with the cards. The duckling on XIX The Sun is perfect on so many levels too. As generally happens whenever The Sun appears in a reading, it makes me smile. Plus the additional connotations flow effortlessly. We all have various memories and reactions to certain animals that add to our interpretations. Where I live we have many ducks that spend their time around the “pond” located beside the main road so we are blessed to see them with their ducklings each year. They often cross the road and yet I have never seen a casualty. Everyone is aware and stops to appreciate watching Mother Duck crossing the road with her ducklings. For me that thought adds a protective energy to the card and the idea to protect that which is precious to us, (an idea, a dream, a goal), because it will bring us much joy. You may well have a totally different response which is what makes the cards so multi-dimensional. There’s the book meanings and then there’s those we ascribe on top. So many of the animals feel as if they are directly engaging with you. You look at them and they’re look right back at you. There’s a sense of accountability that runs deep when working with these cards. You can’t look away. They almost demand you step up and heed their messages. Each card speaks to you in a clear and deliberate fashion. I have ten other animal-based tarot decks (Animal Totem Tarot, Oriens Animal Tarot, Black Cats Tarot, Crow Tarot, Spiritsong Tarot, to name a few), each with their own approach, and I appreciate them all. The Ark Animal Tarot and Oracle Deck is the only tarot deck I have that presents the animals photographically though. The backgrounds combine photographed landscapes with stylized fantasy elements that add further scope to the readings. I find reading the scene is just as important as reading the animal. The path behind the rooster, the water behind the seal and the rocks he/she is lying on, the fresh green grass and the trees surrounding the pigs, and the sunflowers behind the duckling are all relevant. These cards have a real vibrancy about them. They feel alive and you can’t help but sense that the animals have powerful messages to impart. As such the keywords that appear on both the Tarot and Oracle cards don’t seem overly necessary but they do add another dimension to the cards. I’m not normally a fan of keywords but I don’t find them distracting on this deck. That may be because I’m so drawn to the animals themselves. The Tarot nominations adhere to the RWS system that the deck is based upon. Thus, the suits are Wands, Cups, Swords and Pentacles and the Court consists of Pages, Knights, Queens and Kings. Strength is VIII and Justice is XI. Albeit that numbers aren’t printed on the Major Arcana cards. I find this a tad strange since numerological information is provided in the book. The numbers are listed alongside the card title when you reference the book though. In the 100-card standard edition of this deck there are 22 Oracle cards. Additional packs can be purchased to expand the collection as either individual sets, (Mystery Animals; Moms and Babies; Friends, Family and Lovers; and Prehistoric and Mythical Animals) or as 49-card expansion pack. All are included in the Special Deluxe Addition. There is a suggestion of more to come which I will eagerly add to my collection if it happens. There is much to love about the Oracle deck too. For starters, it’s nice to see Australian animals represented. And, the addition of the Prehistoric and Mythical animals adds another aspect. I believe the Dinosaurs are an important inclusion. None of my other decks to date incorporate them and yet they capture our imaginations and connect us to the past and what was. I feel they also raise many questions that we really should be considering. Plus they remind me of my grandson so they hold a special place in my heart. He may struggle with some words but the dinosaur names roll of his tongue as easily as Mum and Dad and Nan and Pop which acts as a powerful reminder that when we connect with something we love things just flow. As I said earlier, additional meanings are not only possible, they are powerful when we integrate the cards and their messages into our lives rather than separating them. In other words we incorporate own experiences into our interpretations and then in response we incorporate our interpretations into our lived experience. Reading Tarot and Oracle for me is a symbiotic experience. The cards are not just an external resource. Nor do I believe they should be considered that way. Regardless of any belief we may have of complete objectivity, we always bring ourselves to the table, desk, floor or ground when we read. As far as the cards themselves, they are 9 x 14cm and printed on semi-gloss, reasonably thick card stock. I have to admit this makes them a little hard to handle but I wouldn’t change anything about them. They have so much to offer. As well as the amazing artwork that seamlessly integrates the real with the artistic, each card features additional symbols that act as easy reference points. At the top of each card is an elemental association or the Flower of Life to represent the Cosmos or another to signify the Shadow, each of which references Sacred Geometry. I have noticed the inclusion of Sacred Geometry seems to be a theme of my cards of late (Wisdom of the Sacred Bee Oracle and Journey of the Sacred Bee Tarot immediately come to mind) so I really should look into it further. At the bottom of each card, beneath the animal name, the Tarot designation where applicable, and the keywords, are additional symbols. These suggest the influence, (ie Shamanic, Celtic, Asian, Mythological, Australian, Prehistoric), the card suit in terms of cartomancy (ie hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs), as well as Western and Chinese Zodiac symbols where appropriate. Each of which the book expands upon. If you like research then this deck provides a lot of possible pathways for you to explore. I’m quite unsuccessfully trying to limit mine. The Ark Animal Tarot and Oracle Deck Book The creator went above and beyond with the book. It is clear she is very passionate about her subject matter. The Ark Animal Tarot and Oracle Deck book is a 383-page, full-colour, full-sized offering jam-packed with information. It is beautifully presented and offers a lot to get you started. The book is written very much as a resource and as such it has a different voice to many of the books that accompany decks. A lot of research adds to the channelled content without weighing the material down in any way. Rather, the information presented is direct and gets straight to the point so you don’t have to wade through a ton of waffle to find what you’re looking for. It opens with information on how the cards can be used then it provides a key for the symbols incorporated on the cards. This quick reference guide is a great resource to have on hand until you become familiar with the symbols. Next the creators notions of the difference between Spirit, Totem and Power Animals is explained. This is followed by information on cardinal directions. As someone who lives in the Southern Hemisphere, I swap the North and South association, however, like with any information provided with any tarot deck, you can just take what resonates with you and leave the rest. Initially I did that with a lot of the hemisphere-based associations. It’s January as I write this and some states in Australia have just experienced consecutive 40 degree (104 degrees Fahrenheit) days so my Festival Calendar looks very different to those of you reading this in the Northern Hemisphere obviously. Anyhow, back to the book. There’s also information on the elements and numerology included. The card meanings for the Tarot is first. Each card is pictured in full-colour and is headed by its animal name and its Tarot association. An explanation of the card in regards to its tarot meaning is provided first and then there is a second page of information that gives a Spirit meaning. I find this section interesting as it incorporates some of the symbolic associations that can be drawn from the animal as well as references to the various mythological stories the animal has been linked to. Finally there’s a text box that explains how to consider the animal’s message depending upon whether it has appeared as a Spirit, Totem, or Power Animal. The Oracle section is the same except obviously the related tarot association isn’t present. The book ends with an Additional Information section that provides a QR Code and website link to free tarot classes and introduces the deck’s creators. I always enjoy reading about the creators. Spreads There is only one spread included in the book: Father Sky Mother Earth Signature Spread (10 cards) For some reason the chapter is headed Mother Sky and Father Earth Signature Spread but I think that is an editing mishap since every other reference is Father Sky Mother Earth as you would expect. To be honest I wasn’t a fan of the spread because it didn’t come naturally to me to interpret it. Maybe because I was also flipping things around to account for my location. I’m not sure. But, I like the premise so maybe I will try and work with it a bit more to...