Animal decks: what have I missed? what's new?

[dust]

I've wanted some nice animal decks for ages but after taking a long break from checking forums or looking at new deck releases, I feel like I'm very out of the loop! I could use some suggestions and advice.

 

I've been looking at the Tarot of Pagan Cats again, because I've wanted it for years. In my thread about it, I ended up realising that I strongly prefer the older, bordered version and it might be a while until I can find it. I was thinking about it and if I were to pay a larger sum for an used copy of the old version, I might as well look at other decks I might like better (just in case).

 

I asked in the enabling/de-enabling threads about the Anima Mundi, Anieth Nature, and the Oak, Ash, & Thorn Tarot but I'm curious, what else is out there right now?

 

A big dealbreaker for me when I looked at animal decks in the past is that a lot of them either seem explicitly associated with specific spiritual/religious paths (symbolism is great, but I'm not a fan of too "on-the-nose" decks about specific paths) or they seem a bit too "woo" for me. I just want some nice, down-to-Earth animals. There are so many new decks these days that I'd love to catch up and hear about new or upcoming releases people like.

 

So, tell me: any decks you suggest I look into?

 

Thank you 🙂

 

[katrinka]

This lady had several animal decks. I have the Wise Dog, and it isn't mired down in religion:
https://www.mjcullinane.com/
(Her non-animal Roar deck looks interesting, too, but that's the most unflattering portrait of Frida I've ever seen. 😬)

The best, most incisive and entertaining animal Tarot is, of course, Baba's Fantastic Menagerie - but alas, it's sold out. They're working on a new edition of the Baroque Bohemian Cats, though. And they're completely redoing it! You can see their progress in the video here:

https://baba-store.com/collections/bohemian-cats

 

 

[cosita]

There's the Brady Tarot which is beautiful and is just animals (no religion stuff, etc.): https://bradytarot.com/

 

There's also the Heartspun Tarot which is RWS with animals, a very sweet deck. The shop is on a short break right now, though, but it looks like the deck is still available. https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/898511907/the-heartspun-tarot?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

[dust]

23 hours ago, katrinka said:

This lady had several animal decks. I have the Wise Dog, and it isn't mired down in religion:
https://www.mjcullinane.com/
(Her non-animal Roar deck looks interesting, too, but that's the most unflattering portrait of Frida I've ever seen. 😬)

The best, most incisive and entertaining animal Tarot is, of course, Baba's Fantastic Menagerie - but alas, it's sold out. They're working on a new edition of the Baroque Bohemian Cats, though. And they're completely redoing it! You can see their progress in the video here:

https://baba-store.com/collections/bohemian-cats

 

 

 

Thank you for this! The Wise Dog looks really nice. I'm not usally a fan of this kind of deck look but really like this one.

 

I knew the Baroque Bohemian Cats but had no idea they were redoing it! I'm curious to see how it turns out and compares to the older version.

 

18 minutes ago, cosita said:

There's the Brady Tarot which is beautiful and is just animals (no religion stuff, etc.): https://bradytarot.com/

 

There's also the Heartspun Tarot which is RWS with animals, a very sweet deck. The shop is on a short break right now, though, but it looks like the deck is still available. https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/898511907/the-heartspun-tarot?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

 Thank you! I've seen the Brady and it's one of the decks I'm considering. Glad to know there's no religion stuff!

 

The Heartspun looks so good, I hadn't seen before. Do you know how much it usually sells for? I'm going to follow for updates, hopefully they'll be back soon-ish.

[cosita]

@dust I think it's $35 USD plus shipping (I paid $40+ CAD). I have a soft spot for the Heartspun, it's a very gentle deck. It's also poker-sized so it's great if you have small hands and for bringing around in a bag.

 

I also forgot to mention the Blind the Sun Tarot which is a pretty quirky RWS-type deck. https://blindthesun.com/shop/tarot-deck

Edited September 10, 2021 by cosita
Added more info

[dust]

12 minutes ago, cosita said:

@dust I think it's $35 USD plus shipping (I paid $40+ CAD). I have a soft spot for the Heartspun, it's a very gentle deck. It's also poker-sized so it's great if you have small hands and for bringing around in a bag.

 

I also forgot to mention the Blind the Sun Tarot which is a pretty quirky RWS-type deck. https://blindthesun.com/shop/tarot-deck

 

I'd better saving up soon, then! It's nice to know it's small enough to carry it around. The gentleness sounds nice too -- I could use a gentle deck these days.

 

The Blind The Sun sounds interesting! One card does have a person, though, is that the only one?

 

I feel like I'm so out of the loop. I've spent a while looking through Google, older Kickstarters, etsy, etc. and there's so much I haven't seen! It's been years since I last bought a deck, and it shows.

[katrinka]

7 minutes ago, dust said:

 

The Blind The Sun sounds interesting! One card does have a person, though, is that the only one?

I spotted a human Queen of Wands as well as this High Priestess:

 

But with those eyes, she might be a flounder. 🤣
I like the art. It's kind of sick, but in a good way, if that makes any sense. I'm almost tempted. What's stopping me is that I can't reconcile rats with Swords. I know they're said to be intelligent, but they aren't known for intellect and strategy, they're just hard to get rid of because they make a lot of babies.

[Niobium]

A couple more I can think of--aside from the ubiquitous cat decks, of course--include:

 

Forager's Daughter Tarot - this is an Art Nouveau/nature deck with animal imagery, going into its second edition. I really like this one, though sometimes the images are a bit esoteric. It came with a nice guide, so that takes away the guesswork.

 

The Insect Tarot - If bugs aren't a deal breaker, I LOVE the scientific, exact nature of this deck. It is, as advertised, an insect deck, and covers the gamut (though no sign of my personal insect patronus, the tarantula hawk--alas!). It's kind of a 'sharp' deck, if that's up your alley, and came with 4 HILARIOUS 'joker' bonus cards.

 

Occult Ornithology - This is a major's only deck, and it's gorgeous, but as Major's Only I tend to only use it for writing. Lovely imagery that I think works quite well.

 

Nakisha Elsje's Tarots - This artist has done a handful of very cute animal decks. I personally only have the Badger's Forest Tarot, which has a variety of animals and while a little off-RWS in theme is still very usable in the same vein. 

[dust]

5 hours ago, Niobium said:

A couple more I can think of--aside from the ubiquitous cat decks, of course--include:

 

Forager's Daughter Tarot - this is an Art Nouveau/nature deck with animal imagery, going into its second edition. I really like this one, though sometimes the images are a bit esoteric. It came with a nice guide, so that takes away the guesswork.

 

The Insect Tarot - If bugs aren't a deal breaker, I LOVE the scientific, exact nature of this deck. It is, as advertised, an insect deck, and covers the gamut (though no sign of my personal insect patronus, the tarantula hawk--alas!). It's kind of a 'sharp' deck, if that's up your alley, and came with 4 HILARIOUS 'joker' bonus cards.

 

Occult Ornithology - This is a major's only deck, and it's gorgeous, but as Major's Only I tend to only use it for writing. Lovely imagery that I think works quite well.

 

Nakisha Elsje's Tarots - This artist has done a handful of very cute animal decks. I personally only have the Badger's Forest Tarot, which has a variety of animals and while a little off-RWS in theme is still very usable in the same vein. 

 

These are great! I especially love the insect tarot. How do you know which bugs are featured on the cards, is that a backer thing?

 

How does the Badger's Forest read? I've had my eye on that artist's decks for YEARS (since the Rabbit Tarot came out, I think) but I've been really indecisive about it. I remember something about the artist having a pretty different system, which isn't a dealbreaker, but I don't know how intuitive it is to get the hang of it.

[Niobium]

2 hours ago, dust said:

 

These are great! I especially love the insect tarot. How do you know which bugs are featured on the cards, is that a backer thing?

 

How does the Badger's Forest read? I've had my eye on that artist's decks for YEARS (since the Rabbit Tarot came out, I think) but I've been really indecisive about it. I remember something about the artist having a pretty different system, which isn't a dealbreaker, but I don't know how intuitive it is to get the hang of it.

 

I'd say Badger's Tarot is...somewhat intuitive, but I had to use her guidesheet to really get a feel for it. (I'm not sure if she offers an in depth book vs. the LWB-style piece which I got when I bought the deck.) This is possibly just a me-thing as I tend towards RWS or TdM and so off-style decks with specific imagery require more time for me to vibe with. As such I use it less for readings for myself or others (unless they pick it out) and more for writing/GMing, but sometimes it works nice as a raw, emotive kind of deck. This might be my reluctance; it's not a precise deck, the images can be very I won't say murky but definitely not an obvious read.

 

For Insect Tarot, she showed a lot to the backers during the campaign, and there's a nice mini-guidebook it comes with. I also used to work in an entomology/botany lab so I just recognize a lot of them.

[cosita]

On 9/10/2021 at 8:16 PM, katrinka said:

I spotted a human Queen of Wands as well as this High Priestess:

 

But with those eyes, she might be a flounder. 🤣
I like the art. It's kind of sick, but in a good way, if that makes any sense. I'm almost tempted. What's stopping me is that I can't reconcile rats with Swords. I know they're said to be intelligent, but they aren't known for intellect and strategy, they're just hard to get rid of because they make a lot of babies.

 

There are eight other cards that have a woman in it, much in the same style as The High Priestess: The Empress, The Lovers (a mermaid), The Chariot, Strength, Temperance, Judgement, Queen of Wands. I also bought the deck thinking it was going to be all animals, but the humans on the cards don't bother me. It's a fun deck and I got it exactly because it's odd/sick but in a good way!

[dust]

18 hours ago, Niobium said:

 

I'd say Badger's Tarot is...somewhat intuitive, but I had to use her guidesheet to really get a feel for it. (I'm not sure if she offers an in depth book vs. the LWB-style piece which I got when I bought the deck.) This is possibly just a me-thing as I tend towards RWS or TdM and so off-style decks with specific imagery require more time for me to vibe with. As such I use it less for readings for myself or others (unless they pick it out) and more for writing/GMing, but sometimes it works nice as a raw, emotive kind of deck. This might be my reluctance; it's not a precise deck, the images can be very I won't say murky but definitely not an obvious read.

 

For Insect Tarot, she showed a lot to the backers during the campaign, and there's a nice mini-guidebook it comes with. I also used to work in an entomology/botany lab so I just recognize a lot of them.

Thanks! I do love challenging decks, ha.

 

So cool that you know so much about insects! I meant more about previewing the cards, though -- I guess that's something that's only been shared with backers at this stage. I can't wait for more information and pictures to be released to everyone else, I need to check if my favourites are in there! 😛

 

10 hours ago, cosita said:

 

There are eight other cards that have a woman in it, much in the same style as The High Priestess: The Empress, The Lovers (a mermaid), The Chariot, Strength, Temperance, Judgement, Queen of Wands. I also bought the deck thinking it was going to be all animals, but the humans on the cards don't bother me. It's a fun deck and I got it exactly because it's odd/sick but in a good way!

 

Oh yeah, I definitely love this deck's style! It might not be all-animal but it's probably going to go on my wishlist 😄

[Niobium]

5 hours ago, dust said:

So cool that you know so much about insects! I meant more about previewing the cards, though -- I guess that's something that's only been shared with backers at this stage. I can't wait for more information and pictures to be released to everyone else, I need to check if my favourites are in there! 😛

 

So here's what I was able to find (spoilered because, picture of bugs):

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

Spoiler

 

The jokers:

Spoiler

 

And of course I can just take some photos if you have specific requests!

[Jewel]

The Magical Dogs Tarot is really good too.  I wrote a full review of the deck which you can find in the Library here on TT&M.