Take a look inside my oracle deck, Plant Magic!

Oracle decks differ from tarot in the respect that each deck is made and designed typically by individual artists or spiritual practitioners. For my deck, I wanted to tell the story of our astrological archetypes through the world of plants and flowers, and how we as humans have interacted with them. It explores language, purpose, and symbolism. I spent about three and a half years to research, write and illustrate it.

Originally, I had considered making a traditional tarot deck, inspired by the artwork made by Pamela Colman Smith. The more I researched Smith, or “Pixie”, I decided I didn’t want to do that. The reason? Well, it boils down to the fact that Pamela Colman Smith was given a very very very rough draft of the tarot card meanings. All of the introspection and symbolism she used throughout the original set of artworks was her; AE Waite then essentially wrote what she drew. Yet, Pixie was compensated just once for her contribution to tarot as we know it today. She does not get near enough credit. Once I had my deck published and available at markets, I started to display this to help tell her story. You can pinch and zoom if it’s too tiny to read:

So after all my research I decided I didn’t want to add to the tarot supremacy that I tend to see in more mystic leaning spaces. Fundamentally, I believe tarot is a tool, and specifically, it is a mirror. We’ve all looked in one and thought, ‘yikes’, we’ve been pleasantly surprised. Sometimes we notice something that’s obviously been there a while, but we’re just now becoming aware of it. At the root of it is this: it’s a reflection, a communication.

This is in no way to imply it is not a valuable spiritual tool: I’m making the opposite claim. The fact that it is a mirror is what makes it a valuable spiritual tool. It is good to see and it is good to be aware.

But like all valuable spiritual tools, they have the potential to be misused, misunderstood, and misguided. I came to accept that this just is. I spent three years trying to be concise and direct with the story I’m telling through my deck, and I must just hope it ends up in not just hands that can hold it, but eyes and ears that can see and hear it. I believe that’s what’s happened.

One unique feature of my deck is the fact that I made the guidebook 100% digital. I had two big reasons for doing this, which I explain with an insert that arrives with the deck:

-Guidebooks are a really expensive addition; it basically would have doubled my investment and I wouldn’t have a choice but to pass that cost along to the buyer. I didn’t want to do that.

-Guidebooks use a lot of paper. This book is about the natural world; plants, flowers, the elements…it’s very “communicate with nature”….adding more paper or plastic to this deck than was necessary was a no for me. This is also why the decks are not shrink wrapped with plastic.

I just wanted to share too much in a guidebook for a physical one to be feasible, and I’m glad I did it that way. Not everyone has appreciated it, but by and large most people love that the guidebook is zero waste.

The only drawback to this is something I didn’t know about when I designed my deck: unfortunately, a lot of counterfeit decks are sold with QR codes, like how mine is. Dang, that pisses me off. My deck comes with a special note about why the guidebook is digital, but it does really suck that scammers and thieves are taking an eco friendly concept and being absolute d****eads about it.

I have no plans to ever make another card deck again, and I’m not sure how I would circumvent this if I made another deck.