Animal Totem Tarot
How many animal-themed tarot decks do you need? I don’t know. But, since I have seventeen of them, none of which I’d consider parting with, I’d say keep them coming. As long as they have something to offer, why not? Obviously I love animal decks and the Animal Totem Tarot was a welcome addition to my collection. As the name suggests, and the book blurb confirms, this deck is aimed towards people keen to work with power animals and/or animal totems. However, I feel this deck is actually for anyone that loves animals; that loves the artwork; or for anyone keen to add an easy-to-work-with animal deck to their collection.
The Animal Totem Tarot Deck
It’s possible to draw insights from the Animal Totem Tarot without having much knowledge of the animals featured. Just look at XIX The Sun and the Queen of Pentacles pictured above. The expressions and the body positions of the Lemur and the Pig alone say so much. Add details from the landscape to the story and the message becomes clear. I know if I drew those two tarot cards together in a reading I’d be feeling pretty content.
The thing that draws me into animal-themed tarot decks though is that they encourage me to learn more about the animals pictured. For example I learnt that Ring-tailed Lemur’s tails have exactly thirteen alternating black and white bands. Initially I wondered what that had to do with The Sun card but then I counted the stripes on the tail of the Lemur on the card. Depending on the cards that surrounded it in a spread, that would mean different things to me. For example: being rewarded for attention to detail; or be careful that you pay attention to the little things; or something about creativity and uniqueness; or the beauty and power of creative license; all linked to the idea of bliss in some way. Who knows what will come out? I don’t until I’m in the actual reading. But I do know that I know more about lemurs now.
The Moose appearing on the Queen of Cups, pictured below, led to more learning. Here you see a large land animal pictured underwater. Not what you’d generally expect. Or at least I didn’t. I’m sure it’s not a surprise to some, but I discovered that moose are great swimmers and that these large, 1.4m-to-2.1m-at-the-shoulder-large, animals will dive for plants growing at the bottom of lakes. What a great choice for the Queen of Cups.
Sometimes you’ve got to go to the depths in order to find what you seek. So many ideas come to mind looking at the Seal on the Page of Cups too. He’s right there. Imagine sitting on the beach just watching the waves and you saw that. How would you feel? What would you think? What might he be thinking? Why is he there? I could go on but I’m sure you get the message.
For as long as I can remember I have felt a strong connection to polar bears so seeing one show up to represent V The Hierophant was a double blessing. The Hierophant can get a bad wrap and the book suggests this link and explains the relevance of the Polar Bear really well. More on the book soon. I will say though that reading the accompanying book affirmed my take on both The Hierophant and the Polar Bear. It’s nice when that happens.
On the other hand, II The High Priestess being represented by a Spider, a black widow to be precise, speaks to me in a totally different, yet no less valid, way. Every Wednesday morning, my daughter picks me up so that when she drops her kids off to preschool, she can spend some time inside with the kids. Lately she’s been taking her second youngest in as well and so it’s just me and her youngest bubba outside together. I always get him out of the car and we go for a wander while we wait. Long story short, I always show him one particular tree that is covered in spider webs. No, not black widows. These are leaf-curling spiders and they’re harmless.
But what fascinates me is how different their webs are. Some are intricate, some look like they’re still very much in the learning phase. We talk about what that might suggest and we talk about the spider that, whilst still there, is hidden and why that might be. Well, he’s just turned one so I talk and he listens. Well, sometimes he seems to listen. Other times he’s more fascinated by the concrete driveway, a car, or something else that is possibly completely out of my awareness.
And that’s what this particular version of this card means to me. You won’t find that meaning in any book but that story/memory makes perfect sense to me and aligns with one of the possible traditional interpretations of II The High Priestess as well. Meaning and understanding surrounds us.
I could go on and on with personal associations that come to mind when I look at the animals featured in the Animal Totem Tarot, but I won’t. I do encourage you to consider not just these tarot cards in that way though.
The artwork in the Animal Totem Tarot is uncluttered, which allows you to focus on each included detail. Take 0 The Fool and XX Judgement pictured below. 0 The Fool has bright green grass, clear blue skies and a grasshopper taking a huge leap of faith towards what I perceive as the future. The red baggage is being left behind. You can’t see where he may land but I picture him landing in the card that’s placed beside him. In this case XX Judgement.
Here the horn is laying on the snow, the sleigh is full of gifts, and the reindeer stand behind it with bells around their necks, waiting patiently. They are still tethered to the gift laden sleigh. You don’t need to toot your own horn but there’s much joy to be had in sharing your gifts. Maybe that’s the realisation and the choice The Fool is leaping toward? Leaping from dry grass and landing on snow covered ground is going to be a bit of a shock though. Leaving a comfort zone always is.
As for the cards in general, I love the colour palette, bright yet earthy, and the fact they are borderless. There’s nothing to distract you from the illustrations. The card titles are easy to read and yet they blend well so again nothing draws attention away from the image. Minor Arcana numberings are written in full whereas the Major Arcana have Roman numerals and their card name.
Straight out of the sturdy box with a magnetic closure, the thin, semi-gloss card stock is a delight to shuffle in every way. And, it fans beautifully. I appreciate both those aspects. The cards retain standard RWS nominations so Strength is VIII and Justice is XI, the suits are pentacles, cups, swords and wands with pages, knights, queens and kings as the court.
The Animal Totem Tarot Book
The full-sized, 347-paged book is a pleasure to read in its own right. It provides introductory tarot information in a clear and precise manner before moving on to a chapter on ‘Power Animals, Animal Totems and Animal Guides’. This chapter demystifies these concepts and presents them in a way that makes them easy to understand and identify with.
The card meanings are separated into three chapters: The Major Arcana, The Royal Families, and The Minor Arcana. Within these chapters, each card is represented by a full page, black and white image followed by an italicised channelled message. Then there’s five sections. The first combines science and spiritual energies and the card’s overall meaning. The second through fourth provide individual meanings relating to business and career, family and relationships, and health and well-being. The final section offers three well thought out and thus highly beneficial journal prompts. This layout makes this a brilliant book for beginners.
The book shows you how science and spirituality can work well together and demonstrates how multifaceted each card is. The writing makes it easy to read. None of the interpretations under the various themed, (love, money, health), sections feels forced or unrelatable to the image or animal chosen. Quite the opposite really. Her explanations make the animals appear like the most logical and perfect choice.
Her down-to-earth approach grounds the idea of animal guides into our everyday lived reality. The possibility doesn’t feel abstract or far-fetched. This shouldn’t be surprising. After all, she is writing about animals we share the planet with.
The final chapter is dedicated to three spreads that the creator feels align perfectly with the energies of the deck.
Spreads
- The Inner Totem Pole (8 Major Arcana cards)
- The Archetype Spread (3 Court cards)
- The Situation Spread (4 Minor Arcana cards)
I’m not always a fan of spreads that require me to split up my decks but I have to admit that the Inner Totem Pole Spread proved to be very powerful. I didn’t mind the others, but I would have been just as happy to draw from the full deck for those.
All-in-all this evocative and beautifully illustrated deck showcases the creator, Leeza Robertson’s love, passion and knowledge. It’s a wonderful deck for both beginners and those with more experience. The Animal Totem Tarot can be read as straight up tarot cards as they align with the typical keyword meanings, or they can lead you on a wonderful path of discovery. The choice is yours. Whatever choice you make I don’t believe you will come away disappointed.
Publishing Details
Deck Creators:
Leeza Robertson (Author) and Eugene Smith (Artist)
Pictured Version:
First edition, fourth printing, published by Llewellyn Publications in 2019
Websites:
