Dreams of Gaia Tarot

Ravynne Phelan has moved away from the typical tarot structure. Dreams of Gaia Tarot is a non-traditional elemental-based tarot deck that includes some additional Major Arcana cards and a different approach to the Tarot court. The changes may initially feel challenging but it’s an easy deck to work with once you connect with the creator’s approach and the thinking behind it. Then, you can immerse yourself in the incredible images and uncover some powerful new insights. This is a very healing deck, which makes sense since the aim of these cards is to help people “to seek, to feel, to grow, to heal.”

The Dreams of Gaia Tarot Deck

The Dreams of Gaia Tarot consists of 81 cards, rather than the traditional 78. Additional cards have been added to the Major Arcana which has been comprehensively altered. The 25 card Major Arcana embraces many traditional arcana archetypes albeit under different names and in a different order to what may be familiar. For example, The Empress and The Emperor are still there but they are renamed Mother and Father and renumbered IV and V respectively. Likewise, The High Priestess and The Hierophant are now The Crone and The Sage. I like that there’s a IX Knowledge and X Wisdom card that follows VIII Death/Rebirth (each pictured above).

Probably the easiest approach is to break it down as the creator intended. Following 0 Choice – the card she believes is the most important in the deck – there are three groups of eight:

Group 1 – Stages of Life

• I Child
• II Maiden
• III Youth
• IV Mother
• V Father
• VI Crone
• VII Sage
• VIII Death/Rebirth

Group 2 – Reasons for Being

• IX Knowledge
• X Wisdom
• XI Healing
• XII Love
• XIII Union
• XIV Self
• XV Abundance
• XVI Destiny

Group 3 – Influences

• XVII Journey
• XVIII Thought
• XIX Emotions
• XX Desire
• XXI Perception
• XXII Intuition
• XXIII Integrity
• XXIV Faith

As you can see, it makes for an interesting approach and one that becomes easier to understand once you see the groupings.

The Minor Arcana has also been reimagined but much less drastically than the Majors. The suits are still largely familiar as they are named elementally – Earth, Air, Fire and Water. However she has made some changes to the Court. Firstly they are numbered XI through to XIV which takes away the argument/confusion on what numbers to allocate them for numerological purposes. Although I find it unusual to consider the Queen as 13/4 so I doubt I will incorporate numerology into my readings with this deck. Feel free to let me know what you think. (The numbering of the Major Arcana raised the same questions for me too).

Anyhow, back to the Minors. Rather than Pages and Knights, card XI (traditionally the Pages) is said to be the balancing/alignment card for the suit. I like the addition of this card. The XII is said to stand beside the King and Queen. This change is the one I find the most difficult to reconcile in the deck. The cards themselves impart a lot of meaning but some of the keywords she associates with them I’m not so sure on. The Seneschal and The Scribe don’t seem to align as readily as The Hero and The Counsellor do. But this is a different system and I need to acknowledge that. I love that the Aces are dragons though. You’ll see two of them a bit further down. I had to include them because they’re awesome. They just radiate so much power and I find something really joyful about them.

The cards themselves are 8½cm x 13cm, high gloss and a pain in the proverbial to try and photograph. They seem to reflect reflections of reflections of reflections. You get the idea. I have photographed a lot of cards but these ones nearly beat me. In the end I just had to accept that I did my best. But if you need to video or photograph cards for readings good luck. If you manage to do it easily please share your tricks with me.

Anyhow, moving on, I like the black borders on these cards. It helps contain the image. As you can see in the images above the suits are represented by the Classical Greek elemental symbols. If you’re not familiar with them the colouring of the deck helps. Fire cards are predominantly orange and Earth are green. Even at a quick glance these suits are readily identifiable. Water and Air both incorporate blues but Water uses blues and bluey-greens, whereas Air has more blues, purples, black and white. They aren’t quite as obvious at a glance but the imagery makes the suit pretty clear if the symbols don’t for you. As you can see, the blue dragoon is holding the heart.

The Dreams of Gaia Tarot Book

As you’d imagine with a deck that has its own system, the accompanying book is comprehensive. She clearly explains the structure of the deck which makes her changes easier to follow. For the Major Arcana she provides a small image of the card, key words and key phrases followed by the card meanings. Then she provides additional interpretations associated with where the card may appear in a spread – the past, the present or the future. Some of the questions she raises in these sections are well worth journaling about. In addition she provides another meaning, labelled ‘potential blockage,’ which is for when the card is reversed.

I think this section can be used as you see fit. There is some really good stuff to be found under this heading that might be missed if you ignore this section because you don’t read reversals. As you may have guessed, I don’t read with them. If you do I respect that and I would encourage everyone to read however works for you. That should be a given.

Now onto the Minor Arcana. It’s presented in a similar fashion to the Majors. The cards are grouped in their suits with keywords, key phrases and meanings for both the upright and reversed positions. The only difference is that there’s only one set of meanings provided rather than the past, present, future groupings found for the Majors.

Spreads

Four spreads are included in the book:

• Guide Spread (1 card)
• Union Spread (3 cards)
• The Dreamer’s Spread (9 cards)
• The Dreaming Tree Spread (12 cards)

As always, I tried all the spreads. I wasn’t overly taken with The Dreaming Tree Spread because for me it didn’t have a logical progression but that’s not to say it doesn’t serve a purpose. Overall I would say this deck is more focused on tapping into the spiritual side of life than the everyday. I really enjoy working with this deck but like many decks it either draws you in or it doesn’t. If the artwork calls to you then it is worth taking the time to connect with its different approach because I believe it can take you on a wonderful journey of self discovery and self empowerment. If the artwork appeals to you, then the Messenger Oracle is worth having a look at too.

Publishing Details

Deck Creator:

Ravynne Phelan

Pictured Version:

Published by Blue Angel Healing, 2020 printing