Tarot of Pagan Cats

I came to be writing about the Tarot of Pagan Cats quite by accident. Initially I was going to use it as an exemplar in a different post. But I quickly discovered that it deserved more than a secondary role in an article. I found I wanted to explore it more deeply in its own right. It has a lot to say and I like that it does it in a non-threatening yet straight to the point manner. It has been a pleasure getting to know this deck.

The Fool card showing two calico cats. One is looking at a butterfly with a thought bubble above with a young calico cat on a cushion.

A black cat stretches beside a glowing pond under a large yellow star in a vibrant night landscape, surrounded by blooming flowers and seven lit candles. The Tarot of Pagan Cats card bottom shows the Roman numeral XVII.

The Tarot of Pagan Cats Cards

I wrote in my first impression notes that the Tarot of Pagan Cats ‘isn’t my prettiest cat deck but it has plenty to offer.’ How things change. Now I really like the artwork. The more I work with it the more it grows on me. That’s probably because it reads so well. I like decks like this with straight-forward messages delivered in simple ways because they reduce my ability to obfuscate the messages in any way. That’s not always fun but when the images are kind and sweet that makes it feel less confronting. In reality I find working with this deck liberating. Rather than running from the messages I feel naturally inclined to act. I would best describe this as my “accountability deck”.

Let me give you some examples to show you why I say that. I’ll start with the 10 of Wands and the 10 of Swords.

A cat struggles to walk along a path, carrying a large bundle of sticks on its back. In the background, there’s a large house with greenery and a yellow stone wall. Number 10 marks this Tarot of Pagan Cats card in a classic tarot scene.

10 of Wands & 10 of Swords

I have had cats all my life, at one stage I had six, and the first term that comes to mind is comfort-loving — not people-pleasing. Yet when I look at the cat on the 10 of Wands I wonder why he sat still and allowed someone, or several someone’s, to load him up with all that stuff. That baffles me. Normally when I see this card I associate it with feeling burdened, and I usually think in terms of ‘what can you put down?’ Here I’m asking, ‘Why did you let that happen?’

A Tarot of Pagan Cats card shows ten swords stabbed into a red surface. In the background, a woman in white stands holding two objects, with green curtains and an orange and black sky behind her.

Now add in the 10 of Swords. This 10 of Swords shows just how uncomfortable this cat has allowed his life to become. There’s no way he can attempt to rest easy. Things have come to a head. He can’t ignore whatever it is that’s causing this discomfort. I see this card and I think, “You may have made your bed but the rest of the saying is wrong. You don’t have to keep lying in it.” Ultimately you get to decide what thoughts, and what burdens, you live with.

I was slapped in the face with this reality just this morning. It was hard, yet wonderful. I realised how much power I had given to others without actually considering a) if they deserved it and b) whether they actually had the power I had ascribed to them. It’s amazing how much finally changed in that moment. I saw in these cards, and was forced to own, how much discomfort I was causing myself.

In the Tarot of Pagan Cats, a cat and a rabbit sit chained together before a flaming backdrop. A large pentagram and chains loom behind them, with the Roman numeral XV at the card's base.

XV The Devil & 7 Swords

Now normally if you laid out a spread and saw 10 of Wands, 10 of Swords, XV The Devil and 7 of Swords, “Yay” would not be the first thought that came to mind. But with Tarot of Pagan Cats it feels different. When I saw those cards together, rather than thinking, “OH NO!’ I thought, ‘What the f*$k am I doing? S*%t needs to change” and I felt stronger than I can ever remember feeling. So far that feeling hasn’t dissipated. Instead, as uncomfortable as it’s been, so much has come into focus and the focus is on me, rather than the things that are happening to me.

On XV The Devil rather than asking what you’re chained too it points you in a direction. It suggests you’re chained because you’re trying to be something you’re not. How easy it is to see things from the outside. We’re all generally pretty good at that. But this cat-dog and rabbit-cat are looking straight ahead, straight at me. They’re not looking away so neither can I. They’re challenging me. ‘Okay you see me and my self deceptions, but do you see where you’re lying to yourself?’ This is powerful. ‘Who are you really and are you living accordingly?’

A Tarot of Pagan Cats illustration shows a sleeping cat on a cushion, surrounded by six upright swords. Numerous mice scurry around on a black-and-white checkered floor beneath the cat and swords. The yellow-toned scene exudes quiet intrigue.

Then there’s the 7 of Swords. This is one of the best versions of this card I’ve seen because of the story it tells. Rather than prattling on about it, I’ll just say that if this was a movie the music would be starting to build. You know something is going to happen but what? And more importantly, where do you fit into it all?

A Tarot of Pagan Cats card shows seven golden cups floating among pink clouds, each holding a white cat, mouse, tall grass, bowl of water, fish, yarn, and purple cloth. A tabby cat sleeps peacefully in the grass below.

7 of Cups & IV The Emperor

I like the approach on the 7 of Cups too, although I have seen this card portrayed in a similar way before. For me, this way raises more questions. The cat is asleep. So rather than actual options, are his choices merely wishful thinking? That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Letting yourself dream a little and imagine yourself in various scenarios can help you gain a clearer picture of what you want. But you can’t just dream about it forever. At some stage you have to stop fantasizing about what you want and do something about it. Given the fact that I describe the Tarot of Pagan Cats as my “accountability partner” I’m guessing the latter explanation would apply more often.

A fluffy cat wearing a crown sits regally atop a stepped pyramid decorated with Tarot of Pagan Cats symbols—pentacles, cups, swords, and wands—set against a warm red and orange background.

Therefore I love IV The Emperor. He’s mastered the elements. Notice the platform he’s sitting on. Leadership is about the correct use of will, heart and intellect. Physical gains are the cherry on top. They should not be the motivating factor. This Emperor wants you to consider that notion when you’re thinking about your options. What’s motivating them? Are they for show? For reward? Or because they align with who you are and what you stand for?

Something else that comes through is the choice of cat to represent the Emperor. Granted he looks a little stern and he’s very focused, but he looks like he’d be so great to snuggle as well. There’s a message in that too.

A white cat with a red collar sits on a decorated table, raising one paw. In front are a yellow cup, sword, wand, and pentacle—classic symbols from the Tarot of Pagan Cats. The background features blooming flowers and greenery.

I The Magician & XXI The World

Normally I don’t focus on discussing individual cards this much but I really wanted to capture why I see the Tarot of Pagan Cats as much more than just a cutesy cat deck. Across my entire collection, this Magician is one of my favourites because it doesn’t just focus on the resources at hand. It shows that the cat itself is a resource and therefore worthy of its place on the table. It’s up to him to decide how best to use his time, his energy and his abilities because he is part of the process.

A Tarot of Pagan Cats card shows two identical black-and-white cats on purple cushions, nestled in green wreaths. One dreams of a fish, bird, and food; a mouse and lizard linger below. The card is marked XXI.

Last one, I promise: XXI The World. Looking at this card reminds me of the Zen saying, ‘Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.’ In other words life goes on. However, while you can see that this cat is ready to keep moving, she’s taking the time to reflect on how far she’s come first. Otherwise she might feel like she is constantly running without getting anywhere. That is rarely the case but constant striving can make it feel that way. True there is always more to do and more to learn but that doesn’t make what we have already done and learnt any less important. It’s quite the opposite really.

A Tarot of Pagan Cats card shows two cats walking in the snow outside a church window with five golden pentacles. Snowflakes fall, and the cats appear cold and vulnerable against yellow bricks and a stained glass window.

5 of Pentacles & 8 of Pentacles

I could go on sharing examples but I’ll move on to something else that stood out to me. On some of the Minor Arcana cards, all four suits are shown. I’ve not noticed this on other decks. If you look at the 5 of Pentacles and the 8 of Pentacles above you’ll see what I mean.

In most decks, the 5 of Pentacles tends to focus your attention on physical lack. Here that is shown, but the inclusion of the other elements on the stained glass link it with feelings of lack in any area of your life. Other cards can always point the specific direction but all aspects contribute. Nothing occurs in isolation after all. Lack of will, lack of knowledge, lack of connection can all play a part. This message was clear from the get go.

A Tarot of Pagan Cats illustration shows a cat sitting on a wooden bench, touching a gold coin. Colorful beams shoot from the coin to an archway adorned with seven more coins. Stone wall and carved runes are in the background.

That wasn’t the case when I first looked at the 8 of Pentacles though. I didn’t connect with the image at all. That is until I reconsidered it through a similar lens to the 5 of Pentacles. Then I was able to make sense of the artwork. I read it as, to be good at what you do and to produce good work requires many things. Namely, the drive to do so; a willingness to put your heart into what you’re doing; a desire to innovate; the requisite knowledge or the willingness to gain it; and the necessary time and resources. It’s not just about mindlessly pumping out the same work over and over again. Point taken!

As you can see below, V The Hierophant and XII The Hanged Man also take advantage of this artistic approach.

A fluffy gray cat with a pentacle lies on open books, facing two smaller cats—one orange, one black. Behind them are shelves of books, a sword, a wand, and a large yellow cup from the Tarot of Pagan Cats. The setting is colorful and magical.

A black and white cat hangs upside down tangled in bright green curtains by an open window, with leaves outside. Inside, a broom leans against the wall and three Tarot of Pagan Cats cards lie on the floor.

Physical aspects

So far I have raved about everything I love about this deck but there are a few things that don’t thrill me. Fortunately they could be easily rectified as they have been on other decks such as the Triple Goddess Tarot. It has to do with the way the cards are labelled. On older Lo Scarabeo decks they used to print the titles in multiple languages on the card which aligned with their multilingual guidebooks. I understood the logic but I didn’t like how it looked.

I guess I wasn’t the only one because it appears that they have stopped that practice. Instead, the Major Arcana are simply titled with their Roman numeral and the Minor Arcana with a number and a suit symbol. That’s fine, until it comes to the Court cards. They too are shown by a symbol but it can be hard to differentiate between the King and the Queen. If you have any pre-existing tarot knowledge you can work it out easily enough but if you don’t it becomes a little more tricky.

A fluffy orange tabby cat lounges on a stone block engraved with lions in a sandy landscape. A wooden staff stands upright beside the cat. The scene, from the Tarot of Pagan Cats, features a purple border with gold embellishments.

A fluffy orange cat lounges on a red cushion among sunflowers, while a small black cat sits in front. Lush green leaves fill the background, and a wooden wand lies near the orange cat—a scene inspired by Tarot of Pagan Cats.

The Court Cards

So yes I can see the difference when they are sitting side by side like they are above, but unlike in other books, there is no key to tell you which is which. Fortunately the artwork in the Tarot of Pagan Cats includes other markers. Unfortunately they are not mentioned in the guidebook. What I noticed is that all the Kings sit on cubes whereas the Queens are all on cushions. That is much clearer than trying to establish the size of the crown.

A white cat stands confidently on the shell of a large tortoise crossing a shallow stream, surrounded by green grass, wildflowers, trees, and distant hills under a blue sky—a scene inspired by the Tarot of Pagan Cats.

A gray tabby cat rides on the back of a large white owl flying over a rocky landscape with a golden sword and shield below, under a blue sky—a magical scene from the Tarot of Pagan Cats.

The Knight symbol is fairly easy to recognise but in addition, each of the Knights is “riding” an animal. The Knight of Cups is on a turtle, the Knight of Swords an owl, the Knight of Pentacles a goat, and the Knight of Wands a fox. So, the cat’s posture, the landscape and the choice of animal all come together to relay the story. This makes these Knights cards more accessible than many others.

A tarot card back from the Tarot of Pagan Cats, featuring a mirrored image of a yellow Sphynx cat surrounded by blue crescent moons on a purple and black ornate patterned background.

A Tarot of Pagan Cats illustration shows a cat walking out an open door toward mountains under a night sky. Eight golden cups sit on the floor inside a cozy room with a window, flowers, and red curtains.

Card stock

The Folkoric Forest Tarot card stock felt luxurious whereas the Tarot of Pagan Cats card stock feels smooth, easy and workman-like. It’s not flashy, but it gets the job done with no fuss or bother. They measure 6.5cm x 11.75cm which makes them easy to handle too. Overall I quite enjoy working with this card stock. Its slippiness ensures it fans well and it is easy to flip through. I appreciate that because it makes it much easier for me to work with the cards in the various ways I do.

As you can see above, the card backs are reversible.

A tabby cat wearing a wizard hat sits on a wooden surface with waves and ships in the background. In this Tarot of Pagan Cats card, two yellow pentacles connected by a loop show a mouse and goldfish inside. The number 2 appears at the bottom left.

Two cats, one grey and one calico, sit facing each other under a full moon and starry sky. Each touches a yellow goblet with their paw, while two more goblets rest between them, evoking the magic of the Tarot of Pagan Cats.

The Tarot of Pagan Cats Guidebook

As is the case with most, if not all, of the Lo Scarabeo decks that come packaged in a tuckbox with a little white book, this guidebook is multilingual. Therefore, of the 63 pages, only 13 are in English. The other pages are in Italian, Spanish, French and German. While there is not a lot of information, there is enough to ensure a beginner could work with this deck. So, as far as little white books go, this is quite good. That probably comes as no surprise to those familiar with Barbara Moore’s work. Apparently she wrote this LWB under the pen name, Magdelina Messina.

It opens with a short introduction that shares the basic philosophy of the deck which was to provide a simple and light-hearted yet practical cat deck. They succeeded. Things don’t have to be heavy and dark to provide the information we need. This deck has not sugar-coated anything for me. It has held me accountable, and urged me to take a good hard look at myself. While not fun, this has had a monumental impact on my life. What’s more, it has done so in a very short space of time.

An illustrated Tarot of Pagan Cats card shows a dog and a wolf howling at a large yellow moon in a purple sky. A lobster emerges from a pond, with two towers on distant hills. The card is labeled “XVIII.”.

A black cat sits on a white goat’s back in a grassy field. The goat has a green cloth with a yellow pentacle symbol, reminiscent of the Tarot of Pagan Cats. Farmland with neat rows stretches into the background.

Spreads

The book provides two straight forward spreads:

The Pentacle Spread (5 cards)
Catching a Fish Spread (7 cards)

I wasn’t too taken with the Catching a Fish Spread when I first looked at it but it yielded a lot of information when I worked with it. So my opinion on that one has changed and I liked the Pentacle Spread from the outset. Both spreads are easy to work with.

A fluffy cat sits on a stone block in a garden surrounded by grapevines, with a yellow pentacle coin beneath its paw. Inspired by the Tarot of Pagan Cats, castles appear in the distance and lush green grass fills the foreground.

A Tarot of Pagan Cats card shows a black and white cat with green eyes holding a glowing orb. Inside the orb, a black cat and a white cat face each other. The background features a sun, clouds, trees, and yellow candle-like lights.

Card meanings

In a book this short as you can imagine the card meanings are brief. For the Major Arcana you get a couple of sentences and for the Minor Arcana you get a short sentence or a phrase. Reversed meanings are given for all the cards.

Major Arcana example:

A cat draped in a tattered cloak climbs a rocky slope, holding a lantern aloft on a stick. The dark background evokes mystery as the Tarot of Pagan Cats artwork shows the focused feline above a purple border marked with IX.

The Hermit

The need to retreat from distractions and withdraw from the opinion of others in order to determine your truth and ideas about something. R: Running away from fears or responsibilities.

Minor Arcana examples:

A yellow cat lounges on a red-branched tree with sparse leaves in a green field. Hills, a river, and a distant castle lie under a blue, cloudy sky. Card symbols and the number 1 feature below in this Tarot of Pagan Cats scene.

A Tarot of Pagan Cats card shows four cats—two adults and two kittens—cuddling on a colorful rainbow blanket. Behind them, ten golden cups line the windowsill, with a bright, green outdoor scene visible through the window.

Ace of Wands
An opportunity to take a fresh new exciting action. R: Missing an opportunity; not the right time.

10 of Cups
Happy home. R: Presenting a false face to the world.

Court cards example:

A white cat sits on a stone block decorated with fish carvings, surrounded by water. Behind the cat stands a yellow cup, while a sailing ship appears in the background. The Tarot of Pagan Cats card features purple and gold details at the bottom.

They took a formulaic approach for the Court cards. All the Pages meanings open with ‘Someone who is learning something about …..’ and the Knights with ‘Someone who acts ……’. The Queens begin, ‘Someone who cares and helps others …..’ and the Kings with ‘Someone who has authority, makes decisions, or is professional …’ Each suit wraps up with the same phrase as well. For example all the Cup court entries end, ‘… emotions, art, and relationships.’

For example:

King of Cups
Someone who has authority, makes decisions, or is a professional regarding emotion, art or relationships.

This is a tad clunky but it provides a basic understanding.

A Tarot of Pagan Cats card featuring a golden chalice overflowing with water, surrounded by pink lotus flowers and lily pads in a pond. Blue droplets fall around the cup, symbolizing abundance and serenity.

A cat stands on its hind legs, touching a large golden pentacle in a garden archway, amid green foliage and red flowers. Inspired by the Tarot of Pagan Cats, white lilies grace the foreground with distant mountains beyond.

Wrapping it all up

While in my mind I may have come to the Tarot of Pagan Cats quite by accident I don’t believe there was anything accidental about it. Working with this deck came at just the right time for me. During the deck interview, which is the first thing I do when I sit down to begin a post it told me what to expect, yet I was still surprised by what came out when I began working with it.

Firstly it told me, “I’m a great beginner’s deck. I give you a single point of focus.” Then for its Strength, “I help you pay attention to what’s relevant to you rather than the things you feel you’re meant to go after. I help you see how owning your truths can help transform your life.” It told me it was going to teach me “That magic can be found in many places if you stay open to the possibilities” and to use if for “Readings linked to owning what you love when you may have forgotten.” Overall it was going to Help me, “To find joy and contentment in the moment and in the situation.” And, wow, in the space of putting together this post it has delivered on all fronts. I didn’t realise just how truthful it had been in its interview until now.

To many this may well be, ‘just another cat deck,’ but given a chance it can be much more than that.

A Tarot of Pagan Cats card with cat illustrations is surrounded by a cat figurine, clear quartz crystals, a cluster of amethyst, and cat paw prints on a black background.

Publishing details

Created by: Magdelina Messina (Barbara Moore) with art by Lola Airaghi

Pictured version: Borderless edition printed in February 2022 by Lo Scarabeo

ISBN-13: 978-0738726-700

Packaging: Tuckbox

Note: There is also a mini version available.