by
~*~Velvet
Angel ~*~
Tarot
of the Animal Lords
This
deck is suitable for any question you wish to ask of the Tarot.
by
~*~Velvet
Angel ~*~
Tarot
of the Animal Lords
This
deck is suitable for any question you wish to ask of the Tarot.
© 2003 Deck
by Angelo Giannini
Published by Lo Scarabeo
The Tarot of the Animal Lords features fantasy characters with the head of an animal and the body of a human. I find it to be a rather cute and charming deck, so those who are opposed to "cute" when it comes to Tarot will not likely find this particular animal theme to be appealing. Over half of the cards also contain animals in the scenes that are not morphed -- examples shown shown above in the bottom three cards that display a crab, a butterfly, and an elephant respectively.
A variety of animals are displayed in morphed form, from birds, insects, domesticated animals, as well as animals of the wild such as tigers, elephants, lynxes, koalas, and walrus.
The cards are easy to shuffle and handle, and they have a smooth matte finish on a quality cardstock.
In
the upper left corner of the Minor Arcana pip cards, a corresponding circled
emblem is featured to represent the suit that the card falls under. For
example, Chalices are linked to the Crab, Wands are linked to the Salamander,
Swords are linked to the Butterfly, and Pentacles are linked to the Beetle.
Each animal from both the Major Arcana as well as the Minor Arcana are
linked to a specific animal, and those designations are included in the
LWB (little white booklet) that comes with the cards. As typical
of a LWB, short meanings are included for each card, but there is a bit
of a twist in this deck. All the upright cards are considered to
have positive meanings, while the reversals (in italics) are denoted with
negative meanings. In traditional Tarot, that is not always the case.
So one has to decide to either follow tradition . . . or let themselves
think outside of the box when using this deck. I personally think
it's fun to think outside of the box, and that doing so will help readers
tap into their intuition more easily! This is definitely a deck that
is meant to be used with reversed cards. The back of the cards fully
supports the use of reversals as it features the High Priestess elephant
which is inverted horizontally and then vertically to present four small
images of that card in a way that you would not be able to tell whether
the card is upright or reversed. You can see the image at right.
Some of the animals chosen for a particular archetype are easy to identify with -- such as a clever Fox for the Magician, a kingly lion for the Emperor, and a crow for the Death card. One might wonder why the elephant was chosen for the High Priestess. I do find a connection there -- once I gave it some thought. I thought of the phrase that we have heard through the years -- "having a memory like an elephant." The High Priestess is certainly wise and will remember details and information. She gathers facts and knowledge before she takes action. The High Priestess is also the protector of secret knowledge, and the tusks of the elephant will serve as a form of protection.
The Butterfly on the Wheel of Fortune may be another puzzle, but in thinking of that attribution, I think it makes perfect sense to feature the butterfly on this card. The butterfly represents change, and the Wheel is changeable, representing the "ups" and "downs" of life. The Wheel represents cycles in our lives. It's often associated with good fortune, and I find it to be a lucky omen when I see a butterfly in daily life. So I can relate, and it's fun to see how you can identify with the various animals chosen for each card.
There is no nudity in this deck, so there's not a lot to offend even the most sensitive of querents. The only card that might be unsettling for the more sensitive minded individual is the Ten of Swords which features a half-human/half-animal gazelle who has been shot by two arrows and is bleeding. Near his hand rests a sword that is partially covered in blood. A vulture sits on top of a branch above him. This would be a true 10 of Swords representation in traditional Tarot, but in the LWB (keeping in mind that all upright cards are read as positive), it says: "Sensitivity, simplicity, peace, affliction, pain, lack of enthusiasm." The upright meanings are in regular font, and the meanings in italics are considered the reversed card meanings. Since the creatures right hand seems to be moving toward the white flowers next to him, it seems he must truly be at peace with himself . . . but I have to say that he definitely has an "affliction" going on with arrows in his body, regardless of whether that is intended to be a reversed meaning or not. It seems it would be rather painful as well. So perhaps we could read this upright card to mean that peace comes after an affliction, and if it were reversed, it could denote an unresolved issue or "affliction" in one's life. (See how fun it can be to work with the meanings?!)
I do think it would have been beneficial to have had a book accompany this particular deck since it is somewhat different from traditional Tarot -- and even different than a traditionally rendered animal-theme deck. But sadly (at least at the time of this writing), there is none.
Velvet
Angel
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Velvet Angel
Number of Cards in Deck: 78
Size of Cards: 4-3/4" x 2-5/8"
Included with deck: Instruction booklet (63 pages) in English, Italian, Spanish, French, and German
Major Arcana:
Fool, Magician, High
Priestess, Empress, Emperor, Hierophant, Lovers,
Chariot, Justice, Hermit,
Wheel, Strength, Hanged Man, Death, Temperance,
Devil, Tower, Stars,
Moon, Sun, Judgement, World
Suit Names: Wands, Chalices (Cups), Swords, Pentacles
Court Cards: King, Queen, Knight, Knave (Page)
Back Design of Cards:
See
above
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