Woodland Wardens: 52-Card Oracle Deck & Guidebook

The deck has a matte finish and large cards that are loud to shuffle. At first I really disliked it, but now I’m a big fan. I feels really satisfying and tactile, like shuffling ASMR. The card stock is pretty thin for such large cards, so BE CAREFUL if you riffle shuffle - the first times I tried I almost bent some cards in half! I don’t riffle it at all now, but it’s fine because I find it so enjoyable to shuffle overhand.The color palette is very muted, which I also initially disliked because I expected something more vibrant, but I came to enjoy that as well once I got used to it. It’s a similar palette to the Centennial edition of the RWS, which is the version I use, and the two decks pair well together. Roux also makes some references to RWS with her numbering and symbolism, so this is a great choice if you’re already familiar with tarot but new to oracle decks (as I am). Overall, it was a deck that grew on me quickly. I was underwhelmed at first, but now I absolutely love it. The combination of an animal, a plant and a key word gives you a lot to draw from, and the key words are succinct and well-chosen. The descriptions in the guidebook are short enough to be a fun and quick read for daily draws, but offer enough info to be a good starting point for your own interpretations. I love that they include both upright and reversed meanings (I don’t read reversals, but I view upright and reversed as the “light/shadow” aspects of each card), as well as question prompts for journaling or reflection. It’s definitely the best guidebook I’ve seen for its content and brevity - it makes the deck easy to get to know and a joy to use.For a mass produced deck I’d say the cards are reasonable quality, the artwork is gorgeous and the vibes are immaculate. As with any deck, there are some cards I absolutely love and some I don’t vibe with as much (at least initially). But the quality of the illustrations is remarkably consistent, and the deck feels like a rich and complete world. I was surprised by how quickly I connected with this deck.

I just got these in the mail today and I’m already so attached to this deck. The artwork is so enchanting and beautiful. My favorite thing about this deck and the corresponding book is the overall feeling of warmth in the messaging- one thing that turned me off from a pretty popular oracle deck was the sort of brusque descriptions which made certain cards feel quite negative. The card meanings in the booklet invoke thought, and prompt you to turn inwards and reflect. I like that it places the trust in the readers hands to make sense of what is coming out in the cards. Jessica also did a wonderful job of making the cards intuitive and simple to understand on their own if you don’t have the booklet handy.The cards are quite large if you have smaller hands but, not enough to be a deterrent. I can still comfortably shuffle them. I’ve seen mention of the cards being thin, and while they’re not as thick as some oracle cards, they’re not flimsy by any means. They seem durable and the card stock is very nice. That being said, I will shuffle them flat because I want to keep them looking nice.Long story short, this deck is lovely and I highly recommend it! Especially great for anyone just starting out!

These oracle cards are so powerful. I use them to help with my daily journaling and ive developed a connection with these cards. The art is beautiful, and the descriptions of the plants and animals on the card and how it pertains to your reading is so well written. These are the first oracle cards ive ever bought and i love them.

Honestly, I did not know this was an oracle deck when I bought it...even though it's right there in the name! I liked the look of the box art and the Hare and just went for it. As it turns out, this a pretty cool deck. Overall, I think the artwork is excellent and I like the style and feel of it.While I'm no connoisseur of card-stock, I'd say this is slightly on the thin side, but it hasn't been a problem for me. The cards are "dry" and don't stick much at all and they have a matte finish. The cards are pretty large, which wasn't an issue in itself, but personally, I was surprised by how much dead space there was on the original cards, so I decided to cut the artwork out, going along the nice hand-drawn borders with nice rounded edges. They look fine as they come, but I do prefer them cut. I would say that these cards were designed to be friendly to those willing to cut off the borders except for the fact that on the back, the pattern is BARELY too large and you end up losing tiny bits at the top and bottom. Although you'll never think twice about this once the cutting is done, its worth knowing in advance. For me, the art and the cards are much improved by being trimmed down; I was a little shocked at how small the art actually is compared to the original cards, but I think they look better and obviously they shuffle even easier than before. I also think that the backing looks much better trimmed down as there was a large halo of dead space there before. If you cut them skillfully, they shuffle perfectly and look like a whole new deck. I don't regret devoting the time at all. Of course they won't fit snuggly in the box after, but it's worth it--besides, they make a nice little sound jostling around lolMy only complaint about this deck, and its a small one that I almost didn't mention, is that a few of the cards seem to dip in quality compared to the others, which is a shame, but also an indication of how good the majority of the cards are. I really feel like the Porcupine, Deer, Badger, Bat, and Wolf are not up to the standard set by the artist. I would honestly buy this all over again if these cards were improved!FYI the picture with the Hare shows the cut size compared to a standard tarot card and the Woodland Wardens cards before cutting.

Beautiful artwork, sturdy box, thorough booklet, a beautiful companion to a tarot deck or just to pull on its own.