If you are a regular follower of this blog, you will know that I have a fancy for collecting Tarot Cards. It was only recently that I expanded my collection to also include Oracle Cards. As someone who is a writer, when I came across the newly released Literary Witches Oracle, I thought it was a match made in heaven.
Unearth the wisdom of the witchiest women in literary history and let their brilliance illuminate your path. Drawn from the book Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers, the cards in this oracle deck bear portraits of powerful female authors and mystical spell ingredients, both full of symbolism meant to nourish the witch that lives within you.
The Literary Witches Oracle Written by Taisia Kitaiskaia & Illustrated by Katy Horan
The box itself is quite strong with a nice textured material, something that will not only keep well, but also means that you can safely store your cards in this box without the need to buy a pouch or a wooden box to store your cards. This is always a big plus for me whose collection is growing by the day. As a collector, I like to store my cards in the original box. The box itself opens like a book which is a nice touch considering writing is its inspiration. Inside the box is a small guide book which lies on top of the deck itself.
The cards themselves are a nice large size and made of a matte material with a textured feel which is quite different to a lot of the gloss style cards you seem to find these days. The thickness of the card could be better and the cards do bend quite easily so I would recommend buying 2 decks (one for reading and one to keep) if you wish to keep this as a collectors as it seems like they would wear quite quickly. I personally prefer a thicker and glossier card as they are easier to handle and shuffle and just feel nicer overall. As mentioned above, the cards are separated into two categories: The author cards (the witches) and the witches materials.
The guide book itself, does not offer a lot of detail when it comes to the meaning of the cards. The reason for this is that it encourages the reader to use their own intuition as to what the card means for them and the questions they are asking. Instead the guidebook offers a very short bio of each author along with 3 words which hint at the card's meaning. The same with the witches materials, only 3 words are offered instead of a more comprehensive meaning. For those like myself who are not intuitive readers, I prefer to have a little more to work with. What I do like however is that the book encourages the reader to explore the works of the author whose card is drawn on that particular day as it may offer extra guidance and inspiration.
The artwork itself is quite simple at a glance but there is a lot of detail in the simplicity that gives it a certain 'feel' that carries on throughout the deck. It all flows quite nicely. The portraits are quite striking and focus on the ladies which is how it should be. You don't need too much happening in the background because the focus is on the women and the stories they tell. The witches materials artwork is also quite simple but again tells you everything you need to know. While a single word is offered on each card, seeing that the guide book only gives a few words of guidance, I feel it would have been beneficial to have these words written on the cards themselves - but this is just a personal preference so you don't have to rely on the guidebook.
For myself, this was never going to be a deck I would read with everyday. It was always just going to be collectors deck for myself. It was very reasonably priced and overall I am happy to have it as a part of my collection. Already it has inspired me to look back at some of the works of these amazing ladies and I am sure it will in the future as well. I do wish there was more 'guidance' in the guide book, but again the deck is supposed to inspire you to seek the answers within so maybe it doesn't need to be written in black and white in front of us. I stuggle with intuition due to my rational nature so this deck makes me step outside of my comfort zone which is something that is important, especially when it comes to creativity which I feel is what has drawn me to this deck. For those who are good at using their intuition, I feel you will gain a lot of inspiration and wisdom from not only this deck but the amazing ladies it highlights.
** I have not been paid or asked to write this review nor gifted a set. I bought this deck for my collection from Amazon.
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