Druid Animal Oracle Deck and Book

Design and Text by Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm
Art by Bill Worthington
Published by Simon and Shuster Inc.
Size 4 1/16” x 5 7/8”
ISBN-10: 1859061729&
ISBN-13: 978-1859061725

This beautiful over sized deck of cards was conceived by Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm. It highlights animals sacred to the Druid tradition and the specific powers and areas of knowledge for each animal that will reconnect us with earth based spirituality.

The Artwork – Each one of these quite lovely cards was illustrated by Bill Worthington, a Lancashire artist and Pendragon of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Each has a Celtic design border and the animal is large and the center focus of each card. There are many fine details in the landscapes the animals are set in, plants that relate to the animal, often symbols carved in to the rocks or items on the ground such as Celtic jewellery or weapons. The artwork does a fine job of transporting one to another time and place.

The Dragons – Of course this is the part of the deck that impressed me the most! As well as 29 animal cards, the deck has 4 elemental Dragon cards. Fire Dragon, Water Dragon, Air Dragon and Earth Dragon. Each card representing the power of it’s element combined with the essence of a Dragon.

The Text – The accompanying hard covered book not only tells about the divination use of each card but gives legends and traditions of the animal as well. The front and back covers have a list of each animal card, it’s Gaelic name, a few key words and the page number in the book where the more detailed information on that animal may be found. The introduction is a nice treatment about animals and their signifigance in our lives. Chapter One is an explanation about oracles and how they are applied to Druidry. Chapter Two is the guts of the book, where each animal is pictured in a black and white rendition of the card. A description of the image, it’s key words and an upright and reversed divination meaning are given. After that is a Celtic lore section for that animal. Chapter Three is a section on how to use the cards, including a Celtic Sacred Circle or Wheel of the Year and spreads. The final page of Chapter Three is a correspondence list of what animals go with different areas of life such as healing, protection, creativity etc. A very complete and enjoyable text.

Other Comments – The set also comes with a lovely dark blue reading cloth that is chased with a silver design of Celtic symbols and the four Elemental Dragons along it’s borders. My only complaint with this set is the flimsy card stock the cards are printed on.