Denise Linn, Native Spirit Oracle Cards. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2015. ISBN: 9781401945930. (link to publisher)
Genre: oracle cards
Subgenre: Native, indigeneous
Format: 44 cards deck with small companion book
Source: I own this one
The book is arranged as follows:
- Introduction. A brief blessing and statement from the author.
- Journey to the Native Spirit. A brief explanation of the deck's concept.
- How to use the Native Spirit Oracle Cards. This includes preparing to use the cards, choosing and interpreting the cards, some spreads, and some information on interpreting dreams and signs.
- Native Spirit Oracle Cards. Here are the interpretations and meanings for each card.
The book is well written. Language is easy, accessible with a warm, nurturing tone. A key goal of the set is to help readers align their inner spiritual experience with their outer life, and the book enhances the deck with good instructions and interpretations. The small rituals for reading the cards are simple and easy to do for anyone; you do not need any additional fancy items, just your deck, the book, and you with some quiet space. There are no specific diagrams for the spreads, but overall you can lay the cards out as you wish or in simple ways, like a wheel.
In the card meanings, each card entry features a small black and white photo of the card, card meaning, your "Native Spirit Wants You To Know" (a more spiritual message and a lesson from indigenous peoples and traditions), and the journey (actions you can do). Entries are about two pages long. Card entries are easy to ready. There is no complex esoterica here, and this makes the book and deck very accessible to anyone. You can feel the author brings in a lot of kindness and humility as you read and use the book. Messages are simple, and they tend to be positive and uplifting. If you need a little inspiration in the Hard Times, this book and deck are a good choice.
The deck has 44 cards. As the author states, the cards do not portray any specific tribe or tradition. I would say though they are very Native American in general in terms of the imagery. Imagery is pretty open ended and broad so anyone can pick them up to access their ancestral wisdom. As the author writes, "if you trace your bloodline back far enough, you'll find that your ancestors were native" (1). So this really feels like a deck for everyone.
The art on the cards is photography, and the deck does have some beautiful photos. Naturally a bit of embellishment may be involved, but for the most part the photos appear natural. The photos are colorful, and some are bright. Other photos make good use of shadows. These are all photos in nature somehow, so this deck can also work for folks wanting a nature themed deck.
The cards have a small top and bottom native art border that is not obtrusive. The cards do have a glossy finish, so they could stick a bit when shuffling. An issue for me was the bard back. The photo image is nice as is; they should have left out writing the deck name over the photo. It could have looked nicer, but your mileage may vary. The cards measure about 5 inches by 3 1/2 inches. The cards just have photo and name of the card; the cards are not numbered.
Overall, I would say this is a beautiful deck you can use to get in touch with nature, with your ancestors and ancestral knowledge, for some inner work, and/or just when you want a message from Spirit. I used the deck this time for a weekly oracle draw, but I can see using it also in combination with some Tarot decks. This is a deck I really like and hope to keep using.
4 out of 5 stars.
This deck kit qualifies for the following 2022 Reading Challenge:
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