Happy New Year Wolfling!
I thought that with the start of the new year and the changing of the podcast, a fun episode to begin the new year would be for me to discuss and share my desert island decks. These are decks ONLY from my collection. No vintage, valuable, or rare decks. If someone was shipping me off to a deserted island, and I only had a few minutes to grab some decks, these are the ones that I would grab.
A quick note before we begin though. I used to offer a monthly forecast to the general public on the podcast. With the nature of the forecast, and the work that goes into it, I am now only offering the forecast on Patreon. Click here to join my Wolf Pack for only $5.00
My Desert Island Tarot Decks
The first tarot deck that is coming with me to the deserted island should come as no surprise to anyone. This deck, the one that I learned with, is part of the change that took hold of me. I don’t think the grip that tarot had on me from the beginning would have been as powerful if I hadn’t used this deck.
One of the things that I love the most about this deck is the raw feel of the artwork. I love that Kim Krans doesn’t create overly polished images. Looking at the Death card, you can see the pen scratches in the background. I like this touch. It makes it feel like a moving textured background with depth, instead of just black.
I also like that the images are simplistic, but not overly so. Krans puts exactly what she wants into the image, and nothing more. Some may find this deck to be too simplistic, and the guidebook is not that great, and may not help with understanding the cards, but I enjoyed that when learning. I had to start building a narrative with what was given. I am grateful for that. If I could only ever have one tarot deck for the rest of my life, it would be this one.
The next desert island deck from my collection is the Hush Tarot. The main thing that I love about this deck is its artistic feel. It is meant to feel like an antique, with a patinaed vibe. I love anything that is Victorian Gothic, and this deck gives me all that and more.
This deck honors both the cycles of life and death. The box mentions that every image has a layer of life and decay. That is what makes this deck and the images come to life. On the opposite end of the spectrum with the Wild Unknown, Jeremy Hush has included many tiny details in each image. This layering of symbolism and imagery gives it a natural and earthly feel.
Finally, the color palette and style of the artwork speak to me. The colors consist mostly of creams, deep yellows, sage greens, grays, browns, and powder blues. Also, the artwork all feels like acrylic paintings that belong in a museum. Each image feels special.
The last tarot deck that is going with me to the deserted island is the Dark Wood Tarot. I included this deck for a few different reasons. The first is that this deck was created to apply a layer of integration with each card. What I mean by this is that Sasha Graham created each image with an archetype, personality trait, or sense of understanding with each card. I love this because tarot without application is just images on cards. The work you do goes beyond the physical tool. This deck is also meant to incorporate the shadow, which is going to provide an added layer of intimacy with the deck because shadow work is all about vulnerability.
This deck, like the others has a raw, gothic, and feminine quality to it. This is going to be a running theme with all of my decks. What I love about Abigail Larson’s artwork is that it is the opposite side of the same coin as the Hush Tarot. Where that one embodies texture and brush strokes, this deck has a fantasy quality. Hush Tarot has a more realistic feel to the art, whereas Dark Wood Tarot feels more imagined in a world of its own. The more stylized and animated nature of this deck provides a beautiful feel of storytelling through the art.
My Desert Island Oracle Decks
Following the trend with my number one tarot deck; my number one oracle deck is the Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck. Not only is this deck a great companion for the tarot deck, but it is a deck full of nothing but animals. This is truly all I want in a deck, beautiful imagery of a beautiful animal. Similar as well to the tarot, I like the simplicity of the images. While I don’t mind a full image of a spider in a web amidst a great landscape, I like that here the focus is solely on the animal in each card.
What I also love about these images and this deck is that it carries that same raw artistic quality that Kim Krans does so well. This lends to be accessible when reading for clients, and also allows the to create their own connections without a ton of symbolism to distract.
Following in the same vein as the deck above, we have The Wild Unknown Archetypes deck. I chose this deck because again it is a good companion to the Tarot and Animal Spirit deck. I thought about including the Alchemy deck as well, but with a theme like Alchemy there is still much I am learning about those terms and themes that I don’t feel fully ready to just read that deck.
The main reason why I chose this deck is because archetypes are found in both tarot and oracle, but this deck lends itself to a psychoanalytic approach that allows readers, ad myself when using this deck, to make a personal connection to each archetype. For example, the Shark from the Animal Spirit deck serves as an archetype of fear, unknown, or darkness. What I don’t have in landlocked Colorado is a personal connection to the Shark, even though I love them. With the Archetypes deck, I am asked to form personal connections from my own life, and understanding.
Final desert island deck is the Woodland Wardens deck created by Jessica Roux. More animals. More vintage art. More muted color palettes. That is my theme. That is my vibe lol. What I love about this deck is I also get an herbal accompaniment, as well as folklore and myth around these plants and animals. I enjoy reading in the guidebook about where the Deer had a theme of healing from cultures or times past. The power words or themes help to anchor readings or a daily pull with a focus point, which is always nice.
Honorable Mentions
Honorable Mentions from my deck collection go to the Bird King Tarot, which offers my first deck with analog photography. More gothic forests and focus on animals… What I will say about this deck is that it is beautifully made and has a surrealistic quality to it, more than any of my other decks.
Oracle’s honorable mention goes to Oracle of the Unicorns, because …. Unicorns. Need I say more? This deck also just elevates my inner child more than any deck I have.
Recommendations
Finally, here are two recommendations from my decks. If you want an animal tarot deck, but don’t love the artwork from the Wild Unknown, the Guardian of the Night Tarot has beautiful images that feel like wallpaper or an intricate book cover. This deck has loads of symbolism, animal allies, but includes more color, textures, and detailed images than the Wild Unknown.
If you like archetypes, but want something more fantastical than the Archetypes deck, the Citadel: A Fantasy Oracle is for you. This deck was made to be an oracle deck or an accompaniment to tabletop gaming. Titles like the Hound, the Archer, or the Runaway all have an archetypal understanding while also pulling on unique roles in the castle walls. The artwork of this deck is beyond gorgeous with copper chrome accentuating the red, black, and white color palette.
Those are the decks that I have included, and I hope you like this fun theme. Let me know what you think, and listen to the episode which is already available on the podcast.
Ashlie McDiarmid
Hello there! I hope you liked this blog post. As a tarot and oracle reader, my goal with my blogs is to offer you content, resources, and access to the tools that have transformed my life.
I believe that your own intuition is the deepest form of knowing, but here in my little corner of the internet, I share insights based in intuition and instinct. I share my love for nature, witchcraft, and the wild spirit.
- If your spirit is at home in wild places
- If you feel the need to claim your autonomy as ritual
- If you want to more deeply trust your own intuition
- If you want resources or connections to tarot, oracle, witchcraft, and wild sovereignty, then welcome!
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