- Aether Creatures Oracle Cards
- By Teal Swan
- Watkins Publishing, 2022. Price £22 / approx. US price $29
- ISBN 978-1-78678-706-4
- Reviewed by Mother Serpentine Tarot
The Aether Creatures deck is far out. I mean it. As a reader, I have encountered many oracle decks over the years. This one definitely falls into the “memorable” category; Teal Swan has broken the boundaries we usually find in oracle decks, opting to test a new formula. She has combined features from tarot, oracle and animistic practices to create this almost alien deck.
Teal Swan is a modern spiritual leader, and works in an animistic manner with these aether creatures. When people work animistically, they often work with animals we see on earth; however, Teal Swan works instead with these multidimensional beings. This deck helps you to connect with these creatures, absorb their wisdom and work with the powers they possess.
Above, I said the word “Alien”. And this is really the first word that popped into my head when I saw the artwork. Or perhaps Pokemon? The images are wildly imaginative, presented in a digital ink and watercolour style. The creatures are expressive and the colour palette rich and varied. The artwork definitely has a hyper digital feel to it; I personally am turned off by digital artwork (personal preference!) but feel it works great with a younger audience. The artwork is also reminiscent of batik artwork.
The outlines are bold, but the artwork isn’t overly detailed. This is a real wow for me; rather than showing the reader what the creature looks like, it allows the imagination to run free. You get to perceive and imagine the being in your own unique way. This is subtle but excellent, especially for younger or developing readers, as imagination and intuition are so intertwined.
On to practicalities! A tarot deck usually consists of 78 cards, with a range of in-depth spreads available to use. Oracle decks typically contain fewer cards, usually around 40, but they make up for it by being larger cards. The Aether Creatures deck has 77 cards (and reversed meanings too!). Oracle cards typically tell you their meaning on the card, or as part of the card name. This deck does not. The book is absolutely required for working with this deck. This means it would be challenging to use for professional readings. That said, I practised a reading for myself and used the book to interpret, and found it to be accurate and interesting.
This deck is CHONKY. The cards are big, even for an oracle deck, and the cardstock is thick. They barely fit in my hands, and I’m a large lady. However the quality is *chefs kiss*. This is the ultimate maximalist deck in terms of size, and the creators have not skimped one iota. They wanted the most cards, the biggest cards, and the sturdiest, shiniest cards.
And this extends into the book. Each card gets a detailed overview. The book is hefty at 352 pages, and each page is crammed with the smallest readable font. There is no messing around with blank space and void filling pictures; this book is loaded with info, with each card getting a nice chunk of “airtime” to tell you about the history, origin and details of the creature as well as upright and reversed meanings. As I said above, the book would be necessary in reading with this deck, so it’s lucky it’s so engaging!
The book of course gives some ideas for spreads, and I find that the spreads in it go way above and beyond a typical oracle deck, offering larger and more detailed spreads than other, more pedestrian decks on the market. As in, my eyes popped out of my head with excitement to read the spreads!
In summary, this is a dense deck, and book, loaded with info. The artwork is beautiful and connects us with the imagination, while allowing us to work with these multidimensional beings. It’s an excellent deck for a young audience, or for personal use, and will appeal to people who love Pokemon, Dragonball Z, animals, or different dimensions.
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