- Author: Angela Manno
- Publisher: Bear & Company (an imprint of Inner Traditions)
- Publication date: January 2025
- RRP: GB £23.99 / US $30
- ISBN: 978-1-59143-503-7
- Reviewed by: Andrea Laughton
When I was asked to review this deck, I was intrigued as to how it would unfold and what journey it would take me on with regards to my own personal progression. The deck itself arrived just before a much-needed break, so it was packed in my bag to aid with the rest and relaxation, and I’m so pleased that I took it with me.
Angela Manno has been a professional artist for over forty years, with formal training in the ancient art of Byzantine Russian iconography, which she combines with her passion for raising awareness of the biodiversity crisis the world is currently facing. In the guidebook Angela expands further on her desire to create this deck:
We cannot take our next breath without the oxygen produced by the forests and the oceans. The Earth and all of the life it contains is our Larger Self – we are part of this total life…..In creating these new images, I could merge my ecological spirituality with my art practice and allow myself to be further transformed by the images I was creating of the other life forms making up my Larger Self. By contemplating Each image in this series, this opportunity is open to you too.
The 36-card deck is beautifully presented in a sturdy magnetic flip box and is accompanied by a comprehensive 160-page colour guidebook. The book is clearly structured and well laid out with a chapter explaining Angela’s passion for biodiversity and how this fits in with her spiritual practice. A further chapter explores the origins and meaning of iconography, and how the deck can be used as a window into the divine through a process know as Visio Divina (sacred seeing). This chapter also shows a step-by-step process of how the drawings were made using colour photographs.
I found this very interesting, and I will certainly be doing further research on this process.
The guided “meanings” for each of the cards are in a uniform format consisting of four sections:
Wisdom: this gives further insight into the card you have chosen, their habitat and characteristics and their role within their ecosystem.
Contemplation: An invitation to follow the steps provided for Visio Divina.
Reflection: An opportunity to gather your thoughts and record them through journaling or automatic writing. Angela provides prompting questions that ask you to delve deeper to allow for empathy for the life of the creatures.
Action: this provides the opportunity for you to channel any emotions that arise, to further explore – QR codes are provided, and if you feel compelled, there is more information on action you can take to help.
The card stock is good quality and has a smooth matt finish. They are, however, BIG (12.5cm x 18.5cm) and certainly the largest deck I have used so far. I was not able to shuffle them, so I spread them facedown on the table to mix them up. The cards are based on six themes, mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians, invertebrates and, finally, plants. The artwork is beautiful and almost pops to life from the card, bursting from their framed windows. Each of the cards has both the common and Greek names which includes a QR code that takes you to a webpage to find more information.
I selected The Sockeye Salmon. I won’t go into the full details of my Visio Divina or journalling insights, however, I will say that I found it a useful and grounding exercise. I had felt a little stuck on some life tasks and by completing the exercise, it helped me put things into perspective, enabling me to approach them from a different angle and break them down into easier chunks. This may sound obvious, but I do believe the contemplation helped me to step away from myself and clear the way forward.
Overall, I really enjoyed using these cards. I don’t think they would be a daily card draw for me, but more of a once or twice a week pull. I also enjoyed learning more about the biodiversity of the creatures we share our planet with, and it was interesting looking towards these creatures, and how their life spirit makes up our larger self, for the divine that is found in life all around us. The only negative I would mention is the size of the cards; they are not something I could pop in a handbag to use on a train journey, but what I would use at home or sat in the garden.
Author Bio
Angela Manno trained with a master iconographer from Russia and studied at the San Francisco Art Institute, Parsons School of Design, and l’Ecole des Arts in Lacoste, France, through Sarah Lawrence College. Her work has been exhibited in private and public collections around the world, including NASA, the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She works with the Center for Biological Diversity on its endangered species programs and lives in the United Kingdom.
To find out more about Angela, you can visit her at:
https://www.youtube.com/@angelamannofineart6281/shorts\
https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-manno-14a8799
You can purchase the deck here: https://www.innertraditions.com/the-sacred-biodiversity-oracle, and from all good online bookstores.
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