Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals [Hardcover]

Unless you believe that the only important totem animals are the ones that you can find on belt buckles (Eagle, Bear, Random Big Cat, etc.), there's no real Major Arcana/Minor Arcana distinction here. Every single card in this deck is big ju-ju. My first two readings kinda freaked me out, really. If archetypes, animal mythos and anthropomorphism are pretty much second-nature to you, just give up and get this deck. You will probably understand the cards without needing to check the book all that often.

Unless there was a slip-up at the publisher's, the standard deck does not come with a little reference pamphlet like most tarot decks do. It comes with a medium-sized hard back book (A nice treat, but not convenient for lugging around spontaneously -- this could be why they made the "Just for Today" deck) that explains each card, including an occasional story, and some spreads and an exercise to figure out which totem animals represent you in this spread. Two of three totems that I'd already figured out for myself showed up in the exercise, and the third was kinda iffy for me at that point anyway.

The cards are 5.5" by 3" and have an alarmingly boring back -- government blue with a single yellow lightening bolt. They're coated with something incredibly shiny, but aren't particularly slippery. There are 52 cards in the deck, plus 9 blanks so that you can fill it in with any animals that you think are missing. They're almost a little too large for me to shuffle them easily (and I've been told that I have large hands for my gender). The book's table of contents tells you what animals are included.

The artwork works inwards from a white boarder to a thinner red boarder that also bisects the interior design. The top half of the inside is sky-blue, and the bottom is an earth-tone green. In the middle is a Medicine Shield inside which is a picture of the featured animal spirit. Above, in the blue, along with the number of the card, is the aniamls name in a black script font.

The artwork is good. It's not cute, and it's not dazzlingly beautiful in a way that draws me, but I'm still impressed with this deck for all my nitpicky comments. If you think you're up for the challenge, I recommend "Medicine Cards."

This deck does not function in the way that most tarot decks do. Instead of dividing the deck into minor and major arcana and using suites (pentacles, cups, ect), this deck is meant to be read a whole.

You will find nothing but animals in this deck, everything from the ant to the dolphin. Each animal has a lesson. It may be leadership, stamina, self-reflection or innocence to name a few. This lesson is referred to as that particular animal's medicine. The medicine referred to throughout this deck is anything that will strengthen the reader's connection to the Great Spirit and to all life. By incorporating these lessons into your own life you will learn about yourself as well as those around you.

There are also blank shields for you to add any animals that you feel a connection to that are left out of the deck, or if you wish to design your own personal medicine shield they can be used for that.

The book contains spread for finding your nine totem animals, and various spreads that are influenced by the teachings of the Native American tribes (the Sun Lodge spread for example is for how others see you, while the Moon Lodge spread is a mirror of you.

I have used this deck for well over a year now and find its medicine has helped me along my path. If you're interested in Shamanism I would definately suggest this deck. It would work well for those interested in animal guides, totem animals or the teaching of Native American tribes.