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Title: Nature Goddess Oracle
Created by: Stacey Demarco
Illustrated by: Kinga Britschgi
Publisher: Rockpool Publishing
Price: $26.95
Number of cards: 44
Card size: 5 x 3.5 in
Box size: 5.5 x 4 x 1.5 in approx
Guidebook pages: 152
Purchased or gifted?: review copy gifted by Rockpool Publishing
Absolute favorite card: Papatūānuku
Other favorites: (in order from most beloved): Pachamama, Laka, Cybelle, Amaterasu, Demeter, Aranyani, Feronia, Nyx, Danu, Abnoba, Brigid, Izanami, Jörd
Notable detail: bright green edges
Season: Summer
Sabbat: Beltane / Litha
Sign: Taurus
Element: Earth
Deck compliment: see note
Collective Pull: Sif

Add to Your Altar

First Impressions

To be honest, I kind of rolled my eyes the first time I saw this deck. I feel there are so many goddess decks out there and at some point, it just feels like a lot of the same. I’m also struggling with this idea personally because I’ve been working on another series for a number of years now (not sure if it’s still happening) with a friend of mine who really wants to include deities. The concept that we came up with the deities is really cool if I’m being honest and to be fair, it is very different from anything else I’ve ever seen. However, just like I told her, don’t we have enough goddess tools, decks, journals, guides, etc?

I still went ahead and requested Nature Goddess Oracle for review though because it is pretty and while it’s goddess centric, I do love that it's specifically nature goddesses and not just goddesses in general. But also because I like Stacy Demarco. The Earth Power Oracle is one of my favorite oracles of all time and the Halloween Oracle was the very first oracle I ever bought. I don’t love all of her decks but I do think she’s a fantastic creator so I felt despite my slight annoyance with goddess work, it would still be great to review the deck. So let’s take a deeper look and then let me know if you decide this is one to add to your altar.

The Packaging

This is probably sounding like a broken record at this point for those of you who faithfully read these reviews every week but Rockpool is king of packaging. Every single deck is gorgeous, even if it isn’t my style. Everything is full color from the guidebook to the inside of the box to the back of the cards, the color edges and even the little piece of paper that holds the cards together.

And let’s just take a moment to talk about these bright green sides. Rockpool ALWAYS has gilded edges but sometimes the choice is pretty boring. I’m talking about the gold and the silver that’s been a thing for a long time. But every so often, they pull out a standout color like these green edges. The color is so bright and rich. It reminds me of Jamaica which is the absolute greenest place I’ve ever seen in my life.

I will say that when looking at these cards, you truly get the sense that this is an earthy deck. The only thing I wish had been different is the box cover art. I wish it had been one of the green card images and not this dark blue toned one. My feeling is that this card is reminiscent of seeing a photo of the globe from outer space. I don’t know if that’s what they were going for but I feel like a green card like Danu or Papatūānuku would’ve been a better fit.

This last point isn’t about packaging per se but about the name. I do wonder why Stacey chose to call this deck Nature Goddess instead of Queen of Nature. She has the Queen of the Moon and the Queen of the Sun oracles which are all mostly about goddesses so I feel like that would’ve rounded out to a nice trio. I also think the globe angle would’ve been a bit of a better fit as well.

The Guidebook

The guidebook is fairly thick but I think saying full color is a bit of a stretch. I mean it is full color but it’s more on the plain side compared to what Rockpool usually does. RP usually has really elaborate page designs so I was a little surprised to see it scaled back here. Having said that, you do get full color images of the cards and a couple of pages at the front and back of the book that are full page images. Inside the guidebook you will find:

An introduction
How to use the cards
Six spreads
A card dedication
And card meanings

For each card, you get a short divinatory paragraph. I think this is so that if you need a divination quickly, you have it readily available and accessible without reading through the whole meaning. Then you get some background information on the goddess which includes expanded divinatory meanings. Finally you get a short list of correspondences that include symbols, a power word and then a companion plant or stone.

I like the way Stacey has set up the card meanings. I love that the divinatory meaning is front and center. I think that’s super smart and as a deck creator, I am definitely taking notes. The thing is, you want to explain the card right? You want people to have some context as to why you feel this is a good card to have in the deck. But the background story helps to inform the card's meaning, making interpretations easier. At the same time, you don’t need to read the backstory every single time you draw that card so having the divination meaning in a separate area makes a lot of sense.

The guidebook has a good set of spreads; six in total. The Seasonal Spread is the most interesting. I saw eight cards and assumed it corresponded to the Wheel of the Year but it didn't. It’s a pretty unique spread in the sense that you intentionally draw eight specific cards and then work with only these in a specific way. You’re supposed to lay your hand on each card, say its corresponding power word and then ask a question. I’m not clear if you’re supposed to draw additional cards once you ask the question though. That’s kind of where the spread loses me. For example, the book says”

Pass your hand over to Nyx. Say the word of power. Ask: “What am I not seeing?”

You do this for each of the eight cards, asking their respective questions. But there isn’t any additional information on how the question “What am I not seeing?” is being answered. Are you supposed to receive the answer intuitively or do you draw another card? I feel like this could’ve been a really cool idea but I think more instruction is needed.

Theme

You guessed it, this is a deck of goddesses that are associated with the earth in some way. Not all of them are mother earth goddesses like Gaia or Pachamama. Some are a little more indirectly related like Nyx which is the goddess of night but night is of course a part of nature. My point is that Nature is a good term rather than Earth because you see different forms of nature through the goddesses rather than them all being related to green things specifically.

The Artwork

I really like the artwork. The images seem to glow. I don’t know how Kinga did it but every card feels alive and isn’t that so perfect for a nature oracle? I especially noticed this when I was taking photos. It’s like parts of the image lifted off the card almost as if the cards have foil and were catching the light. I feel like this is photo manipulation at its finest. Everything looks cohesive and layered and has so much movement.

“These deities not only preserved and protected the land people lived within, but the rivers, the sea, the mountains, the springs, the volcanoes, the forests, the plants and all the animals that shared the earth too.”

My favorite card is Papatūānuku. First of all, I love seeing more unfamiliar goddesses in the deck. But this card specifically is so lush and it has a little bit of everything. It has some light, some dark, water, earth, fire represented by the flickers of light or magic all around, the sky to represent air. When I think of earth or nature, this is what I see. Pachamama too. I also love true ethnic representation meaning, you can tell these are ethnic people. It’s not always clear sometimes, especially in goddess decks.

But I also love seeing other colors besides green. I’ve been ranting about this for a little bit but when we say earthy, I feel like most people either mean muted colors or green. And you know what, the earth isn’t just green. It has every color you can imagine naturally occurring from hot pink to yellow, red, purple, turquoise and more. And you see many of these colors represented throughout the deck here. In terms of an earthy deck, I genuinely feel like the artwork couldn’t have been better.

Reading With this Deck

I struggled to read with this deck at first. I wasn’t in a good place when I first used it and I feel like I couldn’t get a solid read on anything. I sat it down for weeks and didn’t use it but I picked it up again just before starting my review and finally I got a clear message. But I’m also in a much better place now. I’ve worked with this deck a few times over the past two weeks and I often find that my mood really impacts my reading. Now this is the case with all decks to be fair. A bad mood or low energy can impact a reading with any deck. But there are some decks that help me to work out of a bad place and there are other decks that are only supportive during good times.

This deck feels like the latter. When I’m in a good place, this deck really helps me to make sense of things. I find it especially helpful in readings about creativity, goal setting and growth which makes sense being an earth based deck. But as far as reading for say shadow work, I don’t think it’s going to be useful or at least it hasn’t been for me.

That doesn’t mean the deck is bad. This is why I think it's always good to interview your deck before using it. Some decks are good at one thing or a handful of things and that’s ok. That’s why we have so many decks to choose from. It’s just like going to one friend for one thing and another friend for something else. I think I’m going to reserve this deck for readings about creative ideas. I’ve been working on some deck and book ideas and with that, I feel like this deck always helps me to think about things in new ways.

Ready to get this deck?

Season, Sign, Element and Sabbat

I chose summer for the season more so than spring. Of course both could work but this deck feels very lush and rich. It’s colorful and expressive, which are more summer themes than spring. And most importantly, there’s so much movement in the artwork. There’s vitality and energy which gives this deck a feeling of more gravitas than I think spring can accomplish on its own.

I chose Taurus for the zodiac sign since Taurus is quite literally the archetype of mother nature. Anything that is sensual meaning expressive, tactile and fragrant belongs to this sign. Taurus is also the first earth sign of the zodiac which I believe corresponds to some of the earth origin stories associated with many of the goddesses in this deck. Which of course means earth is the element. Really, there’s no other choice.

Finally, I went with both Beltane and Litha for the sabbat. Beltane is considered the start of summer on the Wheel of the Year with Litha being Midsummer of course. And I think that’s because these two sabbats occur right around the time when the earth really starts to burst with the year’s growth. I always associate Lammas more with wheat and bread and gold and browns and I think that’s because many harvests start bolting at that point or begin to reach the end of their life cycle. So when it comes to more green things, Beltane and Litha win out.

Collective Pull

I pulled Sif for you. Sif is a reminder that life sometimes delivers tough blows. That people act out of jealousy or hardships fall upon you but these things do not last. Growth is nature’s bread and better. There is always opportunity for growth, abundance and expansion. It may take longer than you’d like and there will no doubt be several bumps along the way but these are temporary headaches. Don’t react to bad news with anger or revenge. It doesn’t improve anything. It makes you frustrated and anxious but it doesn’t change your circumstances. Only time and patience can heal wounds. You’ll be ok. Maybe not in this exact moment or the one that follows but you’ll find light again. I don’t say this to diminish what you’re feeling today so please do not accept it in that way. All this to say that getting knocked down doesn’t mean you have to stay down.

Who is this deck for?

If you work with goddess energy then I think you’ll be surprised to find some lesser known deities here. I’m kind of bored with goddesses but I do know that there are a lot of people who still love and work with them and if that’s you then there’s definitely something here for you.

I also feel like if you tend to gravitate towards earthy things or the “earth mama” aesthetic and energy then this will probably resonate as well. I don’t think it’s a super profound deck but it’s certainly a solid one. I can see this one becoming an easy everyday deck to work with and of course, the beautiful thing about goddess decks is that they can be used as altar cards especially for invoking deities.

Deck Companion

I chose not to select a deck companion. I didn’t feel like I had a deck that truly complimented this one. I can’t say this is my favorite oracle but you know, I’d LOVE to see a tarot deck done in this style. I think I would truly adore that. I love the artwork, truly I do. I just don’t love the overall concept as much. But an earth energy tarot deck, that I could get behind. Who knows, maybe elemental tarot decks will be my next series.