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Created By: Tarn Ellis
Publisher: Lo Scarabeo
Number of cards: 78

Card size: 4.75 x 2.75
Box size: 5 x 3.25 x 2
Guidebook pages: 127: 67 in english
Purchased or gifted?: gifted for review by Llewellyn

Absolute favorite card: Ten of Wands
Other favorites: The Wheel, The Magician, The Sun, Nine of Cups, Six of Swords, Ace of Cups, Eight of Pentacles, Seven of Pentacles
Notable detail: beautiful image on the back of cards
Season: summer
Sabbat: Lammas/ Mabon
Sign: Leo/ Aquarius

Oracle Deck compliment: Earth Song Oracle

First Impressions

To be honest with you, I didn’t like this deck as much as I wanted to. It's beautiful, please don’t misunderstand me but I love Tarn’s Earth Song Oracle and I was hoping this tarot deck would be more similar to that. This is a lot more brightly colored than I personally enjoy so just from that perspective, it let me down just a bit. The backs of the cards however, feel like a perfect match to the Earth Song Oracle. But getting my personal preferences out of the way, I think this is an amazing deck for someone who resonates with the style. So let’s dig in.

The Packaging

The packaging is nice. Lo Scarabeo does a lot of similar boxes where the top lifts up. It's nice and unusual but it isn’t my favorite box. I tend to grab my decks from the top and when I do that with these, obviously the top pulls off and the bottom goes flying everywhere. So keep that in mind if you are someone who grabs your boxes the same way. One deck that does a really great job at fixing this problem is Seed and Sickle Oracle which has a magnetic closure on the bottom to keep it from falling out.

The thickness of the cards is great. They feel thick but still very easy to shuffle. They don’t have gilding but that isn’t a surprise. I’m actually not sure that I have any decks from Lo Scarabeo that are gilded which is a shame but many publishers still don’t gild their decks, I’m just spoiled by Rockpool.

The box itself is pretty sturdy and slim which I really like. I have so many decks now so space is becoming an issue. These smaller, contained decks make it easy to store and travel with. And actually, I’m going on vacation for my birthday in November and I’m probably going to take this deck with me for that very reason.

The Guidebook

One thing to note about the guidebook is that it’s 167 pages but only 67 are in english. However, this deck has Italian, Spanish and Portuguese translations built right in so you don’t have to wait for a translated copy to come out which isn’t always guaranteed. A lot of decks never get translated into different languages so having them there right from the start is really helpful to a lot of users.

The book isn’t in full color nor do you have images of the cards and I still think Lo Scarabeo needs to change this. So many other publishers are investing in better guidebooks and I feel like Lo Scarabeo isn’t making any effort to do so. Inside, you’ll find the introduction, how to use the cards and three spreads. Not the meatiest book but not the slimmest either. And then you have the meanings of each card which are to the point and simple to read. Each entry gives you a description of the card and then the divinatory meaning but they aren’t separate so you will need to read the whole thing to see where the description ends and the meaning begins.

The Artwork

I like the artwork and I’m a fan of Tarn’s, I’m just not a fan of bright colors and I’m actively trying to reduce the amount of colors in my own decks. Having said that, there are a lot of images in this deck that have the more muted tones that I favor from Tarn. One of my favorite images is the ten of wands. This card typically represents hard work and yet, the image feels so relaxing and peaceful. I don’t get the sense that this woman is working hard. It feels more like she’s going through her work day at an easy pace, taking her time to take in the scenery.

I do like a lot of the more colorful ones too. One thing I will note is that this is a colorful deck but it's still very moody so it doesn’t feel overwhelmingly bright. The Lovers for example has a lot of color tones to it but it feels magical and even peaceful. Something I really love about Tarn’s art is the lack of faces. I love how you don’t need the face to sense the emotion and feeling of the cards. It allows you to focus on the body language and the symbolism which is a pretty cool feature of her artwork.

“Overall, the magic emanating from this deck is a wonderful celebration of the beautiful world we live in—the planet we call home.”

I also love how earthy her images are. Everything is out in nature as the name suggests so it feels grounded and mystical. You have a lot of diversity as well. There are plenty of different color tones and hair and body types to go around. I almost feel like I don’t have to point this out anymore. We’ve come a long way in the oracle space from just a few years ago when my first deck came out. It's much more rare now to see a deck that’s all one race and thank goodness for that.

This deck kind of reminded me of those older decks from the 2000s that were really bright and earthy but this is a much improved version. It's more adult I guess is the word, a little more sophisticated. I kept thinking back to some of my very first oracle decks so the artwork ended up being nostalgic for me which is something I wasn’t expecting.

Purchase Earth Woman Tarot

Reading With this Deck

To my surprise, my deck interview really pointed to being successful and ambitious. I wasn’t really expecting this. I assumed it would be more grounding or nurturing but all of the cards spoke to the struggles of being an entrepreneur. This is why I do these interviews because decks will really throw you a curveball.

Having said that, I do think the reading is accurate for where I am in my life. The tone wasn’t gentle but not tough love either. It also didn’t blow me away with any big ah-ha moments but it did confirm a lot of what I had already been feeling. The only thing I’m struggling with about the reading is pulling the six of wands for its weakness. Considering the other cards being about success, I found it odd that it would say it's not very good with helping me to be successful unless it means famous and I suppose that isn’t the same thing.

A few readings later and I found myself facing a similar situation. I would get a lot of cards that clearly go together and then an oddball. At first I was frustrated but I’m a firm believer that no deck is truly inaccurate. Just because it doesn’t make sense right now doesn’t mean it's wrong. After sitting with the readings for a while, I’ve come to see this deck as being really good at maintaining the balance. The oddball might have felt out of place but it always seemed to be the opposite of all the other cards. To me, this is starting to feel like a reminder that there is never just one path or one way to do something. Most things in life require a balance of two separate but complimentary things and it seems tarot is no different.

Collective Pull

I pulled the page of cups for you. This card invites you to lean into your creative spirit and to open yourself up to new possibilities and ideas. This is a card about adventure and finding new experiences, not just physically but within your spirit as well. Allow yourself to find new understandings of yourself that you can pour into a creative project. This project can be something traditional like art or you can be the project. You might change how you walk, creating an intentional stride for yourself. Perhaps you wish to unlock a new version of yourself with a new hairstyle or maybe you want to try new foods. Let the world show you what’s possible at this time.

Season, Sign Element and Sabbat
The color palette to me reads summer for sure. There are a lot of rich colors which feel like abundance and lushness. I went with air for the element which I don’t find myself choosing too often for decks. I kept seeing a lot of airy symbols such as storms and lighting and fog and clouds. And even though there are a lot of details, the deck feels very open.

I chose Leo and Aquarius for this deck. These two signs are really companions or two sides of the same coin. I see a lot of sun energy here but I see a lot of Aquarius energy for the same reasons I selected air for the element. I chose Lammas and Mabon for the sabbat. It's just too colorful and rich to go with any other sabbat in my opinion.

Who is this deck for?

First of all, if you’re a fan of Tarn’s art then I think you should get this deck. It looks just like her Instagram page but in card format. Also, if you like a lot of colors but in a more moody expression, then I think you’ll really enjoy this style.

Oracle Deck Companion

Earth Song Oracle is the perfect companion. I purposely requested these decks from the respective publishers to review them together. I really feel like anytime you have a chance to get an oracle and tarot from the same creator, you should take it. There will be differences in the art at times like we see with this companion but there will also be a lot of similarities and even though this is much more colorful than Earth Song Oracle, I still feel like they matched quite well which you can see in the photos down below.

You can check out my review of the Earth Song Oracle here.

Thanks for reading all the way through. If you found this review to be helpful, informative or entertaining in any way, please be sure to leave a comment down below. It really helps me know what you’re enjoying so that I can provide more content based on what you love. In the meantime, please enjoy a variety of photos from this deck.

And of course, if there is something you’d like me to consider reviewing, please comment below or email me at hello@spiritelement.co