This very new tarot deck-and-book set is published by Andrews' own DragonHawk Publishing.  This is my first experience with their products, but I am quite impressed with the result.  The concept is somewhat shamanistic in nature, but this is a true tarot deck.  Photographic images of animals in their real life settings grace each card.  It must have taken forever to get photographs of all 78 animals.

The design is simple, yet excellently done.  All 78 cards are a pale lilac color with a darker reddish-purple ink design on them, which frames the oval-shaped cameo inset of the photo.  Titles appear in black in the top and bottom borders of the cards, with the animal names in the side borders on both sides of the photo.  The consistently simple setup makes it easier to concentrate on what the card is really about, instead of focusing on tons of details thrown in to pretty up the pictures.

In the Major Arcana, the title of the card and the Arabic numeral appear in the top border.  Traditional titling and order are used.  Strength is 8 and Justice 11. Some of the animals selected are really interesting and not what you'd immediately think of, yet upon reflection, you see that they are exactly right for the part.  For example, The Lovers is represented by a bee.  The bee is shown pollinating a flower cluster.  To represent Fertility and Spiritual Choice, which are the keywords at the bottom of the card.  Oh, yeah, that's right, Keywords are provided for the meanings in the bottom border of each card.

The Minor Arcana offer a similar structure.  The four suits used are Ancients, which correspond to the Wands suit and the element of Fire; Shapeshifters, which represent the Cups suit and the element of Water; Winged Ones, which replaces the Swords suit and the element of Air; and Four-Leggeds, for the Pentacles suit and the element of Earth.  Court cards in each suit remain the traditional King, Queen, Knight and Page.  Once again, the titles are in the top border, with Keyword meanings in the bottom border and the animal names in the sides.

The cards themselves are standard in size and handle easily.  The card stock is thin and flexible.  The edges are a little sharp, so watch for paper cuts at first, but they're rounded off nicely at the corners and I can tell the sharpness will wear off very quickly.  The back design bears the logo for DragonHawk Publishing, in an attractive three-layer effect.

The book which comes with the set is an extremely professional, attractive volume of 246 pages.  I am especially impressed with it.  The layout of the pages sets the general text in columns on the page with wide margins (where you can make notes if you wish) but also makes an easy place for Andrews to stash pictures, comments, headers, points of emphasis, and more.  Things are extremely easy to find in this book.  Each animal/card is discussed in a lengthy two page discussion which, rather than list divinatory meanings, gives you something to think about so you arrive at the meaning personally for the card.  Then there are questions for you to ask which define the meaning into your personal awareness.  I am also very impressed with an entire section in the back of the book which is devoted to "Becoming the Psychic Counselor."  All too often the counseling aspect of tarot is either ignored or unknown by the authors of these books.  A section on layouts gives not one, but five different spreads to use with these cards.  The Celtic Cross is number four out of five.

If there is any one thing I didn't care for regarding this set, it is the boxing.  There is an outer box for the set which is attractively done, but is made of flimsy stock, such that a second box is placed inside it to hold the book and deck.  The second box was simply a brown corrugated shipping container-type box, and was taped together much like a shipping container as well.  Basically these are fine if you intend to throw away the box, store the book on your bookshelf, and put the deck in a bag.  Many people I know do this.  Many more do not.  Collectors will find the box disappointing.  The set is well worth it, however.

Andrews is coming out with a book in the late spring/early summer of 1999 called Animal-Wise, which will describe more of a way of living rather than as an actual accompaniment to this tarot deck-and-book set.  However, I can see a real benefit to reading that book when it comes out, if you are a fan of this set, as I am.

I happily recommend this tarot deck-and-book set for anyone who is interested in learning tarot.  While it is a bit unorthodox in its approach to traditional tarot, beginners can definitely use this system without any prior experience. Those with experience will enjoy discovering the relevance of the animal kingdom to the meanings behind the tarot.  Anyone involved in shamanistic practice will find this set invaluable.

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Review Copyright 1999 by Gina M. Pace

Animal-Wise Tarot by Ted Andrews, 1999
published by DragonHawk Publishing  ISBN 1-888767-35-9