I picked up this absolutely charming little gift set at a Barnes and Noble bookseller the other day, because I'd neither seen nor heard of it before, and of course anything unusual like this always catches my attention.  Since I've seen several other types of Celtic decks I thought it interesting to investigate this one, which is published by a little-known company called Chartwell Books, Inc.  At first I thought it was a Barnes and Noble set since they do publish their own line of exclusive editions, and it was in the same section, but it's a separate company.

The set comes packaged in a padded box with satin ribbons at the corners to keep the lid from falling over when you open it.  A lot like an old-fashioned cigar box, actually.  The set contains a full-color book which is tucked into a pocket inside the lid, not one but *three* decks, and a perpetual calendar with lunar stickers that you can use and move to mark the cycles of the moon.  The three decks which are included are an Animal Oracle, a Tree Oracle, and a Words of Wisdom Oracle.

This set simplifies things to the extent that a child or a beginner could use them.  In fact, I'd guess that is the marketing plan from the company, as a gift set for those who have previously never worked with any kind of oracle deck.  The subtitle of the set is "How to Foretell the Future Using Ancient Folklore" and it's made to appeal to a wide variety of people.  Metallic gold ink is used for the lettering on the outside of the padded box, which is "weathered" to look like an ancient text.  A photo of standing stones in Ireland graces the cover.

Each of the decks contains 20 small cards.  The back design is the same on all three decks (an illuminated Celtic swirling design against a solid color background) and the background color changes according to the orientation of the deck.  For example, green for the Tree Oracle, red-brown for the Animal Oracle, and light blue for the Words of Wisdom Oracle.

The Tree Oracle deck features twenty of the most well-known and used oghams in the Celtic tree alphabet.  The tiny cards feature a stylized image of the leaf of whichever tree or plant the card represents, along with its title in Gaelic.  There are no English titles on any cards in this deck.  One must look them up in the book when using the deck.  The instructions are simple but effective.

The Animal Oracle deck also features twenty cards, this time with the more well-known and used animal energies and symbols used by the Celts.  The tiny cards in this deck show stylized images of the animals themselves along with their Gaelic title.  Again, you must look them up in the book to work with them, but this is far from a daunting task.

The Words of Wisdom Oracle fascinated me the most.  Since I've already seen other animal and tree oracle decks, those were not my favorites, but this deck uses its twenty cards to showcase quotes from famous Celtic books and tales, expressions which are profound to read in and of themselves, but when you are in need of wisdom at a particular moment and you draw one at random -- well, it can give you chills.  I'd love somehow to see this concept expanded into a full deck but I'm not sure how one would go about it.  Perhaps it's better to say it's a combination of deck play and bibliomancy.  You can also look up instructions in the book but since these quotes are in English the cards themselves are somewhat self-explanatory.

The perpetual calendar is a small rolled-up scroll which is coated with the same thick shiny gloss as the cards.  One could probably remove the stickers easily but I'm not sure how well they would stick again over and over.  I don't tend to like perpetual calendars much anyway but some people do and this one is very nice looking.

The cards themselves are tiny, about the size of the little Chance cards in the game of Monopoly, so each of these decks is nothing more than a handful.  Shuffling is made more difficult by the fact that the smaller the card is, the stiffer the card stock gets in proportion to it.  The stock is, in and of itself, not a stiff one, but there isn't a large enough surface area to encourage flexibility.  The cards are coated with a shiny protective gloss.

The book which comes with this set is not so much a set of instructions as a primer collection of many different bits of Celtic foretelling lore.  Aside from discussing the three card decks which are presented in the set, the book also talks about sacred places, bird and feather divination, weather, dream interpretation, the Celtic sweat lodge, and much more.  It's a lovely treasury of knowledge and the set is worth getting for the book alone.  My only beef with it is that it is a softcover book and the only way that it fits into the pocket in the lid is with the edges out, so that it is somewhat difficult to work *out* of the pocket.  Heh, heh, heh.  I just got sneaky and I found that if you insert a piece of paper into the pocket first (to cover the flap at the bottom where the book cover sticks) you can insert the book edges first into the pocket, then slide the sheet of paper back out.  This way the book is binding out for easy removal.  There was an illustrated piece of paper over the back cover of the set when I bought it (the box was shrink-wrapped and this paper carries the UPC and the ISBN info) and I saved it because it's pretty.  Now I know why.  *smile*

I recommend this set to anyone who is interested in Celtic folklore and/or divination.  Collectors of card decks will like it as a novelty.  It is excellent for young people and makes a great gift.  I'm not sure how easily available it will be in many places but if you have access to a Barnes and Noble you should be able to turn up a copy.  Barnes and Noble online also has it available here.  If you have trouble accessing this link, or need help in locating a copy, email Wicce.

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Review Copyright 2000 by Gina M. Pace

Celtic Oracle by Gerry Maguire Thompson, 1999
published by Chartwell Books, Inc.
ISBN 0785811338