This is not a tarot deck, but it is a tool for personal transformation as well as coming to understand the unique relationship man has with nature since the dawn of human history. The Native American peoples have taught this relationship within their own nations for many thousands of years, and now Wa-Na-Nee-Che, a medicine man, brings these teachings to the world at large.

The deck-and-book set comprises a system of 46 medicine wheel cards, and the book contains the teachings and meditations which accompany each card.  The deck itself breaks down into three levels of teachings, the first being the apprentice level, which has as its teachers the animal, or totem, spirits.  There are 28 cards in this level, such as Raven, Eagle, Bear, and so on.  Each card in this level has a photograph of a Native American sacred item which was made with parts of this totem animal, such as a drum or a rattle, and an inset photo of a sacred beaded mandala featuring the animal itself in the beadwork.

The next level is the student level, which has as its teachers the grandfathers and grandmothers.  There are 14 cards at this level, such as Grandfather PipeCarrier and Grandmother Weaver.  These cards have photographs of the sacred items which are representative of the lifework of the particular grandfather or grandmother who is the teacher for that card.

The final level, the Elder level, represents the highest and most inner-reaching teachings the Native American nations have to offer us.  There are only four cards at this level, but the meditative work at this level is most profound.  The cards are Sweat Lodge, Drum, Medicine Wheel, and Totem Pole.  Photographs of each spiritual teacher grace these cards.

The book which comes with the set is most informative, there is a two-page spread for each card, with pictures and accompanying mediation for each teaching.  The cards are meant to be used to accompany these lessons at first, and then later to be drawn upon to trigger memory of each lesson learned.  One can also use the cards to assist in discovering where the balance of one's life has gone awry, and to help correct that balance by meditating on the associated teaching.

There are layouts featured at the end of the book, and ritual ceremony for using the cards.  The cards themselves are larger than your average deck, and normal shuffling is difficult, but within this system shuffling is not as important as in the Tarot, so it isn't a significant problem.

This is definitely the kind of set you could leave out on your table while working with it, the cards are lovely and the book is packaged nicely as well.  However, there is real meat to the set as well, it isn't all just pretty looks.  I found it opened up a lot more interest in the Native American ways of wisdom.

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Review Copyright 1998 by Gina M. Pace