The Spirit Animal Oracle is a deck by experienced author Colette Baron-Reid, who is also behind other popular decks like the Wisdom of the Hidden realms or The Good Tarot. This is my first deck from her so I was really excited to try it out. This deck features animal spirit guide on each card with a message that is then further down explained in the booklet, that comes with the deck. The choice of animals is a mix between the usual suspects (wolf, owl, eagle, dolphin) with some more surprising choices like Porcupine, Bobcat or Wombat. I personally enjoy that, it give it a bit more of a character, this may especially be interesting for advanced deck collectors who are getting tired of all of the wolfs everywhere.
The packaging and the quality of the deck is outstanding and I would say it goes beyond the industry standard, the booklet is thick and very well written, card stock is robust yet easy to shuffle and print quality is very detailed. One of the first things I noticed and was personally please with is the number of cards: 68. Most Oracle decks have somewhere between 42-50 cards and I am finding it usually not enough to provide some really in depth reading and variety outside of a single card – advice of the day spread. So that is how I am using most oracle decks and for more complex situations I am reaching for a tarot.
The Spirit Animal Oracle, however, blends extremely well in spreads and in multiple card readings, in a way I rarely see in oracle decks. Each card has a small little short message from the particular animal spirit guide and those sentences come together as almost a poem in multiple card readings. For example: I just draw 2 cards as an advice for the day and I got : Koi Fish Spirit : There is always enough and Ant Spirit: Time to collaborate. Makes perfect sense right? I know! Colette give examples of multiple card spreads in her booklet so I do assume this was her plan all along. Ha!
Overall, I am finding this oracle deck precise, easy to understand and easy to work with even for a complete beginner. It gives very useful advice and clarity.This deck is definitely Psychic Witch approved. 😉