Woodland Wardens is a 52-card oracle deck created by Jessica Roux and published by Andrews McMeel Publishing. This beautifully illustrated deck’s theme is woodland creatures and plant life.
“Using subdued colors and rhythmic shapes, [Jessica Roux] renders flora and fauna with intricate detail reminiscent of old world beauty.”
Jessica Roux’ s Official Website
About the Woodland Wardens Oracle Deck
Each of the 52 cards features a pairing between an animal and a plant, and one keyword to signify its meaning. Each illustration is so detailed and meaningful — right down to the composition of each image and even the colors. “…you may notice,” Roux says in the guidebook, “that cards with lighter backgrounds tend to be related to creativity and action while darker cards represent introspective themes.”
Deck Review
The box the deck and guidebook comes in feels nice and sturdy, and I love the botanical details on the sides and inside cover of the box.
The guidebook is nice and meaty, with well-written explanations of each card and its symbols, as well as some tips on interpreting the cards intuitively and even some sample spreads.
The card backs reflect the botanical pattern found in the inside cover of the box, but rendered in full color.
I’m really floored by how gorgeous Roux’s illustrations are! The softer, muted colors give a feeling of ease and comfort, while the textures and illustration style itself really gives an old-world, vintage vibe.
Some of the card meanings are patterned after the traditional Rider Waite Smith (RWS) Tarot, such as the first card, “The Mouse and Buttercup”, which is numbered 0 and symbolizes “innocence”, much like The Fool in the RWS. They even have reverse meanings, too; that’s something I don’t see much in Oracle decks. As someone who reads reversals in the tarot (some other readers don’t), I appreciate this detail!
Some readers dislike having keywords printed directly on a card, but I honestly found them quite useful. Even though I’m not completely clueless about the animals and plants featured in the deck, I do find it a bit challenging to interpret the cards simply by looking at the visuals.
What I disliked the most about this deck is the cardstock. While I do prefer matte cards over glossy ones, these have a strange, almost-powdery texture that I’m really not a fan of. The cards also feel a bit too thin and bendy, so I don’t think they’ll hold up well for people who shuffle less gently than I do.
Overall, if you love nature and pretty illustrations, this could be a lovely addition to your collection. If you want to get your own copy and you live in the Philippines, you can ask Luna Brujeria to stock it for you. If you’re okay with international shipping, it’s also available on Amazon.