Exploring Tarot: Plant Oracle Cards

Born a witch, I’ve always fancied myself as a hedgewitch due to my obsession with all things herbal. Plus, I’ve been drawn to Druidry for as long as I can remember, ultimately discovering an ancestral connection for that. Witches typically align with one label or another having to do with their focus. As an herbalist, I like herb magick along with sigil magick. Runes are my primary divination tool, but tarot is an interest as well so when I saw both the Druid Plant Oracle deck along with the Hedgewitch Botanical Oracle, I had to have both given that I so love the Celtic based decks, in particular the DruidCraft Tarot among others.

Siolo Thompson created the Hedgewitch deck and uses both the common and botanical name of each plant along with a general meaning on the face of each card. In her introduction, Thompson defines the hedgewitch as someone who lives beyond the hedge, the boundary between the village and the forest. She correctly states that we’re people who live outside of society and use herbs in healing, ritual, and divination. The artwork on each card along with her informative descriptions contained within her Field Guide brings the history and use of these traditional hedgewitch herbs to life.

Herbalists are known to research all sorts of herbs for this or that condition or tincture blend, but honestly, all we really need to do is to take a walk outside and look about the yard to find all that we need. The hedgewitch knows this and would rather choose just the right dandelion leaves for a cleansing tea than order something unusual online. Besides, half the time, herb stores keep their dried herb in clear glass jars, allowing the light to ruin the efficacy of the herbs contained within. I leave such places…quickly, never to return.

The Druid Plant Oracle is a beautiful oracle deck that brings the blessings of Goddess Brigid into each card. Authors Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm blend Druidry with herbalism acquainting folks with the Druidic traditions of herbal healing and plant lore. The cards are larger than the Hedgewitch deck, similar in size to the DruidCraft deck, and both decks share many of the same plants. But with this deck, we are blessed to have more of the Druid tradition contained within the accompanying text. Interestingly, the authors also include three cards in their deck titled, The Banes, The Restorers, and The Guardians, each one including multiple plants for each purpose. All in all, it’s a beautiful deck.

Oracle decks can be used in much the same manner as traditional Tarot decks or they can accompany other divination methods such as runes. Or you can simply draw a card per day to learn of the plant’s essence and what it has to teach us. But for today, I’ll do a three card spread with each and see what happens.

 

Abundance, Tenacity, and Mystery are the titles of the three cards I drew from the Hedgewitch Botanical Oracle deck. And as both an herbalist and a hedgewitch, I agree with the author’s oracle names. Hollyhocks, the first card in the spread, grow in abundance wherever they are. Their seed heads contain a circle of seeds similar in form to a bundt cake and if left to dry, blacken and become ready to drop effortlessly out of the pod to create even more beauty. I happen to grow this particular black variety and they are simply beautiful. Its large visage provides space for pollinators of all forms to find sustenance and the entire plant is edible. The flowers can be used in dyes and can also be eaten in salads. Medicinally, the plant is useful for respiratory ailments and skin conditions. A member of the mallow family, the hollyhock’s roots are demulcent and can be used in a soothing poultice.

I can tell you with complete certainty that Tenacity is the proper name for Burdock. Last year, when cleaning out the bed where I have some growing in the medicinal herb garden, some burrs attached to my hair. It was awful. I have fine hair and I had a horrific time getting them out. I will NEVER allow my burdock to seed EVER AGAIN. It was that traumatic. Medicinally, I use dried burdock root in a tincture I formulate for my rheumatoid arthritis. The stems and roots of the plant are edible as well. But tenacity…oh, that’s definitely burdock.

I have never seen Ghost Pipe up close, only in pictures, although Thompson found some up on Mount Hood. But it’s as mysterious as the author indicates. It grows in the dark and Thompson remarks in the Field Guide that it reminds her of the High Priestess in traditional tarot decks. I would agree, given its serene stance. It’s a plant that’s hidden in dark areas, shining forth as it rises from the forest floor, much like the High Priestess. In looking at this card, intuition and going within to seek answers comes through.

Essentially, what the oracle cards are telling us is that through tenacity and inner alignment, abundance is possible. Lovely!

 

 

I swear I can get lost in this deck. The artwork is stunning and I feel compelled to create a new Crane bag every time I look at the cards, particularly with this first card. At the base of a gnarly, low-growing juniper tree, a Crane bag lies on the grass below, three divinatory hag stones decorating the bag. Living on the High Desert of Central Oregon, juniper trees are everywhere. And as if that’s not redundant enough, we all seem to plant juniper shrubs to landscape our yards. The berries have a pungent, astringent nature and are useful as a diuretic when fluid retention becomes a problem. I include it in my RA tincture along with other diuretic herbs for just that purpose. Its Gaelic name is Aitin and in ritual, it’s useful for cleansing, purification, and increasing longevity.

A cauldron burns in a snowy clearing as primroses grow. Known as Sobhrag in Gaelic, they appear as winter gives way to spring suggesting rebirth and unexpected beauty. Primrose suggests the cyclical nature of life and the possibility of new beginnings. In ritual, the flowers can be used to attract and promote love and medicinally, primrose is useful in teas for arthritis and general nervousness, and Mrs. Grieve in A Modern Herbal states that it’s similar in effect to cowslip whose yellow flowers are visible as well by the cauldron.

Clumps of green tufted balls of fir clubmoss spring up below a rock outcropping. Fir Club Moss, or Garbhag an t-sleibhe, contains narcotic properties and can be toxic. It’s been used in the past as an emetic and diuretic, but given its reported toxicity, I would avoid it. The plant grows best in shady areas and can be used in ritual for new beginnings and clarity.

Both Primrose and Fir Club Moss indicate new beginnings which begin after Juniper’s purification and cleansing of that which no longer serves.

 

Well…this was interesting. Most decks include texts that give insight into the author(s) premise for the deck itself and both books included are outstanding. Both resonate with this hedgewitch, and I love both, especially the Druidic lore contained within the Druid Plant Oracle book. I find the interpretations of the cards to be interesting in that they give us a perspective that we can think about or embrace throughout our day, no matter how we use them.

Below I’ve included the cards from each oracle deck.

Blessings!