Nature’s Wisdom Oracle | Mindy Lighthipe

I first became aware of Mindy Lighthipe via her beautifully detailed botanical art. It was only as I drooled over the art on her website that I realised she had created an Oracle deck too – Nature’s Wisdom Oracle. I had to have a look at it, so here it is!

Published by Schiffer’s REDfeather imprint, this is a 48-card oracle that consists of the fauna and flora that have had a big impact on Mindy’s life. You will find everything from a Dog and a Honey Bee to a Passion Flower and a Pansy.

The cards are on good card-stock and quite glossy, so shuffling is easy from that point of view – no sticking. However, they are about 8.5cm wide, so if you have small hands it might be a bit tricky to shuffle. That said, there are lots of different shuffling styles to take advantage of. Although the backs are not designed for reversals, the book suggests that reversals can be acknowledged (a card that is especially relevant to you).

There are 17 cards that feature flowers, leaves or trees and the rest are devoted to bugs, beasts and birds that the artist has a connection with.

Each card has a central image in a broad border. Above the image we have the card’s title and beneath the image we have the main keyword for the card. The borders are all (bar three or four cards) drawn from the main image – which gives a very pleasing tonality to all those cards. The Ladybird card is totally different although it’s still a lovely ladybird image – you’ll spot it in the flip through!) And, if you are a bit phobic about spiders, there IS one in the deck – Resiliance – and therefore this video.

There is a box-sized companion book, all in black and white, that runs to just over 100 pages. Each card has a full page image along with some information to help you interpret the card along with a nugget of historical or nature-orientated fact. For example, “The name Daffodil is derived from the Dutch word affodyle which means ‘that which cometh early’.” There are lots of exotic creatures such as Iguana, Hummingbird, Praying Mantis etc – probably not all native to your country of residence, but wherever you reside, you will have seen the creatures before 🙂

The book also suggests a daily meditation, working with one card as well as a 3-card past/present/future spread.

So, what’s it like to use? The artwork is undeniably good – Mindy received a Silver Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society in 2009 for her Symbiosis series of paintings. I have big hands, so the size of the cards didn’t bother me at all – it was easy to shuffle and work with. I think that this would be a great deck for someone who works closely with nature and would be a great deck to take to an event if you are reading there – perfect for single card readings!