Fresh as a flower and just as vibrant, the colorful 44 cards of the Australian Wildflower Reading Cards are reproduced well from hand-crafted ink prints that have been painted with colors. Cheralyn Darcey is both the book writer and illustrator for these refreshing images. The cards are sturdy yet flexible in use, somewhat large at 3 ¾ x 5 ½ inches with rounded corners. They shuffle well and the Flannel Flower card back design is pretty although not distracting when drawing cards. There are no strictly delineated meanings for reversals, with advice for each theme providing both harmonious and challenging aspects smoothly transitioned in a paragraph or two.
The text is wonderfully simple and well organized, with references to the author’s oracle website for additional information, such as suggested spreads beyond the main spreads noted. Each card appears in the text alphabetically by the flower name, thus eliminating a need for card numbering, and making looking up the card and meaning by flower name very easy.
The card graphics are cheerful and bright without being garish. Certainly, nature provides flowers in an abundant spectrum of colors and many hues are represented in a fairly faithful manner. That is, it is course the artist rendition and not a “stuffy botanical” if you will. The energy of the artist—and her love for flowers and what they might signify as our teachers and companions—definitely comes through with a beneficial and nurturing feeling.
The core meanings connect with our own heartfelt journey of ups and downs; despite the cheerful ambiance of the art, there are real issues touched upon. A sampling of some of these card meanings include: Resolve, Overcoming, Direction, Partnership, Survival, Faith, Joy, Healing and Forgiveness. The latter card lesson, Forgiveness, is no small life skill indeed.
Cheralyn notes on page 11 of the text that the cards can well serve as a springboard for additional study, beyond the divinatory use; by the second day of playing with this deck I had to get online and see the actual photographs of the flowers and bushes. This helped me in terms of education per se, and also was instrumental in tuning into the flower energetic essence by itself and as it appears as a plant in its environment. In fact, offering these cards overseas might be a very smart selling strategy to draw folks to visit Australia and have a chance to hike about—seeing these amazing living creatures in person.
This deck comes in an attractive magnetic-closing flip over lid box, and the price is reasonable. The bright red Waratah flower bloom shows off the box top and front cover of the text. The book is modest size, 4 ¾ inch x 7 ¼ inch and 3/8 inch thick. The Australian Wildflower Reading Cards are a delightful companion for finding wisdom with the questions and conundrums we face on our journey.
More about the reviewer: http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A1B7CQHU1G3A7A/ref=cm_cr_dp_pdp
Thomas Freese – 07 May, 2015