Deck Interview: Flora and Fauna of Africa Oracle
I didn’t really know what to expect from the Flora and Fauna of Africa Oracle by Jessi Jumanji. I’ve never thought of myself as an “animal deck” person, even though I have another plant-based oracle deck that I love and I am getting to know a new animal oracle and an animal-heavy tarot deck. Even the animals in the Linestrider Tarot, a deck I have loved for some time, can be hard for me to fully appreciate. I also don’t have strong ties to Africa or its natural environments. (I’m fortunate to have been to one part of the large continent and loved it, but I was very much the privileged white kid visiting on safari, not connected to it.) But I was conscious of my almost entirely white deck collection, and I wanted to support a BIPOC creator, so I found sites that specifically helps with that, Brown Girl Tarot (currently under re-development unfortunately) and Shoppe Black. Jessi Jumanji’s work jumped out at me. I couldn’t totally explain it, but I loved it. It’s so vibrant and luscious. The card meanings are on the cards themselves, and they just hit you with a clear punch to incorporate into your reading. I don’t always love that, but I love it here.
As a reminder, you can find my deck interview spread here.
Interviewing the
Flora and Fauna of Africa Oracle
What major lesson are you here to help me learn? REBIRTH | Golden Crowned Bat & Dogwood
Through which divine energy can we best communicate? TRANQUILITY | Praying Mantis & Stonecrop
In what area can you aid me to help others? PRIORITIES | Magpie Shrike & Petunia
In what area could your guidance be easily misunderstood? APPRECIATION | Atlas Bear & Forsythia
What can I do to keep our communication clear? OPPORTUNITY | Caracal & Rosella
How can I use your guidance for the highest good? PERSISTENCE | Arabian Camel & Burdock
How will I know when we’re ready for a new lesson? TRANSFORMATION | Butterfly & Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
The last few deck interviews that I’ve done have surprised me, and I love that. For a while, I was starting to think that I was just interviewing “tarot” writ large, not a specific deck, because so many had the same types of responses to some of my questions. But some of my more recent messages have started to shift.
You can see that with the first card, Rebirth. I love the little bat. We have bats here in South Texas that come out in droves at sunset, especially in the fall. I’ve always enjoyed the myth of them, and I find dogwood totally gorgeous, so seeing them tied to Rebirth was really beautiful. I love the idea of Rebirth. I feel as though we are all always being reborn (if we’re growing and not just stagnating), but this kind of Rebirth feels more momentous. As the only flying mammal, a bat seems a good choice for Rebirth and the total shift that a deck like this—one that’s so different from my usual fare—can bring. It will require working through patience and attending to the little details of life in gratitude and with peace of mind. I often find myself noticing small creatures—lizards and insects—moving around in plantlife, creatures that other people typically miss. More significantly, about twenty years ago, I saw what I thought was a fairy at first. I have never really believed in fairies per se, but I had a moment of real wonder at seeing this thing flying in front of a streetlamp. I think it was actually a praying mantis, which was almost as mythical to me at the time (and in that location). There’s a mask-like appearance to the pattern on the mantis’s wings, and that reminds me of the fair folk as well, which stands in sharp contrast to the oracle property of tranquility in this card. The fey are chaotic and wild, not tranquil, but I think that tranquility requires a different state of mind that is a little otherworldly yet also intimately tied to the natural world, much like the fey.
With Priorities in the third position, this deck seems to be able to help me help others focus on the practical and goal-oriented aspects of life, but the card description is clearly tied to spiritual alignment as well. It’s another deck encouraging me to help people find that spiritual connection. Doing so can truly help me empower others because having goals that you know are in alignment with your spiritual growth sets you up for success. You know why you’re doing them and what’s at stake; there’s no fear that you’ve created an arbitrary goalpost.
The Atlas Bear and Caracal seem appropriate contrasting energies. The oracle property of the fourth card is Appreciation, which feels more passive and receptive than Priorities. Being clear about what makes one happy and being happy with what one has is important, but it’s also important to grow and get uncomfortable, to risk being vulnerable. This deck isn’t about staying safe and sticking with the tried and true. It also seems to be a tool for divining not for magic—neither manifesting nor maintaining in that way of Appreciation—and I think that the Caracal helps clarify that. The deck offers the reader a chance to see opportunities, to “appreciate” what’s happening and then to latch onto those happenings for one’s highest interests. These are not literal opportunities in the way that a Lenormand deck or even a tarot deck might point to specific things, but even identifying the right energy for spiritual alignment benefits from being open to Opportunity.
At the end of the day, this is a deck for slow, large scale growth. For me, it’s about Rebirth and, as we see in the final card, Transformation, and I’m here for it. But the Persistence of the Arabian Camel and the connection point of Tranquility really emphasize the importance of divine timing. It may take me some time to get used to this deck and the new lessons that it has to teach me, but if I can make it count, then it will be time well spent.
The cards shown are from—you guessed it!—the Flora and Fauna of Africa Oracle by Jessi Jumanji © 2020 JessiJumanji Art. You can purchase your own copy of the deck or the Afro Tarot from the JessiJumanji Art store. All rights reserved.