Wisdom of Trees Oracle

Serenia

Some weeks ago I got the Wisdom of Trees Oracle by Jane Struthers. Since AT user Aivli asked me about it, and since there's very few information about it in general, I'd like to write a few sentences about the deck:

The card size is 8.7 x 12 cm. The cardstock is flexible, but not too thin in my opinion. The cards seem to be slightly laminated and don't feel like paper (which I like, since with paper cards I'm always afraid that a drop of water might damage them).

The cards come together with a book in a sturdy, yellow box. The box is larger than necessary for holding the cards and the book, which is more or less my only complaint about the deck.

The accompanying book is hardback and has 80 pages. It describes how to use the cards, gives some information on trees' energies and offers some spreads one can use. The cards themselves are described on one page per card, with a colour picture, a keyword, information about the tree (what it is/was used for or what it meant to a specific culture) and the card's meaning right way up and inverse. I'm not using the cards with reversals, though.

The 40 cards of the deck are divided into four different suits: roots (being and grounding), trunk (healing and growth), leaf (spiritual wisdom) and flower, fruit and seed (manifesting your power in the world). The borders of the cards are colour-coded to show their suit.
For some cards I can understand the attribution, for others it feels slightly random. I have to say, though, that I've been working with the deck for merely three weeks, so my understanding of the cards is likely to change the better I get to know the deck.

The deck contains trees from all around the world. These trees are included:
- Roots: Acacia, Baobab, Cedar of Lebanon, Sugi, Banyan, Pipal, Bristlecone Pine, Monterey Pine, Willow, Montezuma Cypress
- Trunk: Silver Birch, Hornbeam, Indian Bean, Kamphor, Ash, Scots Pine, Oak, Coast Redwood, Yew, Linden
- Leaf: Sugar Maple, Horse Chestnut, Hazel, Eucalyptus, Ginkgo, Holly, Juniper, White Mulberry, Eastern Cottonwood, Elm
- Flower, fruit and seed: Sweet Orange, Hawthorn, European Beech, Apple, Olive, Date Palm, Cherry, Pomegranate, Black Elder, Giant Redwood

On the one hand, it is good that so many different kinds of trees are included. This makes the deck multifaceted and varied. On the other hand, this means of course that there are trees that I have never heard of before. While I have a certain idea of the trees that are native to Europe, I have to spend some more time with the other trees in order to get to know them.

I was looking for an oracle based on trees or plants that I could read intuitively, and this deck quite fits the bill. Since I'm one of those inveterate intuitive readers, I'm not interested in learning the book descriptions by heart and then applying them to the cards. I do read the book, but only after I gave some thought to the card first. For some cards, it is easy for me to find something in the image that I can go from. For example, the Elm card shows cattle on a meadow with an elm standing next to them. So I assumed it might have to do with feeding and providing for someone. The book then confirmed my thought in saying that the elm's leaves feed the animals.
But there are also cards where my personal meaning differs from what the book says. For example, according to the book, the Coast Redwood is about doing your best and showing how exceptional you are. The card shows one tall tree, growing high into the sky and some more trees of the same kind in the background. For me, the straight and tall tree stands for self-confidence. The other trees show that there is no competition between the trees - there is enough space for all of them to be self-confident. It's not about one tree (or person) taking all the credit. There's no need to be intimidated simply because somebody else is acting confidently, it's not that they're taking up all the space.

There are also cards that are beautiful but leave me completely clueless as to their meaning. For me it is very important, if I read the book for inspiration on what a card could mean, that I can actually see the ascribed meaning in the card. For some cards, I can see no connection at all between the book description and the card image, so I'll have to work with the card for a while until I understand what it is trying to tell me.
This is not meant as criticism - I know how highly individual it is what a person sees in a card. Some of the cards that are easily understandable for me might be completely meaningless to another person, while this other person can probably intuitively grasp cards that remain silent to me.

On the whole, I love the cards a lot, even though I don't understand all of them right out of the box. I feel, though, that it is well worth the effort to work through all the cards and make them "mine". The cards are so beautiful and calming, the whole deck has a wonderful energy to me.

The artwork is very consistent since the cards are obviously done by the same artist. The images look similar enough to give the deck a coherent appearance, but also different enough to make each card distinct and give it its own energy.

I'll attach some pictures of my favourite cards. I hope this is okay from a copyright standpoint (I reduced their size in order to prevent deck piracy):

Acacia
Banyan
Bristlecone Pine
Willow
Scots Pine
Coast Redwood
Hawthorn
Apple

I hope I could give you a good foundation for your deck buying decision! :) If you have any questions, ask away! :)
 

Aivli

Thank you so very much for this AWSEOME review!! I really appreciate you taking the time to share such helpful information. I really do love the artwork in this deck!!
 

Serenia

You're welcome! :)

(Oh, and while I'm at it, one small thing I forgot to say: the backs of the cards are not reversible. I don't mind, but I know that some people do, so I thought I should mention it.)
 

Carla

Great review!!! I'm convinced I need this one!
 

morganesky

Fabulous review on one of my favourite oracles.
 

Serenia

Thank you!! :)
 

PathWalker

I bought this deck just a couple of days ago, and agree it's lovely and speaks clearly (to me at least).

The artwork is by Meraylah Allwood, here is a link to her own site if you like her art.

http://www.meraylah.co.uk/
 

Glass Owl

I have just added this deck to my wish list. I have always had an affinity for trees and I love the colors used for these cards. I have a feeling that this deck may work well with Tarot of the Hidden Realm.

Browsing through Meraylah Allwood's website, I see that she has featured the art work that was used for this deck. You can view it on this page.
 

TarotFlow

I bought the deck a year ago, cause I do love trees and se them as wisdom. The spread I did with the deck was very useful and informative, and really helped me a lot. I read from the book and look at the beautiful pictures but I have not been able to use my intuition on it. It just doesn't click for me...
I think I will give it another try now in the reading section :)