Review of the Forager’s Daughter

Artwork and book by Jessica Lei Howard

The imminent arrival of Spring seems particularly in tandem with the imagery contained within this independently produced Tarot deck and book, created by Jessica Lei Howard. Like many independent decks, the price is a little higher than one might expect to pay for a deck and book set ($80.00) however, given the quality of the materials and the beauty of the artwork, I feel the cost is justified. 

The deck itself comes in a protective, magnetic clamshell box, worthy of saving unlike many tuck boxes. Inside are the beautiful cards with gold gilt edges. Although I do find most decks with gilt edges difficult to shuffle, the gold provides a beautiful thin frame for the cards themselves. The accompanying book is hardcover and features large full color reproductions of each of the cards. The background color for the book and box is a lovely lavender, which harmonizes with the elegant art nouveau style used in the design of the cards. The departure this deck makes from traditional Rider Waite Smith-style decks is the addition of five cards to the Major Arcana, and the lack of human beings in the pictures. Instead, the deck focuses on flora and fauna, much like what the deck’s creator describes in the book as the kinds of things she would have seen in the natural world around her as a child. 

In the past, I have avoided decks that do not feature human representation as I often found them cold. That is very much not the case with this deck. I began doing readings with it as soon as it arrived, and I was delighted with both the imagery and the results from the readings. The suits are color-coded in the borders, with muted reds for wands, a deep teal blue for swords, gray for Swords, and a deep green for pentacles. The back of each card shows a cicada, which reminds me of cycles of death and renewal. The animals and insects on the cards absolutely resonate with the cards’ meanings: for example, the Page of Cups is an adorable otter, The Fool features a sprouting seedling, the Chariot shows Geese flying over a large thistle, the High Priestess shows both an owl and a crow (!) and the Hierophant is a frog.