Oh, What a Wild Life! Tarot Deck

GD

$45.00

Ever have a day where you just can't contain yourself?

You can't focus on a simple task, but would rather be wild,  dance around, laugh your belly off? Go for a walk through the woods?

Ever wish you could break up the same-same of daily life?


 Ever wonder if being WILD again could help?


...................................drum roll....................................


 Oh, What a Wild Life! is an animal-themed tarot deck containing 5 types of wildlife: 

Moose, Yaks, Bighorn Sheep, and Deer, and a variety of Exotic Goats from all over:

Moose. Yak. Bighorn. Deer. Exotic Goats (Nubian Ibex far right.)


All 78 card designs began as original pencil drawings, created ambidextrously by artist Cary Gray as part of his 365-day drawing challenge.  Watch the video for that madness:

The reverse sides of the cards include 78 unique poetic prompts for you to RE-WILD yourself!

Prompts begin with an action prompt. Something to DO.

Second half includes a short poem, quote, or spoken prompt.  Something to SPEAK.


Front and Back of a card. Each poetic prompt reads like a short poem, starting with an action prompt and followed by a spoken prompt (or quote.)


This deck concept emerged from years of work by artist Cary Gray to integrate his wild side with his more civilized, communal side.  (Hence, harnessing the wild power of two hands to create one drawing!!)  It's not so simple to figure out what it means to live as an adult in this human world, while still honoring the inner child and inner wild! 

In working for this vision, he hopes this deck will encourage you all to 

 Balance your MILD with your WILD. 

Because what does inner peace and stability matter without a little colorful chaos? And how much fun is chaos if you can't ground into it and make it a deeply meditative experience?


Horned Wildlife  ONLY!: Moose, deer, bighorn sheep, yaks, and exotic goats from around the world. 

Four kinds of wildlife were chosen for....well, duh, they're wild.  But also, these animals are all horned animals! Mammalian herbivores to be exact, but let's move one.  Horns on animals give one the idea of attacking, but often these are simply genetic displays of competence.  In growing a nice rack (hehe) these animals show that they have been able to feed themselves and thus have the competence to feed potential offspring. Nice potential mate over there.  Wonder if he wants to mate?

SO what does that mean??

Horns symbolize the chaos and wildness and protection one grows for themselves, which they harness for themselves and not AGAINST anyone unless strictly necessary.  


All card designs are NOT final. Oh, How Cute is HE?


We have anger.  We have emotions. We are wild.

Let them out in chosen ways.  

Let them out in the exploration of play!


An example of a card back. All card backs begin with a prompt for acting out followed by a prompt for speaking aloud.

 The Back Story:

Artist and midwestern boy Cary Gray grew up distracted and wild.  His backyard offered him the escape of the woods, of projects he could build with his hands, of adventure and solitude.  As he raced into adulthood, he found it harder and harder to sit still. 

ADHD and a head full of demons do not add up to a conventional life in the world. 

Oh, how hard it is to be wild in a world of humans!

So, after years of beating himself up for not "measuring up" to the standards of this highly organizes 9 to 5 world around him, he decided he would blaze his own trail through the human wild. 

He took what he learned living in community – mutual respect, connection, communication, and combined it with his stories of adventure travel accrued from almost the entire decade of his 20s (Oh, how GOOD it felt to be lost in the world!) and threw in his lifelong tornado of internal emotional chaos, and sat down AS AN ARTIST and began creating.

In early 2021, he created Heart Forward, a double-sided Divination Deck with prompts to get you moving, thinking, and transforming.  (This is available as an add-on for this campaign.)  In this process, he lifted himself out of a post-break-up depression and a 10-year-long creative logjam.  This project changed his life forever, and often changes those people who dive into the deck and its 200-page poetic guidebook full of resources.

In late 2021, he created, in collaboration with Cat Rose, PussyCat Tarot. He created the concept and design, and Cat contributed her short poems to the backs of the cards.  A theme of double-sided decks was emerging! This time, the deck contained an all-ages matching game on reverse, so that "cool tarot-moms" can play with their kids!

All in all, these double-sided decks are meant to be an entry point for anyone, regardless of knowledge of the tarot.  Pick up a card, flip it over, read it, grow.  No need to do a whole spread.  Equally so, a seasoned reader can create a spread and only afterwards, add in the "magical flip" to reveal what the reverse sides offer!  Find your personal depth!

Card Size: Tarot Size 2.75" x 4.75" (70mm x 121mm)