It’s been quite some time since I reviewed a new tarot or oracle deck and I’m both excited and nervous for this one, in truth, because I still don’t know how I feel about it. There’s a lot to love about this deck, mainly the artwork which is vibrant, stunning, and creative. The idea behind the deck, which combines the sacred plant medicine of cannabis with traditional African and modern new age spirituality is also extremely my shit and I’m still in awe at how these are woven together. I was also excited because this is a deck I knew in advance had fat, racially diverse, queer, and otherwise not status quo bodies reigning in positions of power and magic throughout. Part of the reason I haven’t reviewed anything in some time is because commercially available decks that are within my price range rarely feature anyone with even a hint of curve that isn’t T & A (no hate but come on, dudes) and I outright refuse to review any decks that don’t feature a fat person. Of course it would be dope if that singular fat person wasn’t always on one of like, the same 3 tarot cards BUT I DIGRESS. The reason I’m not sure how I feel about this deck is the same reason I have found many other decks difficult: the book. While some cards feel succinctly explained, others are described at length but not really explained. Some of the new age lingo gets way too heavy and makes some cards just not easy to apply to mundane situations. Finally, Cannabis feels more like a supporting player than a lead in this story, and I felt kind of confused about how we’re meant to relate actual cannabis use to the messages on the cards.
The Metaphysical Cannabis Oracle Deck by Maggie Wilson (Author) and Ejiwa Ebenebe (Illustrator)
When I review a deck I look at some basic things like if the art is pretty, if the box is good, if the card stock is sturdy, etc and on this front the Metaphysical Cannabis Oracle did super well. I love the art so much. I would hang so many of these cards on my wall as art. I find the colours absolutely mesmerizing. The box is sturdy and the way it opens and comes apart is easy to use and protects the cards and book well. The card stock is great. It’s thick and sturdy, not too glossy, doesn’t stick together. I was concerned the actual stock might be like the one used for the Modern Witch Tarot, which makes the deck difficult to use, but this is a serious improvement.
Now onto the important stuff. I ask myself questions like “What do I expect from this deck?” and “What do I need from this deck?” and “What do I get from this deck?”.
I expect a deck that explores the spiritual aspects of cannabis, and gives ways for me to work with its plant spirit medicine. Since this deck incorporates African spirituality I also expect to learn something about its relationship to the plant. Divine femininity was mentioned in the description, so I also expect that connection to be strong and unfortunately this expectation has a good and bad side. I can’t help but expect the inclusion of divine femininity to be very womb and reproduction heavy, which isn’t ideal.
I need a deck that can be used to seek guidance on both spiritual matters and every day stuff. I want to pull a card in the morning about my regular old mundane day, but also be able to pull a card to ask about magic and spiritual development. I also need to see myself, or at least see my body. I know it seems like fatness has always been a major focus for me, but it does wane in importance all the time and right now it’s important. More than anything, I need to feel inspired by this deck.
Despite this being called an oracle deck, it’s structured like a tarot deck with a Major or Meta Arcana and suits – Physical, Cannabis, Oracle, Integration, and Culture. Yes, 5 instead of 4! Some people might dislike this, but honestly I dig it. I love a good hybrid. The Meta Arcana is a perfect version of the 22 majors and I loved them. Any tarot reader would be able to figure out which card they’re looking at and those who prefer oracle don’t need to feel like they’re reading the standard tarot. This was totally unexpected and I think it works.
I am a bit disappointed in the Cannabis suit, which should have given me actionable ways to connect with cannabis in a spiritual way, as it was a bit too vague. Each card in this suit has a specific method of ingesting or working with cannabis on the cards, but when it comes to how to actually use it the description is lacking. Confusingly, they also pair an entirely different plant with each of these that isn’t explained. For example, the Witch card in this suit shows a hand with an eye dropper adding golden liquid to a bubbling cauldron. In terms of weed, it looks like an oil or perhaps a tincture to me, and the card affirms the latter. It goes on to say this card tells you to be mindful about the delivery method of messages and how you think about and treat yourself. It says if you get the card with some others, it may be time to start taking supplements, and the plant spirit to be paired with it is alfalfa. Alfalfa is never explained. Why alfalfa? Am I meant to make a tincture and should I include alfalfa? How are the two related? How does cannabis tincture even work? There’s no explanation. So while a little vague, there is an idea offered for how to connect with the plant, I just wanted more.
I definitely learned some new things from this deck! I learned about the ancient goddess Asherah who was tied to cannabis use and was the ancient female counterpart to God in Sumeria– the Goddess of life. The divine feminine aspect, while having some womb-centric moments, was actually really well balanced and I found it empowering. The deck doesn’t stick so strictly to the binary, and there are plenty of figures that exist beyond it or within it but on different areas of the spectrum.
I definitely got to see African spirituality and deities in beautiful and new ways, but this posed a bit of a problem. There are two cards that are related– Yemaya and Yemoja– which are technically the same figure, but are presented in different ways and not quite the way they should be. I noticed something kind of odd and had to pull out my copy of Voodoo by Lilith Dorsey to get a little more info. Yemaya is a beautiful depiction that matches her symbolism and her vibe so well. A black woman decked out with peacock feathers, 7 skirts, movement, water, bells– it’s perfect. Then there’s Yemoja, which is the way her name is said and spelled in different African traditions, but this depiction is a mermaid with a long purple tail and, oddly, white skin and blond hair. She’s a starseed, and exists in space and the stars. While stars and the moon are definitely aligned with this goddess, the whiteness is profoundly confusing. This was mentioned in reviews on amazon as well, so I’m glad I’m not the only one who didn’t love it. There’s also the issue that Yemaya is called the goddess of the rivers and Oshun the goddess of the oceans, and this is backwards. This left me with a little less trust in the validity of the African spirituality in the deck and the opportunities to learn.
If you do want to learn more about African deities and Traditional Religions, I recommend starting with Voodoo and Orishas, Goddesses, and Voodoo Queens by Lilith Dorsey. The first is like an encyclopedia on the subject while the second title specifically examines the divine feminine in these religions both old and new. They’re fabulous. You can also check out Lilith’s appearances on the pod and here on the blog:
Book Review of Shadows: Orishas, Goddesses, and Voodoo Queens by Lilith Dorsey
Episode 94 – ZOMBI – A Very fat feminist halloween Special!
That being said, there are many deities and mythologies and ideas that went into this deck, and all of them (even Yemoja) are stunningly beautiful, interesting, and diverse. I saw fat bodies on different types of people, found new words and stories to research further and definitely felt my artistic senses tingling whenever I used the deck. One person who was missing, to my surprise, is Asherah. This goddess was mentioned right in the beginning, and yet she never appears on her own card or on any others that I can see. Feels like a real oversight. I actually ended up looking her up and she is a remarkably interesting Goddess, so I recommend typing her name into your favourite search engine.
In terms of the day to day, the Physical and Integration suits are perfect for daily readings and offer practical guidance that overflows with magic. There are crystal recommendations and affirmations to work with! Though, again, the specific crystals aren’t clearly explained, I really loved these and got lots out of them. I actually started separating these to pull from for daily guidance because I liked them so much. A few of my favourites were Creation Partnered on page 69 (haha!), Food Meditation, Dance Portal, Truth, and Intergalactic Mastery. In the rest of the deck a few that stand out are Divine Feminine – The Void, Omo Olorin – Sing, Osupa – Vision, Santa Muerte – Offering, and Gateway.
The Final Verdict:
This deck is incredibly beautiful. It is one of the most stunningly beautiful decks I have ever seen. The colours are incredible. The cards are fine stock, the box is lovely. The imagery and symbols are gorgeous, and for the most part I think this symbolism works. In fact, I find the symbolism a lot more effective than the book, which only left me wanting more. If this author put out an entire book on this topic and gave me a full treatise on the magic of cannabis and tied it with african and indigenous spirituality, and modern feminism, I was snatch that shit up in a heartbeat. This format felt limiting for the message. I would recommend the deck to people whether they prefer tarot or oracle decks, to those who either use cannabis or don’t feel offended by its imagery, and anyone looking for a diverse deck. If you’re looking for literal ways to explore cannabis and spirituality, maybe this wouldn’t be the place I recommend starting. It’s very interesting, it’s well-written if a little vague, and certainly is original. The gender/biology stuff wasn’t offensive to me and didn’t seem over-bearing, but if you want to avoid it completely this isn’t the deck for you. The art on it’s own would get a 5, but the book and the execution of the concept would get a 3, so I’ll split the baby and give this a 4/5.
👁️👁️👁️👁️/5!
Paige Vanderbeck, The Fat Feminist Witch 
Hey, just a heads-up: Clicking to read the post shows the fatfeministwitch domain as expired. -Shannon
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