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Explore the Nature Spirit Tarot Cards
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AURICA’S QUICK TAKE
Let the species repeat before you reach for a keyword
Nature Spirit Tarot feels like stepping into a fern-dark clearing where every wing, root and glint of stone has something gentle but definite to say.
I would begin each reading by letting my eyes wander before naming a single meaning. Which species repeat? Where does the water move? Which flower opens, and which creature turns away? Those small visual echoes often hold the emotional thread that ties the spread together.
Then I would open Herzel’s guidebook and add the species-level correspondences. That order keeps the reading alive: first the picture’s atmosphere, then the traditional structure, then the practical choice waiting underneath both.
For your first week, draw one card each morning and write down three things you can actually see before reaching for a keyword. Let the deck remind you that your intuition is not a test to pass—it is a relationship with the living world, and it grows warmer every time you pay attention.
THE SHORT VERSION
A tarot deck that asks you to look closer
This is a deck for the moment when a reading asks you to slow down, breathe, and notice what is alive in the picture.
The Nature Spirit Tarot is a full 78-card deck-and-book set published by Bear & Company. Herzel’s hand-painted watercolors draw their vocabulary from the Pacific Northwest and from broader botanical, animal and mineral traditions.
The structure remains recognizably tarot—22 Major Arcana and four 14-card suits—but the visual language is ecological rather than theatrical. A card’s bird, flower, mushroom or stone is never background decoration. It is part of the interpretation.
CARD STUDY
Four ways the deck translates an archetype
HONEST VERDICT
Where it shines—and where it asks more of you
Pros
- All 78 cards are original hand-painted watercolors.
- Plant, animal, insect, reptile and gemstone symbolism rewards close study.
- The substantial guidebook explains why each natural element belongs to its archetype.
- Jewel-toned color and recurring ecological motifs make multi-card readings feel cohesive.
Cons
- Readers who rely on human figures and facial expressions may need time to adjust.
- The cards contain many symbolic details, so quick visual readings can feel dense at first.
- The large boxed kit is beautiful on a shelf but less portable than a tuck-box deck.
- Some meanings become clearest only after reading Herzel’s correspondences in the book.
FOUR-CARD READING
The Living Compass spread
Use this spread when a situation feels too abstract. The cards move from present conditions to the living resource already around you, then toward one grounded action.
Current water
Name the emotion or relationship moving through the situation.
Ask: What is flowing?
Emerging fire
Notice the impulse with enough life to deserve your energy.
Ask: What wants to grow?
Clearing air
Identify the thought, truth or boundary that sharpens the reading.
Ask: What needs clarity?
Rooting earth
Choose the smallest practical act that makes the message real.
Ask: What can I ground?READING THE ARCANA
Change, surrender and renewal in the natural world
Four cards show how naturally this deck moves through a complete cycle: pattern, pause, disruption, and return.
Wheel of Fortune
Cycles are easier to understand when they are seen rather than explained. The Wheel’s circular ecology makes fortune feel less like luck and more like participation in a larger pattern.
The Hanged Man
Herzel’s suspended salamander turns pause into adaptation. The card asks what becomes visible when you stop pushing forward and let the environment change your point of view.
The Tower
The Tower’s disruption is ecological, immediate and unsentimental. It does not soften upheaval, but it places shock inside a world that continually breaks down and regenerates.
The World
The World completes the sequence through interdependence. Roots, branches and circular form turn completion into belonging rather than a finish line.
THE BOXED SET
A guidebook built for correspondences
The 192-page companion book gives each card room to breathe. Entries begin with a traditional tarot meaning and then unpack the natural elements Herzel selected—how a particular bird, plant, insect or stone supports the archetype.
That makes the book especially valuable for readers who want more than a deck-specific keyword list. It models a repeatable way to read visual evidence: identify the living forms, understand their behavior and associations, then bring that knowledge back to the question.
JEAN MARIE HERZEL’S COMPLETE 78-CARD SETBring the living world to your tarot tableSee Nature Spirit Tarot on Amazon →
See Nature Spirit Tarot on Amazon
Nature Spirit Tarot FAQ
Who created the Nature Spirit Tarot?
Jean Marie Herzel created, illustrated and wrote the Nature Spirit Tarot. She is a Pacific Northwest watercolor artist whose work centers on plants, animals and the unseen patterns of the natural world.
How many cards are in the Nature Spirit Tarot?
The deck contains the standard 78 cards: 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana divided into Cups, Wands, Swords and Pentacles.
Does it follow Rider–Waite–Smith tarot?
It uses a modified Rider–Waite–Smith structure and familiar archetypes, but it replaces most human scenes with carefully selected flora, fauna, insects, reptiles and gemstones.
Is the deck good for beginners?
It can be, especially for a beginner who loves natural symbolism and is willing to use the guidebook. Readers who depend on facial expressions or familiar human scenes may need a slower learning period.
What comes in the boxed set?
The Bear & Company edition includes the complete 78-card deck and a 192-page illustrated guidebook in a sturdy presentation box with a slide-out tray.
Are the card images reversible?
The deck’s green card back uses a centered natural-symbol medallion and corner motifs. The design is balanced enough for readers who choose to include reversed cards.
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