When I was young, I believed that the world was filled with magic and that everything and everywhere was a place for me to explore, and I was never afraid, because the world was full of trees easy to give a branch, bears standing guard in the corner of bedrooms, fairies moving into the houses I made and guarding the apartment complex — I was never alone and the world was full of magic. Now that I am older and a grandmother stepping into the liminal space of a coming ancestor, I still believe that we are never alone, the world is full of magic, and we have guardians both seen and unseen. Whether you work with ancestors (they still work with you), whether you work with animal guardians, each of these cards represents an energy that is stepping forward to remind you of something you may need reminding of, and helping you to walk that truth.
When I was making this deck, I was a new grandmother, and also in the midst of having had an amazing experience creating the Inner World Tarot, and was not done with taking what I had learned from shared spaces of intention and magic through AI and seeing where it would take me.
I was going over a lot to hold my granddaughter, and much of that time was in rocking her to sleep and then simply holding her while she slept, because it is one of my greatest joys and greatest healings. So with my phone in hand, and my heart high in my chest, I would call for an animal to step forward with a request that they be prepared to aid us in our path.
Bear first, as my wisest of guardians and one who had walked with me my whole life and who had shown up in the bear claws that manifested on my granddaughter's newborn footprints in ink. First Bear, then Dragon, then Wolf and Raven, and on the animal spirits stepped forward, and in the quiet darkness of her room, with galaxy lights twinkling and swirling on her ceiling, I felt like the animal spirits were like the Fairy Godmothers of Sleeping Beauty, each coming in to bless my granddaughter and remind me of their lessons. I send these blessings out to anyone who chooses to work with them.
It is always important to be clear on any worldviews that had an impact on the creation of something like an oracle deck. That is not to say that the person using the deck has to share the same worldview, but it gives insight into the creation and intention behind the deck. My ideas surrounding what others call Source or Spirit is Story. I believe in the concept that once upon a time, long ago and far away, there was a primal world for which this one is a reflection, where the original spirit forms of animals (and more) resided. We can see the energy of those original spirits in the physical animals around us, but they are not the same — though that spirit is in them. Animism is the understanding that all things contain Spirit or Soul or Story; it is a worldview you will find at the heart and beginnings of many cultures across the world.
My very first memory in this lifetime is of telling my mom and dad, out in the living room, that there was a bear in my room. Based on the house, I was about two years old. Bear was my first seen guardian and has been the most amazing support for me my whole life — she is, in my opinion, an animal spirit guardian. Wolf came not too long later; he is, like Bear, what I would call a fylgja (Old Norse), folgjan (Old English), or fetch, which often go ahead or beside, although when they are connected to fae, they are seen to follow behind, as the verb means “to follow.” These are seen as beings that are attached to every individual and are “the repository of all past actions and which accordingly affects the person’s life; the personal divinity” (Thorsson, Well of Wyrd, 119). Wolf, for me, follows and nips the heels and helps with navigation based on our shared past (rooted in past lives and ancestry). My Crow guardian would be connected to a powerful, primal ancestress guardian. Therefore, in a Northern Tradition, Crow is connected to my dis/Haminja, ancestral voice; Bear is a fylgja that leads before and beside and is active in my dreams; and Wolf is a fae fylgja who follows behind and is connected to my past lives.
This is just one of many different ways that cultures have worked with guardian energy, and simply fits my heritage and guardian dynamic. This deck is mostly made up of animal guardians, but there are also the great spirits of dragons, dinosaurs (which must have been a guardian of my son), fairy, and our ancestors. You do not have to work with animal guardians to work with a deck like this, only to believe that we do have guardian energy around us, and that in the moment of the card draw, your guardians are embodying the energy of that creature.
I believe there are many types of guardians — familial, primal, cross-generational, active currently, long-term, lifelong, transient, and specific to a moment in time or a situation. Some are with us across this whole life (or lifetimes, if you, like me, believe in past lives), and others come in to aid us as we need in various ways. Regardless of your specific beliefs, I do not believe that any person walks alone in life, and while you may not have come face to face with your guardian(s), they know you and want you to become the best version of yourself.
While either deck is, in actuality, an access point to Support, the Support version of the deck is the original version made while calling in guardians for my granddaughter. The statements, which are the exact same on either deck, take on a teaching tone with the images of an adult being helping a youngling. When Bear says, “You are never alone,” she is teaching you and reminding you of this in a way that you can feel that Support and safety and comfort. In Primal Guardians, that same support, safety, and comfort is there, but here Bear is looking at you directly, reminding you and challenging you to believe that you are never alone; she is offering to lend you her strength but expecting you to walk forward in this knowledge. They are the same Bear energy — nurture can feel like a hug or a push forward, can envelope and empower.
Note: I always start with what I know about the animal or creature in the physical world, and then think about or research the myths and legends surrounding the larger mythos of the creature, and from there you can see how that creature may be supporting or challenging you.
These decks are here to support you, and their statements are meant always to encourage you to see your strengths and what you can become. This is not a frivolous thing, but a wish made and breathed with power. When I hug my granddaughter and I whisper in her ear, “you are never alone” or “you are the stuff of fairy queens,” it is a sweet moment, but I can assure you, it is filled with the power of knowing and wishing for her to know. Each statement is a reminder that all will be well, a knowing of who you are and what you have around you, and a challenge for you to walk the world with power in every step because you truly know who you are and who you walk with. Close your eyes and breathe the statement and hear your ancestors, your guardians, whisper the words at the nape of your neck, feel their presence behind you or beside you, and then walk through the day, or the situation, knowing:
You are never alone.