Cats Rule the Earth Tarot Deck Review

Cats Rule the Earth Tarot Deck and Guidebook

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Cats Rule the Earth Tarot is a 78-card deck and guidebook for the feline-obsessed. Illustrated by Thiago Correa and written by Catherine Davidson.

From the cover:

“This 78-card tarot deck and guidebook is cat themed, combining ancient mysticism with feline illustrations. This set is ideal for anyone seeking the knowledge and skills needed to learn the ancient art of tarot. Offering a fun, clever take on the usual tarot deck, Cats Rule the Earth Tarot creatively reinvents the traditional cards with modern, quirky cat illustrations."

Three of Cups as chosen by Simba!

Review of Cats Rule the Earth Tarot

I received this beautiful deck as a gift and have been meaning to review it for some time, simply because it deserves to be shared. To restate the obvious, this deck is purrfect for feline fans and crazy cat lovers with a flair for the mystical. Perhaps that's why I connected to it so easily - I am a cat mum, after all! - but there's a lot more to this pawsome deck than cute kitties.

Before delving in, here's a brief outline of what to expect from Cats Rule the Earth Tarot.

• Suitable for beginners and experienced readers.

• Great for fans of the original Rider Waite.

• Simplistic imagery is easy to interpret.

• Upright and reversed meanings.

• Includes box and guidebook.

A sneak peek inside the magical box.

Packaging

I do love it when tarot decks come with their own dedicated box as it makes them all the more special, and this one is simply divine. They do take up a little more space than usual; but with the additional guidebook, it keeps everything together and nicely tucked away.

The box opens with a sturdy hardback and a message on the inner cover that sums up the tarot in a single sentence: "Open your mind and the answers will find you."

There's a slot for the cards, but I'd have liked a separate internal box for the deck as it can be hard to fish them out. Also for portability if you wanted to tuck them into your handbag or travel for readings, etc. However, this doesn't detract from the product and tarot bags are easy enough to buy online.

Tarot guidebook in full colour with illustrations.

Guidebook

The guidebook equips the reader with a historical understanding of tarot, how to interpret and apply each card drawn and methods of conducting readings for yourself, family or friends. It also describes a bit about the history of cats, their association with the supernatural and roles throughout history. For example, the Ancient Egyptians who believed that cats were sacred and worshipped the cat-headed goddess, Bastet.

There's also advice on shuffling methods, how to connect with intuition and different spreads you can use. These include the popular Celtic Cross, one and three-card spreads and The Cat's Paw which, naturally, is unique to this deck. I've been using this spread for general readings and have found it to be very accurate.

Descriptions of the Major and Minor Arcana, including the court cards, are in line with traditional Rider Waite meanings, making it easy to transfer any previous knowledge of the cards. The information is more basic than in-depth, so if you're a complete newbie then it might help to do your own research into elemental or astrological connections; and applications to different areas of life (love, career, health, etc). There's also a small section on numerology.

Overall, the guidebook covers everything a beginner needs to know to get started, as well as being engaging and enlightening for more experienced readers. A few of the cards, such as Two of Pentacles as shown in the image above, don't follow typical depictions. This card is all about balance and juggling many different areas or responsibilities, which isn't obvious in the imagery - so the guidebook helps in that aspect, too.

Major Arcana.

Deck

Cats Rule the Earth Tarot has been described as having a Halloween or autumn vibe and, indeed, there are a few pumpkins and pagan elements - cats are known as the witch's familiar, after all. The tone of the deck is more vintage than RW but draws on similar bold colours and uncomplicated imagery.

I have a lot of fantasy-themed tarot decks: fairies, unicorns, mermaids and even vampires. The depth of detail in the artwork, while beautiful, can be distracting and unfamiliar for inexperienced readers. It takes a certain level of intuition to peel back the layers of imagery in tarot cards, but Cats Rule the Earth strips it back to basics and a lot of symbolism will seem familiar.

I particularly appreciate this deck's take on The Hanged Man (above) with a kitty tangled in a ball of string; and The Hermit. As any cat parent will know, our four-legged friends love their cardboard boxes and this fits in nicely with the theme of solicitude and introspection.

Court cards.

The court cards as pictured above give a few examples of these familiarities. The Knight of Wands is known as being a fun and energetic soul with a love of adventure and travel, as we see with the black kitty flying off on his broomstick. In RW, the knight's horse is unbridled which speaks to his impulsive side and cautions against lack of control. This deck gives us the same vibes with kitty balancing precariously on his broomstick!

The Queen of Wands is often shown with a little black cat sitting at her feet to represent her shadow side, and here she's portrayed by a mother cat and her kitten. So too, in Wheel of Fortune (above) we can see the classic snake, symbolic of growth and renewal; as well as the four elements - earth, air, fire and water - in the corners.

Left: Cats Rule the Earth; Right: Rider Waite

In a closer comparison between Ten of Cups, we can see that it's literally Rider Waite.... but with cats! The classic rainbow and arch of cups, symbolising blessings, rewards the end of hard times. The family representing happiness, contentment and emotional fulfilment.

Cats Rule the Earth reinvents many elements of traditional tarot with its own style and twists. Such as in Three of Swords below with the kitty skull - which shows up again in the Death card (number thirteen). This highlights the connection to numerology which can be extremely helpful in tarot readings.

Take a moment to study these cards and think about how the imagery relates to what you already know and what makes them different. Why is the pumpkin in Six of Pentacles overflowing with coins? What's the meaning behind the Sphynx's tattoos in Seven of Swords?

Minor Arcana.

Not all decks follow the traditional route, and it's not unusual for different designers, artists or illustrators to create their own versions of the tarot. One must look to the surrounding cards, their own intuition and what the querent wants to know or the main focus of the reading.

Another point to note, which may or may not be important depending on your reading style, is that the back of the cards are nice and symmetrical. This means you can't tell if they're upright or reversed, which can really enhance the authenticity of a reading. If you're picking cards from a spread then, naturally, you're going to stay away from those negatives if you can help it!

As for the overall quality of the cards, they aren't the thickest and might be more susceptible to wear and tear with regular use. They also have a matte finish, which has the advantage of not slipping and sliding while shuffling; however, as these are fairly lightweight, it can cause them to stick together.

I have small hands and work better with dainty cards so, to me, these aren't the worst for shuffling - but they're not the best either. The only thing I'd say is not to go crazy with those shuffles and cuts, as there's more chance of them bending without a laminate coating.

Back of the cards.

Summary

Cats Rule the Earth Tarot has given some accurate readings right out of the box, before even reading the guidebook. I prefer to let my intuition do most of the interpretation and gain more from the imagery than RW, perhaps because there's more detail. For visual readers, there's the ability to read each card individually as well as creating an overall narrative or theme. By this, I mean they have a nice flow and it's easy to tell a "story".

I can't compare how it stands up against other cat-themed decks as this is the first and only one I've owned, but I'll definitely be adding more to my collection in the future.

Cats Rule the Earth is highly rated on Amazon, with customers complementing the beautiful packaging and enjoying reading the intricate but easy to interpret cards. The only negatives, as mentioned previously, seems to be with the thinness of the cards themselves. Some might call them flimsy but I call them delicate.

If you love tarot and you love cats, there's really nothing not to love about this deck!

Check it out on Amazon here: Cats Rule the Earth Tarot

Have you got this deck or any other feline-themed favourites? Leave a comment with any tarot, oracle or angel card deck that you'd like to see reviewed next.