Spirits Of The Herbs A Guide To The Herbal Tarot

Working With Herbal Tarot Decks

I picked up the Spirits Of The Herbs A Guide To The Herbal Tarot deck about three years ago after going through several standard Rider-Waite decks that never felt like they matched my practice. What I found was a system that actually maps plant spirit work onto tarot archetypes, which sounds gimmicky on paper but works reasonably well if you understand what you are doing. At its core this is a 78-card deck where each card corresponds to a specific herb or plant tradition combined with traditional tarot symbolism. The major arcana follow the standard Fool through World progression but each is paired with an herb. The minor arcana are split into four suits that correspond to elements traditionally associated with different plant growing conditions and magical uses. The deck comes with a guidebook that explains the herbal associations for each card. I spent about a week just flipping through the major arcana cards and cross-referencing the herb pairings with known herbal magic literature before I trusted any interpretations enough to use in a reading.

How The System Actually Works

Most people try to read this deck like a regular tarot deck. That does not work well because the herbal layer adds a dimension that traditional tarot readings do not account for. You need to read both the tarot meaning and the herbal meaning simultaneously and then synthesize them into a single interpretation. For example pulling the Six of Cups paired with lavender would not just give you nostalgia from the traditional card meaning. The lavender association adds emotional calming and spiritual protection to the reading. So the combination points toward a situation where past emotional patterns are being softened or healed through protective spiritual work. I use a three-card spread specifically designed for this deck. The first card represents the current energetic state of the querent. The second card shows the herbal influence currently active in their situation. The third card is the outcome or the recommended action. This keeps the herbal and tarot layers separate enough to interpret clearly without muddying the reading.

Common Problems People Run Into

The biggest issue I see is that beginners treat the herbal associations as decorative rather than functional. They will read the tarot meaning and ignore the herb entirely. This wastes roughly half the deck and produces shallow readings that could have come from any standard tarot deck. Another problem is that some of the herbal pairings in this deck are unconventional. I initially struggled with the Seven of Pentacles being paired with mullein instead of the more obvious agricultural herbs. After about two months of practice I realized mullein grows in disturbed soil and poor conditions. The card started making sense when I stopped expecting traditional associations and looked at what mullein actually represents ecologically. I also ran into a specific problem with reversals. The guidebook does not address reversed meanings at all. Early on I would flip a card and feel stuck. My workaround was simple. I treated reversed herbal cards as indicating blocked or unmanifested herbal energy in that area rather than trying to invent entirely new meanings. If mint appeared reversed in a spread about career, I interpreted it as blocked opportunities for growth and refreshment rather than something abstract.

What This Deck Cannot Do

Let me be clear about the limitations. This deck is not a comprehensive herbal reference. Several plants in the guidebook are listed without deep cultural or magical context. If you rely solely on this deck for herbal knowledge you will miss important details about preparation methods, contraindications, and regional traditions. The deck also struggles with complex historical contexts. Some herb pairings lean heavily on Western European traditions. If your practice incorporates indigenous or non-European herbal knowledge the deck will not cover that material. You need to supplement this with separate references regardless of how experienced you are. For people who want a full herbal system this deck is a starting point rather than a complete solution. A better long-term approach is to use this alongside a dedicated herbal grimoire and build your own cross-references over time.

Practical Tips For Using The Deck

Start by learning five cards thoroughly before adding more. Pick one major arcana card and its corresponding herb and study both the tarot symbolism and the herbal properties until you can explain the connection without the guidebook. I found that working with the Empress and basil combination first gave me a solid foundation because both carry strong fertility and abundance themes that overlap in clear ways. Keep a journal of your readings with the full card names, herb associations, and your interpretations. After about twenty readings you will start noticing patterns in which cards come up repeatedly for specific types of questions. This pattern recognition matters more than memorizing every card meaning. The guidebook descriptions are accurate but dry. I recommend reading additional herbal magic sources separately and then going back to the deck with that context layered in. It transforms the whole experience from following instructions to actually understanding the system.