Tarot Fellow
Fantastical Creatures Tarot — D.J. Conway Mythical Deck
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$21.95 - Regular price
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$21.95
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Fantastical Creatures tarot deck by D.J. Conway invites you into a realm of dragons, unicorns, mermaids, and other mythical beings. Each of the 78 cards is illustrated with vivid fantasy imagery that makes readings feel like stepping into legend. An enchanting deck for readers who want myth woven into every draw.
Description:Quick Specs
- Brand: Lo Scarabeo
- Author: D.J. Conway
- Artist: Lisa Hunt
- Type: Tarot deck, 78 cards with companion booklet
- Best for: World mythology study, creature traditions, nature spirit work, multi-cultural tarot exploration
Fantastical Creatures Tarot: A World Mythology Bestiary in 78 Cards
The Fantastical Creatures Tarot is a 78-card tarot deck written by D.J. Conway, a prolific Wiccan and pagan author best known for books on dragon magic, Celtic tradition, and shamanic practice, with artwork by Lisa Hunt. Conway's guiding premise is that mythological creatures occupy a plane between humans and gods, and that working with their symbolic energy through divination is a legitimate form of magical contact. Hunt's luminous watercolor style gives each creature a distinctive presence without sacrificing tarot readability, a difficult balance that this deck achieves consistently.
What distinguishes the Fantastical Creatures Tarot from single-theme creature decks is breadth. The imagery draws from Greek, Celtic, Egyptian, Norse, Asian, Middle Eastern, and indigenous traditions, mapping a genuinely global bestiary onto the 78-card structure. The Magician is a Winged Cat, a cross-cultural figure appearing in multiple mythologies as a symbol of psychic power. The Emperor is Pegasus. The Wheel of Fortune features a Rainbow Serpent from Australian Aboriginal tradition. The World card features a creature from Mesoamerican cosmology. This is not a deck that privileges one mythology over another.
Creature Archetypes and Multi-Tradition Symbolism
Conway's system holds that mythological beings, whether phoenixes, djinn, mermaids, griffins, unicorns, or dragon types, each carry specific magical attributes that can be invoked through focused attention during a reading or ritual. The companion booklet addresses both the divinatory meaning of each card and the mythological background and traditions associated with each creature, giving the deck unusual depth for practitioners who work across multiple cultural frameworks. Readers who feel drawn to shapeshifting traditions, nature spirits, or animist worldviews tend to find this deck speaks directly to their practice. Browse my tarot collection to find other decks that share this mythology-forward approach.
The court cards are named in traditional fashion as Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings, and are particularly well-executed, each featuring a distinctive creature with visible emotional expression that makes these often-flat cards genuinely readable. The minor arcana pip cards carry full illustrative scenes, not just suit symbols, which makes intuitive reading more accessible. This deck follows standard tarot structure throughout: four suits, 22 major arcana, and the full court card complement, so readers already familiar with tarot can pick it up without needing to relearn the structural grammar.
How to Use the Fantastical Creatures Tarot
How to read with the Fantastical Creatures Tarot for mythology-based divination and creature archetype work.
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Connect with the Creature on Each Card
Before reading the positional meaning, identify the creature and its tradition. Conway's booklet gives the mythological context for each card. This grounding in cultural origin deepens interpretation considerably beyond standard keyword meanings.
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Use the Booklet as a Cross-Cultural Reference
Each card entry covers the creature's mythological background alongside its divinatory meaning. The booklet functions as a cross-cultural reference on its own, covering traditions from Greek and Norse to Aboriginal Australian and Mesoamerican.
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Work Across Multiple Spreads and Traditions
This deck performs well in Celtic Cross layouts and simpler three-card draws alike. The creature imagery makes it a strong option for meditation work focused on specific creature archetypes from your own cultural or spiritual tradition.
The Tarot Fellow Standard
I stock the Fantastical Creatures Tarot because D.J. Conway and Lisa Hunt have produced something rare in the themed-deck market: a deck that takes world mythology seriously as a reading framework rather than borrowing creature imagery as decoration. The breadth of traditions represented, from Winged Cats and Rainbow Serpents to Djinn and Pegasus, gives practitioners working across multiple cultural frameworks a deck that actually maps their practice. Hunt's watercolor art is expressive enough to support intuitive reading while remaining structurally faithful to the tarot. For practitioners who want to go deeper into magical traditions, explore my tarot and divination books for texts on creature mythology and multi-tradition practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lisa Hunt illustrated the deck. She is a watercolor artist known for several tarot projects including Animals Divine Tarot and Fairy Tale Tarot. D.J. Conway, a Wiccan author, wrote the companion booklet and card meanings.
The deck draws from Greek, Celtic, Norse, Egyptian, Asian, Middle Eastern, Aboriginal Australian, and Mesoamerican traditions, among others. It is one of the more genuinely global creature decks available in the tarot format.
Yes. It follows standard tarot structure with 22 major arcana, 56 minor arcana across four suits, and traditional court cards named Pages, Knights, Queens, and Kings. The structure is fully Rider-Waite compatible.
It works for readers at any level. The illustrated pip cards support intuitive reading, and the booklet gives both divinatory meanings and mythological context. Prior tarot knowledge helps but is not strictly required to use the deck.
