White Hare Wisdom – a review

The White Hare Wisdom oracle cards are the latest creation from Jacqui Lovesey, of Matlock The Hare fame, with Phil Lovesey involved in the guidebook. I jumped in during the kickstarter, but you can now get the cards from etsy. So, how does it work having an oracle card set based in a fictional reality?

The short answer is that this is without a doubt the best oracle card set I have ever worked with – and I have had my hands on quite a few over the years.

The art is lovely, and you can check that out here to see if it suits you – https://www.matlockthehare.com/white-hare-wisdom

There are two things that have really struck me about using this set. The first is that there are concepts here that you don’t find in most decks because we don’t have words for them. Phil and Jacqui have taken the simple approach of inventing whatever words are needed – this is very much in keeping with the Matlock the Hare setting as a whole. The concepts in here are great, these are words to slip into your personal dictionary, to relish and be inspired by.

The second thing that really struck me is the lack of judgement. Usually oracle card sets have some judgy content – if there are reversed readings it will most likely show up here. This is, so far as I can remember, the first card set that hasn’t at some point focused on telling me what I’m doing wrong or where my personal shortcomings might be. Sometimes, when I’m having a bad day, that kind of oracle reading just knocks me down further, even if it is technically right.

What we have here, is good advice. There’s recognition that if you’ve picked up an oracle set you may have problems on your mind, but the advice is warm, friendly, nurturing stuff. Every card represents ideas about kinds of energies to work with, actions to take, forms of self care to think about and sources of inspiration. If you’re looking to bring fresh energy into your life to cheer your heart and ease your journey, this is a fantastic set to work with. Every card offers a substantial message and ideas you can really dig in with.

You can find the cards on Etsy – https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/683845358/white-hare-wisdom-44-card-oracle-deck-by

The League of Lid Curving Witchery – a review

This is a new book from Phil and Jacqui Lovesey, whose Matlock the Hare books I have reviewed before on this blog. Set in the magickal dales, this volume focuses on the history of the league of lid curving witchery – the witches who inhabit this strange and lovely landscape. While the first three Matlock the Hare books were illustrated prose, things clearly took a bit of a turn with the previous title – Upon a Tzorkly Moon – which was hard cover and densely illustrated in colour.  The new one is more in this style.

Here we have stories and illustrations, and a physically very beautiful book. It’s imaginative, and engaging. I’ve been pondering this for a while and I think the best way to describe it is to say that this is a children’s book that has been written for adults. Maybe that makes it an inner children’s book. It’s pretty dark in places – violence against those perceived to be outsiders is a reoccurring theme, and as these are witches, boiling other creatures in your cauldron is a popular choice. It’s probably not suitable for most children (if in doubt, buy it and read it first).

The underlying theme of the story is about how we square up to our differences and rise above them. Tzorkly (it’s a parlawitch word in case you were wondering) means ‘to rise above’ and this book is absolutely an invitation to do just that. It delivers the message without being smug or preachy.

One of the things I find especially interesting about the Lovesy’s work is how they handle death. This is an animist reality, everything and anything can have feelings and a voice. Everything creaturey eats. Sometimes what is eaten, protests. Everything will die eventually, and the deaths of main characters are very much part of the stories. This book focuses on three witches, and all of them die, and that’s absolutely fine. It doesn’t even feel like a spoiler mentioning this, because it’s about life. They live, and therefore they die. The human desire to extend life for as long as possible, is not helping our species or our planet. We need different stories about what death is and how it fits into our lives, and this book is just that sort of thing.

As a household, we’ve had terrible trouble with the title for some reason. Tom first misnamed it as the league of wood carving lechery, we’ve also had witch carving lechery, and last night I inadvertently called it the league of witch curving and then had no idea what the last word could be. We’re a bit splurked, and we haven’t the oidiest extrapluff as to why.

Find out more about Phil and Jacqui’s work here – https://www.matlockthehare.com/

See inside the book here – https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/584650624/a-book-the-league-of-lid-curving