I rarely buy tarot cards. I’m…picky. I usually prefer working with my ogham or other oracle cards, but sometimes a deck cries out to me and demands attention. So when I saw The Antique Anatomy Tarot by Claire Goodchild (@blackandthemoon), I thought about it for a few days then decided to treat myself.
The cards arrived yesterday in a sturdy case with an equally beautiful guidebook. I’m still acquainting myself with them, but I will tell you…this exquisite deck is blunt. I mean…would you expect any less from cards featuring medical equipment? I wish the guidebook gave more info about the flowers, but they’re mostly there for color symbolism it seems. Same with the specific uses of the equipment portrayed.
My intrigue may surprise some of you, but I have a very casual interest in such things thanks to a trip to the Mütter Museum years ago and the fact that my late grandmother was a nurse during World War 2. I also have a fondness for the art style found in Victorian-era naturalist notebooks, so I’m drooling over all the dissected hands and flowers.
If you’re also drawn to such aesthetics, I invite you to order through the aforementioned museum. While I can’t travel and visit right now, I’m glad I was able to support them in some small way.
Author M. A. Phillips 
I don’t use Tarot, but I can appreciate the artwork. And these look amazing! Thanks for sharing them with us.
I understand! I stepped away from tarot for many years and am only just starting to use them again. I am more at home with ogham (after years and years of studying it) than tarot, but I wanted to reacquaint myself with the system for my writing. I’m glad you enjoyed a peek of this deck!
I think I might learn Tarot one day, but I’m undergoing my Ogham learning at the present. You studied it for years? My journey has just begun, lol!
Yes, since the mid 2000s. Erynn Rowan Laurie’s book really helped, but I still feel like a novice in many ways! Such a complex, culturally rich system. Best wishes!
Thank you. 🙂