Deck Review

The Amazonian Angel Oracle:

Working with Angels, Devas & Plant Spirits

by Howard G. Charing

Publisher: Destiny Books

192-page Guidebook and 33-Card Deck

Release Date: August 9, 2022

 

 

 

 

I did not know what to expect when I opened up the box containing The Amazonian Angel Oracle. I had never heard of it, nor had I heard of Howard G. Charing, the creator of this stunningly beautiful set of cards, or Pablo Amaringo, the artist and spiritual philosopher on which this deck is based. So obviously, I had a lot to learn.

What I found out was that The Amazonian Angel Oracle is a beautiful set of oracle cards, based on a philosophy of helpful angels, devas, and other benevolent spirits. It’s a perfect aid for meditation, self-reflection, communing with your higher powers or basic divination. If you have someone on your Yule list who is a devotee of Oracle cards, The Amazonian Angel Oracle is the ideal gift. It comes in a lovely box with a magnetic clasp, with a guidebook, telling you how the cards came to be and a description of each card in detail. The cards themselves are of superior card stock, with a glossy finish; rather larger than the usual divination card, which makes them somewhat difficult to shuffle. It’s easier to put them on the floor and mix them around in a circle with your hand. But other than that, I have no complaints about these cards at all.

The guidebook that comes with the oracle cards, The Amazonian Angel Oracle: Working with Angels, Devas and Plant Spirits, written by Howard G. Charing, doesn’t tell you very much about Pablo Amaringo, beyond his personal philosophy about angels, devas, and plant spirits. If you would like to know more about Pablo Amaringo, start here ~~~> https://pablo-amaringo.pixels.com/ His artwork is stunningly beautiful. There are other websites dedicated to his work; they’re easy to find on Google.

As for Howard G. Charing, his website is here ~~~> https://www.hgcharing.com/ . He has quite an interesting story, which unfortunately can’t be told here; but his life experiences have informed and influenced the making of The Amazonian Angel Oracle.

There are thirty-three cards comprising The Amazonian Angel Oracle and they are visual gorgeous – brilliantly colored with intriguing detail on each one. The artwork was done by Corina Dragan, who drew the images, and Alexandru Cordo?, who did the digital coloring. I found a website for Corina Dragan here ~~~> https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/663044; she also has a presence on Instagram and Pinterest. Alexandru Cordo? has a website at http://www.alexandrucordos.ro, but when I tried accessing it, the site was down for maintenance.

Like I said earlier, the cards are larger than the usual Tarot or Oracle deck of cards, but that makes it easier to see the detail in the pictures. And the pictures are very detailed! Take your time looking at each one. The first suggested reading in the Guidebook is a single card daily reading and this is a good idea to get to know the cards intimately. If you look at one card a day, this process will take you a little more than one month. This is not to say that you can’t do the other spreads featured in the Guidebook. But the one-card draw is a good meditation every morning, regardless of what deck you’re using.

Like all decks, there are cards that you “like” more than others. These are the ones I like:

 

 

There were so many more that I wanted to share with you but there just isn’t the space to show them all! But even with seeing only a few of the cards from The Amazonian Angel Oracle, you can see the vivid coloring and attention to detail on each card. They are definitely some of the most beautiful oracle cards I have ever seen.

Like I wrote above, The Amazonian Angel Oracle Guidebook contains several spreads. Like most guidebooks, it suggests pulling a single card on a daily basis and meditating upon it until you are acquainted with the entire deck most intimately. However, don’t neglect to practice using the cards with the other spreads in the guidebook. Only by using The Amazonian Angel Oracle will you learn what the angels and devas have to tell you; the spreads in the book are there to help you hear their messages.

The spreads in the guidebook are ones I have never seen before. I scanned them to share with you:

Card #1 represents the Questioner or You, if you’re reading for yourself – your attitude, your emotions surrounding the situation and everything you think about what’s going on.

Card #2 represents Hanaqpacha (Upper World) – the card of our most ethical and moral essences. This card is the ideal of our Higher Self.

Card #3 represents Kaypacha (Middle World) – where we live our everyday physical lives.

Card #4 represents Ukupacha (Lower World) – our primal beliefs and unconscious patterns.

This one didn’t make much sense to me at first. I had to do a few times to really get a feel for it. It was about identifying “the energies and heavier emotions that block your innate, creative abilities and inhibit you from expressing your personal intimacy and unconditional love.” (Charing, 15). Apparently, the cards should be laid out so that they are face down and you turn over the left-hand column first –
cards # 1, 2 and 3 – and read those first – these cards show you your emotional blockages that are preventing you from your true potential. Then you turn over the cards on the right-hand side, which are supposed to be a “path to personal liberation and joy” (Charing, 16). Then you read the center column, which is a neutral field – these cards show you the awareness you need to “balance the light and dark into a benign balance” so that you can prosper.

This last one seemed to me a take on the Celtic Cross, although the layout was a bit
different. I liked this one the best. Card #1 represents the issue of the situation. Card #2 represents past influences. Card #3 represents future outcomes. Card #4 represents Hanaqpacha (Upper World) – the “realm of our most ethical and moral attributes” (Charing, 17). Card #5 represents Kaypacha (Middle World) – where we live now. Card #6 represents Ukupacha (Lower World) – our primal beliefs.

Here is one of my spreads using the Chakana (Andean Cross) Layout:

I’m not going to get into the interpretation of the cards in this spread, because that’s beyond the scope of this article, but this is really a nice spread that tells a lot about what’s going on in your life. In fact, I think this spread would work with almost any oracle or tarot deck, since the concept of upper, middle and lower worlds exist in all cultures.

In all, I have to say that The Amazonian Angel Oracle is a wonderful deck of cards. The
philosophy on which these cards are based is brilliant; the artwork of these cards is stunningly beautiful; the cards themselves are of the highest quality. I cannot recommend them enough. If you are in the market for a set of oracle cards for yourself or you want to buy some a gift for someone you know, you cannot go wrong with The Amazonian Angel Oracle by Howard G. Charing, published by Destiny Books.

All photographs by Polly MacDavid.

About the author:

Howard G. Charing is an international workshop leader on shamanism, author and visionary artist. For over thirty years he has worked with some of the most respected and extraordinary shamans & elders in the Andes, the Amazon Rainforest, and the Philippines.

His books are; Plant Spirit Shamanism (Destiny Books USA) 2006, The Ayahuasca Visions of Pablo Amaringo (Inner Traditions USA) 2011, The Accidental Shaman (Destiny Books USA) 2017, and The Amazonian Angel Oracle. He has written numerous articles that include original source field interviews of indigenous shamans. Howard’s personal website features his workshop programme, his visionary art, and a solid selection of articles and interviews.

In 2016, he organised the first major conference in East Europe dedicated to visionary consciousness. This conference featured luminaries such as Graham Hancock, Dennis McKenna, Jan Kounen, plus many others.

Howard’s website: www.hgcharing.com

 

The Amazonian Angel Oracle

 

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About the Author:

Polly MacDavid lives in Buffalo, New York at the moment but that could easily change, since she is a gypsy at heart. Like a gypsy, she is attracted to the divinatory arts, as well as camp fires and dancing barefoot. She has three cats who all help her with her magic.

Her philosophy about religion and magic is that it must be thoroughly based in science and logic. She is Dianic Wiccan but she gets along with a few of the masculine deities. She loves to cook and she is a Bills fan.

She blogs at silverapplequeen.wordpress.com. She writes about general life, politics and poetry. She is writing a novel about sex, drugs and recovery.