Celtic Totem Animals

This is an oracle rather than a standard Tarot, and consists of 20 small, stylized cards plus a full explanatory book and a CD of shamanic drumming. The object is to combine the cards with shamanic trance-work in order to identify the animal totems relevant to the situation/person being considered, based on the meanings of the various animals in Celtic tradition.

There is reasonable evidence for some sort of ancient Celtic shamanic tradition - Merlin running wild in the woods; descriptions of trips to the Otherworld which certainly sound like astral travel; and so on. Various animals certainly did have powerful significance in Celtic folklore (the Salmon of Wisdom; the eagle who is "the oldest thing that is in the world, and he that has fared farthest afield" etc.) and poems such as Amergin's Song show that the Celts at least sometimes described their own characteristics in non-human terms ("I am a boar renowned and red"). So the concept of a Celtic totem animal isn't as culturally mix'n'match as it at first appears.

Do not expect to listen to the drumming CD for pleasure. It is intended for serious trance-work, and as such it plays the same note over and over for twenty minutes, then plays two other notes for a further 20 minutes, then goes back and plays the original note for another 20 minutes. However, it's supposed to be hypnotically repetitive, and as a magical tool it is very good: the drummer manages to fill his or her single note with great power and emphasis.