Hush Tarot - engraving style with birds, insects and botanical symbolism
Some tarot decks look straight at you. This one asks you to be still and look longer. The Hush Tarot by Jeremy Hush looks like a collection of 19th-century natural history illustrations, but functions as a contemporary tarot system.
It is published by U.S. Games Systems Inc. and contains 78 cards measuring 70 x 120 mm. The illustrations are filled with animals, plants and insects, often in states of growth or decay. No bright colours, plenty of texture.
What you see on the cards
The imagery resembles Victorian-era engravings. Line drawings dominate, colour use is restrained. Nearly every card contains an animal or botanical element as its central symbol.
Birds, beetles, moths and plants in various stages are not decoration. They carry the meaning of the card. Death, for instance, shows not a skeleton but a natural process of transformation. The Star not abstract light but a concrete creature in its environment.
The style forces you to notice details. Small elements in the background, textures, the direction an insect faces. That makes this deck slower in use than a classic Rider-Waite.
How you work with it
This is not a deck for quick answers. The symbolism is layered and asks for interpretation. The 68-page guidebook gives explanations for each card, but the strength lies in what you discover in the images yourself.
Many people use this deck for daily draws where they leave one card out for a while. The natural symbolism works meditatively. You can pick up a card and simply look at it without immediately seeking meaning.
Draw one card and find the smallest detail that catches your attention. A wing, a leaf, the position of a leg. Ask yourself why that particular element draws your eye.
About Jeremy Hush
Jeremy Hush comes from the punk and metal scene and works as a multidisciplinary artist. His work centres on capturing natural processes, emotions and transformation in detailed compositions.
For the Hush Tarot he has applied that visual language to the tarot system. The result feels both nostalgic and contemporary, familiar and strange at once.
Specifications
- Number of cards: 78 (Major and Minor Arcana)
- Card size: 70 x 120 mm
- Guidebook: 68 pages
- Language: English
- Publisher: U.S. Games Systems Inc.
- ISBN: 9781646710028
- Card quality: Sturdy cardstock
- Style: Line drawings in engraving style with natural symbolism
- Colour use: Muted palette
Questions we often get
How does this deck differ from a classic Rider-Waite deck?
The symbolism is structured differently. Where Rider-Waite works with human figures and recognisable scenes, this deck uses animals and plants as carriers of meaning. That requires a different way of reading, more intuitive and less based on fixed scenes.
Is the guidebook detailed enough for someone with no tarot experience?
Yes. Each card receives an explanation, including upright and reversed meanings. The text helps you understand the symbolism, even if you do not yet know animal symbolism by heart.
