The Star That Never Walks Around: A Native American Tarot Package [Cards]

Stella Bennett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2002

When buffalo roamed the earth and the nomadic Plains Indians followed, it was by the light of Polaris, the North Star, the Star that Never Walks Around, that the tribes were always able to find their way.

Stella Bennett has transformed the tarot into an oracle based on Native American lore. The traditional suits of Wands (fire), Cups (water), Swords (air), and Pentacles (earth) here become Thunderbirds (creatures of the fire from the sky), Frogs (water creatures), Butterflies (creatures of the air), and Turtles (the Native American symbol of Mother Earth). On the Court cards are images of warriors and medicine women. On the major arcana we see swans representing one's acceptance of transformation, and coyote as the cosmic trickster. Bennett's guidebook shows readers how to use their own intuitions to interpret card imagery and to read cards for themselves and others.

Product Details

• Cards: 208 pages
• Publisher: Red Wheel/Weiser (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578632420
• ISBN-13: 978-1578632428
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 6.6 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,063,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Working with the Wheel, May 20, 2007

By 

C. R. Wolf (beautiful planet earth) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Star That Never Walks Around: A Native American Tarot Package (Cards)

The reason I was attracted to this deck was because it was round. I adore circular tarot sets, particularly the sadly now out of print Tarot of the Cloisters.

That said, I also read the Medicine Wheel, and I enjoy greatly the set that I use, but it is not round. You see, with round decks, you have 360' of dignified and ill-dignified cards. This round deck understands that, like everything of which I can think in Nature, we ease into and out of our situations. Therefore the round cards enable us to ascertain whether we are just entering into this situation, whether we are finally leaving it, or whether we are on our heads smack in the middle of it.

The quality of the cards is good, too. They will withstand a lot of use, although it may take time to get used to handling their roundness. The images are pencil drawings, and while I have to admit the artist is not the most talented I have seen, she doesn't need to be. The images get their meanings across very well, with just over half the card being dedicated to the image and the rest of the card displaying the cards title. Where appropriate, astrological correlations have been included, and there is also room for the reader to make notes onto the cards too, which may be of great value when learning to use them.

The artist has blended traditions from different tribes and nations into this deck, and it flows very well for the most part. The suits are Butterflies, Thunderbirds, Turtles, and Frogs. This resonate with Sun Bears teachings of the Elemental Clans; Butterflies are air, or swords; Thunderbirds are fire, or wands; Turtles are earth, or pentacles; and Frogs represent water, or cups. (To learn more about these clans, try readings The Medicine Wheel by Sun Bear and Wabun Wind.) I found the correlations very easy to understand and use. The card the Hierophant is shown as a white buffalo in this set. Anyone who has studied the story of the White Buffalo Calf Woman as well as the Tarot should be able to grasp the similarity and thus the reasoning for this quite easily. More images and reviews on this deck can be found at [...].

The book that comes with the set is very detailed, and as the set deviates a bit from the usual 'Rider-Waite' tarot images is very useful. For someone reasonably proficient with the tarot they should be able to grasp using this set fairly easily, although I don't recommend it for absolute novices. A background in or passion for Native American traditions is also going to be an asset when using this set.

This set became one of my favorite as soon as I opened it and started to examine the cards, and I have since purchased several more sets as gifts.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Follow Polaris, the North Star and you'll be right., August 25, 2005

By 

Remy "Miacomet Remy" (the Bay State, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Star That Never Walks Around: A Native American Tarot Package (Cards)

The cards are round about 4" in diameter, because they are literally representing the Star that Never Walks Around ;-) The Suits are : Thunderbirds (Fire Red Wands), Frogs (Water Blue Cups), Butterflies (Air Purple Swords), Turtles (Green Earth Pentacles) and the Court cards: King, Queen, Knight, Page.

The artist and writer are one, and it is rather obvious she is not a great artist but honestly I like the art work better than the book attached. The majors are far too close to the RW to be anything but rather uninspired, though some are rather apropos. It is when you get to the minors, the deck shines. There is no timing other than the four aces for seasons and absolutely no Kabbalic referencesm here Stella breaks with the Rider Waite/Golden Dawn tradition.

But basically despite the difference this does read very RW. Of course since it is circular the author wants you to read it with waning and waxing for the moon, but you can use that as an advanced topic and ignore it in the early days. An example of a Major is the Chariot, which shows a warrior with his horse with what he bring home from victory. I use the message personally, and not the meanings as I think that they capture more of the spirit of the card. The Message for the Chariot is harness your energies in a fruitful direction. The meanings are self control and self confidence; victory. Reversed, misuse of our energies.

But in the minors like the two of frogs (pentacles) which show two bodies trying to become one, it says you must first know yourself before you can love another. I am amazed that the author does not use elements more, I guess she feels that the card placement is more important, it's an interesting departure.

It is a very pagan deck but not a shaman based one. If you would like that instead, look Laura Tuan's Native American Tarot
instead or as a supplement. I have both and while I love Tuan's this is a nice deck that works on a different level and I find having more than one not a problem. If you like Wanda Gonzalez NA Tarot you should definitely get that as well, but I don't like the art work though I do love the symbols.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this deck!, June 21, 2003

By 

Samantha M. Peterson (Dunellen, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Star That Never Walks Around: A Native American Tarot Package (Cards)

This is my favorite Tarot deck. The cards were drawn by the author herself who has many years of experience reading tarot cards. The pictures drawn on the cards were inspired by the author's Native American heritage. The suits are Thunderbirds, Frogs, Turtles, and Butterflies each of which stem from Native American folk lore. The book that accompanies the deck is very thorough and clear in explaining each card, and helps the reader gain insight into what the cards are saying. In the book, the author also writes about her own personal experiences reading tarot cards. I highly recommend this deck. I felt a connection to these cards from the beginning, and the deck is now my favorite.