I sat down with the Katalina Savage, creator of Cornwall’s first ever folklore oracle deck — a stunning hand-illustrated collection of Cornish myths, nature lore, and hidden symbolism. We talked about growing up steeped in folk stories on the Rame Peninsula, what it means to draw with the little folk guiding your hand, and why Kat believes these cards are a love letter to the land.
The Folk & Flower Oracle Cards are available now from Helen Round —
Inspiration & Origins
What first sparked your deep love for Cornish folklore and nature, and how did that evolve into creating an oracle deck?
My mother is a fantastic storyteller and nature enthusiast. Every night before bed, she would tell me folk and fairy stories from all around the world, but my favourites were always the ones set in the garden, or on our family walks around the Rame Peninsula. I was born and raised here, so I got to know our local folklore pretty well. I grew up very much believing that Joan the Wad would protect me at night, or Steryn Vartys hopped alongside me in ‘hare form’ through Mount Edgcumbe, and that Piebald the Wanderer would grant my wishes if I left him my pasty crusts!
Each year, we attended many local festivals where I would take part as a young dancer, and so Cornish folklore became more than a few stories to me — I would embody them with music and dance. They became part of my spirit, and wherever I have travelled since, they have always brought me home again.
As an adult, I took the stories forward into my work quite naturally. My final dissertation at drama school was on ‘the secret history of witchcraft hidden within the fairytale’. I went on to write a play called ‘Folkloric’, featuring ‘Eragna’ our Cornish Sea Witch, and more recently performing as ‘The Bandalo’ and the ‘Reindeer King’ for Earthkin events.
I had the idea for the deck in the back of my mind for a very long time. When lockdown hit, I began to sketch some of the characters as cards to send to friends with little stories to cheer them up. As I drew them, they sort of took over. I remember a very vivid dream in which the Bandalo — our Cornish rook witch — took a feather from her wings and stuck it in my eye shouting ‘BEGIN!’. You can’t really ignore a message like that! The deck unfolded very rapidly from that moment.
How does the landscape, coastline, and wildlife of Cornwall show up in the artwork and messages of the cards?
I really wanted to create an interactive deck where a person could pull a card and physically find — in real life — what they could see in it. Our folklore is so intrinsically intertwined with the landscape and wildlife that it would be a disservice not to feature it.
In many of the cards, there are physical locations drawn into the illustrations that you can visit. The card featuring ‘The Mermaid of Zennor’ shows her seated in the 15th century mermaid’s chair at St Senara’s Church in Zennor. The ‘Mën-an-tol’ card really is a standing stone monument. Every card is linked to a location you can find in the guidebook — and if you decide to visit, you’ll find even more folklore waiting for you there.
Why do you feel oracle cards are a powerful tool for everyday reflection?
I have grown up around card decks being used as a philosophical route into self-reflection, full of coded symbolism and visual stimulation. It feels entirely different to evoke emotion through imagery rather than spoken word.
There is still such a misconception around tarot and oracle decks being a bit of a ‘woo woo’ method for fortune telling, when really, if used correctly, they help the enquirer to navigate life almost as a counselling tool. In fact, many counsellors and art therapists utilise imagery and symbolism from these types of decks to help people contemplate different areas of their lives through the physical reaction they have to the visuals presented to them.
Before we even learn to speak, we receive information through imagery and body language. When we look at a beautiful sunset or painting, we have a visceral reaction — we may laugh or cry, not knowing entirely why. To provide a visual experience of our folklore, in my opinion, is to tell a more authentic story around it.
I’d also like to think these cards carry a little rebellion. Our folk stories and secret symbolism have always been vehicles for hidden knowledge — shared by women in plain sight, through their ‘silly little crafts and tales’. Thanks to a modern revival in cartomancy, the cards are back.
Design & Craft
Can you walk us through your creative process — from initial sketching to the finished card design?
The creative process actually began in 2018, when I walked the length of Great Britain over three months. To keep myself motivated through long solo days, I would tell myself stories and sketch the plants I was seeing. As I travelled the country, I noticed little nods to our Celtic ancestors everywhere — Pictish stones, stone circles, symbols, runes, and oghams all over Britain.
When I reached the Cornish stretch, I kept seeing family crests, standing stones, horseshoes — all sorts of things I drew in my journal. I was also foraging for my food, and soon learned a great deal about the flora and fauna of our country. By the time I came home, ‘folk and flower’ was born all by itself.
Once the initial sketches were locked in, the deck seemed to fall out onto the pages of my sketchbook by itself. I say in the guidebook that I felt guided by ‘the little folk’. I originally wanted to do the deck in colour, until Piebald told me to do it in black and white because he wanted to be drawn in ‘the same colours as the Cornish flag’!
Are there any plants, myths, or symbols in the deck that hold a deeply personal meaning for you?
There are some very personal things in there indeed! ‘Wishing shells’ — small European Cowrie shells — are our family tradition. All the women in our family hunt for them; once found, we make a wish and throw them back into the sea to be granted. If you look at ‘Loor’, the Cornish Moon Goddess, you’ll see they line her throne, since her card is all about manifesting desired outcomes.
My dog, Taylor, was the model for ‘Gwythias the Rum Hound’. My favourite flower, the Ox Eye Daisy, features on the very first card (my friend Piebald) — it’s also the name of my original's band, and the flower in my wedding bouquet. You’ll also find snowdrops dedicated to my mother (I’ll let you find them!). And my favourite card, The Bandalo, is very personal to me; she is an entity I work with very closely and really was a co-creator throughout the entire process.
How does this deck tie into a slower, more intentional way of living?
The deck is meant to be physically experienced, rather than just looked at and read. I like to imagine people taking it on a local walk and pulling cards out to identify flowers, or stopping at a Cornish symbol or standing stone to read the corresponding card and its lore.
The deck is meant to be walked, to be felt in the garden, to be journaled, to be a spell book of sorts. It was created as a love letter to the land where I find so much magic every day. I want others to look beyond the usual and mundane, and remember the extraordinary power and spirit of nature right under their noses.
Using the Deck
What is your favourite way to introduce beginners to these oracle cards?
There is no right or wrong way, and how an individual decides to interact with the cards should be personal to them. But my favourite way is simply to ask someone to pick one at random and read the card’s initial message. Then take a look at the image — what can be found in it? What little symbols are you drawn to? What causes friction? Take a journal and write down your initial thoughts, then open the guidebook and see how they correlate.
If you’re travelling through Cornwall, pick a card at random and go to the location! The cards make for a wonderful map of local myths and sacred places that are often missed by first-time visitors.
Do you have a personal ritual or routine when you draw your daily card?
I love to journal and pick a card every day. I really do see the cards as a group of good friends, so asking for their opinion seems very natural to me. I’ll often use the phrase ‘what is something I need to consider, practice, or look out for today?’ Then I’ll free write whatever bubbles to the surface.
If I’m experiencing a dilemma, I make more of a ritual out of it. I have a mezzanine in my cottage dedicated purely to my craft. I use a hand-rolled temple incense — only available from the Chalice Well in Glastonbury — to clear the space and charge the cards, and I’ll meditate on the dilemma before asking: ‘what could I learn from this experience that I may be missing?’
One thing I always practice is closing down the space and thanking the cards. Energy experienced in all its forms, especially when you are devoting your time to it, should require a little prayer or action to honour it.
If a reader could take away just one feeling after using your deck, what would you want it to be?
That the cards are a wonderful way to experience a new way of looking at the past, at our ancestral stories, and to call to the parts of you that love to imagine and feel connected to all that is, and all that has come before you.
The stories in the cards are echoes of every success and struggle of the people who have walked the paths, sung the songs, and carved the stones you find in Cornwall today. These are stories that have rippled through time — and in that, there is a certain sacred magic placed into the hands of all who find this deck. Those who end up with them are now the custodians of the past and the droll tellers of the future.
This is the first ever Cornish folklore deck of its kind, and very limited edition. Who knows — maybe it will fall dusty on a bookshelf for a hundred years, or maybe it will become a family heirloom. Only you, my friends, can decide the fate of the cards. What an exhilarating realisation that is!
The Folk & Flower Oracle Cards are available as a limited edition from Helen Round
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