"There is magic in the seemingly ordinary playing card deck we all grew up with, a whole enchanted world, just waiting to be discovered. The playing card deck has slipped through our lives for many hundreds of years under a veil of ordinariness, its magic disguised by its simplicity and the fact that it can be used for games..."

The Playing Card Oracles is an inspiring and beautifully illustrated 280-page book containing a wealth of insights and ideas on playing card symbolism and meanings. Written by Ana Cortez, the book also includes a section written by her father, Charles J. Freeman, with supplementary essays, notes and food for thought regarding the history of playing cards.

"To date I have had many compliments on the art, but almost no serious response to the ideas put forth in my section of the book... many of these ideas are my own and need to be challenged, or at least discussed in the hope of filling in some of the vacuum that engulfs playing card history". [C. J. Freeman]

The accompanying deck, The Picture Book of Ana Cortez, is an original work of art designed to facilitate Divination, evoking the mysteries of ancient oracles, and is created by Charles J. Freeman. Charles Freeman has spent many years illustrating the playing card deck and has developed a full series of illustrations which are quite different from all previous decks in this genre.

Book and Card sets are available at $29.95 from: www.anacortez.org