ANIMAL SPIRITS KNOWLEDGE CARDS; by Susan Seddon Boulet

To the ancients, all things in nature had sacred or spiritual meaning. The world was inhabited by higher beings who often took the form of animals or fantastic part-human, part-animal creatures. The paintings of Susan Seddon Boulet resonate with these ethereal energies of nature. Now 48 of these images have been reproduced in this beautiful inspirational deck, each accompanied by a brief description of that animal’s power and totem symbolism in various cultures.

Susan Seddon Boulet was born in Brazil in 1941 of English parent who had emigrated from South Africa. She grew up on a large citrus and cattle ranch enjoying a strong connection to nature and a rich fantasy life fed by folktales told by her father and the ranch hands. Encouraged by her father, she began drawing her first subjects were the ranch's cows and horses. Boulet never studied art formally. She said, in fact, that she never planned on becoming an artist--the vocation came to her as by accident. In 1967 she came to the United State, where she met and married Lawrence Boulet in 1969 their son Eric was born--an event Susan credited with freeing her creavity "[Eric] somehow freed the child in me; gave me permission to enjoy fantasy.. gave me permission to do unicorns and dragons." Around 1980 Boulet began painting images that, she felt, tapped into the collective human unconscious--images of goddesses and shamans that married the forms of animal and human into a coherent whole She drew inspiration from mythology and poetry, Jungian psychology, and worldwide spiritual traditions, as well as her deep love of animals and the natural world. Susan Seddon Boulet died in her home in Oakland, California, on April 28, 1997, after long struggle with cancer. Her painting are held in collections worldwide.