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Be Not Afraid: A Deck of Biblically Accurate Angels and Celestial Magic
208 pages, Paperback
Published April 8, 2025
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About the author
Jennifer Sodini
5 books53 followersJennifer Sodini is a wild-hearted creative. A wordsmith and mystic, she has birthed multiple creative projects that blend esoteric wisdom and contemporary technology, including the Amenti Oracle Feather Heart Deck and Guidebook and Everyday Amenti (Running Press, 2019 & 2020), Artist Decoded Tarot (Running Press, 2024), Be Not Afraid Oracle (Running Press, 2025), and Feline Mystique Oracle (Running Press, 2026). She also co-authored The Modern Nirvana Oracle Deck (Chronicle, 2022).
Beyond her own publications, her work has been featured in a variety of outlets such as Cosmopolitan, Oprah Daily, Rolling Stone, Vice, Sounds True, and Maxim. As a producer and project guide, Jennifer empowers creators to ground their visions into material realities, providing strategy, structure and experience, all the way from ideation to publication.
A devoted student of the Mystery, Jennifer splits her time between Los Angeles and Mexico, where she continues to nurture her spirit, mind and community through the joys and perils of love, parenthood, pop culture, esoteric philosophy, muppets and cats.
Beyond her own publications, her work has been featured in a variety of outlets such as Cosmopolitan, Oprah Daily, Rolling Stone, Vice, Sounds True, and Maxim. As a producer and project guide, Jennifer empowers creators to ground their visions into material realities, providing strategy, structure and experience, all the way from ideation to publication.
A devoted student of the Mystery, Jennifer splits her time between Los Angeles and Mexico, where she continues to nurture her spirit, mind and community through the joys and perils of love, parenthood, pop culture, esoteric philosophy, muppets and cats.
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April 18, 2025
Oracle Deck Review: 'Be Not Afraid - A Deck of Biblically Accurate Angels and Celestial Magic'* by Jennifer Sodini
Illustrator: Natalee Miller
Publisher: Running Press Mystic
Release Date: 8th April, 2025
About the Creators
Jennifer Sodini (writer) is an artist, writer, speaker and producer. Her creative endeavours span various realms of art and spirituality. Jennifer's other works include: 'Amenti Oracle Feather Heart Deck and Guidebook', 'Everyday Amenti', 'Artist Decoded Tarot' and the 'Feline Mystique Oracle' which is coming in 2026.
Natalee Miller (Illustrator) is a multidisciplinary artist and designer based in New England. She specialises in fashion illustration, poster design, and expressive murals. Her work explores the female experience through a vivid nostalgic lens. Inspired by pop culture and design movements of the late 20th Century, mythology and memories of her own childhood, she envisions a glamorous and esoteric world. Natalee's other works include the 'Amenti Oracle' and 'Modern Nirvana Oracle'.
About the Deck
Angels have evoked awe, bewilderment, and even fear within humanity for ages. Through this oracle deck, learn to explore the heavenly realms of these divine beings and the limitless opportunities they offer. Each of the 44 cards depicts a different empyrean figure, as described in historical texts.
Inside you'll find:
- 44 stunning oracle cards depicting Biblically accurate angels from canonical and apocryphal texts.
- Fully illustrated guidebook, including angelic descriptions, celestial magic, and personal reflections.
My Thoughts
I've never been drawn to angel oracles. Decks I have come across seem to have been born from the toxic positivity of the new age movement. Angels have also never been part of my personal spiritual practice or beliefs. So why was I interested in reviewing this particular angel deck? I knew, coming from Jennifer Sodini, that this deck was going to be different; it wasn't going to be a sickly sweet, love and light deck with no real substance.
I was excited to explore the deck and wasn't disappointed when I flipped through the cards. The illustrations are striking and distinctive; inspired by art nouveau. I love the harsh contrasting colours as they add eighties electro pop/synthwave vibes to the otherwise ethereal designs.
I always recommend reading the beginning of a guidebook before starting with a new deck. You don't need to read about every single card, but the introduction, and information from the creators is important to help develop an understanding of how the deck works, and what you can expect to learn from it.
'Be Not Afraid' is unique in how it works. It’s very different to other decks I've used. Although all oracle style divination decks are different, (they don't follow a set structure like tarot) I find they work in a similar way. Initially, I found it difficult to connect with this deck and gain insights from the readings I had done. The spreads provided in the guidebook were quite abstract and too unfocused for me. I prefer spreads that deal with specific queries or have an overarching theme. I feel the deck would be best used without having a question or focus for your reading beforehand; just work with what the cards bring to light as you explore them.
The first reading I did was a two card spread called, 'A Call to Reconcile Duality' which explores your greatest power (strengths/talents) with your greatest responsibility that accompanies the gifts. The information felt extremely contradictory when paired with the spread prompts, and I was unsure what to take from it. I decided to sit with the reading for a few days, but ultimately was unable to divine anything useful from it. A few days later I redid the reading and had slightly better results. It’s definitely one of those decks that you will have to spend time with, and get to know, to pull meaningful readings from. I had to re-read the information about each card, as it wasn't always clear how it related to the prompt from the spread.
Something else I struggled with, when it comes to the theme of this deck, was my own limited understanding of the historical and religious context of angels. I was hoping that the guidebook would provide the relevant contextual information I needed, and it did to some extent. The explanations around the 'origins' of angels was basic and some key details and terms were not fully defined. For most people, who are already familiar with angels or already work with them, this will not be a problem. Personally, I would have to do more background reading to have a deeper understanding of the deck. It felt slightly strange using a deck about angels, that come from various religious practices, when I am not a part of that belief system. I wondered if I had any business working with it if my understanding wasn't there. The creator says a reading from this deck "transcend[s] conventional religious boundaries." I saw it as a learning opportunity and the chance to broaden my spiritual practice.
Although I struggled with aspects of the deck, there were still a lot of things I loved about it. The illustrations for one, are what drew me to it. The more you become familiar with the cards and their images it would be easy to explore intuitive readings. The guidebook was beautifully written and provided a wealth of information for each featured angel. It definitely works better when you focus on one card/angel rather than trying to read them together. There are historical and religious insights into the angel as well as the energies they represent, and what it means to have pulled that card. Further to this, there was a 'magic' prompt that provided a spell, ritual or magical working allowing you to connect with the energies of each angel.
Overall I enjoyed exploring the deck; it is beautifully unique. It offers readings related to more abstract ideas; feelings, emotions and qualities rather than the practical, tangible aspects of everyday life. Although an affinity with angels is not necessary to use it, I feel it would be beneficial and it is more suited to someone who already incorporates angels into their spiritual practice. I personally didn't connect to the energies and themes of the deck, however it may be something I come back to in the future.
*Deck was gifted by the publisher.
Illustrator: Natalee Miller
Publisher: Running Press Mystic
Release Date: 8th April, 2025
About the Creators
Jennifer Sodini (writer) is an artist, writer, speaker and producer. Her creative endeavours span various realms of art and spirituality. Jennifer's other works include: 'Amenti Oracle Feather Heart Deck and Guidebook', 'Everyday Amenti', 'Artist Decoded Tarot' and the 'Feline Mystique Oracle' which is coming in 2026.
Natalee Miller (Illustrator) is a multidisciplinary artist and designer based in New England. She specialises in fashion illustration, poster design, and expressive murals. Her work explores the female experience through a vivid nostalgic lens. Inspired by pop culture and design movements of the late 20th Century, mythology and memories of her own childhood, she envisions a glamorous and esoteric world. Natalee's other works include the 'Amenti Oracle' and 'Modern Nirvana Oracle'.
About the Deck
Angels have evoked awe, bewilderment, and even fear within humanity for ages. Through this oracle deck, learn to explore the heavenly realms of these divine beings and the limitless opportunities they offer. Each of the 44 cards depicts a different empyrean figure, as described in historical texts.
Inside you'll find:
- 44 stunning oracle cards depicting Biblically accurate angels from canonical and apocryphal texts.
- Fully illustrated guidebook, including angelic descriptions, celestial magic, and personal reflections.
My Thoughts
I've never been drawn to angel oracles. Decks I have come across seem to have been born from the toxic positivity of the new age movement. Angels have also never been part of my personal spiritual practice or beliefs. So why was I interested in reviewing this particular angel deck? I knew, coming from Jennifer Sodini, that this deck was going to be different; it wasn't going to be a sickly sweet, love and light deck with no real substance.
I was excited to explore the deck and wasn't disappointed when I flipped through the cards. The illustrations are striking and distinctive; inspired by art nouveau. I love the harsh contrasting colours as they add eighties electro pop/synthwave vibes to the otherwise ethereal designs.
I always recommend reading the beginning of a guidebook before starting with a new deck. You don't need to read about every single card, but the introduction, and information from the creators is important to help develop an understanding of how the deck works, and what you can expect to learn from it.
'Be Not Afraid' is unique in how it works. It’s very different to other decks I've used. Although all oracle style divination decks are different, (they don't follow a set structure like tarot) I find they work in a similar way. Initially, I found it difficult to connect with this deck and gain insights from the readings I had done. The spreads provided in the guidebook were quite abstract and too unfocused for me. I prefer spreads that deal with specific queries or have an overarching theme. I feel the deck would be best used without having a question or focus for your reading beforehand; just work with what the cards bring to light as you explore them.
The first reading I did was a two card spread called, 'A Call to Reconcile Duality' which explores your greatest power (strengths/talents) with your greatest responsibility that accompanies the gifts. The information felt extremely contradictory when paired with the spread prompts, and I was unsure what to take from it. I decided to sit with the reading for a few days, but ultimately was unable to divine anything useful from it. A few days later I redid the reading and had slightly better results. It’s definitely one of those decks that you will have to spend time with, and get to know, to pull meaningful readings from. I had to re-read the information about each card, as it wasn't always clear how it related to the prompt from the spread.
Something else I struggled with, when it comes to the theme of this deck, was my own limited understanding of the historical and religious context of angels. I was hoping that the guidebook would provide the relevant contextual information I needed, and it did to some extent. The explanations around the 'origins' of angels was basic and some key details and terms were not fully defined. For most people, who are already familiar with angels or already work with them, this will not be a problem. Personally, I would have to do more background reading to have a deeper understanding of the deck. It felt slightly strange using a deck about angels, that come from various religious practices, when I am not a part of that belief system. I wondered if I had any business working with it if my understanding wasn't there. The creator says a reading from this deck "transcend[s] conventional religious boundaries." I saw it as a learning opportunity and the chance to broaden my spiritual practice.
Although I struggled with aspects of the deck, there were still a lot of things I loved about it. The illustrations for one, are what drew me to it. The more you become familiar with the cards and their images it would be easy to explore intuitive readings. The guidebook was beautifully written and provided a wealth of information for each featured angel. It definitely works better when you focus on one card/angel rather than trying to read them together. There are historical and religious insights into the angel as well as the energies they represent, and what it means to have pulled that card. Further to this, there was a 'magic' prompt that provided a spell, ritual or magical working allowing you to connect with the energies of each angel.
Overall I enjoyed exploring the deck; it is beautifully unique. It offers readings related to more abstract ideas; feelings, emotions and qualities rather than the practical, tangible aspects of everyday life. Although an affinity with angels is not necessary to use it, I feel it would be beneficial and it is more suited to someone who already incorporates angels into their spiritual practice. I personally didn't connect to the energies and themes of the deck, however it may be something I come back to in the future.
*Deck was gifted by the publisher.
Displaying 1 of 1 review