From cryptids to crawdads to apple stack cakes, one Kentuckian has created a love letter to mountain culture in the form of a card deck.

The Appalachian spirit deck is made up of 60 unique cards, inspired by the joy and nostalgia of growing up in Appalachia.

Some people say, Ask the deck for you a question.

If you have a specific question you want to ask.

And typically I would draw 1 to 3 cards.

The Appalachian Spirit Deck is an Oracle inspired card set inspired by Emily Lau.

Users firsthand experiences growing up in Appalachia.

Grew up catching lightning bugs in mason jars, crawdads.

Similar to tarot cards, this deck is intended to bring about inspiration and self-discovery through the lens of mountain culture.

There's a lot of us that use card decks for a variety of reasons in this region and outside the region who want to reclaim that spirit of home.

And that's really what it's about, is about reclaiming the Appalachian spirit.

It can be used in divination or it can just be used as a conversation piece or a journal prompts.

After recently traveling back to her hometown, Leticia wanted to create something that would bridge her healing experiences with cards to the Appalachian roots.

She longed to reconnect to.

I was like, I want an Appalachian themed deck to work with, you know, to kind of help me reclaim this Appalachian heritage that I spent so many years trying to shed myself of.

I started with a spreadsheet and I just dumped any card idea, like Appalachian iconography that I could think of into that spreadsheet.

So I will do it down to 60 and have the traditional five elements that are a lot of Oracle decks use Earth, Air, fire, water and Spirit.

But I include a sixth element called Victuals, which is very at a very Appalachian concept.

And the vittles cards are mostly foods and center around the ideas of community and community support.

Then I went through and I gave them an upright meaning and a reverse meaning.

So the meaning of the upright is you bring the seasoning that makes life better and in reverse.

Proper self-care allows you to improve over time.

So just like a cast iron skillet.

While much of the card's imagery is drawn from lore deserves personal life.

She was also inspired by the region's natural beauty, mythology and history.

So one of my favorites is the Packhorse Librarian Card After the Depression.

A lot of libraries shut down and there were women mostly on horseback with books in their saddlebags that went out into the far reaches of Appalachia to deliver books to families so that they could still read.

Lauder believes there's no one right way to be Appalachian and hopes that anyone who uses the deck will learn more about the rich tapestry that is the Appalachian spirit.

We are diverse, intelligent, innovative and region of people.

I wanted to put something out there that was healing and loving and showed the diverse nature of where we live and love and let people who aren't from the region have a peek into the window of the rich heritage that exists.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm Mackenzie Spink.

Thank you.

Mackenzie Ladislaw anticipates releasing a booster pack with additional cards in the future.

To keep updated or to learn more about the inspiration behind the deck.

Visit the Appalachian Spirit website.