How to Choose and Use Oracle Decks

How to Choose and Use Oracle Decks

At our recent tarot meetup, we had a conversation about non-tarot oracle decks. Some of the questions that came up inspired me to put some thoughts together about how we choose and use oracle decks.

From a tarotist’s perspective, the problem with non-tarot oracles is that they follow no particular tradition. Each diviner needs to figure out how each oracle will work for them.

A problem that occurs in tarot reading but occurs even more frequently in oracle divination is that readers often don’t understand what a reading that uses random token divination truly is.

When we use a random token divination tool, we are responsible for extrapolating the interpretation. This is true for tarot and non-tarot oracles. We cannot simply rattle off a written interpretation, or read the words printed on a card, and take that as an oracular reading.

We must be able to take the keywords and standard card meanings and perform an actual interpretation by applying them to the specific situation or question.

We must be able to look at the image and see within it something that guides us and inspires us.

We must be able to use the words and the images to stimulate our intuition so we can dive into the cards and find the truth that resides there, for that reading, in that particular moment.

When working with the same deck over time we must develop a relationship with the individual cards, remembering how they have spoken in the past to see if their current message might be similar.

There are so many lovely oracle decks available. How can we know which ones to choose? Much like tarot, the deck themes and the beauty of the art should be considerations, but not the only considerations.

For me, a good oracle deck has complex art that I can use to stimulate the imagination and the intuition.

I don’t want to see an image of a fairy and read that I have chosen the ‘Lily Fairy’. I don’t want to learn a fluffy lexicon that someone has randomly invented. I want to work with ideas and images that are understandable and actionable. I want images that can afford a bit of scrying, letting me discover things within the image.

Many oracle decks actually rely on bibliomancy as well as random token divination. To get the full understanding of the card you have to read about the card in the guidebook. It may be possible, over time, to memorize the guidebook, though non-tarot oracle decks do not always lend themselves to this kind of study and memorization.

We can use non-tarot oracles in conjunction with tarot, to clarify a card, close a reading with a final card, or to add information to a tarot reading.

We can also use non-tarot oracles on their own. My favorite way to use them is in working with a group, since anyone can derive information from an oracle deck – no prior skill or understanding is required. To let each person pull one card and share their impressions can be really powerful. That is why I prefer an oracle deck where the cards speak for themselves and do not require us to consult the booklet to do the reading.

Yet, we can bring skill and practice to our work with non-tarot oracles, just as we can with tarot. The important factor is to take the time and energy to dive deeply into the words and images, and make connections with them that are pertinent and meaningful.

My favorite oracle cards use images and words that are evocative. I try to make a few of these decks available in my catalog for purchase. I want my clients to be able to access the beauty and wisdom of these cards.

Here are three of my favorites. Visit my catalog to view and purchase.

The Mystical Wisdom Card Deck features the evocative art of Josephine Wall. Each card has a keyword and a short phrase. The booklet offers a longer description, and a mantra, for each card. Rarely do I use the booklet. I love to pull just one card as a focus point, or a message from the Universe.

Ciro Marchetti’s Oracle of Visions has no words on the images. The accompanying booklet offers some thoughts on each image. I actually never refer to the booklet – I just meditate with the image and see where it takes me.

Alana Fairchild’s Rumi Oracle has artwork that can easily bring one to a trancelike state. The short phrases, inspired by Rumi, are good jumping-off points for self-examination and inspiration. The book offers rituals to perform for each card.

I don’t tend to use oracle cards in professional readings. I do use them in group work and for my own personal growth.

The three I’ve listed here are all great resources for introspection and growth. Can they offer the same detailed information as tarot? Absolutely not. Nor do they require the same sort of training. Yet, like many oracle decks, they can be a great door-opener to intuition, and a good companion tool to a strong tarot practice.

Asking for Answers

I spent this past weekend presenting at an outdoor camping festival for younger people. Both workshops I presented had a divinatory component.

The first was a celebration of spring, where each participant would perform a divination, a release and a manifestation. The divination provided the focus for the season.

Normally, when divination is required, tarot is my go-to tool. For this ceremony, however, I created a divination tool. In meditation, I chose a series of words. I printed each word on paper and placed the words inside plastic Easter eggs.

In the ceremony, I asked each person to check in for guidance about the coming season. What should their focus be?

When ready, each person came to the altar, chose an egg and read the word contained inside.

After the ceremony, I discovered that a young man who had come to the festival as a “last hurrah” before planning a baby had received the word “Family” in his egg. He shared with me his profound joy at receiving this vote of confidence from the Universe.

A young woman who was struggling to become the person she knows she is rather than the person her family wants her to be received the word “Identity.”

The focus of the festival was not specifically spiritual, nor divinatory. Not every person there had ever performed a divination, or participated in magickal ceremony.

None of that seemed to matter, as people embraced their words with open hearts and open minds.

The simplicity of the group oracle, and the profoundly specific ways the words spoke to each individual, impressed me.

Whether we work with a complex system like tarot, the simple flip of a coin, or something in between, divination can speak to the individual in very specific terms. We just have to take time to check in and ask for the answers we need.

We are Oracles

The word “oracle” is common jargon in the psychic and divination community.

I’ve long suspected that we don’t always understand the word, or use it correctly.

Some divination decks are appropriately titled with the name “oracle,” such as Ciro Marchetti’s fabulous “Oracle of Visions.”

Some people use the term “oracle” to denote specifically non-tarot decks of divination. This works to help us separate tarot from non-tarot card decks, but it mistakenly implies that tarot is not oracular.

Some psychic professionals clarify that the readings they perform are oracular in nature, meaning that they use cards, or some other tool of divination. This is an erroneous use of the term.

“Oracle” is not synonymous with “random token divination” or “cartomancy,” or “non-tarot divination deck.”

While slang and word usage change all the time, I don’t believe the meaning of the word “oracle” has changed. I think it is just misunderstood and misused, often by we oracles ourselves.

I think we oracles would be well served to learn the meaning of the word, and use it correctly.

The word “oracle” is a brilliant gift, and has no real substitute in the English language. The word “oracle” comes from a time and place when oracles were valued, perhaps more than we are today.

According to Merriam-Webster, an oracle is a person through whom a god is believed to speak, or a shrine in which a deity reveals hidden knowledge.

An oracle is also the answer or message that is given by the oracle.

A reading itself is an oracle. Each and every reading is “oracular” in nature, regardless of the tools or methods used.

The reader, his or herself, is an oracle.

The sacred place where people go to receive readings can be called an oracle, although usually is not. That’s probably good. I don’t want to refer to my office as an oracle. Although, hey, maybe that would be cool! I’ll give that one some more thought.

According to Dictionary.com, an oracle can also be “the agency or medium giving such responses.”

I think this is how tools of divination, such as cards, might have become known as “oracles.” A tarot deck, or other device, is certainly an agency or medium giving responses, and therefore, an oracle.

An oracle is a shrine, temple or house of prayer where divine message are given.

An oracle is a person who gives divine messages.

An oracle is the medium used to receive divine messages, whether that is a tarot deck, a non-tarot deck, a Lenormand deck, or a cup of tea leaves.

An oracle is the divine message itself.

Every reader is an oracle.

Every reading is an oracle.

Every tool for divination is an oracle.

The sacred space in which readings are performed is an oracle.

Depending on how we use it, the word “oracle” can refer to much of our sacred practice of divination and psychic work, or it can simply be a meaningless buzzword we erroneously use to make ourselves sound mystical.

We are oracles. We are mystical. Let’s honor our sacred history by learning to use this special word in keeping with its unique traditional meanings.

Words have power, even on a spiritual and mystical level. When we use the nomenclature of our ancient spiritual work correctly, we can harness that power.

Professional psychics are often portrayed as imprecise, silly, and stupid. The way we talk about our work, and our traditions, can either contribute to those unfortunate impressions, or change them.

2013 Mabon Tarot Blog Hop: Divination and Myth

Welcome to the 2013 Mabon Tarot Blog Hop. This time around I'm the wrangler. That means I got to set the topic. If you want to see the reasons behind the topic you can visit the Master List. There you will also see a full list of our participants and the links to their blogs.
The Tarot Blog Hop is an amazing exercise in global tarot community and creativity. I am so honored to be a part of it.

Perhaps you are joining me from Olivia Destrades' First Earth Tarot Blog.

When you finish here please continue on to Chloe McCracken's Celtic Lenormand Blog.

If you find a break in the chain refer to the Master List.

Some myths are ancient. Some myths are stories we make up. Here is a story a friend of mine made up. Or maybe he intuited it. Like all myths, it’s hard to know for sure if it’s true or not. And, like all myths, it has enough truth in it to make you think.

This myth answers the question “How did Random Token Divination begin?”

First, let me explain “random token divination.” Tthis is a term my friend and I coined. It describes any divination method that draws from a group of tokens (cards, stones, etc.) at random.

Tarot, of course, is random token divination. We know that tarot originated as a trump-taking card game. Eventually Tarot Appropriati, a game of telling poetic stories that compared people and events to individual tarot cards, led to random token divination with tarot.

I have always believed  random is a divine energy. When we shuffle the deck we are giving the Universe the opportunity to have a hand in the outcome. To me, random is a source of spiritual power in divination.

And now it is time to tell our story.

Let’s go back to a very early time in the history of our species – perhaps even before we had a written language.

Perhaps one day a man walks to the river and catches a fish. It’s a big fish that will make a wonderful meal for his family. After he catches the fish he sees an unusual shell at the river’s edge. He picks the shell up and takes it with him. Later when he looks at the shell it reminds him of the large fish he caught and the wonderful meal it made.

Another day he is out in the woods and a large animal chases him. For a moment he thinks his life is over. Finally he climbs a tree and the animal loses interest.  When he climbs down the tree he picks up a stick that appears to have fallen from the tree that saved his life. He brings the stick home. He shows his family the stick and tells them the story of his close call.

A bit later he goes out to hunt and it rains. He is cold and wet, and finds nothing to bring home. He knows his family will be hungry. He is frustrated and disappointed. On his way home he finds a stone on the path. He picks it up. Later, that stone reminds him of his disappointment.

Over time these objects grow into a collection. He knows which one reminds him of victory and which reminds him of defeat. Before taking a journey he chooses one at random to see what he might encounter on his journey.

Perhaps this collection of sticks, shells and stones is the first oracle of random token divination. Or perhaps this is just a made up story to explain something we don’t quite understand.  

That is the power of myth. In a simple story we find truth; something that makes sense. That is the power of divination, too.

Blessed Mabon, the Autumnal Equinox and Second Harvest Festival!

Now it’s time to continue your journey through the Tarot Blog Hop. Your next stop is Chloe's Celtic Lenormand Blog. If you are working in the other direction you can visit the blog before mine, Olivia's First Earth Tarot Blog.

If you find a break in the chain visit the Master List.

The Modern Face of Tarot: Predictions, Healing and Divination

The face of tarot is always changing, growing and evolving. Until Eden Gray’s books in the 1960s and 1970s, tarot was thought to be only the domain of occultists and those who possessed some secret mystical knowledge.

Eden Gray suggested that ordinary people could enjoy tarot and find compassion, answers and spirituality within it.

Mary K. Greer carried that torch forward, encouraging us to read for ourselves and find healing in the process.

Without modern tarotists like Gray and Greer tarot would not be what it is today.

Now, there are readers, even professionals, who shy away from “predictive” readings, focusing instead on the more psychological and spiritual interpretations of the cards. There are others who are even uncomfortable with the basic divinatory aspects of tarot reading such as using the cards to check in on situations that cannot possibly be known to the reader by ordinary means.

I believe in the psychological and spiritual aspects of tarot. I believe that a tarot reading that does not include these components is less than what is possible. I believe that tarot helps us tap into our subconscious mind. I believe that tarot can reveal to us the behavioral patterns that no longer serve us, and offer solutions to help us change those patterns.

I also believe that tarot helps us communicate with the higher forces that drive the universe. With tarot we communicate with all that is Spirit. Again, if a reading does not include that sort of wisdom, it is less than what it could be.

But I also know this. As much as we all appreciate the opportunity to heal, understand ourselves better and receive spiritual direction, we all have real needs – anxieties, curiosities, options, heartache – and tarot can help us here as well.

Tarot is a practical tool as well as a mystical one. Tarot can show us our best options and point us in the directions that serve us best. Tarot can help us understand the people around us. Tarot can find ways for us to solve our most mundane problems.

By nature, tarot is a tool of divination, and divination is the process of making the unknowable known.

But what, then, about future predictions? Some readers are more comfortable predicting the future than others. Some readers feel that they can see into the future without question, and present their predictions as solid fact.

Since we all have different views about fate and destiny, we all have different views about our ability to predict the future.

Here’s how future predictions work for me. Some things really do seem to be set in stone. Many other things are totally dependent on the choices we make today. Some aspects about the future are not yet determined, and therefore completely unpredictable. And there are some things we just shouldn’t know.

I have found tarot to be an amazing tool to help me and my clients prepare for what is coming, but I do not believe future predictions are the only or primary use of tarot.

We are constantly discovering new ways that tarot can benefit us. We are constantly able to improve our psychic skills and our understanding of the cards.

As long as the work we do with tarot, either professionally or personally, is helpful and healing, there are no aspects of tarot we need to leave unexplored.

Who know what uses the next generation of tarotists will find for the cards?

What do I know is this. When I approach the cards without limiting what I might do with them, all things are possible.

There is one only limitation I set on myself and on the cards. The information I get and give must be for the highest good of all. Practical solutions, creative options and common sense are some of the greatest gifts we get from tarot. Coping strategies for difficult times are helpful. Dire gloom-and-doom predictions with no options, solutions or spiritual perspective are not.