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.

Four Tarot Suits, a New Relationship and a Tarot Journal

Recently a tarot student of mine unexpectedly met a new guy and began a relationship.

Yesterday she let me see her tarot journal where she had  cataloged the questions she asked, the cards she received, the date of the reading and her interpretations, just as I ask my student to do (not everyone complies).

I remember, after a class a month ago, she grabbed me and showed me the journal. At the time, she had just met him, and was wondering what the relationship was. The majority of the cards she received were Swords; not unfortunate Swords, communicative Swords such as the Ace, the Knight and the King.

I commented that these cards didn’t seem very romantic, but asked if she was enjoying talking with him.

Apparently they were having long conversations that both were enjoying immensely.
I told her to enjoy the conversation. They were both hungry for this level of communication.

That was more than a month ago. Since then, the relationship has definitely gone from platonic to romantic.

Yesterday, when she showed me her tarot journal, I saw that a few weeks after the communicative Swords appeared, the trend of Swords had given way to Cups and Wands. Ah, I though, this is where the relationship turned romantic.

My student confirmed this.

The trend of romantic Cups and passionate, fun Wands continued for a while, and finally gave way to Pentacles.

The change began when the couple started making planned to take a trip together and meet each other’s’ families. Now the relationship is dealing with those grounded, practical matters.

It was so interesting to see the development of the relationship in the trends of the cards over time.

The funny things was this. Never did the cards predict what would be happening in the relationship. The cards only reflected the energy of the relationship at the current time.

I asked the cards about this, by directly asking for a future prediction. “What is the future for this relationship?”

The card I received in answer was “The Fool.” To me, this suggested that the future of this relationship is unpredictable. The Fool tells me it’s about the journey, not the destination.  A focus on the future for this relationship is neither needed nor helpful. Both people are retirement-age, with grown children. They don’t have to worry about the future of the relationship, or building a family. They are both benefitted by a focus on the “now,” in their lives and in their relationship.
Does this mean that tarot can never predict the outcome of a relationship? Of course not. Sometimes the cards are quite clear, especially in the beginning, about whether or not he’s a keeper.

We need to trust our process with the cards, and recognize that sometimes a prediction is appropriate, other times our focus needs to be simply on the here and now.

To see how the trends of the cards changed to reflect the changing relationship was powerful, and one of the many great reasons to keep a tarot journal.

The Purpose of Suffering

Everyone suffers in life at some point. Eventually, illness, disappointment and grief come to us all.

In those dark moments, many people wonder about the purpose of life, and the purpose of suffering.

Sometimes, in a tarot reading, I can see a specific purpose, or task, for a specific individual.
Often, in addition to those specific messages, there are messages that are more universal. That is, sometimes I receive messages that share a common theme.

After more than two decades of seeing and delivering these messages, the wisdom inherent in them is clear to me.

Forget what you read in the Old Testament.

I am convinced that Higher Power (God, Goddess, angels, Spirit, Source, Universe, etc.) does not ever makes us suffer as a way of punishing us.

This is hard for some people to believe. It’s true that sometimes our chickens come home to roost. That’s not God punishing us; that’s cause and effect.

When random terrible things happen in our lives, it’s easy to think that we have been singled out for punishment.

When we are frustrated in our inability to find that one elusive thing, the wonderful relationship or the dream job, we may become angry, believing that the Universe is withholding from us something we deserve.

Years ago, I took a Zen meditation class. The topic of the class was “Distractions.” The incense, I discovered, was not to enhance the meditation. The incense was there to provide a distraction; to make meditation more difficult. The more difficult the meditation, the more effective it would ultimately be.

Sometimes, our suffering is simply a distraction.

Higher Power’s goal is that we should enjoy creation. There is so much to experience and enjoy in a lifetime on the planet.

Sometimes our purpose is simply to find ways to enjoy and appreciate the gift of life, despite our suffering.

Once a person is able to be in that place of joy, more blessings are often added to that person’s life quite quickly.

Joy begets joy, especially in the face of suffering.

Origin Stories

I love superhero comics and movies. I still go to the Marvel Universe movies even though my kids don’t need me to take them anymore. One thing that all superheroes have in common is a great origin story.

Regular people have origin stories, too.

Sometimes we design our origin stories to cast ourselves as the victim, and avoid responsibility for our own failures.

Sometimes we design our origin stories to be so full of sunshine and rainbows that we are never able to acknowledge or heal from our childhood hurts.

I often say that most of us spend the majority of our adult lives healing from our first twenty years. Every parent gives their kids something to tell their therapist.

Other things have origin stories as well. Often origin stories don’ts hold up well to actual research.

Tarot, for instance, has numerous origin stories, all historically inaccurate. What is thought to be the historical truth is a much less fantastic story than the myths that grown around tarot.

My new favorite exercise form, Chinese Wand, has a fabulous origin story that began in 1977, and is apparently completely false.

Most of the history we learned in school was inaccurate. The origin stories of countries seem to be just as inaccurate as every other origin story.

As the world wages war over religions that are thousands of years old, I am convinced that the stories that support these heinous acts are just as inaccurate as every other origin story.

Maybe it’s time we leave the origin stories to the comics, and get better at separating fact from fiction in our lives.

Tarot is a wonderful tool to help us understand truth and release fiction.

How might you use tarot to find a true and helpful origin story for yourself?

Tarot Study Online Opportunities

I have been a tarotist since 1985, a professional tarot reader since 1993, and a tarot teacher since 1995. My first (and some of my favorite) teaching gigs were through adult education programs.

I have also taught tarot in churches, shops, nudist resorts, yoga studios, military bases, assisted living facilities, festivals and conferences; basically anywhere I could find an audience. I teach privately as well. At this point quite a few of my students are now professional readers. Many, many more continue to use tarot as part of their spiritual path, and as a tool for personal growth.

While it is very exciting to be able to help train new tarot professionals, I always stress that the importance of learning tarot is not about being able to use tarot professionally; learning tarot is its own reward. Everyone who learns tarot benefits from ownership of that life-enhancing body of knowledge.

In 2011 I began teach tarot online, providing both free and premium webinars. I chose Cisco’s WebEx as my platform and began teaching a series of five premium webinars, two free webinars and my free monthly Global Tarot Circle. This year I will add to those offerings.

My webinars repeat regularly. I try to keep class sizes small, so there is opportunity for me to interact with students, and for students to interact with each other. Those who feel that webinars aren’t “personal” enough enjoy the one-on-one attention they receive in my webinars.

When I first started presenting webinars three years ago, mine were amongst very few other available tarot webinars.

Now it seems that every day I get an email encouraging me to take a different tarot webinar.

I think being able to take a variety of tarot webinars is a good thing. Most tarot webinars are very affordable. The enthusiastic student has the opportunity to study with many different tarot professionals.

I believe the more teachers you have, the better.

I’ve specifically noticed a few webinars that offer to teach you to become a successful professional tarot reader quickly and easily.

I can promise I will never do that. In my opinion, there is very little that is quick or easy about the process of becoming a skilled professional reader.  Professional tarot is not for the faint of heart. If you don’t want it so much you can taste it, you don’t want it enough. If you don’t have some natural talent, no amount of study will make you a great reader, although your life will certainly be enhanced by your study.

Different teachers bring different experiences to the table.  Some have been reading for years, others are just starting out. Some of the people teaching professional tarot reading have not been full-time professionals for very long, or ever. Some have not had the experience of reading tarot in a variety of venues, and have never had to handle the challenges that they are asking to prepare you to handle.

No matter whom you choose to study with, if you are open to learning, you will learn. Each person has something valuable to share. That knowledge is so readily available in such a variety of presentations and formats is a blessing.

Learning tarot is an unusual thing, because each of us has a unique tarot style. To learn to read tarot is to develop your own style. No one can teach you that.  Tarot teachers must provide the environment, the knowledge and the inspiration for each student to find their own tarot voice. That’s why I think the expanded field of available webinars is a good thing. Each teacher will have their own valuable perspective to share.

The culture around psychic work in general changes so much every year. Professional tarot is very different now than it was ten years ago, or twenty, from my perspective. I think everyone who has read tarot professionally has something important to teach us. However, I think there is some value in having at least one tarot teacher amongst your resources who is currently actively engaged in the actual process of professional tarot reading.

When I learned tarot in the 1980s, I had eight hours of  class time in our local New Age shop, a shaky video that I rented from said shop, and  tattered copies of  books by Eden Gray and Mary Greer.

Now, the internet offers a wealth of tarot information for everyone, from hobbyists to professionals, beginners to experts. Our technology has advanced to allow us to have real-time classes that join us together from across the globe.

Please, if you are interested in tarot, take some tarot webinars. Try mine, and try all the offerings you can find. You will have an easier time developing your own tarot style if you learn from a great variety of people and pull from each lesson the things that resonate for you.

At the same time, you will understand your teachers’ perspectives best if you understand their background and their own level of experience.

If professional tarot is your calling, by all means get out there. Professional reading can be the greatest career adventure ever.

Not everyone who loves tarot loves professional reading. If you don’t feel called to read professionally, don’t think your tarot path is any less important or valuable than a professional reader’s tarot path.

Never let anyone tell you that reading tarot is a quick and easy way to make a bunch of money.

If you want a quick and easy way to make money, get a job. If you want to embrace a spiritual tool that allows you to access personalized wisdom from the Universe for yourself and others, learn tarot.

To see my current webinar schedule, visit my Continuing Education website, and my Tarot Circle website.