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An oracle is someone who offers advice or a prophecy thought to come directly from a divine source. As such, it is a form of divination. Divination is the practice of determining the hidden significance or cause of events, sometimes foretelling the future, by various natural, psychological, and other techniques. With definitions in hand, let’s turn to the popular divination tool of oracle cards. I first incorporated them into my spiritual practice a dozen years ago and continue to use them to this day. The cards consistently provide insights and offer guidance and direction when and where it is most needed. But what are they and how do they work? Oracle cards are sold as a deck. They are generally accompanied by a small booklet containing an explanation of every card along with details for the use for that particular deck. The size of the cards, number of cards, and theme of decks vary widely. Some examples of themes are angels, faeries, goddesses, trees, flowers, animals, moons, crystals, chakras, archetypes, sacred geometry, etc. The theme of the deck will influence the images and the definitions assigned to the cards. Decks by different authors based on the same topic, i.e., animals, will contain different images and definitions, as determined by the individual author’s interpretations. Regardless, every deck works in a similar fashion. The user, or reader, asks a question and the cards provide an answer. How is that possible? Energy comes into play. You are energy. Each card contains energy. The questions you ask resonate with energy. These intermingled energies are the source used by your subconscious or higher self to aid in card selection, with surprising results. You begin by asking a question. The question shouldn’t be one that requires a yes/no response – those are the type you ask of a pendulum. Questions for oracle cards often begin with the word what, how or why. Once the question is asked, the reader allows the appropriate card or cards to come forth via shuffling the deck, choosing from a fanned-out deck, or tapping the deck. Occasionally a card will actually ‘jump’ out of the deck! You may opt for just a single card or choose instead to draw multiple cards to answer the question. ‘Spreads’ are when the reader chooses cards and places them in a specified layout, with the placement representing different aspects of the answer. Does it really work? I used to wonder, as there is always room to interject one’s own bias into card interpretation. I decided to change the game, pulling two or three cards from the same deck. This enabled the cards to provide a more detailed answer to my question. I used this system for a while, and found it more reliable and informative than a one-card reading, but it still didn’t feel quite right. So, I decided to change the game yet again. This time I opted to work with three different decks that had three entirely different themes. (Yes, I do own multiple decks of oracle cards.) Beginning with the first deck, I would pose a question, choose one card, and place the card face down in front of me. I would repeat the process with the next two decks, always asking the exact same question. Then I would turn over the cards to reveal the answers. The variety of the decks meant that each response looked different from the others. But when you read the definition of each card, there was a consistency to the messages. Together they told a singular story. It was quite uncanny. This was true time and time again. Oracle cards, by the way, are not the same as tarot cards. Tarot cards are always based on four suits, ala a deck of playing cards. Rather than clubs, hearts, spades and diamonds, a standard tarot deck contains wands, cups, swords and pentacles. The page, knight, queen and king replace the usual jack, queen, king and ace. All of those are referred to as major arcana cards. There are additional cards known as minor arcana, bringing the number of cards in every tarot deck to 78. As with oracle cards, the size of the cards may vary, and each deck will have original artwork, but the meanings of the cards and the layouts used are consistent. To be clear, I am not well-versed in tarot cards, as my preference is with oracle cards. I do, though, occasionally use the whimsical Cat Tarot deck received from a friend. Enticed to delve into using Oracle cards? You can find them at bookstores, crystal/metaphysical shops, and online. The choices can be overwhelming. A search on Amazon resulted in over 3,000 options! My advice is to begin with a scan of whatever is in front of you. You may find that a certain theme keeps drawing your eye, and it may be one that surprises you -- like unicorns, for example. Whatever it is, use that as a tool to narrow down the options. Read samples of the cards. Look at the images. I’ve been intrigued by the images of a deck only to find that the descriptions didn’t appeal to me at all, and vice versa. You’ll likely ultimately find that one deck will be more appealing than the others. That’s the deck you should begin with. Use it frequently. Get comfortable with it. Understand it. Then, when you’re ready, branch out with another deck. Repeat the use, comfort and understanding process. Then use the decks together for deeper insights. I hope that oracle cards are as beneficial for you and your spiritual growth and understanding as they have been for me.
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