Currently I own 2 sets of oracle decks: the Goddess Guidance Oracle & the Enchanted Oracle. I bought the Goddess Guidance Oracle because I wanted to work with various Goddess aspects & get to know them. However, when the Enchanted Oracle came out, I honestly couldn’t help myself: I bought them because they were so darn pretty.
I haven’t seen much online about different ways to use the cards, so let’s come up with some on our own!In an effort to integrate these lovely sets into my daily practice, I wanted to brainstorm a few ideas for reasons to use these cards to their full potential.
- Mediation – Draw a card & meditate on it. What senses does it evoke? Is there a subject on the card? Who are they? How do they feel? Do they have something to share with you?
- Journaling – This is a good idea for those that would love to keep a personal journal but feel uninspired as to what to write about. Draw a card, and write about it. Does it relate to something happening now? Maybe it reminds you of someone you know? If you’re a creative writer, you could write a narrative about the subject of the card (if there is one) – who are they & how did they come to this point? Where are they going?
- Spellwork & Ritual – For practitioners of magick, oracle cards (like Tarot cards) can be a great visual representation of your goal or the meaning of the ritual. If you do this often enough with a variety of cards, this adds a brand new layer of meaning to the cards – when you draw a card that you’ve done ritual with in the past that card now holds more personal meaning for you. Perhaps you need to re-visit that ritual, perform it again, or maybe it means that your work has come to fruitition!
- Draw cards daily – When I was good about this sort of thing, I used to pull one Tarot card and one Oracle card a day. This may be a bit much to keep up with though… Perhaps subsituting an Oracle card a day instead of your usual Tarot deck will be a refreshing change to your morning card draw?
Seems like pretty much anything you can do with Tarot you can do with Oracle decks. The exciting thing is, since every Oracle deck is uniquely constructed & designed, working with Oracle decks could be an exciting prospect if you’re burned out on Tarot or the Tarot doesn’t inspire you.
What do you use your Oracle decks for? Do you own any? Why or why not?
11 comments
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May 1, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Tami
I love the list of exercises that can be done. <3
I have a deck that I suppose would be considered an Oracle deck – not a traditional tarot by any stretch of the imagination, but one where every card has its own individual meanings. Like you, I picked it up mainly for the art. I don’t feel nearly as much “pull” from it as I do from my regular tarot, so I tend to limit myself to a single card a month when I do my regular monthly reading.
May 1, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Garnet
Tami, I agree – I feel like my oracle cards don’t have the same constant “pull” that my Tarot card do, but sometimes I do feel called to them, especially when I need an extra layer of understanding. I’m finding that oracle decks make a nice complement for my daily practice. Thanks for your input!
May 1, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Shana-Marie
Personally, I feel that Tarot and Oracle cards can be interchangable. It’s interesting that the issue of art came up, I’ve found that the cards I have the best connection with are the cards that I like the artwork of.
Also interesting to note, that the deck that I generally feel the MOST pull from is my Faeries Oracle. Now that could just be the nature of the Faeries, lol.
May 1, 2009 at 7:38 pm
Garnet
Shana-Marie,
I think they are definitely interchangeable – it all depends on the reader
Artwork is so important when choosing a deck – I often feel pulled to work with a deck just so I can explore the art more!
And the Fae are definitely pullers
May 8, 2009 at 8:21 pm
woley
I have many oracles and use them for all kinds of stuff. Art inspiration, creative writing, essays, daily draws. I can use anything for a daily draw and love to mix decks up with books and poetry. Sometimes if it’s an art deck or one with history (like various Saints decks I own), I will do some research and write it up.
I love playing cards too. I buy more of these odd decks these days than tarot cards. Varied subjects and themes make life joyous!
May 8, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Garnet
Woley, I agree, I love the idea of collecting various kinds of card decks – they really are inspirational! I’d love to see some of your writings/projects based off the cards – please share? Thanks! Garnet
May 8, 2009 at 11:20 pm
woley
Funny, your WordPress theme doesn’t allow people to click on the avatar in the comment and go to the person’s page, you have to do a search by username.
This is my daily blog if you’d like to meander.
http://woley.wordpress.com/
May 11, 2009 at 6:20 pm
Garnet
Woley,
Your blog is great! I’m sorry for the usability lapse in my layout – I’ll see if WP.com offers a layout to my liking that includes that functionality. Thanks!
BTW, subscribed to your blog – it’s great!
Thanks, Garnet
May 24, 2009 at 10:05 am
woley
Back again. . . .I bought the Oracle of the Dragonfae yesterday for the same reason–it’s pretty. It reminds me somewhat of your Enchanted Oracle in artwork. you might like it.
Most of my decks are oracles or odd decks like I Ching, rune cards, Knowledge cards, postcards etc. I have 50 playing card decks, and several decks on animals. My daily card draws have become my journal.
I had the Goddess Guidance Oracle but I traded it–beautiful artwork though.
May 30, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Dawn Jones
I like to use oracle cards for several purposes. Many times I will pull one to wrap up a tarot or intuitive reading, as a kind of general overall message. I really like Cheryl Richardson’s Grace Cards for this purpose. Very inspiring.
Other times I’ll pull one at random when I have a simple question and don’t want or have time to do a full reading.
Some friends I know include an oracle card with the greeting cards they mail; a nice touch, don’t you think?
Their uses are pretty much limited only by the extent of our imaginations.
June 1, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Garnet
Oh I love the idea of putting a card in with greeting cards – cool idea, Dawn. I also like the idea of pulling an oracle card to wrap up the end of the reading – a nice touch, I think
Thanks for writing in!