What Are Oracle Cards Used For?

I adore oracle cards!  They are a wonderful way for people to start learning to trust their own intuition.  A modern invention, these decks come without the years of history and “rules” that go with the realm of Tarot cards.

Oracle cards – sometimes called divination cards or decks – are sets of cards with pictures and meanings that are specific to the vision of the creator(s) of the deck.  They can have any number of cards, from as low as 20 to as many as 144 — though 44, being a Master Number, most often make up the deck.  The artwork can be symbolic or reality-based; while many decks are illustrated with angels, I have seen oracle cards with abstract art, plants, crystals, kitchen utensils, mythical creatures, planets and stars, various gods and goddesses – even anatomical drawings!  They can have specific word-keys (“Abundance,” “Power,” “Compassion”), phrases (“Spiritual Law of Attraction,” “Peace Offering,” “Father, Brother, Husband, Son”) or full messages (“Today is your day to claim your Prosperity.  Don’t hold back.”)

<strong>The one rule of Oracle Decks is <em>There Are No Rules</em>.</strong>  Truly!  The cards with their pictures and phrases are open enough that you can form your own way of working with them, knowing that they will respond in kind.  Currently, I have six different oracle decks that I use in my readings:

The Joy of Relationship by John Grey
Faeries’ Oracle by Brian Froud and Jesa MacBeth
Spirit of the Wheel by Linda Ewashina and Jody Bergsma
Ascended Masters by Doreen Virtue
Healing With the Angels by Doreen Virtue
Earth Wisdom by Stephen Farmer

Each one of them has found their particular “niche” in my reading repertoire.  For instance, the John Grey deck is one I specifically pull out to talk to people about their Karmic path and Karmic relationships with people in their lives.  The Froud/MacBeth deck is targeted to people who are absolutely serious about wanting to know their Spiritual Road and can take the “tough talk.”  Virtue’s Ascended Masters deck assists me in giving a spiritual storyboard for the clients’ year to wrap up a reading session – and so on.  And when I first got each deck, I would spend time just looking at the artwork, shuffling and dealing out the cards in various formations, until the cards made it very clear how they’d enjoy working with me, even suggesting specific spreads to help me find answers and paths to support my clients’ Earthwalk.

Oracle decks allow you to reach out to the Numinous and bring information down to you Earthside.  To find your specific oracle deck, check out the list at Aeclectic.com (though note that a few decks on the list are called “Tarot” decks and will be subject to the same rules as the original Rider-Waite Tarot):  http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/oracles.shtml