1. What was your very first Oracle deck?
My very first Oracle deck was the Nature Speak Oracle by Ted Andrews. I was new to the whole "cards" thing and starting to explore Paganism. These nature based cards seemed to fit my interests at the time.
2. What is your current favorite deck?
Tough call! I have 3 or 4 favorite decks currently... I don't know that I could pick just one. If I HAD to choose I'd say the Sacred Creators Oracle by Chris-Anne and the Wisdom of the Oracle by Colette Baron-Reid. Nope, couldn't pick just one.
3. What's your most used deck?
Probably Witchlings by Paulina Cassidy. It's upbeat and cute but gives in touch messages.
4. What's your least used deck?
I have to admit I have a few decks that I just don't use very often. That's something I should remedy. Maybe I'll take this question as a kick in the butt suggestion to use them more often. The least used one is probably Oracle of the Dragonfae, but there are a few others used just as infrequently, much to my chagrin...
5. How did you learn to read Oracle cards?
I "learned" while I was studying Tarot. I started with Tarot first and branched into Oracle cards. I can't say I ever specifically learned to read Oracle cards. I bought a few decks, read their accompanying books, tried some Tarot techniques with them, loved the idea of Lenormand card pairings for working with Oracle Cards, and just basically played and continue to play around with them. So I guess it's mostly experimenting as I go. I also do a lot of Oracle readings for myself, so that's decent practice, I guess.
6. What do you use Oracle cards for?
I use Oracle cards for all sorts of things, lots of different types of questions. The thing I use them for the most is for helping me cope with chronic illness. It's difficult, living with chronic illness. Sometimes I need to hear a supporting and encouraging message. I feel Oracle cards tend to do that a bit better than Tarot does.
7. How do you read the cards? Guidebook, intuitively, a bit of both?
For Oracle cards, I love my guidebooks. I almost always read the guidebook entry when working with Oracle cards. Sometimes I get intuitive hits from the cards themselves. Sometimes the card itself is self-explanatory, but I get intuitive hits when reading the guidebook. The message I'm supposed to get will often "pop" when I read the guidebook.
8. Do you use spreads?
Yes and no. I've never been big on spreads, for Tarot or Oracles, but they're starting to grow on me. I'm starting to use spreads more often lately.
9. Do you mix Oracle cards with other divination systems (Tarot, Lenormand, Runes, etc)?
YES!!! I LOVE combining Oracle cards with Tarot and Runes. One of my favorite methods is to pull an Oracle card for a topic/message. Then, I pull 3 Tarot cards asking what else I need to know about that topic/message. Last, I draw a Rune asking for anything else I need to know. It's a favorite combination method that I came up with. I combine them in other ways too. I just LOVE combining them.
10. In your opinion, what makes a great deck?
A well thought out and detailed guidebook. For me, I love a good guidebook to go with the deck. Because of all the varying themes and messages an Oracle card deck can have, I really prefer having a good guidebook for the deck. Artwork and cardstock are important too, but artwork and theme are so subjective. Different things appeal to different people or even appeal to the same person at different times. Good cardstock is a must too.
11. What do you feel are the differences between Tarot and Oracle cards?
Tarot has set systems and Oracle cards do not. Within the few Tarot systems (Rider-Waite-Smith, Thoth, Marseille, etc) the decks within each system will have a similar structure. So, for the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot decks, they're generally going to have 22 Major Arcana, 40 Number cards of Ace-10 each of some version of Swords, Wands, Cups, and Coins, and 16 Court Cards, some version of Page, Knight, Queen, King for each suit. Working within a system, there's transferable knowledge between decks even though the theme of the decks may vary.
Oracle decks don't follow any set system. Each deck is a system into itself. Decks can have any number of cards, have any theme, have any meanings or messages within them that the deck creator chooses. There doesn't tend to be specific transferable knowledge between different Oracle decks.
12. Do you have any super unusual/unique Decks?
I have three Oracle decks I'd consider unusual or unique. The first is Pathfinders, The Animal Totem Deck. It's an animal based deck with 83 cards, each illustrated by a different artist. It was independently published, a limited edition of 1000 decks worldwide and may be hard to find now. I believe it is out of print.
The second Oracle deck I have that is consider unique is the Tea Leaf Fortune Cards (Amazon). This deck is based on reading tea leaves. The cards are round, like a teacup would be. There's 200 cards, which include 182 symbol cards, 12 month cards, and 6 astral house cards, along with an accompanying book to help you interpret the cards. Because the cards are round and somewhat small, they can be difficult to shuffle. I tend to just swirl them around, though a mesh bag is included for that purpose.
The third is the Rebel Deck Tarot Cards. Not actually a Tarot deck, it's a funny and irreverent Oracle deck that gives short, to the point messages including foul language. Not for the sensitive soul, Rebel Deck is great for when you need that no-nonsense, smack in the head message.
13. What's your current deck crush?
Affirmators! Affirmation cards to help you help yourself-without the self-helpy-ness, Affirmators! Love and Relationships, and Wisdom of the Oracle by Colette Baron-Reid.
14. If you could only use one deck from now on, what would it be?
That's a tough one... I have a bunch of favorites. If I could only pick one, I'd have to say the Sacred Creators Oracle. The more I work with it, the more I'm loving it.
Well, these are my answers to the #OracleObsessed hashtag. Do you work with Oracle decks? What is your favorite Oracle deck? Feel free to reply in the comments.
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