first oracle deck.. need suggestions

this has probably been asked here before but I would love to get some advice on which oracle deck to purchase. I am a beginner tarot reader and have been drawn to oracle decks since the first day I started researching decks. I have a deep fascination for angels . At first I thought I would give healing with the angels by doreen virtue a try but i've read it is more of a self help deck than divination. Can someone give me some ideas?

Thanks in advance!!

The Osho Zen always has good comments on it, and there are two places you can see all the cards--check out the thread about seeing the entire deck, there are two URL's listed.

I´ve searched for a good divination Oracle with angels too.
I quite like The Angel Cards,the little cards with one word on each,and the little deck by Sulamith Wulfing see here http://www.wicce.com/tarot.html for the Sulamith Wulfing deck.Doreen Virtues cards can be alright for one card readings with another deck.
The beautiful Angel Blessings deck can be seen at the same site as Sulamith Wulfing´s deck.I haven´t worked enough with mine yet to really have an opinion about it,but the art is lovely;old masters.
I would suggest The Faeries´Oracle by Brian Froud.I see The Singers in it as angels.It´s my favourite deck for divination.

I have a lovely oracle called the Angel Oracle by Ambika Wauters, with a nice hardcover book that accompanies it.
It's a very nice Angel specific oracle deck.
I adore my Faerie Oracle but it has a playful light energy about it that differs to the Angel energy.

frouds fairy oracle, it has its own studygroup here.

Hi, earthdance!

Have you considered combining oracles?
I'm all for reading oracles in tandem. Check out the thread about just that topic, appropriately titled "Oracles in Tandem." Several Aeclecticians have presented some excellent combinations to try.

For me, this "tandem" method solved the same problem you already mentioned with the Healing w/ Angels deck. I desperately wanted to get "real" readings with this beautiful set of cards, yet it remained just a nice meditation tool for me, as I continued to get very vague, esoteric results with it. That is, until I added two other angel decks to my readings. Now, when I put the three of them together in structured spreads, the readings become wonderfully, intensely divinatory.

froud's faeries are the most popular oracle deck here (for a good reason). however... i find them most useful for self-help.

if you want an oracle that is good for any kind of reading, you might try 'soul cards'. this deck has no assigned meanings, so it is fantastic for developing your intuition. here is a link to the authors site; http://www.touchdrawing.com/

Lo Scarabeo is coming out with a new Angel oracle (deck / book set) called Angel Voices Kit. It has 80 cards I think and looks very nice!!! Amazon in the US says it will be available August 2003 ). www.alidastore.com is already selling it, although I think they are just selling the deck w/ a little white book - not the set that is coming out...

i suggest to research the ones that interest you. but when you go out to buy them, i think it's more the deck will choose you then you choose the deck. I went out in search of tarot cards, but i got pulled towards the Faery Oracle set, and i havn'e looked back. *grins*

Keep you mind open and you will find what your' looking for.

*hugs*


Arie Tarou

Hello Earthdance:

I have Doreen Virtues "Healing with the Fairies" deck and book, the "Osho Zen" deck/book set, one angel oracle deck, and "The Faeries" Oracle" deck/book set. I dearly love "The Faeries' Oracle"!

Even before seeing "The Faeries' Oracle" deck, they were calling me. They started as spring was wanting to come, while still in winter. Even on this forum the name of their forum was pulling at me. Prior to first reading from their forum section, I knew that I was going to be buying them. It was still awhile before I was able to and by then I had seen several of the cards on-line. I only read general info on them, because I didn't want to take on others thought about individual cards. Precious few of their pictures from the cards was I really thrilled about. Most I didn't think I would care for. For me, in my mind's concept of faes, these beings were not them! Because of this I had thoughts that maybe this isn't the deck for me, but why the call from some of them and the strong pull to the deck? I am telling of all this, because this is the deck that really communicates.

You do have to let go of practical, adulthood thinking. I am meaning that you have to allow yourself to be free as a child in your imagination. This oracle somehow connects with most people. It is highly different in that even what the meanings listed in the book are, they are far from being iron-clad. They at best are needed to be seen as a springboard for you and the fae you are reading of, to soar from. As with Tarot, a card can hold a totally different meaning at various times. Largely you develope your own meanings, but more so always let one speak for however it wishes, period. I give them 100% full range to relate and to speak to me. You find that you quickly cannot look to the faes of this oracle as just cards of Brian Froud's art work. They are much more than being characters as in a book. They are beings, even if to you they exist in your mind only (at first). Gareth Knight in "The Magical World of the Tarot" speaks of "The Spirit of Tarot" and to treat it like a person and it will respond like a person. This is key, the key. With "The Faeries' Oracle" I sometimes do get fun, playful readings, but I likewise get to-the-point serious readings too. I have begun to ask sometimes for them to direct me the answer in a certain method and they comply.

I would certainly given "The Faeries' Oracle" a go. You MUST start with reading the book from the beginning and stopping at each time told to do the exercises. This is very important.