Journey of Love Oracle by by Alana Fairchild ill. by Rassouli

Does anyone have this deck yet? What are your impressions of it?

I am looking for an oracle deck that not only speaks to me aesthetically (I'm a visual artist, so the images *really* need to move me) and has consistency (I don't like decks that have "jarring" cards that look like they don't belong), but also it NEEDS to have DEPTH and real meaning in the book and cards themselves. Despite being an artist, I'm not looking to simply collect beautiful cards - I need substance and soul-touching beauty.

Am I asking too much?

In looking at the few images I can find online of this deck it *looks* like it might be what I'm looking for, but I have no idea if the "substance" I'm looking for is there as well because we can't read excerpts online.

So I'd love some feedback if anyone has this deck and if not, but what I said above resonates with you and you want to recommend a different oracle deck to me, I'm open to all suggestions!

Mahalo

I just got this one - the art looked really interesting to me too.

I take it you've seen the samples on the Blue Angel website - and those are a fairly decent representation of the deck's artwork.

~There are a few images that are less abstract, and the figures in those are depicted in a rather elongated, almost mannerist style.
~A couple cards are more geometric instead of having the circular swirling theme you see in a lot of the sample images.
~A few cards have a white background with just a few strokes of black ink/paint - and the keywords really match the simplicity of the art style. The black and white cards would probably be the most jarring ones in the deck since the colors are very rich in the others, but I personally did not find this to detract from the deck's cohesion. It felt like a purposeful choice and it still seemed to suit the deck (in my personal opinion). I could see where others would think these cards didn't quite belong.

I bought this deck for the artwork, so I have not worked with it, though I think it might be interesting to give it a try. I haven't read the guidebook either (like I said, I JUST got this). Alana Fairchild is writing a lot of stuff for Blue Angel now and I admittedly do not resonate with her work, so even if I had read the guidebook, I'm not sure if I would be the best person to ask about its quality.

Without diving in to the companion book and only looking at the keywords, I still think you could get something out of the deck. The title is a bit misleading. The keywords aren't all about romance. "God speaks," "the void," and "the spaces between words" are examples of the keywords on the cards.

The color choices and the use of line and composition match the keywords, even if it is a completely abstract image. If color is evocative for you, I think you could get a lot out of this deck from the images alone. The keywords are pretty decent, especially when coupled with the images. That being said, the combination of abstract art with somewhat abstract keywords will read better for some folks than others, so I can see where this would be an art deck for many. One could easily see the keywords as being titles to the paintings on the cards. It is a matter of how meaningful that coupling is for you within the context of a reading.

I hope my ramble was helpful in some way. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask. I'd be happy to supply more information!

Mahalo Mythic Silence for taking the time to write that! I guess I'd have to see the deck images (b&w doesn't seem like it would be incongruous necessarily, but geometric could).

As for Alana Fairchild's writing - I've never read anything by her before... what is it you don't resonate with? (I'm going to post in the de-enabling thread, so if you're not comfortable writing something negative here, by all means head over there to reply )

Fairchild's writing tends to focus on encouragement and affirmations. Often her guidebooks have a lot of meditations or visualizations to go along with the cards (The Kuan Yin Oracle comes to mind). There is certainly nothing wrong with any of this, it just isn't the kind of material that helps me to work more effectively with the deck.

Her writing style is very positive, and that is characteristic of many oracle deck guidebooks, regardless of the author. How much positivity you like in your guidebook is a matter or personal taste. I suppose if guidebooks are like chocolate, I prefer a dark and bitter chocolate rather than a sweet milk chocolate. Just different flavors for different folks.

I took a glance at a few entries in the guidebook for this deck and it looks like she focuses a bit more on card themes, so I will sit down and read it more thoroughly in the near future. I'm certainly willing to see what she has to say about this deck, I just haven't gotten around to really sticking my nose into the book.

I hope that makes sense and doesn't sound unkind. I don't post very often and when I do I feel like I am always being critical! =/

I was a bit meh about this deck, so I got it and I actually love it. The art is not something I would go for. Easy deck to read with and quite accurate as well!

Mythic Silence said:

How much positivity you like in your guidebook is a matter or personal taste. I suppose if guidebooks are like chocolate, I prefer a dark and bitter chocolate rather than a sweet milk chocolate. Just different flavors for different folks.
....
I hope that makes sense and doesn't sound unkind. I don't post very often and when I do I feel like I am always being critical! =/

Click to expand...

I understand, Mythic Silence, and it didn't sound unkind at all so don't worry (well, at least to me -- although I'd guess I'm more like you and in that sense may not be a great judge of whether it sounds unkind to other types of people )

I look forward to hearing back from you here once you've had more time to become familiar with the book and the deck!

Celtictarot said:

I was a bit meh about this deck, so I got it and I actually love it. The art is not something I would go for. Easy deck to read with and quite accurate as well!

Click to expand...

That's funny Celtictarot that you got it in spite of the art, rather than because of it! I'd be curious to know your opinion of the book as well once you've spent more time with it.

If you are familiar with Lucy Cavendish books, it has the same format. A little bit about the card, the divinatory meaning and an affirmation. I have used it for a week in readings but that is the only deck of Alana's I have.

Oh I have just used the guidebook for the meaning of the cards, I got rid of my DV decks as they were sickeningly positive. I haven't really paid attention to the positivity, just the divination and added what I felt. I had a client who asks the same questions time again and not listen, I was amazed on how well the deck interacted to that energy. It gave a no nonsense reading.

It's been a few months since this deck came out (when I first posted it was brand new) so I'm wondering if anyone has had any further experience with it and what their impressions of it are after having it longer?

I've only just got it and have only drawn two cards so far as I like to use a card from each of my decks in a reading, but they've contributed key information with the deep concepts in the guidebook and I'm looking forward to what it has to say in future

The "Journey Of Love" is a spiritual, mystical idea about finding love for the Divine in all things, so this is not a simple relationship deck. The package is actually the work of three people as the guidebook also includes a poem for each card as well as the prose explanation, offering another stimulus to emotional response.

The cards I've studied so far are:

"Fire And Ice" - Talks of learning to live with the tension of opposites, understanding their connection to each other, accepting the conflict and becoming aware of the unfolding of a perfect design. This gave me some deep thinking into the relationship between fate and free will which had surfaced in another couple of the cards drawn in answer to my question "How do the cards work?".

"Woman Of Light" - This is about the joy of illumination or receiving the blessings of an awakened being. This card stands out as the key answer to my question (well, your question ) "What is the point of existence?" - to become awakened, by receiving help from those awakened already, as their purpose then becomes to awake all other living beings. I'm still working on the interpretation - it's backed up by other cards but this one seems to explain the message most thoroughly.

I might add a bit more after further experience with the deck, but it's going to take me a long time to get through all 70 cards.

I got it (no book) because I do love the art style, particularly for meditation cards. I doubt I ever use it for readings.
I also pitched all the churchy cards in the bin. Happily.