How big?
How many cards makes a comfortable and worthwhile oracle deck for you?
Anyhing from 25 cards up.
Can there be too many or too few cards?
I don't have an oracle deck with too many cards, but I can imagine that it might be possible for there to be too many cards (or equivalent). But I work with the sabian symbols quite comfortably, and there are 360 of those!
Card Meanings
What sort of card meanings draw you?
Huge variety. My favourites are the all-purpose oracles, that you can use equally for work, love, spirituality, self-help etc. Froud's Faeries are like that & the Universe Cards. But I do also go for more specific oracle decks, like the Black Angel Cards, which I use for soul work & discovering my wounds & strengths as a woman; the Goddess Oracle, which I've only just received, so I am still playing around with how I can use it. I love oracles that encourage intuitive readings & don't impose meanings.
Do you prefer all positive like Doreen Virtue's decks or a mix of positive/ negative card meanings?
I can't say enough how much I dislike Doreen Virtue decks & similar kind. To me they are utter shlock. They are not positive, they are saccharine & false. Although I realise they help some people, I question the value of such help. It seems to me like the card equivalent of happy drugs.
I like decks that are true & strong. That don't hide or smother the negative or call it something to be "healed" & don't make the positive into something cute, and above all - allow me to work with all the shades between the positive & negative poles. I don't see negatve as a problem - I see it as one might the negative pole in electicity: that is, you only get electricity if you have positive & negative poles. The "negative" therefore is not only not to be feared - it is absolutely necessary to life - and much of our life work is knowing how to integrate that shadow so that our human electrical current can work!
Do you find that the "theme" of the deck sometimes limits the possible card meanings?
Not if you are working specifically within the compass of the theme. Also - if the art encourages the intuitive approach, it really doesn't matter. Furthermore, the book might not be the be-all and end-all of the theme. Take the Druid Animal cards, a fine deck. I use the book, but I also go elsewhere to find out about wolves, deer, foxes, etc. as well as using my own knowledge (for those animals I know).
Do you find that some oracle deck can only be used for certain types of readings?
Yes, but that doesn't bother me. Some decks I find aren't that great for large readings, others I like to combine with tarot; some are very woman-centred, but that's OK, because I turn to them when I want to look at issues that have some connection with my womanhood.
Do you find oracle decks to be more or less flexible in meaning than a tarot deck?
Different. Some are less, because they are so themed, but others are wide. I don't use them like tarot. Tarot can be very flexible too, if you are not glued to the meanings in the books.
Artwork
Are you more drawn to a deck because of its artwork or its "theme"?
I couldn't work with a deck that had art I didn't like. But I don't choose a deck solely for artwork. For me artwork is part of the whole package & can't be separated from other considerations. For example, in the Angel Blessings Cards, Kimberley Marooney chose some beautiful angel imagery from Western art from the Middle Ages to the early 20th C. Some of the imagery is dark (in tone or in atmosphere), some is lighter - and to me the very quality & subtlety of the art, as well as its variety within a single theme (angels of the judeo-christian-muslim pantheon) gives it additional force
as an oracle. In other words - it's not just a pretty deck. Added to that, the book is well-reasearched as well as compassionate & loving - and true. There is a genuine attempt to see the human-angel interraction in the round. So both theme & art are important in that deck, one building on the other.
Are you more attracted to decks with realistic or more abstract pictures?
Both. I have eclectic tastes in art. I don't like sugary or twee "art", or anyting that looks like it was done for idiots.
Does the artwork affect how you feel you can read with a deck?
Yes.
Would you buy or not buy a deck based soley on it artwork?
No, I would buy prints or large post-cards.
Random
Is there an oracle you wish existed?
All oracles exist - if you look for them. They are all around us, in nature, in the signs & symbols of our cities, in the art we see, in books we read.
Do you think there are too many or too few decks out there on the market already?
There are too many Doreen Virtue & similar decks out there. There are not enough Angel Blessings, Universe Cards & Black Angel Cards. There are not enough oracles that have made a genuine attempt at being
oracles as opposed to self-help - something like the African Divination deck & book. Most so-called oracle decks are self-help or self-exploration decks, which is fine, but not oracles. They are not that good for divination.
Is there anything that makes some decks easier to meditate with than others? Good art, a hook,...hard to define, really!
Please describe your ideal oracle. I hinted at it above...my ideal oracle is all around me
