Definition of an Oracle deck?

Zezina

I have several decks that seem to come into the category of Oracle Decks, but I'm still not sure what an Oracle Deck is.

I gather that a Tarot deck is defined by having 78 cards, and that an Oracle deck may have any other number of cards.

A valid definition would be interesting. Thanks in advance.
 

thorhammer

You're pretty well onto it - a Tarot has Major Arcana and Minor Arcana. Usually there are 78 cards, but that does vary (and there's nothing to say that an Oracle can't have 78 cards ;)) - like the Fifth and Deva Tarots, which both have a whole extra suit of Minors, and the Babylonian Tarot, which has extra Courts (o joy!) and an extra Major Arcanum.

There are lots of past threads about this:

Whats the difference

What's the difference between a Tarot and an Oracle?

What's the difference between . . .

Difference between Tarot and Oracle?

. . . and so forth :) Enjoy!

\m/ Kat
 

Zezina

Thanks thorhammer - very late here now, but I'll check all these out tomorrow and should get some understanding by then.
 

Bernice

Tarot Definition:

A 'tarot' contains 22 Trump cards, also called Majors.
56 pip & court cards, also called Minors.

The terms Major and Minor are usually applied to the Rider Waite style decks and their clones - lots of decks are clones of the Rider Waite designs and arrangement of the cards.

There are also very early 'tarot' decks which are not based on the Rider Waite style - they are usually reproductions of the original tarot designs.

An Oracle deck is usually any deck that isn't a 'tarot' deck.

Bee :)
 

AJ

Nor does it need to be in deck form.
Throw out a handful of Fisher-Price people and read them...
Oracle.
 

F.M. Tarot

AJ said:
Nor does it need to be in deck form.
Throw out a handful of Fisher-Price people and read them...
Oracle.

But it was my understanding she was asking about the definition of oracle decks, not just definition of 'oracle' from her thread title.

I don't think there is a valid or one defintion of what constitutes what an oracle deck is, per se. They can be anywhere from 10-400 (or more perhaps) cards, they usually have there own internal system and of those systems some are highly sophisticated (i.e. Lenormand. Playing Card Oracles) or simplistic. Then you have the endless debates on what exactly is a true tarot deck.
 

Zezina

Thank you for your guidance

My question about the difference between a Tarot deck and an Oracle deck was prompted by my purchase from a local shop on Thursday of Doreen Virtue's 'Magical Unicorns Oracle Cards'.

Not because I wanted more Oracle cards, but because I'm abidingly enchanted by Elizabeth Kyle's 'White Wind' painting of a blond woman in medieval dress on a unicorn, where the hair of the woman and the mane of the unicorn blend together in a most beautiful way. :heart: This image was on the box of the deck, and the price was very modest compared to Tarot cards.

So buying this attractive deck allows me to enjoy this extraordinary image whenever I choose. One of the cards bears the same image, and another card has part of that image.

This 44 card deck is simple, positive, and very beautiful, and will be a most suitable introduction to Tarot/Oracle when my grandchildren are old enough to be interested. :heart:

I've now checked out all the information you've kindly given and pointed me to, and I've followed up all the threads and those they've led to. :rolleyes:

I think I've got it now - I seemed to instinctively know which decks were Oracle rather than Tarot, and the threads have helped me to understand why.

Some interesting material was unearthed. I particularly liked: 'A Tarot is an Oracle Deck, but an Oracle is not necessarily a Tarot Deck', which showed me that questioning the difference between them was not relevant in the way I'd thought. :angel:

Another intriguing concept was unearthed as I followed the threads: that of combining Tarot and Oracle cards in the same reading. Food for thought!

What an amazing Forum this is, with such helpful and knowledgeable members. My Tarot understanding has grown in leaps and bounds since I've joined. Much appreciation to you all. :thumbsup: