Suggested first Oracle?

AJ said:

I think it is really well researched and the art is outstanding. I enjoy reading the book every time this deck comes in my deck of the week rotation.

I don't know about there but US Ebay it often turns up for about 10 dollars.

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Normally I'd be reticent about anything with Indigenous art, because there's a risk of appropriation of culture, but I know the artist would have created this with a pure heart, and I've been actively working on better understanding Indigenous cultures here and particularly of the people whose land I live on.

Since I've come back to Aeclectic I've been getting some absolutely crazy synchronicity going on, and seeing the creator's name really threw me for six. Clearly I'm meant to have this deck. Now I have to figure out whether to tell the author; I know her in a professional context, and wonder how she'd feel about it.

Oracle of the Dreamtime is also one of my firm favorites. If I'm not mistaken, I think the artwork was done by indigenous artists? Beautiful cards and an excellent book to explain the stories and meanings that go with them.

BodhiSeed said:

I think the artwork was done by indigenous artists?

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Yes, it looks like authentic Indigenous artwork, and respectfully handled. I've been quite interested in Indigenous astronomies for some time, as the stories make so much more sense than a European mythology laid over the southern land. As in America, there are many different Indigenous groups, with unique languages and cultures, sometimes sharing some common ground, sometimes very different.

ExtraOrdinary Oracle

I don't have this deck, but was looking at it online the other day and thought of it when I saw your post, it may fit the bill since its focus is everyday things: https://extraordinary-oracle.myshopify.com/

Here's an unboxing video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5rYUiGo4EQ&t=403s

These are my 3 absolute fave oracles but it's hard to recommend to someone else because you don't know their tastes and loves....

Earth Magic Oracle is a great oracle and has lots of positive reviews on AT. It's theming is really magical elements and the pagan year but doesn't go deeply into it, I guess it's "natural elements" as a theme. It's such a good general reading deck. I did a thread a few years ago on AT and read for so many people with this deck doing a 3 card reading for each. Each reading turned out so well every time, it's my most reliable deck

The publisher Hay House does a lot of oracle decks and I feel some can become a bit like "fluff", Earth Magic is by Steven Farmer who has done many for them, there is also many for them by Colette Baron-Reid (avoid her included little oracle books, they tend to be unhelpful if you read intuitively) and Doreen Virtue's Angel Decks. Obviously it depends on your own taste but I would be careful with the Hay House oracles, I've found them mostly disappointing. But the Earth Magic Oracle is stand out in the field. They are wildly available as a mass market deck.

Psycards - Barleywine mentioned them and I love them. They are based on Jung archetypes but have oracle images (I would say the theme is like medieval). They are a must have if you have psychological or analytical interests. They are also great for work and functional type readings. You have to get them from the webstore from the official site in your own country, so it's not mass market. They are made and created here in London and first published in 1982.

A'ha Oracle - Forum Member Linnie created this based on images that came to her in dreams. It's a marvellous intuitive deck and my fave for spiritual readings. They are mandala circles and the majority are only black and white, but a few are beautifully in colour. She felt she wanted to make the different colours and it really works when you don't think it should. Each card has a number at the bottom and you can look it up in the book but it has no keywords or anything and so you can read them intuitively with no prompts on the card! They always give you an indepth reading, you can't get a quick reading form them, it's just impossible You get them from her own site in Oz and they are not massmarket.

In my Oracles collection, they are my 3 absolute favourites.

RavenofSummer, the ExtraOrdinary Oracle looks ideal - such an eclectic mix of the everyday. Huge mythic cards just don't connect to everyday life sometimes.

Thanks for your suggestions, Danieljuk. Of the three, the Earth Magic appeals most. I enjoy the nature imagery. Though I'm an atheist now, I had a big pagan phase for a while there so I can identify with quite a bit of symbolism that is rooted in pagan and earth traditions.