Fairie's Oracle - Decks made not for div purposes

I'm a little confused. The Faerie's Oracle.. isn't that just pictures taken from his Good Faery/Bad Faery book? How can that be considered powerful? Sorta like the Vertigo deck. Fabulous art, but wasn't made with any sort of divinatory intent.

For me it is even less "powerful" then gathering rocks and sticks and pieces of tape and using them for any inner exploration/fortune telling purpose. Those are collected/created specifically for that use.

Any imagery in the cards were not created with any thought beyond a piece of beautiful artwork.

Interested in hearing people's point of view who own the decks (Vertigo or Faerie's Oracle)

I don't have the Fairie's oracle deck yet, but it will probably be the next one I get. I've drawn cards from it on its website and found it accurate for me. It comes with a book just like other oracle decks. If it didn't have a book, I wouldn't use it.

To me, divination is less about the original intent behind the tool which is being used, and more about the meanings. (Other people view that differently- for some it is more about the pictures, or about sparking off their own intuition.)
The way it works for me is to have something with a preset meaning which I draw from, with the intent of getting answers.
Probably many things could be used for divination which were not originally intended to be used that way. I don't think divination is about the original intent behind the making of whatever tool is being used, but about the intent of the user- as well as the outcome.
I wouldn't have a clue about what to do with rocks, sticks and pieces of tape in regard to divination. My divination is not based upon my intuition. I would not know what those things would mean.

I have used Tao Te Ching cards, which have no pictures and which were not intended to be used for divination, for effective divination. I draw from them and read the meanings. It works.

I suppose the only way to know if the Fairies oracle would work for you and your style of divination would be to try it.

jeseryn said:

I'm a little confused. The Faerie's Oracle.. isn't that just pictures taken from his Good Faery/Bad Faery book? How can that be considered powerful?

Click to expand...

Brian Froud has always painted "doorways" with his faery art. Every piece he has ever done has a soul and a spark of faery in it. Some more so then others but the magic is there in all his work if you know what to look for. The 64 images that made it into the Oracle deck were decided from a collection of more than 120 paintings that were considered for the deck. Personally, I think every single one of his paintings is powerful and has a powerful message, not just the 64 oracle cards. The purpose of the Faery Oracle is to faciltate Otherworld communications. I consider it powerful because thats what Froud does with all his paintings, opens a channel between our world and the world of Faeries. He has stated that he paints the faeries he actually sees.

Of course, if you don't believe in faeries its all just a bunch of nonsense.

I, however, do believe in Faeries.
FGM

That's sweet FG

I'm glad the cards work for you both. Thats what counts.

Where is the website for the cards with the online oracle? I haven't really been able to find much information about it.

There are oracles for all sort of things: love, work, innerwork, fortune-telling, etc. Some oracles work better at certain things and sometimes you're the one who simply can't connect with the deck, but it doesn't mean the deck is bad though. I don't have the Fairies' Oracle but the art is indeed lovely and seeing all the enthousiastic people in the Fairies' Oracle Study Group shows that this deck is more than an art deck. Plenty of people there become more capable indeed to communicate with fairies.

As for the Vertigo, a deck I find lovely, but a deck I don't have (unfortunatly), I think it's not an art deck. Rachel Pollack and the artist worked closely when they made the deck and Rachel Pollack is a renown tarot author. The Vertigo Tarot is based on the Thoth system, which is different from the RWS system, so it could be a difficult deck for beginners, unaware of the Thoth system.

What a great question! I'll try to stay on topic as much as possible, but you have me thinking about all kinds of interesting tangents now.

The first thing I have to ask is: Aren't ALL decks just pretty pictures? It's not the deck itself that is divinitory, it's the connection a person has with it. Certain artwork and certain methods work better for different invididuals. And YES, there are people who can do very good readings with sticks and rocks. I even know a woman who can give very accurate readings from the leftovers on your dinner plate. See, it's not the food, it's HER. Most of us aren't that skilled, and need a gimmick to fuel our intuition.

With that in mind, the Faeries Oracle is quite powerful for many people *because* it is less stuffy and more playful than 'proper' decks -- just as you said! This makes it easier to let down your guard and just run with it. So you don't worry so much about memorizing official meanings, or doing things the 'right' way. Isn't that the advice experienced readers give newbies on how to learn?

You wouldn't know it without having the deck and the book, but there is also a surprisingly well-thought out hierarchy of cards, almost akin to the suits in normal decks. Each card is in the deck for a specific reason, and not just for its looks. They are beautiful, cute, silly, haunting... and there are many things going on even in the simplest card. I've had my deck for about 6 months now and use them quite often, and as I was sorting the cards out last night I happened up a teeny tiny little guy in the corner of a card that I had never noticed before. I marveled at the details and nuances that aren't always seen right away.

I didn't give much thought to fairies or Froud or anything related before, and I've found this deck powerful BECAUSE it is playful. It works much better for me than any of my tarot decks. (An interesting twist is that I'm now feeling more confident to hone my skills with my other decks.) With my psychology background, I understand that when people have conversations with their faeries, it's probably accessing different parts of your own psyche and not a living, breathing, flying fairy. BUT... as I said, I believe all divination systems are tricks to access your own psyche, spirit guides, angels, God, the Universal Energy, or however you interpret the source of psychic energy.

So, yeah it's silly, and that's why it works. Now I'm off to go research the Vertigo deck. LOL!

LR

Yay Lunar Rabbit!

You took the words right out of my fingers...

I did go ahead and buy the Faeries' Oracle, and I'm liking it quite well.

It hasn't been much different from my experience with using any other oracle or tarot. I use the provided meanings for it as I do with other things I divine with.

I don't know if "faeries" exist or not, but when I look at these cards, I see people, not faeries. What is seen in the cards is nothing other than aspects of humanity (and our feelings/ideas), to me. The same "voice" seems to come from it as does from every other thing I divine with. It gives me more meanings to draw from, and I like that.

Here is another recent thread about using decks (and other things) not originally intended for divination for that purpose:Reading with collectors cards

Brian's Two Faerie Books

Back in 1979 my mother gave me Brian Froud's first book, Faeries. It was a fascinating trek through folklore, myth, and legend told in such a way that inspired belief in faeries here and now. It was also Brian's introduction to the world of faerie and in the 20 years since that book was published, he found just how enlightening the creatures truly are. Good Faeries/Bad Faeries turned a different direction. Rather than dig up more old tales, Brian introduces us to faeries who have graced his life, his mind, his dreams. He goes more into the nature of the world of faerie, the physicality and faeries, what they are made of, why they are the way they are, etc. And, I noticed a distinct turn in this sequel book to Faeries and that was Brian's urging to participate with the faeries for inner healing and soul/spirit work. So actually, Good Faeries/Bad Faeries is the perfect book to use for an Oracle Deck because the faeries introduced in that book have distinct purposes and roles.

In any case, Brian started out trying to create a tarot deck but that was hopeless. Most of our own plans are hopeless when working with faeries. They always seem to change them to suit them...and us...better!

~Mercy