Oracle-X: Study Group

PsychicLord

This thread is primary for those who have volunteered to trial and review 'Oracle-X: The Intuitive Tool Of The Future'.

However, since it is now widely available on Amazon, Waterstones, Gardners Bookshops, as well as several retail outlets, this thread can also serve a secondary purpose for those who have purchased a deck, and wish to share or study more about the deck and its potential.
 

PsychicLord

The Oracle-X Concept

Oracle-X was born from a desire to own an expandable, customisable oracle deck that was free of a specific ‘theme’. After many years of desire, it became clear that since nothing suitable existed, then I would need to design and create something to fill the gap from scratch.

As Oracle-X was being conceived, I undertook extensive careful market research to understand what everyday people thought of Oracle decks in general. There was an amazing amount of synergy in regard to common ‘complaints’ and ‘grumbles’ about the current market offerings. Much of this feedback was incorporated into the Oracle-X development project.

I incorporated over 30 years of my own experience into the overall concept and high level design. In conjunction with my 'guides', I continued to shape and expand the concept until it felt 'right'. With many mornings of being awoken by 'guides' with new impressions of cards, or features that somehow had to be incorporated. Each card was required to have a single clear keyword, and that all cards had to be able to work closely together to allow ever increasing resolution of details to be extracted from each owners intuition.

I wanted an Oracle deck that would be non-prescriptive, yet suitable for beginners and the experienced alike, as well as being acceptable to both left and right brained thinkers. Predictive works for some, but others shy away, so it was better to focus on the deck as an intuition tool, and allow owners to use it as they wish.

Importantly, the cards were also required to be direct and honest. 'Sugary sweet' decks are sometimes wide of the mark, Tarot sometimes can be vague, and there is an audience out there crying out for a tool that is non-prescriptive, honest, and able to grow with their owner. Just picture a heavily tattooed male dressed in some football teams kit, looking for such a tool....... looking at the decks on offer today he would see Unicorns, Angels, Mermaids......... nothing that 'rocks his boat'. Tarot is probably over his head, so where does he go? Oracle-X should be a good option for him, and if this is the tool for him to unlock his intuition then perfect!

Equally, I know a very large range of readers that needed something a little different, with a different twist on accessing their intuition, a tool capable of getting to the nitty gritty.

I was aware that if one buys a 'mainstream' oracle deck, whether you purchase it London, York, Flagstaff, Ontario, Edinburgh, Melbourne.... you are buying an indentical deck - one size fits all.

In a departure from conventional oracle decks, I wanted every base deck to be different in some way (i.e. unique) when purchased. I strongly felt that by owning such a unique deck, this would assist the owner in making that special bond between themselves and their deck - to feel a personal connection with it.

Already in our retail outlet, customers of Oracle-X are 'choosing' which box to purchase, and are excited about the fact that their combination of cards is unique (each box is numbered inside).

The 'original' Oracle-X prototype has been in its reviewers hands for some six months. I meet up with her last weekend to discuss how she feels about the deck six months later. She explained that this is now the only deck she uses, and that it has been the perfect deck for her needs, and it continues to be her 'friend'.

One of the first people to purchase a production deck was someone I had given a brief O-X reading to in a cafe using the second prototype deck. The reading so 'bowled her over' (and subsequently was very accurate), she was dying to get one of the first decks....... which she did!

Each individual Oracle-X card features:
* Primary Single Keyword
* An Image
* Card Identification Number (indicating 'series' and number in that series)
* Secondary Keywords (seven options) [and further customisable]
* Primary Theme/Purpose
* Secondary Theme/Purpose (between none and four)

I will go into more detail in a later thread.
 

Guiding Cauldron

wanting to bookmark this thread ty :)
 

MareSaturni

Study group is a bit quiet, so I decided to start a discussion here :)

As a part of my experience with the Oracle-X, I decided to sit and and write the meanings of the cards according to what I thought of them. I find out that a few cards seem a bit repetitive, I think it's hard to see the difference between them... maybe you guys can help me.

Note please that I try to see the cards in a very... down-to-earth manner. Why? Because from my experience as a reader, many times our sitters come to us to ask about down-to-earth matters, like their family, their jobs, their love lives. So I prefer to have an objective approach to the cards, to aoid indulging just in vague spiritual blabber while doing a reading...

1. Nest x Family

Both cards could stand for belonging, feeling safe, feeling welcome, being at home, being in your comfort zone etc. I cannot see the difference between them.

2. Cliff x Signal

Both cards kind of work as a warning for you to stop, watch, listen. The Clif is more colorful, more beautiful, suggesting danger and at the same time, freedom. A leap of faith. The signal is clearly a warning to stop, but overall I'm finding it hard to diferentiate them in a reading...

3. Luggage x Escape

Both cards convey the idea of being "stuck" in a situation and the necessity of letting go of it. And both have also the idea of going a holiday.


That's what I have for now, but I'd like to know if anyone felt like some cards seem be a bit... repetitive in meaning? Also, what differences do you see between the cards above?

Thanks!
 

Lee

Hi Marina! :)

I'm still waiting for my deck to arrive, so my opinions don't mean much at this point, but here are some of my thoughts, based only on the card titles and not on the images.

1. Nest x Family

The primary difference that comes to mind here is that Family has to do with people. Also, if you look at the cards negatively, Family will have different negatives than Nest. (For example, difficulties getting along with some family members, feeling put-upon or dominated by some family members, etc., versus being too lazy to get away from your nest, stockpiling belongings, buying too many tarot decks, etc.)

2. Cliff x Signal

As you say, Cliff could be positive, taking a leap of faith. Signal could be a person giving you a positive signal.

3. Luggage x Escape

Luggage could be negative -- too much baggage, i.e. obsession with past history weighing you down, which would be the opposite of Escape. Alternatively, Escape could be the negative card -- running away, while Luggage would mean accepting (agreeing to carry) your responsibilities (seen in that light, the cards would have opposing meanings).

Of course, when I receive the deck and look at the cards, I'll probably see that my comments are completely off the mark! :D
 

MareSaturni

Hi Lee!

Thanks for you opinion, as it is always one that I value! :)


Lee said:
1. Nest x Family

The primary difference that comes to mind here is that Family has to do with people. Also, if you look at the cards negatively, Family will have different negatives than Nest. (For example, difficulties getting along with some family members, feeling put-upon or dominated by some family members, etc., versus being too lazy to get away from your nest, stockpiling belongings, buying too many tarot decks, etc.)

You are right, and I had thought about it too. When looking at the cards individually, it makes sense to think of "Family" as having to do with people and the "Nest" as your individual comfort zone. But then... you also have the card "Sanctuary", which could possibly convey this side of the "Nest".

I think that when just studying the cards themselves its very clear, but when you put them in the context of a reading, in which they interact amongst themselves and with other cards, I get the feeling you just have too many card to say the same thing (thinking in an objective way). Besides, since you have no way of clearly knowing when a card is negative (like, for instance, in Leormand in which you have about 5 cards that "cast a shadow onto the others so to speak), it's hard to differentiate them only by the negative meanings.

Let's say you ask about your new job and you draw "Family". How to know if it means your new job is like a family, or if your family is supporting you, or if your family is hindering you...? I know, many people would say "intuition", but I believe that I must must have some solid knowledge behind me before I can use intuition, or else I'll be just guessing. That's what I'm seeking in my study, to understand the cards objectively, what role they could have in a reading etc. :)

But I blabber, sorry!


Lee said:
As you say, Cliff could be positive, taking a leap of faith. Signal could be a person giving you a positive signal.

Yes, the Cliff gave me that impression, a bit like "the Fool". The Signal doesn't look nice, it's just a railway signal clearly indicating that you should stop. Ooookay, I think we got these two Lee! ;)



Lee said:
3. Luggage x Escape

Luggage could be negative -- too much baggage, i.e. obsession with past history weighing you down, which would be the opposite of Escape. Alternatively, Escape could be the negative card -- running away, while Luggage would mean accepting (agreeing to carry) your responsibilities (seen in that light, the cards would have opposing meanings).


The Luggage has a more "negative" look than the Escape, and that's why it gives you the feeling of "needing to escape". I saw that the card conveys something that's too heavy, "too much", so my reaction was to think "you need to let go". I didn't need the "Escape"card for it, the Luggage itself already seemed to communicate this idea, and that's why I found them to be similar.

But what you said makes sense too! Going to my notebook right now!


Lee said:
Of course, when I receive the deck and look at the cards, I'll probably see that my comments are completely off the mark! :D

No no, you got it all very close to the mark! You'll find that the images are not so different from the keywords, so you can base yourself on the keywords to have an idea about each card!
 

Lee

Marina said:
Thanks for you opinion, as it is always one that I value! :)
The feeling is quite mutual! :)
But then... you also have the card "Sanctuary", which could possibly convey this side of the "Nest".
Hmm, to me "Sanctuary" carries more of a spiritual connotation, while "Nest" suggests everyday physical comforts. "Sanctuary" might be similar to "Nest" but a higher octave, taken into the spiritual dimension.
I think that when just studying the cards themselves its very clear, but when you put them in the context of a reading, in which they interact amongst themselves and with other cards, I get the feeling you just have too many card to say the same thing (thinking in an objective way).
Well, in tarot as well there are cards with overlapping meanings. But I agree, if the deck is small (36 cards, for example), I'd prefer to have more distinction between cards. That may be a good excuse to get extra cards for a bigger deck! I got six extra cards, so my deck will be 42 cards.
Besides, since you have no way of clearly knowing when a card is negative (like, for instance, in Leormand in which you have about 5 cards that "cast a shadow onto the others so to speak), it's hard to differentiate them only by the negative meanings.

Let's say you ask about your new job and you draw "Family". How to know if it means your new job is like a family, or if your family is supporting you, or if your family is hindering you...? I know, many people would say "intuition", but I believe that I must must have some solid knowledge behind me before I can use intuition, or else I'll be just guessing. That's what I'm seeking in my study, to understand the cards objectively, what role they could have in a reading etc. :)
For me, the answer lies in Gail Fairfield's tarot book. Her meanings are completely neutral, and one is supposed to see them as positive or negative as determined by the context of the reading. But to help determine that, Fairfield recommends having card positions that are clearly positive or negative, such as "What benefit will I see" or "What is blocking me at present." That makes it easy to assign positive or negative tones to the cards.

I hope I get my deck soon so I can put faces to the names of these cards, so to speak!
 

Elendil

I have these cards - all 54 (of the first set) as I couldn't really decide which extra cards I could 'do without'. I may do some 'pruning' after I have explored them more.

Following the thread above, in my opinion CONTEXT is everything, and the card meanings will shift acrossa whole range of connotations depending on the question asked, its relationship to other cards in the spread, any positional meanings etc.

Take 'signal' as an example:
Positive meanings: all is clear for you to make headway, all signals point to success, you are signalling the right message...

Negative meanings: the signals are against you and you are held up, you are not giving out clear signals/messages, there are no signals to tell you whether you are on the right track or not...

Selecting the right nuance just means taking the CONTEXT into account.

These cards are proving fascinating...

My only complaint: The backs of the extra cards that I purchased are ALL slightly lighter in colour than those that came in the original box of 36, which means that they are INSTANTLY RECOGNISABLE when shuffling.
 

MareSaturni

Elendil said:
Following the thread above, in my opinion CONTEXT is everything, and the card meanings will shift acrossa whole range of connotations depending on the question asked, its relationship to other cards in the spread, any positional meanings etc.

Take 'signal' as an example:
Positive meanings: all is clear for you to make headway, all signals point to success, you are signalling the right message...

Negative meanings: the signals are against you and you are held up, you are not giving out clear signals/messages, there are no signals to tell you whether you are on the right track or not...

Selecting the right nuance just means taking the CONTEXT into account.

Hum... well, obviously, context is important and that is true for nearly any oracle out there.

But lets say your sitter comes and ask "what do I need to know about my love life?". Because querents ask this sort of question more than we can imagine, lol! You draw the "Signal" card. Which meaning above will you choose?

You have the context - love life. Now how do you know if the Signal card is well or ill-dignified?

Or, you pull two cards: "Family" and "Signal". It could mean that the family is hindering you from doing what you want regarding your love life, but according to the meanings you gave, it could also means they are supporting you, giving you the "ready, set, GO!" sign.

For me that's the problem of not having a method to tell you when a card showing it's best side or it's... not-so-good one. The Oracle-X cards are mostly very neutral. We could say that they give you nouns to form a sentence, but no adjectives or adverbs to modify the idea.

Lee's idea is a VERY good one to use with the Oracle-X in my opinion - using spread that have card positions that are clearly positive or negative. I'll have to try it! :D
 

Elendil

Elendil said:
...the card meanings will shift acrossa whole range of connotations depending on the question asked, its relationship to other cards in the spread, any positional meanings etc.

I DID say that positional meaning was part of the CONTEXT.

;) E.