General Oracles Study Group #17

[DragonFae]

Hi all....long time no see....long story but life can be hectic and sometimes getting off the computer is the only way to really DO things....you can write about them all day but DOING them requires some action.

Back when the group was moving along everyone had selected a deck to work with and then people started getting busy...BUT hey we made it through 16 weeks (if I counted right. So I thought we could try starting up again if anyone is interested and we can do a new deck selection....so if you are interested comment in this thread and talk about the deck you will be using....

 

[thirdlibra]

oh, I will play! I'd like to get to know my Path of the Soul cards better. They aren't in the AT database, so I hope they are still allowed?

ETA - is this equivelent to week one? Should we be doing the week 1 introductions and draw?

 

[GryffinSong]

I'll participate as/if I have time. I had misplaced my Spirit of the Wheel deck when I moved back into a fulltime home several years ago. I finally got around to starting the massive job of cleaning and fixing up my RV, and I found it in there!!!

I'd like to spend some quality time with it.

 

[2dogs]

Hello Dragonfae, glad to see you're still around.

It was a good series of exercises and I'd like to carry on if possible, I'm just trying to make sense of a reading on the best way to proceed.

 

[2dogs]

OK, I am in.

The "Oracle deck" I am now using is actually my complete collection of three Oracle and three Tarot decks from which I generally draw one card each and interpret the six together by looking at the pictures and words. I don't feel happy about just using one of the Oracles though, so for the study group I think I might repeat the exercises with all three, and if I can't get enough from a single Oracle deck by itself I may have to call in the corresponding Tarot deck for help.

So that may effectively be six participants now.

 

[2dogs]

so if you are interested comment in this thread and talk about the deck you will be using

Well to get this going the deck I originally thought of using was "The Secret Language Of Color" cards. These are 45 cards showing an image in one predominant colour, the name of the colour, and a short phrase in the form of an instruction such as "Inhale a Breath of Life" or "Ground Yourself". There is no obvious structure apart from the cards being arranged as far as possible in the sequence of the rainbow. The images are quite simple and tend to show a single subject such as flowers, fruit or jewels.

In my own little collection I think of this as a "Sun" deck in that it is unremittingly positive, optimistic and spiritual. The guidebook generally describes each colour in terms of its beneficial qualities for healing and self improvement and gives an exercise such as a visualisation, affirmation or prayer.

This is all very uplifting, but makes the deck very difficult to use as an oracle apart from for questions such as "what quality should I try to develop today?". However, I've found it can contribute quite well to a mixed deck reading where the colour, image or phrase may match up with something on another card. For example the phrase might reveal the meaning of an object of that colour elsewhere in the reading.

I also use it with mixed decks to indicate the positive outcome or spiritual aspect of the meaning, paired with Voyager Tarot as a similarly "Sunny" deck. I actually had quite a bit of trouble interpreting my reading on whether to use multiple decks for this study group having drawn "Lemon - Access Innovative Thinking" from this deck paired with "Ten of Crystals - Delusion" from Voyager. Until I finally looked at the Voyager book and of course there was a positive meaning there - pursue the vision in your dream regardless of whether many consider your mind-boggling ideas delusional.

 

[2dogs]

"The Enchanted Map" seems to me more of a "Moon" deck. The artwork is beautiful but of a fantastical type with odd juxtapositions of objects, giving it a dream like or illusory character. There are a lot of details in the cards that I feel ought to relate to things in other cards and provide linkages between them, but I really struggle to make sense of the meanings.

The guidebook on the other hand ignores all those confusing embellishments and gives quite straightforward interpretations, including reversals which I don't use as they make it even harder to look at the details. This seems too good to be true though, and I still can't get the message.

As you might expect, I can see no obvious structure in the deck, the cards are numbered but possibly just to make it easy to look them up in the guidebook.

So I find it all rather mysterious but hope it might give some clues into unconscious, intuitive, secret or emotional aspects of a reading, perhaps the past or hidden forces.

The sample card I drew to attach sums it all up really - "Into the Unknown".

 

[2dogs]

The deck I have found easiest so far is "Earth Magic", which includes a lot of atmospheric paintings of natural scenes that provoke more of a response in me than abstract symbols. The guidebook describes the characteristics of the objects shown, which can stimulate ideas as well as the keywords on each card and the interpretations offered.

There is again no obvious structure and as well as landscapes a few cards show people, goddesses or abstract designs. Overall it has quite a wide range of images from which to construct a message and I generally start a reading with a card from this deck as the foundation of the interpretation.

I've just attached a couple of contrasting cards as examples of the images.

 

[AJ]

oh, I will play! I'd like to get to know my Path of the Soul cards better. They aren't in the AT database, so I hope they are still allowed?

Solandia will appreciate it if you send her good scans and what you know about the publishing history.

 

[2dogs]

I'd like to get to know my Path of the Soul cards better.

Hello, welcome to the group. I don't think there are any restrictions on the decks you can use, and they certainly look unusual, so go for it.