Ascended Masters - Yea or Nay?

[Master_Margarita]

I'm idly toying with the idea of getting the Ascended Masters oracle deck.

I'm not really a Doreen Virtue person. I know her decks tend to be a bit of a dog's breakfast of different artists' styles. Is this deck like that?

I know that the deck draws "masters" from various traditions (edited to add: consistent with the list of Masters, who come from a number of traditions), and I'm wondering if it feels marvelously eclectic (after all, I'm the one who designed an oracle with Oskar Schindler and Anais Nin cards) or merely superficial and insulting to the traditions.

Is there anyone who has purchased this deck *and is still using it regularly*? I noticed a bunch of used copies on amazon.com.

Discuss.

M_M~

 

[Faolainn Storm]

I bought this deck on a whim, as some of the cards really drew me. However, when I got it home and looked at it thoroughly I realised that there were only a few cards which drew me, and far more that repelled me. I think (without digging the cards out to examine properly) that what got to me was the clashing cultures - celtic, christian, egyptian, buddhist, chinese, hindu, etc "mythic beings" (for want of a better term) and then the inclusion of actual real people.
I showed it to a friend who loves Doreen Virtue's cards, and she wasn't as upset by the real people as I was, but then she knew who many of the real people (yogis etc) were.
So I guess it depends on whether you can connect to the range of 'ascended masters' she's picked.

Faolainn Storm

Oh, and I forgot to mention that several faces that struck me as really, really creepy. But that's probably me.

 

[bershka]

I bought this deck on a whim, as some of the cards really drew me. However, when I got it home and looked at it thoroughly I realised that there were only a few cards which drew me, and far more that repelled me. I think (without digging the cards out to examine properly) that what got to me was the clashing cultures - celtic, christian, egyptian, buddhist, chinese, hindu, etc "mythic beings" (for want of a better term) and then the inclusion of actual real people.
I showed it to a friend who loves Doreen Virtue's cards, and she wasn't as upset by the real people as I was, but then she knew who many of the real people (yogis etc) were.
So I guess it depends on whether you can connect to the range of 'ascended masters' she's picked.

Faolainn Storm

Oh, and I forgot to mention that several faces that struck me as really, really creepy. But that's probably me.

I completely agree with Faolainn's sentence that I bolded.

I tend to have a difficult time connecting with them, but there are times where the reading is spot on!!

If you truly believe in Ascended Masters and you feel a strong connection to them, go for it!

Out of all the Virtue decks I own, this is the one I can least relate to.

I would love to hear people's successful experiences with this deck though

 

[Master_Margarita]

If you truly believe in Ascended Masters and you feel a strong connection to them, go for it!

Out of all the Virtue decks I own, this is the one I can least relate to.

I would love to hear people's successful experiences with this deck though

I'm not sure I really grasp what Ascended Masters really ARE--other than a wide range of spiritually successful entities.

I'll have to look up the description of the deck.

I should make my own Masters deck, or add Masters to my own oracle. That's it.

ETA: Aulruna followed up on the idea of Personal Ascended Masters here. Anyone can play.

M_M~

 

[bershka]

^ ok, if you need all the names of Ascended Masters, let me know! I remember almost all of them

I was thinking of scanning all my decks of Virtue to share in the Oracle Deck list slowly, but I don't have them with me at the moment

 

[autumnsdaughter]

I got them for my mom, as she is very interested in these "ascended masters". I don't know anything about them- but she has connected deeply with them, and gets highly accurate readings with them.

 

[6 Haunted Days]

Definate nay. Pretty fluffy and shallow.....frankly with the very spiritual and great teachers that are in the deck, I found it disrespectful....the small snippits for each card are so vapid.

The art on some cards are pretty good....I'd throw the cheesy book out and use it with other resources you can find on the beings/people/angels etc.

 

[Mellifluous]

No, the style of art isn't as obviously varied as some of the other decks, though this one is also done by several different artists.

I like it and use it quite a bit. I don't use it as a history book or religious text though. It's an oracle - no more, no less. It gives accurate readings.

I don't consider it insulting to anyone. Or shallow either. You get out of it what you bring to it, same as other oracles.

Enjoy it, if you get it.

 

[Open Arms]

I use it and I love it.

And yes the book is cheesy and to be blunt..after the first day or so..don't use it. I used other books to find out who the people were..

To me the key words that come up trigger the flow, the pictures vary from brilliant to errk.but when I am reading..they fade into the background anyway.

One person wrote in another thread that they thought there were no "negative" cards well to me it depends on how you are reading them. The card "Go Now" can be read as...Get moving, or Get the hell out of there, or Get started on this project, or Someone else needs to leave... and so on.

For instance the card Crystals (Epona) to me means either spiritual healing,starting down the spirit path, spiritual growth or the actual use of crystals in some way. Which is NOTHING like the meaning given in the book!!

It really does depend on how you read them...and I don't use the spread in the book. I shuffle until the cards feel right then shut my eyes and deal one card each for past, present, future, then I add one or more cards to each pile (eyes still shut) allowing my intuition to tell me which pile it goes on going left to right. Sometimes, no card gets added to one pile and six to the next. I tend to end up with 2-4 cards per pile and then read them in that order..Past, Present, Future.

I have done other spreads generally letting my intuition guide me as to how many cards and where.

I get very good readings from them..at times frighteningly accurate. Tend to use more for personal relationships.

Anything wanting a lot of depth...I go for my Lenormand!!

 

[Master_Margarita]

Thanks, all.

Mellifluous, do you tend to use the cards for any particular type of reading (such as Open Arms using for relationship readings)?

Bershka, can you tell me who the Masters are in the deck, other than:
"Siddhartha - Gautama Buddha,"
Ganesha,
Amateratsu,
Kuan Yin,
Oshun,
Merlin,
Saint-Germain,
Apollo,
Pallas Athena,
White Buffalo Calf Woman,
Jesus,
Moses,
Yogananda,
Green Man,
Isis,
Paul the Venetian,
Lugh,
Thoth,
Hilarion,
El Morya,
Krishna,
Melchizedek,
Mother Mary,
Epona,
Serapis Bey,
Lady Nada,
Paravati,
King Solomon,
Mahachohan Ragoczy,
St. Francis,
Hina,
Archangel Michael,
Horus,
Osiris,
Pan,
Babaji,
Aengus, and
Kuthumi?

I suspect that eventually I will be able to look at a deck at my local metaphysical bookstore, so I don't need scans necessarily.

M_M~