Disclaimer: This post assumes that you’re new to reading oracles.
If you want to hear from your Divine Team but you think you can’t get “out of your head” enough to recognize their messages, oracles (tarot decks, runes, other oracle decks, and so on) are an excellent vehicle for you to start getting their messages. Starting with only the book descriptions that come with your oracle of choice is an excellent way for you to get messages from your Divine Team without you questioning your own—or someone else’s—interpretation.
Then, with regular practice, once you’ve become comfortable with using hte oracle, you can start using your intuition to supplement—or entirely replace—other people’s definitions.
My Daughter’s Experience
First, I want to share an incident that illustrates the tips I’m going to share.
Interest and timing are important.
A few months ago, my kids showed some interest in an oracle deck that I was in the process of rehoming, so I started looking at potential decks to help them get started (and to give me an idea of how I might go about teaching them and answer their questions clearly). I found a deck that I thought would appeal to my daughter, but because it hadn’t yet been released, I put it on my wishlist. Last week, I felt it was the right time and had it delivered.
“It’s like magic!”
On the day the deck arrived, my daughter took the deck from my hand and asked, “So how does this work?” While I was explaining that it worked best if she thought of a question or an issue she wanted answers for, she fanned out the cards, facedown.
Before I could finish telling her that there’s no right or wrong way to choose cards, no certain number to choose, and no particular way to place them, she had pulled 2 cards from the deck. I simply laughed and kept my mouth shut because I wanted to see if she would continue to just do it without my input.
She drew a third card, then set the rest of the deck aside, saying, “These three just felt right. It’s like magic!”
“What does it mean?”
I laughed a little and said, “Yes, that’s exactly what it is.”
When she asked what the cards meant, I explained about the book providing a little summary of the cards but that she could also use her intuition and simply tune in to see how the cards communicated with her, whether through feelings, words “spoken” in her ear, or something else.[1]
She looked in the book for the descriptions. After reading about the first card, she said (to the card), “That kind of helps. Thank you.” (I was pleased that she was using her manners and thanking the oracle/Divine Team! Politeness goes a long way with your team, just like it does in our three-dimensional world.)
After reading the description of the third card, she made a face[2] and said, “This one’s telling me that the dragon toy I’ve wanted so badly is unimportant.”
I laughed out loud. I knew that she was definitely getting good, clear communication if she was getting a response she didn’t want!
Listening is important.
Later, she spread all the cards out so she could see all of them in detail. Looking at them, she pointed to one card and said she “still didn’t trust the green one,” meaning the one that had told her the toy wasn’t important. My spouse and I both laughed.
Once she had put the cards away for the night, she told me they were still speaking to her, so I told her they would have to wait for the next day because we were getting ready for bed. She asked, “Can you talk to the cards with your mind?” I smiled because she was definitely understanding, and I said, “Yes, that is exactly how you work with oracles.”
So she closed her eyes as if in communication for a few moments, then opened her eyes, looked at me, and smiled. She was getting no more communication from the Oracle.
The Takeaways
I really like sharing this story because I laughed so much. (I still fall into fits of cackling when I remember my daughter’s unhappy expression when she looked at the third card, and her declaration “I’m still not sure I trust that one!”) But thinking about it later, I realized there are several lessons to take away from this interaction.
1. Reading the oracle doesn’t have to be complicated.
In fact, it shouldn’t be. It really is magic. What could be more simple than fanning out the cards and just picking out a few that call to you, that “just feel good”? There doesn’t have to be elaborate ritual. Just have a question in mind or think of an issue that has been weighing on you, and draw some cards. Don’t even think about it. Heck, maybe it’s best to approach it like a nine-year-old with no expectations: get your head completely out of the game, so all it’s doing is focusing on the question or issue you want answers about.
2. There’s no right or wrong way to read the oracle.
Like I told my daughter, follow your intuition. She pulled three cards. I never told her how many to pull. She’s never read a book about divination. It just felt right to her. She could have pulled one card or two or five. She could have laid them all out in an elaborate pattern. All of those would have been fine. There are as many different ways to read oracles as there are people.
Actually, there are more than that. There are as many different ways to read oracles as there are times when oracles are read. You might read the oracle differently every time. I certainly do. Do whatever feels right in the moment. Remember, the oracle is only a tool for communication between you and the Divine. You probably don’t have a formula for conversations when you’re asking other people for advice or mulling over a difficult issue with a friend; it just happens naturally. Using an oracle is the same. The only ritual you need to follow is to get yourself in the right head- and heartspace so you can “listen” and “hear” the message.
3. Anyone can read an oracle (if they trust that they can).
You don’t need to read any books to tell you how to read an oracle, and you don’t need any training. You just need to take for granted that your Divine Team will respond to you via the oracle. My daughter didn’t know she couldn’t/shouldn’t be able to get a clear message from the cards without some sort of training or reading, so she got a very clear message.
4. Your Divine Team loves when you call!
Your team is ready to talk to you. Trust me, they are talking to you even when you aren’t listening, so they love it when you reach out, because it means you’re trying to listen.
Think of your guides like a parent who’s always willing to offer advice, and of yourself as the teenager. You’re so caught up in your everyday concerns that you probably aren’t even hearing what they are saying, or you’re discounting it. But then suddenly, you sit down with them, ask a question, and then sit and wait to hear their answer!
The “cards” kept talking to my daughter once she was done because they knew she was tuned in. But then once she requested that they stop for a while, it was like she had hung up a phone.
5. Be willing to deeply consider any card that challenges you.
If you, like my daughter, find yourself saying, “I still don’t know that I trust that one!” don’t discount it.[3] In my experience, when we immediately want to argue with a card or dismiss its message, that’s the advice we most need to consider.
Dwell on the card. Meditate on it. It’s probably got the biggest lesson for you. It might even help to carry the card with you (or to carry a picture of it on your phone) to look at and contemplate through the day.
For the record, the card that my daughter still isn’t sure she trusts is the one counseling patience. Ha!
***
Notes
[1] For simplicity’s sake, I omitted discussion of the clairs (for example, clairsentience, claircognizance, clairaudience, clairvoyance) and her Divine Team.
[2] Anyone who has ever done a reading and received a response they didn’t want can probably picture the exact face she made.
[3] You can draw more cards as needed for clarification if you have a question about the challenging card, but don’t keep drawing cards in hopes of getting an answer that you like better. That will not work, and your guides know what you’re trying to do. They are not going to change their answer, and they are likely to either walk away or make sure that the cards start giving you contradictory or even nonsensical answers.
If You Like the Content I Create
And if you aren’t yet ready for the transformation of a reading or healing session, please consider making a one-time donation. For as little as a dollar, you can help with my web hosting and other expenses so I can continue to create new weekly content for you.
All donors will receive a mention at the end of the next week’s blog post and will appear on the Wych Elm Supporters page.
My Services
Insight into how the energies of the next twelve months will affect you directly, through a personalized Year-Ahead Review.
Support in emotional, physical, or mental healing via a distance Reiki session or intuitive reading.
Messages from other realms (for example, from spirit guides, angels, earth spirits, or deceased loved ones). Contact me.
Weddings, funerals, baptisms, house cleansings and blessings, and more. Contact me.
Watch this video if you are curious about how I prepare for all of my readings and Reiki work, and how I perform readings and conduct conversations with Spirit.
My Year of Shadow and Light (My Memoir)
Audio/Video (YouTube)
Find Me Elsewhere on the Web
Leave a Reply
Your email is safe with me.