Oracle decks by subject — why each one has its own cards
updated · 5 min read
An oracle deck is a form where the maker decides the number and the theme freely. There is no fixed seventy-eight as in tarot. We have used that freedom to make a separate deck for each subject someone might want to look at.
The advantage of dividing is that the language becomes specific. Trying to make one card that works for every subject forces the phrasing toward the abstract. Settle on love alone and you can make cards that describe scenes from it directly.
Love, wellbeing, work and the people around you: twenty-four cards each, ninety-six in all. The words that come up change with the subject.
The imagery differs by subject
| Subject | Deck | Imagery |
|---|---|---|
| Love | The Oracle of Love | Flowers, water, light, doorways |
| Wellbeing | The Oracle of Cycles | The turning seasons, trees, wind, rest |
| Work | The Oracle of Building | Tools, building, roads and bridges, gears |
| People around you | The Oracle of Ties | Thread, lamp wicks, the table, boundaries |
The imagery is kept from overlapping between subjects, so that trying several does not feel like the same cards in different colours. Light in the love deck and lamplight in the relationships deck sit close together, so the latter leans toward the object that carries a flame.
No card that only leaves you low
In every deck, five of the twenty-four mean go carefully. They are not ill omens. They carry the value of stopping for a moment, and each one comes with something about what to do next.
Of the rest, twelve are forward-looking and seven neither one way nor the other. That distribution is identical across all four decks, so that no subject has a different tendency in what comes up.
The wellbeing deck avoids symptoms and diagnosis entirely. What it deals with is how to take rest and the rhythm of a week, not any judgement about your health. For anything concerning health, please consult a qualified professional.
One card read at four points in time
You draw a single card, and that card is read at four points: today, tomorrow, a month out and three months out. The same card says something different read as today and read as three months out.
Twenty-four cards with four readings each gives ninety-six passages per deck, and three hundred and eighty-four across the four.
Which subject to choose
Choose by what is on your mind. If you cannot decide, whatever came into your head first is the answer. You may draw from more than one, and reading one carefully serves you better than drawing several at once.
Common questions
- Can I draw from every subject at once?
- You can draw from each separately. Reading carefully the one you actually want to know about gives you more to work with than drawing many at once.
- Are these commercially published oracle cards?
- No. They are entirely original, made for this service. No card name, artwork or text from any published deck is used.
- Will more subjects be added?
- We are considering it as we see how these are received. Any new one would be built so its imagery does not overlap with the existing decks.