ALL THINGS ORACLE

Origins: 

An oracle is a person who uses ancient practices to channel spiritual truth or wisdom from the Divine. In ancient cultures, like Greece, inquiries were made at the Sanctuary of the Oracle, who was a High Priestess in service at the temple of a Deity. The most powerful of these was the High Priestess or Pythia at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. She trained for many years as an acolyte before taking on the mantle of the Oracle. Since Apollo was the god of truth, prophecy, healing, music, dance, and the sun, people came from miles around to consult with her and obtain guidance. Her task was to follow the way of holiness and beauty, so that she could receive messages from the Divine and interpret them in a way that would provide instruction as well as direction for the inquirer. 

The first of the seven maxims inscribed in the court at the Temple of Delphi was “Know Thyself” which suggests that the Oracle’s goal was not to be predictive of a person’s future. Rather, it was to receive messages from a higher source—messages that often came in the form of riddles which the Pythia would interpret to help the inquirer gain a greater understanding of themselves and their Soul Purpose. The Pythia’s messages were meant to provide guidance and wisdom so that the inquirer could choose their own course of action to determine the outcome or direction of a circumstance.

In the Bible, the Oracle was either a High Priest or Priestess like Zachariah or Anna. They usually received their messages at the temple in the Holy of Holies. In Numbers 23:6-10, an oracle is described as: “The oracle of him who hears the word of God and knows the knowledge of the Most High, who seeks the vision of the Almighty…eyes uncovered.” In all other scriptural references, an oracle was revered as a messenger of God not to be confused with a “diviner” who did not truly represent wisdom from on High.

In many Indigenous Cultures, oracle readings are one of the many healing modalities in which Medicine Persons develop their healing skills. In many cases, these modalities have been passed down for thousands of years and are geared to treating the whole person—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. In Shamanic healing practices, A Medicine Person’s Oracle skills are of equal importance to the practices of prayer, ritual, energy, light, sound work, cleansing, and herbal remedies when bringing guidance or healing to their communities. They believe that every aspect of a person must be treated and brought back into balance for true healing to occur and that all skills are gifts from the Creator and Mother Earth for the benefit of community. 

The Modern-day Oracle: 

 An oracle is especially helpful if you want to explore who you really are at a soul level and to restore a healthy balance within yourself.  Today’s Oracle channels the Divine to provide the messages you need to know in response to an inquiry.  Like the Oracles of old, there messages are meant to connect you with guidance and advice from your Higher Self. Their gift is to interpret the energies and signs surrounding you or a specific issue you are dealing with at a given point in time. They often use “Oracle” tools todecipher the messages and the direction of your current path to help you make the best possible choices for yourself and your future. The tools often include but are not limited to oracle or tarot cards, crystals, Mesa Medicine Bundles, stones, and pendulums. The Modern Oracle is here to provide you with insight and support to help you find the answers you need to reclaim your Soul Purpose at different points in your life when you feel lost, alone, confused, overwhelmed, or just need direction. In short, they act as spiritual guides that reveal what you need to know to put you on your Soul Path even when it is not what you are expecting to hear. 

What are Oracle Cards? 

Both Oracle and Tarot Card Decks are tools for helping us connect with our Higher Selves and the Divine to receive guidance and direction in our lives at a specific point in time. Like the ancient Oracles, they help us decipher the signs, messages, and energies surrounding an inquiry to help us understand a situation, relationship, idea, or experience, and make the best possible choices to move us forward. Oracle cards are much younger, more free form card decks than the standard Tarot decks which first appeared in the 1400’s. Most Tarot decks have 78 cards, with prescribed meanings for the Major Arcana and the four suits of the Minor Arcana. Oracle decks, on the other hand, are usually channeled by their originator who intuits and researches the messages and symbolism for each card.  Depending upon the deck and the originator’s intent, oracle cards have a wide variety of meanings and can vary in number. They range from 33 to 55 cards but can really be whatever number fits the vision of their creator. The topics are endless and can range from the Akashic Records to Quantum Physics to Unicorns to Ancestral Wisdom. If you can envision it, it can become a card deck tool for an oracle reading. 

How are Oracle Cards used?  

Oracle cards can be consulted at any time to obtain guidance, insight, or advice to answer a specific question or gain a broader overview of a person’s life. Oracle card decks can provide greater clarity and accessibility to the information we need based on the themes, symbols, images, or key words of each deck used. In other words, differently themed decks can be appropriately chosen to better shed light on the topic at hand. In addition, differently themed decks can be used in tandem to help ascertain a more comprehensive view of the energies and potentials surrounding the issues. Oracle decks, then, provide Oracle Readers and their clients with the opportunity of receiving guidance, understanding, and intuitive insights from new, greater, more diverse perspectives.