Why Use Oracle Cards - Pinterest pinI’ve been talking a lot about my recent experiences using oracle cards in the Vibe Shifters Tribe, and someone posted a comment over the weekend wondering “Why use oracle cards at all?” She said that she believed in the Universe and such, but had a hard time with the whole concept of these cards. “Why not just look within and not use the cards at all?” she asked.

It’s a good question, and we’re going to get to that in a minute, but first, here’s how this all got started: a couple of weeks ago, I published an awesome guest post by Joanna Hennon about connecting with your spirit guides. In her article, Joanna briefly mentioned oracle cards as one possible way of experimenting with how you receive answers from your guides. I was very curious, and became even more so after chatting with Joanna about the cards in the comments section of that post.

I ended up buying a couple of different decks for myself and started experimenting with them – asking what I most needed to know about particular situations, or why certain situations were happening. And I have to say, I was blown away by my early experiences with these tools. The insights I gained from the exercises were so helpful, and I’ve definitely become a convert. 🙂

What are oracle cards?

First off: don’t confuse oracle cards with Tarot cards — they’re not the same thing. The philosophy and means of use behind them is completely different. Oracle cards are just a deck of cards with images and a word and/or phrase on them. You think about the question you want an answer to or the situation you want help with while you shuffle the deck and then you either pull a single card, or lay them out in a particular pattern, depending on what you want to do (different layouts can be used for different things).

The decks come with a book to help you interpret the cards you pull, and they suggest different ways in which you can lay the cards out to get answers to the questions you ask of them. But you’ll interpret the cards differently depending on what’s happening in your life, so the meaning you attribute to each card and layout will change with whatever is changing within you.

Why oracle cards are powerful

In my mind, the power of these cards lies in the fact that they are so personal. What one person sees when looking at the cards will be completely different from what another person sees. With the oracle cards, it’s really about interpreting what they mean to you.

The way I use them, they’re about connecting with your own intuition in a way that is non-threatening to your conscious mind, which makes them a great tool for getting around any subconscious blocks or automated programming you may have regarding the situations you’re asking about.

Your conscious mind has been taught an awful lot of stuff over the years and, unfortunately, most of it has been designed to make you distrust your own instincts and inner knowing. Learning to just let go of the old programming and start trusting yourself again can be tricky, and that makes it really hard to start recognizing and working with your own intuition.

But it’s that inner knowing that you need to start trusting again and start paying attention to if you want to start building your dreams and manifesting the kind of life that you want for yourself. Because that’s where you power is – inside of you. It’s all right there within.

You know what you want and you know what you need to do in order to get it – but for so many of us, that knowledge is blocked. Hidden by years of not using our intuition and deliberately tuning out our own inner wisdom in favour of what everyone else thinks is best. And that’s where the oracle cards come in handy.

Looking within

I use my oracle cards as a tool to help me look within, especially when I’m feeling blocked about something. They’ve been a great resource in helping me find clarity and in helping me to better understand certain things. They help me work around those years of subconscious programs and help me to start using my intuitive “muscles” again.

And because each card has to be interpreted in a way that makes sense for my own situation, there’s an awful lot of introspection that goes along with a reading. I need to understand what’s happening within in order for the cards to be of any use. And that requires concentration and a centring of my thoughts and focus. Letting go of distractions and focusing on my own answers.

This focusing effect has made the cards especially useful to me when I’m having a hard time clearing my mind and calming the constant mental noise. My mind has a tendency to race with many different thoughts all at once, all the time, and I often have trouble shutting down those “chattering monkeys”.  When my usual calming methods (meditation, walks outside, etc.) don’t work, I find that the oracle cards help me to bring my focus back inwards and clear away all the mental clutter.

Oracle cards aren’t for everyone

Beyond the general helpfulness of these cards, they’re also quite beautiful, so I like looking at them. In addition, I just find that they’re fun to use, and fun is always a good thing. So, for me, the oracle cards are a good tool to add to my meditative “bag of tricks”. But, in answer to our tribe member’s question, I realize that they’re not going to appeal to everyone… and that’s perfectly OK.

As with all of this stuff, take what works for you and leave the rest. If oracle cards aren’t your thing, then don’t use them — simple as that. If you are able to just look within whenever you want to, that’s awesome, and stick with what works for you! But if you’ve been curious and want to check out oracle cards for yourself, go for it. Find a deck that resonates with you – pick a set that just feels right to you, and give them a try. Be sure to let me know how it goes!

photo credit: pixabay.com cc (modified by me)

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