How do you read your oracle cards?
Single card? Past, present, future? Pull a card each day or a monthly spread? There are so many ways you can use oracle cards and it can be as simple or intricate as you like!
I have many different oracle decks (I may have a problem….) and I like to choose the deck that I notice first, though I do have a few favourite decks I tend to go to regularly. Once I’ve chosen my deck I like set an intention or ask for guidance and then I shuffle my deck. While I shuffle I keep the intention or question in my mind and wait…… for either a card to ‘jump out’ or I have a feeling I’m finished. Then I decide what kind of spread I want to lay out or if a card jumped out, I decide if I want to pull other cards too.
You can fan your cards out and have intuitive picks, cut the deck into piles, take from the top…. anything goes - feel into what you’re called to and follow that.
I usually have my cards face down and I turn them over one at a time. Most card decks have a guide book included but I hold off going straight there. Instead I look at each card one at a time and then all together.
Here’s how I read my cards:
What are my first impressions when I see the first card?
How do the colours communicate to me?
What about the pictures/symbolism?
Read the words on the card - do they mean something to me?
How does the card speak to my intention or question?
Moving on to the second & third cards - ask the same questions
Then I look at them all together
Do they relate to each other? Or is there a contradiction? How does that make me feel?
Is there a distinct theme?
What are the first thoughts that come to mind? Is there a feeling or sensation in my body?
I sit for a minute and allow some time for any messages to drop in.
THEN I go to the guide book (if I feel called to) and read the information for each card and again I sit for a while and see if anything else drops in.
I usually open my journal and write about the messages or guidance I received. This is also a great time for a meditation session. You can choose some essential oils or crystals to accompany your meditation or create an altar to make a sacred space.
Leave your cards somewhere you can see them during the day/week/month - keep referring back to them, are there more messages dropping in?
Mix and Match
Sometimes a card really speaks to me! So I keep that out and include it with my next reading. I mix and match my decks - taking cards from a few - whatever my intuition guides to. Remember there are NO RULES!! The below spread uses cards from two different oracle card decks - but see how well they work together!
My Reading:
This spread above included the Lilith card which I had used over the past three days. I really loved the fierceness and confidence of the woman, I loved the warm tones and message of ‘Independence’. The stream of light through the crown chakra really spoke to me as I had been focusing on channeling and opening to my intuition over the previous few days.
The ‘Centre’ card was a beautiful card to balance the fierceness of Lilith, the combination over warm and cool tones was beautiful. I loved the plants growing from her centre - solar plexus - and blossoming at the heart chakra. The colours and shapes at the top of her head made me feel like there was a balance between the energies of the head and heart. And the lightness of the flower opening at the top of the head resembles the same light pouring through the crown chakra of the Lilith card. Again more warm tones tying the two cards together. We have three decision making centres in our body - our brain, our heart and our gut - our centre! This is a great reminder to trust my gut even if I can’t rationalise it with my brain. I also love the candles near her head - kind of like the ‘light bulbs’ of ideas and visioning.
The ‘Perspective’ card was another beautiful aspect to the story. Again the combination of warm and cool tones - continuing the warm theme through all three cards. I can see the universe in her womb (her centre) expansive and full of possibility and she’s holding the World in her hands - again anther message of anything is possible. She has wings and surrounded by birds helping her to fly high above the trees (the ‘noise’) to see a much wider picture - she can see the past, present and the future. She also has a light sphere above and around her head - warm golden light pouring into the crown chakra - connecting her to the knowledge of the universe, infinite possibility and expansion.
The messages I got from these cards was to trust myself, my independent and sovereign being, unlimited potential. Bring balance to the head and heart when making decisions and remember ‘sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees’ rise up and look with a different view. Be fierce with my visioning, don’t play small and remember there are infinite possibilities.
All this information before I open the guide book!
I had already chosen my crystals before the cards revealed themselves - clear quartz (the master healer), rose quartz (self love) and tigers eye (self confidence and inner strength) Not only do the crystal meanings support the message they also work with the tones of the cards.
I encourage you to pick up your cards, put the guide book aside for a moment and see what happens!
Card decks used: Goddess Power Oracle (Lilith card) and Sacred Earth Oracle (not affiliate links)
