Banshee’s Weekly Oracle Card Draws, Part 3
Something old, somethings new…oracles full of witchy wisdom I’ve selected just for you! LOL! Couldn’t resist throwing a rhyme in here. There’s witchy wisdom & magick aplenty in the oracles I’ve selected for my Witchy Wisdom Wednesday readings. I hope you follow us on Twitter & Facebook so you can see these cards for yourself. But here’s a little information on the 4 decks I will be cycling through.
1. Witching Hour Oracle
This deck so calls to me. As a Pagan & a Witch, seeing all the lunar cycles in a year & the waxing, full, & waning phases depicted in the images of maidens, mothers, & crones, so resonates with me. The artwork, beautiful images on a dark background depict women of different sizes, shapes, ages, cultures, ethnicities, etc. It’s stunning.
On each numbered card at the bottom, there's the moon’s name which is represented by the Maiden, Mother, or Crone image on the card (example: “The Snow Moon”) & a keyword or phrase. So, because there are 3 Moon phases, there are 3 cards for each of the moons. The cards are an evocative depiction of the Moon’s phases throughout its yearly cycle, it’s always a pleasure just to go through the cards of the deck let alone read them!
This is a simple oracle; no reversed meanings & no lengthy paragraphs, but you do get what you need to have a meaningful reading. There are 2 suggested spreads in the book, but I love to read 1 card. The book offers some background on the individual moons & then a brief background & interpretation for each phase of that Moon. I am happy to share this deck as part of Witchy Wisdom Wednesdays. But do yourself a favor & buy yourself a copy!
2. Everyday Witch Oracle
Fun, magickal, whimsical, colorful, witchy, this is such a nice deck; a great companion to the Everyday Witch Tarot, but really, both do stand on their own merits. I can’t say enough about artist Elisabeth Alba’s vision & artwork, so let’s just call it spiritual whimsy. Great use of color & imagery. There’s an animal depicted on every card. Cats do appear on the majority of the cards, but other birds & animals show up as well.
Though it’s evident through imagery on most cards, there is no number or elemental symbol to help you find the card description in the book (& the book does not have card pictures either). The book & cards are organized by elemental associations (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) and are numbered 1-10 in the book under the element class they belong in (10 cards in each element). Fortunately, you can look up the card name/phrase in the Table of Contents.
That being said, Deborah Blake gives us a lot to chew on in this book. For each card you get some introductory information, an action you could take; a divinatory interpretation, & some magickal thoughts/suggestions. You can draw 1 card or combine with Tarot or other Oracle decks. If you like the Everyday Witch Tarot, you’ll probably enjoy this oracle as well. Check it out when I use this deck on some Wednesdays in the months ahead.
3. Secrets of the Witch
This is about as simple as it gets presentation-wise. It’s basically a flip-top box containing small cards with a Celtic-design pentagram, in white on a purple background, on the back of the cards. On the other side is a phrase and brief words of witchy oracular wisdom. There’s a soft purple ombre background color on the front (message side) of the cards.
The flip-top box design, with a slanted insert on the inside the cards rest on, makes it easy to draw your card randomly right out of the box. It covers witchy principles, practices & beliefs. Some of the individual card themes include: “We Come And Go In Love”, “Craft the Spell”, “A Witch Alone”, “The Shadowed Moon”.
There’s really not much more to add here other than to say I really like this type of fortune-cookie style divination. I’ve created colorful strips of paper with brief messages on them that I would put out in a bowl at spring-time or at a Spring Equinox or Summer Solstice rituals for people to grab a fortune from. I used to call them my Fairy messages. So this really appeals to me. If you like something simple like this or know someone who would, it could make a great gift.
Good Witch Bad Witch: Sweet Spells & Dark Charms
C’mon…haven’t we all been asked that question? “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” [groan!] But this deck is whimsical, magickal, fun. Besides, who doesn’t have a little of that bad witch energy, & is not afraid to appropriately unleash it? Understanding, of course, the potential consequences that could occur! This is the oldest deck (2001) I am using for oracle readings this time around.
Cards are the size of travel-size Tarot Decks in a bigger box to accommodate the book. There are 26 Good Witch cards & 26 Bad Witch Cards. They are very adorable. Besides “witch” names like: The Timeless Witch, The Heavenly Witch, or The Thunder And Lightning Witch & the Venomous Witch, you can tell Good Witches from Bad by the golden yellow (Good) or red (Bad) borders around the name & numbers on the cards.
Gillian Kemp offers 5 unique readings & includes some advice on when the elemental or compass witches’ cross paths in a spread. She gives an upright divinatory message as well as a spell associated with each “Witch”. So, there are good spells & bad spells. Some may take issue with some of the spells…to each their own. But the Divinatory messages alone make this a very worthwhile oracle on it's own.
That’s Witchy Wisdom Wednesday’s selections. In the next article in this series (coming out on Friday), we’ll take a look at the fun selections I have chosen for my Far Out There Friday readings! And, they are pretty far-out there!