Cult of Tarot Forum

I would really appreciate your recommendations for the best shamanic/natural law oracles. I love large cards, but, primarily, oracles that have real substance.

Thank you so much for your help.

what would you say would be natural law ?

I haven't picked up an oracle in a long time.
I remember picking up the medicine cards,, the sacred path cards by the same authors..
I also picked up the sweat lodge cards back in the day..
the thing about the shamanic decks back in the day tended to be a mishmash of all sorts of cultures, kind of like how the first native American tarot was a mix mash of several native cultures.

course we know now (I think you know ) that shamanism is a term no longer applied to native americans, but also other parts of the world. .

I have the very beautiful Mystical Shaman Oracle. The art is breathtaking, there are 68 oracle cards, and the guidebook especially well-structured. For each card, you have three viewpoints: the Essence about the card itself and how to integrate its meaning into your life, the Invitation that recommends ways of becoming active in the spirit of the card, and the Medicine that sheds light on areas in your life where you might need help.

I didn't use it often yet but when I did, in a situation of emotional distress, the oracle calmed me down and gave me what I needed. I don't know it well enough to recommend it and don't know much about shamanism but you might wish to check this oracle out. You can do a three card reading on the site

This deck was gifted to me and I'm rarely drawn to oracles, but was drawn strongly toward this.

I used to love The Celtic Shamans Pack. The cards were illustrated by Chesca Potter and the complete set comes with a book by John Matthews. Be careful if or where you buy it, because sometimes the seller is just offering the book.

There's a later version (a boxed set) with different illustrations called The Celtic Oracle. The accompanying book is also by John Matthews and the cards are large and created by four different artists, but it does seem to be based on the pack mentioned earlier.

I'm not sure if this is the sort of oracle you're looking for - Celtic mythology might not appeal, but you never know...

Oh dear. Now I want the Celtic Shaman anything. I love Chesca Potter's art. Oh that horse. It looks like the Uffington white horse, doesn't it? That's magical.

Nemia wrote: ↑02 Apr 2020, 14:49 Oh dear. Now I want the Celtic Shaman anything. I love Chesca Potter's art. Oh that horse. It looks like the Uffington white horse, doesn't it? That's magical.

It does! I love her art too, it's difficult to describe in terms other than magical. The Greenwood hare is often in my mind - I think it's my familiar.

That's so beautiful it could break a person's heart.

HOLMES wrote: ↑02 Apr 2020, 04:33 what would you say would be natural law ?

I haven't picked up an oracle in a long time.
I remember picking up the medicine cards,, the sacred path cards by the same authors..
I also picked up the sweat lodge cards back in the day..
the thing about the shamanic decks back in the day tended to be a mishmash of all sorts of cultures, kind of like how the first native American tarot was a mix mash of several native cultures.

course we know now (I think you know ) that shamanism is a term no longer applied to native americans, but also other parts of the world. .

Hi Holmes! That's a very interesting question you ask there about natural law. When I was active in the animal rights movements, there were lots of discussions about this and also some very interesting booklets produced on the issue. I always stayed out of the discussions, as I felt I didn't have the background to bring anything useful.

It's a very deep question that one. One which, if we get closer to its answer, will surely help us understanding the meaning of our life and of all life. Which is the same because there can't really be more than one Life can there?

HOLMES wrote: ↑02 Apr 2020, 04:33 what would you say would be natural law ?

I haven't picked up an oracle in a long time.
I remember picking up the medicine cards,, the sacred path cards by the same authors..
I also picked up the sweat lodge cards back in the day..
the thing about the shamanic decks back in the day tended to be a mishmash of all sorts of cultures, kind of like how the first native American tarot was a mix mash of several native cultures.

Of course we know now (I think you know ) that shamanism is a term no longer applied to native americans, but also other parts of the world. .

Good to see you, Holmes. Thank you for chiming in. It is true that some like the anthropologist Alice Kehoe criticizes the term "shaman" in her book Shamans and Religion: An Anthropological Exploration in Critical Thinking and that part of this criticism involves the notion of cultural appropriation. This includes criticism of New Age and modern Western forms of shamanism, which, according to Kehoe, misrepresent or dilute Indigenous practices. Kehoe also also believes that the term reinforces racist ideas such as that of the noble savage.

However, to me, the essence of shamanism is, as Jan Morgan Wood states, "that everyone in Creation is alive and interconnected in a wonderful and ever-changing Web of Life". Natural law is thus the magic of the earth; its natural energy. Therefore, any deck will figure the animal and plant world, the art of indigenous peoples all over the world, their world view, beliefs, etc., including such things as Druidism.

I took a look at the reviews of the Medecine Cards. The accompanying books is quite interesting. Thank you for your suggestions,

Nemia wrote: ↑02 Apr 2020, 07:28 I have the very beautiful Mystical Shaman Oracle. The art is breathtaking, there are 68 oracle cards, and the guidebook especially well-structured. For each card, you have three viewpoints: the Essence about the card itself and how to integrate its meaning into your life, the Invitation that recommends ways of becoming active in the spirit of the card, and the Medicine that sheds light on areas in your life where you might need help.

I didn't use it often yet but when I did, in a situation of emotional distress, the oracle calmed me down and gave me what I needed. I don't know it well enough to recommend it and don't know much about shamanism but you might wish to check this oracle out. You can do a three card reading on the site

This deck was gifted to me and I'm rarely drawn to oracles, but was drawn strongly toward this.

Appreciate your suggestion. The cards are indeed beautiful. I'll go over and to check her site. Thank you.

Pen wrote: ↑02 Apr 2020, 14:17 I used to love The Celtic Shamans Pack. The cards were illustrated by Chesca Potter and the complete set comes with a book by John Matthews. Be careful if or where you buy it, because sometimes the seller is just offering the book.

There's a later version (a boxed set) with different illustrations called The Celtic Oracle. The accompanying book is also by John Matthews and the cards are large and created by four different artists, but it does seem to be based on the pack mentioned earlier.

I'm not sure if this is the sort of oracle you're looking for - Celtic mythology might not appeal, but you never know...

Thank you, Pen. I'm open, since Celtic implies Druidic, etc., which are all fine by me.

What about the Shamanic Medicine Oracle deck by Meiklejohn-Free?

It looks beautiful Raven, but I haven't any experience of reading with it. For me, it's the connection I feel toward the art that makes me want to spend time getting to know a deck. I'm attracted to this one but I probably have more decks that I'll ever use, although I do like looking through them from time to time. I guess also that I tend to gravitate towards the northern traditions - they feel more familiar somehow, more where I belong.

I love the mystical art of Susan Seddon Boulet and have one of her decks - The Animal Spirits Deck - this one reminded me of it a little.

Raven wrote: ↑04 Apr 2020, 03:54 What about the Shamanic Medicine Oracle deck by Meiklejohn-Free?

I like this oracle a lot. The artwork by Yuri Lietch is really wonderful. The authors seem to me to have done a good job of avoiding appropriation. The imagery does reflect a range of cultural 'shamanic' practices but the descriptions in the book draw on their own personal experiences and knowledge of shamanism and explain cultural references respectfully. This deck works best for one card draws or small spreads I think.

The Celtic Shaman's pack is lovely too of course with Chesca's art. Being by John Matthews, it does have a system, but I haven't really used that yet.

I like some of the other Matthews oracle decks too. The oop Celtic Book of the Dead by Caitlin is quite hard to find and I believe it is her favourite of all her decks. The cards are disappointingly small and flimsy I have to say, but I've not worked with it much. It has a system and a very large spread sheet so involves drawing quite a lot of cards. I must have another look!

For ancestor journey work the Ancestral Oracle of the Celts by Caitlin Matthews is interesting. Caitlin seems to have produced it for a course she was running and then got it into mass market. The art is by Wil Kinghan. It has 32 cards split inyo four clans - truth, honour, sovereignty and wisdom, which use celtic archetypes (for giving advice), and a further 8 'divine ancestor' cards that ask you questions (to encourage further reflection on the issue). A reading can be done with as little as 2 cards, with her suggestion to read the clan card first, then the ancestor card.

The Shaman's Oracle by John Matthews is quite different to the Celtic Shaman pack and is not a celtic focussed deck. The art is by Wil Kinghan again. Aesthetically I'm not as keen on these, there is a large title border at the bottom of each card that is a little ugly. There is a particular system for using the cards - imagine a hand where the four fingers and thumb represent five different 'caves' these are the entry points to the spirit world from the midworld (palm of the hand). Each cave is linked to a tribe (10 cards for each tribe - spirits, ancestrors, shamans, hunters and dancers) and to an element - so there are a range of archetypal meanings to draw on. The suggestion is to draw five clan cards, one for each cave. Two extra cards represent the seeker (journeyer card) and their inner guide (companion card). This is a good solid shamanic oracle deck with some substance that lends itself to a proper reading, and I really like the cave approach.

Also by Barbara Meiklejohn-Free is the Sacred Sites oracle - with stunning artwork by Yuri Leitch again. This has 53 cards of sacred sites around the world. 52 of them are aligned to a cardinal point, and each has three level of meanings - upperworld (potential), middle world (present) and lowerworld (past). One card - Mecca - has no direction correspondence and operates as a 'power card'. BM-F suggests on drawing the power card to read it and then immediately draw another - the power card them amplifora the meanings of this second card. I have used this deck for shamanic journeying and have asked my guide to take me to the spirit of the sacred site I drew, with interesting results.

The Anubis Oracle by Nicki Scully and Linda Star Wolf is well worth a look. Artwork is by Kris Waldherr. It has a strong shamanic focus and there is a separate bigger companion book to the deck and book set that has suggested journeys and meditations for each of the 22 major cards in the deck. Anibus has his own card as the 'opener of the way' and the authors suggest using him alongside a main personal guide when working with the oracle. There are 22 cards that mirror the 22 cards of the Tarot trumps, 4 element cards, and 8 'composite cards' that bring deities together to create scenarios such as 'entering the mystery', 'right timing and direction' and 'sacred purpose'. I had a very powerful encounter with Ma'at in an upper world journey whilst using this oracle and it is one of my favourites.

Earth Magic oracle by Steven D. Farmer is a typical, glossy, cardboardy Hay House deck and is quite nice. It is not particularly deep and I found some of the divinatory meanings overlap a little, but I quite like it for daily one card draws so have this on rotation with other decks for that purpose. Ditto with the Sacred Destiny cards by Denise Linn, which are very attractive and feature beautiful imagery from nature and landscape.

Finally, we have the Weavers' Oracle by Carolyn Hillyer. I have saved the best until last!
Carolyn is an amazing woman - artist, musician, storyteller, wise woman. If you haven't come across her work do check out Seventh Wave music and the wonderful live streams from their roundhouse on YouTube.
This oracle has 52 journey cards featuring stunning original paintings of weaving grandmothers, each with their own symbols and totems that run through their yarn as they weave the oracle cloth. The 52 women belong to four tribes of weavers, with 13 women in each allied to cardinal points. The tribes are the warp, the vertical strings of the weaving house and the oracle cloth. Across tribal alliances are 7 clans of weaver, each performing a specific role - these are guardian, earth, blood, life, bone, loom and death. These clans are the weft, the horizontal strings of the oracle cloth. There are lots of ways of working with this oracle, single strands, braids, cords, cloth, clans and tribes. She encourages the use of drum and song when working with this oracle, to connect with these spirit women that are "lining the trail, singing and drumming and calling to us". I heartily recommend this oracle, it is deep and powerful and very special.

Celtic Shaman and Weaver's Oracle jumped to the top of my oracle wishlist! I hope they won't go oop in the near future! I never heard of the Weaver's Oracle and it's amazing, just amazing. I'm a textile-loving crone myself now and can't believe how wonderful this looks. Always loved the Moirai - Parcae - Nornen, now even more. They and Hekate impressed me much when I was young - they faded a bit for me while I was Aphrodite and Demeter - and now they're back in my life again and speak to me.

Thank you @CharlotteK for your great recommendations, I'll check them all out, and thank you to @Raven who started this topic.