The magical world of tarot cards has a lot to teach us. Tarot cards can be the perfect tool for divination, a powerful guide for our life and the best way to unveil our inner world and truly listen to ourselves on a whole new level. But what about oracle cards? What’s the difference between oracle cards and tarot cards? I will explain everything in this article. Let’s begin.
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Tarot cards: characteristics and peculiarities
The most widely reproduced deck of tarot cards used in cartomancy is probably the Rider-Waite-Smith: this is a deck that began to spread in the early twentieth century and was designed by Arthur Edward Waite and Patricia Coleman Smith. The most reproduced and used tarot cards in the world were therefore designed by a woman; Patricia Coleman Smith was in fact able to synthesize all the poetry, history, and mystical meanings of the tarot into 78 Arcana.
Arthur Waite Smith Tarot
The Arthur Waite Smith tarot cards are composed of 78 cards, classified as follows:
21 + 1 Major Arcana, ranging from number 1 (The Wizard) to number 21 (The World) with the addition of card 0, the Fool; this card can be placed both at the beginning and at the end of the series.
4 series of 13 cards make up the Minor Arcana, ranging from number 1 to number 10 respectively, with the addition of the four court cards: the Page, the Knight, the Queen, and the King. Each series of the Minor Arcana refers to a suit, with specific characteristics: Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles.
All decks of tarot cards are characterized by this structure. There are therefore no significant differences between the best known and most used tarots. The Major Arcana are strongly symbolic cards that express the most important specifics. Obviously, each deck of tarot cards can be characterized by a different interpretation of the artist who designed them.
Tarot cards are cards that can be used in many ways. Professional fortune tellers are able to operate the reading of these cards by means of the intuitive method that allows you to shed light on some aspects of people’s lives that characterize the past, present, and future.
Oracles: characteristics and peculiarities
The peculiarity of the oracles is that, unlike the tarot, these cards are never characterized by the same symbolism and the same figures. The decks of oracle cards are in fact totally free and tailor-made by the author himself. Despite the maximum customization criteria, oracles are always and in any case cards that are used by the fortune teller exactly as tarot cards are used.
Often and willingly the oracles present a written word or alternatively a number that refers to a text of variable dimensions. The oracles are in fact accompanied by a real volume of text. Almost always, in every deck of oracle cards, there is a relative accompanying book: its function is to help the fortune teller to better understand the intentions of the author of the cards and to guide him in the interpretation phase.
The best characteristic and most interesting aspect of oracles is that it is a completely free deck of cards. In fact, the oracles do not refer to any pre-established theme. For this reason, oracles are cards that can also be used by non-professionals or by people who have not been practicing fortune-telling for long.
For the reading and interpretation of the oracles, it is not in fact necessary to know all the symbolic aspects, which are fundamental for understanding the reading of the tarot.
However, oracles cannot in any way be a substitute for tarot cards, since they are a different tool, as fully explained in this paragraph.
Also read: How to choose oracle cards? (Steps to Follow)
How to read oracles and when to use them
As mentioned previously, the oracles, unlike the tarot, can be read even by a beginner. Often and willingly, these cards are used in the context of fortune-telling consultancy, at the end of reading or after reading the tarot.
After the intuitive and structured work carried out by the fortune teller by means of tarot cards, it is possible that the professional will have his client choose and extract an oracle card from the deck. By examining the latter, it is possible that the fortune teller provides some sort of advice, summary, or even final inspiration, to end the consultation. In this case, the extraction of an oracle represents a completion of the path made together by the fortune teller and his client.
Just like the tarot, oracles can also be used to draw one card a day to use as a guide for your day. Perhaps it is advisable to carry out the extraction in the evening, so as to be able to reflect and take stock of the situation based on the experiences lived during the day.
Finally, it is possible to mix together a deck of tarot cards with a deck of oracle cards or decide to extract half the cards from the tarot deck and half the cards from the oracle deck for a reading. By mixing two different decks of cards, the fortune teller has the opportunity to see and interpret the reading from two different perspectives. It is also possible to draw a tarot card and an oracle card for each position and perform a combined reading.
Would you like to have a deep insight into your life? Do you want to have some guidance and some tips on how to create your dream life? Don’t forget to order a tarot reading and let me explore tarot cards and their messages for you! It’s an easy yet powerful way to unveil your past, present, and future from a place of understanding and deep connection with your soul!
Magickal blessings,
Mystic Amber