Putting the book down

Excellent site Gavriela, appreciate that!

I mostly agree with Le Fanu's point of view about oracles. It is true that often you can read the cards as symbols or pictures and get quite a decent reading. And highly intuitive readers can do this, and quite fluidly.

But to use any oracle (well, any decently thought out oracle) I also think that you need to spend time with it. I too have limited my use of oracles because I prefer to deepen my understanding of tarot. My principal exceptions have been: the Froud Faeries' Oracle which I have worked with in some depth and the Druid Sticks which are based on geomancy. I have dabbled with all of the others.

I usually read whatever accompanies the oracles when I first get them and I think that I have offered, at one time or another, readings with every oracle I own and often decide if they are for me or not by that. Generally after the first reading I don't use the book, or just for a while. Even the Grand Etteilla I have started, now on my fifth reading, to do the cards intuitively and I think the readings are better received now that I am smoothing out the book meanings with my own connections.

Alta

I think some people just see more in to a picture than others do, there are numerous decks I could say I would never read without a book as the pictures don't "speak" to me...and I am afraid to say Frouds Faeries is the top of that list, I really don't feel i will ever do that intuitively. they tend to need pictures of people doing something for me to get the idea.

Maybe with more practice other decks like the Faeries will become easier.

Paul

If you're reading Lenormand or sibilla type cards, first: learn what the symbols mean. Not really that daunting, and you already know lots of them.

Second: Spend a few minutes practising combinations every day - you don't have to read for anything if you don't want, just spend five or ten minutes pulling two-card combinations and working out what they mean.

Then when you read, it won't all feel quite so foreign anymore - and that particular skill transfers to a lot of oracles (sadly, Froud's Faeries isn't one of them).

But if it's European and it works off a symbol system (and there are loads of those), then it kind of transfers.

Paul, I still think you need an Eltynne deck

And yesterday I got l'Oeil de Lotus (which came with a LWB that had an English translation - most of the oracles I work with don't). It's hard to describe - halfway between tarot and sibilla, absolutely stunning art. That one might be good for you, too. Sammie's got some pix of it on her site, and most of them open in a big window (the cards are quite large - kind of like a wide tarot deck):

http://inthecards.wordpress.com/category/loeil-de-lotus/

Gavriela said:

If you're reading Lenormand or sibilla type cards, first: learn what the symbols mean. Not really that daunting, and you already know lots of them.

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Just a point here, if I were to spend time learning symbols then it is no longer intuitive is it? All I'll be doing is readings from what I've learned and not what I see and feel!

Gavriela said:

Second: Spend a few minutes practising combinations every day

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That's a good idea, never thought of that

Gavriela said:

Paul, I still think you need an Eltynne deck

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I've looked at this but I'm still not sure...if it were meant to be the deck for me then I would have been sure, so I guess it's not.

Gavriela said:

And yesterday I got l'Oeil de Lotus (which came with a LWB that had an English translation - most of the oracles I work with don't). It's hard to describe - halfway between tarot and sibilla, absolutely stunning art. That one might be good for you, too. Sammie's got some pix of it on her site, and most of them open in a big window (the cards are quite large - kind of like a wide tarot deck):

http://inthecards.wordpress.com/category/loeil-de-lotus/

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Bear in mind this is my own personal opinion and in now way am I trying to put it down but it's horrid
Don't like it one bit...

Paul

SpiritOfTheDogz said:

Just a point here, if I were to spend time learning symbols then it is no longer intuitive is it? All I'll be doing is readings from what I've learned and not what I see and feel!

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Learning keywords for the cards in no way prevents you from reading intuitively. It might just widen your horizon (and your foundation for reading intuitively in the first place).

Faeries Oracle is very intuitive- happy reading that without the book.

Faery Ring Oracle- although I know the rough meanings for most of the cards its not very intuitive somehow. I do feel the need for the book.

Victorian Flower Oracle- I don't really 'need' the book- heck, the cards have keywords- but the book adds to the fun.

european fortune telling systems- I haven't got round to learning how to do these (one of my projects for next year) but I bet I'll need the book forever more. I don't have the memory for all the combinations!

Just a point here, if I were to spend time learning symbols then it is no longer intuitive is it? All I'll be doing is readings from what I've learned and not what I see and feel!

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And learning that pesky English language when you were younger put you at the mercy of it - make no mistake. Think in Hebrew, or even French, and you'll think differently, I guarantee.

It's no bad thing to expand your vocabulary, and learning symbols is one way of doing that. Intuition is simply a lightning-quick ability to put together what you know into a cogent meaning - so fast you don't even realise you're doing it.

Some people also consider road signs a drag, but most agree that they're pretty useful.

So long as you don't want to read tarot or European oracles, or modern oracles that use symbolism, you don't strictly need to learn it - though people not wanting to learn sometimes makes me cringe a little bit. There are pop oracles out there that don't rely on astrology, mythology, classical art, alchemy, religious iconology, or any of those things. I find most of them pretty shallow - but that's just my opinion.

Gavriela said:

Some people also consider road signs a drag, but most agree that they're pretty useful.

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But I wonder how many drivers actually know them

Paul

Hey Chronata,
What are the CLOW cards? I've never heard of those!

Spiritofthedogz- I love the Psycards- they were my first oracle deck and I used them a lot as they came the same time as my first Tarot deck, (Robin Wood in case you were wondering). At the time, learning the Tarot seemed such a massive undertaking that I often sought solace in my Psycards! I guess that's why we have such a deep bond. Even now, if I get stuck on a Tarot reading, I often pull a psycard or two and straight away, I find my focus, it's uncanny!
Can I read them intuitively? Yes, but I love the book so much, (the Nick Hobson one) that I do find myself looking for clarification of my initial thoughts- there's always something that I miss.

Love
Tink x

I do like the Psycards but for my style there isn't enough of them. I did get the Hobson book to try and get more out of them but haven't really got on with it, too in depth for my likings

Paul