The Green Man Tree Oracle; whats it like?

Helvetica said:

I have just received this Oracle. I have loved trees for a long time - as a little girl I was always climbing them and sitting up there, dreaming...

I used to climb our tall pine tree;

.

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Ohhh me too!!! I dont know what tree it was though, it wasnt a fruit bearing one, but had these small red berry looking things you couldnt eat which by the end of summer used to drop on the floor become black and stick to the bottom of your shoes...i used to sit up there and pretend it was my chill out place!! It was so comfy too!! I actually hid from my grandad once who was looking for me to batter me once when i was about 8. Why oh why did i never get a tree house? How great would that be???

I think Im gonna like my green man tree oracle!!

xxx
cm

WolfSpirit said:

I love the Green Man Tree Oracle. Don't forget to look for the faces in the trees when you get the deck
You don't need to know Ogham to use the deck, the Introduction of the book talks about the Ogham alphabet. But in the description of the cards, there is a section on Divinatory meaning and Folk lore that give a good impression of what the tree stands for. If you "feel the characters" of the different trees you can use the cards for readings.
In the back of the book are sample spreads and a few sample readings as well. As it is such a different system from everything I was used to, I like to use smaller spreads for now - I really love the 3-card spread with 1. branches; 2. trunk; 3. roots.

I think the book is very good and has a lot of information on tree lore; I don't understand why people say it is not good ? The book is not a "quick reading guide" with keywords or something like that. But for someone interested in the subject it has a lot to offer. After all, trees don't grow that big in one day either, do they ?

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lol, well ive ordered another book on the ogham anyway, if it doesnt do any good, ill probably trade it or just put it on ebay... I will definitly look out for those faces though... Ive just looked on amazon and it said it will be another 2 weeks before it comes....oh why so long!!!!!

xxx
cm

Chubby Mummy,

Has it arrived yet? I've been waiting for your post What do you think of it and how long did it take in the end?

Well, whilst folks are waiting for Chubby Mummy's thoughts on the set, I thought i'd bump up the thread
I've had the oracle for a couple of weeks, but I bought it with Froud's Faeries so the GreenMen had to be patient lol. I haven't worked on any readings yet with it, just getting to know each other. I have been thinking on the cards when I go to sleep so I dream about the energies of the cards (an idea I borrowed from Sophie-David!) and it has had remarkable results! The energies are much more subtle, mind you compared to faeries anything is subtle teehee. They are so patient and waiting for you to interact with them, to not just seem them as faceless trees, but to recognise their differences and their wonderful beauty.

One quibble I have is the 3 card tree spread. I haven't got the book with me, but it starts off branches, trunk and roots. Now personally for my reading style I would tend to read trunk, roots and then branches. The trunk refers to this world, to the situation - which is probably the best place to start. I would then go roots, to see where I have my resources, how I can help this situation and change it/get control etc. Then, I would look to the branches and see what inner wisdom there is from this question. Thats just my style, but the spread in theory, the actual positions etc I'm good with

After working with Froud's faeries, there are so many exercises and stuff to do before reading, that it seemed a little weird to get some info on celtic life, the ogham etc and no hints on exercises or meditations. However, I'd definately recommend meditation, sitting in a circle of trees etc to get a feel and let the ideas they represent take seed in your consciousness and germinate
Also, its very groovy for me as I'm an OBOD bard so I now have my own grove in card form

Blessings,
Sezo
x

I agree with you on the three-card spread. I rarely use the spreads with this oracle, I tend to pick one tree, or else use the oracle with a DruidCraft reading (also with the Druid Animal oracle).

I love walking in the forests near where I live - in Geneva itself (the canton, not the city) there is beautiful forest called Jussy. I also love walking in the mountains, and in the past few days (except yesterday when it pelted down with rain) I have been walking in the glacial moraine forest near our chalet (about to go for a walk now). I've been thinking - and it's a pity I didn't bring the cards with me - that it might be a lovely experience to walk in a forest with one's oracle and pick out the trees and plants from the deck; and find a natural grove to meditate on a card or two, preferably near one of the trees or shrubs depicted to fill oneself with the energy of that tree (or shrub). I tend to meditate in writing otherwise my mind just drifts; and I have always liked to write with my back to a tree trunk.

Sometimes, walking in the forest, I think I see the Green Man in trees. I also spy fae creatures out of the corner of my eye, light on leaves bouncing off water...

This oracle has also made me want to do more for actual trees, for their conservation. So many are cut down uselessly. Forests are being poisoned or neglected - choked by invading plants because of insufficient numbers of foresters. Jussy, fortunately, is well-cared for and preserved. But how many forests are not? I think of all the gorgeous primary forests of Africa, Asia and Latin America, cut down for wood or land by greedy exploiters. I think of how few so-called spiritual books are made of recycled paper. All this makes me sad: it is not enough to look at pretty pictures of trees. If they do not make us conscious of our duty towards trees, we are wasting this oracle, I think.

Off to find some fir and birch energy...

I love this deck, but I can certainly understand why some people don't click with it. I had been reading Ogham staves before I had gotten this, which was more difficult to learn with when starting out than the cards would have been. The beautifully illustrated cards were much easier than trying to remember which little symbols cut into bog oak indicated which letter, which in turn was which tree, and then learning the lore associated on top of that as well. I found the Ogham letters more difficult to commit to memory than Runes.

I think this deck and The Celtic Tree Oracle are very good starting points for anyone interested in studying Ogham, or just learning about trees and their associations and folklore. I found both decks beautifully drawn and a pleasure to look at and work with. But Ogham is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, it depends on where your interests lie and what speaks to your heart.

Bev

I have jut received this deck and I find it to be beautiful. A lot of the trees on this deck are not really relevant to where I live but they all seem to work for me anyway. I have used this oracle as a clarifyer with the Druidcraft tarot and they seem to coompliment each other really well. i checked and there you go it's the same creator. Very happy with it.

I love this oracle, but like Helvetica, I don't use it for readings, I just tend to pull one card for advice while using another deck for the actual reading. It works very well like this for me and for the most part the advice the trees offer are both wise & accurate. I am thinking that I may use it with the Secret Forest deck that I am heavily into at the moment, but I am not sure yet....

Love Fluffy
x

I just acquired this deck and it is lovely. Looks like I own all Will Worthington's decks now. His art is pretty and here he makes the trees magical, ancient and wise with much to share.

I was suprise to find this deck at Chapters (Indigo) and at a very low price of 6.99$CAD. Of course, I bought it, how could I not? I thought it was a Barnes & Nobles exclusive and that my best chance to find it would be eBay, but obviously I've been lucky lately (I recently got the hard-to-find Fortune Teller's Mahjongg Cards). Anyone who wants to get it, run at your closest Chapters Indigo store while supplies last.

I purchased a secondhand copy of the first edition a couple of weeks ago and got it for 8$ CAD!

I didn't know how lucky I was to be able to get it now for so cheap O_O

After seeing on different AT threads that it was OOP I looked online and indeed both editions seem to be OOP now and I couldn't find it for less than 50$!

I didn't try to read with it yet, but I looked through the cards and I definitely love the imagery. I already own the Druid Animal Oracle and I have the app for both the Druid Plant and Animal Oracle. I also have the app for the Wildwood Tarot, which had the drawings done by Will Worthington and the book co-authored by John Matthews!

Maybe I'll have a look at the Druidcraft Tarot too? I love to learn new stuff and Druidry and Celtic lore is indeed very very interesting! I shall have a look at the Ogham study thread too.

Autumn is at our doors, I feel it's the perfect season to start meditating on those cards and get a connection to them!