John Waterhouse Oracle Deck

swedishfish612 said:

I wasn't planning on reading about the actual paintings; that's an interesting way of going about it, though! I didn't want to learn about the actual paintings because I thought it might interfere with the meanings I wanted to associate with the cards, if that makes sense. For example, if a certain card to ME was a positive, joyful card but then I learned it was really about a tragic love story, I would have a hard time not reading it as a sad, tragic card and love stories gone awry.

I didn't plan on learning the names for the paintings, hence my thoughts about numbering them!

Now that you've brought up the idea of reading about the paintings and the artist's intent, I'm kind of interested in doing that...but one of the reasons I bought this deck was I loved the idea of an oracle that truly became my own, where I came up the meanings based on just what I saw and not what anyone else intended.

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I think that there are two ways of going about it. You can easily forget all about the mythological, literary or historical subjects of the paintings, and just read the images intuitively, the way they speak to you. Interestingly enough, a lot of times you can get a lot of the real story just by looking at the picture, even if you don't know what it is about.

Or you can learn what each painting is about. That might give you a few surprises. For instance, this gorgeous, luminous image: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Circe_Invidiosa_-_John_William_Waterhouse.jpg. Or these two, apparently so sweet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamia. There are also about three cases, IIRC, in which a painting has been split into two different cards. This is one of them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_and_Narcissus_(Waterhouse_painting).

I personally took the second route, because I find it enriches my readings. But in the end, you know, it's your deck. It's not like the Oracle Police are going to go to your house and take your cards away because you are reading Narcissus as happy and St. Eulalia as a girl who is sunbathing....

seven stars said:

If you're journaling, my suggestion would be to xerox tiny black & white images to put next to the title in your journal. Maybe do them in alphabetical order if you're particularly organized. And, if you're going by cards that you've studied, take out the cards that you don't know until you've had time to read up on them.

I've actually found more images I wish I had included & was thinking of coming out with a little supplemental pack, but, it WAS 80 cards, maybe that's enough.

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I know I would buy that in a heartbeat. Either a supplemental pack, a second Waterhouse oracle, or a larger second edition would be fine with me.

FLizarraga said:

I know I would buy that in a heartbeat. Either a supplemental pack, a second Waterhouse oracle, or a larger second edition would be fine with me.

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A supplemental pack sounds super...

I love Waterhouse images, but I admit to knowing next to nothing about his work. So hearing that a lot of them are based in mythology makes want to know the stories behind the paintings....but then I know I will struggle to make the meanings my own!

I will definitely have to think on it.

FLizarraga said:

But in the end, you know, it's your deck. It's not like the Oracle Police are going to go to your house and take your cards away because you are reading Narcissus as happy and St. Eulalia as a girl who is sunbathing....

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Well, if they do come they might arrest me for buying too many. Lately I'm enjoying them even more than Tarot, which I thought would never happen!

swedishfish612 said:

I love Waterhouse images, but I admit to knowing next to nothing about his work. So hearing that a lot of them are based in mythology makes want to know the stories behind the paintings....but then I know I will struggle to make the meanings my own!

I will definitely have to think on it.

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I have tried reading with the Keijuoraakkeli deck like that, without knowing the intended meanings of the cards (the titles are in Finnish, mercifully), and check afterwards. I was surprised at how close were the meanings I gave to the cards to the "official" ones.

The good news about these paintings is that they all tell stories. So once you know the story, they are easy to recognize and to apply it to the situation at hand.

Circe Invidiosa, for instance, is basically about a woman scorned who is poisoning her rival and transforming her into an unlovable monster. That's all you need to remember about that image.

When both halves of a painting turn up on a reading, you can then check how close are they to each other, and so forth. It's not really all that complicated, although I admit that I was a little discouraged in the beginning.

swedishfish612 said:

Well, if they do come they might arrest me for buying too many. Lately I'm enjoying them even more than Tarot, which I thought would never happen!

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Oracles have their own way of sneaking up on you.

FLizarraga said:

Oracles have their own way of sneaking up on you.

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YES. When I was learning Tarot, I wanted that structure of RWS from deck to deck. I needed it, in order to make sense of what the cards were saying. But now that I'm further along in my journey, I like the flexibility of oracles like this one! I don't need to know the "correct" interpretation and I trust myself more.

swedishfish612 said:

. Lately I'm enjoying them even more than Tarot, which I thought would never happen!

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Interesting....that is been happening to me recently, too--regarding Oracles--it's very odd!

Waterhouse deck

I too would love a supplementary. I was inspired to buy two books on Waterhouse and also wondered about some extra images. I would use them perhaps alongside the most typically Waterhouse ones and separate the earlier Victorian/ Roman themed cards. I'm so glad others are engaging so well with this gorgeous deck.

seven stars said:

...I've actually found more images I wish I had included & was thinking of coming out with a little supplemental pack, but, it WAS 80 cards, maybe that's enough.

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Did you say SUPPLEMENTARY PACK?? Bring it on!

swedishfish612 said:

I wasn't planning on reading about the actual paintings; that's an interesting way of going about it, though! I didn't want to learn about the actual paintings because I thought it might interfere with the meanings I wanted to associate with the cards, if that makes sense...

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Yes. But you could do both. Just like a Tarot card can have a multitude of meanings - and you choose the most appropriate one according to your intuition at that time - so too can it be for the oracle. Your interpretation and the interpretation from the painting are both valid.

I just got my John Waterhouse Oracle, and it's beautiful! So pleased with the back I chose - number 2. I'm going to spend some time getting to know the deck in the sunshine