Desert Oracle

When I attended the Tarot School’s annual event, the Readers Studio, last year, I had the great delight to meet author and artist Emily Carding. She is the creator of the wonderful and unique Transparent Tarot. At the Studio, she had a prototype of her new deck, the Transparent Oracle, which looked to be every bit as unique as her Tarot deck.

And now, a year later, the Transparent Oracle has finally been released by Schiffer Books. And it is beautiful!  The box is a vast improvement over that of the Transparent Tarot. The Oracle’s box is a narrow box with magnetic closure & a ribbon loop to pull it open. It has ribbon hinges on the inside. The box is 11.75 x 6 x 1.5 inches. The cards sit in a well on the right side of the box; on the left is the book with the white spread cloth packed underneath.

The cards have a plastic band holding them together, and they fit very well in the box, with no slipping or sliding.  The cards are large, 5 inches in diameter, and there are 70 of them, so it’s quite a handful. Like the Transparent Tarot, the Oracle cards are made of  clear plastic, allowing for them to be read singly or in layers. My cards did not stick together at all as I quickly counted them to make sure none were missing. There was also none of the filmy residue on them like the TT had last year (although the companion book mentions there might be some).

Emily has grouped the cards around the seven directions: East, South, West, North, Above, Below, and Within (10 cards for each direction). Each group of the N, S, E & W cards includes a card representing a gateway, weather, element, time of day, landscape, 4 animal guides, and an elemental. The group representing Above includes a gateway, guide, a card for each of the 7 classical planets, and a polarity. Below includes a gateway, 4 guide cards, the Grail hallows and a polarity card. (The polarity cards are different colored dragons). The Within cards include a gateway, dream, touch/taste, hearing, voice, telepathy, empathy, vision, DNA/labyrinth and the web.

The book (nearly 5.75 inches square) is 128 pages in length. There are four chapters: What is the Transparent Oracle?, Card Meanings, Using the Cards, and Spreads (authored by David Rankine). It is illustrated with b&w images of all the cards, and each card has some keywords and a full page description of the card’s meaning, as well as some card combinations. The spreads are Here and Now, Axis Mundi, and a Chakras spread.

Schiffer has done an outstanding job with the production of this set. The quality is excellent, and they are to be congratulated. They have represented Emily’s hard work and vision beautifully.

I did a reading with the Oracle, asking what I can learn from the deck. I randomly chose three cards and layered them, forming a type of mandala. The cards I chose were (from the East) Guide: Eagle, (from Above) Guide: Angel, and (from the South) Landscape: Desert.

The Desert card represents the landscape where I live as well as Desert Oracle (always nice when the cards are so literal). In the guide book, Emily says “When the Desert combines with cards from the East, it may indicate a fresh wave of inspiration…if cards from Above appear, it may be that Desert indicates a test of faith or spiritual struggle” (page 39). This makes sense as I am working on a project, readying it for publication, which has been a struggle for me to stay on task and keep my initial inspiration.

Guide: Angel, for me, suggests that I have support from Above. Emily says “there may be a higher purpose and significance…Angel can also provide powerful protection from negative influences or give answers to the mysteries of life” (page 83). This is a message to pay attention to signs, omens and messages that Spirit is trying to show me.

This is reinforced with the Guide: Eagle card. Eagles are majestic birds, known for their keen sense of sight. According to Emily, “Eagle can help us gain the courage and vision needed to achieve our goals” (page 26).

It seems that the Transparent Oracle is telling me to hold onto my inspiration and when my trust falters, to seek guidance from Above. Angel can help me stay positive and motivated, and Eagle can help me see the bigger picture and keep my goals clearly in mind. A powerful message for me!

I enjoy using oracles from time to time, and with such an uplifting message as this one, the Transparent Oracle will be a deck I will reach for often. I may also see what happens if I use it along with the Transparent Tarot, which Emily herself suggests in the book. And since the deck is made of plastic, they can even be used in the bathtub (she has done it!)…what other deck can say the same?

Images from the Transparent Oracle © 2010 Schiffer Books