Phone Psychics’ Oracle Card Readings: The Wisdom of the Oracle Cards

17 Sep Phone Psychics’ Oracle Card Readings: The Wisdom of the Oracle Cards

Many of my phone psychics offer oracle card readings. But what are oracle cards? Here’s what you should know about the wisdom of the oracle cards.

What is an Oracle?

Before we explore oracle cards, let’s start by looking at what an oracle is…

Derived from the Latin word for “to speak”, ōrāre, the word “oracle” is properly applied to the individual (in antiquity, usually a priestess or priest) “uttering” predictions. It is also often used to refer to an oracle’s location, as well the predictions (“oracular utterances”) made.

Some of Greek antiquity’s most important and commonly known oracles were:

• Pythia, a priestess to Apollo known as the “oracle of Delphi”;
• Diōnē and Zeus’ oracle at Dodona, Epirus;
• The Sibylline oracles, several “divine revelations” preserved in Greek hexameters that were ascribed to the Sibyls (ancient Greek oracles);
• an oracle of Zeus at Lebadea, Boeotia, and the
• Oracle of Menestheus in Spain (now El Puerto de Santa María)

Oracular traditions do appear, however, to have started even before the ancient Greeks. German Classics professor and scholar of Greek mythology & cults Walter Burkert, for instance, noted¹ records of “frenzied women whose lips the gods speak from” in Mari, Syria and Assyria dating back to the 2^nd and 1^st millennium BC respectively.

It is also believed that the oracle of Egyptian goddess Wadjet, a goddess often depicted as being snake-headed or having two snakes in her hands, at the temple of Per-Wadjet (“Buto” in Greek) could have been the origin of oracular traditions spreading from Egypt into Greece². Wadjet was, in fact, linked by Evans³ to the “Minoan Snake Goddess”.

Oracles in Other Cultures

Oracles were also not confined to Greek antiquity but appeared within many other cultures’ “divinatory institutions”, including:

• Christianity, where it is used (and mentioned within the Bible) within the context of divine revelation, and Judaism, where it is used within the context of the Urim & Thummim breastplate, as well as any “utterances” considered to be prophetic⁴.
• Celtic polytheism, where the priestly caste (yates or druids) performed divination, as is reflected in the “seers” -the fáith and dryw in Ireland and Dark Age Wales respectively – role.
• The Shang Dynasty (China, around 1600 – 1046 BC), where bones to which heat was applied were used to divine “messages” and the Zhou dynasty (around 1046–256 BC), where yarrow plant stalks were used. Using numerous linear signs as oracles, this latter method of divination was eventually (late 9^th Century BC) recorded as the “book of changes”, the I Ching – which not only had oracular power but came to have a major influence on China’s statecraft, literature and philosophy ever since.
• Certain Hawaiian heiau (temples), where priests received “the gods’ will” in towers known as ‘Anu’u. The Ahu’ena heiau at Kona is an example of such towers⁵.
• Ancient India, where oracles were known as Ashareera vani or Akashwani (voice unseen or without body) or Asariri (“voice from the sky”, Tamil). While oracles played key parts in many of the Ramayana and Mahabharata epics’ incidences, there is, however, no reference within any Indian literature to oracles being specific individuals.
• Nigeria, where the Igbo people have a longstanding oracular tradition with villages’ oracles (usually priestesses to specific deities living in secluded locations or caves) delivering prophesies to anyone visiting to seek advice while in a trance-like (ecstatic) state. During the pre-colonial era, two of the Igbo’s oracles, Chukwu oracle in Arochukwu and Agbala oracle in Awka, became especially famous⁶.

The Iyanifas (female oracles) and Babalawos (male oracles) among Nigeria’s Yoruba people collectively serve as principal aspects of their tribe’s world-renowned Ifa system of divination and therefore customarily officiate many of its religious and traditional ceremonies.

Oracles were also consulted by early Aztecs and the Yucatec Mayas in the pre-Columbian Americas; in Norse mythology and in Tibet, where the Dalai Lama still traditionally consults the Nechung and Tenma Oracles⁷.

What all these traditions have in common is that an individual residing in a secluded, often considered “holy” place or temple delivers prophetic “divine messages” from a deity, angelic beings or, in some cases, form departed ancestors or even animals.

So, where does this tie in with oracle card readings, and, more to the point what are these cards?

What are Oracle Cards?

Unlike a Tarot deck, oracle card decks are not restricted to a specific set of imagery or even a specific number of cards. Essentially, any given deck will feature the imagery, number of cards and words (unlike Tarot cards, oracle cards do bear messages) its creator chooses it to have.

As such, there are is a multitude of decks in a diversity of sizes, shapes (i.e. imagery) and functions. Always bearing both images (which may, for example, include images of gods/goddesses, archangels, other ‘spiritual beings’, animals and/or objects) and words, these cards are often accompanied by booklets explaining how these images/words should be interpreted.

The Wisdom of the Oracle Cards

Unlike the Tarot, which offers “hard-and-fast”, sombre truth and predictions, oracle cards are inspirational, thoughtful and meant to enhance both your own “thinking ability” and your intuition.

Offering clarity, guidance, advice and a “fresh perspective” on matters you already knew but perhaps needed confirmation of, oracle cards offer small, more digestible yes deeply profound and important messages that do not tell you what to do but give you answers to your innermost questions.

Open to your own (and, of course, your reader’s) interpretation, they thus provide you with clarity concerning a specific situation and the knowledge you require to find your true path or fulfil a purpose, as opposed to directing you towards a specific path or action.

Oracle Card Reading with Phone Psychics

There is divine truth and profound knowledge for all of us and seeking this truth and knowledge is the smart thing to do. Oracle cards are exceptionally helpful tools that can reveal this knowledge and truth to you. Failing to use these tools is like failing to use your car’s ignition and expecting it to take off to wherever you wish it to go by itself.

If you require divine wisdom and clarity for a current situation, do the right thing – book an oracle card reading with one of my readers today.

For UK callers, the number to call a member of my team is 0800 999 8831. Australia 1800 018 367, Canada 1866 766 9422, Ireland 0150 60693, USA 1855 864 9383, ROW +44 207 111 6115.

References

¹ “Greek Religion”, Walter Burkert. Harvard University Press. 1985.p 116-118

² The Histories, Herodotus., ii 55, & vii 134

³ “Minoan Snake goddess. 8. Snakes, Egypt, Magic and Women”, Cristopher L.C. Whitcomp

⁴ OED s.v. “oracle n.”

⁵ “‘Anu’u (oracle tower) and Ki’i Akua (temple images) at ‘Ahu’ena Heiau in Kailua-Kona on Hawaii’s Big Island”, John Fischer. About.com Travel.

⁶ “The Revolutionary Years, West Africa since 1800”, p. 107–108; J.B. Webster and A.A. Boahen, Longman, London.

⁷ “Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama of Tibet”, p.233; Tenzin Gyatso, (1988). Abacus Books (Division of Little, Brown & Company UK). ISBN 0-349-11111-1.