I would love to have my own Tarot / Oracle cards...
Just checked out the Google for some helpful hints regarding the matter....
Just collecting info for my future use...
I have received a few questions this week about how to choose
and use oracle cards, which leads me to write this article. In
particular, a secondary question is how are the oracle cards different
from the Tarot cards?
Let me give you a brief description of both and then show you how make your own oracle cards.
In the simplest of terms, Tarot cards are a tool to assist you in reading for other people. Of course, you can use them for yourself but in my experience this can lead to misinterpretation. It is common nature to make something fit or confuse the living daylight out of ourselves in the process. I always advise that if your intention is to find a divination tool that you will use purely for yourself then Oracle cards will fit the bill. If you feel drawn to the tarot cards to read for others then the tarot is perfect. I have linked an article here that I have previously written on the Tarot for a quick reference guide.
Personally, I have the same pack I started with over twenty years ago and I love them with the same emotion when I first unwrapped them. I happened upon them by accident when I was studying Astrology. My teacher also taught the tarot so I enrolled and began learning this amazing art of divination. If you feel drawn towards the tarot in particular then I highly recommend enrolling in a class as the most effective way of learning.
Once you have written the above titles on the cards, you can also write the full interpretations if you wish to save time. You can also have some fun by adding any form of decoration or symbology, however, you must keep the one side plain.
When you have made your cards you can begin to read for yourself. There are no set rules here. You can either decide to take a card whenever you feel the need or you could use a simple three card spread. Shuffle the cards, spread them out and pick three cards or shuffle them and take the top three and place as illustrated below.
One of my favourite spreads is the general spread as illustrated because the cards can give you an overall answer if you do not have a question in mind at the time of shuffling.
It is entirely at your discretion how to use your own cards. Have fun and you may be amazed at the answers.
Maria’s Mystic Tip – How to make your own Oracle Cards
Let me give you a brief description of both and then show you how make your own oracle cards.
The Tarot Cards
There is confusing historical evidence regarding the actual origin of the deck of tarot cards. If you research you will find contradictory statements about whether they originated from Egypt or Europe. My own summary is that the pictorial cards that we use today for divination purposes started life as a card game. The twenty two major arcana as we know them were originally used in a game called Trump. Mystics during this time had been using a standard pack of playing cards and saw these pictorial cards as having far easier symbolic translation and so adopted them as the Tarot deck.In the simplest of terms, Tarot cards are a tool to assist you in reading for other people. Of course, you can use them for yourself but in my experience this can lead to misinterpretation. It is common nature to make something fit or confuse the living daylight out of ourselves in the process. I always advise that if your intention is to find a divination tool that you will use purely for yourself then Oracle cards will fit the bill. If you feel drawn to the tarot cards to read for others then the tarot is perfect. I have linked an article here that I have previously written on the Tarot for a quick reference guide.
Personally, I have the same pack I started with over twenty years ago and I love them with the same emotion when I first unwrapped them. I happened upon them by accident when I was studying Astrology. My teacher also taught the tarot so I enrolled and began learning this amazing art of divination. If you feel drawn towards the tarot in particular then I highly recommend enrolling in a class as the most effective way of learning.
The Oracle Cards
As previously mentioned, these are fantastic if you wish to use them as a divination tool for yourself. There are no set number of cards as there is with the Tarot decks. There are so many available and they all come with a handy little booklet that allows you to interpret the meanings. A lot of my clients have angel cards, medicine cards, fairy cards etc., the list is long and you can find many packs on the internet or at your favourite alternative store.How to make your own Oracle Cards
As promised though, I will show you how can easily have fun making your own set of Oracle cards. You will need 10 plain white cards about the size of a postcard. Write on one side of each postcard the following interpretations and keep the remaining side clear.- Divine Guidance
- Protection
- Mental Confusion
- Forgiveness
- Life Change
- Life Balance
- Enlightenment
- Love
- Money
- New beginning
Once you have written the above titles on the cards, you can also write the full interpretations if you wish to save time. You can also have some fun by adding any form of decoration or symbology, however, you must keep the one side plain.
When you have made your cards you can begin to read for yourself. There are no set rules here. You can either decide to take a card whenever you feel the need or you could use a simple three card spread. Shuffle the cards, spread them out and pick three cards or shuffle them and take the top three and place as illustrated below.
One of my favourite spreads is the general spread as illustrated because the cards can give you an overall answer if you do not have a question in mind at the time of shuffling.
It is entirely at your discretion how to use your own cards. Have fun and you may be amazed at the answers.
(SOURCE:http://www.mystichelp.org/marias-mystic-tip-make-oracle-cards/ )
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How to Create Your Own Tarot Deck
This is what you do, when you have been working with the Tarot for a while: you look at your life and your environment with Tarot eyes!
First, you start to associate your everyday experiences with specific cards. For example, last year was my Hanged Man year, I’ve been dealt some Tower moments in my life and made a momentous Lovers choice in the early 90s, which has led me to where I am today.
Then you start looking at your holiday snaps and think ‘oh, that would make a great High Priestess‘ or ‘this is just the perfect Star for me‘, and so on…
My drawing talents are very limited, but with the advance of photo-editing software and online resources it has never been easier to turn regular photos into magickal images.
If you are interested in creating your own Tarot (or oracle) deck, but you cannot draw or paint, then why not consider using your own photography instead.
Here are some tips and resources to get you started:
1. Equipment
It’s perfectly fine to use the built-in camera of your smartphone, as long as it’s a minimum of 5 Mega Pixels. You can even use an easy-to-use photo app to edit and beautify your images.
If you use a separate camera, I can recommend the following web-based photo editing software:
http://www.befunky.com/
http://www.picmonkey.com/
Both websites offer many free features, but you can also subscribe to premium membership to access even more.
2. Theme of your Deck
The deck I’m creating reflects my personal life – experiences, interests, philosophy and spirituality.
Think about the theme and framework of your deck, and choose your images accordingly.
For example, for a deck reflecting your personal life, you could include snapshots of family members as court cards (or the people cards of the Major Arcana), you could use a photo of your local church/mosque/temple/synagogue as the Hierophant card, etc.
Next, you can add a specific atmosphere to the cards, such as a Gothic or whimsical feel by choosing the relevant location for your shot and/or adding effects with your photo-editor.
My first version of the Fool
Set a realistic goal. Unless you are a prolific creator, focus on completing the Major Arcana first. This makes your project seem less overwhelming, and it is very achievable.
Choose the image for each card carefully, but don’t spend too much time on each image either. You can always adjust or change it later. I do the same! That’s the beauty of digital work.
Make sure you save all your images (originals and edited) not only on your computer but also separately on a memory stick or in cloud storage!
4. Sizing and Printing Your Images
When you start creating your images, make sure you size them correctly from the start, otherwise you will have to resize your images later. You can download Tarot card templates from Gamecrafter, where you can also have your deck printed, once it’s finished.
5. Designing Your Images
As you begin to use a photo-editor, you will learn to add effects and overlays to your images. The first images I created were only cropped, resized and the titles and quotes added (just like the Fool above), but by the time I reached the World, I have learned to fuse various photos into one image. It takes some experimenting, but you can do this too!
6. Copyright
If you are thinking of using images found on the internet as overlays for your own photo, then you need to be careful about copyright.
For example, avoid using celebrity photos for your deck, if you want to publish and sell it (this doesn’t apply, if you print your deck as a one-off for strictly personal use only). Marilyn Monroe might be a great Queen of Cups, but her photos are still under copyright unless otherwise stated with individual images.
Use public domain images or stock images that you can buy or are offered free:
http://www.istockphoto.com/ (pay per image)
http://morguefile.com/ (free images)
Wikimedia Commons (public domain images)
7. Have Fun
Don’t put yourself under pressure by setting crazy deadlines. I don’t know when my deck will be complete, but my target of creating four cards a month is realistic for me. So, if all goes well, May 2014 is my big goal.
Enjoy the process of designing each card and find the right image. It has prompted me to visit new places just to capture a specific image. Creating my own Tarot deck has certainly made me go out there!
8. Turn Your Images into Posters and Art Prints
The completion of your deck might still be light years away, but that shouldn’t stop you from turning the ones already created into hard copies or even merchandise. Check out places like Photobox, where you can turn your creations into all sorts of goodies – from simple prints and greeting cards to canvas wall art.
The process of creating my own Tarot deck has been so enjoyable. I have gained confidence in creating artwork without the need to paint, and it has also been a kind of spiritual experience, because it has made me think about how the image of each card is reflected in my life.
With today’s technology, it has never been so easy to create your own Tarot deck. If you are inspired, go for it and make a start today.
SOURCE: http://www.cosmictarot.co.uk/how-to-create-your-own-tarot-deck/
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THE ASHWOOD TAROT ORACLE SYSTEM
WHAT'S THIS ALL ABOUT THEN?:
I'm a Tarot enthusiast. I just love tarot and oracle decks of all kinds. I collect them and yes I even use them, reading for friends and for fun. I met my husband when I read his cards. (But that's a story for another day.) I enjoy the tarot from the perspective that it's a tool to unlock the subconscious mind, and it can challenge the reader to think outside the box. For more insight into my philosophy of Tarot check out this great article. )
But I digress…
IN A NUTSHELL: I've made my own Oracle Deck system based off of the Tarot - and I'm sharing this system for FREE under a Creative Commons license.
HEY ARTISTS: I know a lot of artists that find Tarot fascinating. Many of us have ambitions/fantasies of creating our own deck. But creating a deck of 78 original works of art is a daunting task. It can take years to finish the art for a Tarot deck. The Major Arcana offer layers of symbolism and diverse imagery, a joy to paint but the suits are full of monotony.
Because of this many artists resort to creating an Oracle deck instead of Tarot. But there are issues with Oracle decks. There is no standardization with Oracle decks, unlike Tarot which you can count on to have the same cards, with the same meanings, despite a change in artistic style. Because of this lack of standardization a reader might be learning a new system with EVERY Oracle deck they buy. I find I long for the familiarity of Tarot whenever I'm playing with an Oracle deck. I know the Tarot system so well that I instinctively look for parallels in oracle systems. I've not found an oracle deck yet that made this easy.
So what's a lazy artist to do? I'd love to create a Tarot deck. I don't want to paint 78 cards. I certainly don't want to paint the boring cards…..
Necessity is the mother of invention as they say - so I created my own Oracle system based off of Tarot. I've been using it for years. I've given it to friends to try out. It's easy. It works. I'm sharing it now with you - for free. I'm releasing the Ashwood Tarot Oracle under a Creative Commons license. You can use it for personal or commercial use to create your own decks. You don't have to pay me to use. BUT you do have to give me credit. More about that later. The main point here is FREE!!
HEY NON-ARTISTS: This is still for you! Even if you have no ambitions to paint your own cards. Guess what? You can still use this system. Maybe you've always been attracted to plant energies of classic Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Using my Tarot Oracle system as a guide you can MAKE YOUR OWN DECK. Just find images that match the energies and themes of each card, and create your own deck. Awesome, a custom deck all your own... FREE!
Free stuff is awesome.
GET ON WITH IT!
THE ASHWOOD TAROT ORACLE SYSTEM
Intro: This system relies heavily on its association with the Major Arcana. There is much tradition in creating an Oracle deck that mainly consists in associations with the Major Arcana. The earliest Tarot Decks featured only the Trump cards - the Major Arcana, with the suits following in later adaptations. Indeed to this day there are many readers who work with Major Arcana only when doing readings. However this deck does accommodate the minor Arcana as well thru the use of an Elemental suit.
Extras: This Oracle deck uses a set of Dice and a Polarity Coin for readings. These props are not necessary, readers can rely on their intuition, but are a helpful addition for readers that are interested in fine tuning a reading. From a creative standpoint the Polarity Coin and the Dice offer another opportunity to customize the deck according to your own aesthetics.
DICE: provide numerological associations with each card. Clearly the pip cards in the suits are numbered 1-10, but the rest of the Tarot has numerological associations as well and the dice can be used to further deepen a reading.
POLARITY COIN: The coin is used for readers who prefer to include right side up and upside down cards in their readings. (Also referred to as justified and ill-justified). A basic Polarity standard for this coin would be Sunside/Positive/Male Moonside/Negative/Female (note that positive and negative are used from an energetic standpoint not a social one ie negative = bad positive = good)
ARCHETYPE SUIT
The 22 Archetype Cards
Twenty-two cards of the ASHWOOD TAROT ORACLE correspond with the twenty-two cards of the major arcana of the Tarot. The cards represent timeless archetypes and are powerful divining tools. In the creation of this deck I strove to break down each card of the Tarot's major arcana into the essence of it's archetype. Artist's painting these cards can feel free to draw upon the traditional symbolism of the classic Tarot cards, or explore their own unique take on the card's energy. However care should be taken that the point of this system is that the reader should be able to use the card's Tarot based correspondence to rely on an instant connection to the card.
On the left is the name of the card in the Ashwood Tarot Oracle System - on the right is the name of the card as found in the Major Arcana of the Traditional Tarot Deck.
Caution – The Moon
Confrontation - Judgment
Destiny – Wheel of Fortune
Development – The Empress
Freedom – The Fool
Fulfillment – The World
Integration – The Star
Manifestation – The Magician
Meditation – The Hermit
Movement – The Chariot
Partnership – The Lovers
Patience - Temperance
Prosperity – The Sun
Rebirth - Death
Revelation – The Hanged Man
Security – The Emperor
Self Destruction – The Devil
Strength - Strength
Tradition – The Hierophant
Upheaval – The Tower
Wisdom – The High Priestess
===================================================================================================
WILD CARD SUIT
The 3 Wildcards
Three additional cards reside with the 22 Cards of the Archetype Suit. These are the Wildcards and have been added to specifically address issues that are frequently found in divinatory readings. Choice, Mystery and Passion each address specific needs. These are issues that often come up in a reading yet do not have a clear and dedicated corresponding card in the traditional Tarot.
Choice - Empowerment, it's up to you
Mystery – The Unknown, this just isn't knowable right now. Akin to the Magic 8 Ball answer of "ask again later"
Passion – Desire, is there to much or too little of this emotion at play in this situation?
===================================================================================================
ELEMENTAL SUIT
The 5 Elemental Cards
Five cards are added to the 22 archetype cards to represent the 5 elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit. Four of these can be used to represent the elements associated with the four suits of the Tarot. Spirit (card title – The Divine), while not represented via a suit in the traditional Tarot is still a powerful card in representing our relationship with the divine and can be freely used in the same manner as if it were a suit of its own. There is great benefit to breaking the suits down into their elements. For years debate has raged in the Tarot community as to the original elemental associations of Swords/Air Wands/Fire - Many reverse these associations. Using the Ashwood Tarot Oracle system removes the association completely, and these suits are represented solely as their elements.
PIPS: When reading an Oracle Deck based on this system the reader will use a set of dice. To fine tune a reading and explore cards 1-10 in the suits, a reader simply pulls an elemental card from the deck and rolls the dice to find it's numerical accompaniment. This number will give the reader the cards correspondent in the Tarot. So for instance pulling the Imagination card (Element Air) and rolling the dice for a result of three would be the 3 of Swords in Traditional Tarot. To further fine tune the interpretation of this card the reader flips the polarity coin.
FACE CARDS: To determine if a card pulled from the Elemental Suit is a Face Card (King, Queen, Knight, Page) the reader will flip the Polarity coin and interpret it according to their own assigned symbolism. For example Sunside flipped twice = King ------ Sunside followed by a Moonside = Knight -------- Moonside flipped twice = Queen ------ Moonside followed by a Sunside = Page
Creation - Fire (suit of wands – creativity, drive)
Emotion – Water (suit of cups – feelings, relationships)
Imagination – Air (suit of swords – mind, intellect)
Practicalities – Earth (suit of pentacles – body, security)
The Divine – Spirit (suit of the sacred – divinity, higher self, true purpose)
===================================================================================================
I'll be adding more resources to this page in the near future. Correspondences, symbolism, reference material etc are all forthcoming.
TERMS OF USE:
You are free to use and share this system for personal and commercial use. You must give credit as follows:
I'm a Tarot enthusiast. I just love tarot and oracle decks of all kinds. I collect them and yes I even use them, reading for friends and for fun. I met my husband when I read his cards. (But that's a story for another day.) I enjoy the tarot from the perspective that it's a tool to unlock the subconscious mind, and it can challenge the reader to think outside the box. For more insight into my philosophy of Tarot check out this great article. )
But I digress…
IN A NUTSHELL: I've made my own Oracle Deck system based off of the Tarot - and I'm sharing this system for FREE under a Creative Commons license.
(PLEASE NOTE: I'm sharing JUST THE SYSTEM for free. I do SELL THE COMPLETED DECK as well if you wish to simply buy the deck. CLICK HERE TO BUY THE DECK. The system itself is free to creators who might wish to create their own deck - read on below)
WHY FREE?: I'm releasing this under a Creative Commons license because I would love to see this system widely adopted. If a variety of artists use this system to create Oracle decks that would be a lovely thing, we'd have some semblance of familiarity with at least a portion of the Oracle decks on the market, and EVEN BETTER - readers could mix and match their decks, selecting their favorite cards for each archetype and customizing a deck for their own use.
HEY ARTISTS: I know a lot of artists that find Tarot fascinating. Many of us have ambitions/fantasies of creating our own deck. But creating a deck of 78 original works of art is a daunting task. It can take years to finish the art for a Tarot deck. The Major Arcana offer layers of symbolism and diverse imagery, a joy to paint but the suits are full of monotony.
Because of this many artists resort to creating an Oracle deck instead of Tarot. But there are issues with Oracle decks. There is no standardization with Oracle decks, unlike Tarot which you can count on to have the same cards, with the same meanings, despite a change in artistic style. Because of this lack of standardization a reader might be learning a new system with EVERY Oracle deck they buy. I find I long for the familiarity of Tarot whenever I'm playing with an Oracle deck. I know the Tarot system so well that I instinctively look for parallels in oracle systems. I've not found an oracle deck yet that made this easy.
So what's a lazy artist to do? I'd love to create a Tarot deck. I don't want to paint 78 cards. I certainly don't want to paint the boring cards…..
Necessity is the mother of invention as they say - so I created my own Oracle system based off of Tarot. I've been using it for years. I've given it to friends to try out. It's easy. It works. I'm sharing it now with you - for free. I'm releasing the Ashwood Tarot Oracle under a Creative Commons license. You can use it for personal or commercial use to create your own decks. You don't have to pay me to use. BUT you do have to give me credit. More about that later. The main point here is FREE!!
HEY NON-ARTISTS: This is still for you! Even if you have no ambitions to paint your own cards. Guess what? You can still use this system. Maybe you've always been attracted to plant energies of classic Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Using my Tarot Oracle system as a guide you can MAKE YOUR OWN DECK. Just find images that match the energies and themes of each card, and create your own deck. Awesome, a custom deck all your own... FREE!
Free stuff is awesome.
GET ON WITH IT!
THE ASHWOOD TAROT ORACLE SYSTEM
Intro: This system relies heavily on its association with the Major Arcana. There is much tradition in creating an Oracle deck that mainly consists in associations with the Major Arcana. The earliest Tarot Decks featured only the Trump cards - the Major Arcana, with the suits following in later adaptations. Indeed to this day there are many readers who work with Major Arcana only when doing readings. However this deck does accommodate the minor Arcana as well thru the use of an Elemental suit.
Extras: This Oracle deck uses a set of Dice and a Polarity Coin for readings. These props are not necessary, readers can rely on their intuition, but are a helpful addition for readers that are interested in fine tuning a reading. From a creative standpoint the Polarity Coin and the Dice offer another opportunity to customize the deck according to your own aesthetics.
DICE: provide numerological associations with each card. Clearly the pip cards in the suits are numbered 1-10, but the rest of the Tarot has numerological associations as well and the dice can be used to further deepen a reading.
POLARITY COIN: The coin is used for readers who prefer to include right side up and upside down cards in their readings. (Also referred to as justified and ill-justified). A basic Polarity standard for this coin would be Sunside/Positive/Male Moonside/Negative/Female (note that positive and negative are used from an energetic standpoint not a social one ie negative = bad positive = good)
ARCHETYPE SUIT
The 22 Archetype Cards
Twenty-two cards of the ASHWOOD TAROT ORACLE correspond with the twenty-two cards of the major arcana of the Tarot. The cards represent timeless archetypes and are powerful divining tools. In the creation of this deck I strove to break down each card of the Tarot's major arcana into the essence of it's archetype. Artist's painting these cards can feel free to draw upon the traditional symbolism of the classic Tarot cards, or explore their own unique take on the card's energy. However care should be taken that the point of this system is that the reader should be able to use the card's Tarot based correspondence to rely on an instant connection to the card.
On the left is the name of the card in the Ashwood Tarot Oracle System - on the right is the name of the card as found in the Major Arcana of the Traditional Tarot Deck.
Caution – The Moon
Confrontation - Judgment
Destiny – Wheel of Fortune
Development – The Empress
Freedom – The Fool
Fulfillment – The World
Integration – The Star
Manifestation – The Magician
Meditation – The Hermit
Movement – The Chariot
Partnership – The Lovers
Patience - Temperance
Prosperity – The Sun
Rebirth - Death
Revelation – The Hanged Man
Security – The Emperor
Self Destruction – The Devil
Strength - Strength
Tradition – The Hierophant
Upheaval – The Tower
Wisdom – The High Priestess
===================================================================================================
WILD CARD SUIT
The 3 Wildcards
Three additional cards reside with the 22 Cards of the Archetype Suit. These are the Wildcards and have been added to specifically address issues that are frequently found in divinatory readings. Choice, Mystery and Passion each address specific needs. These are issues that often come up in a reading yet do not have a clear and dedicated corresponding card in the traditional Tarot.
Choice - Empowerment, it's up to you
Mystery – The Unknown, this just isn't knowable right now. Akin to the Magic 8 Ball answer of "ask again later"
Passion – Desire, is there to much or too little of this emotion at play in this situation?
===================================================================================================
ELEMENTAL SUIT
The 5 Elemental Cards
Five cards are added to the 22 archetype cards to represent the 5 elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit. Four of these can be used to represent the elements associated with the four suits of the Tarot. Spirit (card title – The Divine), while not represented via a suit in the traditional Tarot is still a powerful card in representing our relationship with the divine and can be freely used in the same manner as if it were a suit of its own. There is great benefit to breaking the suits down into their elements. For years debate has raged in the Tarot community as to the original elemental associations of Swords/Air Wands/Fire - Many reverse these associations. Using the Ashwood Tarot Oracle system removes the association completely, and these suits are represented solely as their elements.
PIPS: When reading an Oracle Deck based on this system the reader will use a set of dice. To fine tune a reading and explore cards 1-10 in the suits, a reader simply pulls an elemental card from the deck and rolls the dice to find it's numerical accompaniment. This number will give the reader the cards correspondent in the Tarot. So for instance pulling the Imagination card (Element Air) and rolling the dice for a result of three would be the 3 of Swords in Traditional Tarot. To further fine tune the interpretation of this card the reader flips the polarity coin.
FACE CARDS: To determine if a card pulled from the Elemental Suit is a Face Card (King, Queen, Knight, Page) the reader will flip the Polarity coin and interpret it according to their own assigned symbolism. For example Sunside flipped twice = King ------ Sunside followed by a Moonside = Knight -------- Moonside flipped twice = Queen ------ Moonside followed by a Sunside = Page
Creation - Fire (suit of wands – creativity, drive)
Emotion – Water (suit of cups – feelings, relationships)
Imagination – Air (suit of swords – mind, intellect)
Practicalities – Earth (suit of pentacles – body, security)
The Divine – Spirit (suit of the sacred – divinity, higher self, true purpose)
===================================================================================================
I'll be adding more resources to this page in the near future. Correspondences, symbolism, reference material etc are all forthcoming.
TERMS OF USE:
You are free to use and share this system for personal and commercial use. You must give credit as follows:
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available - email for info
You are free to change and adapt the system to your needs. HOWEVER you must indicate the changes made if you are publishing the resulting materials. You may not sell the system as is, or take credit for it as your own.
PRINT PUBLISHING: If you use this system to create a deck and you subsequently publish it as a printed deck for sale to the public, you do not have to pay me any royalty. HOWEVER, I ask that you contact me first and inform me, and I do require a credit to me in the printed materials.
SOURCE: http://www.brigidashwood.com/tarot/
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