There are many tools in the world for delving into the inner workings of your mind. Meditation, crystal balls, and tarot cards are just a few. Anyone has the power to create their own Oracle Deck, one of my favorite ways to reflect on my inner landscape. The word oracle come from the latin "to speak" and in a sense Oracle cards allow you to speak with the divine parts of yourself.
I have created several small Oracle Decks over the years. The first deck I worked on was a collaboration with Turning the Wheel and Holly Lewis. This deck of GoodBox Cards featured my art and sweet, simple phrases that reclaimed the word good.
"You are so so so so Good"
"Your Goodness is Breathtaking"
"Your Goodness lights up the World"
I loved working on the project and I hear sweet stories about the magickal ways people use the cards in their every day lives.
More recently I released an Oracle Deck Printable for Patrons of my Patreon. This mini Joy Oracle only has twelve cards, but each one encourages a playful relationship with magick. Each card simply has one word, words that I associate with health and joy, and then a simple colorful image. The collection of images were generated from the last few years of paintings.
I am looking forward to this weeks craft-a-long because I have always finished my Oracle decks in a digital format. For the craft-a-long we will be creating a one of a kind deck from art materials
Preparing for the Craft-a-Long
To begin think about the theme for your Oracle Deck. What do you want the orient around? There are several ways to go about making this decision.
You could theme your deck around imagery that inspires such as a crystal, bird, angel, or tree Oracle.
You could focus on an emotional quality such as a happiness, anger, or play Oracle.
You could create an oracle for the senses such as a color Oracle or a touch Oracle.
Your Oracle could focus on Self Care or Activities to help get your energy moving.
Once you have settled on a theme generate a list of words for the cards. I recommend generating at least twelve words or phrases and no more than thirty for this craft-a-long. If you feel unsure or stuck and have Oracle Decks lying around you could flip through your decks on hand to see what sort of messages are generally found in an Oracle Deck. I glanced through my Crystal Oracle before designing the cards for the Mini Joy Oracle Printable.
Materials
For this craft ultimately all you need is paper and a pen!
However for the sake of creativity and beauty I have a bunch of ideas for additional materials to gather so your unique oracle is a treasured object you can return to again and again. Any combination of these materials will work. I will be showing examples with all different materials to get the creative juices flowing.
Thick Card stock or watercolor paper. Creative solutions for this could be an old deck of playing cards, flyers from the mail, or cut up holiday cards.
Paints, water color or acrylic. However if you don't have paint markers, crayons, or even different colored pens would be fun to explore.
Found words and poetry. I have printable for patrons with a collection of heart quotes and poems that you could print. But words are bountiful. You could work from a book of poetry, collect words from old cards, or scry through a pile of magazines. Or you can simply write the words on the cards.
A collection of Magazine Images. Any magazine will do, although National Geographic, Art Magazines, and Nature magazines tend to have more evocative imagery. Old calendars can also be a good place to find images as well.
Scissors or any other cutting utensil like an eXacto knife or paper cutter. However if you build your deck on an old set of playing cards you won't need to cut cards out after the fact.
Glue or something sticky for attaching words and images to the final cards.
The hope for these craft-a-longs is that you can begin creating without the need to order supplies or go to the store, since most of us are settled in at home. If you don't have a specific material I encourage you to think outside the box and see what else might be available to you.
No account is necessary to follow along, although if you want to participate in the chat or ask questions you will need to create a Twitch account. It's easy and Free.
Support the Craft-a-Long
All of my craft-a-longs are shared freely on Twitch. However if you are nourished by the weekly offering consider supporting them by joining my growing Patreon Community and receive a packet of handmade Joy Charms.
Support my Craft-a-Long streams on Twitch, I've added a perk to my Patreon. There are only fifteen slots available for the Joy Charms. And if you are already a patron of my Patreon, first THANK YOU! and second you can increase your patronage by $3 a month to opt in for the Joy Charm Mailing.
