Eternal Seeker Oracle: This Week's Deck

[Joan Marie]

I'm trying something a little different.

I have a couple of decks that I promised to review and I've decided that instead of a traditional review, I would spend a week with a deck and kind of review it in progress as I use it. I think that might be a bit of a twist that may bring out something a bit different in how I experience the decks. SO many people are writing reviews so well these days, that I don't feel I can bring much more to the party. But doing it this way feels right to me.

I hope the deck creators and their publishers agree!

The first one I want to try this out with is Pamela Steele's newest deck, Eternal Seeker Oracle.

This is not Pamela's first deck. Her Steele Wizard Tarot and The Wizard's Pets Tarot can both be seen in our Library of decks. These decks really demonstrate how Pamela's sense of whimsy, her knowledge of Tarot and her deeply spiritual nature come together in her work.

Now Pamela has brought all this to an Oracle deck. These 33 cards of the Eternal Seeker Oracle are a reflection of a lifetime of learning and esoteric study.
The deck comes in a large box with a magnetic closure. Her publisher, Schiffer/Red Feather did a great job with it. For my own decks I have steered away from magnetic closures because they sometimes come out a little wonky or just not really nicely finished, but this one is really lovely.

And who doesn't love that satisfying "click" of the magnet?

The deck comes with a large format book, 128 pages, written by Pamela with a lovely forward by Benebell Wen.
In the booklet Pamela offers a lot of great sage advice and instruction on how to use the deck. Beginners and experienced readers will both appreciate the insight she offers.

So, let's get to using the deck. Today is day one and I have drawn.

#22 Heart Song

In the guidebook Pamela says this card is inspired by the Sun card from tarot.
You see the familiar red scarf, the sunflowers and the magical horse accompanying a dancing child.

There is a sense of joy and abandon here. I get the feeling of someone who is all in for enjoying the magic of the day, seeing magic in everything and enthralled in the sense of wonder of it all.

Life is meant to be enjoyed. As adults we forget that. We even forget to enjoy things we chose to surround ourselves with.
This card is a reminder of the child-like spirit that we came into this world with, that we built our lives with. It reminds us that we set our intentions a long time ago and with the right kind of eyes, we can recall those intentions and see how we have made our dreams come true.

It can also be a call to make the adjustments needed when those dreams got lost along the way.

See you tomorrow!

[Joan Marie]

Day 2: Tradition

According to Pamela's book, this card, Tradition, is based on the Tarot's Hierophant.

This card depicts one of several bearded sages this deck uses to reach us, voices from another time and place.

He seems to be in the act of imparting some occult wisdom to these 2 young acolytes. These two may grow up to break all the rules, but that's okay if you've learned them first.

Different times and different places call for different ways.
I'm not one of these people who are so sure that the way I grew up, without internet and phones for example, was better than now.
What we lacked in technology we made up for in drug experimentation and teenage pregnancy.

Young people today, wherever they are, can find community, they don't have to feel strange or alone because the provincial town they happen to live in doesn't understand or support them. It was often really sad when I was young to see kids struggling. And most of us split the minute we could, looking for something we didn't even know what.

This did not always end well.

But analog life had some fun to it also.

But it's all different now. No one has to share a kitchen phone with their entire family anymore, for example.

It's important to pay attention and not just let things spiral out. And it's no good to just criticise modern ways. This is all new territory we live in and we have to help each other to navigate it well. It can be brilliant.

With love and respect between the generations, there is so much to learn from each other.

[Joan Marie]

#24 Attainment

Such an intense use of colour on this card! The intensity surrounding the more muted tones of the earth. The fiery power of the Universe enveloping our home planet, giving it energy and life. Sustaining it.

Pamela calls this card Attainment and says it is based on the Tarot card, The World.

This card evokes a sense of someone or something watching over us. A spiritual force that provides if only we have the eyes to see.

The colours at the top and bottom make me think of the Aurora borealis, the magnetic field of Earth, the Torus energy field.

I'm not sure the artist had that in mind necessarily when she designed this card but it's funny how unintended connections get made in the process of creation. Unintended connections that ft so well.

This is a real demonstration of the artist's will and intention coming through.

Today is a day to pay extra attention to the things we don't normally see, the beauty and bounty that constantly surround us.

[Joan Marie]

Infinity!

It's nice to be reminded from time to time that while we are free to contemplate and study and learn all we wish, we are not ever expected to know everything. It's really okay.

You don't have to have an opinion or a point of view on everything. You really don't.

These days it seems like we are always called upon to State Our Views on absolutely every topic from political, family, and even the lives of people we don't know at all.

But this card reminds me that, no, no we don't have to comment or even have any opinion on everthing. It isn't even possible and the time is much better spent in contemplation of the vastness of all things.

Our time here is not infinite. Use it wisely.

[Joan Marie]

Wheel of Time

I was just thinking about this earlier, the nature of time.

We are all subject to the varying degrees of time-tyranny imposed on us by jobs and appointments and commitments.

People always say that time is illusory, a human construct. "Age is just a number". Easy to say.

It's our relationship to time that we can work on.

Today is Monday, the day we all traditionally look to the week ahead full of plans to get a ton of things accomplished.

Pamela's guidebook says this card is based on the Tarot Wheel of Fortune Card and it just gives me the feeling that time is maybe something completely disconnected from us, something that rolls on with or without us. The constellations roll by in the sky marking the passing year, but it is we who reduce these magnificent signposts to the minutes and hours on our phones or wrists.

It's good to be reminded occasionally to get some perspective. We can't control time. We shouldn't let it control us. It is neither friend not foe. It is as ephemeral as a snowflake, and that is what I see in this image.

[Joan Marie]

The Weaver

I love this connection between such an ethereal image and the home arts.

I recently took up sewing and I've been watching a ton of youtube videos posted by the most remarkable women who so openly, so generously, share their expertise and skills with every aspect of sewing. I underestimated the "craft."
Taking a flat piece of cloth and turning it into a 3-dimensional wearable sculpture is so much more complex than I think most people understand. It's pretty mind-boggling and I wasn't expecting that. I am convinced that these "Sewists" as they call themselves (no loner "seamstresses") possess a special kind of genius.

Weaving is also utterly magical. Taking a thread or cord or yarn and creating a solid sculpture from it...crazy.

This card makes me realise just how much magic there is in the world that we don't recognise as such and how much of it is disguised as everyday or commonplace. This card reminds me that "crafting" contains "craft."

It is more than a skill to be learned. It is a mindset and focus that brings something of the crafter to the finished piece. This is only achieved by a will, an intention.

[Joan Marie]

I did a little "Card-by-Card" video of the Eternal Seeker Oracle:

[PamelaSteele]

Thank you, Joan Marie.
You always find a fresh way forward and I am grateful for the time you took with the Eternal Seeker Oracle. I am truly honored.
Hugs,
Pamela S

[reall]

Beautiful review & Art! Pamela & her printer did Awesome Publisher Design!
& I luv your original approach to review! we all need reminder to actually stop & truly appreciate gifts we receive!