Oracles: Rachelcat reads for Charlie Brown

[Rachelcat]

Hi! Thanks for leading us once again!

Are you up for a challenge? Since we’re working with spreads created for the specific oracle, this deck sprang to mind: The Celtic Book of the Dead by Caitlin Matthews. We draw a card to choose a journey through the other world, either outbound (into the mystery or inside the self) or return to the real world. Each spread has the same 9 positions, but in different orders. This would be good for a “what do I really want” kind of question.

Or we could use Bachblüten Devas, which is a German deck of Bach flower remedies. I made up the spread for this one. For this reading, choose a trait or quality you have that you’d like to have less of or get rid of, or a trait or quality you’d like to develop.

If neither of these appeal, give me a question, and I’ll pick out a deck that I think will work. (I only have 128 oracle decks, so I should be able to come up with something!)

Oh! Or there is Russian Gypsy Fortune Telling Cards, which you read by seeing if the four corners of an illustration come together in the spread!

Sorry, I’m having an oracle geek moment. Please let me know what you’d like to do, and I promise I’ll behave better going forward!

[Charlie Brown]

Thanks, RachelCat. I really like the sound of the Celtic Book of the Dead. I think that I had been planning to ask something along the lines of "How can I become a more positive person?" Would that work well? If not, I'll go with what do I really want or else we can maybe rework that first question into something doable.

fun.

[Rachelcat]

You got it! I think that's a fine question. Who knows what we'll find out! I found the book, now I have to find the cards!

[Rachelcat]

The Celtic Book of the Dead is based on medieval Irish literature describing wondrous voyages to the land of faery in the West. Positions are realms and cards are islands the voyagers encountered. As I mentioned already, you choose a card to choose and outbound or homebound journey. Plus there are optional gift cards to choose from, too. It came complete with the spread cloth, which doesn't look too bad in the photo.

How can CB become a more positive person?

Guide: the Every-Living Lady
She’s the guide for an outbound journey, so that’s the spread we use.

Harbor, where you are now: Island of the Shuttered Door
You are closed off to your positivity. You know the potential is there, you just don’t know how to access it.

Realm of Many Colors, source of question: Island of the Four Fences
There are fences dividing the people: Kings, queens, warriors, and maidens. More about being closed off. Once again, you know the positivity you seek is in you, but in which compartment?

Realm of Heart’s Desire, aim of your quest: Island of the Hermit
The hermit nourishes travelers with the appropriate food for the appropriate feast or fast day. Your ideal state is to be positive in the right way at the right times.

Realm of Terrors, your fears and uncertainties: Island of Joy
You fear that happiness is just an illusion, that optimism and positivity are for suckers and fools.

Realm of Youth, your strengths and abilities: Island of Berries
Ok, I don’t think your strength is drunkenness! Ah, the book offers that this is also a card of relief, healing, and convalescence. You have the ability to take care of yourself by resting, getting enough sleep, and taking it easy when you need to. That is definitely a help to a positive attitude.

Realm of Glass, who or what hinders you: Island of the Revolving Beast
This poor critter never stops turning and never stops transforming. Outside influences (coworkers, family members?) are making it very difficult for you to use your strength of rest and relaxation. They expect you to keep moving all the time. Exhausting!

Realm of Fair Women, who or what helps you: Island of Cannibal Horses
Ok, here’s card reading challenge! How could these beasts help you? Someone very powerful is in a position to stop the previous people from putting you through your paces all the time. You might want to find out who that is, but make sure they don’t turn on you instead!

Realm of Wonders, hidden gifts: Island of Women
This is the true paradise of heart’s desire and enchantment, as opposed to the Island of Joy, which was more about forgetfulness. This card says that what you seek really is hidden inside you, it’s been there all the time.

Landfall, resolution to question: Sea of Glass
The answer to your question is simply one of seeing clearly. Yes, what you want has been there all the time, but in order to have it, you have to see it. Perhaps the advice is to meditate or use divination (!) to concentrate on finding what’s already there.

Extra Gift: The Apple
The book says “desire fulfilled, wholeness, healing. Eliminate the ‘oughts’ and ‘shoulds’ from your heart.” Good advice for finding positivity and peace!

Wow, I think this reading really worked! The cannibal horses had me going for a while though! I hope it was an interesting exercise for you, and I hope it helps. It all looks very positive from here!

[Charlie Brown]

Oh, crap. I've come back only to find that my draft feedback apparently didn't save. So thank you, Rachelcat, for the thoughtful and intriguing reading but it will take me longer to get back to you with the feedback.

[Charlie Brown]

Thanks again for the reading. There was a lot there to look at and think about and I enjoyed getting it very much. Since we don't do a lot of oracle reading around here, I wanted to be sure to give you as full feedback as possible. I do wish that the picture had been a little bigger/higher res. If I could see the images better I could probably have a little more insight into some of the trickier cards. It isn't like I can just think 'oh, 2 of cups' and have a sense of what that's going to mean. Berries and Revolving Beasts don't have any inherent meaning to me.

Harbor, where you are now: Island of the Shuttered Door
You are closed off to your positivity. You know the potential is there, you just don’t know how to access it.

I guess this is fair. If I'm going to play with the metaphor of the Shuttered Door, though, I might say that it isn't so much that I'm closed off to it but, rather, that I'm ignorant of what's behind it. In tarot terms, it's more that I don't know what's behind the High Priestesses curtain, not that I'm not open to it. I think what I'm looking for has more to do with learning habits of mind and action rather than embracing a particular state of being. If that makes sense.

Realm of Many Colors, source of question: Island of the Four Fences
There are fences dividing the people: Kings, queens, warriors, and maidens. More about being closed off. Once again, you know the positivity you seek is in you, but in which compartment?

That's interesting that that would come up. Something I've been thinking about in relation to all the stuff that motivated my question is wondering a lot about "who am I?" I think the idea that I am/we are lots of different people or roles: king, queen, warrior, etc. the balance of which is inconstant may be more accurate than the idea that I have some kind of core immutable self. If so, questions about positivity and happiness don't have to be about what makes me happy, but can be reformulated as how can I adapt in order to foster these actions and feelings.

Realm of Heart’s Desire, aim of your quest: Island of the Hermit
The hermit nourishes travelers with the appropriate food for the appropriate feast or fast day. Your ideal state is to be positive in the right way at the right times.

This idea of right ways and times echoes the idea that we're a blend of roles and personae.

Realm of Terrors, your fears and uncertainties: Island of Joy
You fear that happiness is just an illusion, that optimism and positivity are for suckers and fools.

Not so much that they're for suckers and fools but that they're closed off to me and/or that I'm incapable of it. If we recast the Shuttered Door the way I suggested, this card then would seem directly connected. I'll either never see or never understand what's behind the High Priestesses curtain.

Realm of Youth, your strengths and abilities: Island of Berries
Ok, I don’t think your strength is drunkenness!

You would be wrong.

Ah, the book offers that this is also a card of relief, healing, and convalescence. You have the ability to take care of yourself by resting, getting enough sleep, and taking it easy when you need to. That is definitely a help to a positive attitude.

Yes. Things have taken a turn for the worse recently as circumstances have forced deterioration to my SNAP (sleep, nutrition, activity, personal time). You're right that these things do affect me and do help engender positivity. Drawing it back, it's another manifestation that I'm not entirely a fixed self. At least in part, I am what I eat, so to speak.

Realm of Glass, who or what hinders you: Island of the Revolving Beast
This poor critter never stops turning and never stops transforming. Outside influences (coworkers, family members?) are making it very difficult for you to use your strength of rest and relaxation. They expect you to keep moving all the time. Exhausting!

Hmmmm....that's interesting. This might be the most curious card in the reading to me. Given what I've been talking about in the feedback, the idea of continuous transformation as exhausting and strength sapping may undercut what I've been saying or, maybe, that I need to worry less about it and just let it happen. On the other hand though, your specific interpretation regarding outside influences seems to ring true. All of the present circumstances with the quarantines and closures and shortages and cramped quarters are making it hard to get that SNAP and, in turn, that has a series of deleterious, cascading effects.

Realm of Fair Women, who or what helps you: Island of Cannibal Horses
Ok, here’s card reading challenge! How could these beasts help you? Someone very powerful is in a position to stop the previous people from putting you through your paces all the time. You might want to find out who that is, but make sure they don’t turn on you instead!

Are you calling my fair women beastly?

Realm of Wonders, hidden gifts: Island of Women
This is the true paradise of heart’s desire and enchantment, as opposed to the Island of Joy, which was more about forgetfulness. This card says that what you seek really is hidden inside you, it’s been there all the time.

Well the women in my life are my biggest blessing and I want to be better primarily so that I can be better for them. Please note that, at this point, I deleted something of a filthy bon mot regarding beastly women and things that might be hidden inside of me.

Landfall, resolution to question: Sea of Glass
The answer to your question is simply one of seeing clearly. Yes, what you want has been there all the time, but in order to have it, you have to see it. Perhaps the advice is to meditate or use divination (!) to concentrate on finding what’s already there.

There are none so blind as those who will not see.

Extra Gift: The Apple
The book says “desire fulfilled, wholeness, healing. Eliminate the ‘oughts’ and ‘shoulds’ from your heart.” Good advice for finding positivity and peace!

I think that last card is extremely important. The way I'm thinking about it, a large part of positivity is encountering things in the moment, as they are, and perhaps seeing the opportunities there. "Oughts" and "shoulds" are, pretty much by definition, not taking things as they come. It's setting something against something else in way that highlights the flaws rather than the potential.

[Rachelcat]

Some fair women can be quite beastly! Sorry I missed your bon mot!

Thank you for the feedback. I got the feeling this is a positive, encouraging reading. I'm interested to see the detail you got out of it. Yes, I agree the last gift card is probably most important.

Here's the Revolving Beast. It sounds mysterious, but when I found out what it's doing, I just feel sorry for it.

Drunkenness as a strength. Made me lol!