THE LISTENING ORACLE
This deck was designed to support you through your creative practice.
The intention of this deck is to help guide users through the creative process. These cards represent milestones in making art or living an examined life. A few examples are Behind Anger Is Fear or Why Do We Worry? As a lifelong artist and creative, Lettie Jane has ridden the wild ups and downs of creation for most of her life. She still strives to make sense of the times it doesn’t feel good and the times it does, that’s where this deck comes in. This oracle deck invites you to draw a card when you feel blocked, feel vulnerable, or before sitting down to write. Like a good friend, the cards are affirming, gently guiding, and will leave you feeling that you are not alone.
What is an oracle deck?
An oracle deck is a collection of cards used for divination, spiritual insight, and self-discovery, designed to provide guidance and foster intuition. Unlike tarot decks, which follow a strict structure of 78 cards divided into Major and Minor Arcana, oracle decks have no standardized format; their number of cards, themes, imagery, and meanings are entirely determined by the creator (in this case, me!)
This deck uses a circular card format. The circle allows the card reader to pull a card at a variety of angles, rocking them slightly towards the left, right, upside down or center. It gives the card’s meanings a softer feeling and more complex interpretations.
(excerpt from the booklet)
33. DREAM TIME
This card indicates a time when it’s important to pay attention to your dream life. Be sure to get enough sleep. If you’ve kept a dream journal in the past, bring it out and reread your dreams. Keep a pencil and paper by the bed to jot down any thoughts you might have in the morning. Spend time in bed reading, resting, and watching a movie. Your body is asking you for more rest, more time horizontal. This card is permitting you to enter into the cocoon. This is a space where you don’t need to generate projects, you can just be.
← You may feel like you are avoiding household tasks, falling behind on the laundry, failing to pay the bills, and dreading dealing with anything. Are you able to take a real break? Are you able to spend one day in bed resting? It might feel like procrastination, but if you can truly let your body and your mind rest, you will have the energy and time to fold the laundry, look at your bank account, and put away the dishes. Some lethargy can indicate a period of depression, in which even tiny steps are helpful to get us back on track. This card is instead about taking a full-stop break, letting yourself be for a short period. You will be able to get up again and the tasks ahead will feel more manageable.
→ On the other side of rest is the excitement to get up and get going again. When this card shows itself in this orientation you have taken the time to let your body rest and are beginning to feel the urge to create again. Your imagination might spark on little things: the shadows on the sidewalk, the sound of a car passing, the way the light comes through a window. Capture these moments, your creativity is coming back.
Reversed: It’s time to get up. Move your body, stretch, go for a walk. Today is the day to begin again. Your body has rested and is ready to move again. Get back to the drawing table, pick up your guitar, write one haiku a day. It is time to get back to your creative practice. Be grateful that you have taken the time to rest and know that you have the tools you need to make your work.
(excerpt from the booklet)
44. IF IT PLEASES ME
This card is an invitation to trust in your own opinion. Oriente yourself towards what you love. Fill your space with things that bring you joy. This might be a good time to do some house cleaning. It’s okay to get rid of anything that doesn’t bring you absolute joy, donate it, put it in a free box, regift it, or just throw it away. It’s imperative to get rid of anything that makes you feel bad: the sweater you hate but feel like you have to keep because it was so expensive, the dish towel your friend made for you that really isn’t your thing, the book you haven’t read and when you check in with yourself, know you will never read. It is okay to get rid of these things, appreciate the love that brought them into your life and then say goodbye.
If you love to dance, dance, if you love to paint, paint, if you love to play the accordion, play the accordion. We need more people practicing what they love. Joy is the answer, joy is resistance, joy will guide you.
