Everything starts with intention. If you start with a clear intention you can’t go wrong. You close your eyes, ask your question or focus on your issue and you reach for a card.
But which deck are you choosing? Maybe you didn’t realize there was a difference between tarot and oracle cards. Or maybe you felt intimidated by choosing a deck at all. Or perhaps you’re a collector of decks, like me. Wherever you are in your journey, cards are one of my favorite magical tools for guidance.
So what’s the difference?
tarot cards
A tarot card deck is specific. Each deck has 78 cards (22 Major Arcana, 56 minor cards), they will pretty much always be the same, with some variations on art and names of cards.
When you get a Tarot deck, it will always have this structure. There are also specific spreads that are typically used. I find that a tarot spread tells a story. Having a good tarot reading can shed light on your issues. Part of that is in the knowing how to read them. That doesn’t mean you should steer away from a tarot deck just because you don’t know how to read it exactly. It is a learnable skill.
But I don’t believe anything has to be any one way. I am by no means an expert tarot reader. But I love my tarot deck (and the accompanying booklet), which I use with my own intuition and it still works.
oracle cards
Oracle cards have no rules. There can be any amount of cards in a deck and the images and what they mean can be whatever the creator decides. They are mostly used in an intuitive way, though you can use specific card spreads. There is a lot of variety for oracle cards. There can be daily affirmation oracle cards and also ones that can be used for deeper divination work.
Sometimes I feel very drawn to one specific deck. Other times I feel a need to combine my decks. I recently read about someone who combines both her tarot and oracle deck. She uses the oracle deck as a general picture and then uses the tarot deck to give her the details.
Let your intuition be your guide. If you don’t feel secure in your intuition that’s ok, just go with it. Cards help you confirm and validate your own intuition.
All cards help you connect to Divine Guidance. They bring clarity and direction. If you are a newbie, I recommend starting with an oracle deck to play with because it’s so easy to understand. Ultimately tarot and oracles card are guides to your already inner knowing. They help you see what you already know deep inside, so you can’t go wrong.
So how do you choose a deck? Like everything else, choose what you’re drawn to. I choose based on the art, and often I’ll choose based on the creator of the deck to see if I feel aligned with them. You can also choose based on a topic of the cards. I love Queen of the Moon Oracle by Stacey DeMarco and my Sun and Moon Tarot deck by Vanessa Decort. There are so many cards out there! HayHouse and Amazon have a wide assortment of cards.
Do you have a favorite deck?
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