We are so excited to announce our BIRDS ORACLE DECK! Our own Jessica Blaine Smith has been working on this deck for the past fourteen months and finally it is trickling its way out into the hands of people all over the world. We are getting lots of questions about this deck and about what Oracle cards are so we thought we would do our best to answer those questions!
About the Birds Oracle Deck
Firstly, why birds? Because we love them! We grew up with parents and grandparents who were birders and when we were young our family had Canaries and Zebra Finches as pets. Birds have always been a part of our lives. In April 2017, Jess traveled to Central Australia for a Women’s Retreat where she camped on the Sacred Land with an Aboriginal community. There she slept on the ground in a swag for five nights with no running water or electricity. After the retreat, the women headed to Uluru where they spent a few days soaking in the magic of that heart centre of the world. On the final day there, Jess and her friend Katie were literally driving around that giant Red Rock when Katie suggested that Jess create an Oracle Deck. Cards have been a part of Jess’ life for over twenty years and at this suggestion, she decided that yes, she would create her own deck. Immediately she knew that it would be of Birds from all over the world. Birds that she knew and had personal experiences with, and birds that she dreamed of knowing (like the Dodo, for example!).
Since Jess is firstly a photographer and not much of an illustrator, she reached out to one that she had recently met in Melbourne, Mia Emily Freeman. Jess pitched the idea of creating an Oracle Deck to Mia and the rest, as they say, is history. Jess created the deck, decided on the birds for it and did all of the writing. From there, Mia drew the birds based on her writing and on photographs that Jess provided. It has been a beautiful collaborative journey. In January, to get away from the distractions of real life and to really hunker down on this project, Jess spent a month living in Puerto Escondido, Mexico. There, each morning she would sit on the verandah and write while the birds taunted her from above. The Magnificent Frigatebird and Turkey Vulture cards came from these mornings. This deck was birthed in Australia, it grew in Toronto and it really came alive in Mexico. Now, fourteen months later it is a real thing that you can hold in your hands. What a magical adventure it has been!
The Birds Oracle Deck contains 44 full colour cards printed on anti-scratch matte 350 gsm paper (that means they are real thick!). They come housed in a matching box that has beautiful gold foil lettering. The deck is accompanied by a 100 page book that contains all of the juicy information about the deck and the cards including how to use the deck and all of the details for each bird. For each bird featured in the Birds Oracle Deck, there is a description of the bird, the meaning for the card, the guts for the card that dives in deep to the meaning and then An Ask. An Ask is great if you are looking to really explore the meaning of the card and if you want to work your way through it. An Ask contains questions to guide you in doing so, whether this be by writing about it in your journal or just working it through in your mind.
About Oracle Decks
Oracle Decks are much like Tarot Decks which often people are more familiar with. With Tarot Decks, there are 78 cards that are divided into four suits and the Major Arcana. With Oracle Decks, there are basically no rules about what they can be. They can be organised in suits or they don’t have to be and an Oracle Deck can contain any number of cards. Basically, it’s the rogue version of Tarot! For the Birds Oracle Deck, there are no suits and the cards are organised in alphabetical order to make it easy for you to find them in the book.
How to Use your Oracle Deck
As mentioned above, there are really no rules for using Oracle Decks! It’s really up to what feels good for you. For us, they are something that we use in our daily lives. For Jess, she pulls a card from her deck every morning after her daily meditation. This card is then used as something to think about throughout the day, to help with any current issues or feelings, or to generally set a tone for the day.
When there is an issue or something specific that needs to be worked out, you can do a specific card draw for that. There are countless numbers of card draws that you can do (Google is a great friend for this!) but one basic one is a three card draw where the first card can represent your Past, the second card your Present and the final card your Future. Alternatively, you can use the threes cards as: Mind, Body and Spirit. Seriously though, there are no rules when working with Oracle cards. Just give yourself some space to get quiet and grounded and then choose a card. The more you work with your deck, the more you will realise just how accurate to your life the cards can be. Seriously, your deck will become a great friend to you!
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If you have any other questions about Oracle Cards or specifically about the Birds Oracle Deck, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are always here for you!