Tarot card vs Oracle card

Belle · #1 08-11-2015, 08:18 PM

I'm ignorant, what's the difference!

Please help me

#2 08-11-2015, 11:45 PM

This post http://www.spiritualforums.com/vb/sh...85&postcount=7 explains a bit about the differences between tarot and oracle (ignore the rant, I get carried away when people apply superstitious myth to tarot)

The main difference between tarot and oracle is the set structure. They can be used in pretty much the same way although oracles are usually suited to smaller spreads as they give more of a 'snapshot' of an issue, tarot can go more in depth ie deeper into the why's, the how's and the what's.

Tarot is a set of 78 cards (it's fashionable these days though to add one or two more the deck). It will normally have 22 Majors, 56 Minors broken down into 4 suits pertaining to an area of the human experience and court cards. Each card has limitless meanings but usually fits within a certain parameter, eg 3 of Swords is never going to portray 'happy ever after' or 10 of Cups would hardly ever show up for 'sucks to be me'.

Oracles decks have no set numbers and decks can contain anything from approx. 36 cards up to 80+ cards. They have no 'set' structure although some decks have 'a' stucture. They can be (and are best when) read intuitively but most decks come with a guide book, which can be helpful to explain what the artist was trying to portray. I always go with what I feel from an image which may be miles away from what the deck creator envisions which is the fun thing about oracles, it let's your intuition just flow.
The best decks for this are Soul Cards 1 & 2 as they don't come with a guide book. You define your interpretations, although they can be quite jarring and produce really visceral reactions. If you don't feel ready to face your hidden/darker side then they are best avoided

Excellent starter decks would be any by Colette Baron-Reid or Lucy Cavendish but there are literally hundreds out there, it's a case of finding a deck whose images speak to you (just like tarot).

Sorry for the ramble, but I hope that clears it up a bit.

Belle · #3 10-11-2015, 06:58 AM

That's so helpful thank you and sorry to dupe the question.

#4 10-11-2015, 09:31 AM

Not a problem, when I first started tarot I'd never even heard of oracle decks, let alone knew how they differed. When I found out about them though I was like a kid in a sweet shop

Not every tarot reader uses them and not every orace reader uses tarot but I find them to be a nice accompaniment.
Some oracles are great teamed up with specific tarot decks (although it's personal preferance as to which ones).
Aeclectic Tarot has a great index of a lot of available decks, as does Blue Angel publishing and Hay House on tumblr (not allowed to post the links but Google brings them up), Hay House tumblr site allows you to 'draw cards' and gives you the guidebook info so it's a nice way to have a play with the different decks if you find them interesting.

FairyCrystal · #5 10-11-2015, 11:28 AM

Now I have a question coming up, after reading that link, haha.
I'll make a new thread as it is off topic

Puggy · #6 12-11-2015, 05:21 AM

I tend to use oracle cards after a tarot reading to help summerise things.

StarNumber · #7 13-11-2015, 05:24 PM

Thank you, Pisces Moon. I never understand what oracles cards were. I had just worked with Tarot cards. I will look into the oracle cards.

Treehugger · #8 24-11-2015, 10:22 PM

Thank you, Pisces Moon, for your condensed, easy to understand explanation!!

I love my oracle cards but I feel I need to study up on the tarot before starting.

tealily · #9 24-11-2015, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Treehugger

Thank you, Pisces Moon, for your condensed, easy to understand explanation!!

I love my oracle cards but I feel I need to study up on the tarot before starting.

Personal opinion, I would LOVE to see an established oracle reader go into tarot guns blazing 'LWB-be-screwed'. I know the people at AT might go into apoplexy over that, but I'd actually be very keen to see how it works, and believe it might be possible to do a decent/good read still (everything Pisces Moon wrote about Tarot being another kind of Oracle makes perfect sense to me).

TiedSnake · #10 25-11-2015, 12:05 AM

I like to scribble words on playing cards and use them for Oracle cards. They don't offer the same artistic effect but work the same way. I've got some folk magic based 32 card decks, my favorite so far is my 50 cent Lenormand deck. Cut the deck to 36 by removing the 2,3,4, and 5's and use some of the extensive online info to name and add keywords. The best thing about playing cards is you can buy heaps of them cheap so you can make different decks as you see fit :)