Chakra Wisdom Oracle

Short fables uncovered through angelic encounters are combined with the colours of the chakras to produce the Chakra Wisdom Oracle. The philosophy driving this oracle is “enlightenment made simple,” and I feel it most definitely meets its brief. It’s easy to use and beautiful to look at without compromising its integrity. As can be seen by the cards pictured below, there’s a good balance between “things are great” type messages and “you need to take note of this” directives. Even though it was published in 2014 it is only a new addition to my collection, albeit one I’m really glad to have added.

The Chakra Wisdom Oracle Deck

As the pictures above show, the artwork is beautiful and when coupled with the keywords, easy to interpret. Obviously the borders play an integral part because they depict the chakra, but they do more than that. The artwork has been cleverly coloured so the border complements the picture rather than just acting as a signifier. The huge keyword could be placed in a smaller box – it’s definitely not subtle – and yet strangely my eye isn’t drawn to it in readings.

I saw the Chakra Wisdom Oracle for the first time on Instagram and the guy talking about it was saying that the image doesn’t gel with the message in the book. However, I tend to disagree with him. When you acknowledge the “legend” behind the card’s creation the imagery is apt and together they share a well put together message.

In addition, I really enjoy the artwork. I find the images beautiful as stand alone paintings. As I alluded to in the intro though, that’s not to say that every card is syrupy and sweet. The Grief card touches me. I find it so heart-breaking and so beautiful all at the same time and the card back would be up there on my list of favourites.

I have to admit I started writing this whilst at my daughter’s house and I worried because I just couldn’t get it started. I crossed out the entire first paragraph because I couldn’t connect my words with the deck. I didn’t know what I was trying to say. Fast forward to when I was back at home and sitting in my office and not trying to squeeze every working minute out of my day and the words began to flow freely.

Sometimes it’s just not the right time and that’s okay. And sometimes no matter how much we love doing something we have to give ourselves permission to take a break without feeling guilty. Point taken. Even when I wasn’t directly trying to read with them they got a message across. 🙂

The cards measure approximately 7½ x 11½ cm and are printed on stiff-ish card stock. They are easy to shuffle overhand but for me I find that I can only comfortably riffle shuffle corner to corner. Maybe that will change as they wear in a bit. Some card edges were slightly damaged straight out out the box unfortunately so I can’t say how long it will hold up. But, that being said I haven’t held back when shuffling the deck and there has been no additional signs of wear. This suggests maybe the damage was done during creation rather than packaging.

What a great natural segue into the packaging. I love it because it’s different. The outer box is solid – always a huge plus in my eyes. What I love is that the box pulls out like a drawer via a ribbon tab. The cards nestle snuggly inside with the book sitting on top. I’m a sucker for little touches that show that someone paid attention to every detail.

The Chakra Wisdom Oracle Book

The A6 sized book begins with an explanation of the origin of the deck and then suggests ways you can work with the cards. Beyond the obvious seeking answers to questions or insights on a particular situation, she highlights they can be used to “help you set intentions” and thus as a manifestation tool. I’m keen to work with them in this way.

As I’ve said before, I tend to allocate “roles” for my cards as I find certain decks work better for certain questions/situations. This is obviously flexible and sometimes I’m guided to use a particular deck in a different way to usual. But then I find my choice to do so already forms part of the answer. However, I’m digressing so back to the Chakra Wisdom Oracle. When I did my deck interview spread with this deck it suggested it was great for readings when feelings of guilt and obligation are stopping people from doing what it is they want and personally need to do. It will be interesting to see how that pans out but I can see many ways to incorporate the cards with this focus in mind so I’m pretty excited.

Another suggested use for it is as a tool for meditation. Any deck can be used in this way but this deck offers a meditation with each card to help get yo started. This provides a way to gain greater clarity from a reading too. It’s also a great trigger for journaling.

Unsurprisingly, the cards meanings are grouped by colour. At the start of each colour is a very basic, very, very basic, overview of the chakra followed by a page that expresses each cards meaning “at a glance.” Next are the individual card’s meanings complete with a full colour thumbnail-sized image. Each card’s page begins with the Legend that inspired it followed by sections titled Inspiration, Personal Inquiry, (which offers up some great questions for journaling), Key Ideas, Keywords and finally it ends with a Meditation.

The book wraps up with a “Layouts” chapter that includes ten spreads. As part of my review I do all the spreads in the book so this one took a while and gave me a lot to think about. The readings were straight to the point. No hiding for me in the answers they gave which confirms for me that although pretty, this doesn’t compromise the message.

Finally, I love decks that have an actual story/legend attached to each card. For example Llewellyn Tarot and Tarot of the Divine. I feel they offer a powerful way into the card. I must admit that in this case some of the stories are more memorable than others but they do help connect the card image with the meaning.

Spreads

As I have already mentioned, 10 spreads are included in the book.

• Single Card
• Two Card
• Three Card
• Is your intention authentic? (4 cards)
• Intention for love (4 cards)
• Intention for wealth (4 cards)
• Removing blocks (4 cards)
• Your career path (5 cards)
• The Chakra Layout (7 cards)

This oracle definitely benefits from the inclusion of these spreads and the book itself. Together they offer so many ways to work with the cards and I can really see myself spending time with this deck. It really encourages you to take ownership of your life which is something that is very near and dear to my heart.

Publishing Details

Deck Creator:

Tori Hartman

Illustrated by:

Gretchen Raisch-Baskin

Pictured Version:

Published by Watkins Publishing, 2004