Divine Doors

I bought Divine Doors simply because I like doors and since it isn’t an expensive deck I didn’t feel guilty about indulging my fancy. Rather than an oracle these cards remind me of a fortune cookie. I don’t mean that in a disparaging way. Quite the opposite. I believe you’ll find their insights run much deeper than you may expect.

Each card features a picture of a door on one side with a few lines of poetic inspiration on the other. To be honest I had semi forgotten about these cards until my grandson grabbed them off the shelf and started to use them like a telephone. It seems he had a message for me because I’ve enjoyed being re-acquainted with them over the past few days. So, I’ve decided to share them here.

The Hidden Door Cards

As you can see above, Divine Doors incorporates a variety of doors and “doorways”. The front of the box reads “Behind every door lies adventure, mystery and inspiration,” and that is the approach I take to the cards. Each doorway serves as a portal. Even though the cards have a message on the back, I like to look at them and imagine what, or who, lies in wait behind the door. There is a sense of magic – a little Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe – about them.

For the most part I find the image aligns with the message. For example, when I look at the card on the left I feel as if there are eyes looking out at me. Is it a dragon? Maybe it’s a crystal inlay – Malachite and Azurite. I’m not sure what it is but I want to find out. The back of the card tells me it is Three-Eyed Raven with a message to “prepare for the unexpected.” I think imagining a dragon is waiting behind the door is pretty unexpected.

The middle door shows the layers that lie beneath the painted surface so it is no surprise to read the message “Deeper. You are not finished, you are not yet done Dig deeper and deeper the best is to come. Hold on, hold on …” Now I want to see what lies beneath the three layers I can see. If I imagine myself as the door I have to wonder what is still to come. These cards are only 5cm x 10cm but they pack a lot into their small size.

If you were familiar with any of my personal photography you would know I am partial to a path or two as well. I love taking photos of pathways and seats. The significance of the two together has just clicked for me. Since, on the final card pictured above, the path is on the other side of the doorway, it is calling to you to begin. Or that’s what came straight to mind when I looked at the card. Flipping the card over it says, “Begin here. Do not fear what travel brings, my dear. The moment is yours; begin, now, here.”

Above are the actual card backs for the previous three cards. I’m not sure what the “Pass this card on” is meant to mean. I understand the words but not the relevance. Some cards have a message, like the first one, some say to pass it on and others say nothing. This is only a 40 card deck and there are no double-ups for those cards so I’m not sure. If you were to actually pass those cards on it would be down to a 30 card deck. There is no book so there is nothing to explain the idea.

I understand paying things forward but on a card like Deeper where you are being urged to go deeper and deeper I would have thought this card only being able to present itself once is not enough. But I’ll move on because I cannot provide an answer.

The cards above provide further examples of how the card images suggest the message. Even though I am not religious in a traditional sense, when I look at the first card it feels church-like and I imagine it as a sanctuary. I will photograph the backs and present them below so you can see how my interpretations and the creator’s intentions align.

It isn’t a big leap to see the middle door and think of The Hobbit and Bilbo Baggin’s exclaiming, “I’m going on an adventure.” I also get hermit vibes and remember his initial refusal to go. As someone who is quite claustrophobic I experience a blend of curiosity and anxiety when I look at this card. The meaning feels so appropriate. “Nomad. The Nomadic wanderer lies deep inside so take the leap now; don’t crawl back and hide.” I am finding that many of the cards I have selected, (based on the cards that jumped out at me as I flicked through), have a message I need to hear at the moment. That is what makes this a great little deck.

The angle taken on the final card of the three tells me to look up. I also imagine a lot of power contained behind those doors. Entering feels a little intimidating but there is almost a command to do so. Interesting when you consider the message on the backside that you can see below under the heading Freedom Flows.

There are some cards that aren’t so obvious. Well, not to me anyhow. I see them slightly differently to the message provided. The cards pictured below provide three examples.

On the first card I’m not so sure about entering this door. It feels like a doorway Indiana Jones might be searching for. I’m not that physically adventurous and my knowledge of hieroglyphs and cuneiform is pretty non-existent so I wouldn’t be that safe either. However, when I turn the card over I needn’t have worried. It reads, “Hummingbird Song – Nectar of Sweetness, in joy it brings the hummingbird’s healing as medicine it sings.” I love hummingbirds but they do not come to mind in the slightest when I look at this door.

The next door looks like it has a lock on it but the door is ajar. I’ve watched too many police procedurals to feel comfortable with this door. So much so that until I read the back I didn’t even notice the lotus-like engraving on the ground. This name of this card is “The Sacred Lotus.” The message reads, “Compassion in action, the chosen tool I see now the lotus in your spirit’s jewel.” With this card I also think that setting yourself up to rhyme card meanings can sometimes lead you astray.

The final door I sort of see the intention but it isn’t what first comes to mind. Let me back up a bit. When I look at this door it feels light and airy. I imagine inside to be just as bright and well-kept so it feels welcoming. I am also transported to Mykonos. But that wasn’t my first thought. In a way it does align more to the meaning given for the card though. “The Odyssey – Take in the beauty of country lands and botany, Explore the wonder like a gypsy traveller’s odyssey.” However, regardless whether I’m working with oracle or tarot cards, I believe in trusting what comes to mind and then using the card’s meaning to add to my insights rather than replace them. I study extensively but with the intention of giving my intuition more to work with.

The Divine Doors Guide Book

Since there is no book to accompany the cards you’re free to do whatever works for you. The only instruction creator, Andres Engracia, includes with the Divine Doors is this:

Behind the door, all questions reside
Turn the handle, and step inside.
Intuitive guidance is your natural call,
lay out the cards or let them fall.
Close your eyes and open your heart, 
the mystery is a form of art.
Hold a question dear to mind,
turn the page to see what you find. 

So, the choice is yours. I am glad my grandson was being cheeky and grabbed these cards and ran. If not, because of where I keep them in my office, it may have taken me much longer to work with them again. Now I feel the Divine Doors are urging me to have a little faith and start stepping through some of the doorways that I have been too cautious to enter.

Summaries

The Divine Doors Cards

Creator	Andres Engracia
Card Size	5cm x 10cm
Card Stock	Flexible, quite glossy cardstock
Shuffle	Easy to shuffle straight out of the box
Fan & Flip Through	Easy to fan, flip through, and generally handle
Miscellaneous	Solid box with magnetic seal No guidebook (No not a pirate copy. It’s how it comes straight from Rockpool Publishing)

Publishing Details

Deck Creator:

Andres Engracia

Pictured Version:

Published by Rockpool Publishing in 2019