The Rose Oracle - MJS Tarot

I saw The Grandmothers card on You Tube and, quite unexpectedly, it connected me with an aspect of myself I had buried. It’s The Rose Oracle that urged me to connect with the Divine Feminine. Prior to reading the companion book I had no idea why. The second verse of the Rose Oracle Attunement, that comes printed both on a card and within the guidebook, explains the intention behind The Rose Oracle and helped me recognise why it called to me so strongly. It aligns with my personal intention.

‘May it be a gateway for all to return to ourselves, the Earth, and each other. May our connection with the voice of our soul be made stronger with every use.’

The Rose Oracle Deck

For a long time I have felt like I didn’t fit in anywhere. I existed in a liminal space. I felt different. These cards urged me to see that difference doesn’t separate us; it unites us. Together we create the whole. Even though The Rose Oracle celebrates and urges us to connect with the Divine Feminine, it doesn’t dismiss the importance and power of the Divine Masculine. Instead it acknowledges and respects its importance. We don’t need to be either/or. Nor do we need to denigrate aspects of ourselves in order to promote a certain way of being. In fact, embracing our differences allows us to find our commonalities and to connect with our true selves and the truth in others.

The Rose Oracle is a very healing deck because it promotes these ideas without any sense of judgement. There are many ways to connect. We just need to reach out in ways that are comfortable for us.

This deck is perfect for those who believe in the importance and role of ancestral work in healing. It gently nudges you to explore in that direction and encourages you to unravel both your own stories and the stories of those that came before. It helps to bring them to life and present them in a new light.

Awareness allows us to change deeply entrenched patterns. Acknowledging that you can choose which ways of being to bring forward into the present and future and which thoughts, stories and beliefs will end with you, can be cathartic and truly life changing. I don’t say that lightly. In order to find answers, we have to be prepared to ask the difficult questions. The Rose Oracle helps you to feel supported during the process.

The imagery is soft and beautiful and to be honest not something I would have gravitated towards in the past. I probably wasn’t ready. The pale peachy pinks and greens blend so seamlessly it can be easy to miss the complexities contained within the images. But, if you take the time to connect with the card you see that rarely is anyone alone in the image and if they are there is always the sense that they are fully supported. On an intellectual level most of us know we are never truly alone but that doesn’t mean we don’t feel that way sometimes – maybe even often. The stunning artwork on these cards can remind us of this if we forget.

Others may work with The Rose Oracle very differently, but for me, its strength is in its ability to encourage you to connect with your ancestry and with yourself so you can reclaim all that you’ve loved, all that you are, and all that is important to you.

The cards themselves are 9 x 12.5cm with a rose petal finish that makes them a bit clumpy to over hand shuffle. They do riffle shuffle well though. The card name is printed in upper case and a little bit thicker than the keywords so it appears larger without actually being so. It’s easy to take in at a glance. I don’t tend to notice the keywords when I look at the image because the background colour of the label blends beautifully with the card as a whole. I like this. The keywords messages are clear and can help guide your understanding, but they don’t dominate. Therefore if you intuit a different sense from the card, the keywords don’t interrupt the “conversation” at all.

The Rose Oracle comes packaged in an interesting solid two part box that is intended to act as a stand as well. I personally don’t use it in this way but I like the packaging all the same. I was disappointed to find that whilst Rebecca Campbell’s Starseed Oracle has the same packaging, her Work the Light Oracle doesn’t. As someone who, for the most part, keeps my decks in their original boxes I always appreciate creators putting time and effort into their packaging.

The Rose Oracle Book

The Rose Oracle comes with a comprehensive 151-paged, card-sized book. Opening with a section titled, ‘The Rose: The Ancient Mysteries of the Rose’ that shares Campbell’s connection to the rose and the history of the rose including its mythological associations adds an interesting dimension to the book.

The second section focuses on working with the deck. Here you’ll find suggestions on how to use the box as a portable altar and as a tool to layout the suggested spreads. Next is the card messages and interpretations section. This is presented in alphabetical order as the cards are not numbered. There’s a small black and white image of the card with pink trimmings which is in keeping with the pink highlights used throughout the book. The card title is printed in pink with the keywords underneath in black. This is necessary as they are too hard to read on the small reproductions of the cards.

Interpretations for the cards are metaphoric and poetic yet still clear and easy to connect with. They’re not abstract. Nor are they overly “flowery” or clever for the sake of show. Some may be a tad borderline in this regards, but for the most part they are well written and the metaphors evoke a deep sense of understanding. They are relatable and direct.

Each card meaning concludes with a ‘Soul Inquiry’ or a ‘Rose Transmission’. The Soul Inquiry suggests questions to consider. For example, on the ‘Code of Seeds’ card pictured below the questions are, ‘What’s your soul calling you to do? and ‘What’s one baby step you can take?’ The Rose Transmission for ‘Sophia’, also pictured below, is ‘I trust in the divine plan, activate the intelligence within my cells, and unlock and act on my most expansive destiny now.’ What you do or don’t do with these is obviously entirely up to you. If they resonate with you – great. If they don’t, they don’t. As always I encourage everyone to work with their cards however they see fit.

At the end of the book there’s a ‘Going Deeper’ section which directs you to the website and courses, and other decks and books by the deck creator. There’s also a bibliography which allows you to investigate further if you’re interested, an ‘About the Creator’ page with links to her socials, and an ‘About the Artist’ page that provides the same.

Spreads

There are five spreads in the book:

Mother Rose (1 card)
Rose Garden (2 cards)
Sub Rosa (4 cards)
Trust the Seasons (4 cards)
Rose, Bud, Thorn, Seed, Root (5 cards)

Despite their names, they’re fairly standard spreads. For example, the Trust the Seasons spread is a themes-for-the-year-ahead spread and the Sub Rosa is what’s-known, what’s-hidden, what’s-unfolding, and action-to-take spread. I like the continuation of the theme though and in the case of the Rose, Bud, Thorn, Seed and Root Spread it makes the positions and their meanings easy to remember and understand. It’s a great spread applicable to most situations.

Overall, I find The Rose Oracle to be a very healing deck and one that is wonderful if you’re wanting to connect with your ancestral line in order to understand yourself and what you’re capable of at a deeper level. It can also help you recognise what needs to be healed. If you are feeling disconnected in any way then The Rose Oracle may be the one to help you find your way forward.