Note from Anna: readers and students sometimes ask me how they can begin to develop their intuition and receive guidance from their guides, angels and higher self. Using Oracle Cards is a brilliant, easy way to get started. The guest article by Georgiana Avram below details how you can use this tool to tune into Spirit and receive positive messages for your life. Over to you, Georgiana…

By Georgiana Avram.

Did you know that oracle cards can be a great portal into communicating with your Spirit Guides? This way of receiving messages can be incredibly accurate when your energy is attuned to the deck and you are able to relax and take in the guidance. Below I provide 5 tips for using oracle cards to do brilliant readings.

1. How to choose your first deck

There are loads of decks available and it can be overwhelming to choose one deck, especially your first deck. (It is not surprising that most intuitives, psychics and mediums have multiple decks purchased, as each deck has it’s own theme and energy.) You might want to think about having a few decks in your collection, but regardless you have to start somewhere.

Choose a deck that speaks to you. Don’t worry about getting it wrong, or choosing one that is not right for you. Simply choose one that sparks your curiosity or that you feel inspired to have.

(Note: Anna’s favourite deck is the Angel Prayers Oracle Cards deck by UK angel medium Kyle Gray.)

2. Clearing the deck

There are two points at which you need to clear the deck. The first is when opening a deck for the first time (it is recommended to go through the clearing process that is usually given in the guidebook that accompanies the deck.)

The second important step is to do a clearing of the deck before each reading. Before I choose to do a reading for myself, I hold the deck in my hands, close my eyes and focus on loving energy. I then fan out the deck and hold it to my heart for a few seconds, while stating my intention for the reading. And lastly, I knock on the deck with my right hand to clear out any negative energy. Now I feel ready to begin.

It has been my experience that the more I hold the deck in my hands and the more I go through the clearing rituals, the more insightful my readings are. Therefore, I recommend establishing a clearing ritual (like the one detailed above) every time you use your oracle card deck.

3. How to choose a card

I had trouble with this in the beginning since there are many ways choose to your cards. The way that I found most intriguing was to choose cards that fall out or stick out while shuffling. It is said that while shuffling, some cards may fall out or stand out from the deck, and it is recommended to pick these cards, as they are messages that your Guides want you to hear.

At first, I had many doubts about this method and kept second guessing myself about which card to choose. The more doubt I had, the less accurate the cards were for me.

I finally noticed that when I relaxed and went with my gut instinct about choosing my cards, I was able to choose cards with great accuracy and meaningful messages.

4. How to interpret the cards

There is often a little guidebook that accompanies card decks which explains the meanings of the cards. However, you need to be flexible in how you apply it to your own life. For example, a card about relationships does not necessarily refer to a romantic relationship. Perhaps you have just had an argument with your best friend and the guidance is around that. So, often you need to adapt the information received from the card in the form that best suits your current life situation.

The beauty of using oracle cards is that as you interpret messages from the cards and get some practice communicating with Spirit, it can sometimes spark off a process of awakening your clairs – you may find your clairsentience, clairaudience or claircognizance kicking in and developing, as you look over the cards and explore what the messages mean to you. So using oracle cards is not just a brilliant tool in itself, but it can also be a stepping stone to help you to develop your clair senses and channel messages more directly from Spirit.

5. When you pick a card that you don’t like

Most oracle cards have positive, uplifting messages, which you can apply to your life to gain empowerment and reassurance. There are some cards, however, or some specific decks, that give messages with a slightly negative feel. These messages can be a warning such as “you might be going down the wrong path” or “this is not for you”. Such messages can seem a bit disturbing and unsettling.

If you ever use a deck that does not make you feel empowered and does not speak to you in a positive way, it is best to put it down and return to it when you feel stronger emotionally and more able to understand and discern the messages. It is possible that a deck does not agree with you and does not match up with your energy or it may be that your energy is fearful and doubtful which attracts a similar message from the cards – if this happens, simply try again.

It is also okay if you pick a card that seems wrong at times. Do not get discouraged. Not every single reading will be 100% accurate (especially at the beginning when you are still learning how to use the oracle cards.)

What I have learned from using oracle cards is to relax and trust the process. The more I do it, the better I get at picking the cards that speak something to me and I can interpret the messages in a way that is relevant to my life.

I hope you find oracle cards a useful divination tool and I would love to hear what your experiences have been, and which decks you enjoy using. Please add your comments below!