This review of the Journey Oracle by Adrienne Trafford was first published in the Spring 2012 edition of the TABI e-zine.
The Journey Oracle is a set of 46 colourful cards packaged in an attractive hinged keepsake box together with a small instruction booklet.
The cards measure 115mm x 70 mm and are printed on glossy card stock.
Before I started reading about the cards in the booklet, I decided to spread them out and let them speak to me.
First I noticed that virtually all cards depicted women, mostly with auburn hair (hardly a blonde in sight!).
The artwork and style is quite girly. Each card contains a keyword, such as Hope, Passion and Loss, which are self-explanatory.
There is also a set of Queens (Queen of Hearts, Queen of Diamonds, Queen of Spades, Queen of Clubs) as well as personality types, such as the Adventurer, the Vampire and the Puppet.
From the description of the Queens in the booklet it is possible to relate them to the four tarot queens, e.g. Hearts (Cups), Diamonds (Wands), Spades (Swords), Clubs (Pentacles), so for tarot readers this will be easy to remember.
You may notice by now that there is hardly any structure to this deck.
It even contains four cards with a landscape layout, with the keywords Desire, The Guardian, Eternity and The Goddess.
It’s all very random in my opinion, but does a “life path” deck need to be structured?
The author explains in the booklet that she started creating the images, when she found herself at a crossroads, and her journey ahead was along a rocky, uncertain road.
This may explain the somewhat melancholy feel of the cards, and perhaps we can conclude from this that life can be quite random at times, without structure and not making much sense.
So how do you read with this deck?
The author suggests picking just one card for guidance, but you can also choose a standard tarot card spread, such as a 3-card past/present/future layout.
Keeping it simple is the best option with this deck, as it will give clear, concise and straight-forward messages.
Does this deck give accurate readings?
I have pulled a card each day over a week and found that I could relate to all of them in some way.
A 3-card past/present/future reading was also quite revealing and described accurately the issue I was addressing.
When I used the deck for friends, they also related well to the issues that were addressed.
Overall, the Journey Oracle is a delightful, feminine deck that offers insightful readings.
It’s simple but effective; there’s no need to study the explanatory booklet in detail before starting to use them, and there’s no need for large, complicated spreads.
From my experience so far with this deck, it will offer meaningful messages and guidance on any issue.
Schiffer Publishing Ltd, ISBN 978-0-7643-3783-3
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Warmest wishes,
Christiane
