Combining tarot and oracle cards in a reading can offer you a fresh and innovative approach to divination.

There are no rules except experiment and use your imagination.

For that reason combining tarot and oracle cards can be confusing at first, so I’ve come up with some ideas on how to get started.

Take a look at the following image. How would you interpret the cards to answer the question?

While the tarot card in the centre offers you an overall theme or direction, the two cards of the oracle deck focus on specifics.

Sometimes it is the clarity and succinctness of the oracle that can help you pinpoint the true heart of the matter.

It can offer straightforward and immediate empowerment, something you can act upon straight away.

Instead of Help you could have drawn the Six of Pentacles from your tarot deck, or the King of Swords instead of Knowledge. Possibilities for interpretation would have increased but also become more vague.

What also works is the complementary artwork of both decks, which can make readings more fluid and coherent.

Here are more examples of tarot and oracle decks that work well together:

1. Rider Waite Smith Tarot – Pixie’s Astounding Lenormand

Can you combine Tarot and Lenormand cards in a reading even though they are totally different systems?

Yes, why not? If you want to learn more about the Lenormand system, check out Cafe Lenormand.

In the meantime, here is a 3-card reading I have done to address a possible career move using Tarot and Lenormand cards together:

Here, the focus is on the Tarot while the Lenormand indicates underlying influences / energies.

The centre card is the heart of the matter surrounded by two energy cards, whereby the card on the right offers an insight into future development / possibilities / direction of this situation.

Eight of Pentacles / Tower: Effort, mastery, a full schedule; being immersed in work. The Tower suggests that the working environment allows advancement, but bureaucracy can be stifling. Timing (Lenormand): 19 days or weeks, so this can be a long-term situation.

Three of Cups / Tree: The total opposite to hard work is having fun and joyful times with people. The need for work-life balance. Reaching out, being social. The Tree suggests that this will maintain health and keep me grounded.

The Star / Child: (Starchild!) Hope, optimism, the future looks bright. The child suggests new beginnings albeit on a small scale. Timing (Lenormand): soon, so there could be some short-term developments that may lead to new opportunities in the future.

Tree – Tower – Child: It is also interesting to look at the Lenormand row separately for additional information.

The combination of Tree and Tower suggests hospital, and funnily enough my part-time work is based in a health service/care environment.

The combination of Tower and Child suggests child welfare, adoption services and teenagers. I’m blown away how much this relates to my work and life (my teenage son lol).

The bigger picture is slowly emerging from this Tarot/Lenormand combination.

2. Morgan Greer Tarot – Chakra Wisdom Oracle

If you would like to combine tarot with chakras, then the Chakra Wisdom Oracle offers a great introduction to chakra balancing and healing.

The spread in the above image is taken from the Chakra Wisdom guidebook and about removing blocks:

What do you perceive as a problem: Empress – Instinct (trusting inner guidance, solitary journey, self-reliance, moving into sovereignty)
What is blocking you: Three of Pentacles – Impatience (wishing for quick results, being exhausted by efforts, forcing something, uncooperative people)
What would create a breakthrough: Six of Swords – Impartiality (take a step back, detach from emotions, take a break, distraction can offer new perspective)
What you must do to create what you desire: Knight of Wands – Insecurity (tackle insecurity by being bold and taking risks; be more confident about your abilities / opportunities)

The tarot cards (Morgan Greer) in this reading  point to the how, why and where. 

In order to get used to combining tarot and oracle cards, you can try this reading using both decks seperately and see what information would be missing by only using one deck.

3. The Wild Unknown Tarot – Connected & Free Oracle

Here, I have used the Connected and Free Oracle to determine positional meanings for this 3-card spread with the Wild Unknown Tarot:

Surrender: Son of Wands (Knight)
Beginnings: Daughter of Swords (Page)
Be You: Six of Pentacles

I love how you can create new intuitive spreads with the Connected and Free Oracle. Here’s another one:

Sun’s Rays (what is becoming clear)
Flying High (what will accelerate creativity / raise your vibes)
Slow down (where do you need to take it easy / rest / slow down)

4. Bohemian Gothic Tarot – Madame Endora’s Fortune Cards

For this tarot and oracle combination, I have chosen a 3-card spread from the Cosmic Faery Guidebook:

Reflect: The World – The Sphinx (Choose your words carefully)
Illuminate: The Sun – The Harlequin (True feelings are masked)
Discover: Knight of Cups – Fire (Reckless actions lead to conflict)

I love how Madame Endora’s Fortune cards offer a sinister but revealing twist to this reading with the Bohemian Gothic Tarot.

Again, explore the difference if only one of these decks was used for this reading.

If you are new to combining tarot and oracle cards, you can start off by drawing an oracle card at the end of a tarot reading as a special message or overall advice.

For this purpose, use an oracle deck with phrases or complete message rather than just keywords such as the Spirit Oracle:

On the other hand, when you do an oracle reading, you can begin by drawing a tarot card to determine the theme or situation.

As you can see, possibilities are endless, and I have only scratched the surface with this article.

Hopefully, my suggestions offer you inspiration to start combining tarot and oracle cards. You will find that this technique will open up a new dimension in your readings and uncover new insights.

Warmest wishes,

Christiane