What is the Difference Between Oracle Cards And Tarot Cards

I have decided not to pursue creating a Tarot Deck. I find that I cannot work with another divination system such as Tarot, even one with a 600 plus year history and thousands of books written about it.

As a psychic and card reader I work primarily with clairvoyance (clear seeing) by receiving visions and channeling the ancestors, spirit guides and past lives along with astrology. When I work with divination cards during a Soul Reading I do NOT look at the cards until AFTER the reading is done to see if it confirms what I received in the reading.

Tarot card reading is a system that does not require psychic ability, although one can definitely apply psychic insight to any reading. Tarot cards are rich in symbolism, archetypal imagery and patterns. But I find that I still draw a blank when I look at the Minor Arcana. Why? Because it is NOT a tool that resonates with me even after 40 plus years of exploring Tarot. I don’t relate to the numbers, suits, court cards or symbols. They are not MY system.

You could ask, “Why not try a Tarot Deck that resonates with your sensibilities rather than a traditional deck such as the Rider-Waite-Smith deck?” I have! I enjoy feminist circular Tarot decks such as Motherpeace Tarot by Vicki Noble and Karen Vogel and the Daughters of the Moon Tarot by Ffiona Morgan. These decks interpret the Tarot in a radical way, changing some of the suits, court cards and number of cards in the deck, but they are still using the Tarot system.

While talking with my good friend, Chad Woodward, an astrologer and tarot reader I realized it was cognitive dissonance I was experiencing and it was definitely SHADOW MATERIAL which is why I felt so uncomfortable. Shadow material refers to aspects of our personality that are buried, repressed and hidden within our unconscious mind. Integrating this material is uncomfortable and can even be traumatizing.

I experienced this Shadow-ey Cognitive Dissonance speaking about Tarot. The words coming out of my mouth did not match what was going on in my head. I desperately wanted to LOVE Tarot and I did, in my mind, but when I described the process of intuitively creating my own oracle decks my voice lit up with emotion and excitement but my head was saying, I must create a Tarot deck.

The Spirit of a Poet by Kathy Crabbe

Siren Song Oracle Deck image: The Spirit of a Poet by Kathy Crabbe

So far, I’ve already created five oracle decks but had yet to create a Tarot deck. I realize now that I MUST be my own authority and listen to my own intuition and soul guides in regards to making a divination deck. I CANNOT use someone else’s system.

This sense of wrongness and dissonance is also emphasized in my astrological birth chart (Sun conjunct Uranus/Pluto opposing Saturn in the 12th) and in my birth itself. I was given up for adoption as a baby, never having seen my birth mother’s face.  Not only was the rug swept out from under me, but there wasn’t even a floor!  I have always had to make my own way, create my own world and re-invent the wheel, so to speak.

All this cognitive dissonance regarding oracle decks vs. tarot decks really hit home in a recent tarot class I took from artist/reader/tarot teacher Rebecca Schoenecker.  We were to analyze three Tarot cards in a spread. I felt NOTHING. I immediately wrote in my journal “NO ON TAROT”. I also recall that during a Past Life Regression, my elf self was killed for not listening to my intuition and here I was doing it again!

Cat Herbal Oracle Deck

Cat Herbal Oracle Deck by Kathy Crabbe

So far I have created six divination decks and each one is very different: Fairy/Cat Herbals, Zodiac Goddesses, Elfin Allies (Animal Spirits), Lefties and now Mermaids. Each deck is used in a specific way in my soul readings. We always teach what we need to learn, it is said. I am always learning more about how to trust my intuition and that is what I teach. “Work that muscle,” I tell my clients and students, and learn to trust that inner voice; be it from God, Goddess, the Divines, the ancestors, astrology, past lives, spirit guides, your gut, whatever you choose to call it. It is a talent much under used and disrespected in our current culture. We need it now more than ever.

Lefty Card by Kathy Crabbe

Lefty Card by Kathy Crabbe - “Now the Real Work Begins”

Remember, to work with whatever feels right for you in regards to the psychic realms. Trust your self and your intuition. You are being guided, every step of the way.

About Kathy Crabbe

I've been an artist for as long as I can remember, and my journey as a soul reader began at the age of forty, after five years of painting with my non-dominant left hand. This practice profoundly enhanced my intuition. In 2008, I created the Lefty Oracle deck and began offering intuitive soul readings, touching many lives in profound and playful ways.

Are you ready to make a shift in your life? A soul reading can help you make the changes you need to move forward, connect with your guides and find hope in dark times.

Kathy Crabbe

Sneak Peek of the Fool Card in the Tarot

Exciting news! On January 2, 2022 I began painting my first ever Tarot Deck!

“Now we can see the real use of the Taorot pack. It is for living in and arranging our lives with. The cards are the exchange-symbols between inner and outer life…Altogehter the Tarots are a most valuable collection of psychoc-physical currency convertible into either dimension. ~ Wm. B. Gray, Magical Ritual Methods

Here is a sneak peek of The Fool card in the tarot deck I'm painting 🐟

The Fool card detail by Kathy Crabbe

The Fool card (detail) by Kathy Crabbe

What is Tarot?

The Tarot is an ancient Western occult psychological and philosophical system consisting of 78 cards divided into the Major and Minor Arcana. The 22 cards of the Major Arcana represent in archetypal symbols a human’s journey through life, a journey which Carl Jung envisioned as the process of individuation.

The remaining 56 cards, which are the forerunners of contemporary playing cards, consist of sixteen Court Cards and forty “pip” or number cards. They are divided into 4 suits: Wands (Clubs), Cups (Hearts), Swords (Spades) and Pentacles (Diamonds). Each suit has a King, Queen, Knight and Page (or Princess); cards are numbered from Ace through Ten.

Because the Tarot relies on the universal language of symbolism, its influence has, over several centuries, spread throughout the world unrestricted by language barriers or semantics. And, since symbolism is also the language of the unconscious, the use of the Tarot tends to activate the intuitive mind or right-brain center. Because of this, the cards have been most commonly used for “psychic” divination based on a variety of layouts, one of the oldest being the Celtic Cross.

Excerpted from Mary Greer’s excellent book, Tarot For Your Self.
http://MaryKGreer.com

Kathy Crabbe

About Kathy Crabbe
I am proud to be an artist and soul reader, in business since 1993. I love my work and hope you've enjoyed coming along for the ride and allowing me to be of service to you through all the creative, healing work I do. Thank you.

The awakening of my intuitive gifts came at age 40 when I found myself creatively blocked so I switched to my left hand which awakened my right brain and inspired me to create a Lefty Oracle Deck and become a professional soul reader. I have since published 4 oracle decks with the Fairy Herbal Oracle deck coming in 2022.

I live in Southern California and soon in the 1000 Islands, Canada for half the year with my pooch and partner in homes we’ve built ourselves.

Consulting Your Spirit Guides (Secret No. 7)

This week as part of our highly creative bloggers Next Chapter Book Club we are taking a look at: seeking out role models and advisers, reading about inspiring lives, and guiding others. (Side Note: This post is from a few years ago)

CHALLENGE #1 Searching for a guide (in the flesh):

My story - Short Version:

Never had one.
Always wanted one.
Dreamed I was one.
Became one.

*Update - I now have a spiritual mentor/guide in the flesh and her name is Francesca De Grandis.

Long Version - How to Find Your Spirit Guides:

I never actually found the "perfect guide" in the flesh, but I did find several in the spirit world. My recommendation, for those of you searching for your spirit guides, is to start out by working with a deck of tarot or oracle cards. My deck of choice was the Greenwood Deck, a Celtic Pagan deck created by Mark Ryan and illustrated by Chesca Potter. The two cards featured in this blog post were the ones that kept cropping up for me over and over again. But it was the Ancestor card that proved to be my greatest guide, acting as a gateway into the spirit world. By following (metaphorically/symbolically) the trunk and roots of the trees pictured in the card, down into the ground and beyond, I was able to access my main spirit guide, Annie.

Update: Nowadays I would definitely work with my own hand painted oracle decks!

How To Connect with Guides to Help Others:

When I give readings, I connect with the greatest guides there are, The Divines. I didn't start out by giving readings, I worked up to it over many, many years of practice. I suggest you find what methods work best for you, whatever allows you to quiet your mind (monkey-mind), open your heart, and become humble in the presence of Divine Beauty, with the realization that you are merely a channel and a messenger. Your job as a guide, is to remain open and connected, so that you can deliver healing and insightful messages in a non-judgemental, comprehensible and clear manner.

To read more blog posts about Psychic Development please click here. To read more about my personal Psychic Background please click here.

About Kathy Crabbe

Kathy Crabbe has been an artist forever and a soul reader since awakening her intuitive gifts at age forty after five years painting with her non dominant left hand. This awakened her intuition in a big way. In 2008 she created a Lefty Oracle deck and started giving intuitive soul readings. Her second deck, The Elfin Ally Oracle was published in 2019 and a third deck is planned for release in Spring, 2020. Kathy lives in sunny Southern California with her two dogs and architect husband in an adobe style home they built themselves.

Crow Spirit Medicine

Kathryn V. Crabbe. 2012. Crow. Pencil on paper, 8.5 x 11 inches. With each new birth there is a small death. Spring has sprung and so I sketched a crow that died. He was tied with a wire around his legs to a fence made of sticks gathered from the chaparral surrounding us here in the inland valleys of rural Southern California. I am not responsible for his death nor for tying him to the fence. I sketch what I see, but this made me sad. This drawing is my way of blessing and acknowledging his crow spirit.

Crow Medicine: "All things are born of women." from The Greenwood Tarot by Mark Ryan and Chesca Potter.