Shamanic Healing Oracle
The Shamanic Healing Oracle is a lovely forty-four-card deck that was first published back in 2016. Artist Michelle A. Motuzas paints relatively simple designs, but I genuinely like this style of artwork. The deck retails at just under £20 and is well-priced for what you get. The box is sturdy and has a magnetic clasp on the lid. The cards are of average thickness and laminated, but they don’t stick together. It makes me sad that I have to tell you these cards come with the dreaded blingy border. Yes, they’ve been edged in the gold foil that will rub off in no time at all, but only in patches so they can look as shabby as possible. The cards are slightly wider than your regular tarot but straightforward to handle and shuffle easily. The booklet is chunky and gives a page of text for each card.
I’ve been using these cards in most of the readings I’ve done recently for other people. I only pull one card, and it’s always right at the start before I do anything else. There have been moments when they’re disturbingly accurate — the card that flips out is exactly the reason the person has come for the reading. The rest of the time, the card pulled is always relevant somehow. A question I ask when shuffling is, “What do I need to make sure I give this person before they leave?” It’s as much a card for me as a reader, as it is for the person having the reading. There are lots of cards I like: Movement Into Balance (1) reminds me of yoga. The image shows a sun and moon in the sky, and this is symbolic of the balance of night and day. We see a further symbolic reference with the image showing above and below (the horizon). The triple spiral in the centre of the card, also known as a triskelion or triskele, is a symbol used by many early cultures. Various meanings have been attributed to the symbol, including its use as a representation of the forward movement we take during life. As a symbol of all things triple, it has been said to represent birth, life, and death; child, mother, father; and even earth, heaven, and hell. For pagans and Wiccans, itis often used to represent the triple goddess of maiden, mother, and crone. Lastly, the triple spiral is strongly connected to the Celtic goddess of Spring, Brigid. Discernment (6) is an odd card. It is not immediately apparent how the image of a bird on a branch represents the card title. I generally see birds as messengers of some description. For me, they’re connected to communication. The ant carrying an enormous leaf in Burden (10) is a little easier to understand. We know these marvellous insects can carry fifty times their body weight, which is pretty impressive. I suppose we could also assume that this card means we may feel like we’re shouldering a lot, but we’re able to cope with the load.
I like the Feminine Energy (17) card; the shape and stance of the woman is often found in jewellery, especially necklaces. The spiral in her belly is most likely symbolic of life cycles, creativity, and fertility. Over the last few years, I’ve noticed an increase in the number of young people saying ‘it’s all good’. So the card, It’s All Good (18), reminds me of my two sons, who have a fondness for using the phrase. Rather than being a statement of fact, it’s used as a way to say ‘it’s okay’. As a response to a question or statement, it’s telling you that yeah, that’s fine, it doesn’t matter. The situation at hand is minor, and nothing is fixed. No one really minds. The booklet's meaning seems to lean more towards taking even negative or challenging situations as a means to grow. The image doesn’t say much to me at all, but I still like the artwork. The circle design can easily suggest cycles or completion. As with many of the cards, I’d be relying more on the phrase to offer an interpretation.
Forgiveness (23) as a concept can be a difficult action to perform when you’ve been on the receiving end of a deliberate injury. Even a careless accident can feel unforgivable if the consequences are traumatic enough. Including the term in an oracle deck is understandable, but also a little bit contentious. The art is a relatively simple moon and sun and the booklet advises forgiveness of self and others with regards to the situation under question. So neither the art nor the booklet helps much with this card. I mention its presence in the deck because it’s one of those things that is often brought up, but the reality of what it means is overlooked or minimalised. The lotus flower is at the heart of the card Stripping Illusion (27), and the booklet asks we remove layer after layer of illusion until we get to what is left. I don’t think the analogy works because as someone with Venus in Virgo, I know very well that to take the petals from a flower removes the beauty. You end up with a bare stalk that is only fit for the bin.
Struggle (32) has appeared in readings more often than any other card, and for that reason, I wanted to look at it a little closer today. I get the image of a salmon swimming upstream because I once lived in a village where the salmon travelled upstream to their spawning grounds. The image is clear enough and relates to the card title. the booklet says “Struggle is a part of this life — so much so that you probably know people who seem to constantly attract one struggle after another into their lives. This is their comfort zone. While struggle is natural, it is natural only so far as it lends itself to life lessons and overcoming inner personal challenges. Beneath every one of these struggles is the gift of enlightenment. The satisfaction of a lesson learned. Use this knowledge as the light at the end of your dark tunnel. What lesson is this struggle teaching you? Alternately, after a brief setback, this situation will start to right itself.” I think it would’ve been more interesting to read about the journey of the salmon. Or to at least make the text a little more inspiring. I just find the text a bit lame, and unhelpful on the whole.
Emotional Release (37) reminds me of the Magnolia flower and that could be why I’m drawn to the card. The booklet talks about acknowledging feelings so we can release them and move forward. The teardrop-shaped rain appears on other cards, but here I would be inclined to see it as tears. The art doesn’t inspire me to emote and the booklet isn’t specific enough. And finally, I’m happy to see Self Love (41) because it’s always good to be reminded that we need to practice self-care. The art is repetitive with its sun and moon, but we do have the addition of a heart with wings.
I like this deck and I use it for most readings I do for other people. Compared to The Botanical Oracle which I looked at only a few days ago, I do think it’s better value, but it’s also more repetitive in the imagery and low on symbols. There are loads of symbols that would correlate to shamanism, but they’re not in this deck. I wouldn’t call it Shamanic, not in any way shape or form. The artwork rarely reflects the title of the card, and most of the cards just don’t have much going on in the way of symbols. Putting aside the name, it’s a good enough oracle deck. Michelle does have other sets available and I wouldn’t mind buying a couple of them. I genuinely do like the art and find it easy to use the pictures as a way to calm my thoughts. Because I’ve worked with it for a while, I do give it bonus points for its apparent ability to throw out something relevant to the situation at hand. The hard-arsed analyst in me says the card title and artwork rarely match up, and the artwork is generally useless in interpretation. The booklet is chunky, but the words don’t hit home hard enough to use it for serious inner work. And yet I still like it. I tend to use the card title and interpret symbols if there is anything to interpret. It’s one for the experienced card readers I would say. I’m aware that I’m giving a mixed message with this one — but that’s just how it goes. As an executed project, it’s poor and there are better decks out there if you’re looking for something with more consistency between title and image. There are also better decks if you want to work heavily with symbols. However, I’ve found it to be a reliable deck for pulling a card to use alongside the tarot when reading for others.
Salmon travelling upstream:
