Y’all. I’m finally doing the thing I’ve been threatening to do since I started this blog; I’m going to focus my efforts this month to studying just ONE tarot deck–and it’s a doozy of a deck.

The Citadel oracle, Lost Oracle, Terra Volatile Dark Collectors Edition tarot and pocket book (fyi it does not fit in any pockets I have), The Deck of Emblems, Apothecary Spirits Oracle

AND I thought its the perfect time to get good (er, less awful) at using my oracle decks too!

I’ll quick run through my choices seeing as its pretty straightforward this month: the absolutely MASSIVE Collector’s Terra Volatile arrived on my doorstep and I immediately became enamored with this artistic creation/monster, and I must learn everything I can about this deck, so its going to be my one and only Tarot for this month.

I’m not really one who believes in deck measuring, but I think we do need to appreciate and be in awe of this absolute CHONKER.

The Terra Volatile is a deck produced by an artistic duo team called Credo quia Absurdum, based in Portugal (I believe) who are not only enthusiasts of ALL Tarot esoterica and various schools of Tarot thought, but also clearly have love of all worldly esoterica and they really did their damnedest to put as much as humanly possible in each and every card. Also, the artist(s) is/are clearly classically trained, so even though this looks old-timey, it clearly is very modern and up-to-date on modern sensibilities and political doings. Oh, and not only does it have multiple cards for the same major card, often with great fresh takes on the majors, it ALSO has fresh and traditional multi takes on the minors, oh, AND it has a fifth suite of minor arcana, the Vessels, representing Aether, or the stuff of the self. So, this deck is A LOT.

Because this deck has such alchemical, classic vibes, I wanted to pick oracle decks to compliment it’s style. The duo Citadel and Emblems seemed a no-brainer. But I also wanted to bring some new oracles into the mix; the gorgeous but perplexing Lost Oracle which is completely new to me, and the just beautiful Apothecary Spirits Oracle (which is new to this blog). I will say, the Apothecary Spirits was the wild card of the deck choices, but thus far, nearly half way through the month, it shockingly plays the best with the Volatile!

On to the monthly draw!

Alright, we open with a bit of mystery! Interestingly, the first thing I notice is how there is a cut in both images. The purse has been cut (ah-hem, cut-purse? like a thief?), but the plantain is also showing a cutting wound. With the purse, we speak of what is of value to us, where do we put our efforts and money? What is hidden but also has value? The key words also suggests an unexpected windfall. The Plantain is a plant I typically think of as a noxious weed (I mean, where I live it is, often called “White-Man’s Foot” for it vigor in disturbed soils) but the amazing booklet explains that it is a plant of healing, but unusually so because it pulls out that which is unwanted, toxic, and harmful. A keyword with this card is rejection, but with a twist of YOU yourself rejecting something bad for you in order to heal. Huh. So a kind of “cut” or wound which is a windfall and leads to ultimate healing. What else do we have?

Oh boy! Well, I have to admit that my relations with my family are complicated on the best of days. The Ancestral Alchemy card asks us to honor death and the cycle which is indeed part of life. To acknowledge where our ancestors came from and the challenges they faces for us to be who we are today. It calls on us to also take the necessary actions to better the next generation. Paired with the Plantain card I definitely see this as healing generational wounds and conflicts. Interestingly, the pose of the person in the Ancestral Alchemy card mirrors the hands in the following Aspirant.

The Aspirant in the Citadel Oracle is the first card of the court cards and of all the cards in this deck, this is the one which screams “THE FOOL!” or more aptly, “THE MAIN CHARACTER!”. You are the main character of your own story–you are ready to start every day as a new story, you have goals and ambitions and will be required to go through trials and push through with fortitude. There isn’t true “failure” in this story, it’s just the wheels of life turning. Expect the unexpected, setbacks, and challenges, deviation from the path towards your goal, and know there is always more work to be done.

With these four oracles together, I get the sense of “fulfilling” something that has been waiting for a long time and the unintentional positive effects that has. What do the Tarot cards say?

Right away I see a changing disposition between man (or the human self) and his relation to nature and other men, first mastering nature passively, mastering nature forcefully, and then being in a stalemate with his fellow man.

In this particular take on The Sun, the alternative card called Poetry, we see Orpheus (a son of Apollo—a sun god) and his magical lyre enchanting all the animals, uniting predator and prey and opposing forces with balance. It seems effortless thanks to his mastery of his art. He seeks not to control anything outside of himself.

The second card we have the alternative card (again) to Fortitude, which is Strength. Pictured is Heracles during his first of his twelve great feats which is defeating the Nemean lion. Unlike the passiveness of Fortitude, this card demands action (rather than waiting for resolution). We can read the story of overcoming our own beastly desires and actions, taking feats to tame them and quell them, lest they harm ourselves or others. There’s also an element of determining moral right and wrong, and acting with rational.

The final card is an intense take on the Five of Wands (its actually the violent alternative card to a much tamer Five of Wands). It’s an all out brawl in this card! Every person is different and they chose to let these differences divide them. This is particularly volatile when the flames of passion are at an impasse and there is disagreement–strong feelings tend to have strong actions.

Taking the Tarot read together, I see this as a reminder what we have control over in our lives: we successful have control over just ourselves (and even that is in a limiting space seeing as we have a self battle to overcome), and are at our best when we are exercising that which makes us truly happy and fulfilled personally. When needing to make change, we are meet with resistance which in the self can be overcome with great exertion, but with others, well, we don’t really know how things will turn out.

Now lets look at the whole picture:

If we pair the oracles with the tarot, we see that there is great progress made with cutting out/rejecting something that will ultimately lead to a windfall–here we can remain passive and just be happy doing our best selves–our actions speak for themselves. With rejecting/removing that which prevents healing in our ancestral past, we have an arduous struggle, but it is attainable and even shall be attained! But meeting our true calling and goals with our ancestral alchemy is a messy business with many challenges and roadblocks and struggles. This month definitely feels like a journey to self realization!

It really seems like a mixed bag sort of month for me! What does your month look like?