A Moment of Magic

What is this wizardry? Is it magic? Have I read too much Harry Potter? These were just a few questions I pondered when I first started using Oracle Cards. If you haven’t heard of or used Oracle Cards, they are a fantastically fun (and super accurate) tool I love to use when I desire guidance from a higher wisdom, divine wisdom, my higher self, or whatever you wish to call it. Sometimes, I simply want a reminder (proof) that magic and synchronicity exist in the world. Of the many tools (meditation, journaling, Oracle Cards) I use to connect to myself and the invisible forces around us, Oracle Cards generate an element of joy and delight I haven’t experienced with my other tools.

Colette Baron-Reid, one of my favorite Oracle Card deck creators, affirms, “Oracle Cards remind you there’s magic in the world. It’s everywhere all the time… You are communicating with the invisible forces around you...” I have found this to be 100% true. When I use Oracle decks, I am always astonished by the synchronicities revealed in the reading.

To bring a dose of playfulness and wonder to your day, I’m giving you a glimpse into my latest Oracle Card reading. If you read my last newsletter, you know I’m focusing on my thoughts, especially when I realize I’m feeling anxious, worried, stressed, or any emotion that doesn’t feel pleasant. I’m tracking thoughts and feelings to create shifts in my life to expand possibilities and embody mental freedom.

To give a little context, the day before I did this Oracle Card reading, I had just published my second Substack newsletter and felt uncomfortably anxious and vulnerable. I traced these feelings to intermittent thoughts (worries) of “Am I being too honest and oversharing? Does anyone else relate to what I’m saying? Do readers like my writing? Is what I’m saying being misinterpreted?” and on and on the wheel spun, spiraling me into further worries about my future dreams and circumstances I have no control over.

While journaling, I realized I had to release all the expectations, hopes, assumptions, and everything else trampling through my mind. I have to write my newsletter, release it to the world, and let go of all expectations and attachments to the outcome, especially those related to how it’s received, whether or not people read it the moment they receive it, whether they resonate with my writing style and topic, etc. For me, expectation is a hungry, insatiable beast; how do you satisfy unrecognized and often unrealistic expectations when people and conditions are constantly changing?

I realized that allowing myself to continue in these self-defeating thoughts and expectations was taking me out of the present moment and into a future I couldn’t predict. I needed to let it all go. The next morning, I meditated; I journaled; I got myself centered, and then I picked my cards for this reading. I was completely open to whatever message was coming to me, and honestly, when I picked the cards, I wasn’t even thinking about the previous day’s counterproductive thought spiral.

I performed a 3-card reading using Colette Baron-Reid’s Wisdom of the Oracle. This deck is perfect for novice and seasoned Oracle deck aficionados. If you’re new to Oracle Cards or haven’t used any of Colette’s decks, I can’t recommend them highly enough. Every deck includes a thorough, intuitive guidebook to help you interpret your reading. Colette also has a fantastic YouTube channel with videos on working with the cards, including numerous card readings and what they mean.

When I work with any Oracle Cards, I ensure I am in a good headspace, centered, and calm. It may sound bizarre, but asking from a frantic, upset, anxious, or angry place will give skewed results that go with those feelings; the reading will mirror your energy and internal state. It won’t feel fun, and the results will probably be confusing. Take it from my personal experience and trust me on this.

For this particular reading, I asked three different questions and picked three corresponding cards. I asked the first question, picked one card to answer that question, and then I did the same for questions two and three. I prefer to keep the cards face down until I’ve picked all of the cards (just make sure you keep them in the correct order!). I love to flip them over and let the magic wash over me. It blows my mind every single time. This reading did NOT disappoint and I’m so excited to share it!

1. I asked, Where am I at right now; what’s been going on? My card: Here and Now.

2. I asked, What can I do to change it? My card: Clean It Up.

3. I asked, Where am I heading? My card: Happy, Happy.

You could also think of question #1 as Past, question #2 as Present, and question #3 as Future. Where have I been, and what has brought me to this present moment? What do I need to do now (what action can I take)? Where will it take me?

I genuinely squealed in delight when I flipped over the third card; I most certainly was grinning from ear to ear like the Cheshire Cat from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. You can’t make this stuff up. How perfect is this reading, especially in light of what I wrote about the day before, and realizing I had to stop dwelling (obsessing) on future potentialities and stay centered in the present moment, the here and now, and be mindful of my thoughts? Especially those thoughts shrouded in expectations and attachments to outcomes. A greater exploration of my reading will follow, but very simply, this reading tells me I need to stay in the present moment, clean up my thoughts that are taking me out of the present moment, and joy and happiness will be mine.

Pulling the Here and Now card in response to my question asking, “Where am I at right now” (what’s been going on to lead me to this moment) reinforced everything I had realized the day before. The card reflected that I hadn’t been in the present moment, just as I had discovered in my journal writing. When I had become aware of the anxiety in my body, anxiety mixed with worry and maybe a little dread, I realized I was obsessively thinking about and catastrophizing situations that were out of my control and that hadn’t even happened yet. I allowed those worries and fears to suck the joy right out of my day. I had been feeling so excited to finally publish my writing, something I knew I wanted to do for a mind-bogglingly long time, and yet, I was allowing future thinking/stressing to turn that positive, uplifting energy into something that felt heavy and depressing in my body, like a weighted lead blanket collapsing, smothering, and extinguishing my joy, energy, momentum, everything. I was everywhere but the present moment.

Colette’s wise words for this card instruct me to focus on today. What can I do in this day, and how do I need to think in this day? This day, this moment, this thought is creating my life. Like the girl in the image holding her “You are here” flag, I must stake my claim in the now, planting myself in this moment, not in the Past or the Future, but right here and right now. My favorite intention from the guidebook (that I have since written on a piece of paper and taped to my wall) promises, “This very moment has the potential for you to create miracles in your life.” The magic of creation and potential lives IN the present moment.

How can I stay in the present moment? By cleaning up whatever takes me out of the NOW. The card I picked to answer my second question, “What can I do to change where I am currently and what’s been going on,” made me laugh out loud. Could it be any clearer? I like to think I didn't need any explanation with this one, but I’m wondering if my higher self knew I hilariously needed something akin to the force of a figurative sledgehammer. I get it; I get it. I need to clean up my thinking, something I am definitely more and more aware of each day. I must let go of thought patterns that no longer serve me or create the life I want. I love that the stag in the image is sweeping the air, symbolically cleaning the mind, not just the physical space. I must sweep away my thought cobwebs and clean up everything. I must look at all aspects of my world, physical, mental, and emotional, to see what I’m holding onto that no longer serves me.

Coincidentally, I’ve also been in purge mode and cleaning out my living space, so this card fits here, too. It's a little reminder to keep assessing, purging, and discarding. For me, clutter and too much stuff in my physical environment also affect my mental state and clear-thinking abilities. As Colette teaches, “We lead by keeping our environment and our energy clear and clean.” I am freeing myself from everything weighing me down and creating chaos, disorganization, disorder, and disharmony. I’m creating space for something new in my physical environment as well as in my mind. And as I do this, I “Make room for the miracles that are lining up for [me]," (Wisdom of the Oracle Guidebook).

A miracle of inner joy and happiness with a clean (free) mind in the present moment? That sounds like paradise. The Happy, Happy card answering the third question I asked, “Where am I heading?” couldn’t have made me happier. Happy, happy is what I will experience when I clean up my thinking and remain in the present moment. Additionally, this card also conveys that my happiness cannot depend on external circumstances, even though the world around me tells me otherwise. I’m learning that I can be happy for no reason, and I have no reason to be worried. Joy and fulfillment can come from within, from acknowledging all the steps I’ve taken to get where I am, and fulfillment from knowing I am doing what I set out to do.

It is very easy for me, and I think for many people, to gloss over accomplishments and rush to the next thing, thinking, “I still need to do this and this and this…” rather than celebrating the wins (big and small) and finding joy in the moment. It's up to me to choose (or not) to find joy in the present moment just because I can. I am finding that this takes practice; my thought patterns have typically been, “When I receive or experience (fill in the blank), then I will be happy. I’m learning to generate my own joy, independent of something happening or not.

Honestly, one way I do this is with Oracle Cards. I love the messages, and I also delight in looking at the cards through symbolic eyes for additional meanings. When looking at these three cards, all of a sudden, I noticed that two of the three cards had eggs on them. Even this feels synchronistic to me, considering I only recently launched my newsletter and began sharing my words with the world. Eggs symbolize new life, potential, fertility, and rebirth. This perfectly represents where I am in my life and the transformation I’ve been undergoing, a rebirth of myself. I created and gave birth (creative fertility) to this newsletter, something completely new and outside of my comfort zone. Of the 52 cards in this deck, I believe only 8 have eggs on them, and only 6 of those images show a figure on top of the egg. I LOVE that both of my cards show a girl with wings sitting on the egg. That makes it personal; it’s symbolizing my rebirth and my creations. The wings illustrate that I can fly and soar to heights I never dreamed were possible. The Here and Now card also has a door within a door, signifying that doorways/possibilities are found in the now; they begin in this present moment, where I will also find the treasure…the gift…the present. That feels full circle.

I love this reading so much. It reassures me I’m on the right path and to keep moving in this direction, AND also to keep my focus on today. What can I do today? How do I need to think today, and where will that lead me? I am not giving my power to the cards but utilizing them as a fun, synchronistic way to tune in to higher wisdom and gain more information about where I am, what I can do, and where I’m headed.

There are 100s of Oracle Card decks to choose from, and each deck is very different, depending on their creators. You pick the deck(s) you’re drawn to, whether it’s the creator, the images, the theme, or a feeling. I love the fluidity and flexibility of Oracle Cards and that they offer a more intuitive reading that’s open to interpretation. Each Oracle deck is very different, with a unique theme. Tarot Cards, on the other hand, offer a fixed system with a set number of cards and how they are structured, and the cards have common meanings from deck to deck. No matter which intrigues you, Hay House has great decks to choose from; I love Colette’s and Rebecca Campbell’s the most. Amazon also offers tons of Oracle (and Tarot) Card decks.

A quick tip when asking your specific questions for a reading: avoid asking questions with a yes or no answer because that is too limiting. Ask more open-ended questions that leave room for interpretation. Often, I do a one-card reading and ask, “What do I need to know (or focus on) today for my highest good and the highest good of all?” It’s a great question that can keep me pointed in the right direction throughout the day. Also, keep in mind that the cards are not always instantaneous (like this reading), and sometimes, depending on your questions, you need to allow a bit of space and time to understand the entire meaning of your reading.

If you have any questions about Oracle Cards, please send them to me! I love chatting about them; they bring me a lot of joy and appreciation for the mysteries and magic of life. In the times we live in, I am so grateful for these reminders.

Thank you so much for reading!!

Xoxo,

Gina

PS One last thing, just for extra fun as I was writing this newsletter, I went to Colette’s website Colette Baron-Reid and picked a card from one of her free online decks available on her site. As long as I have been using Oracle cards, I am still shocked and amazed at the results. I picked from her Spirit Animal Oracle deck. My pick: Horse Spirit. The message: “Freedom is Yours.” I mean, come on!