Oracle card decks

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Oracle card decks claim to provide insight and positive outlooks to people. They are conceptually similar to divinatory tarot cards, but they are often not divided into playing card suits. They often lack what is often seen as the "darker" images of traditional tarot cards. Unlike the Tarot, oracle cards are not known to be used for card games. Oracle decks often differ in the number of cards. Common themes used in oracle card decks involve the power of positive thought and metaphysical beings such as angels, fairies, mermaids and unicorns. These cards are sometimes called "fortune telling packs"

Some of the earlier "Oracle" or "fortune telling" cards are similar to conventional playing cards and may even carry the French suit system. These fortune telling cards claim a "Gypsy" tradition of cartomancy and pre-date the New Age movement by a great many years.

In recent history tarot cards have been used for divination, however this is not known to have been their original use. The earliest uses of tarot cards are for trick taking card games which are still enjoyed today in Europe.

There are many Oracle Card decks on the market for retail and wholesale by many authors, including Doreen Virtue^[1], Steven Farmer, Wayne Dyer and Louise Hay. Hay House^[2] is a leading publisher of Oracle Card Decks.

[edit] Oracle cards in the media

Tricia Walsh-Smith, actress and writer, used an angel themed oracle deck in her YouTube divorce videos. This oracle deck was created by Doreen Virtue and is often mistaken by reporters and commentators for a tarot deck.