Mar 18, 2020 | Soul Purpose
As humans, we have two different minds, the conscious and the subconscious mind. Our conscious mind is the little voice that speaks to us throughout the day, it is the thing that can also tell us we’re not good enough or that we are failing at something. It’s not always kind!
The subconscious is buried a little deeper. It holds all our beliefs, the root of our fears, our likes and dislikes. It is the part of our brain that makes us truly who we are, but it can also create the biggest obstacles for us.
What control does the subconscious mind have?
We tend to underestimate the subconscious mind, because it lurks in the background, like a puppet master. It can cause not just the creation of thoughts and feelings, but it can also influence our physical wellbeing.
A lot of common mental health problems stem from the subconscious mind, from anxiety and depression to irrational fears. All of these start their lives in the subconscious, which is why it is so tricky to battle them head on.
I like to think of the mind as a tree, the roots are the subconscious mind and the branches are the conscious thoughts. Everything that grows on the tree does so because of the roots (subconscious mind), it feeds these thoughts and beliefs and helps them thrive and grow. How you stop these feelings and thoughts, is by dealing with the roots.
Some examples of the subconscious mind at work are:
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Believing that you have nothing to contribute in a group conversation
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Thinking you can’t do something you’ve always wanted because you’re not good enough or because someone can do it better
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Procrastinating from taking action because you fear the outcome
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Feeling and thinking that you are not wanted or loved
All of these things have their roots in the subconscious. Something buried deep within is feeding these thoughts and by giving our subconscious some TLC, we are better equipped to stop this negativity in its tracks.
How do you unlock the subconscious mind?
There are two main ways that will effectively give you a window to the subconscious mind. They are:
Meditation allows you the time and space, to notice what is a conscious thought and what is a subconscious thought. When you meditate for 20+ minutes, your mind starts to calm down, your conscious thoughts begin to run out and your subconscious starts to become clearer. I’ve had a number of experiences where I’ve meditated for long periods and come to a sudden realisation about a problem or obstacle. Patience is key of course and a great deal of mindfulness is needed to ensure it works.
Divination is a something that can be used by most people and includes tools such as pendulums, oracle cards, tarot cards, spirit boards, runes and scrying. These tools create a mirror that reflects the subconscious mind in our physical world. It allows us to see our subconscious in front of us and helps us to better understand and process subconscious thoughts.
This is where tarot reading and oracle card reading come into play, and why I love to use them both for my own wellbeing and for clients. I personally love divination, because I’m a very visual person, I need to see things to be able to make sense of them. These tools give me a visual to grasp hold of and create a narrative with, whether it is using the illustrations on the cards, the direction of a pendulum or the shapes whilst scrying.
How to take care of your subconscious mind
We should always put some time aside to take care of our subconscious mind. When you are thinking about your self care routine, make sure to add in something that allows you to unlock and sort through your subconscious.
This could be adding in 10-minutes of meditation every day or every other day, having regular tarot readings or picking a few oracle cards to help you think and dig a little deeper. Make sure to challenge negative thoughts and expand on them to uncover why they were created in the first place.
Create a tarot journal or oracle card journal, where you write down the cards you pick and what they mean to you. Write about how they make you feel and what they make you think about. Get specific and don’t hold back. The more we write the clearer things often become.
Feb 4, 2020 | Learn Tarot, Oracle Cards
Use your Oralce Cards like a pro with these three easy and beginner friendly Oracle Card spreads.
If you've been thinking about diving into the world of Oracle Cards but not sure where to start then this is the blog for you. I'll show you three simple ways to start using your Oracle Cards so you can start to benefit from the amazing, universal wisdom of the cards.
WORDS: Cat Crawford
IMAGE: Conscious Design on Unsplash
Oracle cards are like tarot cards less detailed sibling. They have their own power and energy that is different to the more traditional tarot cards, but they are perfect if you’re are a mega busy person or just looking for more generalised advice and guidance.
With tarot, you are really drilling down into the nitty gritty of the subconscious and it’s a very personal journey for each individual. Oracle cards are more about helping you see the bigger picture and giving you shots of wisdom and guidance, that could help you focus and set intention.
People often feel like they have to fall into one camp or the other, an Oracle Card user or a Tarot fanatic. I always encourage beginners to experiment with both. Which one is best for the job depends on the job at hand.
I like to think of oracle cards as a daily divination tool and tarot cards for more long term planning. If you’ve grabbed yourself an oracle deck recently, then here are three different ways you could start experimenting with your oracle cards.
One Card Daily Oracle Card Readings
One of the most common ways to use oracle decks, especially for complete divination beginners, is a one card pull.
Using the cards in this way gives you a focus for the day and tells you what the universe wants you to know that day. You can do these readings as often as you like, so it doesn’t have to be every day. It could be that you only draw a card when you’re in need of some spiritual and emotional support or guidance.
How to do a one card pull
- Grab your oracle deck and give the cards a good shuffle. I always aim for the magic number of three, three good shuffles and your cards should be ready to go.
- Next, split your deck into three equal piles and spend a few seconds seeing if you feel a pull towards any pile in particular.
- Whichever pile you feel drawn to, grab that pile and fan the cards out in front of you.
Again, tap into any pulls you feel towards any of the cards in front of you. Whichever you feel most drawn to is your card for that day.
*If you’re in a rush, you can simply shuffle and pick from either the top or bottom of your deck for a quick hit of guidance.
Moving Forward Two Card Oracle Card Spread
One of the things that the oracle cards are best at, is delivering clear and concise messages from the universe. These messages are not just what we need to know to move forward, they can also tell us what we need to leave behind. As we move forward in life, we can only carry so much, so we have to let go of the things weighing us down to take on what promises to propel us forward.
This spread tells you what the universe needs you to let go of and leave in the past and what you should focus on to move forward, healthily and positively.
How to do this two-card Oracle spread
- Just like last time, give your deck a good shuffle and split it into three equal piles.
- Fan out your cards from your chosen pile, and don’t forget to really tap into that intuitive pull and guidance.
- Next, ask the cards “What is moving out of the way?” and choose whichever card you feel drawn to the most.
- Ask the cards “What is coming into view?” and again, choose the card that you feel the strongest pull towards.
Whatever card one is telling you is what is currently on its way out of your life. This could be a mindset, a general theme or something more specific to you. Card two is what card one is making room for.
Release And Focus Three Card Oracle Card Spread
We can combine the first two oracle spreads in order to create a well-rounded and effective oracle spread. This three-card spread helps us to receive the main message the universe wants us to know and work on. It then goes on to tell us what we have to release in order to reach that goal and what we need to remember or focus on, in order to fully embrace this universal message.
How to do this spread
- Like we’ve done for the others, shuffle and split your deck into three piles. Intuitively choose the pile you are most drawn to.
- Fan out your chosen pile and ask the cards “What message does the universe have for me?” and choose your card for position one.
- Next, ask the cards “What do I need to release?” and choose your second card.
- Finally, ask the cards “What do I need to focus on?” and choose your third card.
The message from the universe card gives us an anchor. This is so when you approach the “What needs to be released” card you’re not as defensive and you’re more open to the reasoning behind why it needs to be released and the goodness that it will offer you.
What Oracle Cards to Choose?
There are lots of oracle cards to choose from and it depends on how much experience you have with them, which will determine the ones that are best for you. Remember to also think about which illustrations connect with you the most. Art speaks to us and can connect with our emotions better than any other medium, so the illustrations of your oracle cards are very important.
I really love the oracle decks created by Rebecca Campbell and artist Danielle Noel. These cards are not only beautifully illustrated, containing a huge amount of divine feminine energy, but also have a way of helping you visualise and process your subconscious thoughts.
The messages on these oracle cards are also very detailed and easy to understand and really help to deliver those universal messages to our conscious minds. The same can be said for decks like the Moonology deck by Yasmin Boland. It depends on what themes you are drawn to and what you want to use your Oracle Cards for.
If you’re looking for more guidance on using your Oracle Cards in a more practical and hands-on way, make sure to grab one of my ‘Tarot For…’ workbooks, all of which can be used with either Tarot or Oracle cards.
