Divination practices have been around since the beginning of humankind and have served as methods to guide us to our higher purposes, connect with spirit, guide us through difficult times and to strengthen our own inner resolve. If you are like us, and you too are beginning your journey into the occult as a baby witch and want to learn and enrich your own practice, this episode might help. While there are many different methods of divination, this episode focuses on Tarot and Oracle Cards/Readings. We'll admit, we didn't know the differences for a long time... but it's never too late to learn.

We'll dig into the history of Tarot, the origins, the conspiracy and the evolution to what we know it as today. At inception, tarot cards had absolutely nothing to do with the paranormal or divination... they were instead, a game. Playing cards! Each deck was hand painted and owning a deck symbolized your high status. So how then, did they become a part of divination practice? A conspiracy theory!

A frenchman named Antoine Court-de Jabolais linked Tarot cards to the Lost Book of Toth... an ancient Egyptian God linked to wisdom, writing and magic. He theorized that the messages of the Lost Book to Toth were hidden in Tarot Cards. Simultaneously and unknowingly, a man in Paris, Jean-Baptiste Alliette was developing a deck of Tarot cards to utilize for the occult with themes related to the Book of Toth. All alligned with the rise of spiritualism, Tarot cards became common place in mystical and occult practices.

While Tarot developed into a form of divination, Oracle has always served as such, but the cards themselves are much more new age than Tarot cards. The first set of Oracle cards were developed by a revered psychic in the early 19th century, Madame Lenormand. Oracle cards are deeply personal, an expression of self, of creativity and of spirit. They vary in imagery, number of cards, shape of cards and meanings.

A Traditional set of Tarot Cards consists of 78 cards divided into two groups - the major arcana and the minor arcana. Oracle Cards on the otherhand, have no set number or meaning.

Story begins at 00:07:20

We mentioned a couple of specific decks in this episode, they are listed and linked below:
Claire Goodchild's Decks
Cat Tarot
Southern Gothic Oracle
Literary Authors Oracle Deck

A great source to learn more about Tarot is the App Labryinthos

DECK TO NOT BUY! - from listener story - The Occult Tarot (which we will not be linking)

We highly recommend that you watch the Video Version on YOUTUBE - you get to see our faces and reactions, catch glimpses of Leia and the photos we reference throughout the episode!

Have ghost stories of your own? E-mail them to us at [email protected]

Encounters episodes are released every Thursday at 9am PST/12pm EST. Corinne and Sabrina hand select a couple of paranormal encounters from our inbox to read in each episode, from demons, to cryptids, to aliens, to creepy kids... the list goes on and on. If you have a story of your own that you'd like us to share on an upcoming episode, we invite you to email them to us!

This episode is sponsored by Athena Club, Beam, Rocket Money and Hers.

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Edited and produced by Jaimi Ryan, original music by Arms Akimbo!

Disclaimer: the use of white sage and smudging is a closed practice. If you’re looking to cleanse your space, here are some great alternatives!