Because Halloween/Samhain is nearly upon us here in the Northern Hemisphere, I thought we’d look at how to use a Dark Oracle together with one of the Darker Tarot decks for some yummy Shadow work… and it also gives me the opportunity to share 11 of my favourite dark decks with you.
Let’s look at the how first… This is a really simple Tarot spread/technique and you can use any decks of your own choosing but, obviously, if the focus is on Shadow work, you want to make sure they have some nice, dark content for you to sink your fangs into.
The two dark oracles I’m featuring above are the The Halloween Oracle by Stacey DeMarco and Jimmy Manton and the Les Vampires Oracle by Lucy Cavendish with illustrations by Jasmine Becket-Griffith.
- You set the mood and the intent by lighting a candle and dedicating it to illuminating the dark corners of your psyche.
- Then you randomly pull an oracle card from a well-shuffled deck. Read about it in the companion book if you are not familiar with all the meanings. This card will show you which corner of your psyche is in need of some illumination, a blind spot in your soul.
- Next, you shuffle, cut and lay out three Tarot cards from the deck of your choice. These three cards give you a storyline showing you the context where this shadow theme is being played out.
- Finally, you lay out two Tarot cards below the row of three. These two are the don’t and do cards.
- Make a note in your journal of the reading. Everything may not become immediately apparent, so go back over your notes a few times and see if you have learned something new.
- Blowing out the candle with a ‘Thank you!’ to Spirit completes the session.
Below, you will find this simple layout featuring the two oracle decks already mentioned and 9 different dark Tarot decks…
The Les Vampires Oracle and the Dark Fairytale Tarot Deck
The Halloween Oracle and the Darkana Tarot
The Halloween Oracle and The Tarot of Vampyres
The Les Vampires Oracle and the Halloween Tarot in a Tin
The Les Vampires Oracle and the Ghost Tarot
The Halloween Oracle and the Tarot of the Zirkus Mägi
The Les Vampires Oracle and the Vampire Tarot (cropped)
The Halloween Oracle and The Zombie Tarot Cards
The Les Vampires Oracle and the Bohemian Gothic Tarot
Which is your favourite dark Tarot and/or Oracle deck? Do you plan on doing any Shadow work this Halloween? I would love to hear from you in the comments below!
My three favourite dark decks from the ones shown above are the Zombie Tarot (incredibly to the point in readings and totally fun to read with), the Halloween Tarot (keeps surprising me with incredible depth in spite of its comedy value) and the Tarot of Vampyres by virtue of its sheer beauty.
To me, the Halloween Tarot has the edge visually but the Tarot of Vampires has a more thought-provoking companion book.
Comments
*geek drool, mouth breathing*
I want these !
I’m a huge fan of the dark goddess tarot and the tarot of vampyres. Also the vampires Oracle is helpful for reading for people in stressful situations.
I’ve been focused on the Healing Your Bloodline from Wednesday’s newsletter. I think working on my own shadow stuff will be a great follow up to that. I’m trying to find Anne Stokes’ Gothic tarot. I like the oracle decks you have shown here. I think I will wait and see which one calls out to me when I go shopping.
Yes, Anne Stokes Gothic Tarot is beautiful but the pips are non-scenic so not as easy to read with if you’re not used to that. Samhain Blessings
I have the same issue with the gothic tarot re: pips, but if you’re used to RWS I just kind of use those interpretations from memory combined with the other cards, but I think the deck was worth it anyway because the rest of the art is nice and for those of us with small hands they actually fit my hands!
I don’t have any dark decks, but some of these are truly beautiful. I do enjoy your articles and newetters. Keep up the good work, Lisa! Blessings.
Thanks Lidia! 🙂 Samhain Blessings
Loving that Halloween Oracle!
Yeah, the artwork is wonderful!
Great spread! I had been interested in a Lucy Cavendish deck to do psyche work but after seeing your spread done with the Bohemian Gothic deck I think I want that one, too! lol So far, I have been using my Soul Lessons deck to do my shadow work and it has done very well. It just takes a bit more creativity to see what spirit is trying to tell me.
Oh! & thank you so much for your newsletters! You put in so much work. Wednesday’s newsletter is how I found this article about doing a shadow spread for Halloween. Love it!!
Thanks Leslie 🙂
You really should get the Bohemian Gothic if you can, Leslie – the companion book by Karen Mahoney is great too for Shadow-readings. Samhain Blessings
My favorite dark tarot deck is definitely the Ludy Lescot Tarot published by LoScarabeo. It’s the right amount of dark for me to feel comfortable, and doesn’t have the cheesy look some of the Tarot of Vampyres cards have lol (even though I like that deck too). Otherwise I’m not that drawn to dark decks. I often feel like shadow work can be done with any deck really, it’s the intention that counts. 🙂
Oh, I don’t know about that… Sure, you could easily use the Thoth Tarot or the RWS… but not some of the Fluffy-Bunny-Candy Tarot decks out there… The images speak to our soul… if they have stopped mattering, why bother throwing the cards down on the table? Just use numbers!