The Earth Speaks Oracle Deck
Medicinal messages from the natural world
Samples
The cicadas emerge
Life after dormancy
Message: Sometimes, the cycles of life are long. Something can be dormant for quite some time, and then come alive again. Take heart.
Invitation: Cicadas are born, and then live most of their lives underground before maturing. Some cicadas stay under the soil for as many as 17 years. When they emerge, they quickly shed their old skins, stepping fully into their adult forms.
This oracle invites you to ask yourself: Is there an interest, a hobby, a way of being, a creative pursuit, a calling, or a simple joy that has been absent from your life for some time, but that you know is still alive somewhere deep within you? If so, tune in to it. Picture it hibernating wisely, maturing, waiting for the right conditions in which to emerge again. If you’d like to invite it back into your life, do so now. See what you can do to encourage a reawakening. The process of emergence and metamorphosis may be closer than you think.
Affirmation: May my heart be encouraged as I remember what the cicadas teach: That which might seem lost can reawaken and thrive.
Magnolia Blossoms Beckon
Message: Bliss and beauty are all around you. Notice the sensual pleasures offering themselves to you now. What do you want to say yes to?
Invitation: Have you ever stepped under the canopy of a magnolia tree, and been enveloped in its subtle pink, fragrant aura? Have you ever sipped rainwater from a magnolia petal, like a fairy cup? Has a magnolia tree ever dropped its blossoms at your feet, like a sacred welcome? The magnolia tree and its flowers express sensuality, pleasure, and bliss.
This oracle is a message that you have an opportunity now to give yourself to an experience of sensual beauty. You are being invited to slow down and say yes to what feels good. If there is something you are feeling called to do, but you worry about looking ridiculous, it is time to drop those inhibitions and let yourself have the experience. If there’s work you are approaching and you’re rushing, you might be missing the joyful parts of the process. Or maybe you’ve “arrived” at some desired outcome, and you’re forgetting to pause and let yourself bask in it. Let yourself be wild and free. Let yourself enjoy the simple pleasures.
Affirmation: May I be open to fully experiencing bliss, beauty, and bounty.
Decomposition
Cycles of life and death
Message: Cycles of life and death are always entwined and interwoven, present within each other’s presence.
Invitation: Fungi are wonderful decomposers. In the fall, generous blooms of mushrooms overtake fallen logs, doing their job to decompose them, returning their nutrients to the soil to be reclaimed by the earth and feed new life. Mushrooms are the visible reproductive structures of vast networks of fungal mycelial networks that maintain healthy soil, nurture healthy bacteria that form the backbone of ecosystems, and perform so many other essential functions that make life on our planet possible.
This oracle speaks to the energy of autumn, the season of composting, a time when we can cultivate awareness of the normalcy of both life and death. From the Buddhist practice of maranasati to the themes of memento mori in various religious and artistic traditions, it is widely known that contemplating the inevitability of death leads to gratitude for the preciousness of life. This oracle is an invitation to contemplate these cycles, and to appreciate the gift of decomposition.
Affirmation: May I honor both life and death, as I contemplate the necessity of decomposition for creation.
The murmuration
Emergence, creativity, community
Message: Be responsive to the conditions around you. Tune in to your neighbors, community, and environment.
Invitation: To witness a murmuration of starlings is a magical thing. These groups of hundreds or even thousands of birds swoop and swirl across the sky as one collective being, creating undulating shapes through the air. Biologists think they do this as a way to protect themselves and each other from predators. But it’s hard to see a murmuration without also noticing the poetry, and possibly the play, within this behavior.
A murmuration is an example of the concept of emergence: collective behavior in which a group does something together that the individual components of the system could not do alone. In the case of murmuration, each bird responds, moment by moment, to the movements of its neighbor. A murmuration reminds us that we are individual beings who are also simultaneously connected to communities, and part of whole ecosystems that are much larger than ourselves.
This oracle is a message to be ready to pivot, to dance, to improvise, to innovate. Find the joy in emergent activities, and contemplate your oneness with the universe.
Affirmation: May I be responsive and co-creative with my surroundings. May I be aware of my simultaneous individuality and my oneness with all that is
The first snow
Magic, gentleness, silence
Message: Take a gentle approach. Seek out the magic in the everyday.
Invitation: The first snow is a gentle magic. Freshly fallen snowflakes absorb sound waves, and there’s no hush in the world like the soundscape of snowy silence. A blanket of snow turns the landscapes and cityscapes we take for granted into more enchanting spaces. Rooftops and treetops glitter. The evidence of our animal friends’ presence is written in their tracks. The world seems to stand still.
Just as you might softly approach a deer you meet in the forest, a slow and gentle approach to life is needed now. This oracle is a reminder that wherever you are, you are on sacred ground. When you walk through life as though it is a magical gift, it becomes so. It is an encouragement to seek the magic in your everyday life. Sometimes, the best way to do this is to enter into silent meditation, to approach your world and yourself with a bit more gentleness.
The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote: "Advice is like snow--the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind." This says so much about what snow can teach us. Softness and gentleness carry great power.
Affirmation: May I be awake to the beauty and enchantment of the world around me. May I appreciate the power of silence, softness, and gentleness.
