ShastaSpirit - The Inspired Mind: Rowena Pattee Kryder
ShastaSpirit - The Inspired Mind
Are oracles a valid method of psychotherapy? Is an oracle a non-physical entity, a shrine, deck of cards, cosmic intelligence, a person or what? How can curious people, who are timid about using oracles, approach them and use them with integrity?
These questions and many more abound in the minds of many people who likely see tarot decks, I Ching books and coins, runes and other divination systems are becoming more and more popular. Why? How do they work? How can they possibly shed light on a therapeutic situation?
Oracles help us see the hidden, the invisible, and can provide a spiritual map for the unfoldment of our destiny. Oracles use 'chance' or 'randomness' through a selection of cards, throwing of dice, yarrow stalks or runes. In oracular devices chance is used to see what is hidden. If we don't see the hidden, that which we've denied and repressed, we are surprised by them when a crisis comes. The crisis may manifest physically before we pay attention to it, but it always has a psychological antecedent. Pain is feedback for healing.
Healing comes through accessing more and more of our whole selves. Oracles can help us access the side of life we normally turn away from, or dare not believe. Without a method beyond the conscious control of the mind, you could not access the hidden side that is most needed for healing.
Characteristics of Oracles
I regard the oracular source as a cosmic intelligence that permeates every person, place and thing. Every situation is a particular convergence of intelligent information in a vast matrix of possibilities, that applies to a particular person, or event. Therefore an effective oracle is both comprehensive and specific. In summary, oracles are irrational in their method (random choice) but extremely rational and comprehensive as a holographic system of patterns. Oracles can reveal what is denied and yet must be presented in a way that can be accepted. Oracles are extremely concrete, precise and particular in application while being generally abstract as sources. Oracles are symbolic in form and therefore may appear to the inexperienced as fantasy, but refer to unconscious realities.
How can Oracles be used in Therapy?
In a therapeutic situation the important thing is to maintain the intention of the well-being of the client, to have compassion, to be open-hearted; simultaneously with being clear and discerning as to when, why and how the client is manipulating, distorting or denying anything. When using card decks, coins, runes etc. with a client it is first of all important to gain confidence. The most important thing is to be open to the truth as a reader. As a counsellor, when you trust cosmic intelligence behind the oracular device, then the client trusts you.
One of the most important aspects of oracles is how to ask a question. Oracles do not answer yes and no questions. It is best to ask clearly for a reflection of a given situation, or to ask for qualities needed to assist a situation. The first question is a diagnostic and the second is for helping and healing.
Types of Oracles
The Tarot is a commonly used oracular device. It consists of 22 Major Arcana, which are universal principles (archetypal teachings); 16 Court Cards (a King, Queen, Prince and Princess in four suits); and 40 Minor Arcana, which are 10 qualities in each of the four suits. The four suits are commonly called wands (fire/spirit), swords (air/mind), cups (water/emotions) and discs (earth/body).
No one knows the real origin of the Tarot cards. There are Egyptian, Hermetic, and many types of European Tarot decks in addition to many modern versions. Put simply, Tarot is a symbolic vision used consciously to access the unconscious.
The I Ching (Chinese Book of Changes) is an extremely old oracle, used for thousands of years by the Chinese and quite popular in the West. Carl Jung thought that the principles embodied in the I Ching are engraved on the collective unconscious of the human race. Therefore it can be used to unearth unknown and hidden tendencies. This Oracle consists of 64 hexagrams (symbolic patterns in six lines) wherein there are Readings and Commentaries for each hexagram as a whole and also for each of the individual lines. This means that the I Ching can be very specific and precise in bringing to light something previously hidden. Often yarrow stalks or coins are used for the random selection of hexagram and lines, but cards may be used as well. There are many studies of correlating the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching with the 64 codons of the genetic code, which brings up a question of just how deep these oracles are.
Runes are a magical alphabet. Runic oracles are based on 24 characters of an ancient European alphabet. The Runes are more than characters designed for giving information. They encapsulate symbolic meanings that emerged likely out of the shamanic traditions of central and northern Europe. Nigel Pennick, who studies Runes and Ancient Alphabets, says that the runes were derived initially from two basically separate sources and combined into one system by Odin. Runes are usually used in the form of stones with the patterns of the 24 letters of the runic alphabet upon them. By means of a book of interpretations, one can receive insight on a given situation.
The Gaia Matrix Oracle, divined in modern times for the transition the Earth is now experiencing, uses a deck of 108 cards. This system, like the I Ching consists of 64 symbols, but they are doubled (making 128) in so far as there are 64 Old Earth and 64 New Earth symbols. There are also 16 archetype cards, 8 earths, a Wild Wu Man, a Gaia Card and Self Image Card. Part of the purpose of this oracle is to provide a New Earth archetypal context for many things people are experiencing during the current paradigm shift. For example, there is a Burning Buddha card, and the reading makes clear to those experiencing burning sensations, that all is well, that there is a transmutation process happening, a clearing, enabling the New Earth qualities to shine through.
Oracles are very helpful during these times of change-for they can provide insight on life problems that more conservative methods cannot conceive of.
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Copyright © 1998 Rowena Pattee Kryder, All Rights Reserved
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