Celtic Healing Oracle

An oracle deck featuring mythic symbols from the ancient Celtic ways of knowing

The cards feature black-and-white symbols representing goddesses, gods, cauldrons, leprechauns, faeries, animals, trees, and other figures to express the Celtic way of “carving” reality from darkness rather than light.

The accompanying guidebook explores the meaning and mythic background for each card, the Celtic worldview, the principles of Celtic divination, as well as how to use the oracle to receive answers to specific questions.

Attuned to the movements of nature, the Celts understood that all things are connected, and they “divined” answers to their queries as well as what the future holds from the animals, plants, the winds, and the seasons. Trees and animals held particular knowledge of past, present, and future. Through natural methods of divination, bards, healers, soothsayers, and holy women and men gained powers to see into the unseen. Stories and legends of their powers were told and retold, transmitting an enormous store of wisdom across the generations.

In this oracle deck and guidebook, Rosemarie Anderson interprets Celtic myths and legends to create an oracle system of 64 cards featuring symbols from the ancient Celtic ways of knowing. The symbols represent three thousand years of Celtic culture and history, derived from archaeological excavations of Bronze and Iron Age Celtic sites throughout Europe and from the myths, folktales, and faery traditions still flourishing in rural Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The symbols of the cards represent cauldrons, spirals, leprechauns, faeries, animals, trees, the wondrous child (Cú Chulainn), the Sacred King, Cernunnos (the antlered god), the Morrigán (the raven goddess), Tir na nóg (the Blessed Isles), and other imagery and figures from Celtic lore.

The accompanying guidebook explores the meaning, symbology, and mythic background for each card, such as how the Triple-Mother Goddess (Card 1) represents magnificence and the primal goddess in all her aspects--maiden, mother, and crone. The guidebook also explores the Celtic worldview, the basic principles of Celtic divination, as well as how to use the oracle to receive answers to specific questions.

Conveying the power and wisdom of the ancient Celtic ways of knowing, this oracle offers a hands-on way to gain insight into the hidden forces at play in our lives.