I have always loved reading with Oracle decks. On Friday my copy of Mildred Payne’s Secret Pocket Oracle arrived from the Deviant Moon catalogue. The maker gave his oracle cards a backstory involving an asylum, a young woman sent away for speaking to imaginary friends who would be called “The Red Witch” by her asylum mates. These events are said to have occurred in the late 1920’s.
The oracle deck has 52 symbols and two extra cards not used whose back design forms a huge puzzle. The puzzle being a sort of introduction to the inner world of Mildred Payne.
I did the puzzle on Friday night listening to music and relaxing. It is not easy but it is fun. The dark back pattern with its strange images and phrases had the feel of a Ouija Board. There is something intangible and a tad creepy about the small 2.5 x 1.75 inch deck.
The cards are numbered and the symbols look as if they were drawn in ink and accented by water colors on a sepia background. Some of the symbols are not unique such as The Hag, The Devil, The Cauldron and The Poppet which are evidence along with the deck itself it seems, of young Mildred’s witchy ways. Other symbols are common to the oracle card genre, such as the rat, snake, coin, moon, and key.
Mildred is all the rage right now, but will she stand the tests of time? I have yet to ask the deck an opening question but will do a review when I do so.
Stay tuned…