Sacred Architecture: Cards and Concrete

I was seduced by the imagery of The Priestess Oracle Deck, although I generally dislike oracle decks. They don’t carry the weight of centuries of cultural interpretation the way tarot does. They’re usually one or two people’s private cosmology, and readers at psychic fairs inevitably end up consulting the little book instead of reading the image and working with the client.

That said, this deck is more beautiful than I had expected, and the guidebook less incoherent than I feared. I tried one of the recommended spreads, however I rewrote the questions to make them more grounded.

How do I resonate with my life’s purpose? Anubis

Anubis is a psychopomp, a guide between states. He escorts souls across thresholds. I am in a transitional phase of my life, something familiar is ending and something unexpected is beginning. I need to stop clinging to a former identity and move deliberately through change, releasing what is outdated. This may be stressful, but it is simply a crossing, closer to the Six of Swords than to catastrophe.

How do I awaken my best nature? Emerald Tablet

The right approach is awareness and acceptance, not force. This is Ḥesed balanced by Gevurah: expansion disciplined by structure. Alignment before action.

How can I connect with the Divine with greater ease? Ankh

I can connect to the Divine through my body. Walking. Breathing. Eating consciously. Touching the physical world. Being fully alive in Asiyah. Connection is not abstraction. It is embodiment.

What guide or aspect of the Divine is around me now? Diamond Dimension

Clarity. This card aligns with the Father of Swords energy that has helped me revise the deck and evaluate a home purchase. What matters now is discernment and refinement. Cutting away what is unnecessary. It is a search for precision, not ecstasy.

What message does this guide have for me? Nile

Do not grip too tightly. Trust the momentum already carrying me. Stop micromanaging outcomes. Work steadily. Receive as much as I give. Let developments unfold at a natural pace. Abundance means flow, not frenzy.

What this reading relates to in my life now:

Finalizing the deck for publication
Proofreading the pamphlet
Purchasing a condominium near the synagogue
Forming a business and filing copyrights
Writing the companion book over the next nine months

What the spread is actually saying:

I am shedding a previous identity.
I am entering a more integrated one.
I should not rush the next phase.
I must remain physically grounded.
I should allow the work to mature at its own pace rather than forcing completion.

I am at a threshold and the correct posture is steadiness.

This reading did not confirm my usual resistance to oracle decks. Tarot is a language shaped over centuries; its symbols are stable enough to argue with. Oracle decks, by contrast, often arrive interpreted, inflated with metaphysical promises and cosmic flattery. And yet, when stripped of exaggeration and returned to image, symbol, and lived context, this one became a mirror. Tarot trains the reader to think. Oracle decks tempt the reader to believe. In this case, I chose to do both. Discernment and receptivity are not opposites. I filtered the deck’s language through my own framework and still allowed the symbols to speak.