I mentioned in passing something about understanding Oracle, but never stopped to explain that. Then the other day I asked a friend how the rune stones worked out for him. Trouble was, I skipped the background part where I should have found out what his understanding of Oracle was. I don't think we actually had the same conversation, even though I believe I learned something important about him from it, anyway. So I thought I'd pause a moment and write about Oracle.
On my long and winding path to where I am now, I've tried a lot of different things and studied a lot more. One thing I tried was reading Tarot cards. I'm not good at it, but mostly because I have trouble remembering what the individual cards are supposed to mean. There are just too many, and I'll admit that the associations between image and meaning don't always make much sense to me. Tarot is a foreign language I have not yet learned.
Rune stones, on the other hand, make perfect sense to me. It helps that there are only twenty four symbols to remember. It might also help that the set I made and use is stone, which I have a natural connection with. And that, after making myself comfortable with some traditional layouts and drawings and readings , I allowed instinct to guide me and am quite content to simply grab a handful of them out of the bag and scatter them on whatever working surface I'm using.
At some point, after working (and playing) with my runestones for years, I had the insight that the symbol set I was using didn't matter, as long as I understood the meanings and had a large enough vocabulary in the symbols to allow for answers that made sense to me. Because the key to Oracle is not in the symbol set. It's in the intuitive leap required to perceive the answers in the first place.
Okay, now it's time to back up a bit again. To answer what should have been earlier questions. What is Oracle for? How do I use it? Why does it seem to work for some people and not for others? Can I really trust it? Here are my answers, which I freely admit are not everyone's answers and will likely make some traditionalists mad at me.
Oracle, as I see it, is a way to tap into a different state of knowing. Just that simple. Oracle might see into future possibilities, might sift through different decisions, might pinpoint the heart of a problem, might bring attention to the overlooked, might put a finger on the important detail. It's a shortcut to an altered state of being. It's a key to the lock most people put on senses they choose not to acknowledge.
I have used Oracle for all those things, now, with specific intent. But I find that the best results come when I either ask a very specific question and filter the answer through what my head and heart already know or when I ask a very broad question and listen to the answer with an empty mind and quiet heart. Yes, I did say that I either put myself totally into the answer or leave myself totally out of it. And when I'm not sure which method to use? Then Oracle is unlikely to work in that situation.
Oracle is a tool, just like a hammer, a pencil, a gun, a meditation technique, a set of exercises. Used with positive intent, a tool will help a person achieve positive results. Like any other tool, skills are required to use it to the extent of it's capability. A skilled roofer using a good hammer with the intent to create a weatherproof roof will do just that. But even if you put a high quality pencil into the hands of a baby, you aren't likely to get a drawing of a fish or a love poem, you're likely to get an injured, indignant baby. Skill and intent are both needed to use tools well. So why don't Tarot cards work for everyone? Because not everyone has both the skill and the intent needed to use them. I lack skill with them, so they don't work for me.
Trusting Oracle is a different matter altogether. After all, is it the hammer I trust to fix my leaky roof or the professional I hired to do the job? When I'm using Oracle myself, am I sure of my own skill and intent? To be honest, there are situations when I'm not, and I will not trust any answer I think I get. Like using the tarot deck, I just can't be sure if I've read it right. And worse, if I'm so focused on the process, on the card symbols or random distractions, I'm likely to miss that leap of intuition, that altered state that usually brings understanding. So I don't read tarot, and I look for a quiet place to consult Oracle when I can.
I do use runes, when I'm looking for guidance. But they aren't the only form of Oracle I employ. I've meditated, gone on spirit journeys, used a standard deck of cards or the stones I've collected over the years. I've also opened a random page of a random book and hit the shuffle on my mp3 player, both methods that have worked and made my not-so-inner geek grin.
I've even found that focusing on the question or problem at hand and then opening up my eyes and looking around brings me insight as well. I thank Crow for teaching me to really see the world. But it's the skill of entering an altered state, of using all my senses and not just the normal physical ones, coupled with the intent of finding a helpful answer that allows Oracle to work for me in that way.
I don't think it's necessary to understand Oracle the way I do in order for the tarot deck or the runes to work for you. It's often enough to simply believe that a tool will do what the label says and practice with it until your skill and intent make it a reliable Oracle for you. For me, the understanding means I don't need a specific tool at hand to gain that intuitive leap or reach that altered state. I can improvise with what's available, even when that's simply myself.
Maybe I've explained that understanding well enough to bring insight to some of you who read this. Putting it into words has reminded me once again that not all tools and not all technicians are the same. There are always many ways of achieving results, none of them "right" or "wrong". I use tools I know and am comfortable with, and I hope others do too.
In joy and love,
dwolf34
