Celtic Tree Oracle

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Card Review: The Celtic Tree Oracle - A System of Divination by Liz and Colin Murray, illustrated by Vanessa Card. Pack includes a Hardback book with instructions and advice and divinatory meanings, plus cards, size 2.5 x 3.5 inches in size plus a writing pad to record information about your readings, in addition to a record sheet for 13 card readings and instructions about the Ogham alphabet, tree lore and Celtic traditions. 


Lis Murray and her husband, Colin, were working on this together when Colin died and Liz decided to continue and complete it in honour of her husband. There is information on how to care for and use the cards and how to prepare for a reading and how to interpret them. There is a 13 card spread sample reading provided. This is a little complex for beginners where 5 rows of 5 cards are involved initially and are reduced down to a manageable level. There are 3 case histories which help with early readings. This card deck is very suited to those with a love of forests, countryside and open park spaces in nature. 

Sample readings: 
This is the card of Honeysuckle and the guidance is: to enable you to distinguish what is false from what is real and what can be useful to you on your spiritual journey. You need to find your way to your centre, where all reality is revealed. It instructs you to go into nature and learn of the magic and beauty that awaits you. Smells the scents, see and hear the variety of life and feel the healing power.  If on your nature walk, you discover some honeysuckle, sometimes called 'woodbine' remember the flower, seed and leaves are used in medicine and might reduce inflammation. It's name derives from the sweet nectar contained within the flower which bees love. 

The card for May - Oak and the guidance is: Every house has a front door. If you wish to enter, the door must be approached and your presence made known. The door may then be opened. The word 'door' comes from the Gaelic and Sanskrit 'duir', a word for solidity, protection, and the Oak Tree.

The Oak stands mighty and solid; great branches are matched by great roots. He is sometimes stuck by lightning. The force of the strike and the heat bursts the sap and stem apart leaving the trunk gnarled and withered. Yet he manages to survive, over years, decades or centuries. His growth is slow but sure. He is a marker point, a cornerstone, a boundary and a refuge and source of wood for many purposes. His beams were used for the ships that defeated the Armada, and to build our greatest cathedrals. Edward the Confessor preached under the Gospel Oak at Parliament Hill, thereby gaining power for the kingdom.

 
Review by Wendy Stokes https://wendystokes.co.uk