Have you ever done a reading for somebody, perhaps even yourself, and it left you feeling a little helpless? Did you wish there was some additional advice, some insight, some direction you could give them, or some ‘spin’ you could put on the message to help them re-frame how they’re looking at the situation? It’s not a good situation to be in, nor a good sentiment to feel.

This is an idea I’d been kicking around for a couple of months, and wasn’t sure I wanted to post it, concerned that it might look too self-important or self-indulgent. I finally decided to just do it, to post it and let the chips fall where they may. As always, I have included an optional card-back design and a box design for holding them in. Below is the PDF for downloading:

solutions-consolationsdeckDownload

I picture this deck primarily being used as a follow-up deck to a reading. I neither claim nor pretend I’ve thought of everything here, but in the forty cards which comprise this deck, I think I’ve come up with enough solid ideas to help a discouraged inquirer find their way back to a better frame of mind and a more constructive path ahead.  The following are a few ways you might want to use this deck:

  • You can pull one card a day for guidance on that day. The one-card-a-day practice is a great way of getting to know a new deck, its various meanings, and its possibilities.
  • You can use this as a follow-up reading to a principle reading. If further guidance on how to proceed is needed or desired by the person being read-for, anywhere from one to three cards should do it.
  • Because problems can have more than one solution, for each ‘problem’ card in a spread, you might want to pull an individual card for guidance as to how to deal with that particular identified problem.
  • If there is a small group willing to try, you could make a sort of ‘game’ of it, as was suggested with the Universal Oracle cards (see earlier lesson under ‘An Universal Oracle’). In this approach to divining, one person, serving as the dealer, shuffles the deck and deals out, face-down, three cards to each ‘player.’ All players then turn over their cards, read them and consider how these apply to their life. You might want to have each person in the group take a turn serving as dealer. If the same card or cards comes up in each hand they are dealt, then the participants need to consider that this is something they need to pay attention to, an action they need to take, or priority they need to address. If the group is so-inclined, this exercise could serve as a springboard to fruitful discussion.

As for how to proffer it to the inquirer, you can shuffle, fan out the deck, and have them choose, or you can lay out all the cards in neat rows, grand-tableau style, face-down, and have them choose whichever card or cards appeals to them.  

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