#HugDecks - Decks to use when times are hard

This blog was inspired by a video post on the YouTube channel for Patsy’s Mystical Musings. I also filmed a video response which you can watch here. I really liked this tag. I do have a lot of what I consider #HugDecks and I pulled those out to go over with you all. I think now, more than ever, is a time when all of us need to focus on the positive. Attracting the light and just leaving negative things behind. One of the things I look at when I’m considering #HugDecks is how the “scary” cards are represented. Cards like the death card, the tower, the devil, and the ten of swords. How do these cards present themselves? I also look at the other cards in the deck and decide overall how the deck makes me feel and how it works for me.

The first deck that I wanted to touch on is the Everyday Tarot. This is one of my favorite decks because those cards that I was just talking about are very tame in this deck. The deck is about the size of a poker deck of cards and it’s very soft to the touch. It feels nice in your hands, very silky. The thing that I like about it the most are the colors. It’s a very warm and cozy looking decks. The colors are very soothing and easy on the eyes. The images are very basic but they give you exactly what you need to hear. I just know that any information that I get from this deck, especially if it’s not what I want to hear, is going to be delivered in a caring way.

The next deck is the Sacred Traveler Oracle deck. These cards just have really powerful, positive messages. Some of these messages “Wondrous Universe, walk in beauty.” “Watching clouds, lie back, rest and relax.” “Travel lightly, simplify your life.” “First light, beginning a new cycle.” “Fogged in, go slowly, take time.” “Fellow travelers, support is all around you.” These cards also have a matte finish and feel very soft in your hands. They are the size of a standard oracle deck. Every image is positive, and every message is positive, in this deck. I really love it.

The next deck is the "#IAmPowerDeck by Brittany Burkard. I use both the Sacred Traveler Oracle deck and the #IAmPowerDeck for daily pulls. From this deck I had to pull out some of the cards out that I didn’t really connect with. However, since there were over 100 cards that came in this deck I still have 88 cards that I can pull from. I left the cards in that I can connect with. I would suggest to you if you have a deck that you love and there’s just a few cards that throw you when you get them, you don’t really care for them, pull those couple cards out and just use the deck without them. I firmly believe that there are times in life when you just need to completely focus on the positive and forget about the negative, forget about the shadow work, forget about working on yourself. Just focus on the positive things that you want in your life, the things you want to attract and you will attract more of that, and those things that you don’t want, they just kind of go away on their own. You don’t need to consciously make a choice for them to leave, you just need to focus on the things that you want to attract, and the other things will take care of themselves. The negative things, the shadow work - that comes up very easily without any help or encouragement from us. You don’t need to seek it out. I pulled more than a dozen cards out of this deck and it’s still one of my most used decks and it functions very well for me. It is about the size of a standard poker deck also. Some of the cards in this deck: “I am happy, I am fun, I am hope, I am safe, I am student, . . . confident, traveling, here, patient, awesome. It just goes on and on and on. It’s very much about building you up and being confident and helping you realize what strengths you already have. I find this deck to be very welcome when I’m having a hard time and I need some extra encouragement and some positive affirmations in my life. This deck really helps me out a lot.

I have a bookshelf here in my office and I work in my office space almost every day. I am lucky enough that my muggle job allows me to work 100% virtually so I get to see my cards on my bookshelf most days. Every time I’m walking past my book shelf I see the cards. They are ones that I pulled deliberately to attract a specific kind of energy or something that I randomly pulled to see what message the Universe has for me that day. Those are the cards that I’ll have up and I usually have 4-5 cards pulled from various tarot and oracle decks. Typically these cards will be from one of my #HugDecks.

The next deck I wanted to talk about is the Angel Tarot Cards by Doreen Virtue and Radleigh Valentine. You probably can only find it with Radleigh Valentine’s name as the author now. We were talking earlier about how those harsher cards play a role for me. Let’s take a look at some of those cards in this deck. For example, the tower is “Life Experience, a significant life event, a powerful revelation that leads to change, time to spread your wings.” That’s a much nicer message to hear for the energy of the tower than one of those other decks that doesn’t have a kinder, gentler card for you. The death card “Release, the end of a phase or situation, spiritual transformation, time to move on.” Then the devil card says “Ego, a false sense of entrapment, being overly focused on material things, negative or fear-based thoughts.” The hanged man “Awakening, look at things from a different perspective, a temporary standstill, it is important to be yourself.” You can see from those examples, that those cards just have a very positive message. This deck is the size of a typical oracle deck and has silver gilding on the edges that has held up quite well for me. Perhaps that’s because of the way that I shuffle them.

I do have a second Doreen Virtue deck on the list. It’s Magical Messages from the Fairies. This one I use in conjunction with tarot cards or for daily pulls. Some of the messages “Goodbye to the old, hello to the new. You’ve finished one part of your life and now a new and even better part is beginning.” “Healing energy surrounds you and this situation. Healing, healed, healer.” “Everything is okay. Don’t worry, it’s all working out in a beautiful way.” “Assertiveness. Stand up for your beliefs and only say yes if you really want to.” That’s one of the decks where I just find the messages to be very powerful and affirming and encouraging to move on from things that are no longer serving you.

The next of the #HugDecks is Happy Tarot. This is a very fun and silly deck that makes me laugh. It’s based on the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck but you can’t help but smile when you’re using this deck. You get the message that you need to hear but you’ve got a smile on your face when you get it. This deck reminds me a lot of the Candyland game or from the movie Wreck-It Ralph, the game where Princess Vanellope vo Schweetz is from. It has that feel to it. This deck would also be good if you have a child who is interested in tarot and you’re for a tarot deck for them.

The next deck is the Spirit of the Animals Oracle. This one just, whoa, has really powerful messages. Every single card in this deck is powerful and as it has a Native American feel to it. The pictures are beautiful and moving. I’m going to share some of the messages - “Independent, cat. You are a natural healer, your intuition is strong. You don’t have to go with the crowd. Life supports you in every way.” “Sea otter. Happiness. Be the master of playful living. Release expectations and enjoy every day. Let worry go and instead choose love. Surrender to the waves. Your good destiny of love is sure.” “Heron. Patience. Create a place in nature’s stillness and be renewed. Take time alone to find balance. Step confidently toward your purpose. Patience will bring you rewards.” Those are just such great cards. They are empowering and help build your confidence when you’re feeling a little down and need some motivation. This is a deck that I go to. I use this for daily pulls or with a tarot reading.

I’ve shared with you the cards that I looked at in a tarot deck to decide my #HugDecks. The tower, the devil, those diffdcult cards to sometimes get. This next deck, The Everyday Witch, has my favorite all-time Tower card in it. I’ve included a picture of this Tower card. That tower is coming down, but you can tell by the smirk on her face, she took that tower down deliberately. Not only that, she’s enjoying watching it fall. I love that. I think that’s such a great message for the tower card. It’s also very positive and empowering. The devil card in this deck is a little disturbing because there is a man giving candy to some young ones. It’s hard to tell their age. However, it’s a nicer image to look at than two people chained to the devil in the depths of hell. Although disturbing, this devil card does give you the message in a direct way that it would be best for the kids to decline the sweets and just walk away. I love the artwork in this deck. It pairs nicely with the next deck, which is the Everyday Witch Oracle. Every card in this deck is also positive and encouraging. “Speak your mind, Imagine and envision, Affirmation for positive change, Strength and resilience, Ground and center, Cleansing body and spirit.

Devil card from Book of Shadows: So Below tarot deck

The last of my #HugDecks is the Book of Shadows: So Below. There are two tarot decks in the Book of Shadows set and this is what I have, but you can buy them separately. The As Above deck has to do with the spiritual realm and the So Below deck looks at the everday down here on earth. This deck has my all-time favorite devil card. It’s shown in the picture. This is definitely all about temptation, and self-control, and self-induced pain and suffering. It’s also letting you know you can control yourself and sometimes you don’t know that you have that control. This is a reminder of that. It’s just temptation, you can enjoy it or not. That’s up to you. It also has a very powerful death card. It depicts a man loading the trunk with suitcases and the woman is watching the real estate agent put the “for sale” sign up in the yard. Two children are on the porch seeing it all. It’s a devastating end, but also a new beginning that may be better for everyone. One of my favorite things about this deck is all the magical creatures. In the minor arcana, all of the cards have some kind of creature (fairy, gnome, salamander) and it adds another layer to the readings that aren’t in a typical deck. It’s reminding you that magic surrounds us in everything we do and it’s a part of everyday life.

I have two books that I wanted to mention as a part of my #HugDecks list. They are fun easy reads that make you feel good to read. The first book is a Magical Course in Tarot by Michelle Morgan. I love how light-hearted and fun her storytelling capability is. I also like the positive definitions she gives of all the cards. I also want to mention Kitchen Table Tarot by Melissa Cynova. It’s really like hanging out in her kitchen at her kitchen table with her. She takes you through how she learned tarot, at time that she spent teaching her girlfriends tarot and inflects a little bit of herself in each of the card definitions she gives. This too is a really fun read. So when you’re looking for your #HugDecks, you might want to pull out one of these two books to look at to give yourself a little light-hearted, fun reading. I think this hashtag is a very useful tool to refer to when you’re looking for a little bit of comfort and something to make your life a little easier. I hope you’re all doing well. Stay safe and I’ll see you back here soon! Thanks for stopping by!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS POST:

Everyday Tarot by Brigit Esselmont

Sacred Traveler Oracle Cards, The, by Denise Linn

#IAmPowerDeck by Brittany Burkard Instagram @brittanyburkard.com

Angel Tarot Cards by Doreen Virtue & Radleigh Valentine (now just under “Radleigh Valentine.”), Artwork by Steve A. Roberts by Hay House

Happy Tarot, The, by Llewellyn Publications

Everyday Witch Tarot Deck by Deborah Blake and art by Elisabeth Alba

Everyday Witch Oracle by Deborah Blake and art by Elisabeth Alba

Book of Shadows Tarot 2 Deck Set, As Above and So Below decks by Barbara Moore

Book of Shadows Tarot Volume 2, So Below deck by Barbara Moore, by Llewellyn

Magical Course in Tarot: Reading the Cards in a Whole New Way by Michelle Morgan published by Red Wheel

Kitchen Table Tarot: Pull Up a Chair, Shuffle the Cards, and Let’s Talk Tarot, by Melissa Cynova by Llewellyn Publications.

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