ORACLE CARD

Today I am sharing a card from the Beasts of Albion deck by Miranda Gray. This is one of my oldest decks and one of my favorites as well. As Gray tells us, the animals chosen for this deck are -- or once were -- native to Britain. She groups them into three Kingdoms: Strength, Knowledge, and Purity. For each Kingdom, she has a Spirit Animal: Lion, Dragon, and Unicorn, respectively.

Within each Kingdom, the beasts are grouped into sets of three, or Trines. Finally, each animal has a Teaching assigned to it.

Representing the Beasts of Albion deck today is The Raven. In Gray's system, the Raven belongs to the Kingdom of Strength amd the Trine of Challenge. His Teaching is "Challenge of Darkness."

For those who wonder about such things, the Raven was commonly interchangeable in early stories with other members of the crow family (the crow, chough, rook, and jackdaw). Although Ravens are generally associated with dark forces and death, they are also seen to symbolize cunning, intelligence, and prophecy.

In the Beasts of Albion deck, the Raven's characteristics are: Foreknowledge; Prophecy; Cunning; Intelligence; Change; Battle; Opportunism; Selfishness; Scavenging; Protection.

Elaborating on the "Challenge of Darkness" Teaching assigned to the Raven, Gray writes: "The Raven offers the challenge of the unknown. With its prophetic cry muted, it teaches the ability to overcome the dark forces of uncertainty, ignorance and death."

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In addition to my 60 Tarot decks, I own a great many oracle decks. I love these decks, but don't use them as often as I would like. Several times a week, I am going to share a card from one of these oracle decks here on the blog. I hope people will enjoy seeing cards from various decks and will gain something from the interpretations of the cards!