Let me introduce you to Collette Baron-Reid. She is an internationally acclaimed oracle expert, star of the hit TV series Messages from Spirit on Amazon, #1 Best-selling Author (check out her book The Map, and host of the highly popular HayHouseRadio.com radio show Ask the Oracle. In addition, those who have worked with oracle cards consistently fall in love with the decks she creates. Collette brings a ton of energy to her teachings, and I’ve had the honor of seeing her work as a platform medium, meditation leader and oracle readings teacher.
Recently, Baron-Reid brought Oracle Palooza to San Diego. This is an in-person, 3-day weekend event that she bills as the “Ultimate Oracle Card Party.” The Magic Within was the theme for this year’s Palooza, and it was filled with oracle readings, live coaching, guided meditations and vision journeys. This event is about personal transformation within a tribe of like-minded people, as attendees practice using oracle cards to develop their intuition. While all attendees received Collette’s most recently released oracle deck “Goddess Within”, we were free to use the deck(s) we brought as we navigated the sessions. The entire weekend was filled with fun, high energy, connection and information, but there were two exercises that stood out for me that I wanted to share.
The first is an exercise that I will call “Surrender to the Fates.” To start, we had to write down 7 things that we could not live without. Well, for those that know my story, I entered this exercise having already lost all the things I thought I couldn’t live without, like my husband, career, mom, and prized possessions. Because I survived those losses, as the people around me were writing down their spouse, kids, job, home, etc., I was writing down those abilities that allowed me to survive my losses like a sense of humor, my ability to love, my six senses, and my imagination. After we wrote down our seven things, we had to choose two, stand up, and give them up to “The Fates” - staff members wearing masks, standing behind a bowl that symbolized the repository of our loss. When we arrived at our fate, we read our surrendered items out loud and dropped them into the bowl. We repeated this exercise until all had been surrendered. It was incredibly powerful - though no one was giving up anything in reality, that room was full of tears and the deep feelings of loss and despair were palpable.
But having already lost so much, my reaction to this experience was different - for me, it validated my healing work. Yes, the items I surrendered were difficult to give up, but I had learned the secret of survival - all loss is an opportunity for growth and expansion. I would never have chosen the losses I’ve experienced, but I now honor and value what they have brought me. Unlike real life, all the surrendered items were “returned” the pretend Fates weren’t so cruel.
My other favorite exercise gave me a chance to use oracle cards in a new way. Colette led a live-streamed chakra meditation. I urge you to take a look - this is a fantastic vision journey meditation through the chakra system. For this exercise, we used 2 oracle decks, Collette's new goddess deck and one of our choice. As a side note, we could also use a third deck, the Spirit Animal deck, if we wanted. We chose 7 cards from the first deck and 7 cards from the second while asking the question, “what do I need to know about each chakra?” The revelation - using two decks means that you can use one deck to validate the message of the other - with the second deck acting as a metaphysical second opinion. The spirit animal deck was there if we wanted even more information. Honestly, until Oracle Palooza, I had just dabbled with oracle cards, but this exercise was so different from your standard one-card or three-card reading. I chose to do this exercise one chakra at a time, picking one card from all three decks, and I have to admit - each three-card message was appropriate for where I was in my own chakra energy growth.
I love that part of Oracle Palooza is their encouragement to host your own oracle card party, an idea that came from one of Baron-Reid's staff members after she hosted an amazing gathering of her own friends who had never used oracle cards before…
““Each person did a reading and freaked themselves out. No one had done this before and just using the guidebook in the box was all they needed for the magic to show up. What happened that night was truly amazing.”
By the end of the night, each friend opened up and shared what was really going on in their lives, leading to conversation that was meaningful, intimate, real and raw. The messages in the cards provided insight and allowed party-goers to get to know each other beyond the fluff small talk and barbed gossip that can happen when people typically get together. Learn to host your own oracle party by going to https://www.colettebaronreid.com/oracle-card-party/ All in all, I love the idea of oracle cards. While it may seem silly - my logical brain thinks so, too - what if we are all part of something greater being guided by the divine? The part of me that is open to this idea is curious about the fact that the right messages do seem to show up at the right time. Of course with any reading, we are always free to accept the meaning of the cards or move on without giving them another thought.
I left that weekend feeling glad that I had gone. I met some wonderful people, validated my own growth, and examined just how far I have come from my dark days. I have made many shifts in my life, some by choice and the toughest born of circumstances beyond my control. I am incredibly proud that I am moving forward without numbing myself or retreating and thankful for the guided messages I have received on my journey, from the words found in a fortune cookie to those of my therapist. So yes, I will continue to dabble with oracle cards. In fact, I'd love to be invited to your oracle party - I have a few decks I can bring.