I'm a big proponent of making your own oracle decks.
I'm also a proponent of not letting limited knowledge about astrology prevent you from putting it to use in your life.
So, while some people can tell you about conjunct this, and opposite that, I can tell you how to use some index cards to tell you what's coming down the astrological pipeline.
Which brings us to this post.
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I've done daily divination readings for myself for years, but I came to a point where I wanted to know what houses to pay attention to for the upcoming day.
And instead of cracking the spine of a book from an astrologer that was active when smartphones would get your burnt at the stake, I created some decks to get the job done for me.
What follows are my (hopefully) simple instructions to make your own astrological oracle decks to get the same results I do.
So, let's get into it.
The Benefits of Astrological Oracle Decks
While your creativity is the only thing stopping you from putting these decks to interesting use, let me talk about a few benefits I've found from creating and using them:
A) If you do a daily reading, you can ask which house in your chart that reading will effect the most.
Ex: You do an I Ching reading and get Hexagram 5 unchanging and pull the 8th house card, and you might find yourself waiting for someone to give you money. A very simplified example given how many things make up the 8th house, but you get the gist.
B) With a deck for each house, you can drill down to what specific house element might be relevant for a reading.
Ex: For that 5 unchanging 8th house reading, you can use your 8th house deck (which we'll talk about below) and learn that you might be waiting for "Loans," since that's the card you pulled.
While I have mixed feelings about how on point the really specific readings can get for some potentially philosophical reasons (long story), I have seen it show some accuracy at times -- enough that I still use it.
C) With an astrological deck you can quickly discover what house to focus on.
Ex: You're aimless and ask what house in your chart you should focus on and you pull the 6th house card. Then if that's not specific enough for you, you use your 6th house deck and learn that coworkers are the most important focus at the moment. You have enough to now proceed with clarity.
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Those are just a few examples, but hopefully you experiment and come up with some new ideas that I haven't even thought of when it comes to these decks.
Let's get into making them.
Making Your 12 House Deck
The instructions for this are very simple:
- Get at least 24 index cards, preferrably with lines on one side, and a side that's blank
- Make a card for each of the 12 houses by writing the appropriate number on each
- Add 12 blank cards into the 12 house set to create additional 'randomness' (that isn't really random), so you can avoid forcing the oracle to answer with a house that may not be appropriate for that question
There you have it. Your 12 house deck.
Let's talk about making the decks for each house.
The Cards To Make For Your Separate Zodiacal House Decks
To make these decks, and if my math is right, you'll need at least 292 index cards (and as I mentioned try to get them with lines on one side and a blank side).
I'd recommend some paperclips to ensure you keep them separate (you don't want 1st house cards mixed together with 9th house cards, that defeats the whole purpose of the decks).
Get your pen, and make the following cards for each house:
1st House
- A cover card for the deck that has the house number on it (Ex: 1st house)
- Me/Self
- My Style
- Rebirth/Reinvention
- Mouth
- Face
- What Happens To Me
- My Outlook
- My Actions
- My Body
- Head
- 10 blank cards
2nd House
- A cover card for the deck that has the house number on it (Ex: 2nd house)
- Possessions
- Money
- Purchases
- Throat
- Sales
- Voice
- Neck
- Thyroid
- Goods
- Income/Salary
- 10 blank cards
3rd House
- A cover card for the deck that has the house number on it (Ex: 3rd house)
- Writing
- Social Media
- Short Trips
- Movement/Speeding Things Up
- Thoughts
- Shoulders
- Arms
- Grandparent(s)
- Cousin(s)
- Heretics
- Close Friends
- Neighborhood
- Aunt(s)
- Uncle(s)
- Internet
- Hands
- Personal Spiritual Practice
- Religious Observance/Experience
- Sibling(s)
- 10 blank cards
4th House
- A cover card for the deck that has the house number on it (Ex: 4th house)
- The Masses
- Chest/Breasts
- Home
- Real Estate/Land
- Hidden Things/Private Things
- Country
- Parents
- Origins/Roots
- Paternal Relatives
- Father
- Stomach
- Ancestors
- 10 blank cards
5th House
- A cover card for the deck that has the house number on it (Ex: 5th house)
- Fun/Pleasure
- Lover(s)
- Spine
- Back
- Entertainment
- Pregnancy/Childbirth
- Heart
- Physical Fitness/Activity/Sports
- Food/Cooking
- Creativity/Art
- Sex
- Love
- 10 blank cards
6th House
- A cover card for the deck that has the house number on it (Ex: 6th house)
- Coworkers
- Treatment
- Injury
- Digestion
- Hygiene
- Workplace
- Intestines
- Employees
- Diagnosis
- Subordinates
- Pets/Small Animals
- Employment
- Job Duties
- Illness
- 10 blank cards
7th House
- A cover card for the deck that has the house number on it (Ex: 7th house)
- Clients
- Liver
- External Reproductive Organs
- Gallbladder
- Spouse/Partner
- Affiliates
- Business Partnership
- Enemies
- Conflict
- Consultants
- Doctors/Therapists
- 10 blank cards
8th House
- A cover card for the deck that has the house number on it (Ex: 8th house)
- Inheritance
- Spirits
- Shared Resources
- Bowel
- Internal Reproductive Organs
- Gifts
- The Dead
- Other People's Money
- Occult
- Debt
- Permanent Change
- Real Estate/Property
- Loans
- Colon
- 10 blank cards
9th House
- A cover card for the deck that has the house number on it (Ex: 9th house)
- School/College/University
- Government/Political Institutions
- Librarians
- Long-Distance Travel
- Publishing
- Public Servants
- Oracle(s)
- Religious Institutions/Religion
- Learning
- Politicians
- Thighs
- Professors/Teachers
- Mass Media
- Books
- God(s)
- Hips
- Foreign Culture/Languages
- Clergy/Priests
- 10 blank cards
10th House
- A cover card for the deck that has the house number on it (Ex: 10th house)
- Mother
- Bones
- Career/Career Ambitions
- Authority
- Fame
- Skin
- Your Influence On Others
- Influence On You
- Prominence
- Supervisors/Managers/Bosses
- Knees
- 10 blank cards
11th House
- A cover card for the deck that has the house number on it (Ex: 11th house)
- Mentor(s)
- Audience/Fans
- Professional Alliances
- Shins
- Peers
- Patrons/Supporters/Sponsors/Benefactors
- Gains/Profits
- Volunteers
- Unions
- Collectives
- Non-Profits
- Calves
- Friends/Acquaintances
- Circulation
- 10 blank cards
12th House
- A cover card for the deck that has the house number on it (Ex: 12th house)
- Monasteries
- Law Enforcement
- Hidden Enemies
- Secrets
- Large Animals
- Feet
- Estrangement
- Solitude/Isolation
- Curses
- Spies/Lurkers
- Foreign People
- Hospitals/Medical Offices
- Ankles
- Prisons
- Strangers
- 10 blank cards
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And with that upfront work, you should be free to use them as you wish.
Wrapping It Up
I completely understand if putting in this much work for these decks isn't worth it to you. I tend to take divination to its extremes.
But I believe that if you do create and use these decks you can attain some interesting, and useful results from incorporating them into your divination practice.
And I hope that with them, you can innovate and create new ways for them to be used for the rest of us, to get us a little more clarity when we reach for an oracle.