Past Life Oracle Cards

One would assume these cards have limited use, and I wouldn't have bought them if not for the fact some spreads I wanted to try more or less required them as a base. There are 44 cards featuring stock photos (including one that looks very like a photo I once took, and I half wondered whether someone had pulled it off the Web). The cards say things like "Love Life" and "Atlantis" and "Orphan." One can more or less interpret without too much trouble what these might mean, but there is a booklet, of course, that provides more details, so that when you pull "Galactic" you can learn that this means this may be your soul's first visit to our particular world.

The Past Life Oracle is one of the myriad Doreen Virtue decks, of which I own a handful. This one feels like a bit of a stretch, but credit where it's due: It is very consistent. I tried a few different spreads, and each time it told me I was a "Monk or Nun" in a previous life. I also pulled "Scribe or Writer" repeatedly, so I have to wonder whether the cards are tuning into now, or if I really was a writer in another lifetime as well. (Maybe a scribe in a monastery?)

Some of the cards say things like "Phobias," which means current fears may be caused by past-life issues. A card like "Ships" can mean prior lifetimes on the sea are somehow impacting your current situation.

I'd guess at best this deck is a starting point for people hoping to explore their previous lifetimes. They might act as signposts for what came before, what is influencing you subconsciously. For details one would probably need to go through one of those guided regressions.

As for me, I am vividly aware of one past life and have only inklings of others. This oracle deck has kindled my interest but not really triggered anything deep in me. (I haven't tried it with anyone else yet.) And maybe that's not its job. But I do feel like it falls a bit short, like there should be more cards and categories: places, occupations, relationships, time periods, etc. Like the deck was rushed into production and could have been much better and more thorough in some ways. As it stands, it comes off as somewhat slapdash and with limited functionality.