Oracle Deck Review – Odin and the Nine Realms Oracle Cards

by Sonja Grace

A 54-card set

This deck and accompanying 144 page guidebook comprise this visually striking divination tool containing images and channeled information from Sonja Grace’s spirit travels with the Norse gods. She describes her spirit travels to the Nine Realms of Norse cosmology and her meetings with the gods in the guidebook’s prologue, then she brings the gods and the Norse world to life in the cards with her simple yet iconic, bold and gorgeous art work. Grace created the cards from her memory of how the gods and realms appeared to her. She is of Norwegian and Native American heritage and is a 5^th – generation artist, so has truly done justice to the myths and gods she evokes.

The deck has 4 sections: 15 cards depicting gods (and goddesses!); 9 cards depicting each of the realms of Norse cosmology; 6 cards for magic beings not among the gods, including Valkyrie; The Norns; Yggdrasil, The World Tree; and the Volva; and finally, 24 cards, one for each of the Runes common to the Elder Futhark. The cards are large, 3.75 x 5.5 inches, but flexible, so they were easy to “side-shuffle.” The guidebook is sturdy and provides not only the story of the deck’s creation, but an overview of the myths associated with the gods, goddesses and magical beings contained in the cards. Grace provides 8 sample spreads to use with the oracle. I tried the 3-card spread, which is laid out and read right to left for past, present and future. I drew Naudhr, Hel and Dagaz – right on the money!! There is a description of each card’s interpretation, both upright and reversed, except for the runes which cannot be reversed. The set comes in a nice heavy box with a magnetic side closure.

I have had the privilege and pleasure of studying Norse cosmology and the runes with Imelda Almqvist, and found the description of the realms and gods channeled by Grace to be close to what I have learned. So I will use these cards for meditation and my own journeys. They are large and inviting, and I plan to travel into them to see what they have to reveal, as well as use them in the more traditional way! Since the deck easily can be divided into sections, I will use the God, Magic and Nine Realms sections to supplement and clarify the readings I do with my own set of runes.

If you are interested in exploring the Norse cosmology and the runes, this deck is a good, inviting place to start to start or deepen your connection to these archetypes. As the publisher’s description states, it draws on “universal themes, present in every culture or tradition, such as love, fear, purpose, power, medicine.” Here we have those themes filtered through the Old Norse perspective.

 

 

***

About the Author:

Susan Rossi is a Practitioner and Teacher of Shamanic Arts. She is a long-time explorer of The Mysteries – the connections between mind, body, spirit and how to live in right relationship to all of the energies streaming through the cosmos. She works with clients as an astrologer, coach, ceremonialist and guide to the wisdom that each of us has the capacity to access. Her focus is on guiding clients to unblock and rediscover their inner wisdom. Art, exploration of the birth chart, ceremony, legacy writing, hypnotherapy, energetic healing practice and creation of sacred tools are integral pieces of her practice.

Susan trained in Soul Level Astrology with master astrologer Mark Borax. She delights in exploring with individuals the planetary pattern under which their soul choose to incarnate.

Susan Rossi

Open Channel Astrology www.openchannelastrology.com

Flying to the Heart www.flyingtotheheart.com