Quick And Easy Tarot Trick:

Tutorials with Pokemancy: Making Your Own TCG Oracle Deck

One of my favorite ways to practice Pokemancy is by using Pokemon cards! In this tutorial, I am going to teach you how to create your OWN oracle deck using cards from the Pokemon Trading Card Game.

Before we get started, let’s go over some definitions and recommended reading:

Pokemancy: the practice of using Pokemon in ANY form to produce messages, advice, and possible divine future events.

Pokemon TCG Cartomancy: Probably the most widespread type of Pokemancy; it is the use of Pokemon TCG cards in order to divine messages. This is comparable to tarot, oracle and lenormand. Like a tarot reading, the person interprets the cards that are pulled for the reading in order to deliver the message to the querent (person receiving the reading). TCG Cartomancy decks can be put together using any of the thousands of Pokemon cards in circulation, the sky is the limit with what you put into your deck. Energy cards, trainer cards and stadium cards can also be used!

An argument for Pokemancy & why it makes sense in the modern occult community

Introduction

Divination is most effective when you are using a tool that is comfortable for you. This is why personalized tools are become more and more popular. I have seen a rising interest for personalized divination tools such as tarot decks, oracle decks, rune sets, bone throwing sets and many, many more. 

With that in mind, Pokemon cards can create a HUGE amount of variety and customization for a deck of cards used for divination! As of May 2020, there are:

Over unique 9000 cards in the English release

Over 20 billion cards in circulation

86 card set

That’s a lotta cards! 

But admin! Where do I start? How do I pick my cards?! Which Pokemon do I use? Can I use energy cards? What about the trainers? Which of the 168 Pikachu cards should I pick?!

Not to worry! We are going to cover all of this in this tutorial.

The purpose of this tutorial is to show you that there is no limitation to creating a divination tool that suits you. While I will be offering some basic guidelines and structures, this tutorial is not meant to place limits onto what you can make! Some people may not resonate with my suggestions, and that’s entirely okay.

Deck Theme & Purpose

Many people who read tarot and oracle are familiar with the following phrases:

“This deck is amazing to use for love readings!”

“I’m not sure about you guys, but the imagery on these cards just BEG for shadow work readings.”

“The thing I like about this deck is that it can be used for just about anything.”

Often times, when an artist is creating a tarot or oracle deck, they are designing it around a certain theme or purpose. For example, a deck full of dark, gloomy imagery was probably made for people who want to get readings about death, shadow work or heavier topics. A deck full of inspiring, softer art probably works great for self-empowerment readings and spiritual guidance. And a deck full of couples, cutesy pictures and love symbols will probably strike the right cords with people who want relationship readings. The same goes for TCG oracle decks.

Here are some very basic ideas for some of the most popular deck themes. Remember, you can use your own meanings too:

Relationships/Love

Fairy-type Pokemon

Water-type Pokemon

Pokemon that you consider to represent love

Pokemon that know the moves ‘Attract’ or ‘Covet’

Cards with pink, red or white colors

Business/Finances/Money

Grass-type Pokemon

Ground-type Pokemon

Meowth & Persian

Trainer/Support cards that ask you to draw more cards

Trainer/Support cards that may be associated with money or business in the games, anime and manga.

Spirituality/PokePaganism/Past Life Regression

Psychic-type Pokemon

Legendary Pokemon

Pokemon that are important to you

Energy cards to represent the elements

Stadium cards to represent locations that you may want to focus on during meditation

Healing

Chansey or Audino

Pokemon Center Cards

Pokemon/Support/Stadium cards that inspire you and make you feel good

Energy cards that you associate with healing

Shadow Work

Dark-type Pokemon

Psychic-type Pokemon

Trainer/Support cards associated with villains

Legendary Pokemon associated with the dark

The lists and ideas can go on for as long as you’d like! If you want a more general deck that you can use for every day, go ahead and add in a mix of everything! You can even use the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana of the tarot as inspiration.

Balancing Your Deck

My personal Pokemancy deck takes a few things into consideration, and these things may be important to you too:

Representation of the elements. I have one of each energy card in my deck, it gives me deck a sense of balance and allows me to use the deck in many different ways. The energy cards can help clarify readings, or really REALLY bring up the energy that is surrounding my life at the moment. This also plays into the type of Pokemon I choose; I make sure to have a few of each type in my deck.

Visual aesthetics. As a professional tarot reader, I take a card’s artwork into consideration any time I am reading. The art helps me connect with the card, and really get to know it. Often times, I find more and more meaning in cards with complex art. Some readers prefer a more minimalist approach so that they do not get distracted. But, with that being said, I pick cards that appeal to me!

Pokemon that are important to me. If I have a connection with a Pokemon already, it makes it easier for me to read it from a divinatory standpoint. 

Pokemon that I want to understand better. On the flip side, sometimes I add in Pokemon that I would make to make a better connection with– Pokemon that are currently “challenging me” in terms of grasping their meanings.

A good balance of “common” Pokemon and legendary Pokemon. My personal practice puts legendary Pokemon in the same seat as gods and goddesses. Common Pokemon give off more of a standard spirit energy for me. So, I have a mix of both in my deck so that I can have a good idea of whether or not this reading involves a connection to the lower realms, the middle realms or the higher realms.

A variety of trainer cards and stadium cards. I’ve got a few trainer cards in my deck in order to represent archetypes, and I have stadium cards that relate to different realms, locations or places that may be relevant during readings. For example, if I pull the Guzma trainer card, it means that I need to be strong and relentless in the face of an adversary, but I should be careful not to let my power get to my head. However, if I pull the Sabrina trainer card, I need to stop and allow myself to look at things logically and calmly.

The size of the deck. I like an average size deck, so my current Pokemancy deck is 40 cards. You, however, can choose as many as you want! As long as you aren’t overwhelmed and you feel that you can make a connection with your cards, and provide readings that make sense, then have at it.

When you put your Pokemancy deck together, you are going to want to try a few practice readings. If you find that your readings aren’t making a whole lot of sense, or if every reading is exactly the same despite changing the question, you may want to add a few cards, remove a few cards, or consider mixing up the variety of your cards. (Maybe all of your cards are TOO positive, and aren’t allowing you to see potential conflicts. Or maybe your cards are TOO negative, and you aren’t able to see the good in your situation!)

Storing Your Deck

                  ✨Deck storage is very important!✨

                      ❤️  Please protect your cards! ❤️

Yes. PLEASE treat your Pokemon cards kindly, ESPECIALLY since you are now using them as a tool for divination! If you ask me, you should have already been protecting those cards already, but now it is even more important to do so. Now that you are using these cards for readings, they are going to get shuffled a lot more! If you were only holding these Pokemon cards in binders and boxes, and not using them to actually play the TCG, then you may not be familiar with how much the cards can wear out and be torn up. 

There are plenty of things that can damage your cards:

Rain

Humidity

Heavy shuffling

Improper storage (can cause warping and bending

Unwashed hands (and I’m not just talking COVID-19, I’ve ruined cards with sticky hands before.)

Protecting your cards from damage not only increases the lifespan and quality of them, but it also makes the deck feel better all around. Tarot readers put their decks in pouches, leather deck holds, deck wraps and so many other lovely things. We as Pokemancers have our own storage methods as well.

I recommend getting a TCG deck box and card sleeves from one of these places:

Your local game shop

The Pokemon Center Website

Walmart, Target, Amazon, Ebay, etc.

You can also get some beautiful custom boxes from Etsy.

If you want, you can then put that deck box full of your cards into a tarot/oracle pouch, tuck it away in a wrap, or place it on your shelf.

Another way that you can protect your cards is by performing your readings on a reading mat or cloth. These mats and cloths can be found on Etsy, anywhere that you can purchase witchcraft materials, or you can make your own with some fabric!

Or, if you want to stick with the spirit of Pokemancy, buy yourself a Pokemon TCG playing card mat.

Bonding with your deck

So now you’ve got your deck, what’s next? Now, you want to take some time to get to know your deck. The more you know your deck, the better your readings will be. Think of your deck as a friend. The better the connection, the easier it will be to get along.

The most practical way to understanding your deck is by reading with it. For today’s tutorial, I threw a quick deck together in order to show you guys some examples on how to read with your new divination tool. Ignore the fact that the cards are naked, I ran out of card sleeves.

Let’s break down a simple reading together:

I asked this deck: what can I do to set myself up for success? 

Next, I shuffled the deck and pulled five cards. The top three cards are a classic past, present and future layout, while the bottom two give me some advice for the present.

When reading individual cards, I use everything on the card. But, let’s start simple and only focus on the three main points: the flavor text, the attacks and the card art.

Past: Duskull

The flavor text of this card reads: It doggedly pursues its prey wherever it goes. However, the chase is abandoned at sunrise.

The Pokemon has two attacks: Dark Guidance and Spooky Shot

The card art has a picture of Duskull weaving through a room, possibly abandoned due to the graffiti on the walls.

What does all of this suggest? In the past, I worked myself way too hard, often through the night until the sun rose. My form of guidance was putting me in a dark space, and it was pushing me to a point where I was abandoning a lot of things that were important to me.

Present: Morelull

The flavor text of this card reads: It scatters spores that flicker and glow. Anyone seeing these lights falls into a deep slumber.

The Pokemon has one attack: Ram

The card art has a picture of Morelull standing in the woods, illuminating the dark.

What does all of this suggest? Right now, I am pretty worn out from working too hard, to the point where all I want to do is sleep. However, I’m starting to see what I did wrong with my routine in the past, illuminating some possibilities for improvement.

Future: Noctowl

The flavor text of this card reads: Its eyes are specially adapted. They concentrate even faint light and enable it to see in the dark.

The Pokemon has two attacks: Hypnoblast and Night Raid

The card art shows Noctowl perched on a tree branch against a clear sky, head tilting like it knows something.

What does all of this suggest? In the future, I will be able to focus on the light side of things, or the good parts of life, even when I am surrounded by a lot of darkness (stress, bad mental health, etc.) Even if I am in a tough place right now, my future is bright.

Advice Card #1: Timer Ball

Trainer cards do not have any attacks or basic flavor text, it only has the card’s description. This is also an item card, which limits my ability to find meaning in the card art. However, I can relate this card back to the Timer Ball’s use in the Pokemon games.

The Timer Ball’s catch rate increases the longer you are in battle with a wild Pokemon.

What does all of this suggest? The more I work on myself now, the better my outcome will be in the future. I should not rush for my final outcome.

Advice Card #2: Pokemon Fan Club

Again, this is a trainer card, with no attacks or flavor text. Unlike the Timer Ball though, the Pokemon Fan Club has some more depth. 

The Pokemon Fan Club is an organization spread throughout the Pokémon world, with at least one club house in nearly every region. The club is considered a place for people to meet and chat about their favorite Pokémon and to show off their collections to each other.

What does all of this suggest? I should look to friends and groups of like-minded people (such as my classmates or people in my different communities) for support and drive right now.

Once you finish the reading, you can shuffle the cards back into the deck, thank it for its message, and then put it into storage.

And there you have it! See how simple that was? As you get to understand your cards more, you can use the numerology of the Pokemon’s height, weight and Pokedex number, the Pokemon’s typing, whether or not it is a basic Pokemon or stage 1 or 2 Pokemon, and so on. Don’t overwhelm yourself though! Start with a few factors of the card, and then add on more once you’re confident.

Just about every tarot spread can be adapted for your Pokemancy deck. Try out a few and see how your cards respond to them!

Conclusion

Making a Pokemon TCG oracle deck can be a lot of fun! It’s accessible for those who are still in the closet with their witchcraft/paganism (you can just tell people that you’re collecting Pokemon cards), it has a nostalgic factor, and it’s exciting when you learn about the depth of these cards. There are so many combinations that you can come up with, so go out there and make the deck of your dreams.

Please share this tutorial if you found it interesting! 

---

Here's a reminder that I don't tolerate TERFs in pagan spaces, and if anyone following me is a TERF, get out.

The gods don't subscribe to your hateful rhetoric, and they love all of their trans worshippers.

“No System but the Ecosystem” back patch

Screen printed on reclaimed fabric: 9″ x 12″ 

You can get one HERE.

Learn the Most Accurate and Important Tarot Spread There Is

Anyone serious about tarot needs to master the Celtic Cross. Here is why as well as how.

Why It is Superior

There are a myriad tarot spreads. You can make your own, or use none. Just pull as many cards as you like and read them as you want. As with food and fashion, we each have a preference. But there are reasons the Celtic Cross deserves so much reverence.

1) It respects you and your question.

The Celtic Cross is not designed to give rushed, biting and abrupt answers. It recognizes that your question is important to you. So it takes the time to explore every detail of your situation before giving you advice and a prediction.

2) It kindly proves itself to you.

Fortunetelling involves powers beyond the natural. Powers that only a few can truly harness. To minimize the trickiness of the business, the Celtic Cross states what you already know: your past, hopes, fears, pains, secrets, goals. If it accurately describes these things, you can trust its promise of what tomorrow will bring.

3) It allows for great interaction.

When interpreting a spread, it is crucial to look at how the cards are connecting. Is the Page of Cups offering his chalice to The Magician? Is the Knight of Swords on his way to attack the King of Wands? The way the Celtic Cross is laid out lets many interactions come about.

How to Perform It

It has dozens of variations. Each reader has a fancied version. Below is what my elders taught me. I use it faithfully.

1) The Hierophant (reversed) – The Present

What is happening at the moment?

2) Three of Wands – The Problem

What needs to be remedied?

3) Two of Pentacles – The Past

What led you to where you are?

4) Seven of Pentacles – The Near Future

What happens next?

5) Seven of Swords – The Conscious Goal

What does your mind want?

6) Four of Wands – The Buried Truth

What lies in your subconscious?

7) Eight of Swords – The Advice

What will the Fates have you do?

8) Six of Swords – The Environment

Where are you in the broad view?

9) King of Pentacles – The Hope or Fear

What does your soul crave or dread?

10) Queen of Wands, Nine of Wands, The Sun – The Ultimate Outcome

What does the future hold, after all is said and done?

11) The World – The Underworld

What lies beneath that can help or hinder?

How to Interpret It

STEP 1: Read the cards in the above order, one by one.

Then read the Ultimate Outcome cards as one: The Queen of Wands is reprimanding the man in the Nine of Wands. But he is supported by The Sun. All will be well for the querent in the end.

STEP 2: Compare the Near Future with the Ultimate Outcome.

The man in the Seven of Pentacles has put life on pause, anxiously awaiting what is next. Then it comes: first, it will be bad (Nine of Wands), then he will be glad (The Sun).

STEP 3: Compare the Buried Truth with the Hope or Fear.

If it is a positive card, it is the hope. Otherwise, it is the fear.

The two positions are aligned. A buried need for stability (Four of Wands) and a desire to be solid and steady (King of Pentacles). The querent is clear about his wishes.

STEP 4: Compare the Conscious Goal with the Ultimate Outcome.

It all happens as hoped for. The querent wishes to get away with something (Seven of Swords). And after a bit of scuffle (Nine of Wands), he does (The Sun).

STEP 5: Compare the Advice with the Ultimate Outcome.

The querent needs to stop acting the victim (Eight of Swords). Once he moves forward, he will face the punishment he fears, yes (Queen of Wands and Nine of Wands). But it will all work out (The Sun). No rainbow without rain.

STEP 6: Close the reading.

For this, you have ten more things to do. All the best to you.

---

mental transition; coming out of a depression; releasing emotional baggage

Tips on Grimoire Organization

Please note that if you are using a hard bound notebook or journal, adding in additional pages will bulk up your book, like so: (these are the exact same journals, btw)

- Envelopes. Let’s say you’re doing a section on Tarot in your Grimoire, and you want to include a few Tarot spreads, but you don’t want to waste two or three pages. Glue an envelope onto one of your pages to make a “pocket” where you can store little cards or papers with the tarot spreads written on them.

- Pockets. Similar to the envelope idea. If you have a page, or section for example, on herbal teas, you can make a pocket out of a piece of paper to keep your current favorite tea recipes in.

- Dividers, Cover Pages and Ribbons. If you’re like me and you like to have “sections” in your grimoire, you can easily make dividers by gluing a sheet of paper in your book (to make it heavier to make the sections stand out more). You can go further by turning your divider into a cover page for that section. And if you don’t like the idea doing that, you can always glue a ribbon, or a string, to the spine of your book to act as a bookmark.

- Double pages. I always had a problem with “wasting” pages in my grimoire. For example, my page on consecrating and charging. These two concepts are very similar to me, and I didn’t want two page stating the same thing. So, what I did was write out all my information on charging on a separate sheet of paper, then glued the top of that page into my grimoire. This way I could flip up the page on charging (as if it were on a clipboard) and have my page on consecrating underneath.

- Extended pages. Similar to the one above. In my Crystal section of my Grimoire, I decided to write out a chart that let me search for crystals by intention. So I drew my chart on a long sheet of paper, then folded it over (side to side) so that it fit comfortably in my book, then I just glued one side down into the book.

- Brochures. In my Elements section, I had a ton of information I wanted to write down, but I didn’t want each element to have more than two pages. So I used a piece of computer paper and folded it into a brochure (or into thirds) and glued it into the book so that the flaps would open and give me double the space to write.

- Clear Tape. There are many times where i finished a page in my grimoire only to find out there was a section that I left out. A simply way to fix this was with clear tape. I would write my forgotten bit of into on a separate piece of paper and then use clear tape to tape one side of the paper to my page. This allows me to flip the paper back and forth without covering up anything that I had written.

Other Resources on Grimoire Organization:

- Witch Tip by @pumpkin-bean - Grimoire Index by @triplevirgo - Witchy-Woman’s Grimoire Organization by @witchy-woman - Altar in a Journal by @thesubtlewitch

I hope this helps everyone with their Grimoire organizing needs! If anyone knows of any other awesome organizing tips, feel free to share!

P.S. Check out my Grimoire Masterpost for more tips on making a grimoire!

~L

---

Botanical illustrations taken from 'The Flowering Plants, Grasses, and Ferns of Great Britain' by Anne Pratt, Edward Stepp.

Published 1905 by F. Warne.

New York Botanical Garden, LuEsther T. Mertz Library.

archive.org

For the witches and pagans who need to hear it, connecting with nature is supposed to be about like, actually observing nature over long periods of time, not doing stuff like hoarding endangered bird feathers and beach sand, or just meditating out in aesthetically-pleasing locations. Can you tell me exactly when your wildflowers and weeds start blooming? When do your bugs come out of hibernation? When do migratory birds come and go? How does the air feel during different times of year? If you can't do stuff like that, you aren't connecting with nature.

Three Card Tarot Spreads

Time

Past / Present / Future

Today / Tomorrow / Next Day

Morning / Afternoon / Evening

Beginning / Middle / End

Yesterday / Today / Tomorrow

Week / Month / Year

Self

Fear / Why it’s invalid / How to overcome

Who you were / Who you are / Who you will be

Mind / Body / Spirit

Who you’re meant to be / What to work on / When to know you’re there

Strengths / Weaknesses / What to do with them

dreams / fears / reality

Relationships

What’s healthy for the relationship / What isn’t / What needs work

What you like about your partner / what you undervalue / how you can appreciate them better

What you can do less / what you can do more / what you haven’t been doing

What you need from your partner / What you can give your partner / How to make sure everyone’s needs are met

Situations

Positive / Negative / Reality

Best case / Worst case / Most likely outcome

Goals / Obstacles / Solution

Problem / Solution / Likely Outcome

Pro / Con / Best Choice

problem / cause / solution

What you have control over / What’s out of your control / What you need to know

Get a three card reading from me for $8 

About Me Services I Offer  Free Readings  Guidelines

---

Cleansing...

It’s so easy to forget about a form of cleansing that is so relieving and fulfilling. Phone cleansing!

🌟-Clean off the screen, pop off the case and clean it out. Before you do this, trace a cleansing sigil on the screen with your finger then wipe it off. 🌟-Charge any sigils you keep in the case. 🌟-Pop it on the charger, let it charge to 100%. Additionally, making a cleansing sigil your lock screen for this. 🌟-Upload your photos and delete them. Or go through and delete the ones you don’t like. 🌟-Clean out your contacts. You don’t need that random person’s number anymore. 🌟-Get rid of ALL of those bubble notifications. All of them. 🌟-Rearrange your apps. 🌟-Unfollow/unfriend people on social media who you dislike, their content isn’t your thing anymore, or are downright toxic. 🌟-Change your wallpaper! It’s time for a new background. 🌟-Delete those apps you never use, they’re just wasting space. 🌟-Go through your notes, only keep the things you need. 🌟-Get a new phone case! 🌟-Narrow down your music selection to the things you actually listen to, add a couple new songs.

---