Goddess Dream & Goddess Love Oracles ~ Using as a Super Deck

It's Simon here, welcome back to the Hermit's Cave. I hope everybody had a lovely Christmas. We're at that, um, that lull stage now between Christmas and New Year and I'm off work. So it's given me some, uh, some time to be able to sit and relax and just, you know, have a look at some of the decks that I got for Christmas, read some books that I always say I never have time to read and all that kind of thing. But I thought I would come on and do a video just rearranging everything. You sit here sometimes you think how did that, how did that get knocked and why is his ears like that? But anyway, I digress. Um, these are some decks that I got for Christmas, which is the Goddess Dream Oracle and the Goddess Love Oracle by Wendy Andrew. Now these went on to my wish list a few months ago. I can't remember which was released first. I think it was a Goddess Dream and then Goddess Love and the by Rockpool Publishing. Um, and I, I think I saw a walkthrough somewhere a few months ago and I added it to my wish list. I didn't really think much more about it. And then, um, about a week or so ago, um, I saw Sinead over at Hazel Jane Tarot doing a kind of a video of the year deck she'd worked with. And she mentioned one of these decks and, uh, and said by Wendy Andrew. And then I was like, oh, hold on a minute, Wendy Andrew. And the penny finally dropped. So Wendy Andrew is the author and illustrator behind this book, which is Lunar Moon Hair, A Magical Journey with a Goddess, which I love. I've had it for about three years. I bought it on my first trip to, I was going to say to Glastonbury, but I actually brought it in Avebury, um, back in 2018, when I went to Avebury and the Stone Circle, and there was a fantastic shop there called the Henge Shop. And I bought it there. And it is a journey through the wheel of the year, Lunar Moon Hair journeys through the year, um, carrying the crown of the Holly King. And it, it stops at each Sabbat. And I've actually been in touch with Wendy and asked if I could do, um, readings from this on my channel at each of the Sabbats. And she was so gracious, so lovely. And she said, absolutely, I'd be delighted. And, and so every Sabbat I, I read from Lunar Moon Hair, and there is a playlist on my channel if you want to check out. There's three on there so far. So yeah, do, uh, do have a look if you, if you're interested in that. And also around the same time on my first trip to Glastonbury, I went to the Goddess Temple shop. And in the Goddess Temple, there's a huge one of these wheel of the year. Um, but I bought this and I bought a new one because it got a little bit doggied over the years when I went this summer. Yes, we're still in 2021, aren't we? I had to think then. And, and again, this is illustrated by Wendy Andrew, and it's the wheel of the year. So this was Samhain and the wheel turns, we have Yul, and then as we come through, we've got Imolk, etc. And when you turn on the back, you get, um, and you've got the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere. So it tells you which is which. And you get a little poem that will write about that Sabbath. And you can see here, it says Wendy Andrew. Now paintingdreams.co.uk is Wendy's website. Do check it out because she's got some beautiful artwork. Let me put this back onto Yul. Some beautiful, uh, artwork on her channel as well. So, um, these were gifts from my nieces off my Amazon wishlist. And I was so thrilled to get them. Because like I said, it was only last week that I realised, um, one of my favourite artists was behind these decks. So I'm just going to, um, open them up. Oh, and they feel lovely underneath, they've got like a linen texture on the box. Now my plan, and I'm going to see how it works first. Oh, they feel beautiful. I don't know if this will show on camera, but there is a gorgeous linen effect. So beautiful. The packaging is lovely. Um, yeah, so I'll see, my intention really is to combine these two decks and have one huge kind of super deck, a bit like I did with my, um, soul cards one and two a few years ago. Again, exactly the same in terms of box and designs. I don't know if there's any more to come out, um, because they do kind of seem seasonal. You know, this one seems very sort of, uh, summery and this one very wintry, but there could be spring, summer, autumn, winter. I'm not sure, but, um, yeah, the design is the same. So they do sit nicely on the shelves together because they have the same design even on the back. So for this one, which is the, uh, Goddess Dream Oracle, it says, Goddess is divine, feminine, awakened to the greatest magic held within. She is maiden of creativity, mother of love and crone of sacred wisdom. Isn't that beautiful? Take her hand through this Goddess Dream Oracle and connect to your own intuition and remember who you really are. Goddess will reveal herself through her dark mysteries in the depths of the forest to her splendor as the waves of the sea and guide you in search for your inner truth, your life purpose, and your higher self. And then it says, artist and author Wendy Andrew illustrates the divine embodiment of the Goddess, channeling sacred feminine energy, includes 36 cards and guidebook. So both decks have 36 cards. So together that will be 72 cards as an Oracle, which is, which isn't too cumbersome. For the Goddess Love, it says now more than ever, it is time to open our hearts and remember that we are love. Goddess is the source, the limit, limitless flow of love that created and cares for us. Hear her. She is calling to you. She is with you always. She is the spirit of the land and the changing of the seasons. Her journey has no beginning or end. She is the wondrous never ending cycle of being. Walk through the seasons of change regardless and unveil your soul's truth in this illustrative Oracle of beauty and law. So I don't think these are too expensive either. I haven't been back to have a look because you know, these are gifts and I don't, you just don't do that really. I love the illustrations on the inside. Both are beautiful. For Goddess Dream, we have this nice red and for Goddess Love, we've got the purple. Very sort of, sort of nature symbolic as well. Lovely sturdy boxes. I just knocked my bell there. We have a little book for each one. Oh, and they're beautiful. They've got like, um, like a off-white cream paper, a little colour thumbnails and quite a bit of text for each one. That's really nice. And what else do we get? We get the introduction and how to use the cards. I'm just looking if these were both published in 2021. It just says Rockpool. Ah, this was 2019. Wow. I didn't realise he's been out for two years already. Is that the same with Goddess Love or is this a newer version? These don't have the sepia creamy paper. They have white, but it's still beautiful. And I love this design around each of the thumbnails in this version. We've got some spreads in this one as well. So this one was 2021. So 2019 and 2021. We've got a little free advertisement. So as you will see, the backs are quite different. So merging these into one kind of super deck. I see them both now and they're both beautiful. Really beautiful. Will it irk me if they're mixed? Well, do you know what? What I can do is try it. And if they do, then obviously I can separate them. It's not going to be difficult to separate them being as they're different backs. I will edge them as well, I think. I mean, that's not going to be a thick deck really. So let's take these bands off. Look how beautiful these are. Let me just bring the camera down a little bit. The cardstock is quite nice. They're quite flexible. They are glossy, not hugely heavy set gloss, but I think these backs are just gorgeous. Really beautiful. What a shame that they don't have the same. I mean, these backs are nice, but I do prefer this back. But it's a shame they weren't. I mean, a bit like the Soul Cards one and two, they're the same design, but different colors. But the design is completely different. But I mean, just look at the artwork. So we have abundance, count your blessings, acceptance, the cycle of life. There's Luna Moon here. And I'm wondering if there's like a story for in the book that gives you, being as that Wendy is also a writer as well as a fantastic artist, it'd be interesting to see if. So here we've got. Yeah. So it tells you a little bit about what you're seeing here. So Crone Goddess, mother of the winter world, comes with her ancient wisdom. She tells of the cycle of life, death and rebirth. Everything is always moving and changing. She holds the cauldron of regeneration. It's magical elixir, swirling joy and pain, birth and death, dark and light. The brew of being is constantly bubbling. So it's beautiful that we get this story for each card as well. Her secret may only be heard by those who have felt loss. It may be the loss of a loved one, the loss of hope or dream that has not manifested or the loss of well-being. Whatever has brought this feeling of loss, you are being given the opportunity to find fulfillment. In the depths of darkness, a tiny candle flame can be seen, sorry, can seem as bright as the sun. Grandmother Crone is whispering, do you hear her voice? Nothing is really lost. It's only change from light into dark, from death into life. No end and no start. And the wheel keeps turning. And then it tells you here as well, take time to sit with this wisdom. Accept this moment just as it is. Breathe into your thoughts and feelings. See them as the bubbles on the surface of the brew of life. They will eventually pop to be replaced by another. Just as a tree does not fight to hold onto its leaves in autumn and sits with lighter limbs in winter, you too can know the peace that comes with the acceptance of letting go. From the depths of your acceptance, new dreams, hopes and happiness will be born anew. And then we've got this nice little affirmation at the bottom, but here it says, Crone nurtured cauldron, swirling sorrow and mirth. Hair leaps from the depths with her gift of rebirth. And then a little affirmation here is, I sit peacefully in the acceptance that all is change. Isn't that beautiful? See, maybe I should keep them separate so that I've got little books, but I don't want to work with one and not the other. And being as they're so similar, but just look how beautiful this deck is. You can see they're borderless as well. Lots of people like borderless. We don't have any banners cutting away the artwork. The text is kind of just laid on top. We've got the horned god there or maybe even the goddess bravery. That's so true. The darkest hour is just before the dawn. We are all connected. Absolutely. Courage in the face of conflict. Very pagan, very goddess and female centrist. There's a beautiful energy at the deck. Very soft. I love that. Forgiveness, compassion and kindness. Not quite sure what colour to edge these. Obviously I'll edge these in purple, maybe a purple and a pink together. Certainly lots of purples and pinks in the deck. I just want to sit there and drum with the little details. Look at the reflection of the owl in this purple water and the almost spirit hair in the sky. Be open to enchantment. Oh, I seem to remember this image from somewhere. I don't know if this is in any other of Wendy's works, but that image is very familiar. These beautiful hairs. Wow. Colours there. Flaming passionate colours. The reds and oranges. Just stunning. Again we have the maid and mother crone together. The triple goddess. I should have perhaps shown them side by side just to see if there's no repeated words, because if there's something like, what we've got here, your path or trust, do they appear in this deck as well? Or have we got completely different difficulties? No, we don't. So I think it's fair to say that we will probably have different keywords. So this one now is goddess love with the purple backs. I'll just quickly go through these. They are so similar. And even though from the cover this looked like a wintry deck, you can see that it's representative really of all the seasons. Oh, that's gorgeous. Be gentle with yourself. Panionship. It's very Buddhist. I noticed in the last one, there was one that was very sort of representing Japanese culture. Creativity. Seize the day. Beautiful. Very Ostara-cation. Goddess light fill you. Oh, we have Lakshmi. We have a Hindu kind of representation here from the Hindu deities. Genocity. Perfect. Hope. Out of the darkness comes light. That's similar to the one in the previous deck about the night being at its darkest before the dawn. They complement each other really well. Be free from all that holds you back. Be together there. There is nurturance. Peace. Open your heart. So gorgeous. Protection. Goddess has your back. Radiant. Rejoice in your life. Rejoice. Make love. Celebrate. Flora. Realignment. That is gorgeous. That's one of my favorite cards. So beautiful. Reflection. Rest. Safety. Sanctuary. That reminds me of a scene from Ling Ling here. He's charging forward on a hunt. The Mother Earth Gaia just lifts up and offers that sanctuary. Self-discovery. Oh wow. When I first turned to this card, the other one down, I thought I'd look into Christmas scene. It is very Yorlish, isn't it? Almost like a reindeer and then the red coat or cloak and the little village below and the snowy scene. Stillness. That's on the cover. It's beautiful. And wisdom. Remember. So there you have it. That's both decks together. As I say, I'll probably edge them. You can really see the difference. The lighter card and the dark card. So they will need edging if they are going to be put together. But I think making this into one deck, it's very easy to manage and to shuffle. It's not, you know, too cumbersome or too chunky. Still look like they're perfectly. Let's turn a card. So we have hope and we always have hope. Every moment of our life, we have hope. Out of the darkness comes light. Absolutely. You know, and that's the time of the year that we're in now. We're leaving the darker days and we're seeing the returning of the light now that we've passed the winter solstice and the days start to get a little bit longer each day. The light returns. But, you know, even when we're going through our darkest hour, there will be a dawn, a new dawn. We have to hold on to that hope. Gorgeous deck. Yeah. So I'm going to have some fun edging. If I edge today, then after you see me say goodbye, stay on because I'll have popped it on at the end to show the edging. I just don't know if I've got pink pens or what I've got. I could do it all in purple, I suppose. But we'll see. All right. Thanks for watching, everybody. Look after yourselves. And until next time, go in peace. Namaste and blessed be. OK, so as promised, I'm back. So, yeah, I didn't have a yellow or gold. I did think about doing red to match the poppies on the back. But anyway, let's let's start with the first one, which is the goddess love. So this has this beautiful purple back. So I've edged in purple trying to get a light right now. And and this has come out quite well is it's actually amethyst, but it matches the box really, really good. So people always ask about the pens. I've been using Windsor and Newton pro marker. And this is the number is that B626 amethyst. So that's what I used for that one. And as I say, it's quite, quite nice. It's got quite a nice shine to it. It's still I mean, they've only been done for 20 minutes or so. So they're probably still a little bit, a little bit down this one. These are stunning. I could have used green actually for the leaves, but there are some little blue butterflies. So I decided to use if I used red, the red and the purple together, I think would have been too much too dark. So I use sky blue Windsor Newton and I think it looks quite nice. It's very different, but there's lots of blues in this deck. And even though they look purple here, but light, these are light blue. These are the purple butterflies. So that's what I used. And the pen I used for that, again, is Windsor and Newton. Focus, focus, focus. There we go. So got it to focus sky blue. And that's B137 Windsor Newton Pro Marker. And it's a beautiful, beautiful blue. So that's what I've used. Now I've got to get to refocus again. There we go. Still getting used to this phone. I've had it a month now, but I'm still getting used to it. So the real acid test will be how these look together when they've shuffled. So let's take a look at how that's going to look like. All right, let's give these a shuffle. Okay, so that's not bad, really. Again, they're going to be shuffled in multiple, multiple times. I just noticed as well when I put the decks together, I didn't put them the right way up. So the ones with these backs on a different way around to the purple backs. Let me put that right. Okay, so all done. That's the finished result. It actually looks more blue than purple, doesn't it? But there's the equal number of cards, maybe because it's blues more dominant, you know, it's a brighter color. But yeah, they're all the right way around. This is just a gorgeous, gorgeous deck. Absolutely beautiful. And I'm glad I've got it as one deck. Can I live with the backs? Like I say, if there were all this back, I would be very happy. But you know, I can live with the backs. So there we have it. Thank you for watching, everyone.