Creating the Celtic Healing Oracle

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by Rosemarie Anderson, Ph.D., author of Celtic Healing Oracle and The Divine Feminine Tao Te Ching

In a time when many of us feel a yearning to connect with the natural rhythms of the earth—and the natural rhythms of our lives—more and more of us are turning to native traditions and oracular systems to solicit guidance and support. One of the most colorful and far-reaching of indigenous traditions is close at hand among the European Celts. Imaginative and attuned to the movements of nature, the Celts “divined” answers to life’s questions from the animals, plants, wind, and seasons. Trees and animals had particular knowledge of all things—past, present, and future. Through the centuries, bards, holy women and men, healers, and soothsayers gained their powers to see into the unseen by looking to nature and stories from the past. Over time, stories and legends told and retold through the generations amassed an enormous store of knowledge to heal, protect, and transmit wisdom.

By gathering together ancient Celtic stories and legends, I created the Celtic Healing Oracle composed of 64 symbols from the ancient Celtic ways of knowing. The symbols represent three thousand years of Celtic culture and history derived from archaeological excavations of Bronze and Iron Age Celtic sites in continental Europe and from the myths, folktales, and faery traditions still flourishing in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. For those of us attracted to Celtic imagination and merriment or with ancestral roots in Celtic lands, the symbols will resonate deeply, as though long-slumbering insights are stirred to life once again.

My personal journey to create this oracle system began nearly forty years ago when I lived in Germany in a mountain town above the confluence of the Rhine and Neckar Rivers, once a Celtic stronghold. I was then an academic dean, passing as a high-functioning administrator and professor of psychology. Yet, in my private life, the timeless memories held in forests and land around me spoke to me through sensations and dreams. Memories touched me like air caressing the skin of a newborn—memories of an ancient time when the earth was the heart of knowing and her creatures were as familiar to one another as we might be to friends and lovers. Animals, trees, plants, and spirits invited me to experience their reality, where nothing is lost because they remember even as we forget.

Creating This Oracle

This oracle system was created on a quiet Sunday afternoon. For many months, a family crisis had interrupted my writing and research in Celtic archaeology, mythology, literature, and art. At last, a leisurely afternoon stretched before me. In about an hour, I sketched out the essentials of this oracle system. Emerging in flashes of insight, the system seemed already formed and nourished by the silent months just passed. Each of the 64 oracles in this new system represents a symbol and narrative that stretches back through centuries of Celtic history. This creative process was supported by two decades of casting the I Ching, the ancient Chinese oracle, for personal use. With this experience behind me, I understood the essential structure of an oracle system in an intimate way.

The 64 card images themselves were later created by artist Susan Dorf. She created them in the style of contemporary block prints in black and white to represent guidance formed from stories told and retold in the night and in the long silence of winter.

The Celtic Worldview

Living in a storytelling and mythic world, the Celts saw that all aspects of life are interconnected. The oracles in this divination system are likewise connected, one to another. For example, the Triple-Mother Goddess (Card 1) represents the primal goddess in all her aspects—maiden, mother, and crone. Brigit, the Snake and Fire Goddess (Card 7) is also a mother goddess, but her special aspect is her power to convey transformation, specializing in her concern for midwifery, blacksmithing, and fostering the creative arts. The Cauldron of Creation (Card 2) is signified by an inexhaustible cauldron from which all the creatures of creation flow. The voluptuous and sensuous authority of goddess is singularly addressed in the symbol for Sovereignty (Card 33); while the Hag (Card 5) is the Initiator, a wise woman who appears as both young and old. In distinguishing the goddess’s many unique aspects, her primal authority is apparent.

Wherever the Celts lived, their world was lively and connected with a sensitivity toward the mysterious Otherworld. Located beneath the surface (Cards 39, 40, and 45) or on the Blessed Isles to the West (Card 64), the Otherworld is the special habitat of the faeries, ancestors, gods, and goddesses who gave the land its power and the plants their natural vitality. In mythic history, a godlike race known as the Tuatha Dé Danann, “the People of the Goddess Danu,” inhabited Ireland prior to the coming of the Celts. From them the Celts learned the arts of magic and wizardry. Still today, the Tuatha Dé live in Ireland but beneath the ground as supernatural beings or faeries, appearing on earth only occasionally, such as on Samhain (Halloween) to mark the beginning of winter and Beltaine (May Eve) to mark the beginning of summer. On these nights, the veils between the realms are especially thin, allowing faeries and humans to pass easily between them.

Here are five full-card write-ups from the accompanying guidebook for Celtic Healing Oracle to give you a deeper experience of the cards:

Card 2. Cauldron of Creation: Source

Invoking Renewal

The goddess is the source of life, and her womb is the cauldron of creation giving birth to the world. In Irish and Welsh legends and iconography, her womb is the ever-replenishing cauldron of the Otherworld filled with savory meats for feasting and even returning dead warriors to life. Through her womb, life is replenished from an ageless source.

If you choose this card, you may be feeling weary or inwardly depleted. This oracle calls for repose, rest, and a complete overhaul of life energies before your energy and vitality are again replenished. While the goddess is inexhaustible in her powers to restore, you are urged to cooperate by retreating from the activities of life. Seek solitude. Do as little as possible. Sleep. Relax. Visit people and places that inspire and recharge you. Engage in small and subtle activities that quiet the mind.

The “mix” within the goddess’s womb is ever magical. Immerse yourself in her brew and let transformations happen. Expect to be surprised at outcomes. Laugh and cheer—you will never be the same again. No point anticipating outcomes. As with any birth, beginnings may at first be unsettling and messy. Nonetheless, in time new life will naturally arise within you. You will feel replenished, as though filled up by an unknown and timeless source.

Card 7. Brigit, the Snake and Fire Goddess: Transformation

Invoking Vision

Aligned with snakes and with fire, Brigit is the guardian of transformation. Present in moments of creativity and vision, she presides as midwife, prophetess, and patron of the arts, healing, breast-feeding, and the brewing of beer. Brigit is vigorous, passionate—and usually a virgin. Her presence inspires creativity in challenging situations and the capacity to meet old circumstances with renewed vision.

If you choose this card, you are attracting transformation and regeneration into your life. The snake goddess brings creativity and power. Relationships, too, may begin to breathe with new life. Creative projects, artistic pursuits, and unexpected insights may appear in ordinary circumstances. New ideas may present themselves while conversing with friends and family or while engaged in everyday activities. Now is a good time to watch for newness and allow your imagination to roam freely.

Snakes shed their dry skins only to grow new skins. Close to the powers of the Otherworld, Brigit and her snakes signify creativity as well as caution. The presence of regeneration can transform positively or can manipulate others and circumstances for personal gain. The otherworldly powers of the snake inspire transformation but may also confuse, resulting in mistaking your own desires as the needs of others. Check your intuitions with the counsel of those you trust to tell you the truth.

Card 22. Utterly Stag: Wild Nature

Invoking Dignity

The stag represents the noble and wild passions within all of nature. Associated with Cernunnos, the Lord of the Animals, and goddesses of the sacred hunt, the stag acquired royal status among the Iron Age Celts. His branching antlers resembling the branches of mature trees, the stag’s noble presence among the animals epitomized the great forests of Europe over which the stag presided.

If you choose this card, you are wanting to act from the passionate, spontaneous side of your nature. However, your passions may still be a bit unruly, thereby creating disorder within and around you. By bringing focus and attention to your passions, you can harness the passionate and sometimes unruly forces within your own nature. In emulating the quiet dignity of the stag, you will learn to command your passions and create harmony in life affairs.

The stag’s sovereignty amid the wildness of nature is quiet, alert, and reserved—ample balance for the virility within. In walking quietly and attentively in danger, remaining calm and alert under stress, and meeting each situation with the right balance of speed and strength, the stag models poise and self-control. A calm and steady focus will allow you to stay composed in any situation, as though you are walking serenely in a forest.

Card 24. Banishing of Snakes: Loss and Replenishment of Hope

Invoking Reconnection

The break in the connection with the powers of the Otherworld is symbolized in the banishing of the snakes, attributed to St. Patrick in Ireland. Since snakes are well-known symbols of the goddesses, especially Brigit, their banishment represents a break with the regenerative powers of the earth and the Otherworld. The banishing of snakes signifies the loss of hope and invites reconnection.

If you choose this card, you may be experiencing a loss of energy, vitality, and inspiration in your life. The Banishing of Snakes signifies a disconnection with the primal elements of the earth responsible for physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Disconnected in this way, your body may feel limp and lethargic and your emotions depressive.

Reestablishing a stable connection with the regenerative powers of the Otherworld may involve a steady process of recovery. You may also need to break personal habits that deplete your energy and health. Many factors are involved in this process, including attention to proper diet, exercise, quality sleep, and sustaining a nurturing social and emotional life. Your recovery will be quickened by spending time outdoors in nature. It may also be necessary to look at ways in which you may be dismissing your own physical and sexual needs or participating in addictive habits that undermine your physical and emotional vitality.

Card 52. Presence of Ancestors: The Ancient Ones

Invoking Ancestors

For Celts, ancestors are lively in the present moment. Soliciting their presence and companionship brings the prosperity of ancestors to the present generation and, hopefully, to generations to come. Ancestral burial mounds were revered by successive generations, granting access to the Otherworld and its guidance. Honoring ancestors invites the support and good fortune of past generations.

If you choose this card, your ancestors may wish to guide you and support your well-being. Regardless of what you might think of their actions when alive, they survived to bear off[1]spring, and their good fortune and favor are a part of your inheritance.

Having drawn this oracle, one or several of your ancestors may wish to guide you and forward your well-being. You might feel that some invisible presence is accompanying you and pointing out the way. An approaching danger may suddenly veer off course and pass you by. Opportunities may appear out of nowhere. Arriving like an unseen guest, new stories may unexpectedly enter the storytelling life of your community, family, or your own life-tale, adding new elements to a familiar tale.

Now is a fine time to explore your ancestral roots. You may wish to chart your genealogy, connect with extended family, or visit the homeland of your ancestors. Guidance comes in many forms. Be alert.