By Lisa Porter
Review by Terri Clement
Published by U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
www.usgamesinc.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-57281-730-2
ISBN-10: 57281-730-5
Retail U.S. - $19.95
Divine feminine wisdom and assistance for the journey through your life is what you will find when working with Journey to the Goddess Realm oracle deck. This wisdom of the ancient sacred feminine deities, which cross over many different cultures, religions, and mythologies of the world guide us to think about taking a different approach with the experiences in our lives.
Journey to the Goddess Realm contains 36 Goddess cards, 3 Confirmation Cards (Negation, Affirmation, and Revelation), and a 48 page guidebook. They are packed in a flip top cardboard box that features the image of Brigid, Goddess of the Celts. Both the box and the deck are sealed in plastic. There was a slight inky smell upon, but that disappeared quickly.
The cards are oversized measuring in at 3 ½” wide x 5 ¾” tall. The card edges are very cleanly cut. The cards are made of a flexible cardstock with a very light lamination. Due to the large size riffle-bridge shufflers will need to modify their shuffling style. The deck fans beautifully.
The card back is reversible friendly and features a mandala with flowers and suns set against dark, starry sky. The card fronts have dark blue borders with the deities names on top with a keyword and card number on the bottom.
Some of the Goddesses are depicted as sensual, some comical, but all very powerful. These images are very colorful and contain moderate nudity.
Baba Yaga – Card #6
A bold, pipe smoking, chubby, older Slavic woman, with grey hair pulled back into a yellow floral bandana. She has little whiskers on her chin. She is wearing a yellow dress with a green shawl. She is flying through the sky in a cauldron using her broom as an oar. She has a white skull and cross bone tattoo on her forearm. A toad accompanies her on her jouney. All set against a snowy back ground. Merkabah dolls adorn the four corners of the yellow and orange floral inner border.
The fearless Baba Yaga says “If you want to do something – JUST DO IT! There is no such thing as “I can’t.””
Keywords: Determination, bold, blunt, thick-skinned…
Shadow (reversed meaning): Tactless, insensitive, stubborn, lazy, looking for excuses…
Hectate (also may be known as Hecate) – Card #13
She is the Greek Goddess of the Crossroads. She is depicted here by the three phases of feminine life; maiden, mother, and crone. In the image we have the sword wielding maiden dressed in pink, standing on the road to the right side of the card. The mother is holding a key. She is wearing a green gown, with a white apron. Her hair is up in a bun. She is on the road leading to the left side of the card. The crone stands upon the center road. She is holding a torch in one hand and a walking stick in the other. She wears a purple hooded cloak. The three women look to have emerged from an ivy covered, rock and dark cave. The inner border corners have labyrinth style mandalas.
The guidebook tells us the key symbolizes unlocking mysteries. The sword represents cutting through illusions and the torch stands for enlightenment. The crossroads represent past, present, and future.
Hectate reminds us to look in every direction when making important choices.
Keywords: Karmic crossroads, recognizing the many faces of your shadow self, acquiring wisdom…
Shadow: Masks, fronts, assuming, blaming, projecting…
Spider Woman (Teotihuacan) – Card #31
She is known as the great “thought woman.” Here we see a beautiful Native America woman weaving a web above her with white thread. Behind her we see a substantial totem pole and teepee. The inner borders of this card have buffalo skulls adorned with tribal symbols, with feathers hanging from their horns.
According to the guidebook Spider Woman created the Universe by spinning two threads east to west, and north to south. She is the master of thought manifesting into matter. She wove the dream catcher to catch only good thoughts and steer nightmares away.
Keywords: Positive thinking, manifesting, co-creating, networking…
Shadow: Closed-minded, short attention span, ignorance, negativity.
The 48 page booklet is a step up from a little white book. It measures in at the same size as the deck and features Goddess Freya on the cover. The booklet features and overview of who the Goddesses are, their purpose, and how they can help in everyday life. The how and why do we use these cards, even though contains some interesting information, could have been expanded upon to help accommodate new or inexperienced readers.