Oracle of the Mermaids: Magical Messages of Healing, Love & Romance Cards – May 8, 2014

I received my deck last night from Amazon (for whatever reason it took Amazon quite some time to deliver my product, which is unusual for them) and so I've been looking everywhere for comprehensive reviews of this product, to surprisingly enough find very little, if any.So I've had my deck for as little of 8 hours and I am bold enough to write a review! But I am only doing this for people who are considering the purchase of this deck but, like myself have yet to find anything substantial to make an informed decision upon. Being a huge Lucy Cavendish fan (I have all of her decks, and love them all with the exception of Magical Spells and Oracle Tarot (I have a modest love for Oracle Tarot, not a major dislike). I love all of her decks because their accuracy has always been 2nd to none, not to mention the deep insight, and profound styling Lucy has in combination with her artists. With that said... I am going to review Oracle of the Mermaids.PACKAGING:Oh the packaging still holds true to any Blue Angel product. Its brought to you in a sturdy cardboard box and the cover is just beautiful, a dark purple and a light sea/turquoise green. 5" x 1.5" x 6.5" box. Your cards will never ever get damaged in this beautifully created container. When you open the box, inside it is lined with sea green coloring. A true, healing joyful color. Inside, the LWB is about the same size of the box 5" x 6" with 168 pages of reading.CARDSTOCK QUALITY:I find the cards themselves to be reminiscent of Toni Carmine Salerno's Gaia Oracle (especially the border color of goldenrod). The card stock is nothing like the old card stock of Wild Wisdom of Faery, Shapeshifter or even Oracle of the Dragonfae (all first editions). The card stock for the Oracle of the Mermaids is thinner, and warps easily. I love that Lucy maintains using large cards for her deck creations 3.75" by 5.5". The back of the cards have a Mermaid image in the soothing green and purple coloring with highlights of yellow and deep blue.LWB (GUIDEBOOK):The guidebook is generous, as always. Lucy goes into the magical history of mermaids and the different classifications of these magnificent sea animals. A lot of the history Lucy borrows from as representation is of Irish lore. In interpreting the cards, Lucy provides us with two pages of information divided into: what the mermaid has to say about him/herself (The Mermaids Sing), reversed meaning for the card, and divination message. So for each card there are three potential meanings to take into consideration. She also provides guide words on each card. There are three new spreads!! Such as the Cycle of the Moon spread (5 card spread), True Love that Makes My Soul Sing Spread (5 card spread), and Mermaid Celtic Cross (11 card spread).ARTWORK:Selina Fenech is the artist behind the cards for the Oracle of the Mermaids. If you are familiar with Wild Wisdom of Faery deck, then you are familiar with this artist and her style. However, this artist has changed her artwork a little. Its a little more realistic, but then you will find one or two cards that is classic Selina French (ie Atlantis, The Magic of the Cohellen Druith, or Sisterhood card within this deck). So her art has matured in ways and it reminds me of another Blue Angel artist... Yuheui Tang, the artist for the Wisdom of the Golden Path by Toni Carmine Salerno.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++PROS/CONS:MERMAID KNOWLEDGE:This deck definitely has its pros for those who have a love of mermaids. So much has gone into explaining the history of the mermaids and their significance in anyone's modern life. I am not a big mermaid fan. I have found myself a little foreign to "mermaidese" and culture, so I find myself having a harder time relating to what the guidebook has to say at times than in many of Lucy's previous decks. For this deck, I tend to find myself utilizing the information under the divination message section mostly. I also find that the written voice for this guidebook doesn't match the natural prose of Lucy's previously released decks. I find it harder to read and comprehend at times, I am not sure if she had someone else influence the writing or if she was channeling the information for each card and the mermaid language, like I had expressed, isn't one I immediately connect to.THIS DECK IS IN CELEBRATION OF YOU AND YOUR PERSONAL GOALS/DESIRES:This deck is really one of which, Lucy does declare, is focused on your needs. I had asked a few questions and I found that the cards pulled resonated with questions of which were very "me" centered. Any question that wasn't a "me centered" question had cards that did not seem to relate at all. So I decided to sleep with my cards to establish more of a connection. I also read the LWB a little more in regards to Lucy's suggestion of connecting to the Mermaids and I chose my own ritual to commit myself to whenever doing a reading with the cards. After commencing the cards in this way, I did find that the connection with the deck increased. I had this problem with Lucy's Shapeshifter Oracle deck, but after trusting that the cards will deliver the message I need to hear, that deck has worked profoundly well in regards to personal growth and prediction. The Oracle of the Mermaids tends to touch elements in your life of which you tend to dismiss as fantasy or frivolous, elements of yourself you've put away on a shelf because you don't want to be disillusioned, disappointed, and vulnerable in the process. However, whenever we lose that connection with our own personal dreams we lose aspects of our true self and personal beauty and genius. So I find this deck to be well suited for love/romance/relationship questions and learning how to create the magical in your real, everyday life and life purpose.CARDSTOCK:I am disappointed that the cardstock isn't as thick as many Blue Angel decks usually are. I have noticed that many decks from different publishing houses are headed in this trend of experimenting with deck card stock material. It is still very "sturdy", but it doesn't offer that sense of "weight" grounding to the card that I prefer.. and this is a personal preference, but I definitely don't like when my cards warp.IN GENERAL:In general, this deck doesn't feel like a Lucy Cavendish creation. It feels more like a Toni Carmine Salerno creation for whatever reason and I LOVE his stuff... but I also LOVE Lucy's stuff and I am amazed of the family of Blue Angel products but I really bought this deck hoping to fully connect with a Lucy Cavendish/Selena French creation and energy only to find the feeling of a third entity entering into the picture. I don't know why I feel that way, but I do. There are 45 cards and not many are repetitive of past themes or naming of the cards in other Lucy Cavendish creations! Which is a blessing for someone who is an avid collector of her stuff (like myself).The important thing in the take home message of this deck is that it is suppose to be a mirror to your soul.. but serves its purpose in the way it will reflect to you what you may not be aware of on the surface and I think this deck performs well in this regard and may be one of the reasons why I find it not connecting to any question that didn't relate to me and my desires. And when the cards did relate, it did ask for me to evaluate things or aspects of myself or my life that I am not wanting to touch beyond those waters. For example, one of the cards I pulled this morning was "Freedom" where it asked me to step away from the crowd, and see what it is that I wish to create for myself, and then go back to the crowd/family and contribute this special uniqueness to them too. Basically it asked me if I wanted to start life over again, what would I do, what would I chose what would I contribute? Then share this with the others in my life.I will list the new and unique cards found in this deck (which are many):Energy Field AdjustmentTime OutThe Crane BagCoral's WisdomBeauty (which is more like a Toni Carmine Salerno card)ExperimentsAdriftThe MirrorHomelandAirSacrificeSoul CageTransparencyReceptivityTime and TideYearningThe Magic of the Cohellen DruithWater FlightEnduranceConchomancyTelepathyHonour the Masculine (not really a new perspective from Lucy, but is rare to find in many Oracle decks)In the future, I hope that Lucy finds an artist that does more multi-cultural images of beautiful women. Toni Carmine Salerno is so talented in bringing in the beauty of various races and ethnicities into his decks. Because I love Lucy and her wisdom so much, I think my other divination friends of Asian/ African/African American background would be ecstatic to find images of themselves within Lucy's beautiful creations. She's done this in the Shapeshifter or the Shadows and Light, but she has missed these two ethnic groupings consistently in her past efforts.UDATE: Okay, so I've had this deck for longer than a few hours now. Someone else on a chat group bought this deck and we were both confused by the guidebook at times. However, I've managed to just use my intuition more than usual in regards to this deck and in relation to her previous decks. I have found the cards to be insightful and accurate once spending some time to bond with them. The Cycles of the Moon spread is interesting too with insights into almost any matter. I have yet to to try the other spreads but I just tried the Mermaid Celtic Cross and that is an AMAZING spread. It is well explained and gives you outcome, advice and insights. Usually I avoid all Celtic Cross spreads because I never found them to be accurate or insightful but this one is an awesome spread. Now, I'm really feeling the importance of this deck. I asked a question that wasn't romance related, but practical everyday affairs (usually it doesn't like those questions) and this spread held up to the power of the question! It is asking me what it is that I want, it gives little creedance to outside factors and influences. I guess when you clearly look into what the soul wants, for yourself, you will be lead into making the right steps. This Celtic Cross makes you analyze things from this perspective.

I love these cards. First off the imagery and art is beautiful, magical and amazing. Each mermaid is detailed and gorgeous. I could stare at them all day long. : ) The included guide book is informative and fun. It's actually a nice little paperback book, not a tiny little, useless paper pamphlet like some include. It tells about the magic of mermaids and the ocean. How we all can connect to the mermaids and spirits and voice if the ocean. Very fun and refreshing! This deck gives a fun twist to Oracle readings and mermaids. I am a big fan of mermaids and the ocean so this one spoke to me when I saw it. The second I opened it I was in amazement of its beauty. Oh yeah, it comes packaged in a very sturdy, perfect sized box that is not too big or small. This box is very hard and study and will protect both the cards and book very well. It is a bit bigger than the cards though so they slide around a bit when moved inside the box, but no big issue. The only complaints I have are the size if the card, being a bit bigger, it is difficult for smaller hands. But this is usually typical of Oracle cards I've noticed. Nice, sturdy cardstock that should not bend easy. They seem like they will hold up well. Shuffling would be ok except they have a high gloss coating to them, which for some reason makes them stick pretty bad when shuffling. I don't know if this is just an issue with my deck or the size of my hands, but it is tricky to shuffle. Maybe as I use them more they will shuffle a bit easier. The gloss look does make the cards more beautiful though, so I can overlook that.: ) If you want a beautiful, Oracle deck and you love fantasy and or mermaids, I would highly recommend this deck and book set.Also, every reading has really been great and explained a lot and helped answer questions I have had. This is a great deck for thinking about what is going on in your life, etc. Perfect for a quick morning addition to coffee or tea!

This oracle deck was worth getting. Very helpful for relationships and inner reflection. Beautiful artwork.

These are my all time favorite oracle cards. The quality of the paper and artwork is excellent. I love the guidebook that goes with it. Just such a great purchase-cards are absolutely beautiful. Highly recommend.

Beautiful imagery that I just can't get enough of. This deck is stunning and I couldn't be happier with it. It is my new favorite oracle deck, hands down. The artwork/imagery is so lovely that I find myself staring and studying them closely in total appreciation of their beauty. With that said, this deck does contain some cards that have a different art style than the others. Some/most have the absolutely gorgeous digital style art while some (less than than the digital imagery) have a painted artwork style. For me this isn't a big issue but for some it may be slightly distracting to the flow in readings. I did my "homework" on this deck before purchasing (watched video reviews/unboxings) but did not think the differing artwork would hinder the beauty or readability. I'm SO glad I went with my gut and made this wonderful deck mine. This time of year, mermaid energy calls to me quite strongly so I wanted a deck that I could use each day to connect and work with them and this deck has proven a perfect choice. It reads wonderfully with messages that are inspiring, healing, helpful, and thought-provoking. My intuition kicks in well with this deck and while the accompanying book is lovely and helpful, I find that my first intuitive "hit" is right on. I read the book message and take it into consideration but it seems that this deck works best intuitively for me. The card stock and card size are done well with the cards being near typical oracle deck size. This deck, for me, is a near perfect package of readability, beauty, and quality.