A couple of months ago, I signed up for and participated in an Angelic Communication workshop. A primary focus of the workshop was how to do oracle card readings. We were invited to bring our own oracle decks, or could practice with available decks at the workshop, with the option to buy them if so inspired.

At the time, I only had one oracle card deck, which is the Moonology deck. For the purposes of the Angelic Communication workshop, it was not really suitable, so I decided that I would practice with whatever decks were available there.

When it was time for us to have our first practice session, I walked over to a table to choose a deck. My eyes were immediately drawn to an Ascended Masters one. I have wanted to learn more about the Ascended Masters, so I thought to myself wow, this is the perfect deck.

Then I saw the name of the author of the deck. I did not know much about them except that this individual was extremely popular in metaphysical circles, one you might consider to have been the Esther Hicks of angel card readings.

If you now google the name of this person, you will see that they are a born-again Christian and have renounced all ties to New Age. On their website are blogs posts that caution people against calling upon angels, that declare the metaphysical of use of crystals to be a form of idolatry, that assert that the Law of Attraction is a form of mind control, etc. They even have a blog post urging people to burn or throw away their angel cards(!)

I hesitated for a moment before grabbing the deck. My immediate thought was why the heck would I want to handle a deck with that particular individual’s name on it?

My resistance was fleeting. I just felt this deck calling to me. Okay, I thought, I am just using this deck to practice; I will switch to another deck in our next breakout session if I do not feel comfortable.

Well, to say that I fell in love with this deck would be an understatement. Fortunately, the couple who hosted the workshop had a shrink-wrapped copy of the deck, and sold it to me for its original price. The same deck that people sell on Amazon and eBay for more than a hundred dollars for a new copy, since it is now out of print.

I would like to buy a few more oracle decks in the future, but this one I feel will be my primary deck for many years to come. My husband and I have used it many times for readings at home, and we are consistently amazed at what comes through.

Now, my less expanded self would not have permitted myself to have worked extensively with this deck, for there would have been deep resistance due to my own judgment about the trajectory of the author’s life.

The root of this judgment would be a great fear about what this person represents, and confusion about how someone could connect to the wonderful angels, ascended masters, etc. then pigeonhole themselves into the narrow confines of fundamentalist Christianity.

In my more awakened state, I am able to empower myself to shine a light upon my fears. I bless the clarity that sees that the creation of this Ascended Masters deck has its own resonance, its own frequency that transcends the judgments that are all jumbled and tangled in my unimaginative ego.

When something is birthed into creation, its potentiality and power supersedes the human mind’s need to categorize it, to place and move it in and out of buckets labeled Right and Wrong.

My surrender to this higher truth opens doors to paths of the esoteric explorations I so greatly desire.

Simply put, I cannot ascend to higher planes of consciousness if I am not willing to look at my own judgments and cannot trust in my own discernment and inner guidance.

One of my spiritual teachers has a phrase that has served me well over the past several years: “It’s not about what it’s about.”

It’s not about what happened in that oracle deck author’s life, what her soul chose to explore prior to that incarnation. It’s about me clearing myself of the judgments that cloud my discernment.

It’s about me giving myself permission to feel energy and connect to it with all that I Am, as I exist across time, space and dimensions.

With all of my love,

Daniel