My fingers smooth over the surface back and forth slowly. Each card feels like suede. The soft matte finish is luxurious in my hands as my eyes admire the watercolor images. Symbolic yet straightforward, the pictures quickly relay the card's significance. This is such a treat for me. I imagine the moment equates to a longtime baseball collector's discovery of coveted cards in a newly purchased pile. 

Call me woo-woo if you like. But just as one resonates with a new novel or a well-fit ceramic mug in cupped hands, a deck of divination cards can inspire a deep connection. Though many visit readers of tarot cards to foretell a curious future, they are much more than prophetic. Tarot and oracles like my new Roots & Wings Oracle Deck are simply vehicles to access answers to soulful questions, direction, and obtain counsel from one's own well of divine guidance.

When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready... The teacher will Disappear. ― Tao Te Ching

The Garden Spread is a simple five-card layout to procure lessons of personal reading. Cards can be shuffled, cut, and even shuffled some more as the querent focuses thoughtful energy on an area desiring insight and growth. It can be work, creativity, or a relationship with oneself.

In the first position, named the Seed, is the heart of what you want to grow. It suggests a reminder for how to begin moving forward or a way to view and appreciate it. I placed the Balance card in the center of my spread. Balance is about "finding compromise in being pulled in different directions. Don't forget the seed must not only grow up but also down."

The second is the Soil & Roots representing your foundation and what you are building upon. My second card was the Star, "a blessing from the universe, energy flowing from the sky to the land, bringing inspiration and hope and a sense of renewal."

The Sun is the third card position denoting the raw energy for growth and where I placed the chosen Moon card. "Connecting with the waxing and the waning, it is a reflection of light and pull of the tides; the reminder that the moon is still full and complete even when shadowed from the sun."

In fourth place is Water, like rain representing what refreshes and nourishes the journey for growth, providing relief along the way. I selected The Divine, "an aspect of the feminine, pure flowing emotion, rooted and overflowing with sympathy and compassion."

And last, the Weeds show space where to be conscious of how you could be overtaken on a journey of growth. My card was Time telling me to "give things time, don't rush this growth."

The oracles speak, providing roots to grow and wings to fly. Ask, believe, receive...xoxo-Sonya