This deck review has been a LONG time coming. I’ve been using these cards and dancing around with their energy for a while and have been dying to share them in a review, especially since I’ve already used them for the monthly tarotscopes in a past issue of The Sparkler. I’m excited that now I can finally sit down and really get into for your guys!
Connected and Free: The Alchemist’s Oracle is the creation of Lauren Aletta, intuitive and coach over at InnerHue.com. Lauren shares so much wonderful stuff from her corner of the internet, giving tons of great value around the topics of intuition and working with energy.
The Connected and Free came out in December of 2014 and as soon as I saw Lauren’s posts with images of the cards, I was all over it. The design and illustration of the deck and companion book are done by Tegan Swyny of Colour Cult. I’ve adored her art from afar for a while and her work with this deck is tremendous.
Some of my favorite cards from Connected And Free: The Alchemist’s Oracle
As many of you know I’m a die hard Wild Unknown Tarot fan. The first thing I noticed about Connected and Free was that it felt like the slightly more colorful cousin of the Wild Unknown. Since I often work with tarot and oracle cards together this was truly exciting to me. I hadn’t found any oracle cards that resonated alongside the Wild Unknown, so I knew right away this was an oracle deck I needed to grab.
Once Lauren opened up pre-sales for the deck I snagged one. Then I had to patiently wait {or as best as I could} for them to come. When they got here I was so stoked! And it was a surprise because I didn’t know they were on the way.
As soon as I got them I brought them to my altar and gave them a nice smudging, a blessing, and a little time out in the sun. Then off I went with them.
The cards come in a lovely brown craft box that it great to keep the cards in. Typically I toss the boxes but this one is totally worth keeping. It’s beautiful because no details were missed and, really, you just don’t want to part with it.
The cards themselves are great. They’re thick and have a semi-glossy finish on them. The only thing about the cards that is a little tricky is that the edges aren’t sealed or treated and I’ve already had a one card start to peel a little on the back at the edges.
The companion book is lovely because it’s an actual book, not a little booklet. It’s black and white inside and has info about the cards, as well as crystals that Lauren associates with the energy of each card, which is great if you’re going to pull cards for empowerment or magic!
The book also has sections on how to work with your intuition, how to cleanse the cards, and then how to read them for yourself and others with suggested spreads.
The one thing that I don’t like about the book is that there is no order to the way the card information is laid out. So if you want to look up a specific card you have to flip through the whole book to find it because it’s not in a specific order, like being alphabetical.
But, here’s the thing. That was by design. After people started getting the cards and realizing that it wasn’t easy to just flip to a card in the book and get the info, Lauren wrote a blog post about why the book has no system. She wants you to work with your intuition first and use the as a last resort. Lauren encourages you to pull the cards and let your intuition guide you rather than rushing to a book with her own intuitive insights.
I have deep, deep respect for that!
I tell my tarot and angel reading students all the time: Toss the book, read intuitively. I love that Lauren sort of pushes you in that direction.
And these cards really do beg to be read that way. The images don’t always resonate right away with the title of the card for me, but as I sit with it everything starts to come together in a reading.
One thing I hadn’t done when I started using the deck was my usual “getting to know you” spread I do with all my new decks. I was THAT excited to get it. Basically it’s a 5 card spread asking the deck how it would like to work with me on certain issues. So I did the spread here.
In the North/Earth position regarding material world issues like money, career and health the card Intuitive and Psychic Prowess came up. To me that’s a massive sign that this will be a great deck for me to use when working with my clients. So far when I have used it with clients it’s been brilliant. As a power animal the Octopus is centered in the energy of adaptability, creativity, mystery, defenses, and flexibility. All things that come in handy with the realm of Earth.
In the East/Air position, the area of thoughts, ideas and communication, is Think with your Heart. Absolutely perfect to fall here. This deck is saying that it will be able to help shed light on the darker realms where the mind sometimes goes. It will be a great deck for gaining clarity when the mind seems to be failing. Messages will be direct and pure if I’m willing to see beyond the fog of the mind and Ego.
In the South/Fire realm, the place of love and passion, we have Loudspeaker. Need help amplifying your passions? Need help manifesting and getting guidance on turning something from small to big in life? This deck will be able to answer those questions well. The image on the card is the Sri Yantra or Cosmic Yantra, which represents the intersecting and joining of the creative male and female energies in the Universe. What we shout out to the Universe, like a loudspeaker, this is what the Universe creates for us. It simply mirrors back what we give it. Creative energy is the crux of the South so Loudspeaker is the perfect card to show up here.
In the West/Water position, the area of love, healing, psychic energy and spirit is Responsibility. Oohhh…interesting! Readings around these topics are going to be pretty grounded and direct. No airy fairy things here. If it doesn’t hold “weight” it will simply be blown away. This is about being honest and having a true heart to heart with Spirit around these things when working with this deck.
Lastly, in the center is Spirit, the card of connection and divinity. Chakra Love comes here which says to me that this deck really and truly is one to use when I want to get down to the spiritual matters at hand in any reading. Balanced, reading for anything, and always lending light and healing to all matters. Nothing here is frivolous and it’s all going to carry intention and energy to grow in light.
Babes….
Get. On. This. Deck!
I give this deck my big shiny deal of approval! You can pick up a copy from Lauren’s site right here.
{P.S. The deck I used to do this review is my own personal deck that I purchased; it was not give not me for review purposes. My thoughts on the deck are my own honest and unbiased opinions.}
