Author: Ellen Valladares
Artist: Yasmeen Westwood
Red Feather/Schiffer Publishing, 2022
Description: 44 cards, 112-page guidebook, box with magnetic closure lid.
Card Size: 3.5 x 5
“Whether you’re in need of support, healing, or inspiration, you’ll find it in this deck of 44 exquisitely designed oracle cards. The angels are divine beings of love and light that guide and protect us and assist us with our spiritual and personal growth.”
The Angels of Healing and Hope Oracle is a beautiful deck, printed on good card stock, with gold edging. The cards are easy to handle and shuffle. The messages proved to be inspiring and helpful.
The Angels' Playlist Pick for this card is "Soak Up the Sun" by Sheryl Crow. I began my morning by listening to the song and imagining a day of joy.
The message I gained from this card: "You cannot change external conditions or other people, but you can change your mood." Let the Angels of Light carry your burdens away. Choose joy and happy. Want what you have, be carefree, and be happy.
The guidebook opens with a welcome from the author on her experience with angels and the creating of the Angels of Healing and Hope Oracle. She then introduces a brief Angels 101, giving you her perspective of who and what are angels. She goes over how to use the deck from preparation to suggested spreads. The Angels' Playlist Picks offer a nice addition. Each card has a chosen song, revealed during the creation of the deck.
The author offers many opportunities outside of the deck and guide to further pursue this deck and its gifts. You can hear the entire playlist on Spotify, practice meditations in the Meditation Room at www.ellenvalladares.com, join the Angel Community of Facebook - Public Page and Group, and even purchase prints of individual cards at www.enchantedsoulart.co.uk. She also offers a Connecting with Angels kit, which includes a 10-page pdf guide, a guided meditation, and printable reference cards.
The Card Messages are presented in alphabetical order to make them easy to find. Each card is given two pages: the card name, an image, and the playlist pick on one page and a detailed message on the other.
The guidebook closes with a brief look at The Archangels and Angel Numbers, and a quick bio of the author and illustrator.
One of the suggested spreads in the guidebook is a three-card layout, which follows from left to right - where you've been, where you're headed, and probable outcome.
The first card pulled is the 'Water Element', which urges you to take advantage of the healing powers of water. As where you've been, you may have already begun to seek this healing by drinking more water or being near or in water.
The second card pulled is the 'Warrior of Light', which urges you to be a source of light and to not get dragged into any negative drama that may be stirring near you. Stay in joy and light. As where you're headed, you will survive the emotional drain you may be feeling. Recuperate with the healing powers of water and let your inner light cast around you, protecting you from outer drama.
The third card pulled is 'Embrace the New' - "Everything about this moment is new." Each moment brings a new breath, a new movement, a new step in your life. This is a very positive moment where anything is possible, embrace the newness that each moment can bring into your life. "Embrace the new you, the true you."
This sequence of these cards shows an encouraging path. After healing yourself with the properties of the Water Element, you find yourself able to protect yourself with your own light, which allows you to step into a new way of being, a way of being true to yourself.
The angels ask you to be kind to yourself with the 'The Self-Compassion' card. Treat yourself with the same compassion and generosity as you would an adored friend. By loving yourself with your whole heart, you invite the same to enter your life. This one lesson may be the most important message in life, in my opinion. For if you cannot love and respect yourself, how or why would you find this same compassion in another.
The Angel's Playlist Pick for 'Pause and Reflect' is "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac.
With little time to reflect on the chaos going on around you, this card represents a slowing down of events. The angels urge you to take this moment to reflect on all that has happened. Meditate, relax, and reflect on things learned, let go of, and created during these past moments.
"Like this card's image, which is turned on its side, you're being asked to look at things from a new perspective."
The Angels of Healing and Hope Oracle, an extraordinary deck, presents the most beautiful cards with encouraging messages to guide you through your day, through your life.
I would recommend this deck to anyone interested in a new oracle deck or even their first deck. The images are beautiful, the messages clear, and the energy of this deck is very pleasurable.
