Introducing the Intuit Oracle: A Minimalist Symbol + Astrology Oracle
introducing the intuit oracle
A Minimalist Symbol + Astrology Oracle
Almost five years ago, in the midst of learning my way through tarot and other card-reading arts, I felt called to start crafting something entirely my own.
Little did I know what it would become.
It started with the symbols. For some reason, I just sat down one day and began writing out the names of common objects which I resonated with. The bell. The branch. The cocoon. I paired each symbol with a decan in the astrology I had studied for years. I asked what Mercury in Gemini might feel like, look like, if its spirit were transmuted into something mundane. A heavenly body taking shape in the earthly objects I interacted with each day.
Over weeks, this collection of symbols kept shifting and rearranging itself until, one day, it solidified into the 36 base symbols which make up the oracle today.
Then came the poems, poems I intuited from some part of my spirit – not from mind. Something from a deeper me. Tiny things which seemed to brilliantly illuminate my experiences, my pains, my dreams across just a few lines of words. These poems breathed new depth into the symbols, and I watched as the two came into life, together. An intimate relationship was formed in that moment and the oracle became something which danced, even as it remained still.
Thus was born the intuit oracle, a piece of my soul. My effort to sort the universe and to see what might be found amongst my inner stars.
As the intuit oracle has shaped itself into being, I have worked and reworked it countless times. Equally, it has worked and reworked me countless times. In these cards, I have found not only respite, a calm and quiet in a noisy world, but insights that seem to have travelled time and space to find their way to me – a gift I feel more and more thankful for each day.
And now has come the day where I am ready to share this gift with you;
will you join me in knowing the intuit oracle?
What is the structure of the deck ?
In knowing a thing, what a thing “is”, I think it is important to first know what it is made of. In order to work with the oracle’s 48 cards, you will need to know the three parts that form their design: astrology, symbology, and poetry.
Firstly, there are 36 cards which are based in decans (a 10° division of the sky; read more here, though I don’t use the traditional planetary associations) – these form the first piece of the deck. Each of these cards is defined by a planet and sign, a mundane symbol, and a four-line poem. For example, here is a card:
This is Moon in Cancer, the shell, who is defined by the poem:
careful,
intimate word,
a touch
in solitude.
This poem describes a part of what happens when the Moon and Cancer interact, offering a story to their combined nature. From this poem, even without knowing astrology, we can know some of the cautious and extremely vulnerable energy that Cancer represents, as well as how that is magnified by the Moon’s deeply personal, emotive tone. For the symbol cards, you can find the planet glyph at the top of the card and the sign glyph at the bottom.
On both sides of this card sit two other cards, other expressions of Cancer’s energy: Pluto in Cancer (the anchor) and Neptune in Cancer (the jar), the planets borrowed from the other water signs. These three cards together help us to understand more about Cancer’s natures and potentials.
I collectively refer to these 36 cards as “the symbols”, because they are grounded in tangible, manifest symbols of objects that we might know and interact with each day. (Here’s an insider secret: there are actually 72 symbols I work with, with each base symbol having a natural expression and an inverse one – read the intuit oracle guidebook to learn more!)
Later in its development, I added to the oracle a cycle of 12 moon phases – these form the second piece of the deck. These cards do not have mundane symbols, but each one does have its own poem. The phases describe processes, changes in progress, and relationships. This is why each phase has an astrological aspect associated with it.
These cards can be used to understand questions like:
“Is this situation more waxing or more waning, just beginning or moving towards close?”
“How are fact X and fact Y connected to one another?”
“What can I learn about how to be in this moment, to facilitate – or to resist?”
While the 36 symbols represent more of a noun, a thing, the 12 moon phases represent more of a verb, how things relate to one another. This symbol-phase distinction is also not unlike the minor-major arcana distinction in tarot; in my readings, the symbols more often describe day-to-day life and minor happenings, while phases carry greater weight and represent larger life patterns, movements and events on a more cosmic scale.
What makes the intuit oracle different ?
As you can likely see already, this oracle is layered many times over – any time you look closer, more depth becomes apparent. This happened not only because I am curious, a person who appreciates puzzles and questions more than answers, but also because I have long identified with other zen, perplexing, and spiritually-profound works such as the Tao (道德经) and I Ching (易经); this is what most makes the oracle special, what gives it beauty and depth, and also what makes it a challenge to interpret.
In learning to work with the intuit oracle, one must be willing to witness truth that is nuanced and often contradictory; one must sit comfortably with the uncomfortable. This comes with understanding that “yes” and “no” are incomplete responses, comforting but mostly dishonest.
One must also be able to define where a question begins and ends in a given moment. Where tarot and other oracles are often like a line, pushing truth firmly into a shape, eager to say “this is what this means here”, the intuit oracle is more formless: whatever shape you give it, it will give back.
When asking for guidance, name what you are seeking:
“I am seeking a tangible symbol I can see and follow in the world around me.”
“I am seeking a line of poetry which will reveal more truth to me over time.”
“I am seeking a feeling, a moment I can recognise by how I feel when it happens.”
“I am seeking a question I can ask.”
This inherently shifts the deck to being more of a “how”, “why”, and “where” oracle than a “what” one; these cards speak mostly about process. To read with this deck, prioritise focusing your lens and scope; the question will meaningfully shape the answer.
Why are you making this available now ?
After years of (re)shaping this deck, I am excited to make it now available in the shop for a number of reasons:
Most deeply, I am excited to share it because it is something that has brought healing to me and anytime I find healing, I seek to share it with others. Next, I am excited to share it now because – having recently designed and completed the oracle’s 4th revision – its artwork is something I am truly proud of. I feel more and more that every line, every space, every texture, and every hue speaks to the spirit of what I created the work to be. I have written a book which details the philosophy embodied in the work, something others can read and know my journey, as well as that remains to be found in their own. I feel deeply, resonantly, that this is an oracle which has not been made before, very much missing and needed, but one which has been existing, ageless, in different forms – something timeless.
I am profoundly hopeful that this oracle can be as a lesson in knowing while not knowing. In seeking truth, but with little attachment to understanding, allowing truth to flow seamlessly between its shapes so that it can remain honest. I ask that each of these cards be a companion to anyone seeking wholeness, that the geometry and simple beauty of the universe be revealed to anyone seeking to know them and – most of all – that each person may know the depths of their own light and dark, their inner sea, soil, and sky.
May we be knowing and known.
With love and light,
Amani
P.S. you can buy your own copy of the intuit oracle + the eBook in our shop right here // prints are currently being made individually, so please be patient with delivery!
Amani Michael
intuit.hue founder + guide
