Faeries Oracle

Card 47 - The Oak Men

Strength. Ancient wisdom. Depth.

I had an interesting lesson from the Oak Men about how we humans use faeries to mirror our own projections. The eyes of the Oak Men are a warm light brown, but some people look at them and say, "Ooooh, red eyes! Scary"' I tried a little experiment. Using digital magic, I made a copy of the Oak Men and gave them blue eyes. I then asked some people for their impressions of the Men, and words like "innocent" and "sweet" and "melancholy" came back. Then I changed them to an unreal-looking violet and got responses like, "Oooh, so spiritual! So wise."

Had the Oak Men changed? Of course not, but what people projected onto them had! When we look at a faery, we can simply project all of our fears and insecurities and prejudices and delusions on them - or we can try to see them as they are. In a sense, all oracles are simply mirrors of the wisdom and confusion within the reader, but if we only look at them through our personal filters and projection, we learn very little. It is only when we actually try to see beyond ourselves that we begin to use the oracle as a mirror of the cosmos and all of its wisdom.

One member of the Oracle group looked at them and wrote, "When I see this card I lose all track of time. I feel deep grounding and peace, contentment. Everything is there if you just take the time to be part of it. It is a deep homecoming for me. To me, the Oak Men show the deep wisdom of age, the inner peace and strength of the elders."

This is what the Oak Men are about. Can you look at them and see them as they are, or can you only see your own projections? The universe (like the Oak Men) is full of wisdom and compassion and strength, but it doesn't always come in pretty packages.

Starter Reading

This card depicts the strength and wisdom of age. It also reminds us that what we need to know, what is truly there to be seen, cannot be discovered by a superficial glance and hasty reaction. In a reading, the Oak Men tell us to look slowly and deeply into the heart of the matter and to see past the superficialities of the surface. Consider the history situation in depth, and learn from the past. Consult others with more experience than you have. Learn from the wisdom of the elders, both those available to you personally and those you encounter in books and elsewhere. In this matter it would be wise to make your decisions after more pondering and study of the situation. Consider motivations in depth. Take action only after thorough deliberation. The Oak Men tell us that haste may be, at this moment, our worst enemy.

They also suggest that we might learn a lot from trees. Consider the trees and their wisdom. Connect with a wise old one and ask for help.

Reverse

Turn the Oak Men upside down and you see different faces with other expressions. The Oak Men wish you to use your own perceptiveness and intuition in working out what they are saying in this position. This is not a trick - it is just a little exercise in stretching yourself and your vision. Enjoy!

"Fairies speak to us in many, many ways and we perceive their intent with our ears, our eyes, and our hearts and our laughter too."
--Brian

The Help-Line Troupe