Mystical Healing Reading Cards
The Mystical Healing Reading Cards is a 36-card deck published in 2020, and I think Inna Segal did a great job creating something that blends old with new. Jake Baddeley did the artwork, and I would’ve liked to see this stated early in the book. It is not common practice to name the artist on the front cover, but I wish writers would reconsider this practice. If the artwork is significant, it seems only fair for the artist to get major credit. It comes in a sturdy one-piece box with a magnetic clasp. The cards are large and laminated but shuffle easily. The guidebook is ample and gives each card half a page of insight. The rest of the page contains actions to help integrate the card’s message. I wanted to like this set, but I don’t. Some of the text is nonsense and frankly toxic. Anyway, in the words of CryptoKirby, let’s dive in and analyse!
This will be a quick run-through rather than a heavy analysis of individual cards. I want to draw your attention to some toxic beliefs and briefly explain why they can be problematic.
Card 4, Become More Objective: Develop a compassionate attitude towards yourself and others. On face value, this is sound advice. Objectivity is always a good thing, and being understanding is helpful. The issue for me is the descriptive text accompanying the headline quote. “If a person has acted in a hurtful, dishonourable way towards you, you have an opportunity to understand the real cause that made them behave like this.” No. Just no. Someone else’s behaviour is never ‘our’ problem to understand. And quite frankly, it doesn’t matter what another person has experienced in life; there is no excuse nor reason for hurtful behaviour. The only real cause you need to understand is that they chose to act in a harmful way. Further down the page, we have “. .objectively look at yourself and what role you had in creating a challenging situation”. This isn’t as straightforward as it looks. We can’t look at ourselves objectively. It’s impossible. We can self-reflect, but it’ll never be objective. Never. You can’t remove yourself from your body and look from someone else’s point of view. If someone calls you out on something, you can only imagine how you would feel if the shoe were on the other foot. Or you may be able to recall a time when someone did similar to you and can therefore relate to what they are saying. If you are on the receiving end of hurt, you can’t take responsibility for them acting the way they did. The only responsibility you can take is for ignoring the red flags and not removing yourself sooner. Even then, we can’t know what we know until we know it. Understand yourself first and foremost. But don’t ever think you can fully understand someone else’s motivations. Yes, they may have issues, but they’re not your problem. Despite my noticeable interest in other people’s behaviour, I don’t think it’s ever possible to know why someone is the way they are. One of the best lessons I learned was to stop asking why and ask how instead. The card ignores that often; we’re on the receiving end of hurt because we are there.
Card 18 is one I struggle with because I reject the concept of karma. Learn From Karma: It’s time to balance the scales. The advice says, Your current experience is a culmination of karma you have accrued through several lives. Immediately we are forced into a corner to accept a relatively rigid framework of belief. The problem here is that it automatically puts you in a position to accept any shitty situation on the assumption you asked for it as punishment for a misdeed you can’t even remember. No, thank you.
Card 31, Stop Breaking Agreements: Allow others to develop trust in you. Some agreements are bad. Some are downright stupid. And sometimes, we grow emotionally and realise those agreements are not in our best interest. Others trust us when we are fundamentally honest. “Every agreement you break attaches like an energetic link to all the other agreements you have broken in your life and all the other people who also don’t care about breaking agreements. This massive chain weighs you down and sucks the life force out of you, whilst hooking you into the vibration of failure”. What? So, not only do you carry your own shit, you are carrying for others? A vibration of failure because you tend to be late, cancel plans, or end relationships? “Successful people don’t break agreements. . . if they do they recognise this straight away, take responsibility . . .make amends. . . doing something extra”. Without a working definition of ‘successful’, I’d still say successful people likely break agreements all the time. Honestly, it sounds exhausting. And toxic. You shouldn’t have to do more because you break a deal. If an apology isn’t enough (if appropriate), I can understand why you’d not want to stick to an agreement in the first place.
Card 35, Unlock Your Heart: Pain can cleanse the way to profound wisdom. Bullshit. Pain of any kind is just pain. Any wisdom you get from pain is wisdom you can probably live very happily without. Pain doesn’t make you stronger or wiser. Pain distracts you from living your best life. While I advocate for living with an open heart, I know that anyone can only take so much before shutting down. That’s a healthy defence mechanism to create emotional space to heal.
Other oracle sets are far more balanced than the Mystical Healing Reading Cards. My concern is that with this kind of thing, you want to be able to relax and not be so critical about what you’re reading. Suspending belief for this deck is not wise because many underlying messages are damaging. Some of the cards profess to deal with the very issues this set is guilty of by the bucketload, and I think the author lacked the necessary insight to pull off the concept. I get the impression there is an underlying belief in victimhood and blame; it feels unhealthy. Many of the criticisms I’ve raised are relatively typical of the new age scene, and it’s one of the reasons proponents of all things woo get mocked. I dedicate a significant portion of this website to subjects under the mysticism and occult umbrella, so I am clearly not averse to suspending belief when needed. The problems arise when I see glaringly obvious red flags.
I can’t recommend this set for any reason. There is too much bad advice and lousy belief that does the opposite of promoting healing. It’s not worth relying on the cards and their titles because they don’t give the reader enough insight. Usually, with this kind of set, you want to rewire your thinking. It’s used as a form of cognitive behavioural therapy to live better, whatever that means for you. If you’re not reprogramming yourself with healthy thoughts, you will cause damage in the long run. Much of the content conflicts with this site’s core aim of encouraging authenticity and autonomy. I’m disappointed because some of the artwork is very good. I just couldn’t get past the bad text to even look at the imagery. If you’re an advanced reader, I would recommend the cards, but ditch the book. If you’re a beginner and looking for a solid set, I would not buy this. Try one of Kim Kran’s sets instead, or something by Caroline Myss, or the Faeries Oracle by Brian Froud and Jess MacBeth.
