The Naughty Oracle: 44 Full-Color Cards and 128-Page Guidebook Cards, by Naomi Beth (Author) and Dorothy Davidson (Illustrator)
Rockpool Publishing, 1922579734, 128 pages, 44 cards, November 2022
Ever just want someone to say it to you straight? No bullshit; no sugarcoating; no elaborate metaphors. If so, The Naughty Oracle by Naomi Beth is the deck for you! This 44-card deck tells it like it is without the fanfare. Its direct message instantly awakens readers to the issue at hand and ideas of what they can f*cking do about it!
Throw away ideas that you need to be pure and holy to receive divine guidance. This deck calls you out in the best way possible and with quite a few expletives in the process. Sometimes the energy you need is the one that says, “Screw it!”, and embraces the cheeky side of life. In the guidebook introduction, Beth writes:
“The spiritual world has become too serious and stuck in a mindset of letting love and light do all the work for healing. Guess what? It stopped working for me, so I needed something more. I wanted a card deck that would make me giggle and not take life so seriously, but I couldn’t find one that suited me in this current spiritual world of love and light so I created one myself.”1
I am in complete agreement with Beth about how love and light can only go so far. Sometimes you need to slice through the facade to get right to the issue at hand. And what better way to do this than with humor and a dose of real talk to get your mind clear? After playing around with this deck, I’ve learned to shift my energy, gain awareness, and cultivate what I seek by inviting in my naughty side, casting aside social mores to embrace the taboo and do what needs to be done!
The cards themselves are hilarious.Every time I go for a pull, I’m absolutely delighted to read the titles. Some card titles that had me in stitches: “Your Soul Has Fucked Off”, “My Eyes Are Up Here, Mister!”, “Fucked above; fucked below; fucked within”, “Asshole Ancestors”, and “You Really Are a Special Type of Fucktard”. Lol!
Yet below all of these cheeky titles, the card offers a message of empowerment and direction. And I have to say, It’s nice to have a laugh and notice what a human ass I am before receiving my spiritual message. Instantly, my problems seem lighter and I’m moved into a more receptive space, allowing me to actually acknowledge the energy at hand in order to shift it.
The cards themselves, illustrated by Dorothy Davidson, are very colorful with a bright yellow back and cartoon-like images, all in bold colors. The style reminds me of a comic book where the imagery is action-packed. It might only be one segment, but within the picture is a whole story. There’s vitality in each card; the imagery feels very active. And this further amplifies the “in your face” energy these cards hold.
The messages in the guidebook are short, sweet, and to the point. Beth doesn’t wax poetic, but rather states the obvious with an uncouth mouth. Here’s an example of her advice for the card I pulled this morning, “Pissed as a Parrot”:
“Use your own fucking voice. Tell them; say what you want. Voice your own views and beliefs for others to contemplate and argue about. Voice what you love; voice what you hate. Other people’s answers are not your responsibility and are not yours to take to heart. Don’t fucking take them on, because they are just voicing their own bullshit. Voice yours too and enjoy the bullshit ride-along.”2
This is spot-on for me, as I am visiting with my husband’s family and feel like I’ve been hesitant to speak up and share my views and opinions. In fact, yesterday, in a moment of alone time with my husband, I recounted everything I said that I thought made a family member feel uncomfortable. He laughed and encouraged me to continue speaking my mind since I am a part of the family now. But I have remained hesitant, only focusing on the rebuff I experienced or discomfort I could tell they felt.
Clearly, from my pull, the guidance is that I should continue to share my thoughts, even if it goes against the grain of what others believe. Everyone can make their own choices about what to believe; I have the right to express my views just as much as the next person. And the questions included by Beth in the guidebook, such as “Is my fear of rejection preventing me from speaking up, and how can I release this fear?, helped me to pause and reflect. Yes! It is rejection I am worried about, and I haven’t figured out how to release it quite yet, but I’ll focus on it today.
For good measure, I read aloud the affirmation Beth included for the card. One line from it – “I am gifted at speaking my truth.”3 – has been running through my head ever since. This will be my mantra today as I continue to navigate the push-pull dynamic of revealing my thoughts vs. maintaining family harmony.
All in all, this deck is awesome. I think it would be especially fitting for those who are not down with the esoteric spirituality concepts (angels, spirit animals, gods/goddesses), but are in search of spiritual insights. Yes, there’s concepts such as energy-clearing, grounding, and liberating your spiritual energy, but it’s rooted in the wisdom of human life, which we can all admit can be quite a shitshow.
In The Naughty Oracle, Beth truly offers readers a combination of the wisdom of her decades-long spiritual journey and a dose of reality. The cards are hilarious, but they are also very insightful. Between Beth’s tell-it-how-it-is guidance approach, questions to ask yourself, and affirmations, readers have the opportunity to get their head straight.
Alanna Kali is an astrologer, numerologist, and pioneer spirit that loves to explore life through the lens of depth psychology. She has a passion for studying the humanities and social trends. Her academic work is centered upon reuniting body, mind, and spirit through eco-psychology. She loves reading, spending time in nature, and travel.