How to learn the Belline Oracle?

To find the earliest traces of the tarot deck known as the Belline Oracle, we have to go back to the 19^th century.

At a time when divination was enjoying dazzling success among all social classes of the population, a famous clairvoyant going by the name of Mme Lenormand had devised brand-new cards to move somewhat away from the famous Marseille Tarot.

It was one of her disciples, Edmond Billaudot, who took it upon himself to design a new deck inspired by these new cards. But the project fell through, for unknown and obscure reasons.

It was only a few years later that a certain Belline came across Billaudot’s notes and developed them to market a new method of divinatory reading using the cards of the Belline Oracle.

The Belline Oracle is therefore a deck of tarot cards, but its distinctive feature lies in the fact that it is very close to astrology, somewhat like a horoscope but far more developed. It is made up of 53 cards or arcana and each of them has its own meaning. As in any good tarot deck, the various images printed on them allow us to interpret them in order to predict the future of a querent.

Among these 53 cards, there are seven families, each named after a planet of our solar system. And each of these families is made up of 7 cards that all have their own astral representations.

Furthermore, each of the families also has its own meaning :

• Sun family: Success and progress in the events to come.
• Moon family: Suspicion and betrayal within the querent’s circle.
• Mercury family: Changes and developments occurring over the course of a lifetime.
• Venus family: Pleasure and harmony that the subject may enjoy.
• Mars family: Difficulties and conflicts that will have to be overcome.
• Jupiter family: Happiness and wisdom that guarantee fulfilment.
• Saturn family: Misfortune and loneliness that may lie ahead.

To these 49 cards contained within the 7 families must be added 3 cards that stand above the rest and therefore hold a certain power during a divinatory reading.

These are the cards of Destiny, of the Man’s Star and of the Woman’s Star. The latter two are said to symbolise the querent during the session.

Finally, the 53^rd and very last card is called Blue; it is the card of luck and of protection.

When you want to acquire a Belline Oracle tarot deck, you must first have a good knowledge of the cards of the Marseille Tarot deck, which are, after all, the foundation of tarot reading. Indeed, the various interpretations of the cards of the Marseille Tarot will be invaluable when starting out with those of the Belline Oracle, as the latter are far more complex to grasp.

There are of course several decks of cards devoted to this Oracle, but it is recommended, especially when starting out with it, to obtain one of the so-called « gilt-edged » editions.

Indeed, these cards with their gilded-looking edges bring ease and fluidity to your handling of them. This is because they slide far better against one another, giving you unparalleled playing comfort. They are also the guarantee of an uncommon magnetic power.

But there is nothing like watching a tutorial video to complement reading a specialised book . There are many of them today, and most are posted on YouTube or on one of the many social networks that have appeared on the web in recent years.

Many of these videos are generally under 30 minutes long and are recorded by professional tarot readers, which guarantees a serious approach and good teaching in the handling of the subject covered.

For the Belline Oracle, as for the Marseille Tarot, there are therefore excellent tutorial videos to teach us all the symbolism contained in each of the cards, but also to show us the various gestures to adopt with them when we carry out a divinatory reading for a querent curious about their future.