Oracle Cards Explained: The Science & Spirituality Behind Their Messages

What are oracle cards? How oracle card readings work and how to use them for guidance, clarity and personal growth.

Weekly Relationship Oracle

and

Tania Truskalo

Sep 11, 2025

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What Are Oracle Cards?

Oracle cards are not tarot cards. They don’t predict the future. There isn’t one specific set that’s been passed down since the witchy times.

Oracle card decks are sets of beautiful cards, each created with a specific intention. In a way, you can look at oracle cards as esoteric affirmation cards. They are usually created by a new age spiritual teacher or thought leader.

Each deck has a specific theme. They usually have around 44 - 52 cards in them. Each card holds a unique message & a corresponding image.

Illustration of a woman sitting cross-legged on her bed at night journaling with oracle cards beside her, while glowing magical energy rises from the notebook into the New York skyline outside her window.

How Do Oracle Cards Work?

Each oracle card’s message, like everything in our world, also carries with it an energetic frequency. Some call it a vibration.

So the cards we are most drawn to and end up choosing.. are those that match our own current frequency and the frequency of the intention that we set prior to pulling cards.

You can use oracle cards as a tool to connect with your intuition, higher-self, the universe.. source consciousness, etc. People who are into the idea of spirit guides or even guardian angels.. or ascended masters.. use oracle cards to receive guidance or messages from them.

I like to think that as I am already one with the universe and one with my higher self, that I’m automatically always connected to all of that stuff.. & that’s what pings back when I set an intention behind each card spread.

In short, the card that you pull, holds the message that is most relevant and useful for you to hear in that very moment. Because it’s your own frequency at the time of choosing a card, that pulls you like a magnet to the card that will resonates most with you.

Your “frequency” in that moment is created by a mix of you setting an intention for the card reading & by the current circumstances of your life.

We can even set the intention to tap into someone else’s energy field, usually with them allowing it.. & then pulling some cards on their behalf.

It’s basically magic.

But also it’s just science.

Listen to the likes of

Dr Joe Dispenza

about how we create our own reality through our brainwaves.. which is basically just energy.. the same energy that gives you that feeling about which oracle card to choose.

Simple as that.

Illustration of a woman in a flowing dress journaling by the sea at night, with glowing rainbow energy and symbols rising from her notebook into the starry sky, oracle cards resting nearby.

The Science Behind Oracle Cards

For skeptics, it’s easy to dismiss oracle cards as “woo-woo.” But science shows us that frequency, energy, and intuition are real phenomena.

Dr Joe Dispenza
, a researcher and bestselling author of You Are the Placebo and Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself, explains that when we shift from stressed high-beta brainwaves into relaxed alpha and theta states, the thinking mind quiets down and the subconscious becomes more accessible. In these states, our attention and emotion produce measurable coherence in the brain and heart fields. Essentially, we’re broadcasting and receiving information like a signal.
He writes: “When the heart is coherent… we’ve created a Wi-Fi signal that can send and receive information.”

That’s my favourite analogy: people believe in invisible Wi-Fi signals carrying data across rooms, yet doubt the invisible brainwaves and heart fields that science has already measured.

Dr. Tara Swart, a neuroscientist and author of bestselling books The Source: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain and The Signs: The New Science of How to Trust Your Instincts, describes this as the brain’s reticular activating system: a filter that notices what you prime it for. When you set an intention, your brain literally tunes its focus, surfacing the cues that match your goals or needs.
Psychology calls it emotional contagion: the rapid spread of emotions through subtle cues. Walk into a room and you instantly feel whether it’s tense, joyful, or heavy. Your nervous system is wired to read invisible frequencies.

Illustration of a woman journaling at a desk with oracle cards, glowing magical energy rising from her notebook forming the words “Dream, Love, Create,” with a starry New York City skyline in the background.

Oracle cards work in the same way. They’re not tapping into another dimension. They’re tapping into the very real energy you’re already broadcasting and perceiving.

But that doesn’t mean that oracle cards and your readings can’t tap into another reality - that’s all up to you and the beliefs that you, individually hold. My point is simply that you don’t need to believe in the universe over religion, or the unseen supernatural over hard science and fact. With oracle cards, both are possible.

So regardless of whether you’re into the spiritual aspect of oracle guidance or simply using it as a tool for personal growth and tapping into your subconscious mind for better self awareness.. oracle cards can be very helpful in all of life’s situations.

Illustration of a woman journaling on the beach at sunset with oracle cards beside her, as glowing rainbow energy and symbols rise from her notebook into a star-filled sky with palm trees.

Including for figuring out what’s going on in your relationships (romantic or otherwise) and helping you to gain more clarity and direction in your daily life.

Just as we do here every Sunday with our weekly Relationship Dynamics pick-a-card style spreads. Where you get to pick between four new sets of oracle cards every week. Each set comprises of two cards - one for you and one for them - followed by an explanation of the energy dynamic at play between you that week.

Illustration of a woman journaling in a park at night surrounded by oracle cards, glowing rainbow words “Create, Dream, Inspire” rising into the starry sky above a city skyline.

Final Thoughts

Oracle cards are not fortune-telling. They’re a tool for reflection, clarity, and connection. They’re a mirror for your subconscious and a bridge to your intuition.

There’s no wrong way to begin. The deck you’re drawn to is the right one. The card you pull is always the card you needed.

Illustration of a woman at a café table journaling with a glowing cup beside her and oracle cards on the table, as rainbow cosmic energy rises into the night sky forming words like “Dream, Inspire, Love, Believe.” — caption...

Want to try out an oracle card spread for yourself?

This week’s Relationship Dynamics let’s you do just that:

Weekly Relationship Oracle ✦ Sept 21 – 27, 2025

Weekly Relationship Oracle and Tania Truskalo

Sep 21

Read full story

I hope this post has helped you to better understand how oracle cards work and the very real science behind them.

As September is my birthday month, I’m giving away free personal one-card draws - comment below or send me a DM if you want one :)

Much love, Tania

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