This lovely deck-and-book set has attractive, interesting artwork and an original premise: to bring the innate helping nature of crystals and gemstones to the general public, debunking the "new age" mythology which has sprung up around them and make their self-empowering abilities available to all.  An ancient entity known as "Aora" channels the knowledge and energy for these cards and stones in using this system.

The deck, and the book, come packaged in an attractive lid-and-tray box.  The cards, 44 gemstone cards plus one card which represents AORA herself, are split into two piles and laid side-by-side in the box.  I like the fact that there is a divider set into the box to keep the piles straight.  Most packages which break the deck into two piles don't have a separator.

Since this is not a tarot deck, there are no Major or Minor Arcana, no court cards or suit cards.  No numbers are assigned to any of the cards, because there isn't any one stone which is "better" or more important than any other.  Each of them is valued in this system for what it truly is, and what it can be, and how it can help and heal in given situations.  The cards themselves feature artistic representations of the stones in special scenes representative of the powers of the stone in use.  There are wide borders which resemble marble, and four small circles on the sides of the cards which have cross-sections or solitaires of the stone featured on each card.  Titles are at the top in a framed part of the border.  A good example is the Agate card.  Four small agate circles are in the borders, and there is an oval of agate at the bottom to balance the title at the top.  A picture of a night landscape is shown on the card, with a stone formation similar to Stonehenge, the stones being agate slabs, and the moon is also made of agate.  An agate geode is shown in the foreground.

The cards themselves are large in size which shows off the artwork to its best advantage.  Because the deck is fewer in number of cards than many others, it isn't terribly difficult to shuffle, even with the larger card size.  One thing I noticed was that the cards had little nubbies around the edges in a couple of places, suggesting perforations, as if they had been printed on a sheet and then punched out rather than cut.  The edges could have been smoother, but it didn't detract from the handling of the cards in any significant way.  The back side of the card has an attractive green-and-gold marbled design. The coating is not too slippery, and has a satin finish to it, reducing glare.

The book which comes with the set is printed on marvelous thin glossy paper which has a rich, sumptuous feel and look to it.  While the book has no illustrations, it is simple enough to compare the cards to the book when referencing each specific card.  The book is rather thin, but given the number of cards, it would be.  I like its flexibility and the ease with which it is flipped through and read.  The layout of the book is simple, also, and a good balance is struck between the amount of space dedicated to the cards themselves, and that dedicated to the information needed to work with them.  Several layouts are given, with ample explanations for how each one works, and there is a telling of how the "Aora" entity was encountered by the creators of this set.

The gemstones themselves are broken down into eight groupings, or "Families" of stones.  Several of them are in multiple families, the deciding factor being the ability of the stone for healings of a specific nature.  Since some stones, such as hematite, are good for more than one kind of healing, they fit into multiple families.  I found it somewhat confusing when worked in reverse.  For example, if you are looking up a gemstone, it does say what families it fits into.  And if you look up the family itself, in the section devoted to that, you can determine which stones are in which families.  But the listing of the stones comes at the end of each familial description, in a small italic paragraph listing, and it's more difficult to determine which stones are appropriate.  The book is rounded off at the end by a 4-page glossary.

While there are layouts provided with multiple cards involved, I did find the Gemstone of the Day draw, one card for each day, also worked well for use as a spread for general use.  I enjoyed asking the cards which stone would be most appropriate to help me in a given situation, and found that the recommended stone did indeed prove to be helpful and healing.

I would recommend this oracle to anyone seeking healing and self-empowerment in their lives.  It is also an extraordinary tool for actually learning to work with crystals and gemstones more closely.  One problem with the system is that it really requires the user to also have, or to obtain, pieces of the actual crystal or gemstone which is shown on the cards.  Granted, one would not necessarily have to go out and buy 44 pieces of crystal off the bat, but if one drew cards which recommended the use of a specific stone, it really is important to actually have a piece of that stone to carry around and hold.  Which can run into some money after a while.  It is a worthwhile investment, but it is something to be considered.  It is something I would recommend for any crystal oracle, and this one is definitely my favorite.  Art collectors will also enjoy this one.  Since it is not a tarot set, no previous experience is necessary.  Crystal knowledge is also not a prerequisite.  Definitely worth getting.

Click here for pictures
 
or here to purchase this deck
 
or here to review

Please use your browser's back button to return from pictures

also see
AORA Gemstone Oracle Cards

Review Copyright 1999 by Gina M. Pace

AORA Gemstone Oracle by James McKeon and Roberta Carothers, 1998
published by Viktara Publishing Inc.  ISBN 096644920-7