By the creator of the Fairies Oracle and the Angels Oracle decks, a new deck that is for meditation on questions and issues regarding love and relationships.  These little decks are very sweet, but one is not terribly different from the others; while I like each one a lot, the three of them almost seem cut out of cookie cutters.  Each one is identical in setup and style.... small, playing card size; lovely illustrations on the front; meditations on the back; you could even mix up the cards from the decks if you so chose, because they are so identical in styles.  Instead of soft, feathery-looking angels, or soft, feathery-looking fairies, this deck features soft, feathery-looking boy knights and the maidens they love.  It's hard to tell, even, whether it's the same knight and maiden in ALL the cards, or if there are several different ones who all look more or less the same.
 
The deck is geared towards meditative-style readings; you simply concentrate on the question, shuffle the deck, draw a card, and read the messages and "take them into your heart."  It says you can do this by yourself or together with your partner.  The kind of messages that are offered with this deck are the bland little profundities you can probably find in a host of various "quotable quotes" books.  Some examples follow:
 
"If you never have a broken heart, you'll never truly learn to love."
 
"Love changes everything.  Days are longer, words mean more.  Joy is more intense, pain is deeper.  Love can turn your world around, and that world will last forever."
 
"Love is unexpected -- you don't know when it will come."
 
"In true love you want what is best for the other person.  In romantic love you only want the other person."
 
"For hearing my thoughts, understanding my dreams and being my best friend..... for filling my life with joy and for loving me without end..... I do."
 
"Within you, I lose myself; without you, I find myself; then I strive to be lost again."
 
The artwork in the deck is nothing if not spectacular; yet there is something cold about it that doesn't reach through to warm or excite me.  I don't think it will appeal to everyone.  I found it especially bothersome that in a deck which is supposed to be about love, not one person seemed ever to be smiling -- not even on the happy cards!  The cards all seem to feature the knights and maidens from the dark ages or something; I guess nobody was allowed to smile back then.
 
The deck itself is smaller than standard oracle deck size, almost playing card size.  It's printed on thin stock but was surprisingly stiff to shuffle; I suspect after being beaten up a bit it would soften up.  It's comfortable enough to handle.  There is no back design due to the fact that all the messages are printed on the back, along with tiny, black and white renderings of the image from the front of the card.
 
I recommend this deck mainly for an art collectible, because I think that while it is useable as a love and relationships deck, there are better and more useable decks for the same thing.  However, it is a really nice little gift for someone who is in love or who wishes to be.  I personally think the artwork would do better on a larger size, like a greeting card or poster print, but that's just me.  It just doesn't quite grab me.  It's not the kind of deck you need any experience to use, so a beginner can work with it just fine.
 
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also by Sulamith Wulfing:
Angel Oracle
Fairies Oracle

Review Copyright 2001 by Gina M. Pace

Lovers Oracle by Sulamith Wulfing, 2001
published by Bluestar Communications
ISBN 1-885394-47-0