Exploring the Magick of Oracle Cards with Jennifer Sodini
Jennifer Sodini is an author, public speaker, and most recently she co-created a new deck of oracle cards, the Amenti Oracle Cards. She is a believer in all things spiritual and magick and loves to bring share her visions with others during oracle card readings. Jennifer will be at the Asbury Park Summer Bazaar on Saturday July 20th and Sunday July 21st giving Oracle Card readings with her Amenti Oracle cards! Keep reading to learn more about Jennifer, oracle card readings, and the Amenti Oracle Cards you’ll see at the bazaar!
How did you get into oracle cards/readings?
My grandmother was very much a free-thinker, who was fascinated by magick, spirituality and our ability to tap into other realms. She had an oracle card deck (of unknown origins), which she taught me how to read when I was a child. We would sit at her dining room table, with the cards face down, and she would have me flip them up one at a time, then ask how they made me feel, and what story I could form from the images. Unlike tarot cards, which are a very specific system of self-inquiry, oracle cards are more fluid, and allow you to really tap into your imagination and intuition with the cards as prompts for what you are already feeling and seeing.
What do you love most about oracle cards and giving others a reading?
It really brings me so much joy when I see how the readings will strike a chord on a deep soul level, and serve as confirmation for what a client already knows, sees and feels. When someone sits with me for a reading, I never ask to know the question they have in mind, but I ask that whatever is on their mind, they keep in their thoughts as I shuffle the cards. Almost always, the cards will answer the question, and provide the clarity necessary to move forward. Being a conduit to allow people to feel empowered, liberated and clear about the path ahead, makes this gift such a precious treasure to be able to offer.
What was the most memorable reading you ever did for someone?
Although my segment was edited out of the episode, I got to do a reading for the final 5 contestants (and Drew Elliott from Paper Magazine) on America's Next Top Model. Witnessing Drew, who was one of the tougher judges, get emotional and resonate with the reading really was a profound moment!
Explain to our readers how an oracle card reading works.
Tarot card readings are a glimpse into the future, seeing the blueprint of your soul come into form. Elements, archetypes, and experiences of what it means to be a human are explored in-depth, offering a roadmap for the time ahead. I like to consider oracle card readings as more of a Rorschach (inkblot) test for the present moment, so you can see what patterns your thoughts are echoing out into the universe, and understand how to come into relationship with them, so you can actively change and create the future you're hoping for. There's a fine line between prediction and manifestation, and an oracle card reading offers you a chance to see a "sliding door" of what currently is, so you can then open a new door into what you'd prefer to see in your reality. When you sit down for a reading with me, I will ask if you have something you'd like clarity on, or if you'd like to see how the cards organically fall. Once you choose, I will either have you keep your question in your mind (you don't have to tell me, and I actually prefer not to know), or I will have you remain open to receive whatever is the most pressing thing you need to know at the current moment. I then draw the cards from the decks I am working with, and they weave together a story to assist in offering clarity and advice. At the end of the reading, I will have you pull a card for yourself, from the deck I authored, Amenti Oracle, as a parting piece of wisdom to empower the rest of your day! If you have any questions, I always like to make sure that I covered all bases and the reading resonates on every level, so I do my absolute best to leave you feeling the best you can possibly feel after our session is complete!
Tell us about the new deck of cards that you designed and the artist that you worked with.
Amenti Oracle came to be after a series of profound synchronicities. In the summer of 2013, while in Costa Rica, I had a lucid dream about the feather of Ma'at (a concept I had never heard of until then), and came to discover the Egyptian Book of the Dead. The Ancient Egyptians believed that the weight of your soul is measured by your heart, and if your heart is as light as the feather of Ma'at (the embodiment of order, truth, and balance), you can pass through to the next life. But, if you lived your life with a heavy heart, you would have to repeat the cycle of life again, after being devoured by Ammit, the personification of divine retribution. Flash forward to 2017, I finally mustered enough courage to create a deck concept based on what my grandmother taught me, infused with the 42 Ideals of Ma'at. I happened to find Natalee Miller (my partner in Amenti) on Instagram. I deeply connected with her art, and we immediately became fast-friends after our first call. As we worked on the project, I would write the definitions for each card, and ask Natalee to draw how they made her feel...each card was truly a work of magick! In the process, Natalee and I journeyed to Costa Rica together, and I was gifted a trip to Egypt from a very special thought-leader within the conscious media space. A serendipitous connection allowed me to sign with a literary agent, who then pitched our concept to a major publisher, and here we are now. Amenti has been published worldwide in English, and will soon be out in French. While the deck is rooted in an Egyptian principle, the wisdom explored in the cards is universal, as every major wisdom tradition also understood the sacred power of love and compassion. Natalee and I both feel as though we were gifted an opportunity to be custodians of sacred wisdom, and our goal is to allow this deck to empower people to discover their power, and that the heart is truly a portal to new understanding.
What is your favorite card in your new deck?
It's so hard to choose just one! But, I think my favorite has to be the "I am Forgiving" card. Right when Natalee and I signed with our publisher, I went through one of the darkest periods of my life. I had a major "friend break up" with two people I loved (and still love) quite dearly, and went through some really awful health issues. At one point I was so sick, I thought that my body was shutting down on me! But, forgiveness (of self and "other") has been one of the greatest lessons I've learned in this human journey, and the cliche statement of "erring is human, but forgiveness is divine" has helped me overcome the darkness, and remember that the evening sky is there to show us the stars. In the passage of "I am Forgiving", I share an ancient Hawaiian practice called Ho'oponopono, which asks you to say to yourself (and/or dedicate to a person you would like to find forgiveness with) "I'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you." This simple mantra is life-changing, heart-opening, and truly perspective shifting! So, every time I see this card, I remember to connect to forgiveness, love, and compassion and am reminded of how healing, liberating and evolutionary that process can be.
