As a trans masc person who has struggled to connect with their masculinity, I have been wanting a divinatory tool like this one for quite some time. So often I come across oracle and tarot decks oriented towards the divine feminine. I completely understand why that is. Patriarchy as devalued femininity and feminine energies, so it is absolutely natural for people of any gender (but especially women/femme folks) to gravitate towards ideas and tools designed to celebrate and utilize those energies. In my past I've found such tools to be useful in my life and practice. But as I have come to accept and embrace my masculinity more, I have been dying for tools and media to reflect a healthy masculine spiritual path, and that aid me in my personal journey. This deck has been such a breath of fresh air and it only just came in the mail yesterday. (I'll put further review and info about the deck below the line.)
In that vein, the creators of this deck have also created a femme-focused oracle deck, The Goddess Within, and they have designed this Divine Masculine deck to complement it. The book includes spreads that utilize both decks in tandem together to incorporate both masculine and feminine energies into your readings. I don't own the Goddess Within deck, but I am considering purchasing it in the future for this reason. (They also mention that they can be used in tandem when doing readings about relationships, with each deck representing one partner. How you identify which partner aligns with each deck is up to you!) Of course, each deck can be used on its own.
I love how it is marketed as a "healing" oracle deck. As the creators mention in the booklet, there is a lot of healing that needs to be done with and around masculine energies in the world. The idea is that this is a tool to aid in that healing, as well as the integrating of masculine and feminine energies in healthy ways when using the two decks togethers, is something that I find beautiful and necessary. So much gender related violence has been normalized and I think finding ways to generate positive connections and healing are so vital to our continued existence as a species.
The two readings I've done with it for myself have resonated so much. It is clearly an effective tool that did not take long to get a feel for. (Perhaps this is not the case for others depending on their gender identity, but regardless I think their is masculine energy in us all that can attune us to this deck in our own unique ways.) When I first went to use, it I held the deck in my hands near my heart and felt waves of new energies and presences swirling around me. I got the sense that these were the beings depicted on the cards. I know I won't realistically develop deeply intimate relationships with all of them, but I am very interested to see who shows up in my life and readings and how.
I chose the cards I took the picture of to highlight some art that I particularly like and the variety of traditions/mythologies represented in the deck. I was pleasantly surprised to see Yeshua (Jesus) represented here. I think there's something incredibly healing to that in a Christian supremacist culture, reminding us of Jesus' sacred masculinity and how truly non-toxic it actually is/was. I deeply appreciate that they included figures from various cultures and pantheons, but it does skew heavily towards the Greek. (10/44 cards are of Greek figures. The next closest is Egyptians with 5.) I love the diversity in age and skin tones present in the art, though diversity in body size/type is a bit lacking.
For those interested, here is the full list of gods, heroes, and divinity included in this deck, including the pantheon/tradition/culture they hail from:
Achilles (Greek), Adonis (Greek), Aizen Myoo (Japanese), Anubis (Egyptian), Ares (Greek), Atlas (Greek), Buddha/Gautama Siddhartha (Buddhism), Caishen (Chinese), Cernunnos (Celtic), Chaac (Mayan), Dhakhan (Australian First Nations), Dionysus (Greek), Enki (Sumerian), Eros (Greek), Ganesha (Hindu), Geb (Egyptian), Hercules (Greek), Hermes (Greek), Hiawatha (Mohawk/Onondaga), Horus (Egyptian), Itzamna (Mayan), Jade Emperor/Yu Huang (Chinese), Janus (Roman), Krishna (Hindu), Loki (Norse), Lugh (Celtic), Maui (Polynesian), Melchizedek (Jewish/Christian), Midas (Greek), Narcissus (Greek), Obatala (Yoruban), Ocasta (Cherokee), Orunmila (Yoruban), Osirus (Egyptian), Ra (Egyptian), Ruaumoko (Maori), Shiva (Hindu), Suddhodana (Buddhism), Thor (Norse), Thoth (Egyptian), Torngarsuk (Inuit), Yarilo (Slavic), Yeshua/Jesus (Christian), Yum Kaax (Mayan)
