Cilla Conway

Oracle of the Future

Meditations on a New Paradigm

I began this deck knowing that I had drifted into a place of not knowing, and hoped that it would help to provide me some answers to my concerns. Did it do so? Well, sort of. As the deck goes to press, I am pretty certain that our future depends on immediate, concerted action – and even then I think that the future will be pretty difficult. I know the earth will survive, but humanity? Not sure. We have spent the last five hundred years with Money and Profit being our bottom line – morality and ideals seem to go by the board if we think profit is involved – and unless we change that paradigm, I don’t think we deserve to survive. The old indigenous peoples were generous and community-conscious. They might have had battles but their bottom-line was the earth. What happened to us?

However, that’s just my personal opinion, based on the last few months of 2023. The deck itself is more optimistic – it believes that if our bottom-line changes to what the earth, and humanity, needs, a better future will be possible.

So, as I created the deck, I divided it into five sections – Tomorrow’s World, the Liminal Realms (the one I found myself in at the time, the place on not knowing), Consciousness on Earth, the Quantum Realms, and the Possible New Paradigm.

There are 45 landscape cards in the deck, though the sections don’t divide neatly into 9 – at the bottom of the page you’ll see the whole deck, divided in its sections.

Section I – Tomorrow World

Section 1 looks squarely at the issues we face now (for instance, the Earth in Peril, Pollution, Refugees, Climate Chane, and the Sixth Mass Extinction.

Oracle_of_Future_6th_Mass_Extinction_500x375

Section II – the Liminal Realms

Section II delves into the Liminal Realms – the in-between states – like dusk, crossing a river, starting a new course. It’s as if we’ve walked onto a bridge where the end point is hidden in mist (as I’ve shown below). We can’t go back because that isn’t possible, but going forward is really scary. If we keep going, though, the Liminal Realms can be a really creative time. For instance, in dreams, books, shamanic journeying, even hallucinogens.

Oracle_of_Future_Shamaic-Journeys_500x375

Section III – Consciousness on Earth

I find this a fascinating area. We have, for so long, considered ourselves superior to animals in every way, particularly in our level of consciousness. But are we really? Sea creatures are now being found to have real awareness, and although they haven’t changed the earth to suit themselves (rather, fitting into their own environments) – does that make them less aware than hukmanity? I would say just the opposite. And, if we think that altering earth environments to suit themselves is a measure of superiority, think of termites – who build air conditioned palaces for themselves – or bacteria and viruses, who shape us to suit themselves.

Section IV – The Quantum Realms

If you have immediately decided that this section (or even the deck) is not for you, have another think. Quantum physics has been challenging every conclusion science has made in the last century, and is now challenging us, too, because nothing in these realms can be measured definitively (like the cat, that may be alive or dead). But Quantum Physics says if you know 5, you can’t measure 4 at the same time, in which case you cannot say that 20 is the answer. I love that. In fact, one of the quotes in the book that accompanies the deck talks about ‘Quantum mechanics .. showed that boring reality doesn’t exist, and everything is basically magic’..

Oracle_of_Future_Q-Consciousness_500x375

Section V – A New Paradigm

The final section, V. looks at what a new, and better, paradigm might be. I hope we can create it, because without it we are probably not going to survive very long. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of new initiatives, all with far better philosophies, that hope to introduce systems for more equitable health, wealth, and ways to live on earth that don’t include mining into the deep sea, or killing every other living creature on earth. They all mean we need to become more aware of how we think, and how the next generation can survive well (something the corporate culture doesn’t care too much about, it seems). Quite a few people have tried, but this needs a deep and concerted effort from all of us – all of the ‘grass roots’, you might say. Hey-ho… are we aware enough for this?? Let’s hope so.

The deck will be available in the first quarter of 2024. Pre-order discounts will be offered when I know the deck is on its way – around February 2024. Unfortunately they now have to come via the Cape of Good Hope, instead of through the Red Sea. Seriously, isn’t it time we all woke up??