LoveWords & Oracle Cards: Unlocking Inner Wisdom (S17E4)

How do you feel about oracle cards?

Love them? Dislike them? Unsure about them? 

For me, I see them as another tool that can help us access our own inner wisdom.

In this episode, I share the story of how I reconnected with a long-lost set of Angel cards - and how that unexpected reunion became part of the change journey I’ve been on ever since. It’s an episode about openness, intuition, and how we can work with simple tools in ways that deepen self-awareness and connection.

I talk about that first life-changing retreat, how oracle cards became part of my daily practice, and why I’ve created my own set — LoveWords — which are now finally ready to share with you. Hurray!

If you’re curious about how to use these modern oracle cards in a grounded, playful, personal way - maybe to inspire your Flow Journaling or as part of a mindfulness practice - this one’s for you.

In this episode I explore:

• The moment I chose to lay down emotional baggage - and what changed when I did
• How oracle cards became part of my Flow Journaling practice
• Why resistance to spiritual tools often hides something worth exploring
• How LoveWords from Henny were born - and the beautiful ways people are using them
• A gentle invitation to meet your own intuition, in your own way

Order Your LoveWords here! https://www.hennyflynn.co.uk/lovewords-from-henny 

Watch / listen to that Soulla Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsAEbtANNdk

Chapters

• 0:00 Opening Thoughts on Oracle Cards
• 5:27 Life-Changing Yoga Retreat Experience
• 9:56 Rediscovering My Angel Cards
• 12:45 How Oracle Cards Inspire Intuition
• 19:01 Introducing My Handmade Love Words Cards
• 26:39 Closing Thoughts and Invitation

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

How do you feel about oracle cards? Is that a phrase that makes you cringe a little bit inside, or is it something that makes you go oh yeah, I'm kind of open to that. Or are they something that you already know you absolutely love to use? That's what I'd like to talk about today. Love to use, that's what I'd like to talk about today.

Speaker 1: 0:33

Welcome to the Henny Flynn podcast, the space for deepening self-awareness with profound self-compassion. I'm Henny. I write, coach and speak about how exploring our inner world can transform how we experience our outer world, all founded on a bedrock of self-love. Settle in and listen and see where the episode takes you. About six years ago, is it that? Oh, no, gosh, longer eight, oh, my word.

Speaker 1: 1:04

Anyway, about eight years ago, I went on my very first sort of really like big transformative I could honestly say life-changing yoga retreats. I'd never really done yoga and I was quite anxious about going. To be honest, I hadn't been well. It was sort of part of the recovery. If you've been listening to the podcast before, you'll have heard me speak about this and I considered myself to be very unfit, overweight. I had a really poor self-image that had become compounded, really, from years of having a kind of poor self-image, which is interesting because I'm not sure that people who observed me might have realized that, but it was definitely what was going on underneath the surface and um. So I was a bit anxious about going and um and I've talked before about how um, transformative that experience was how I arrived, recognising that I was carrying a whole load of conditioned behaviours. I observed myself in the taxi on the way from the airport the retreat was in Ibiza, as you do darling, treat was in Ibiza, as you do darling and I observed myself in this sort of big air-conditioned car that came and picked up a group of us from the airport, slipping into some really familiar patterns of behavior, making myself into the performing monkey you know, self-deprecating jokes, trying to make everybody else feel comfortable, recognizing that some people weren't, you know, weren't speaking, so kind of drawing them into the conversation. You know, lovely stuff in many ways, but also kind of a little bit performative. But I had no idea that that's actually what I was doing. So I say that with so much love and affection. And, by the way, if you can hear rattling and banging I'm not sure if the mic is going to pick it up, but the beaded curtain that is across the door of my stable is blowing around in the wind, but I cannot have the door shut because today is one of those really hot days that we've been experiencing in England and Ronnie is panting furiously by my feet. I'm hoping that he's okay anyway.

Speaker 1: 4:00

So I observed, know this kind of familiar behaviours when I was in the car on the way to the retreat and when we arrived I stood on the doorstep of this phenomenal villa. I felt, and feel still, very privileged to have been able to go to it, very privileged to have been able to go to it. I stood in the doorway and a voice the voice I now recognize the voice said to me I could either walk in carrying everything, you know, all my emotional baggage, all my psychological baggage, all my beliefs about myself. I could either walk in carrying all of that or I could lay them down at the door and walk in naked, metaphorically naked, and I am eternally grateful to the woman that I was then that she chose to put that stuff down, and I'm not saying she didn't pick up some of it again, but, um, broadly speaking, she chose to put that stuff down. I'm not saying she didn't pick up some of it again, but broadly speaking, she chose to put that stuff down and enter that villa, enter that experience as uncluttered as she could do in that time and you know it was wonderful and it it was a sort of huge part of the jigsaw that um activated so much change for me.

Speaker 1: 5:31

So one of the things that was there and um the actually just a sort of little aside that the woman who created that retreat was called Sula, and the retreat is soul shine retreats, if you are, if it's available to you, I mean they, they are, you know, high end, it has to be said, but for very, very good reason, for the, for what you receive when you're there. Sula's retreats are so beautiful, so special. She's an incredibly special human being and I'm really, really grateful that our paths crossed and I I went on retreat with her more than once um and and connected with her in lots of different ways and actually she's been on the podcast um, so I'll I'll put a note about which episode um you know to go and listen to if you'd like to hear a bit more from Sula and hear a bit more about our story together. So, anyway, one of the things that Sula had um, at this retreat, was on the side.

Speaker 1: 6:42

She had some oracle cards and this is a very long preamble I've just realized we're six minutes in and finally she's mentioned these oracle cards and one of the packs that she had. So I think there was some tarot. There were some other kind of oracle cards I've got some here which are the words of wisdom from Rumi, you know that kind of thing and she had some angel cards which are essentially oracle cards, and we, you know, at one point I was sort of standing there with a couple of other women and we were looking at these angel cards and we each chose one and as I was reading it, I said, god, I really recognize this, I really I know these cards. Hang on a minute. And then I started like I actually looked at them like properly, rather than just a kind of yet another wonderful thing in a place full of wonderful things. I actually really really focused on them and I told these women oh, my goodness, I used to have some of these, and, um and it, I remembered that when I was at university so, um, well, gosh, 25 or so years before, I'd had a pack of these, these angel cards, and they're the Diane Cooper ones. If you have a set, maybe they're the same.

Speaker 1: 8:16

And yeah, I went through the retreat. It was amazing. I learned so much and I came home really inspired and invigorated and one of the first things that I did was I just thought well, I would never have thrown away a pack of oracle cards. And I know I gave my runes. I also used to read runes at university. I know I gave my runes. I also used to read runes at university. I know I gave my runes to Leslie, but I'm pretty sure I didn't give anyone my angel cards.

Speaker 1: 8:51

And I walked upstairs, bearing in mind we'd lived in that house well, by the time we left 20 years, so lived in that house for over 15 years at that point, um, and moved things around a lot. And in between university and that moment I lived in Egypt, lived in Portugal, um, lived in various other houses, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So you know my stuff had been packed up, unpacked, moved around a lot, anyway. So I walk up the stairs, I go into the spare room because I thought, well, if they're anywhere, they'll be on the bookshelves in the spare room. And honestly, I kid you not.

Speaker 1: 9:36

I walked into the spare room and the bookshelves in the spare room were always crowded I mean always like overladen, with books always struggling to get things in. And on the top shelf of these wooden bookshelves big wooden bookshelves on the top shelf in a space all of their own was a small, fairly nondescript little velvet green bag. And I looked at this little bag and I thought, oh my God, I think that's them. I walked over to the shelves and I undid the drawstring on this little velvet bag and there they were, my angel cards. My angel cards that I couldn't remember looking at in any of the packing or unpacking that I'd done over the years. I certainly couldn't remember putting them in their own discreet, special space in the prime real estate that were our wooden bookshelves in the spare room at that time. And it absolutely threw me and it seemed the most obvious thing in the world.

Speaker 1: 11:16

And so I then started using those angel cards pretty much every day, actually, for for quite a long time. I started including them in my daily practice. So I would draw a card, read it and then go into that day's mindfulness practice or meditation. Sometimes I use the cards as inspiration for journaling and I suppose they kind of became part of what then developed into being the practice that I now teach flow journaling, that I sort of developed over the years and they really became like a very intrinsic part of my change journey, my ongoing change journey.

Speaker 1: 12:15

And so I have this incredibly warm space in my heart for these cards and, while I really understand and appreciate that, for some people the concept of Oracle cards feels very alien or or maybe maybe even feels, you know, slightly ridiculous, like how on earth could a pack of cards hold any wisdom for you? You know, any wisdom for you. You know that's not simply the most random selection of, um, you know, of choosing a card, but my experience of using them is that it's really about allowing what you see on that card to spark, inspire, to invigorate your own intuition, your own sense of, like, self-observation, self-awareness, and really kind of looking at it and thinking, okay. So what's the bit about this that I love and also often like? What's the bit that I'm rejecting? What's the bit that I feel resistance towards? What's going on there? Why am I feeling resistance towards that? What's the thing I'm feeling cynical about? What does that show me about something that I'm responding to in this card, this randomly selected card, this randomly selected, perfectly placed little piece of insight and wisdom perfectly placed little piece of insight and wisdom and and so, yeah, so I think you know a bit like, um, any practice, really, you can take from them what feels useful and you leave behind what doesn't feel useful.

Speaker 1: 14:19

I don't think it's any more complicated than that and I also find that when we are open to these kinds of practices, it's a bit like kind of being in a room where another door is opened, maybe a door that's had some furniture pushed up against it, maybe some bookshelves that's had some furniture pushed up against it. Maybe you didn't even know the door was there, or, um, he just hadn't ever bothered because there were all these other doors, and why would you look at that one? Um, it's a bit like having that door open up for you and just gives you another perspective, a fresh view on the world around you. And actually, if you imagine, just as I'm saying it, the sort of sense that I have, or the sort of imagined sense that I have, is it's like that room is circular and the doors are all the way around it. You're in the middle and it's a lovely room. It's a very nice place to be. Thank you very much. Um, the doors that are open, they, you know, offer us some really interesting perspectives, interesting views on the world. But if you imagine that some of those doors are shut and you know, and, and we've lost any interest in opening them, or maybe we're conditioned not to have interest in opening them, or maybe we're a bit afraid not to open them, or a bit afraid to open them, you know, maybe that means that we've got some blind spots, maybe that means that there's something there that actually might be of value to us. Now, I know that we can take this metaphor out and out and apply it into lots of things, you know, sometimes exploring things, you know, incredibly challenging things that we've experienced in the past. Sometimes psychotherapists will recommend actually keeping that door shut because, you know, maybe right now isn't the time to look, but in the context of tools and mechanisms and beautiful things, you know, beautiful, kind, generous, wonderful, tender things that are really only in the world to serve us, maybe opening those doors is is something that you know might be interesting, fun and could also offer up something really, really inspiring.

Speaker 1: 17:24

Next to the desk, um, having a look at one of my early journaling prompts and just seeing. Is there one there that is inspired by the Diane Cooper? Um, uh, angel cards. Um, it's interesting actually, because I don't often use. I've got several packs of tarot now. I seem to be gathering them to me. Um, I don't tend to use the tarot as an inspiration for journaling.

Speaker 1: 17:45

I occasionally use my Rumi cards, and I'd love to hear you know do you have any particular oracle cards that you really love? Please do share that with me. I'm always interested in hearing from you and hearing you know something that I might like to explore too. You can message me just by doing the the tap to share your reflections. I think that's what the button says at the top of the show notes and and that will just come straight to me. Or you can email me hennyflynn uh, no, that's wrong, henny at hennyflynncouk. Um, and then the other thing that I'd really love to share with you is I have created well, I'm going to go back slightly.

Speaker 1: 18:38

About three years ago, I created my own oracle cards, and they began as handwritten scraps of paper that I put into a jar and I would every now and again pull out. Came to me that actually I could make them properly, like really beautifully make them, and so I did so. I made these sets of love words, I had them printed I have a wonderful printer that I use and I had them printed. And then I started using the love words with my girlfriends, like when we gathered and you know well, when we gather and drink cacao together, which we do, we would use my love words as a means of exploring what was present for us at that time. Um, I don't know why I'm doing it in the past tense, because we still do it.

Speaker 1: 19:56

Um, and then I started, I gifted some sets to some girlfriends for, like, birthdays or you know that sort of thing, and they started using them with, sometimes with their family members, like the whole family sitting around, you know, teenagers, men, women, um, uh, other, you know sort of aged children, um, and what became really apparent was that the love words are so accessible, they're so invitational that even you know, even members of the family that you might have expected would reject something that you'd call an oracle card, um, or that you might call an angel card or something. Um, even those members of the family felt really comfortable with them. Something's just happening with my machine. Oh, there we go. Um that they felt really comfortable with them and um, and also I, and also I think, because they are simply words, there isn't the mythology, which can be a little bit daunting, that you get with some oracle cards, where the artwork is often incredibly beautiful. The same with tarot, you know, incredibly beautiful artwork, yet can be a barrier to um to access or a barrier to to even sort of step toward them for some people because they just feel too much, they're too expressive, they're too, uh, full of mythology or spirituality or magical wisdom or you know, whatever the thing is.

Speaker 1: 21:50

You know these love words that I've created. They are so simple, they are deceptively simple, I would say, because what we've also discovered is that using them unlocks such deep meaning for people because each word they're very, very carefully gathered, I have to say, and very, it was such a oh gosh. Honestly, the process of creating it felt like channeling, and my discovery over the last three years has been watching people using them and realizing that everybody interprets each word in their own unique way and that is their magic, that is their wisdom is that this is not about a third party telling you what you should think about something. It's about you randomly selecting a card or four and interpreting what that means for you. And that means that you're really tapping into your own innate and incredibly special wisdom, and so I am beyond excited.

Speaker 1: 23:20

I know it's like it's hard sometimes when we create something and send it out into the world to to really speak to what a beautiful experience it is, because when it's not right, it feels really scary and feels like, oh, there's a lot of resistance, but when it's right, oh gosh, it's just like release. And I have been working over the last little while weeks, months, I think really um on the packaging and kind of like, what does that need to be like? How are they presented, how what's going to give the most delicious experience of using them? And I'm really, really excited that I found what I believe to be the simplest, cleanest, most beautiful way of presenting them and, um, and something that means that, again, they're uncluttered, so you can just focus in on choosing your words and seeing what they mean for you. And if that is inspiring you, then I'm going to put a link in the show notes for you, or you can go and have a look on my website, in the shop on my website, and they're simply called love, words, um, and the invitation is to see where they take you.

Speaker 1: 24:55

A bit like this, this podcast really um, that's one of the things I say at the beginning, isn't it? You know, settle in, listen and see where it takes you. It's the same with the love words you settle in, you choose your, listen and see where it takes you. It's the same with the love words you settle in, you choose your cards and see where they take you. And in each box there's a little bit of guidance with some ideas for how you can use them. And just referencing back to what I said about when I was rediscovering my love of my angel cards and using them as part of my journaling practice, you can use the love words as part of your flow journaling practice and and I give you a couple of ideas for how to do that. And the other thing, of course, is there are no rules. You know you can use these in lots and lots of different ways and you can use them with anybody in your family, friendship group, maybe, like I do with my girlfriends, you know, when we drink cacao. Or maybe, as I know a number of people do, where they just choose a card for the day and see what inspiration it brings.

Speaker 1: 26:07

So I feel I'm so glad I've like finally properly shared these and I really hope you love like some. Please order and I'll get them out to you. I mean, what a beautiful summer edition they could be for you or someone that you love. Love, all right, my darlings. Okay, I know that today is a Monday, but I am publishing. Help, if I could speak. I'm gonna publish this today. I'm really mindful. I haven't got the podcast out to you for a couple of weeks. It's just how it is. You know, nothing major just didn't feel right. So I trusted that and now it does. So I'm trusting that instead and I really hope that you're okay. I hope you're well. I am sending you so much love and a hug and a wave, thank you.