Working in a non-profit for women has made me hear horrible stories about what some men can do. The news also adds a lot to the mix. And my own experiences with men, until recently, have been questionable – I had an abusive, manipulative relationship that, although short, affected me for years. My own environment was unsafe for me for being a bisexual man who wasn’t masculine enough.
Needless to say that my relationship with the masculine has been turbulent, to put it mildly. I hated being perceived as feminine because it made me a target, and I hated being told or pushed into a concept of manhood that included being abusive, cold-hearted, and a womanizer. So where does that leave me, as a Witch? It left me as someone with some baggage that I needed to take care of, as with many people in this world.
From the Divine Masculine Healing Oracle by Christabel Jessica and Cecilia G.F. [Llewellyn]
When I got a copy of the Divine Masculine Healing Oracle, by author Christabel Jessica and artist Cecilia G.F., I was surprised and excited. I didn’t know what to expect, but quite honestly I didn’t want to expect anything. I wanted the experience to be as real as possible, so I immersed myself in the reading as soon as the matters of mundane life allowed me to. And started practicing. And the results were amazing.
- Publication Date: May 2025
- Publisher: Llewellyn Publications
- Page Count: 176 pages
- Card Count: 44 cards
- Dimensions: 5.00 x 6.72 x 1.44 IN
The ancient gods have returned, guiding us to rediscover lost parts of ourselves and safeguard the sanctity of life. Throughout history, masculinity has been severed from the sacred—but it’s now time to embrace the insights from diverse pantheons and break the cycle of disconnection.
This oracle celebrates the resurgence of a healed and integrated masculine energy, unlocking his honor and integrity. Created for those seeking a reunion with forgotten facets of their divinity, these cards reveal profound teachings inspired by the mythologies of many cultures, past and present.
Designed to complement the feminine archetypes, the Divine Masculine Healing Oracle offers transformative wisdom via messages from Shiva, Horus, Eros, and other deities from around the world. Embody the Divine Masculine within, and liberate the suppressed parts of your personal power, now and forever.
One of the things I love the most about this deck is that it is very inclusive culturally speaking. There are figures from Egyptian mythology and lore, Greek, Roman, Aztec, Chinese, Japanese, Buddhist – even Jesus, named Yeshua in this deck, makes an appearance. There is obviously a more prevalence of those from more familiar cultures which dominated others, but I would say the creators did a wonderful job to be as inclusive as possible.
This reflects the core of Witchcraft in today’s world: we care about roots, we care about the source material, and we care about being respectful – some more than others, truth be told. But the seeds are there, and we can already see some flowers.
I remember when I started reading tarot cards for the first time, a friend of mine always asked me, “I want to know which card says what.” I was already curious and organized, and this reinforced those aspects which impacted my practice. I always want to know where things are coming from. I want to know the source, not just be brushed off with a lazy “because that’s how things have been done.”
Which does bring me to a negative point when it comes to these cards and their interpretation:s some of the meanings or the art do not reflect the story and associations of these figures.
One example is Geb, who is described as the “father of snakes” on page 80, but with a card that shows a bird instead. Horus is also a figure I had problems with, because pthe book tells the querent to “do it your way. Shirk the narrative other people have created for your life. Retrieve the past for healing. Your story belongs to you, and so do your choices.” But Horus achieved glory thanks to the protection and guidance of his parents; following those instructions gave him victory over Seth, not the other way around.
From the Divine Masculine Healing Oracle by Christabel Jessica and Cecilia G.F. [Llewellyn]
I was curious about this deck because there are no men involved in it, and it got me wondering what the response would have been had it been the opposite. “How would people respond to a divine feminine deck done by two men?” Not because it would be wrong, but because I believe that all forms of art reflect to some degree the time and space they are created in. What this deck shows is that is easier for women to see and connect with a healthier masculine archetype than it is for men themselves.
What does that mean? That we need it. My experience with it has been positive for the most part, only affected by the times when I need to find a new meaning when I don’t agree with the book, so I do believe working with this deck has made me better.
What I am eager to see are the responses of other men, other male Witches, especially queer men, on how they connected with it and how it affected them. All tools can be good tools; they have the potential of creating something beautiful, so it is my hope that this will help other guys out there to reframe what masculinity means to them into something better and healthier.
In addition to it, I also recommend it for non-male Witches that want and need to connect with a healthier masculine aspect of the divine. My Wiccan past felt imbalanced because I didn’t see myself represented in the cosmology of a Triple Goddess and a Horned God, a divine straight relationship where the Goddess was often more highlighted than the God. And certainly a Catholic country with a fervent reverence for a male, cisgender, straight God, did not fit well either. Heavens, even my own relationship with my father was complicated! This deck is allowing me to explore masculinity under a different light.
It doesn’t need to be perfect, but it takes me out of my comfort zone. It makes me question things I didn’t before, and it’s allowing me to heal. That’s what I expect from my practice, something I recommend everyone to make a pillar of theirs: if your spirituality is not making you a better version of yourself, then something is not working. Maybe it makes you happy and keep you hopeful, which is already precious in today’s world, but it is not as helpful or effective as it could be.
I strongly believe our practice should reflect who we are and what care about. It should make us evolve, so it just pushes us. It should scare us sometimes. Only then we can heal, grow, evolve, into something better. Mine is starting to include both so I can be a better man and Witch. And it is working.
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