← All oracle decks · from Made to Leave a Mark by Cybil Souza
25 cards in three suits: 12 meridians, 8 extraordinary vessels and 5 elements, rooted in classical Chinese medicine. Here’s what every card means, and how to read them. 🔮
How to read the deck
A gift (what it brings when it’s flowing), a shadow (what it looks like when it’s stuck, straight from the classical texts), a message, a question to ask yourself, and where it lives on the body.
Guidance is an invitation. Answer it:
Shuffle while holding a question, or just a feeling. Pull one card. Read the message, then sit with the question. That’s it.
For anyone with a tattoo, or thinking about one:
For tattooers and clients, pulled together during a consult:
Tattooers: pull one card before your first client of the day, and let it set your intention. Pull The Maker, and the universe is talking about your craft.
The court of officials from the Suwen, in the order the channels flow. Everyday life: breath, food, decisions, love, fear.
Lung channel
“Breathe out what’s finished.”
Ask yourself: What am I still holding my breath around?
✦ Your next step: Take 3 long exhales today, sighing out what’s finished.
Large Intestine channel
“Let it pass through you.”
Ask yourself: What am I carrying that already did its job?
✦ Your next step: Let one thing go today: delete, donate or release something that already did its job.
Stomach channel
“Withdrawal and wildness are both hunger. Feed the real one.”
Ask yourself: What am I actually hungry for?
✦ Your next step: Eat one meal slowly today, with no screen, and ask: what am I really hungry for?
Spleen channel
“Feed yourself first.”
Ask yourself: Whose problems am I digesting that aren’t mine?
✦ Your next step: Hand back one worry that isn’t yours. Say out loud: “This isn’t mine to carry.”
Heart channel
“Lead from what’s true.”
Ask yourself: Is my heart running this kingdom, or is something else on the throne?
✦ Your next step: Do one thing today only because it’s true for you.
Small Intestine channel
“Keep what’s yours. Leave the rest.”
Ask yourself: Whose voice is this, mine or someone else’s?
✦ Your next step: Write down one belief you live by, and ask: is this mine, or someone else’s?
Bladder channel
“Hold what you need. Release what’s transformed.”
Ask yourself: What am I holding that’s ready to flow out?
✦ Your next step: Stretch your spine for 2 minutes, and let one held fear flow out with your breath.
Kidney channel
“Your craft is your courage.”
Ask yourself: What would I make if I weren’t afraid?
✦ Your next step: Make something with your hands today, even something tiny.
Pericardium channel
“Guard your heart without walling it in.”
Ask yourself: Is my bouncer protecting me, or keeping everyone out?
✦ Your next step: Let one person in a little today: share something real.
Triple Warmer channel
“Not every wave is a threat.”
Ask yourself: What am I still bracing against that’s already over?
✦ Your next step: When you feel braced today, drop your shoulders and say: “That’s over now.”
Gallbladder channel
“The sigh is the answer, waiting.”
Ask yourself: What decision have I been sighing about?
✦ Your next step: Make the decision you’ve been sighing about, and write it down.
Liver channel
“Plan the campaign. Don’t fight every battle.”
Ask yourself: Which battle isn’t part of the war I want to win?
✦ Your next step: Choose one battle to drop this week.
The deep lakes from the Nanjing. Pull one of these and something big is moving: the floods, the crossings, the big passages.
Governing Vessel
“Stand up in your own life.”
Ask yourself: Where am I bending when I should stand tall?
✦ Your next step: Stand tall for one minute, feet planted, and say one thing you stand for.
Conception Vessel
“Carry only what’s yours to carry.”
Ask yourself: What am I not letting myself receive?
✦ Your next step: Let yourself receive one thing today: a compliment, some help, or rest.
Penetrating Vessel
“Your roots run deeper than your wounds.”
Ask yourself: What did my people give me that I’ve forgotten?
✦ Your next step: Light a candle for an ancestor, and name one gift they gave you.
Belt Vessel
“Hold yourself together, gently.”
Ask yourself: What parts of me need binding back together?
✦ Your next step: Rest a hand on your waist and breathe. Name the parts of you that are coming back together.
Yang Stride Vessel
“Step into the world.”
Ask yourself: Where am I ready to go?
✦ Your next step: Take one step toward a goal out in the world today.
Yin Stride Vessel
“Turn inward and rest.”
Ask yourself: When did I last choose myself?
✦ Your next step: Schedule 30 minutes of rest that’s only for you, and keep it.
Yang Linking Vessel
“Let your armor be art, not a cage.”
Ask yourself: What face do I show the world, and is it still true?
✦ Your next step: Look at your tattoos or your style: which ones still feel true? Honor one today.
Yin Linking Vessel
“Every mark of love is a knot that holds you.”
Ask yourself: What’s holding me together right now?
✦ Your next step: Write down who and what is holding you together right now, and thank one of them.
The five rhythms. Pull one and it tells you what season of life you’re in.
Wood
“Grow toward the light, even through concrete.”
Ask yourself: What’s trying to grow in me right now?
✦ Your next step: Plant or water something, and set one growth intention.
Fire
“Burn bright, not out.”
Ask yourself: What lights me up, and am I feeding it?
✦ Your next step: Do one thing that lights you up today, and one thing that refuels you.
Earth
“Come home to yourself.”
Ask yourself: Who mothers me?
✦ Your next step: Let someone take care of you today, or mother yourself on purpose.
Metal
“What you release becomes precious.”
Ask yourself: What’s ready to fall, like autumn leaves?
✦ Your next step: Release one thing that’s finished: a habit, an item or a grudge.
Water
“Rest in the deep. Your roots are holding you.”
Ask yourself: What do I know in my bones?
✦ Your next step: Go to bed early tonight, and ask your bones what they know.
Go deeper
Each card is expanded in Made to Leave a Mark: Tattooing the Meridians, with the classical roots, stories from the chair, and “Your turn” prompts for your own skin.
© Cybil Souza. Card titles draw on the court of officials in the Suwen and the eight vessels of the Nanjing. For meaning, reflection and ritual, not diagnosis or treatment.