Can you share a little about the inspiration behind the deck and why you wanted to create it?

My professional background is in graphic design, marketing, writing, yoga, and photography. The idea to create a mudra-themed deck came to me while I was studying to become a yoga teacher a few years back. I was experiencing a number of debilitating health issues and struggling to get through the training itself, so I began exploring other less-exertive yoga practices – like mudras (yoga poses using the hands). From this place – of hitting rock bottom, the world of mudras opened up to me.

I discovered that there are hundreds of mudra poses, each one offering a different experience and benefit (similar to acupuncture – they activate different energy pathways in the body). I’ve personally found them to be an incredible support as I navigate my own healing journey.

I wanted to create a deck that I would want to use myself as part of my own regular meditation practice – or for quick guidance on the go. And it’s my hope that others will also find benefit using it. Taking a mudra pose with your hands helps activate the guidance on a deeper level within. So it’s a little different from a traditional oracle deck.

At what stage of the process were you before joining the course?

By the time I discovered the course, I had already had the idea to create a mudra-themed oracle deck, but I hadn’t started work on any card designs. My husband Stephen and I were discussing how to work together on the project (we collaborated on the artwork and his support has been amazing). So we were kinda just nutting things out.

What decisions did the course help you with?

As a graphic designer, I already had some thoughts about how to go about the project, but there are many different aspects to creating a deck. Jo’s Oracle Creator course gave me a structure and process to follow. It took the ‘overwhelm’ out of the equation. It’s also been really helpful with marketing plus a plethora of other related things you might not even consider or know about at the start. 

I found the copyright info particularly helpful – given that the deck artwork is digital collage, combining my own or my husband’s original artwork and photography and some other sourced imagery.

I’ve loved connecting with other inspirational deck creators too, tracking their progress and seeing their finished decks. It really spurred me on!

What was the most valuable takeaway for you?

Jo’s course gave me a structure and methodology to follow; taking the guesswork out of doing it all on my own and making a ton of mistakes along the way. It also gave me the confidence and self-belief to reach out to publishers. 

I also believe it helped us secure a publishing deal. Yes, I’m still pinching myself about this! There is a great module in the course that goes into the pros and cons of self-publishing and what’s involved, versus working with a publisher. Jo draws from her own experience of doing both – which was tremendously helpful information. 

This knowledge was also super helpful when it came to understanding the publishing contract itself. I was able to reach out to someone she recommended and got really sound advice. 

The oracle card artwork in the Yoga Mudra Oracle has also been published by an Australian gift card wholesaler. So our cards are starting to pop up in crystal and gift stores around Australia – also very exciting. 

Is there anything that surprised you about the process so far?

Well, I think when you’re doing anything for the first time, you are going to learn on the job – that’s just the way it is! Firstly, it took longer than I thought to complete the 44 oracle deck images, with a number of refinement stages. 

Steve painstakingly created line drawings for all 44 hand postures or mudras featured throughout the deck, using my own hands as his model. This certainly adds an authentic and personal dimension to our Yoga Mudra Oracle.

The biggest perhaps ‘time waster’ (something you can only know in hindsight) was time spent creating and refining the ‘frame’ design appearing on each card. In the end, we realised the cards actually looked better without the frames. So you might say we wasted many hours on this, but we learned heaps along the way too. So perhaps all was not lost!

Would you like to share any details about the launch of your deck?

The Yoga Mudra Oracle is due for release early 2025 through Arcturus Publishing.

If you’re interested in learning more about mudras or would like to be updated on when Yoga Mudra Oracle is available for purchase, please visit: emmawertheim.com