Tea Oracle and Adventure Guidebook

The Tea Oracle deck is a companion for imaginative reflection. Fifty-five evocative cards compose a surreal tea world of animal and elemental figures. Each card has a spirit unto itself, and together they incite dynamic meaning-making. Using non-human imagery, the Tea Oracle emphasizes elemental connection and the wisdom inherent to the natural world—freeing the reader from the fixed social constructs and hierarchies embedded in human-centered illustrations.

The Adventure Guidebook is peppered with wisdom and humor. Storytelling rather than fortune telling, each artfully written interpretation invites intelligent strength-based reflection, rather than rehashing tired tropes. Honoring the full spectrum of experience the Tea Oracle opens contemplative inquiry thematically but not prescriptively, calling forth the reader’s intuition and affirming their inner wisdom. Dense symbolism and layered writing allow for a new reading to unfold each time you draw a card.

The Adventure Guidebook’s introduction includes a section on how to incorporate tea-ritual into your reading, and a unique "Adventure Spread" for spontaneous creative and contemplative sojourns. Throughout the text, themes of Daoism and inoperative philosophy interweave with popular culture and historical references, making this deck a treasure trove of art, writing, philosophy, and divination all at once. Thus, the Tea Oracle is well suited for the adept and novice alike, as a part of a collection or as a very first deck—and of course it is a perfect match for anyone who loves to relax and reflect over a pot of tea.

About the Creator, Michael Busby

Michael Busby created the Tea Oracle as the culminating piece of their wandering artist’s residency in Via Tiempo. At first, the performance of dwelling in contemplative life took the shape of a Tea Peddler engaging in modes of wandering, lingering, loitering. After many years, the Oracle would become the repository for what Michael learned through contemplative life. An end which is so obviously a beginning, as the cards are taken in every direction, fitting snugly in small pouches, shuffling through the immortal realms, shimmering in the perceptual commons. 

About the Images

The images are AI-generated, created using DALL-E 2 in the same style as Via Tiempo's tea labels, from November 2022 to March 2024. From the Introduction to the Adventure Guide Book:

When I began, I didn’t have a clear idea of what images, meanings, or how many cards I would use for the deck. Arriving at a destination for each card thus required much exploration, soaking in their intuitive messages over many pots of tea. By using AI to generate the Tea Oracle cards, much like the oracle decks of old, they are not bound to the mind and vision of a single artist. The meanings of each card stretch far beyond what I could possibly write on these pages.

☕ Jumbo tarot-sized cards (3.5 x 5.5 inches)
✨ Strong, flexible, and wear-resistant
🎨 Printed in vibrant colors for lasting beauty

Examples: