Creating the Techno-Spiritual Oracle Deck

Why an oracle deck?

Our Techno-Spiritual Feminism oracle deck began with an intention to organize an in-person event that would facilitate conversations, interactions, and explore diverse perspectives outside of our own. One aspect of our work is our interest in how women act as spiritual guides and knowledge keepers as well as applying data feminist concepts. While we are fascinated by the subjects of our research, we claim no empirical expertise and acknowledge there are many areas in the intricate web of technology, spirituality, and feminism that we are not yet aware of. The Techno-Spiritual Feminism oracle deck can be used as a pedagogical tool which invites discussions and exchange of wisdom. 

We chose the form of an oracle deck for its creative and freeform approach as a way to include many of the feminine archetypal figures we discussed early on in our project conceptualization. Throughout history and culture, the female form is used in many symbolic ways that can be measured on a spectrum of technology and spirituality. What stories can they tell and what answers can they help uncover?

In addition to the archetypes, which represent feminized figures and cultural roles, throughout our research we noticed the appearance of symbols, objects, and themes. The use of common imagery between technology and spirituality was one of our initial inspirations when planning the project. We identified symbols that had multiple meanings in the areas of spirituality, technology, and feminism and which could help spark conversation.

The duality cards were developed to guide participants in exploring the nuances of these topics. The duality cards serve as inspiration for insight into a situation or reflection on your practices. They can be seen as a value or message passed down from our ancestors.

The addition of a Gynoid card in our oracle deck acts as a hypothetical figure and asks one to consider what they would teach AI based on ideas inspired by the images in the deck. Throughout our creation process and researching gynoids in media, we remarked on the parallel of the self-actualization journey of humans and the quest for consciousness in machines. Just as fictional gynoids strive to prove their 'human-like' consciousness, humans embark inwardly to realize themselves as spiritual beings. We are not necessarily questioning the existence or nature of machine consciousness, but rather asking how machines can be a vessel of information and time capsule for the future. What knowledge would we constitute as a valuable repository for the Gynoid?

This Gynoid serves not only as a navigational anchor but also as a conduit for chaos—a disruptor in our hetero-normative patriarchal society, challenging conventional wisdom and prompting introspection. 

An oracle deck requires structural framework. It must provide a space for storytelling and interpretation. Early in our team discussions, we sought to connect the ways in which current modern technology repeat the same historical methods of disempowerment of women by suppressing or distorting their voices and sexuality. We began to list archetypal feminine figures from history and cultural mythology with the desire to shed light on their struggles, triumphs, and the resilience they embody. These became our centralized main characters and eventually the archetypes of the oracle deck.

In creating these archetypes, we wanted to emphasize the overlap between them, and the way that one archetype, the Maiden, acts as "The Fool" from the standard Tarot, or narrative baseline as she has the potentiality to transform into many of the other archetypes. We began to imagine an egg with the Maiden, mapping her connection with the other archetypes. The archetype of the Chaos Agent acts as a stress point in its transgressive nature, standing outside the world that the other archetypes we shaped. The fictionalized gynoid character in film and television oscillates between the Maiden and Chaos Agent, and occasionally the Mother figure. Created by men and for men, Chaos Agent-coded gynoids often start without agency but eventually breaks free of its program and gains self-determination.

The addition of Witch, Oracle and elder provided spiritual or otherworldy connotations, while Mother and Martyr were more groundedly human. Name changes were made, like the divine feminine became the Goddess, and the elder became the Wise Woman. We also added the Healer archetype, as the role of healing was something we kept recognizing as integral to feminine figures and overlapped with the archetype of Mother or even Witch, we concluded it needed to be its own and separate entity.

After finalizing our nine archetypes as wells symbols and thematic dualities, we utilized AI generative art to represent each one. Our goals in using AI as a tool were to experiment and explore the possibilities as well as the limitations of machine intelligence. While we do not believe AI is a substitute for human creativity, we believe it’s important to observe developments in AI generated content and consider how linguistic prompts are continuously interpreted through imagery by a non-human. It was also practical for this project and felt especially relevant to use AI for a project that is curious about the ways in which spirituality, women, and technology intersect. 

Maintaining a consistent aesthetic across all cards was crucial for the coherence of the deck. We worked closely with AI tools to define and refine a visual style that not only resonated with the themes of the deck but also felt welcoming and engaging. This involved selecting an art style that aligned with the deck's spiritual and feminist ethos. To find the best fit for our vision, we experimented with various AI platforms (Canva, Dall-e, StarryAI) that offered different capabilities in image generation. This process involved comparing the artistic styles that each platform could produce, from more playful imagery to realistic and detailed representations.

One of the most intriguing aspects of working with AI was observing how different prompts translated into visual outputs. The prompt for the "Witch" card, for example, yielded fascinating results. When we used the term "witch", we received traditional and stereotypical depictions (e.g., pointy hat, brooms, cauldrons), which was to be expected. However, when we added terms like "friendly" or "nice" with witch, we still received images that could be seen as menacing. When we shifted to more nuanced prompts like "a woman practicing witchcraft who is in tune with the cosmos and nature around her," the images became more aligned with our desired interpretation. This highlighted the importance of carefully crafting prompts and observing the differences in depictions. 

We experimented with different AI-powered tools and styles with varying levels of success, but ultimately found Canva Magic Media™’s digital art Gradient style best reflected the mood we desired to convey and generated non-white women by default.