The Oracle of Confidences
A dreamlike Paris. Fifty-two cards. A story to discover.
Behind the Oracle of Confidences lies a personal journey: a passion for the Belle Époque, fragments of memories and the desire to give them a new form. Karl Stephane reveals the choices, the creative process and the first impressions that brought his deck to life.
Ten years to give an idea its shape.
The wish to create his own oracle deck has been with Karl Stephane for around ten years. He chose to wait, seeking the perspective needed to give the images meaning grounded in experience.
His consultations helped the idea mature. A professional decision can transform a relationship; leaving can mean both loss and opportunity. Such situations, rarely straightforward, clarified his ambition: to create a deck that could hold the nuances of human experience.
With nearly twenty years of practice and his inclusion in the 2018 Guide de la Voyance behind him, Karl Stephane began this personal project. The Oracle of Confidences grew out of that journey, long before the first card.
A Paris inspired by the Belle Époque.
The silhouettes, intimate salons, façades and ironwork of the Belle Époque anchor the deck’s aesthetic. Karl Stephane’s affection for this era runs through its interiors, streets, objects and passageways.
This is no historical reconstruction. Paris is dreamed, reassembled and at times almost magical. Black and white brings the scenes together, draws out textures and gives small details a distinctive presence.
Behind this period elegance lie present-day concerns: commitment, waiting for an answer, finding one’s place, leaving or returning. The city contributes to the meaning of the cards. A doorway, a staircase or a carousel becomes a way of speaking about life.
From photographic fragment to scene.
Each card begins with a selection of fragments and photographed objects: a perfume bottle, a telephone, gloves, a piece of furniture. Karl Stephane cuts them out, isolates them and assembles them into a new scene. Some elements come from personal photographs and carry memories of a place or a moment.
Their arrangement changes the story they tell. A shift in scale, a background or the distance between two figures can alter the reading of the whole. Perspective, contrast and texture are refined to give each element its place within the image.
All fifty-two cards went through this process. Each needed a presence of its own while belonging to the same visual family. Collage connects materials that are sometimes deeply personal with an imagined world.
The role of artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence enters the process after selection and assembly. It helps refine certain renderings, enhance elements and harmonise the compositions according to Karl Stephane’s artistic direction.
The process combines photographic collage with contemporary digital tools. Decisions about subjects, framing, atmosphere and the coherence of the deck remain with its author, who selects, rejects or reworks proposals throughout the creative process.
The result is considered both as an individual card and as part of the series. A rendering can be persuasive on its own yet feel out of place within the deck. Harmonisation helps avoid those breaks, bringing continuity to textures, lighting and line without erasing the distinctive character of each scene.
Fifty-two perspectives on human experience.
The Child, The Woman, The Man and The Sage evoke figures and attitudes. The Contract and The Transaction explore practical commitments; Recognition speaks to the place we find among others. The Journey and The Return introduce movement. The deck spans emotional, material, social and inner life.
A card’s meaning develops through its relationship with the others and the question being asked. Leaving tells a different story alongside a meeting, a commitment or a separation. These combinations allow nuances to emerge.
The name of the oracle reflects this attention to private concerns: what is shared quietly, what weighs on the mind, what is still difficult to put into words. The images offer a starting point for a reading, leaving room for sensitivity and free will.
A handmade copy, already part of his consultations.
To discover his cards beyond the screen, Karl Stephane printed the first deck himself using the means available to him. Holding, shuffling and laying out the cards allowed him to assess their proportions and legibility.
This handmade version is darker than the envisaged final edition. The blacks are particularly dense and some details disappear in print. Those imperfections now belong to the history of this copy, to which he is deeply attached.
The first deck is now used in his consultations and has become part of his daily practice. A future edition may benefit from more precise production; it will not take the place of the one he printed himself and has no intention of parting with.
A physical edition envisaged for 2027.
The Oracle of Confidences has not yet been commercially published. Karl Stephane is considering a physical edition for 2027, with particular attention to the quality and presentation of the object.
Paper, format, finishes and distribution arrangements have yet to be decided. No print run or numbered edition has been announced at this stage. The intention is an exclusive edition faithful to the deck’s personal character.
Timing and availability will be shared once these decisions have been made.
The story continues in the cards.
The Oracle of Confidences can already be explored through a free three-card reading, available in French and English.
Explore the free reading