🔥 THE FIVE PATHS

The Woodshed Oracle

Sometimes you seek an answer. Sometimes what you really need is a direction.

The Five Paths began with a simple idea in the Woodshed.

Could an oracle be created without dozens of cards, complicated spreads, or pages of meanings to memorize?

Could five old symbols be enough?

A Shield. A Grail. A Sword. A Cave. A Crossing.

Five places we all find ourselves eventually.

The result became The Five Paths, an original oracle created here in the Woodshed and woven from the old languages of runes, echoes of Tarot, Arthurian legend, symbolism, folklore, and my lifelong fascination with Arthur, Avalon, and the old wizard Merlyn.

But this isn't Tarot.

And it isn't an attempt to recreate an ancient divination system.

It's something from the Woodshed.

THE FIVE PATHS

🛡️ The Shield • Protection & Boundaries
There are times to move forward, and there are times when courage asks us to stand exactly where we are.

🏆 The Grail • Abundance & Receiving
Sometimes what we seek has been waiting for us to become willing to receive it.

⚔️ The Sword • Truth & Clarity
When the confusion falls away and something can finally be seen for what it is.

🔥 The Cave • Renewal & Reflection
Not every answer is found by moving forward. Sometimes the road leads inward.

⛵ The Crossing • Journey & Change
Eventually there comes a moment when thinking about the journey must become taking it.

Each wooden Path carries its own imagery, symbolism, and rune, individually engraved here in the Woodshed.

Draw one in the morning. Bring one to a question. Carry one with you. Draw two and see where one Path may be leading. Draw three and explore where you've been, where you stand, and where you may be heading.

There is no perfect way to use them.

Your intuition is part of the oracle.

📖 THE COMPANION BOOK

Included with your set is The Five Paths: The Woodshed Oracle, the complete companion book written specifically for this system.

Inside, we travel much deeper into each Path: its rune, the symbolism within its artwork, its connections to old stories and Tarot archetypes, its light and shadow, questions to sit with, and what each Path may be asking you to notice.

You'll also explore what happens When the Paths Meet, different ways of working with multiple cards, the meaning behind the Woodshed Talisman, and ways to make The Five Paths entirely your own.

The book isn't there to tell you what your cards must mean.

It's there to help you begin the conversation.

🪵 THE WOODSHED TALISMAN

Every set includes a wooden talisman designed specifically for The Five Paths.

Within its symbol you'll find shelter, the Path beneath your feet, and the small fire we each carry forward.

The circle surrounding them was deliberately left open.

Because shelter should never become a cage.

Carry it. Keep it with your cards. Place it beside a candle. Let it become scratched and worn. Let the wood darken from your hands.

There is no ritual required.

It belongs to the person walking between the Paths.

🪵 MADE FROM WOOD WITH A STORY

Whenever possible, I use reclaimed lumber to create the Five Paths cards and Woodshed Talisman.

That means your set may begin with wood that has already lived a life before reaching the Woodshed.

Grain will vary. Color will vary. You may find small marks, imperfections, or evidence of the wood's previous life.

I don't consider those flaws.

I consider them part of the story.

Each piece is engraved, handled, and finished with linseed oil here in the Woodshed. I don't want every set to look as though it rolled off an assembly line.

I want yours to look like yours.

🔥 WHAT YOUR FIVE PATHS SET INCLUDES

Five wooden Path cards
The Shield, The Grail, The Sword, The Cave, and The Crossing.

One wooden Five Paths cover card
The reverse is personalized specifically for you and individually serial numbered.

One handcrafted wooden Woodshed Talisman

The complete Five Paths companion book

One individually aged wooden storage box

That's six wooden cards in total, along with the talisman, companion book, and aged wooden box.

📖 A NOTE ABOUT YOUR BOOK

The original Five Paths companion books were created right here in the Woodshed, printed on full-size pages, individually aged by hand, and housed in a black soft cover.

Those are the books currently being included with Five Paths sets.

A professionally printed 6×9 edition of The Five Paths: The Woodshed Oracle is now in production. Once those books become available, they will become the standard companion book included with future sets.

The words and journey remain the same.

Only the way the book finds its way into your hands is changing.

🔥 NO TWO SETS WILL BE EXACTLY ALIKE

The box is aged by hand.

The wood has its own grain.

The cards are individually engraved.

The talisman is handcrafted.

And your cover card is personalized and serial numbered specifically for your set.

Small variations aren't defects. They're part of owning something made individually rather than manufactured by the thousands.

Your Five Paths will be yours from the moment they leave the Woodshed.

YOUR FIVE PATHS

Eventually, I hope you need the book a little less.

The meanings written there are a beginning. They aren't walls.

The Cave may mean one thing to you today and something entirely different years from now. The Shield may change as your boundaries change. The Crossing that once frightened you may someday become the card you're happiest to see.

Use them.

Carry them.

Let the wood change.

Let your understanding change.

Because eventually these will no longer simply be five wooden cards that came from the Woodshed.

They'll carry your questions.

Your decisions.

Your difficult seasons.

Your beginnings.

Your mornings.

Your crossings.

And somewhere along the way...

The Five Paths will become your Five Paths.

THE ROAD IS YOURS

The Five Paths will never tell you what decision to make.

They may simply help you recognize where you're standing.

The Shield.
The Grail.
The Sword.
The Cave.
The Crossing.

Five Paths.

Five old questions wearing new faces.

And one person who ultimately decides where the road leads.

You.

Crafted one set at a time in the Woodshed.

Copyright © 2026 Rick’s Wood Shed LLC. All rights reserved.
The Five Paths, its original card designs, artwork, written materials, symbols, and accompanying materials were created by Rick’s Wood Shed LLC. They may not be reproduced, copied, distributed, or used without written permission from Rick’s Wood Shed LLC, except as permitted by copyright law.