Messenger of Love: How Dark Oracle Reaches the Hearts That Need It – An Interview with Tori Shadows

Why are we taught to run from the very things that could heal us?

Tori Shadows built an entire practice on the answer. She calls herself a wounded healer, the intuitive behind Dark Oracle, someone who takes the shadows and the grief and transmutes that energy into love and light. It is a practice she lived long before she taught it. After losing her father and then becoming her mother’s full-time caregiver through end-stage illness, Tori spent years grieving. The oracle readings she did in that season were not for an audience. None of it was planned. It simply aligned, like a domino effect, at the moment she needed it most.

In this conversation, Tori shares how that private ritual became a practice that now reaches thousands of people online. She talks about the dark feminine and the goddesses who empowered her at her lowest point, why she believes a collective reading finds the exact people meant to receive it, how she channels through music and poetry as one continuous voice, and her conviction that intuition is something every one of us already carries.

Whether you are moving through your own season of grief or simply curious how loss can become a calling, this conversation will be powerful. 

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I want to hear from your perspective. What do you sense is going on in our world these days? I know you do a lot of individual readings for people, but you also do collective readings. What do you sense is unfolding in our world right now?

Tori Shadows: It depends. Are we talking about love and heart-space stuff, or just in general?

I’m talking about what’s going on with our planet.

Tori Shadows: Yeah, okay. With everything happening right now, some of the visions I’ve been having — because I can see things — feel a little like an open wound. With politics, with what’s happening globally, with another virus and all the anxiety people are carrying, I just keep picturing this crack, this wound.

But I think it’s leading toward healing, because anytime there’s some kind of wound, there’s always a planetary healing that follows. That’s really what I’m tapping into right now. Maybe it has something to do with my dark feminine side, but that’s what I’m seeing.

Thank you for sharing that. When you say your “dark feminine side,” what does that mean to you?

Tori Shadows: It’s funny because I feel like I literally just tapped into my dark feminine side recently. For me, it feels very empowering as a woman. It’s a little more witchy. It got me into spells and things like that.

I really discovered it last year. It’s fairly new to me. I actually started Dark Oracle intending to focus on the dark feminine, but it ended up going in a completely different direction, becoming centered on love and love readings.

But looking back, that’s really how it started for me. I got very into goddesses like Kali and Sekhmet — rage, healing, Egyptian energy. It came into my life during a time when things weren’t very good for me personally. I was dealing with grief. My mom had passed away, and before that, it was my father.

It arrived at exactly the right time. Even though it eventually led me in a different direction, it still feels deeply connected to my journey. It’s very interesting. I still feel like I’m in process with it.

I’m curious about your own story of awakening to consciousness, mindfulness, and spirituality. Did you grow up in a home that had some kind of faith experience, or did that come later in life?

Tori Shadows: I would say nature was really my spirituality growing up. My family lived on a very large ranch in Winchester, California. Back then, it was so secluded. When I go back now, it feels so much smaller than it did when I was a kid.

But I think nature was my spiritual beginning. I was always outside playing near the trees. My cousins would be messing around with snakes, and I’d be telling them not to. I grew up around animals, and looking back, I’m really grateful to my parents for introducing me to that kind of lifestyle.

I think a lot of my spirituality came from nature itself — from Pachamama.

Did your family have conversations around spirituality or faith at all, or was it more like you just didn’t talk about that kind of thing?

Tori Shadows: My family was Catholic, but it never really fit me very well. I was never very religious. There was even a point where I became a little atheist for a while.

I wouldn’t say spirituality came from my family or the people around me. It was something that developed within me over time, almost on its own.

How did that first start to manifest for you? Were you interested in tarot decks or crystals? What did the beginning look like?

Tori Shadows: It’s funny — it started with aliens.

I was always the one looking up at the sky. I was fascinated by UFOs and extraterrestrials. But for me, things really started at the Yuma Center for Spiritual Living. I learned a lot through the teachings of Ernest Holmes, Rhonda Byrne, and manifestation work, and Don Miguel Ruiz with the Toltec wisdom teachings.

I’d say it all started there — with spirituality and aliens combined. They had an event with Travis Walton, who had that famous experience in Arizona, and I remember going because I was curious about the UFO side of things. From there, it just kind of took off.

Amazing. A big part of your work now is with tarot and oracle decks. Take me back to your very first reading. Do you remember having a reading with someone?

Tori Shadows: I do. I had an experience with a psychic when I was trying to figure out whether someone was right for me. That’s usually how it starts, right? You go for the love reading.

She used tarot, but she felt more psychic with me than anything else. She had this raspy smoker’s voice, this super cool energy. I absolutely loved her vibe. I wish I remembered her name.

That was probably my first real experience being around someone who felt genuinely psychic.

My first deck, though, was actually Rebecca Campbell’s oracle deck. It’s a very feminine energy. I got it around the time my mom had her stroke. Through the stroke, we found out she had end-stage liver cirrhosis, and eventually she moved in with me under hospice care.

I became her full-time caregiver for two years. Looking back, I think I was grieving before the actual ending came.

The oracle deck really helped me through that process. I had this routine where I’d wake up in the morning, make my matcha, go back to bed with my journal, and do readings for myself.

At that time, the cards weren’t for anyone else. They were for me. They helped me process the grief, the stress of caregiving, and the pressure of trying to make everything perfect for my mom. It was a really difficult period, and I feel like the messages came through exactly when I needed them.

From a career standpoint, were you already doing this work full-time, or were you still working as a fitness instructor at that point?

Tori Shadows: At that time, I was still a fitness instructor. Oracle work wasn’t my full-time thing yet. I was teaching steel mace training, and honestly, that was going really well for me.

Say that again — what kind of training?

Tori Shadows: Steel mace training. It’s basically this long metal piece with a weighted end, kind of like an uneven barbell. It’s very warrior-like.

At that point, I was actually going by Steel Mace Warrior. But caregiving was hard, and balancing everything became really intense.

How did you even get into steel mace training? That’s such a niche world.

Tori Shadows: I’ve always been into mixed martial arts — MMA, Taekwondo, kickboxing, all of it. I even did karate when I was younger. I think all of that naturally led me toward steel mace training.

I found it through a company called Onnit, and I remember watching someone named Eric flowing with the mace. There was something incredibly fluid and almost spiritual about it.

The movement patterns fascinated me. And because I’m also a musician, there was something about holding the steel mace that felt almost like holding a guitar. The rhythm, the flow, the repetition of movement patterns — it just connected with me instantly.

From there, it completely took off.

You’re training people with the steel mace, caregiving for your mom, and having this experience with oracle decks. I know at some point your mom passed away. What was that process like for you? I know it hasn’t been that long ago, right?

Tori Shadows: My mom passed away about two years ago now. We’re coming up on two years. Honestly, it feels longer than that.

As you were moving through that grieving process, what motivated you to shift toward using your own intuitive gifts?

Tori Shadows: It wasn’t planned, to be completely honest. I didn’t wake up one day and think, “I want to be a tarot reader.”

It just aligned at the perfect time. I could feel the alignment because things suddenly started to flow, almost like a domino effect. Before that, I always felt like I was constantly pushing and forcing things to work, and they just wouldn’t.

But when the oracle and tarot decks came into my life, something shifted. I started a TikTok while I was still grieving — and honestly, when do we ever fully stop grieving? I just felt deeply connected in my heart space during that time.

As soon as I started sharing the messages online, people really resonated with them.

How did you get the idea to make that first TikTok video? Because posting that first one is a big step.

Tori Shadows: Yeah, I just went for it. I didn’t really want to, but I did it anyway.

At first, it was just videos of my hands because that’s what I was seeing a lot of on TikTok at the time, and I wasn’t comfortable showing my face yet. I wasn’t ready for that. But the videos started doing really well, and I could see people resonating with the messages.

Then, eventually, I had this intuitive feeling — like my guides were telling me, “Tori, it’s time to show your face.” And I remember thinking, “I really don’t want to do that.”

But I listened.

What was it like posting that first video with your face on it?

Tori Shadows: It was nerve-racking, especially because of where I was mentally at that point. Grief breaks you down. I wasn’t feeling like myself at all, so it was hard.

But I still did it because something inside me told me to. Later on, I realized that they were my guides. That was my higher self pushing me forward.

Part of what makes your work so compelling online is the visual atmosphere you create. There’s this beautiful, mysterious energy around everything you do. How did that whole concept come together?

Tori Shadows: I think it probably started with the name, Dark Oracle. There has always been this dark feminine foundation underneath everything I do.

To me, Dark Oracle comes from being a wounded healer. I know some people hear that phrase and think it sounds negative, but it resonates deeply with me. I’ve gone through a lot of darkness in my life, but not in a hopeless way. I’m talking about taking those shadows and transmuting them into love and light.

A lot of people are afraid to confront their shadows, but I kept doing it over and over again throughout my life. Eventually, those experiences naturally became the visuals, the energy, the aesthetic — it all just evolved organically.

You’re clearly an artist. Not just an intuitive, but an artist in the way you present yourself visually, through music and atmosphere. What’s funny is that you have names like “Dark Oracle” and “Tori Shadows,” but your energy is actually so warm and full of life.

Tori Shadows: Yeah, and I think that’s why people trust me. It’s not gloomy or heavy all the time.

What’s funny is that I actually have a background in graphic design and website design. I learned a lot of those skills through music because I had to market myself. I made my own album covers, stickers, all of it.

Music goes way back for me. That’s a whole other story.

A few years ago, I kept hearing the phrase, “You’re a shapeshifter.” Over and over again. And honestly, it fits because there are so many sides to me — music, poetry, intuitive work, and visual art.

Recently, I’ve been sharing what I call intuitive poems. They come from my own experiences, but I also feel like I’m channeling emotions and experiences that other people are going through, too.

Something shifted for me creatively. I don’t just see myself as an artist anymore. I see myself as an intuitive artist. Every song, every poem, every collective message feels connected to something deeper.

I’m fascinated by the idea of collective readings. Help me understand this. People watch your videos and immediately feel like the message was meant for them. They feel seen. They feel hopeful. And what I notice in your comments is that people almost know what’s happening beyond the surface, even if they can’t fully explain it.

Tori Shadows: No, you’re absolutely right.

I really believe these messages are here to shift people in some way. And I’m definitely not the only person doing this. There are many readers out there helping people reconnect with themselves.

Even during my TikTok lives, it’s amazing because you’ll see all these people show up at the same time, all going through similar confusion, heartbreak, uncertainty, or transformation. It feels collective.

Every reader is reaching a certain group of people, and those messages genuinely help them. They help people reconnect to their heart space.

I’m getting chills talking about it right now because I really do feel aligned with this work.

It really does feel almost serendipitous — like the universe, or even the algorithm, is somehow bringing the right message to the right person at the exact right moment.

Tori Shadows: Yeah, but I also think it has a lot to do with the person receiving the message.

There are times when I’m scrolling, and I immediately know a message is for me. And then there are other times when I feel nothing at all. There’s something deeply intuitive happening between the reader and the collective.

You just know when something resonates.

That’s why I truly believe everyone can develop their intuition. When you know, you know.

The comments on your videos are fascinating to read. Do you spend time reading them?

Tori Shadows: I do. A lot of them are people saying things like “claiming this energy,” but sometimes I’ll stop and read the longer messages.

And when I do, I realize just how important that message was for that person at that exact moment in their life.

Do you use the same deck for all your readings online?

Tori Shadows: No. I’m always intuitively called to different decks.

Sometimes I’ll sit down and immediately feel, “No, today it needs to be this deck.” Every deck carries a completely different energy.

It’s the same with private client readings too. I’ll read someone’s intake form and instantly feel which deck aligns with their energy.

I approach collective readings the same way. I’ll ask Spirit which deck wants to come through that day, and usually the answer comes very clearly.

So yes, every deck absolutely has its own unique energy, at least in my experience.

Do you have a few favorite decks you wouldn’t mind sharing with us?

Tori Shadows: Yeah, I definitely have a few favorites.

These two are probably my current favorites right now. One of them actually has the Eye of Horus on it, which is meaningful to me because I have the Eye of Horus tattooed on my body.

Lately, I’ve been channeling this feeling that I may have had a past life connected to Egypt because I really resonate with that High Priestess energy. So I’ve been very drawn to Egyptian symbolism and Egyptian decks lately.

One of them is called the Sacred Symbols Oracle Deck. It’s beautiful. I use it a lot for spiritual guidance when I’m asking the spirit for messages for clients. And then I recently got another one called the Initiates Oracle, which also carries that Egyptian energy.

For love readings — which make up a huge part of your content online — what decks do you use for those?

Tori Shadows: Yeah, love readings are definitely my thing. I joke that I go by many names, but one of them is “Messenger of Love.”

A lot of tarot readers actually hate doing love readings, but I’m obsessed with them.

I use a few different decks for love readings, but one I really love is the Black Rose Love Oracle Deck. Another favorite is this rose-themed deck I found on Amazon. It’s not super fancy, but it has this really soft soulmate energy to it that I absolutely love.

And then, of course, there’s my own deck, which is completely soulmate-focused.

Tell us about your deck. “Black Rose Love Oracle” is such a striking name.

Tori Shadows: The design was inspired by one of my tattoos. I’m obsessed with roses, and of course, I love the color black and the dark, feminine aesthetic, so I wanted that energy woven into the deck.

But beyond the visuals, the deck was really inspired by my own love journey with someone I consider a soulmate. A lot of the cards are based on messages I channeled, memories, conversations, and emotional experiences from that connection.

So there’s definitely a lot of my own essence inside the deck. But overall, it’s really centered around soulmate energy — not so much twin flames or karmic relationships. To me, this deck is about soul connection.

Would you mind doing a collective reading for us right now using your deck?

Tori Shadows: Yeah, absolutely. I’d love to.

For people who may not be familiar with the concept, what exactly is a collective reading?

Tori Shadows: A collective reading is essentially when you come across a message and intuitively know it’s meant for you.

As we talked about earlier, sometimes you hear the first few words of a reading and immediately feel, “Oh wow, that’s for me.” That’s how I describe collective readings.

The “collective” part simply means the message is reaching a larger group of people rather than a specific person. It’s different from a personal reading, which is much more individualized and energetically focused on one person’s situation.

But collective readings are still incredibly powerful because they reach more people, more hearts.

Your videos have such a distinct atmosphere — the candles, the cards, the camera angle. It feels incredibly immersive, almost like someone is sitting directly across from you.

Tori Shadows: It’s funny because my marketing person once told me, “You know you’re really into aesthetics, right?”

And honestly, I never consciously thought about it that way. I just naturally create what feels visually good to me. I didn’t really plan a specific look or brand identity. I just followed what felt aligned, and it evolved from there.

All right, let’s do a reading.

Tori Shadows: Okay… there’s someone in this collective who has a very specific person craving them right now.

This person feels deeply pulled toward you. You touch them in ways that go beyond the physical — I’m talking soul to soul.

One of the messages coming through is: “Your energy lingers on my skin long after you’re gone.”

So there’s both an emotional and physical connection here. This person cannot stop thinking about you. You stay with them constantly.

Another message coming through is: “Being with you softens me in ways I did not anticipate.”

Whoever this person is, they weren’t expecting to fall in love. They weren’t looking for love at all. But somehow you softened their heart.

There’s someone here who is completely overwhelmed by this connection.

So if someone receives that message and resonates with it, what are they supposed to do with that information?

Tori Shadows: Normally, my collective spreads are much larger than this. I’ll usually pull around twelve cards and combine multiple decks. This was just a shorter version for the podcast.

But ideally, what happens is that the person hearing the message immediately recognizes something within it. They start connecting it to their own situation, their own intuition, their own understanding of what’s unfolding in their life.

That’s really the purpose of it.

You’re such a storyteller at heart. Through your music, your poetry, and your readings, you’re constantly telling emotional stories.

Tori Shadows: Yeah, definitely.

Recently, I’ve been sharing a lot of intuitive poems as I move through my own love journey. I came out of a fifteen-year relationship and unexpectedly reconnected with someone from my past.

A lot of poetry came out of that experience.

And I think those poems resonate so deeply because they’re completely authentic. I’m living them while I’m writing them.

People message me saying things like, “This made me cry,” or “Did you somehow read my love letters?” There’s this very emotional recognition that happens.

So yes, storytelling is a huge part of everything I do.

Are there many tarot or oracle readers who focus specifically on grief?

Tori Shadows: They exist, but they’re honestly pretty rare.

Love readings are definitely the most popular, and even though I didn’t get into this work because of popularity, I understand why people gravitate toward them.

I’ve seen far fewer grief readings or afterlife-focused readings. Ironically, that’s actually what I originally wanted to focus on. I even started creating my own deck for that purpose.

But I noticed that most people naturally move toward light and hope rather than wanting to sit with grief or shadows. A lot of people are afraid to confront those deeper emotional spaces.

Besides TikTok, a huge part of your work is also private readings. Can you walk us through the different kinds of readings you offer?

Tori Shadows: Absolutely.

When someone joins my email list, they can access a soul connection clarity reading that helps them understand whether they’re dealing with soulmate energy, a karmic relationship, twin flame dynamics, and more.

Then I offer more in-depth premium readings for more emotionally complex situations. My tarot reading is called The Lover’s Thread.

That reading goes very deep into the relationship dynamic. Clients fill out an intake form, and I channel based on their story, emotions, and energy. I’ve done so many of these readings now, and honestly, I just feel incredibly grateful that people trust me with such vulnerable parts of their lives.

Most of my readings are currently prerecorded, though many people have been asking for live sessions, which I’m planning to integrate soon via a membership platform.

So you receive their intake form, record the reading privately, and then send them the video afterward?

Tori Shadows: Exactly.

The way my abilities work is very connected to words and emotions. I’m highly intuitive and empathic, so when I read someone’s story or intake form, I immediately start sensing the energy behind it.

That’s how the channeling comes through for me.

And honestly, prerecorded readings can be really beautiful because people can return to them over and over again whenever they need to revisit the messages.

Do you plan to offer live Zoom readings eventually, too?

Tori Shadows: Yes, definitely. That’s coming.

I just have to be mindful about burnout because I’m only one person, and this work can become emotionally heavy if I don’t protect my energy.

When I went to Sedona recently, I had an aura photo taken, and the healer immediately told me, “You’re carrying a lot of emotional energy in your body.”

That really stayed with me.

So I’m building things slowly and intentionally so I can continue doing this work without completely draining myself.

And your oracle deck releases next month, right?

Tori Shadows: Yes. Next month for sure.

People can join my email list to get notified when it launches.

And your website is?

Tori Shadows: iAmDarkOracle.com.

And all my social platforms — TikTok, Instagram, Facebook.

I do want to remind people to be careful, as there are many scammers in this industry. People steal my photos and pretend to be me. So if anyone wants to work with me, the safest thing is always to use the official links in my bio.

Tori, it’s been such a joy getting to know you. I can see so clearly through your videos how much your creativity, intuition, and artistry are impacting people. And honestly, my favorite part is reading the comments and seeing how deeply your work resonates with others. Thank you for everything you’re doing.

Tori Shadows: Thank you so much for having me. I truly appreciate it. I feel really honored.