I'm really excited about the new things I'm trying. I'm gaining a whole new perpective on life, and it's really helping me see the world in a better light. I'm trying to make a vlog to go alongside this blog and show my progress as I try to take on my new role as a pagan-of-sorts.
My goal was originally to learn more about Tarot, but I'm really interested in crystals and herbs now, too. I'd like to make candles and incense that will be calming on my nerves, especially now that this year is becoming a bit of a hectic one.
Although this was originally going to be a strictly tarot blog, I'm going to begin documenting some of my endeavors with other aspects of the pagan realm as soon as I can afford to do so.
Wish me luck and blessed be!
{ P.S. No daily Tarot reading today. I had a busy morning. I'm off work tomorrow though (or today, I suppose, since it's almost 4am) so I'll definitely have time for a more ellaborate one. }
February 13th ~ Dailies
Technically it's now February 14th, but I did in fact do a Tarot reading yesterday; I just didn't get the chance to post it until now.
I didn't have the opportunity to read about the card until late last night, so there will be no morning interpretation.
Daily Exercise
Spread: 1-card daily
Card drawn: 8 of Cups
Interpretation: The card is about leaving behind something you felt comfortable with and embracing change. Very simply put, it is about the drastic change I decided on and felt no remorse for when I got my nose pierced.
I didn't have the opportunity to read about the card until late last night, so there will be no morning interpretation.
Daily Exercise
Spread: 1-card daily
Card drawn: 8 of Cups
Interpretation: The card is about leaving behind something you felt comfortable with and embracing change. Very simply put, it is about the drastic change I decided on and felt no remorse for when I got my nose pierced.
February 12th
I'm hoping this isn't becoming habit. Again, I didn't have enough time in the morning for a tarot reading. I was afraid it might happen since I had to work this morning. Sadly, this also means I've been neglecting my tarot journal.
I have to work again tomorrow, but I should be up earlier than usual. Unless I can't sleep (which has been happening more and more frequently as of late) I'll definitely have time for one!
I have to work again tomorrow, but I should be up earlier than usual. Unless I can't sleep (which has been happening more and more frequently as of late) I'll definitely have time for one!
February 11th
Okay, so technically it's February 12th right now (nearly 3am), but this is the first chance I've gotten to blog all day and I didn't want to blow it off until tomorrow.
There will be no daily reading today (the 11th), but I'll try to squeeze a quick one in before work tomorrow (the 12th). It may not show up here until late afternoon, but I'll definitely try my hardest to make the time!
Thanks so much!
There will be no daily reading today (the 11th), but I'll try to squeeze a quick one in before work tomorrow (the 12th). It may not show up here until late afternoon, but I'll definitely try my hardest to make the time!
Thanks so much!
Ritual Tools
I'm really excited about my new treasure box! It's not only the perfect size to hold my Tarot cards, it's also beautiful and designed with celtic knots and amber gems that look liquid in the light. Best of all, it only cost me $30.
I haven't found a place that sells Tarot spread cloths yet, but I imagine I'll just pick my own from a fabric store and sew the ends so it won't unravel. And by sew, I mean have someone sew.
I'd also like to find a chest of some kind. It doesn't have to be large, as long as it can hold my Tarot deck, my future grimoire, and all of my other divining tools and candles I come up with over time. If I can, I want to find some small white candles to add to the ritual, but I want a peaceful scent and the only one I can seem to find is vanilla (generic just doesn't suit me). Right now I'm using large cinammon candles, which is fine, but the scent is something I associate with strength and passion, not peacefulness.
Lastly, and probably the most difficult to find, are the gemstones I'm looking for. For some reason I can't find a single place in the city that sells them. Amethyst is my favorite because it helps to clear the mind and promotes psychic focus (and it also happens to be my birthstone), and I'd like to get my hands on some moonstone, aventurine, and topaz as well.
I haven't found a place that sells Tarot spread cloths yet, but I imagine I'll just pick my own from a fabric store and sew the ends so it won't unravel. And by sew, I mean have someone sew.
I'd also like to find a chest of some kind. It doesn't have to be large, as long as it can hold my Tarot deck, my future grimoire, and all of my other divining tools and candles I come up with over time. If I can, I want to find some small white candles to add to the ritual, but I want a peaceful scent and the only one I can seem to find is vanilla (generic just doesn't suit me). Right now I'm using large cinammon candles, which is fine, but the scent is something I associate with strength and passion, not peacefulness.
Lastly, and probably the most difficult to find, are the gemstones I'm looking for. For some reason I can't find a single place in the city that sells them. Amethyst is my favorite because it helps to clear the mind and promotes psychic focus (and it also happens to be my birthstone), and I'd like to get my hands on some moonstone, aventurine, and topaz as well.
February 10th ~ Dailies
This time I used a little different exercise which I'll try to use whenever I have the time (I'll reserve 1-card readings for busy days).
I came across this spread on a forum yesterday. You start by separating out your Major Arcana cards, Court cards, and Minor Arcana cards. You shuffle each and use the following spread:
1 (Major)
.
.
2 (Court)
.
.
3 (Minor)
where:
1 - A lesson or situation you'll face.
2 - Someone you'll come into contact with or something you'll learn about yourself.
3 - An obstacle or advice.
I laid them out horizonatally, which worked well for me, then drew a Major Arcana for (1), a Court card for (2), and a Minor Arcana card for (3). Here is my result:
Daily Exercise
Spread: 3-card daily (major, court, minor)
Major Arcana: The Tower, Rx
Court: Page of Swords, Rx
Minor Arcana: 7 of Cups
Morning Interpretation:
(I apologize for the quick answer. Normally, I'd go into detail with each card, but it seems I'm running a little late.)
The Tower, reversed, means I'll have an epiphany of some sort that will result from something within myself. The Page of Swords (which happens to be my court card and the one most like me), reversed, tells me that I want to learn something that perhaps I shouldn't be spending so much time on. The 7 of Cups is about many choices which I have emotional ties to, and tells me to step back from my emotions to make a decision.
These cards came together fairly easily. What I believe they're telling me is that my epiphany actually is the thing which I'll learn about myself. I've become too enthralled by Tarot (which has an emotional pull over me) and have neglected my studies. This is the thing that I want to learn which I shouldn't be spending as much time on as I do.
Evening Interpretation: I'll come back to this later this evening and make more notes. (I apologize for not returning to this. My nerves were shot that night and it wasn't a good time for judging interpretations, but as far as I remember the reading was almost spot on.)
I came across this spread on a forum yesterday. You start by separating out your Major Arcana cards, Court cards, and Minor Arcana cards. You shuffle each and use the following spread:
1 (Major)
.
.
2 (Court)
.
.
3 (Minor)
where:
1 - A lesson or situation you'll face.
2 - Someone you'll come into contact with or something you'll learn about yourself.
3 - An obstacle or advice.
I laid them out horizonatally, which worked well for me, then drew a Major Arcana for (1), a Court card for (2), and a Minor Arcana card for (3). Here is my result:
Daily Exercise
Spread: 3-card daily (major, court, minor)
Major Arcana: The Tower, Rx
Court: Page of Swords, Rx
Minor Arcana: 7 of Cups
Morning Interpretation:
(I apologize for the quick answer. Normally, I'd go into detail with each card, but it seems I'm running a little late.)
The Tower, reversed, means I'll have an epiphany of some sort that will result from something within myself. The Page of Swords (which happens to be my court card and the one most like me), reversed, tells me that I want to learn something that perhaps I shouldn't be spending so much time on. The 7 of Cups is about many choices which I have emotional ties to, and tells me to step back from my emotions to make a decision.
These cards came together fairly easily. What I believe they're telling me is that my epiphany actually is the thing which I'll learn about myself. I've become too enthralled by Tarot (which has an emotional pull over me) and have neglected my studies. This is the thing that I want to learn which I shouldn't be spending as much time on as I do.
Evening Interpretation: I'll come back to this later this evening and make more notes. (I apologize for not returning to this. My nerves were shot that night and it wasn't a good time for judging interpretations, but as far as I remember the reading was almost spot on.)
February 9th ~ Dailies
Daily Exercise:
Card drawn: 5 of Swords, Rx
Morning interpretation: The card foretells of an empty victory that isn't worth the consequences. I can only guess this means some kind of verbal argument I may have later in the day that I will win without benefit.
Evening interpretation:
I was close in my earlier interpretation. Instead of being about an empty battle I would win, I think this card foretold what I would witness such a battle. When shuffling and drawing the card, I asked the question, "What will the day hold?" It could be about the argument which my aunt won against my grandfather. It wasn't worth the consequences because everyone felt bad in the end, and it was definitely an empty victory (although I fully understand the reasoning behind it).
Other: I want to note that I drew this card last night while doing a 3-card (morning, noon, night) spread about today. I'm really shocked how accurate the cards seem to be all the time, and how very little the odds are that after shuffling and flipping the cards many times before each reading, then spreading them out and drawing at random, that I would come up with this card again.
Card drawn: 5 of Swords, Rx
Morning interpretation: The card foretells of an empty victory that isn't worth the consequences. I can only guess this means some kind of verbal argument I may have later in the day that I will win without benefit.
Evening interpretation:
I was close in my earlier interpretation. Instead of being about an empty battle I would win, I think this card foretold what I would witness such a battle. When shuffling and drawing the card, I asked the question, "What will the day hold?" It could be about the argument which my aunt won against my grandfather. It wasn't worth the consequences because everyone felt bad in the end, and it was definitely an empty victory (although I fully understand the reasoning behind it).
Other: I want to note that I drew this card last night while doing a 3-card (morning, noon, night) spread about today. I'm really shocked how accurate the cards seem to be all the time, and how very little the odds are that after shuffling and flipping the cards many times before each reading, then spreading them out and drawing at random, that I would come up with this card again.
Tarot and the Aquarius
I found an article online that really intrigued me. As an Aquarius, I've been wondering how my astrological sign relates to my newfound dedication to Tarot. So, using my magnificent psychic powers (otherwise known as Google), I searched and found this interesting bit of info.
Although Aquarius is usually associated with water and is in fact the symbol of the "water bearer" it is actually connected to the air element.
"The sign Aquarius belongs to the element air, and the tarot’s air suit of swords illustrates typical scenes related to intellect, communication, logic, decision-making and overcoming adversity."
In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the Star card depicts a woman with one foot in a body of water, holding overturned jugs in each hand from which water flows to the earth below. This is the traditional symbol of Aquarius.
Another card connected to my sign, and ironically so (as I'll explain in a moment), is the Fool card. The Rider-Waite-Smith version of this first card in the Major Arcana depicts a young man staring toward the heavens as he stands at a cliff's edge. In the Mystic Dreamer deck that I use, this card puts heavy reference on the many choices before you, and the need to use intuition to decide which path to take. The Fool card is connected to the planet Uranus, the modern ruler of Aquarius.
Now for the ironic part. What I consider to be my first real Tarot reading was a 3-card, vertical spread. The bottom card represented where I am now, the top card represented where I want/don't want to be, and the middle card foretold the path between the two. As it was, the first card I interpreted correctly was the Fool card. It's been my favorite card ever since I read its meaning.
I'd ask, "What are the odds?" but come on now, this is Tarot. Odds have nothing to do with it.
Sources: 'Tarot and the Sign Aquarius'
Although Aquarius is usually associated with water and is in fact the symbol of the "water bearer" it is actually connected to the air element.
"The sign Aquarius belongs to the element air, and the tarot’s air suit of swords illustrates typical scenes related to intellect, communication, logic, decision-making and overcoming adversity."
In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the Star card depicts a woman with one foot in a body of water, holding overturned jugs in each hand from which water flows to the earth below. This is the traditional symbol of Aquarius.
Another card connected to my sign, and ironically so (as I'll explain in a moment), is the Fool card. The Rider-Waite-Smith version of this first card in the Major Arcana depicts a young man staring toward the heavens as he stands at a cliff's edge. In the Mystic Dreamer deck that I use, this card puts heavy reference on the many choices before you, and the need to use intuition to decide which path to take. The Fool card is connected to the planet Uranus, the modern ruler of Aquarius.
Now for the ironic part. What I consider to be my first real Tarot reading was a 3-card, vertical spread. The bottom card represented where I am now, the top card represented where I want/don't want to be, and the middle card foretold the path between the two. As it was, the first card I interpreted correctly was the Fool card. It's been my favorite card ever since I read its meaning.
I'd ask, "What are the odds?" but come on now, this is Tarot. Odds have nothing to do with it.
Sources: 'Tarot and the Sign Aquarius'
Tarot Journal
I think it's important to spend a lot of time and effort picking out a Tarot journal. For some, a simple spiral notebook might be just fine, although the risk of your journal becoming dog chow is a lot more likely. For me, divining is more fun and I'm more inclined to continue with it if holds a little mystery.
For my Tarot journal, I decided on a soft, leatherbound book I found at Barnes and Noble. It's simple, elegant, and most importantly, it smells really good. Here are a few pictures:
I'm going to make a grimoire a little later, when I have more to contribute to it. Until then, this little book is going to hold all of my divining secrets.
So far, the most I've done are a few Tarot readings and an Astrology reading as a little birthday present to myself. I've got a few projects lined up to work with, including using the Tarot cards to write short stories (an exercise recommended by Barbara Moore).
The pages in the picture above are actually the beginning of my personal guide to the Major Arcana cards. I'm working on furthering the textbook meaning of the cards with my own view of it to develop my own Tarot reading style.
I'll post some of my ideas for the Major Arcana cards as I get a few more done. I completely recommend starting your own Tarot journal. It'll help you go back on your mistakes and understand what went wrong. It's already helped me, and I'm still a certifiable noob.
For my Tarot journal, I decided on a soft, leatherbound book I found at Barnes and Noble. It's simple, elegant, and most importantly, it smells really good. Here are a few pictures:
I'm going to make a grimoire a little later, when I have more to contribute to it. Until then, this little book is going to hold all of my divining secrets.
So far, the most I've done are a few Tarot readings and an Astrology reading as a little birthday present to myself. I've got a few projects lined up to work with, including using the Tarot cards to write short stories (an exercise recommended by Barbara Moore).
The pages in the picture above are actually the beginning of my personal guide to the Major Arcana cards. I'm working on furthering the textbook meaning of the cards with my own view of it to develop my own Tarot reading style.
I'll post some of my ideas for the Major Arcana cards as I get a few more done. I completely recommend starting your own Tarot journal. It'll help you go back on your mistakes and understand what went wrong. It's already helped me, and I'm still a certifiable noob.
February 9th
Since I've been working on a Tarot journal for a while now, I'd like to start off this blog by jumping into my first successful (or so it would appear) reading.
After asking a few general questions suggested in "The Dreamer's Journal" by Barbara Moore, and not getting much in the way of good answers, I decided to come up with a couple questions of my own to try my hand at 3-card spreads. Until this point, I'd only been using 1-card spreads, which I've decided I have little use for (besides daily morning readings, which I'll get to later).
I used a basic outline illustrated in the book, a vertical spread that looked something like this:
1. Where I am
3. Where I want or don't want to be
2. How I end up there
I changed the wording a bit from what was in the book, because this suited my ends better. The original version was 1. Where I am, 2. Where I want to be, and 3. How to get there, which works just fine if the outcome is positive, but since mine was a warning, I needed to change it up.
The question - What do I need to do to be successful in the future?
For (1) I drew the Fool, for (3) the Ace of Pentacles Rx, and the 4 of Pentacles for (2).
The accuracy of the reading shocked me. Until that moment, I didn't fully expect them to work. I hoped they would, but I'd mostly convinced myself that was an empty wish.
Interpretation:
Where I am (the Fool) - My present position is full of choices and many possible paths I could take into the future. As a freshman in college, this is exactly true.
Where I want/don't want to be (the Ace of Pentacles, reversed) - My future goals are faced with bad luck. My plans will not take root as expected.
How I end up there (4 of Pentacles) - The path to my outcome, which is not at all bright, embodies my fears regarding the future and the fact that it isn't set in stone. If I continue to hold onto my plans so tightly, I'll develop an unhealthy, controlling view of the future, which will affect my goals negatively. This describes perfectly what I've been doing with my college career, backing myself into corners trying to have a dozen back-up plans to force my foremost plan to come to light. It's kept me awake many nights, and is something I apparently need to stop.
Conclusion (the answer to the question) - To be successful, I need to remain open-minded about the future.
After asking a few general questions suggested in "The Dreamer's Journal" by Barbara Moore, and not getting much in the way of good answers, I decided to come up with a couple questions of my own to try my hand at 3-card spreads. Until this point, I'd only been using 1-card spreads, which I've decided I have little use for (besides daily morning readings, which I'll get to later).
I used a basic outline illustrated in the book, a vertical spread that looked something like this:
1. Where I am
3. Where I want or don't want to be
2. How I end up there
I changed the wording a bit from what was in the book, because this suited my ends better. The original version was 1. Where I am, 2. Where I want to be, and 3. How to get there, which works just fine if the outcome is positive, but since mine was a warning, I needed to change it up.
The question - What do I need to do to be successful in the future?
For (1) I drew the Fool, for (3) the Ace of Pentacles Rx, and the 4 of Pentacles for (2).
The accuracy of the reading shocked me. Until that moment, I didn't fully expect them to work. I hoped they would, but I'd mostly convinced myself that was an empty wish.
Interpretation:
Where I am (the Fool) - My present position is full of choices and many possible paths I could take into the future. As a freshman in college, this is exactly true.
Where I want/don't want to be (the Ace of Pentacles, reversed) - My future goals are faced with bad luck. My plans will not take root as expected.
How I end up there (4 of Pentacles) - The path to my outcome, which is not at all bright, embodies my fears regarding the future and the fact that it isn't set in stone. If I continue to hold onto my plans so tightly, I'll develop an unhealthy, controlling view of the future, which will affect my goals negatively. This describes perfectly what I've been doing with my college career, backing myself into corners trying to have a dozen back-up plans to force my foremost plan to come to light. It's kept me awake many nights, and is something I apparently need to stop.
Conclusion (the answer to the question) - To be successful, I need to remain open-minded about the future.
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