raevenlywrites

[raevenlywrites]

> read library book

> it's good

Thank you library

[raevenlywrites]

May I offer a hot birdverage? We have cocoaburra, chickatea, cawfee, or cider waxwing.

[raevenlywrites]

can second suspenders as the cure for filling the pockets. Wifey wears all hers with full suspenders and fills the pockets with knitting, her water bottle, wallet, and sun screen

I wondered, is anything releasing in August? Trying to plan payday lol.

yep! we'll have a restock of the butter cookies design, the debut of my autumn witch skirt, and two new special collab designs i can't show y'all yet cuz they're TOP SECRET

and then also the bubble maxi and lace cardigans SHOULD be going out to the people who preordered them so leftovers should be listed around then too

[raevenlywrites]

Genies can only grant wishes that are things that an ordinary person could do, just better and faster. The jinn are the creations of a divine being, and so they are part of the divine plan and cannot defy the natural order of things; a wish granted by a jinni can’t turn the day into night or the sea into yogurt, but if you wish for a temple to be built, a jinni will build it by hand, the way men do, and have it done in a day.

If you need a wish granted that defies the natural order you gotta catch a leprechaun, because no god was involved in their creation whatsoever. They just kinda showed up one day in the nineteenth century. The Aos Sí have no idea what their deal is

[raevenlywrites]

Drunk Skeletons by Vlad Gradobyk

[raevenlywrites]

Preorders for midi skirts are open now at Vetiverfox Apparel thru tuesday 7/22! ❤️💐♥️ As usual, sizes available in S-6XL, with roomy pockets! This will probably be the only preorder for skirts this year! I will have a couple smaller restocks planned for around August and October respectively, but preordering is the best way to guarantee the design + size you want. Thanks so much for checking em out!

[raevenlywrites]

when I say “Let me ask my husband”, one (or both) of these things is taking place:

1. I am in a loving, happy relationship where we value and respect each other’s opinion

2. I am using this as an excuse to get out of something I don’t want to do (sorry habibi)

what is not happening here: I am being oppressed

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[raevenlywrites]

Warm up drabble

Clearly, I’ve got my work cut out for me. :/ @chaos-reign, I don’t know if this counts as writing but I promised I’d tag. Should be spoiler free, so long as you don’t think about things too far (besides, i’m hardly sure it’s cannot. Just two boys bickering in an imaginary mindscape).

Moonlight. Why did it always come back to moonlight?

Seth leaned his head back against the enormous rock that stood as the only landmark in the otherwise unremarkable white land. This damned desert never saw any sun, any color. Just an endless stretch of white. He wanted to strike his hand against it, stain the land with one little bright spot of crimson.

Red scales on white. Red blood on sand. What was the point of any of it?

“What is the point of anything, dear brother?”

Naj was suddenly beside him. Seth’s scowl was suddenly deeper.

“I suppose telling you to go away would be pointless?”

“Especially as there’s never been anywhere else to ever go.”

He scoffed. “There’s always wherever you’ve just come from.”

Naj sighed, and stretched out in a long, indolent line. “No where to go, no where to come from. No where to be heading to. Why are we heading no where, dear brother?”

Naj has turned to look at him, but Seth kept his eyes resolutely ahead. “No where to go. Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

Naj didn’t strike him, but the flash of thought was fierce and intense enough that he might as well have. There was no hiding such thoughts here.

Seth didn’t react. Naj pushed to his feet with a sound of disgust.

“Always so maudlin, brother mine. You’re such delightful company.”

Seth framed a thought about leaving if he didn’t like it, which Naj immediately parried with the reminder that there was no where to go, and wasn’t that exactly what they were discussing, and who’s fault was it they were feeling so stagnant lately anyway?

“We aren’t discussing anything,” Seth said sullenly, tired of the mental assault. “We’re just standing around, airing out our petty grievances.

Naj glowered and mirrored back the exact impression Seth had started them off with: if he didn’t like it, why didn’t he just leave. Seth blew out a long breath and closed his eyes.

“Go away, brother mine. I’m tired, and not of a humor to deal with this.”

Naj exploded in a roar of fire, the proverbial phoenix finally at its end. There was no sign of him in the fire’s wake. Not even a scorch mark or foot print in the sand.

“Nothing ever changes here.”

Above, the moon continued to hang, and the stars stood their silent watch.

[raevenlywrites]

What happens when you ask for a reading?

People have been asking: What is it like to get a reading from you, Raev? A lot of you are just as new to being read for as I am to having a shop front, so I wanted to pull back the curtain a little bit and let yall know what the process of requesting a reading is like. Many thanks to my lovely volunteers for allowing me to share snippets of our conversations.

Preliminary Chats

When a querent reaches out for a reading, we start with a little Q&A, as I help guide my querents to the right spread for them. Doesn’t have to be in real time, though the process does tend to go quicker when we’re both available to chat at the same time. Often, these exchanges involve me helping the querent narrow down what it is they want to know, since they usually come to me with a general idea but not much in the way of specifics. For example:

Querent: My question would be "What is the best way for me to love them", what do you recommend? Me: I think it depends on what kind of love you're trying to give. I think this might be an interesting one for me to read the Revealing Prism for, as it will show 1) something about them 2) something about you 3) something you don't know and 4) a truth you can act on Querent: Mm, love in a general sense I guess? Like, what is the best way for me to show this person I hold them in high regard / care for them etc. not particularly romantic or familial just.. love? Hard to articulate And yeah, okay! Revealing Prism it is then Me: Sounds good! What deck would you like? Querent: The shadowscapes one? Me: shadowscapes was a good choice for this one, it's a very patient and gentle deck. Very loving and nurturing. It will really understand the vibe you're going for, I think. Querent: That's what I'm hoping for yeah <3

Into the Queue

Once we have the question narrowed down, and the spread and deck decided upon, the appropriate commission is purchased and the querent is added to my queue. Usually the turn around is within a few days, no more than a week. I like to try to do my reading as close to the prelim chats as possible, so that the connection is still fresh in my mind.

The Reading Itself

I will spend some time with the chosen deck, asking it the question on behalf of the querent (“[Name] is seeking actionable advice on how to show them they love them. “They” will be the external card, [Name] will be the internal card, help me show [Name] what is Hidden and reveal to us they can act on.”). While I ask, I shuffle. With some decks, this involves rifling the deck like common playing cards. With others (like the oversized Nameless One), I will spread the whole thing out on the table and just shuffle it all around flat. Circle spreads get arranged in a circle (go figure :P), and Above and Below gets shuffled then turned face up as I search for the signifier card. Oftentimes, I’ll know it's time to stop shuffling and begin reading when a card jumps out of my hand, or the deck splits itself neatly in two in my grip, or the cards start sticking to themselves. I lay out the reading, sit with them for a bit to absorb the interpretation, then start snapping pictures.

The Final Product

Once I’m done with the reading it's time for the write up. Each card is interpreted individually, and in the case of multi-card spreads, a synthesis of what they all say together is also written up. For single cards, I tend to drop the image and the interpretation right into our chat. For longer reads, I send a link to your own personalized doc with all the pictures and write ups. You can see samples of those in my kofi Gallery or on my tumblr under the tag #raevs sample reads.

Follow Up

This is my favorite part. I always love to hear what my querents think of their readings, how it impacts the way they think about things, how it opens up their perceptions, the clarity my readings bring. It especially delights me when they come back after some time later, telling me about the ways they saw the factors described in my readings coming to life before their eyes. I love hearing from my querents and would love to hear from you, too! Come talk tarot with me and let's see what the cards hold for you.

Ready to commission a reading of your very own? Check out my ko-fi page!

[raevenlywrites]

Above and Below

For the ABOVE + BELOW Card Draw, a Signifier card is chosen to represent a key element of your query. I then shuffle and search for the Signifier, and read the cards above and below it. The cards below speak to negating forces, something holding you back, a struggle. The cards above offer help, advice, and a way forward.

For this read I used The Nameless One tarot and Oracle deck by Xia Hunt. Querant asked for a reading regarding mental health, so I chose to seek out The Star, a card of quiet voices and small lights.

For this spread and more, check out my Ko-fi Commissions page

Read on for interpretations and card close ups

Signifier

For this read, I chose The Star to serve as the focus for your query about mental health. The Star is the quiet place within us, a light that can only be seen when all others are dim. It takes deliberate effort to listen to it, and hard work to get to a place where you can hear it. It is private, unique to you, and something only you can truly know.

Above

The Above position is that which assists, a force that aids you, a path through. The Six of Blades offers this blessing: “I am safe and protected during both my spiritual and physical journeys.” It eases the way forward, offers closure and the chance to put the past to bed.

Below

The Below position is that which hinders, what holds you back, what makes the path difficult. Normally, the Four of Blades is a respite, a chance to rest. Here it is reversed, indicating that perhaps you have not had time to rest, or a safe space to do so.

Synthesis

In this read, I found the sheer depth of The Star’s placement to be significant. Mental health is a journey, and this placement suggests that on this particular issue, you have a long road ahead of you. The Above says the way is clear, but the Below urges you to clear up whatever obstacle is keeping you from getting the rest you  need. Such a long journey needs places to stop along the way, a chance to put the burden down, to get away from it. Build yourself those safe spaces, those places to rest, and your healing can move forward.

If you're interested in a reading of your own, check out my ko-fi page, DM me, or send me an email at raevreadstarot@gmail.com

[raevenlywrites]

I wish depression were an emergency. I wish someone could take one look at how sick I am and go “oh my god, we need to get you to a hospital!” and then when we get there I get rushed into surgery and the surgeons say “it’s a good thing you brought her here when you did, this is a seriously advanced case” and then they put me under and spend the next ten hours pulling metres of long, sticky black strands of gunk out of my body, throwing it immediately into an incinerator so that it can’t infect anyone else. And then they could stitch me back up and I could rest a few days, and when I leave the hospital everyone can see how much better I am and they congratulate me saying “well done, you’ve been so brave, I’m so glad you’re ok. I love you.”

[raevenlywrites]

Please everyone, wait your turn

[raevenlywrites]

Daily Tarot Draws

November kicked my ass. It happens. With the end of spooky season, the election, my birthday, and the onset of the Christmas Crunch, November tends to be either a wild blur, or a deeply spiritual month as I take time to carve out little zones of peace. This November was not that kind of month for me, but in the past, I’ve done a 30 challenge I really love by Hillbilly Oracle, the Nonbinary November Tarot Challenge, or simply kept a daily draw journal.

November is a very special month for me. One, birthday (lol). But more than that, November is what I like to call the Void Season. For me, the year “dies” at the end of October, but it doesn’t return to life again until the Solstice. So all November and most of December are “void” months, separate from the rest of the year, a sort of limbo. It’s a time where I like to turn inside, underneath, and downward-- in other words, its a great time for tarot.

One of the things I love to do when life starts to feel too crazy are daily tarot draws. Fear not, I don’t mean “every single day” when talking about daily draws; I am so not an everyday anything kind of person (I’m lucky breathing is automatic or I’d surely forget to do that too :P). I mean “daily” as in “the scope of this card is for a single day”. On days where I remember myself and want to throw a few elbows to crave out space for myself, I really love just sitting with my favorite deck of the moment and my morning coffee, and just idly shuffle til one pops out at me. This card becomes my touchstone for the day (and often, I’ll carry around a literal pocket stone associated with that card to be a physical reminder), a place I can go to to center my thoughts and regain my equilibrium.

These kinds of daily draws are less divinatory in my usage and more sympathetic. Less “watch out for this today!” and more “You need more of this in your corner today”. Some folks absolutely use them the first way, and that’s totally fine. But for me, I tend not to get as much use out of daily divination. My life is simply not that dynamic. If I make a divination spread, it tends to be for broader strokes, longer periods of time. So my daily draws tend to be a lot less external event driven and much more about my internal landscape (This is the same kind of thinking behind my Advice spreads vs my Insight spreads.).

This internal check in is what makes these daily draws such a source of peace for me, why I use them to make room for myself in my own life. When things are hectic, it is so easy to get squeezed out of your own internal monologue, shoved aside by worries and fears and to-do lists and upcoming events and what-ifs and oh-nos and-- yeah. There’s always a million other things vying for our attention. Daily draws can be an excellent way to make sure you take time to listen to yourself and check in with your own needs.

Liked this post? Check out my kofi shop for more how-to's, beautiful deck selfies, and the spreads I have available for commission!

[raevenlywrites]

[raevenlywrites]

so I learned embroidery recently