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gilded-glitter · 1 month

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Writer Interview Game

thanks for tagging me @eraserspiral and @dalgursbate! This was fun!

When did you start writing?

I started writing seriously in high school, kept up the practice in college, and then took a long break. I've been easing back into it for a bit.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I love a good hard sci-fi but I don't have the patience/science chops to write one with accuracy.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I admire so many writers: Toni Morrison, Ursula K. Le Guin, Octavia E. Butler, Madeline Miller, Susanna Clarke, and many more come to mind.

I don't know if emulate is the right word. But one thing all these writers have in common is that they're not afraid to Get Weird, and I take inspiration from that.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I get a lot of leverage from the notes app on my phone, so I can be anywhere. I used to write a lot at work that way lmao.

My home desktop setup is a bit cluttered because half of the desk is dedicated to my cat. But I always have a glass of water and my trusty tarot deck by my left hand.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

When I'm intentionally seeking creative juice, I'll look at art that evokes the same emotion I'm trying to get at with my writing. Same deal with music!

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

Grief, Appalachian hillbilly shit, the destructive power of fire, standing on the cliff of a disastrous decision and being pulled back. None too surprising!

What is your reason for writing?

Sometimes I write to process, and no one else sees that work.

If I write something to share, it's a bid for connection. Kind of like, "Hey, are you all seeing this shit, too?" Or the way the dumb protagonist shouts "Hello!?" when they're alone in the scary house.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

Basically any comment is like jet fuel to me. Just be nice :)

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

That I am just a person, a silly little guy even. And I inspire them to make art also.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I think I'm pretty good at creating sticky turns of phrase. One consistent piece of feedback I get is, "I still remember x 5 words from that thing you described."

How do you feel about your own writing?

I'm way too precious about it

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

I write for my own tastes because if I don't think it's neat, I will hate writing it and probably just won't do it.

I don't know who has been tagged yet, so here are some no-pressure tags for @amoremagnificentbastard, @lyzelky, @atsadi-shenanigans

#tag game #i speak

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cloudselkie · 2 years

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DECK AWARDS - 2022

ORACLE EDITION

Because Tumblr has a ten photo limit for posts, the oracle decks get a separate post. Most were released this year, but some I only purchased this year. Here are my favorite oracle decks of 2022!

MOST UNIQUE DECK

BEGIN

The Begin oracle that I picked up due to it being marketed as both a tool for intuition and writing. And it really is a great writing tool! It's designed to help you tell a story and I've had fun with it the few times I've used it. The art is collage style and well done, and the card titles are also fun! The only things really holding this deck back are the oversized cards and the booklet that is the size of a magazine.

Cardstock: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Shuffling: ⭐⭐

Guilded Cards?: ❌

Guilded Edges? ❌

Where to Buy: Etsy - alittlemagicshop

BEST INDIE ORACLE

THE ORACLE OF THE SEELIE FAE/THE ORACLE OF THE UNSEELIE FAE

Technically, this deck is two in one - the Seelie Deck and the Unseelie deck. I think they work best combined, but you can read them however you wish. I LOVE the representation of Irish and Scottish folklore in this, and also that when whatever is featured on the card comes from Irish folklore, the Irish spelling is retained. It's an unusual deck that is well researched and does a fantastic job representing the stories of its subject matter. There are two issues with this deck - the first being the cardstock quality (it's very thin), and the second being that the font used for the card titles can be difficult to read, which hurts its accessibility.

Cardstock: ⭐⭐

Shuffling: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Guilded Cards?: ❌

Guilded Edges: ❌

Where to Buy: Etsy - BackPorchMagic

MOST VERSATILE DECK

THE DELPHIC ORACLE

This deck is made up of awesome pictures drawn straight from Greek frescos each paired with one of the 147 Delphic maxims in English and Greek. I love this deck simply because there is so much variety. Some cards are pretty similar, but the little nuances in wording and meaning are what make it so amazing. I also appreciate that this deck comes directly from Greece! I would say this is a must have for anyone who practices Hellenic worship or who loves Greek Mythology and History. The only bad thing about this deck is how thick it is (extra THICC) which can make it hard to shuffle. My way around this is I just split the deck in half and shuffle each side, then cut and combine both together.

Cardstock: ⭐⭐⭐

Shuffling: ⭐⭐⭐

Guilded Cards?: ❌

Guilded Edges?: ❌

Where to Buy: Etsy - AncientGreekArt

BEST LENORMAND DECK

THE PAPER ORACLE

Not only is it the best Lenormand I bought this year, it's the only Lenormand I purchased this year. I'm a HUGE fan of Eric Maille's artwork, so I knew if I was going to get a Lenormand deck, it would be his new one. This deck is amazing. The art is all hand drawn on paper, with imperfections and all, which give it so much character. He also added several cards of his own to the deck, including a non-binary card. He states that his goal was to create a more inclusive deck, hence the non-binary card, and the renaming of the Lady and the Man to the Feminine and the Masculine, respectively. If Lenormand decks usually feel too binary, try out The Paper Oracle instead!

Cardstock: ⭐⭐⭐

Shuffling: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Guilded Cards?: ❌

Guilded Edges?: ❌

Where to Buy: Etsy - EricMailleArt

BEST ORACLE DECK 2022

THE ENDLESS ORACLE

I cannot sing the praises of Eric Maille enough! This is the second deck of his on the list and my top pick for 2022! Honestly, I would have put his tarot deck, The Ink Witch Tarot, on my Best Tarot of 2022 list if I hadn't purchased it in 2021. The Endless Oracle was inspired by myriorama games in which children could take a set of pictures on cards and arrange them in different ways to create different pictures. Most of the illustrations in the Endless Oracle take place at night or at least look like night (one features the sun, technically). They are designed to tell a story no matter how many cards you string together or what order. These cards feel so magical that it almost hurts to use them for mundane divination prompts (you know, the typical love/luck/money stuff). They make me want to protect them and keep them just for magic and deity related questions. This is such a special deck. I've only had it for a week and it has taken my top 2022 oracle deck slot!

Cardstock: ⭐⭐⭐

Shuffling: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Guilded Cards?: ❌

Guilded Edges?: ❌

Where to Buy: This was a Kickstarter deck and is currently not available, however, Eric has stated a second edition will eventually be available through his Etsy shop - EricMailleArt

#tarot #oracle #oracle deck #witchcraft #witch

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alma-amentet · 1 year

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I’ve been tagged by @katastronoot and @sheirukitriesfandom

Feel free to take if you haven’t been tagged already.

1) Describe one creative WIP project you’re planning to work on over the summer.

Just a few days ago I decided to pull myself together and finish my drafts, debts and references queue. There’s a number of tabs with refs hanging in my browser... Need to get rid of them! Then I’ll also finish some tutorials from my previous lessons as well as rewatch the ones I already did, just to get back in shape. And will probably dive into some other courses - I have some good videos.

Was thinking about making some doll, clothes after a long break. My drunk shepherdess needs this, as I changed my mind to sell her away! (she’s another story). And a bag for my favorite tarot deck, now I use the the bag I made for another one, while that another one rests in a bag that once was part of friend’s Christmas present.

The rest is optional for now, but I hope to start drawing more portraits again. Maybe, by the end of the year I’ll be taking requests and trades for your OCs and favorite characters... That would be super cool.

I wanted to start attending my IRL art class again, but looks like I won’t be able to afford it 😢 Sadly I’m not making much money these days, and there are some unexpected expences.

2) Rec a book!

Tanith Lee, The Night’s Master. I think Elden Ring fans will appreciate 😉 Made a post about it a while ago.

I also liked The Winter Players - finally, a good and strong female protagonist! Not evil, unlike Zorayas - the one from the Night’s Master 😉

3) Rec a fic!

False Azure in the Windowpane by Tulak_Hord

If you don’t mind het Malenia ship. I don’t because it has a lot of fluff and an interesting Tarnished. I loved the first 55k words, excluding the chapter where they sparred (for me, that felt too long and boring). But I keep reading it.

Also Flamed Aeonia by BadMonsterFr

This one has fem shipping, also a lot of hurt/comfort and fluff - just the way I like it!

I love Malenia fluff. So more Malenia fluff pls! If you can rec me anything else like this, you're welcome! (yes I know and love Unalloyed, esp. the epilogue. It’s somewhat different, more on Millicent and Miquella, but just my vibes as well).

(also I’m really sorry for not reading some of fandom’s buddies works, I do - I’d like to support you more ... started some of them, but couldn’t keep up. I’m a bad and slow reader, and prefer smaller sizes to long ongoings. There are just two long ongoings I'm reading, False Azure and Rebecca's, because they are updated not really often).

4) Rec Music!

I’m on my Breton and Francophone folk kick again, so I recommend

- La Boutine Souriante, folk-rock from Quebec (so far I’m listyening to their earliest albums, but they’ve been around since 70s and have many albums)

- Tri Yann. Modern Breton classics, I’d say! Love those old men who are still fit and well.

5)Share one piece of advice!

I agree with @vidvana Take care of yourself! Also don’t skip meals, get enough sleep. And if you feel you’d use some support, seek it any ways. If you can’t afford therapy or anything, there’s plenty of books and resources. Sometimes it’s even easier to help yourself than to find help. I’m quite experienced in self-help, I know what I’m talking about.

For me, Julia Cameron’s “The Artists’s Way” has become that single straw I grasped in my darkest times, and it actually helped greatly! I also used her list of further reading and quotes, thus finding Shakti Gauvain, whose books are inspiring and supportive as well. Later I was a moderator for several groups for the Asrtists’Way. Not an easy experience, but it taught me something as well.

But if there’s a chance of any therapy, groups, any other support, don’t give it up as well.

#ask game #tag game #alma.txt

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sorcierarchy · 3 years

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Quarter Moon Spellcraft: Better Business Spell for Artists

For this first quarter moon of the New Year, my boyfriend and I decided to focus on bringing in new business. We are both entering new stages with our personal endeavours, him starting his own hustle and me going into my last semester of school, subsequently hitting the job market this summer. He just moved up here from Cali, so there is a lot going on and we both need to be bringing in some money from our side (and hopefully future main) jobs.

Spell Preparation

For this spell (and a few others I’m trying out this month), I chose something from Judika Iles book Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells. I picked this because I trust in her research, and I wanted to use some ingredients I already had at home. I’ve done many money spells and rituals, and even more sigils, but figured the New Year would be a good time to try some new methods and improve on documenting when things work/don’t work. It also just so happened that this spell specifically is for bringing money to artists, and that was too on the nose for me to ignore.

My intention is to take as many spells as possible and perform them “as is” so I can troubleshoot more easily, but when you have been practicing as long as I have you sometimes just can’t help yourself and end up having to tweak things a little bit…

The instructions read as follows:

Carve and dress one small purple and one small green candle to suit your personal circumstances. Place the candles on either side of a Fool card drawn from the tarot deck of your choice. Burn and trust to inspiration.

The significance of purple and green (inspiration and money) are pretty straightforward, and the Fool is a great representation for new beginnings, maintaining one’s sense of wonder towards their art, setting aside criticism and expectations, etc.

There were no explanations on what type of oil to dress the candles with or what to carve into them. Initially, my plan was to simply dress the candles in a basil infused olive oil (both great for protection and money), and carve dollar signs into them…

… but this is where I ran into my first problem.

Sometimes a witch doesn’t have the right candles on hand. Sometimes a witch has got to run to the store and make a purchase. Sometimes a witch can’t quite find what they’re looking for.

I did find a purple candle, that was easy. BUT it was lavender, and while I do love lavender, I do not associate it with inspiration and creativity. I associate it with sleep and protection, and while I will never have too much of those, the last thing I need is to be falling asleep every time I want to start an art project. I was also unable to find a green candle on short notice… so much for that.

I debated changing my spell completely and picking something else, but I couldn’t bring myself to neglect this spell. It’s too perfect for what I need, this final semester and making my portfolio, it seems like a waste to not start the year off with this beautiful little spell, so I’m breaking my own first rule here and subbing in some alternates.

Instead of the usual coloured candles, I’ll be sticking with my run of the mill white tea candles that I almost always use for spellwork. I will be dropping the colour associations entirely, and instead using herb associations: basil for the green candle, mugwort for the purple candle. I’m lucky in that I have an enormous supply of mugwort near my apartment, and keep basil on hand. I’ll be dressing the candles in a basil infused olive oil and will carve a sigil into each before burning them while meditating on the Fool’s card from my deck.

How to Create Herb Correspondences with Plain White Candles (for when you don’t have coloured candles available)

This is a pretty common occurrence for me, as I almost always have a ton of plain white tealights on hand since I use them for fire scrying and many of my ritual spells, but never got into candle magic per se. It’s very common to have colour correspondences for candle magic and it is a major portion of the spellwork, but I needed to improvise and use what I had on hand for the spell while trying to keep in line as much as possible with Iles’ version of the work.

If at all possible, I highly recommend following spells to the letter when you can, especially if you are trying it for the first time. It’s easier to troubleshoot when you have done exactly what the spell required, in the event that things don’t work out. For this reason, I wanted to keep in touch with the candle magic and simply replace the colours with plants of similar association.

The technique is fairly simple, you have probably seen it elsewhere online before. All you need to do is light the candles, allow them to burn and melt the top layer of wax as much as possible. Once it is sufficiently melted, put out the flame and sprinkle the herbs so they fall into the melted wax. Let the candles cool, and when you are ready for your spell you can simply light them as you would normally and use them as you would your coloured candles.

Cautions: Inevitably when you burn these candles, some of the herbs will also burn. Some herbs are not safe to burn, and some can be toxic to animals when burned. Research your herbs before attempting this and check for toxicity. Avoid burning them around pets to be safe. Mugwort may cause allergic reactions, especially if you are allergic to ragweed.

Spell and Notes

I chose to do the spell during the planetary hour of Saturn to establish control, foundation, discipline, etc. I carved a + sign into each candle and anointed them with a basil infused olive oil. Here are the spell instructions again as a reminder:

Here is my final setup, with the Fool’s card from my Revelations deck by Zach Wong:

I meditated for a few minutes and let the candles burn. And that’s it! I feel pretty happy with the spell, I will report back on it when I feel there is progress in regards to it. I usually expect for there to be some kind of return within a week, so we’ll see what happens <}:-)

#witchcraft #spell work #money manifestation #witchblr #folk magic

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glamourzombie · 2 years

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I’ve been sticking to a schedule, which is good because I go back to work on the 1st. And today’s post is a result of said schedule. The Lovely Om Tarot, created by Darshanie Sukhu, is a 78 card watercolour deck (and booklet) featuring gods and goddesses from the Hindu pantheon, as well as mystical beings from, in Darshanie’s words, “the many dimensions that intersect our reality”.

For her, tarot is a process of self-reflection, so her intention for these cards is that they help you to access your intuition so that you can explore different perspectives, communicate with your subconscious and bring in the wisdom of your higher self. The creative process behind the deck is very interesting: she had a vision of brilliant lights emerging from a candle, flooding the room, and forming the Ace of Wands. I took this inspiration and started painting. She continued with the other Aces, opening the elemental energies of the suits, followed by the Princesses (the courts follow the Thoth structure). I feel that this more natural, intuitively guided process (rather than working numerologically) adds freedom and layers to the deck, making the energy of each card very potent and concentrated.

The art style is soft, a feature of the watercolours and the broad palette used, which mixes muted hues, pastels and bright colours as well as playing with the darkness and light of each card, though overall I’d say that, visually, it leans more towards the light. However, as Darshanie says, “it can go very deep into realms of despair and also reach very high into realms of divine vibrations”. I wanted to include this because I feel that on a visual level it looks softer than what it is when actually working with it, in a good way. There are many cultural and mythological elements, mainly from Hinduism, and surprisingly they vibe really well together, and I think it’s mostly because of the clever inclusion of cards that feel more natural, non-theistic or just do not feature characters at all. They just do not clash, but rather talk to each other to create a detailed, layered message, which is the reason why I think this deck really shines with pulls bigger than one card. Btw, the cards are wider than the standard size, and feature a light cool grey border, and a satiny finish.

The companion guide is a 208 page, full-colour book chockfull of information. It includes so much, that I have divided it into four parts to explain it better, starting with a general part with an introduction, a how-to, information on the structure (including a note on reversals), chakras, deities in the deck, the symbol Om, and connecting to the cards; the second part is for the majors, including an introduction, spreads, plus the messages of the cards themselves, which in turn feature pictures of each card and its name, keywords, symbol highlight, meaning, and tips for when you get the card; the third part is for the minors, with an intro to each suit, spreads, and the same features and care found in the majors; finally, the fourth part is shorter, including an about the author and recommended reading, always a highlight! Both the guide and the cards come in a flip-top box, and let me tell you, the production quality is top-notch: aside from the box, it also comes with a custom velvet drawstring bag which actually fits inside the box while holding the cards!

The Lovely Om Tarot is a culturally rich, energetically connected deck that really shines at weaving cards and meanings to deliver a cohesive, detailed message. It is a great tool to take a more intuitive approach to tarot while having fun submerging yourself in the stories that can be found in it. The artistic quality is great, and it feels airy and ethereal in a way, even with all the earthy elements it features. Darshanie Sukhu really poured her creativity, knowledge, care and love into this deck, from the images, to the book, to the details in production, making it a really solid deck for readers of all levels. If you want to know more about it, or even draw a card, head over the Lovely Om site!

#tarot #cards #lovely om #lovely om tarot #art #design #insight #meditation #om #products

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chemicalpink · 3 years

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☾✧゜Tarot Reading: Who is RM to the members or basically BTS being whipped for Namjoon ☾✧゜

A/N: GODDD now that muster is winding down (and honestly it has brought so many new ideas that i do not have time for but will make an effort to) may I present to you this reading, I didn’t plan on it, it kinda just slapped me in the face one day and I had to do it. So please enjoy!

Disclaimer: This analysis/reading is based on my experience and knowledge of tarot and astrology, it is not meant to be the absolute truth, as BTS are real people, and astrology/ tarot can only capture so much about multidimensional humans that have had past experiences and cultural approaches amongst other things, it does not have to resonate with you since this is in no way related to anyone reading it (unless you are a member of BTS in which case, get out of here lol ) This is just for entertainment purposes.

Disclaimer no.2: remember that tarot as a form of divination only allows us to read current energy and as time advances it becomes less accurate, so it basically reads up to a 6 months period of time.

Methods used: tarot, oracle and astrodice

Jin: so, Namjoon for him is the greatest symbol of a good foundation within the group, Seokjin has very present the hard times that BTS went through and it comes to mind when he thinks about Namjoon in his life, he kinda griefs the fact that he is the oldest and he wishes he had helped Namjoon bear all of it, ultimately, he doesn’t feel pity for him, and Joon is just this immense source of wisdom and strength that he looks up to. This is also confirmed by astrodice, which shows north node libra fifth house, he deeply believes that it was destiny, him crossing paths with Namjoon, to make him a better person and learn from him.

Yoongi: So I’m seeing a theme here, a mix between the broken , the fated and ultimately the stability; for Yoongi, Namjoon is this kid that he has recurrently watched get broken over and over again for his and the other members’ sake, a kid that is able to come up with the most beautiful art pieces out of the fractured parts of his soul, another word coming up is homey, Namjoon feels like home to him, not a perfect one, but a much needed one. With Neptune Aquarius 9th house, Yoongi keeps close to his heart the way that Namjoon was there for him in his darkest moments and helped him through them, reaching a point where he is a source of inspiration.

Hoseok: Namjoon is his answer to wishing upon a star, he represents the opportunity of a lifetime, the reason he is the man he is today, more so, he has an absolute blind fate in him, he trusts him to make career decisions which honestly are life decisions, being around Namjoon, having him in his life is a golden ticket for adventure, he is always waiting to see where their amazing leader will take them next. Neptune Capricorn in the first house also tells us that Namjoon undoubtedly represents an authority figure in his life, but one that is the light of his life path.

Jimin: Now, this man absolutely adores Namjoon. He has come to earn himself a special place in Jimin’s mind as his inner voice of reason, a guardian of his health and over all well being. Namjoon brings the best out of this Libra man, he is a sense of balance, of nurture, of just the purest feelings and concerns that Jimin has a hard time seeing about himself. The dice in Mercury Sagittarius 7th house also tells us that he considers Namjoon his own brother, he also very much admires his mind and perspective on life.

Taehyung: Namjoon is this constant figure in his life, someone to rely on while growing up. It’s actually pretty wholesome, cause what comes up the most is a playful dynamic of Namjoon working his way to get Tae to do stuff, in true leader fashion but he’s always sneaking around. He does however, think very highly of Namjoon, he knows that by being by his side, there’s no actual way that his dreams and ambitions won’t come true. He’s his safe space. South Node Libra 7th house points out that he believes meeting Joon was fate itself.

Jungkook: Listen, we been knew, Namjoon was and will forever be JK’s crush, this dude exploded my deck once again, he goes all over the place with excitement at remembering that Joon is part of his life. Namjoon is this eternal feeling of comfort and feeling his heart swell at knowing that there’s someone in his life taking care of him but also one that he can return the favour; evidently, he has been there for him growing up, and he very much perceives him as this person that he can rely on for everything and anything. Venus Capricorn 6th house confirms that even though he is this authority figure while at work, he is this big softie that he adores.

Himself: So I have no doubt that he is on a process of loving himself, but he constantly feels like he is in a battle with himself, up to this day, he still can’t believe the life he is living, he feels trapped in an illusion, he doesn’t hurt himself over those thoughts, just tends to dwell on them for a bit. Venus Pisces 2nd house, confirms that he is in his way to realise his self worth, to finally see himself like everyone else does.

#bts tarot #bts tarot reading #bts astrology #kpop tarot

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theynanigans · 3 years

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therion tarot theory - octopath traveler shitpost(?)

(aka this started out as a joke but then i ended up finding the biggest and funniest coincidence and now i need to yell into the void before my single brain cell decides to self-destruct)

i'll try to keep this short!

basically, i've been getting into tarot and other different kinds of card decks lately because the elements they consist of are really fun to play around with when i'm trying to find new art ideas and i love seeing how many unique meanings can be derived from the same symbols!

i started looking through a few different people's interpretations of the major arcana a couple of days ago and my eyes got stuck on the rider-waite deck because... pretty colors, i guess? so i inspected every individual card, theorizing about why certain colors were used in certain areas, when suddenly, i noticed something odd about the color palette of one card in particular - number 18, the moon.

at first i didn't know what it was, but then it hit me. the pillars, the wolf, the dog, the crayfish... i've seen those colors before, in a completely different context.

-"no, that can't be!"- i thought as i pulled up my art program and began furiously applying the eye dropper tool to my associations.

and these are the direct comparisons (or, at least, the closest i could get with how wildly these tend to vary from artwork to artwork)

top left - the pillars vs. therion's hair in most official art (this one is the least matchy because i was lazy and didn't do a double take) top right - the wolf vs. cordelia's hair (this also works with alfyn's hair - probably ophilia's as well - but hers is slightly closer to the original) bottom left - the dog vs. darius' hair (this one is especially funny because i found the matching color next to the dog's butthole) bottom right - the crayfish vs. therion's clothes in his character selection screen artwork (this is literally the same color! i was shook when i saw it)

... still not convinced that there's something going on here? let's look at some of the common keywords that popped up when i began searching for possible meanings of this card: - hidden enemies, secrets - illusions, deception - confusion, fear - the subconscious - intuition, instinct - (human restraint vs.) animal nature

the latter especially stood out to me, since it reminded me of a question of mine that had been left unanswered for a long time: why therion is named therion, greek for "beast" or "wild animal".

if this card was used as an inspiration for therion's story and character, this might actually be a neat explanation! i'm not going to elaborate on this because this post is way too long already, but if anyone wants a more in-depth clarification, i'd be happy to provide one at some point!

... but for now, that's just a theory! a gacdfgvfrtghhnjg- (unintelligible)

tl;dr: - at first, this was me pulling a heehoo funny - then it got out of hand - therion and the moon tarot card are connected somehow - i definitely need answers, not sleep /s

#octopath #octopath traveler #octopath therion #therion #no ID #shitpost #theory #speculation #fan theory #tarot #tarot cards #this got really long #sorry lmao #confirming that darius' hair color was picked straight from the moon dog's butt ft. me

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springsaladgaming · 3 years

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hello!! for alex, ansel, and rene please:

🌹- do they like valentine’s day? have they been confessed to before? have they confessed to anyone before?

🌌 - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

💘 - what traits do they look for in a relationship? do they believe in love at first sight?

🎤 - are they good at singing? what is there go-to karaoke song?

🍼 - what are their thoughts on children?

👑- what does your oc want to be remembered as? why?

i’m sorry it’s so many jdhfjdh

🌹 ROSE - do they like valentines day? have they been confessed to before? have they confessed to anyone before?

Alex - Alex loves Valentine's Day, but not the showy consumerism part of it. For them, they just like the excuse to be extra intimate with their partner(s). They have never confessed to anyone before, but they have been confessed to.

Ansel - He doesn't really care for Valentine's Day, but he'll do Valentine's Day stuff for the sake of his partner. Ansel has confessed to someone before, but he has not been confessed to.

Rene - He likes Valentine's Day for both the decorations and to spend time with a partner/partners. He has both confessed and been confessed to in the past.

🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

As mentioned in this post in regards to Alex, nearly all of the characters of Ninelives were developed from drawing tarot cards. (The MC's family members as well as the ??? potential RO were not created from tarot, but they are the only ones.)

I don't have any specific inspirations beyond the cards that I drew for them. I didn't keep record of which specific cards I drew, unfortunately, but I very likely used the following three decks for the characters (ordered for Alex, Ansel, and Rene, respectively). The art of each deck may have inspired how I think about each of them.

💘 HEART W/ ARROW - what traits do they look for in a relationship? do they believe in love at first sight?

Alex - Answered here.

Ansel - Compassion and thoughtfulness. Ansel does not believe in love at first sight.

Rene - He is pretty open-minded, as long as someone isn't purposefully cruel. That being said, someone who likes art or music is a big plus. He's on the fence about love at first sight.

🎤 MICROPHONE - are they good at singing? what is their go-to karaoke song?

I had a similar ask a while back that can be found here.

Alex - They have a really good singing voice. My own music tastes are very eclectic, so I'd be hard-pressed to provide a specific song, but I imagine them going for something by Panic! At the Disco.

Ansel - Slightly below-average singing voice. I could see him going for something by Queen.

Rene - Slightly above-average singing voice. I could see him going for "Hotel California" by the Eagles.

🍼 BABY BOTTLE - what are their thoughts on children?

Alex - Also answered here.

Ansel - Not really interested in children, having kids of his own or in general.

Rene - Loves kids and would definitely want kids of his own someday.

👑 CROWN - what does your oc want to be remembered as? why?

Alex - A good friend. Alex doesn't feel like they are good at much of anything except for schmoozing, so they want to do at least one thing right.

Ansel - A protector because [REDACTED].

Rene - A good brother. There are few things he cares about more than his siblings.

thanks for the ask! 🎆

#ask #ninelives ros #ninelives: ansel #ninelives: alex #ninelives: rene

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serendipitybutterfly · 3 years

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Pick a Card Reading: What's Coming in the Month Ahead?

*Disclaimer- Pick a card readings are general as they are intended for multiple people. If a message resonates with you and what's going on in your life then it is for you and if it doesn't then it's probably for someone else and you can ignore it.

If you feel drawn to more than one pile then feel free to have a look at any of them as there may be information for you in more than one. I'd be grateful for your feedback on if you enjoyed this kind of reading and if you found it helpful as this is the first pick a card I've done. I hope you enjoy and that this may be useful to you in some way! 💜

Close your eyes and take deep breaths, focusing on the cool sensation of the air entering your lungs and warm sensation as it leaves your nose. Pay attention to sounds around you, from the loudest to the quietest... Let your awareness expand. Then, ask the question, 'what is coming in the month ahead?'. Open your eyes and they will be drawn to the pile or stone that is meant for you.

Pile 1: Amethyst

Pile 2: Selenite

Pile 3: Rose Quartz

Pile 1:

For everyone who chose pile one, this will be a month where the focus is entirely on your personal growth and development. This is a month in which you fulfilling your dreams and goals needs to be at the forefront. The archetype card that represents you this month is The Exorcist and this is really representative of you exorcising your own demons; the little voices in your head that tell you you can't do it, that you're not good enough or that lead you towards toxic habits or people. This month, your attention needs to be on letting everything which no longer serves you go in order to focus wholeheartedly on your dream (I love how the Focus card here has purple crystals which match the amethyst... some lovely confirmation!).

The tarot shows that you have The Star, The Empress in reverse, the Wheel of Fortune in reverse, and the 10 of Pentacles. This is telling me that you have the immense potential to make your dreams a reality and that fulfilling this dream will lead to a comfortable, secure lifestyle for you and your family materially. You are like the Empress waiting for her throne to come to her, but you're the one who needs to make it happen. You need to believe in yourself. As soon as you start working on developing yourself, you'll see the wheel begin to turn in your favour. It will take hard work to kick bad habits and have the discipline and focus to develop your skills and work towards your dream, but it will be worth it.

I hope this isn't too disappointing to some of you, but for most of you I don't think the True Love card is referring to your relationship with another person, but rather it's about how you see yourself. You're going to be learning that True Love actually comes from within. Love is a quality, a state, which is born within you and which you can share with others. You never need to look further than your own heart for love. There's a need to shift your perspective on love, on the way you view it and where and how you're looking for it. You need to begin seeing yourself differently, believing in your own talent and potential and having confidence that you will succeed.

It might sound strange, but I need all you pile ones to go listen to The Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston, you could even watch the music video, and make sure to pay attention to the lyrics! I started singing it to myself while doing this reading so I think it contains an important theme in this month for you and could be great inspiration.

Speaking of which, The Bard card tells me that music, songs, stories and art in general will be hugely inspirational to you this month. It could be a song you listen to, a book you read, a movie you watch... Something will motivate and inspire you and it's important that you take advantage of that inspiration. I think quite a few of you may also be aspiring 'bards' ; artists who want to share their music, art and stories with the world. I'm telling you that The Star is shining on your dreams so believe in yourself, work hard and you will have your wish! Good luck in the month ahead! 💜

Pile 2:

Perhaps unsurprisingly, for those of you who chose pile 2 and Selenite (a stone associated with the moon) this pile seems to be very much about you getting in touch with the watery energy of your spirituality and emotions. The archetype card representing you over the next month is the Monk / Nun. Someone who has devoted them self to a spiritual life. Monks and Nuns also take vows of chastity and what I'm seeing for any of you that are interested in romance is that there is quite a bit of spiritual work you need to do on your own first before you're truly ready to open your heart to love.

The tarot cards you got, the 2 of Air (swords), the 2 of cups, the King of cups reversed and the nine of wands, are telling me that you have some underlying issues when it comes to relationships (I think mostly romantic but it could also include other kinds of relationships so take it how it resonates). I feel like there's a sense of hesitating to trust others or believe you could be in a great relationship... You have some hidden emotional blockages that you need to work through before you can be a well adjusted King of Cups with his amazing emotional intelligence, confidence and open heart. The nine of wands in this tarot deck (Tarot of the Thousand and One Nights) is actually very different from the usual imagery of the nine of wands which shows the battered warrior having won one battle yet knowing the war isn't over. This nine of wands on the other hands shows what seems to be a couple meeting each other in a quiet place for a romantic rendezvous... I take it in this case as a couple reuniting after being separated by difficult circumstances and overcoming them on their own... Now finally they can be together. That's the message for you pile 2, you have the potential to have beautiful relationships but first you need to work on the blockages that are holding you back from being able to love with all your heart.

You got the Lotus card representing 'Unfoldment'. I want you all to look up the symbol of the Lotus in Buddhist tradition, but essentially consider that the beautiful Lotus flower rises to the light of the sun out of the darkness and filth at the bottom of the pond. You may have gone through dark times in your life, but don't see yourself as tainted by them forever. You can and will overcome your past and rise, pure, clean and beautiful into the light. You can see with the Water Cleansing card just how much clear water elemental energy is present in this reading. I think doing some cleansing rituals involving water would be extremely beneficial for many of you. If you live near the sea, or a clean river, stream, spring or lake where it is safe to swim and wash yourself in the water, do go out and do so at a peaceful time of day, visualising the water washing away any past wounds and leaving you fresh again. If there's no natural body of water near you, then make up a cleansing bath (or shower) at home and do just the same, imagine the water washing away the pain and fear that no longer serve you. Almost like a baptism where the past is washed away and it's like you are born again, I see that symbolic cleansing with water will help you feel pure and clean in your body, mind and spirit and allow you to begin anew.

Rounding out the water imagery, we have the Water Faery card representing you in the month ahead and emphasising that this month is all about emotional healing and spirituality. Together with the Druid Card and It's Safe to Love card, I'm getting the message that having this period of soul searching and spiritual growth is key to healing the emotional wounds left by your past. I want to recommend all of you to do some Sacral Chakra and Heart Chakra healing meditations as I think that would be a good place to start for a lot of you. You can find guided meditations on YouTube for these. Right now I'm really getting the impression that you're experiencing blockages in these areas due to some events in your past that you've really held onto and it's stopping your loving and creative energies from flowing as they should. Once you give yourself permission to heal and let go of the pain you're holding onto, you're going to be elevating yourself and opening up to the love and connections you really deserve. Sometimes it's hard to face and reconcile with the most shadowy parts of yourself, sometimes it's actually scary to step out from the shadow because you don't know who you are without it, but I promise you all that having the bravery to start this healing process will be worth it every step of the way. Let yourself be washed clean and start afresh now.✨

Pile 3:

OK pile 3... This is a rough time for a lot of you I can see. Right now some truths seem to have come to light in your life and you've been left feeling betrayed, deceived, lied to... It doesn't feel good, but let this reading give you hope and confirmation in the fact that you are blessed and protected.

First of all, the archetype representing you this month is the angel card. Not only is this telling me that you are a good, kind person who is not in the wrong in the situation you are in, its also a confirmation that you are surrounded by angels who are protecting and guiding you. This reading is full of angels. I counted 5 angels in all so perhaps 5 is a lucky or significant number this month (it is also the 5th month of the year!).

All the tarot cards - 7 of Air (swords), 3 of swords, and Judgement twice! - are giving me the simple message that you were being deceived or misled, but the truth has been brought to light and this left you feeling heartbroken or disappointed. But try not to give in to this feeling. Everything happens for a reason and those who did wrong will be brought to justice and those who did the right thing will receive their just rewards. Honestly, I get the feeling that you were actually protected from a worse outcome. You feel the truth coming to light ruined something for you but actually it spared you from a greater suffering and has now opened the doors to you stepping into the opportunities you really deserve. In a sense, this really is actually something to celebrate, even though it may not seem so right now.

With the Distant Thunder and Oracle cards, I'm getting the message that right now isn't the time to make any hasty decisions or take any rash action. It's important right now to watch and listen carefully to what's going on and make sure you have all the information you need before you make your next move. Don't worry, you're going to be guided to take action when the time is right and all the necessary information will be provided to you. Just keep your eyes and ears open and watch for the signs.

With this Partnership card I'm getting that this particular group has people dealing with a few different kinds of situations... For some of you this is to do with a romantic relationship, for others it's with friends or family and for others it's to do with business or education... Regardless of the specifics, I want to assure you all that you have been blessed and protected by the guides watching over you and that is something to celebrate and grateful for. Although you're disappointed now, try to have faith that what is coming to you is greater than what you had imagined previously. There are better things in store and this setback is just paving the way for you. Have a little patience and keep watch because great new opportunities are in your future!😇

#pick a card #tarot card reading #tarot reading #month ahead #month ahead tarot reading

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sledgefuweek · 3 years

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Each year we take a close look at the prompts for Sledgefu Week, for those who may be stuck for ideas or not quite sure about what the prompts could entail. Below the readmore are all seven prompts, as well as a short write-up exploring what they mean and some ideas to help get the creative juices going. Enjoy!!

Sickfic

This is a really popular and well-known fanfic trope that I feel probably needs little explanation, but I’ll write a little bit about it anyway! It essentially covers fic where one character is ill and the other cares for them -- it could encompass any kind of illness at all, (including chronic illnesses) and there’s a lot of room to get creative with it. You can go for angst, hurt/comfort, or fluff: it’s just a really good general prompt that I think works nicely to kick the week off!

It suits for Sledgefu pretty well, considering Snafu’s canon mild hypochondria, as well as the fact that Eugene’s dad is a doctor. It could be fun to lean into it: make Eugene play doctor for an actually-sick Snafu, and it could be just as fun to subvert it! There’s really endless options for canon fic: shrapnel wounds turned bad, heat-sickness, seasickness, illness from bad food or bad water or any kind of tropical disease you can think of (malaria is a big one!). You could make one of them (or both) a medic; you could genderswap them and write the gay field nurse fic this fandom sorely needs. And of course if you choose to branch out into modern AU you can begin to think of what might afflict them outside of a war setting: has Eugene been working too much and come down with a cold? Are they hungover, and need mutual care (and lots of takeout)? A lot of the time sickfic focuses on one character doing the comforting and the other character feeling unwell, but there’s nothing to say they can’t both be feeling shitty! I think we say this every year but there’s really no rules at all, you do whatever you feel inspired to do. With Sickfic, just be mindful to tag anything that others might be affected by eg. vomiting, blood, needles, etc.

Tarot

I feel like Tarot is pretty well-known to the Sledgefu fandom, or at least to those who like to write Snafu or his family a little witchy. In case you just have a vague idea of what Tarot actually is and what its purpose or origins are, I’ll explain it as concisely as I can! Tarot decks started life in Europe as playing cards, but eventually began to be used for divination. It’s made up of four suits, or the Minor Arcana, (Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles) as well as a twenty-two card Major Arcana (the imagery of which you’re probably very familiar with). Commonly, tarot decks and tarot reading is used as a means of communicating with the higher self, deities, or with the universe. They can be used as a way to see the future, answer questions, or to give/receive advice. There are different ways of reading them too, depending on how one lays out the cards: I don’t want to make this too wordy, but if you’re curious I encourage you to check out this site to learn more!

For writers, there’s a lot of places this prompt could take you! Probably the most obvious will be fortune teller fic; a classic. Lean into Snafu’s Louisiana roots and have him telling fortunes in the depths of the French Quarter, or go against the grain and have Eugene reading cards and palms and tea leaves as a practice passed down through his family. Or maybe more casual: modern AU Sledgefu flirting through amateur tarot readings with a deck picked up from a junk shop. If you read Tarot and have a connection to it, you can express that through writing! It’s a pretty open-ended prompt, especially if you consider some of the meanings of the cards; you could even write a story inspired by that! The Hermit: Snafu withdrawing, leaving Eugene on the train to spend the next few months in solitude, working through things. The Moon: Snafu and Eugene hitting a rough patch, hiding things from each other. The opportunities really become endless once you start taking the readings of the cards into account! And for visual artists, this must be such a fun prompt: I feel like it’s so a visually rich, whether you’re re-drawing the cards to encompass Snafu and Eugene within them, or making a collage based around some of the things mentioned above: fortune tellers shops, witches cottages, etc.

Trinket

Every Sledgefu Week we tend to have a couple prompts that are a little more open to interpretation, and this year’s ‘Trinket’ is one of those. It might be difficult to try and think of something to base a whole fic or piece of art around, but we really encourage you to let your imagination run wild! There’s already some great trinkets in the show itself: Eugene’s ring, the lighter that Gunny Haney gave him, Snafu’s stolen gold teeth, or their dog tags. Think of small, special objects that you might have: what imbues them with comfort or meaning? What makes you love them? You could have Eugene giving Snafu his ring, or have Eugene musing over war and death and loss while smoking a cigarette lit by his lighter. If you’re into Modern AUs, how could these objects carry through to modern day? Once you start thinking about it, the ideas start rolling in. Feel free to invent special trinkets for them: or maybe trinkets that they hate and want to get rid of, trinkets that remind them of bad times. Trinkets that remind them of each other, or family, or war. So much meaning can be held in the things we own, and I think it’s such a lovely concept to explore!

Crossover

So this prompt was born from the sheer number of suggestions we had for various movie, TV, and book AUs. We didn’t want to put them all to the poll and risk a lot of you feeling disappointed over the one you wanted not being selected, so thought it’d work best to condense them into a ‘Crossover’ prompt so everyone could do whatever they liked. So this is a very very broad one! It would be impossible for me to really go through the prompt and highlight some things that you could do for it, because you can really do anything you want to! Anything! It encompasses movies, video games, TV, books, musicals... if something tells a story, you can do a crossover. So if there’s ever been a film/book/etc. AU you wanted to do for Sledgefu Week but couldn’t quite get it to match the prompts, now is the time!

Vacation

A pretty self explanatory prompt, and one that I think can appeal to people who prefer canonverse and those who like modern AU too! Do you want to send Snafu and Eugene on the holiday of their dreams, or are they gonna be bickering in a gas station over who gets control of the map? Is Snafu gonna drive across a couple states to surprise Eugene by visiting? Is Eugene gonna do the same? There’s a lot of scenarios you can apply to the backdrop of them vacationing, and a lot of emotional journeys you can take them through! And for the canonverse crowd, you have the extra addition of letting them go have fun on an R&R, or taking a road trip post-war, visiting 1950s Paris... you can really do whatever you like!

Historical

This was another prompt like ‘Crossover’ that came from a lot of various suggestions that all boiled down to a similar thing: different historical events or periods. So like Crossover, I won’t linger too long on it (this post is long enough already) except just to say again: do whatever you’re inspired to do! There’s no rules here, you could even take everyone out of the Pacific and put them over in Germany: give them a different experience of war. In fact, you can do that with any war if you wanted to! Wanna do a M*A*S*H AU but made something else for Crossover? You could do it here! Want to put them in the 1920s? You got it. In the 1850s? Yeehaw, they’re cowboys now. 1969, Summer of Love? 1600s, make Snafu a prince? Literally the world is your oyster!

Horror

Past Sledgefu Week prompts have included things that could come under the horror umbrella (Supernatural, for example) but didn’t necessarily have to be made 'horrific’. For the ‘Horror’ prompt this year, we want to see frightening! Disquieting, uncomfortable; creations that either cross over with existing horror franchises, or lean on horrific things you come up with yourself. Horror movies, or TV shows, or books or podcasts or pieces of art all seek to elicit a sense of fear: this can be done by tapping into common phobias, or nightmares, those things which are universally and almost instinctively scary. We want to see things which lean into that, in whatever way you want to do it!

I’m no horror media expert (not by a long shot) but the opportunities for this prompt are really vast simply because horror has so many subgenres to work with. You could go gothic horror; Dracula, Frankenstein, Wuthering Heights (a personal favourite AU -- Eugene soaked out on the moors, searching for Heathcliff-Snafu? Divine). Or you could go to the opposite end of the spectrum: Jennifer’s Body AU, Final Girl AU -- there’s no set way to do horror, in fact you could even bring horror into canonverse if you don’t like AUs. Think the Terror: some unknown beast lurking beyond the borders of their camp on Pavuvu, or Okinawa. Or you could even take the prompt entirely literally and explore the horrors of war and the toll it takes on them both. Please don’t feel stuck into needing to do Scary: horror is about fear and revulsion and dread, and these feelings don’t necessarily need to come from a haunting! (This is also a prompt ripe for monsterfucking, just FYI).

- - - - - - - - - -

So that’s the prompts for this year! They’re all really really great, and have a lot of potential to make some fantastic stuff :~) And to reiterate something I said right at the start, there are no rules here! I think every year we normally get at least one person unsure whether their idea will be okay for the prompt they’d like to make it for, so I just wanna say here: don’t second-guess yourself! As long as it can be linked back to the prompt in some way or another (can literally be the vaguest way possible) you’ll be absolutely fine. We don’t vet submissions at all, especially not for their content relating to the prompts. All we ask is that you remember to stay respectful in what you’re writing, and when the time comes to post it, you tag and warn appropriately :~)

On the subject of writing respectfully, we’d like to just take a moment to link the document on mindful writing re: race and gender that was made last year. Please take a look at it, even if you read it last year! It’s always good to keep these things at the front of your mind, as fandom is a community sport and we want to keep it fun and safe for everyone involved! So thank you if you’ve made it this far through this whole post, check out the doc, and enjoy the rest of the run-up to Sledgefu Week!

#sledgefu #sledgefu week #mod talk #info #if you saw this post before yes you did no you didn't <3 it has the horror prompt on it now lmao

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baby-witch-eli · 3 years

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Quantifying my Craft

I found this lovely post by @breelandwalker, who I totally recommend checking out, and it inspired me. My cards and horoscopes have been pushing me to reflect on my goals lately so this is exactly what I needed right now! I decided I'd give it a go.

Broad Concepts

I like to follow western traditions; Celtic traditions in particular are near and dear to my heart. This is why I chose to focus my worship in the Celtic Pantheon, and I'm currently working on building a relationship with Brigid. I would consider myself an eclectic, although divination and nature magic are my two main areas of focus. While I like to ask others for advice while I learn, magic is something I prefer to practice on my own. I've only been practicing since late January, interestingly enough I started around Imbolc. So far I've found intentions are the most important aspect of witchcraft and it has helped me greatly to practice intention in all aspects of my life.

Working Space

I began constructing an altar to Brigid yesterday. Frustratingly enough, my mother is going to have me put away all my small little items and decorations tomorrow as we're trying to sell our house. We won't be moving for a few more months though. I'm hoping I'll be able to keep the altar up but I'll look into online altar options if needed. I already keep an online altar to myself on an app called #SelfCare that I would highly recommended.

Right now my altar to Brigid has a white candle in a green holder; a sailor's knot I wore around my wrist until it started to come undone; a silver bell for music and creativity; the first piece of pottery I ever painted; a picture book of the traveling I did around Michigan a few years ago; an empty journal I hope to fill with art and poems dedicated to her; and a beaker (cauldron stand-in) I dedicated by burning a sigil in that holds nineteen white rose petals and a whisker my cat lost. I'm charging a carnelian and working on a piece of fox, the spirit guide she sent me, embroidery to add to the altar. It's positioned on top of an organizer I have on my desk, which is pushed up against a window.

There's a spot under my porch I wanted to use for meditation but I discovered I'm too jumpy and distractible to meditate outdoors. I don't like having my eyes closed when out of the open and I have an exaggerated startle response. Instead, I find it better for me to meditate in the bath. Sitting in water at least ankle deep with the lights off, after everybody else has gone to sleep and when the moon can shine through the window, is the ideal place for me to sit and follow a guided meditation. I find meditations that take me on a journey through my astral space are the most effective.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to have my own space where I can freely spread my altars and workspaces throughout the house. I want to be able to fill it with plants and books and cards and candles. While I'm at home trying to avoid suspicion from my Christian family, I just have to make the most of what I have.

Tools

My first deck is on the #SelfCare app. I call it my "Familiar Deck" as that's the one I'm most connected with. It's brutally honest, which I love. My second favorite deck is the "blue-eyed" deck I use for my Daily Draw. Another brutally honest deck and one I find to be very accurate. When asking Brigid questions, I prefer to use the Yes/No deck. It gives you your answer and is also good at accurately conveying "secondary," not yes/no, messages. You'll notice all of them are online and that's because, once again, I live with my Christian family and must be covert.

I have a quite a few crystals as I, thankfully, was interested in collecting them when I was younger. The tumbled crystals I have are small and few; most of my crystals are raw. I keep forgetting to charge them when there's a full moon out. I'll have to set a reminder or something to that effect. At the very least, I'm happy that I don't have to bother with trying to obtain any without my parents becoming suspicious. One of these days, I'd love to start collecting rings and wear several. It's also silly little dream of mine to get an onyx pendulum someday.

As far as books go, I bought a beautiful journal I've dedicated as my grimoire. It's dark blue with shiny, gold space decals. I would love to collect witchy books but I don't have money and I couldn't get away with it while living at home. I hear there's an excellent discord that stores witchy books and I think it's something I'll look into. For now, my information comes from my internet research. Thankfully, I did debate for several years, so I know how to find sources from accurate cites, but it certainly takes a lot of work to find good information that way.

The Year

I’m interested in learning more about the Wheel of the Year and incorporating it into my practice. Imbolc is especially important to me, as I worship the goddess Brighid. I missed it this year but I hope to celebrate it in the future. I have yet to study the important of dates outside of astrology so I’ll have to make sure I study it more.

History of My Magic

Honestly, I’ve always felt a very strong pull towards magic. I was raised in a very religious family though so I was always afraid that answering the call would condemn me. I grew up reading as many fantasy stories as I could, connecting with any animal I was able to, and spending as much time in the woods or by water as I could. The woods and the water have always felt full of magic to me and inspired me to want to practice witchcraft. Ever since I was little, I’ve had a great fondness and affection for the moon and stars. I’ve also always felt very drawn to Celtic folklore, magic, and Irish culture. I have distant family ties to Ireland and even though it’s a relatively minor aspect of my heritage, it’s always felt the most important to me. Movies like Song of the Sea and Brendan and the Secret of Kells helped tighten my bond with it. I even started learning as much as I could about the Fae after some books I read piqued my interest. I’ve always been the kid who kept a firm belief in magic even after all my friends “outgrew” it.

It took me a long time to finally answer the call to magic. Like I said, I was raised in a religious household. My grandparents even accused me of being a witch when I went through my Harry Potter phase! It actually made me rather pleased. There were a few times I came very close to beginning practicing witchcraft but I shied away for fear of Hell. It wasn’t until I finally was able to distance myself from the church earlier this year that I decided to start practicing magic behind my parents’ back. I’m very glad I did.

Progress

I’ve only been practicing for a few months. I’ve been very busy with college so it’s been pretty lax so far. I’m trying to build some sort of consistency. The end of the semester is a bad time for that, for sure. I’ve really connected with astrology and tarot-reading. Learning about the symbolism of different bugs and animals has also been something I’ve honestly also done, so it’s nice to be able to incorporate that into my practice. Dragonflies have always been signs of good luck for me (or bad omens, as the one time I saw one dead was one my Grammy found in her garage; she showed it to me a month or so before she passed away from cancer).

Recently, I began meditation. I met my spirit animal, a brown-eyed fox, who I ended up learning was sent by the goddess Brighid to guide me. I contacted Brighid about twice and set up an altar for her. The first time I heard her speak to me was when she was telling me I don’t drink enough water (I haven’t met with her since I pulled an all-nighter for college and I’m sure she’s not particularly pleased with that). I’m hoping to get back into my meditative practice soon. I’ve also needed to meditate to ask about a crow or raven that my sister and I kept crossing paths with while going out to lunch together. I’m not sure if it’s a sign of something or if the Morrigan wants to contact me. I’ve also heard the name Cernunnos repeated in my head lately so I’ve wanted to look into him too. I didn’t think I’d have anything to do with deities after my experiences with Christianity but Brighid quickly changed my mind.

Final Notes

I actually started writing this post a week or so ago but life got crazy. I’m in the last few weeks of my Freshman year of college, so it’s hectic. Right now I’m staying at a cabin in the mountains over the weekend, so I’m hoping this will give me the chance I need to wind down and reconnect with Brighid and my higher self. I’m hoping to get a daily routine going for my practice over the next few weeks.

#green witch #baby witch #witch tarot #witch notes #witch life #witch journey

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gaywatch · 3 years

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When you first started studying tarot how & where did you start? I've been wanting to study tarot for a long time but I don't know what to do or how to even start.

Yesssssss, my moment has arrived. <3

What you're most likely looking for are guides to the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, by far the most popular version of the tarot deck. There are a few other versions out there which are starkly different from RWS yet serve similar goals, but I strongly recommend starting with RWS and branching out from there if you're curious.

Overview: The great thing with tarot is that it's all about your specific view, insight, and intuition about the cards. Yes, there are agreed upon core meanings and layers to each of the cards that we all operate from. But no two people will have the exact same feelings and insights about a single card. Everyone has something new to contribute, some angle you never considered. As you gather other people's meanings/insights/lessons about the cards and learn more about the images, symbols, and associations, you'll start to get your own notions about things. This, essentially, is how you learn tarot. What's more, that's how tarot was created: a couple people drew images and inspiration from all kinds of different places and made a deck out of their own conclusions. It's all highly personal, yet strangely universal. I dunno how, but RWS managed to boil down the entire human experience into 78 cards. Wild.

How tarot works: Tarot is a tool, and like any tool it can be used to various ends. The deck has its roots in divination and fortune-telling, but the truth is that many hands have touched and influenced the deck over the past century or so, from pagans to Christians to Judaism to psychologists. Basically, any belief about what really makes tarot work (magic/cosmic/secular) is valid and after digging into it for a while you'll likely form your own opinion.

My personal take has become more and more popular in the past twenty years: that tarot is a psychological tool which can be used for personal growth and problem solving (aka - therapy). By using age-old symbols and images that we have built associations with over thousands of years, tarot cards bring thoughts/feelings from the subconscious into the conscious in a rather astonishing way. It's kinda like an ink blot test, except the ink blots have a meaning of their own, working with you instead of purely waiting to be projected upon.

Where to start: You can find the original RWS tarot deck (78 cards made up of 22 Major, 40 Minor, 16 Court) for under $20 online or at any new age-y store. There are a couple variations of the art quality on offer--just choose whichever one you like best. From there you can go hunting on Youtube, the bookstore, or wherever else for individual card meanings and start compiling them in one place and in your own words (like a word doc or notebook). There's no need to rush, you have 78 cards to get acquainted with before you even introduce the concept of reversals. Absorbing the meanings and lessons* within the cards is equally as important learning how to conduct a reading for yourself or others.

*Honestly, you'll gain an enormous amount of wisdom simply from studying the lessons within each card and taking them to heart.

Where I started: If you dig the secular/psychological approach like me, here are the main resources I used in the beginning.

Kelly Ann Maddox - Her beginner's guide to tarot is indispensable when it comes to grasping the concepts, context, and history of tarot + the cards. She's from the witchy end of things, but I found the way she presents the information to be very neutral and secular. I've watched the entire series more than once.

Biddy Tarot - An excellent place for card meanings. She's thorough, insightful, clear, and accessible.

Galaxy Tarot - It's the only tarot app I've ever liked, and I love it. It has all the meanings, does spreads for you, connects common themes within a spread for you, and just for a one time fee of a few bucks you can make your own notes on every single card (plus unlock a bunch of extras). May as well have a deck and a cheat sheet in your pocket.

Side Note: Since there's no rigid structure to learning tarot, if you need some benchmarks to judge your knowledge by I tend to split the progress up like this: If you're still learning the card meanings, you're a beginner. When you have the cards down cold and you're learning how they interact with each other + your intuition for the best readings, you're at a moderate level. When you can give readings for yourself or others without second guessing yourself or looking something up for reference, you're advanced. When you can clearly communicate a reading to someone, helping them glean their own meaning and lesson from a spread while guiding them through their problems with the wisdom of the deck, you're a professional.

Pace yourself, find joy in the learning process, and if you ever wanna talk tarot my inbox is totally waiting. <3

#GW Asks #Tarot #One day I'll put together my own beginner's course on Youtube #You can never have too many voices or perspectives or teachers in the tarot community

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valhallanrose · 4 years

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Monster Miriyam Headcanons

So, to preface, Miriyam is still technically human - her monster form comes about as a contract with her patron, the King of Swords, and manifests this way because she is halfway to becoming a member of his court. She’s essentially got one foot in the realms of the arcane, the other in her/the normal world - changing or transforming means pulling magic from the realm of the Suit of Swords and rather than expressing that through spells, does so through self modification. Hence the monster form, which was inspired off the Nyx Hydra design for the King of Swords in the Arcana tarot deck. She’s met with Arcana a few times now and while some very perceptive humans read her more as Arcana-adjacent than anything else, the Arcana very much believe that she’s human regardless of what form she takes.

Size-wise, she’s about 7’2”, not including horns (horns make it a good 7’10”). Very muscular and definitely as strong, if not stronger than you think she is based on appearance alone. Prehensile tail.

Miriyam doesn’t break this form out without a long conversation as to what she is (only held with potential long term partners, really, casual hookups don’t usually get to a personal enough point to warrant that)

Transforming is kind of gross, honestly? Like this is some very audible crunching/popping, like when you crack your knuckles but way louder, but it’s also a very fast paced change so you don’t hear it for every long

She’s got some habits from the monster side that have quickly become noticeable when she’s wandering about as a human.

This includes enhanced sense of smell, hearing, and sight.

Smell and hearing are particularly intense, though, to where she can pick up on a mouse running on the palace marble or tell you exactly what spices someone mixed into a dish as soon as she stepped into the kitchens.

Sight is trickier to quantify, but the average human with 20/20 vision can see the furthest edge at 3 miles away. Miriyam’s would be somewhere in the 4-5 mile range, while night vision is about 3-4 miles (assuming clear skies and no obstacles)

Very catlike? Loves to sun herself if she can find a private spot in the daytime, will purr if you scratch behind her ears, also easily tempted by shiny things (particularly gold shiny things, her eyes get bigger than her brain at the idea of Expanding the Instinctual Hoard)

Extremely embarrassed to admit she has a not insignificant collection of gold coins and trinkets she’s collected over the years based purely on instinct - she has no idea where half of it came from

Has gone and still goes on long flights, usually to get out when her nightmares get bad. While her secondary form isn’t necessarily a secret - she used it in the Coliseum during her brief time as a gladiator, and most of the guard is aware simply for the sake of ease - she still waits until nightfall for some sense of privacy.

Her favorite place she’s ever gone was to the Scourgelands, where she flew through the southern lights, and she’s hoping to bring a partner there one day if they’d be alright taking the fast route.

When it comes to fighting prowess, she’s absolutely a predator - armored scales, claws, fangs, speed, strength...fuck around and you will find out and yes I do mean that double entendre

There’s some art refs under the cut from @anonbunnyart and @lajadelmira so you get an idea of what she looks like, and then we’re going to dive into the thirst.

In case it isn’t clear: NSFW AHEAD, MINORS DNI, also obvious monsterfucking cw

by anonbunnyart

by lajadelmira

Still cis, still a lesbian, so she’s still attracted exclusively to women and femme-presenting nonbinary people, the pool is only narrowed based on if her partner would ride the dragon.

Yes I’ve made that joke many times, no I’m not going to stop making it. If I don’t, just assume I’m dead

Absolutely a top and a dominant top at that, convincing her to bottom when she’s in monster form is very, very difficult and usually only comes about in niche circumstances. More on that later.

Addendum: She’s slightly more willing to bend if you want to use your hands/mouth, but straps are damn near impossible for her to get into when she has all of you right there to pay attention to. She’s not opposed to being touched, but she’d really just rather pay attention to her partner like this.

Personal pleasure is very much just an afterthought, and honestly, she’s okay with that

Has several ‘weak spots’ on her body that will definitely turn her to putty, no matter how tough she acts. Done in sort of a sensitivity scale from least to most.

Horns:

It’s not that they’re sensitive, but if you grab her by the horns and tell her exactly what you want to do her/her to do to you, she’ll find it very hard to tell you no.

Loves it and will take it as encouragement if she’s going down on her partner and they grab her by the horns when she does something they like.

Tail:

Her tail is prehensile, and she will use that to her advantage, including fucking her partner with the tip of it (which is nice if her partner likes penetration, because finding a strap to fit her in draconic form is A Whole Nightmare)

However, she will go a little apeshit if you play with the tip otherwise - particularly if you suck on it - and honestly you’ll probably get pounced

Wings:

Quick note - Miriyam usually keeps her wings tucked fairly close to her back as a sort of protective measure, and she doesn’t usually like being on her back because she doesn’t like them being pinned, but can ease into it with a partner

Loves, loves, loves it if you touch her wings - the membranes are sensitive and just running your fingers across them makes her want to purr like a kitten

Fun fact, stimulating the right spot on her wings will actually make her orgasm. (That spot is on the wing membranes closest to her back, about halfway down, and no, that’s not something Miriyam will realize until she has a partner that wants to explore her physically like that)

Territorial. Absolutely a territorial bastard. She tries to tamp it down, she really does, but some days it’s harder than others. Particularly when she can pick up the scents of other people on her partner, that really kicks up the ‘mine’ instinct even if she logically knows nothing happened and trusts her partner fully

She really likes scent marking because of this - no, she won’t piss on you, that’s just the best term I can come up with - but she has a few approaches if she’s feeling like she needs to ‘stake her claim’

Lots of roaming hands and definitely letting her mouth wander, but if not directed to a specific spot she will absolutely go for a full bite on your pulse point to really just layer the scent in there

Tucks shed scales into the pockets of her partner’s clothing (jackets, shirts, pants, etc)

Or, a good old fashioned absolute obliteration - by which I mean she’ll fuck her partner until they’re an overstimulated puddle in her lap plus an orgasm for good measure - and then taking care of them afterward

That being said, this definitely goes both ways, she will be raring to go if you just murmur a ‘mine’ in her ear - she’ll be eager to prove that yes, she is yours, and she’s not going anywhere

When it comes to actually doing the deed...

Favorite positions (in no particular order)

Partner pinned to the wall, any position, just. Pinned to the wall

One hand around both her partner’s wrists, legs spread out over her thighs, the other hand between their thighs or otherwise roaming

I feel like I should mention here that monster Miri has a habit of filing down at least the first two claws on each hand (middle and index) if she knows sex is on the table, she’s not out here to hurt her partner like that

Seated on the edge of the bed, ideally facing a mirror, with her partner in her lap. One hand/her tail tip between their thighs, and arm around their waist, chin on their shoulder watching them in the mirror

Yeah this is definitely a favorite of monster Miri’s

A handful of things she enjoys (all with prior consent)

Primal (predator), some painplay (ft. claws, teeth, and a very strong grip), sensation play, overstimulation

Some turn-ons

Lingerie, but the shinier the better

Gold accents in particular will really make her go AWOOGA, she jokes it’s because of the gold dragon hoard but it’s actually not far off

Dirty talk/dirty...actions?

Just manhandle her she’ll think it’s hot

Any and all of the brat fighting words

“What are you going to do about it?”, “Make me.”, etc

Honestly the more I think about it I’m not sure there’s an off switch so much as each side of the switch being fight or fuck. Like. Miriyam is always horny like this. She can chill but why would she in the privacy of her home/when she’s with her partner

This might be. TMI. But the scale plating over the fun parts is….retractable I guess? I don’t know what word I want but they’re not always out because that feels like a hazard. And unfortunately no nips like this because those are also a hazard, but her neck, ears, lower belly, and the previously mentioned areas are all very sensitive and prime for the touching.

#miriyam von helvig #monster miriyam #lemon juice #my thirst knows no bounds #and i will not apologize

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