#i used Glastonbury Tarot a lot

[lolapenstonrajafmp]

Interview with Glastonbury Starchild shop owner

Walking along the high street of Glastonbury it struck me to see a beautiful double fronted shop with the sign 'magical botanicals' on the window and even more so that there were people inside! The shop was full to the brim with natural remedies, sage, candles, tarot cards, oils and creams.

I began telling the guy at the counter about my FMP project and he came to me with an interesting response

Me: "I'm doing my final project on art foundation on witches in the 21st century and a progression from the previously oppressed label"

Gerald: "I'm not really interested in all that stuff"

Me: (thinking he wanted me out of his shop to stop bothering him) "Well you have a lovely place here I'm impressed"

Gerald: "By that I mean I don't feel comfortable putting a label on what this all is (pointing around the shop). I don't consider myself into witchcraft or even paganism"

We began chatting about modern medicine, consumerism and how we need to get more in touch with the earth and nature to heal ourselves. We began discussing heavily processed food and the derive we've had as humans away from the natural world to a more consumer based culture. It was fascinating talking to him about all this as I had a very similar conversation with my family friend Kerry Ann a few days before. It seems the typical 'pagans' and 'witches' I initially thought I would find surrounding me have so much more to say about the natural world and its power than I had ever considered. I think it's important to analyse and understand why there's a reluctancy for people to identify as a witch- again mainstream society pushing it away? Feeling there's so much more than this label? Wanting to connect to the earth more strongly than any title that limits opinions and puts people in a category.

He kindly let me take lots of photographs in the shop and I plan to use these in the future of my project somehow, looking at the modern 'witch', studying the natural world. 

The imagery of the candle wax also inspired me, metaphorically representing the never ending layers that witchcraft and paganism especially, has

[cards-and-stars]

✧ Fairy Tarot Cards

Author/Artist: Radleigh Valentine & Howard David Johnson

Editor: Hay House

ISBN: 9781401957209

Link: https://www.hayhouse.co.uk/fairy-tarot-cards-deck

Having moved to a country with a prominently Gaelic background a few years ago, I took interest in the culture and was especially intrigued by the Fae. I thought to myself: “wouldn’t Tarot be a great way to connect with the Little People? Especially if there was a deck dedicated to them!”. I was only a Google search away from this deck. Here is how my experience with it went.

✧ The Box

The first thing I experienced was... frustration. The deck came sealed in plastic (Such a waste! How ironic for a deck portraying the protectors of Nature!) which was VERY difficult to take unseal without damaging the box. And guess what? Damage did indeed happen. But that’s alright, it’s only a box after all. So I took a deep breath and dove in.

The box was very poor quality, worse than Tarotorial’s box, just plain awful. Which is a shame because the colours of the box are stunning and reminiscent of a Fluorite. The front of the box shows the Fairy that appears on the Princess of Summer card, the title of the deck, the author and artist and specifies that the deck contains 78 cards.

The back contains a blurb which goes as follows:

“The fairies are nature angels who assist us all with earthly concerns, including increasing our self-confidence and belief in our ability to make a positive difference in the world.

The 78 gorgeous cards in this deck are geared toward helping you “wear your invisible crown” and fulfil your life purpose. Radleigh Valentine calls Fairy Tarot Cards the “self-esteem deck” because the words and images are imbued with this intention. Inside, you’ll meet  Fairy Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses, set against the backdrop of iconic Glastonbury, England. The wisdom of the fairies, inscribed on each card and explained in the accompanying guidebook, will help you put your life on the fast track of Divine magic!

Fairy Tarot Cards makes a perfect companion to the best-selling Angel Tarot Cards. (In fact, you can mix the two decks for even more accurate and detailed readings!)”.

Considering that Mr. Valentine is a self-help author, no surprise that this deck would aim to help us be our best selves. I am however a bit uncomfortable about him referring to fairies as “God’s nature angels” (”nature angels” here, but he elaborates a bit in the booklet), imposing a monotheistic approach to a cultural concept aiming from polytheistic peoples.

There is also a QR code leading to the digital booklet. The sides of the box present us with the title, author’s name and editor logo.

✧ The Cards

Once you open the very frail box, you find very frail cards. This was the first thing that stroke me, not even the artwork. Some edges have been damaged solely by being in the box! I have not used this deck since I got it because I’m too afraid of completely ruining it by shuffling it!

The cards are also slightly smaller but wider than your regular RWS deck.

The second thing that stroke me was that the illustration were framed in a square, each suite having this square surrounded by a specific colour. Under the square you find the meaning of the care and above the square you find the name and number of the card (Major Arcana) or the name of the card only (Minor Arcana).

The illustrations are really pretty and well done. There is no doubt that they took a lot of time to create and, as an artist, I completely respect that. I only wish they used more of the cards space.

Some of the Major Arcana have been renamed. The Fool is The Dreamer, The Hierophant is Unity, The Hanged Man is Awakening, Death is Release, Temperance is Balance, The Devil is Ego, The Tower is Life Experience and Judement is Renewal. It brings a more neutral, maybe even positive aura to the cards meanings.

The 4 suites of the Minor Arcana are here renamed. You have the suite of Summer (Cups), Autumn (Pentacles), Winter (Swords) and Spring (Wands). I find this very creative and relevant to the fairies as this gives us the Court of Summer, the Court of Winter, and so on.

The back of the cards features the Princess of Summer, just like the front of the box.

✧ The Little White Book

While the box does not contain a printed booklet, you can access the digital version by scanning the QR code on the back of the box. This is not a bad idea as it saves paper. We are looking at 195 pages that expand on the meaning of all the Arcana. The booklet also explains how to prepare your deck, how to shuffle and how to formulate your questions. The two spreads suggested are a three card spread and the Celtic Cross.

✧ The Tryptich

Strength is number 11 in this deck.The fairy in this card is accompanied by a Lion and a Lamb, suggesting that there is strength in kindness and gentleness. She has a hand on the Lions main, as if protecting him. It could also symbolise a restrain of our natural instincts that would get us to act harshly or in a rush (the lion’s face does have a menacing look), how kindness should overcome this sort of impulse. Notice the lemniscate jewel on the fairy’s forehead. The description under the picture is pretty on point.

The Tower here is renamed “Life Experience” witch is the constructive outlook on what The Tower’s sudden upheaval brings. In a similar fashion, all threatening imagery has disappeared from this card. The two characters (who seem to be 3D renders?) stand in front of the tower, witch a fiery sky in the background. They don’t seem scared, confused or worried in any way. They are surrounded by mist and butterflies. The mist could be the uncertainty of the moment, the inability to see what the future holds while the butterflies could symbolise change, thusly still capturing a distilled version of the message The Tower bears.

The Star looks very much like Tinker Bell. 9 stars surround her and water is pouring into her hands. You can see some more stars in the streams, suggesting their celestial origin. The Fairy seems to be facing a well of sorts and she is really enthusiastic. I don’t think this card conveys the message The Star usually does, nor the meaning you can find underneath the illustration.

✧ Conclusion

Likes

A digital booklet is an interesting format and saves paper

Gorgeous illustrations

The renaming of the Major and Minor Arcana is creative and positive

Dislikes

The overall poor quality of the deck

The unnecessary plastic seal

The renaming of the cards can be confusing for newcomers to Tarot

While pretty, some cards do not properly convey their meaning

The back of the cards being just a rehashed illustration of one of the Arcana 

All around disappointing. I will keep an eye out for a better Fairy deck. It has a noble goal, wants to bring you positivity, but it feels not entirely thought through and is tainted by the author’s personal beliefs. 

✧ Rating

✦✦✦✧✧✧✧✧✧✧

Thank you for reading and see you later, little MonStars!

[ofcloudsandstars]

Day 4

Thursday started with an incredible dream. Its something I still don't know how to process yet but it was so clear and colorful and beautiful that I want to do something with the information.

I think what might have prompted the dream was me thinking of my life living in Glastonbury if I had the means to right away. Then thinking of the type of local magic/witchcraft I'd probably get into. That probably lead to the fascination with the local goddess Avalon and how nature and magic is personified through her. That lead to this beautiful dream that was really like experiencing watching an 8 hour long sailor scouts magical transformation sequence, but in my sleep.

This is solely my beliefs, but I believe that the divine or 'spirit' or in popular terms 'the universe' is something that exists in everything and within us, and that since it’s so immense and has so many qualities and attributes to it, you can understand that this all encompassing energy is made up of many types of vibrations or frequencies within it. These different types of frequencies or vibrations could be understood like 'chords' in a scale of music or like colors in visible light. People often experience these different frequencies as different deities, being fractions of the divine source and though they are all of the same source they all have different roles to play and different paths that can help us etc. instead of us just going to the whole energy of the universe we sometimes find ourselves seeking a specific 'chord' to help us learn a lesson. (Like for example if someone is looking for prosperity, instead of asking the universe, they might work with Jupiter, or give an offering to apollo or whatever they work with). Elaborating on this idea I feel like many cultures have experienced connecting with these different frequencies and personifying them in ways that served them in their communities. It’s why you have so many goddesses of love that are also goddesses of justice, so many gods of war and sex, deities of harvest and prosperity, of the ocean, of the sun and moon etc. The thing that makes these deities very distinct from each other is the context and relationship people of their communities and lands have created with them. (It's also why I really don't have sympathy for people looking to connect with gods in closed cultures cause its like.. you can either make your own connection to those divine frequencies or look in your own heritage and you will find it. The source is in all of us.)

Adding a read more out of consideration for people that are scrolling. Just more details of my dream and the day I had in Glastonbury! 

Anyway I think being surrounded by images of 'the goddess' (basically the divine or the universe personified by a goddess) was sitting in my subconscious and I got this beautiful sequence of faceless silhouettes of goddesses with auras of different colored lights representing different divine frequencies. You had the 'Eternal one' represented by a crystal prism that was the personification of all energy. She had a rainbow crystal aura of light. The following were just different ‘vibrations’ of her, like all of these were the same source but just 'fractions' of the source.

 There was one for every color imaginable and represented 12 celestial bodies (including planet x). It was all very high femme, yet gender neutral and kind of like this repeating messages that all these fractions of goddesses of different colors were apart of the eternal goddess but the eternal goddess was inside everyone as the universal traits of yielding passive and caring energy humanity needs to cultivate to survive. I won't go into detail of every color and their representation here as it's long, a lot of it is like intuitive though like you could easily see how the correspondences could easily fit into each other, but I am thinking about making a post about this in further detail. The only thing is that I am not sure yet what to do with the information. I am already happy working with the planets as they are but it seemed incredibly vivid and somewhat important. I'd love to do a kind of art installation of altars dedicated towards each one of them. It was really beautiful and so well organized in detail I think its worth making something out of?

ANYWAY

The rest of the morning was me going on and on about this dream until my friends were exhausted. Funnily enough we went to THE GODDESS HOUSE for some free healing sessions offered on Thursdays. The sessions were 5 pounds each suggested donation which we happily donated. The goddess house is like this old city council looking building with 3 huge rooms dedicated to a goddess?? Like my dream they were color coded but there were only 3. There is a green and white one (called the green goddess room) dedicated to Brigid, there is a purple dreamy one for Avalon, and a red one for Rhiannon. We waited in the green goddess room which had woolly shag carpets and candles everywhere (big imbolc aesthetic) until a priestess called us to come. I went in with my friend into the purple goddess room and there were two priestesses there and two massage-looking tables covered in purple velvet. In the center I noticed a little altar of little goddess statues each of different colors representing different elements and I got excited!! Cause it reminded me of my dream!! But before I could investigate a priestess asked me to lay down on the table.

She had an INTENSE and powerful energy. Like she was the definition of powerful crone but something about her was so beautiful you felt this rush of affection for her as if I wanted her to adopt me and we could live in her cottage in the woods that had chicken feet underneath it. She was probably at the end of her 60s with the soul of a 2,000 year old apple tree. Something about her was vibrant and powerful like she had dreamy twinkling blue eyes and long wavy fiery red hair and a blue crescent moon that was tattooed on her forehead just underneath her hairline.

I lied down on the bed and she asked me why I came. I said for healing??? and she was like ok but what do you want to heal?

So I was just there like.. Well life has been giving obstacles and I know more is to come so I'd like some strength to persevere through them please. And she chuckled and very gently said that she'll try her best in the 5 minutes time..

She then offered my knees a pillow and a velvety purple blanket. I felt very lovingly tucked in as if I was being put to bed. They asked us to close our eyes and then they did a prayer to the goddess Avalon to help heal us.

Y'all.. I cannot explain how UNPREPARED I was for what came next.. At first it was them gently humming and raising energy by my solar plexus. I did feel a rise of power there. But then she started talking in some TONGUES, some language of the deep earth of which I didn't understand. She was like whimpering and then rattling something around my body, I had no idea what, Then she was making these FEARSOME sounds of like roaring, and SNARLING! and growling as she got some powerful rattling percussion instruments to shake around my body. I was biting the inside of my cheeks cause some of the sounds she was making were so shocking that I was afraid of laughing cause it would kill the vibe but literally anyone in my life I knew that wasn't into witchy shit would have probably ran out of the door. When I was finally able to be more immersed and got over the shock, it was actually so incredible? The instruments she was using was creating a kind of tactile experience that I was starting to see streaks of light behind my eyes. I do have mild synesthesia but it was like watching lightning crackle into a ball above my head and around my aura protecting me. She whispered like she was summoning air spirits and shook things like she was summoning rain and a storm. I felt like a storm around me that was giving me a new armor. They then closed the ritual by twinkling bells around my head and using a feather to brush away something on my shoulders, crown and forehead. She brushed my shoulder and chest in this way that was gentle and intense like it felt soothing but it was with a force that left a gentle gust of wind rolling off my body. I felt like if any negative spirits were attached to me they were gone then lol.

It was really an incredible experience, like I felt so empowered by whatever the hell she did. Even part way when I was still going through the shock I was like damn even if they are making up these sounds or this language and going with it this is some 5 star improv like it was really an experience.

After the temple we went to this tea room and had afternoon tea and spoke to one of the locals there who was friends with someone in our group. She was the one who told us about how Glastonbury changed over the years. How in the 90s it was a bit more edgy and wiccan, in the 2000s it became more goddessy (but I think she was trying to say that had a bad edge too since it was a bit radfem) and now its turned towards the shamanic side and is about the local nature and power in the land. She said that different groups of magical cultures take over from decade to decade and now its going through this new phase which I find pretty cool.

Afterwards we went to a psychic meetup in this beautiful place called The Daisy Center. It looks like you are inside of an angel wing. Everything is white with fluffy white poufs everywhere and gold accents. We sat in the COZIEST lounge filled with big white poufy sofas with fuzzy white blankets to wrap ourselves in and gold pillows. There were huge crystals everywhere and tarot decks on this table around a huge crystal ball. The lady running the workshop had us go through this chakra opening meditation which was so dreamy we all embarassingly drifted off to sleep. We then pulled cards for ourselves, interpreted each others cards for 2020 and it left us with really good insight for the new year!!!!

[thepatchworkcrow]

For the witchcraft asks, can you just- Uh, would you freaking answer them all, please? 😂💜 If I had to pick, though: What got you interested in witchcraft? What’s the first spell (or related activity) you ever performed? What’s the craziest witchcraft-related thing that’s ever happened to you? What’s your biggest witchy pet peeve? How have you created your path (e.g. unique, unusual, or highly personal elements)?

Yay, thank you so much for asking! ^_^ You know, I might just go through and answer all 105 of those for funsies at some point. xD But to get more specific:

What got you interested in witchcraft? I’m actually like... the literal poster child case for all the whackadoos that claim that Harry Potter will lead kids to actual witchcraft. I remember getting to the part of Prisoner of Azkaban where the Divination class was introduced, and I knew my mom’s best friend was a tarot reader, and I like... REALLY wanted to learn. So I got my first deck for my tenth birthday (and in fairness to 10 year old me, The Dragon Tarot is not the easiest to work with) and I was absolutely AWFUL at it. Like, the memorization wasn’t happening for card meanings, and the readings were just comically bad. But 10-11 year old Rachel was also super observant and decided to start studying astrology, numerology, and a number of other things before stumbling upon Wicca, which is where I properly started my witchy/pagan path.

What’s the first spell (or related activity) you ever performed? If I recall correctly, my best friend at the time and I decided to do a rite of dedication to our study of witchcraft under a full moon. We had everything planned out- except we for got to write in our ritual notes the directions and little incantation to open the circle again once the rite was done. We went from panic-stricken, to laughing at ourselves and apologizing to the powers that be, to some quick-thinking improv. 

What’s the craziest witchcraft-related thing that’s ever happened to you? I’ve already told you this story, but I don’t think I’ve shared it properly on Tumblr before. While studying abroad in the UK we went visiting various sacred sites as part of our anthropological courses. I was feeling really disappointed this particular day because we had gone to both Stonehenge and Chalice Well in Glastonbury and I had not had any “big pagan experiences” at either. Our last stop for our little excursion is Avebury, which is a beautiful little village situated in a MASSIVE stone circle. It’s dusk now and the sun is setting as we mill about a field and part of the circle.My roommate for this trip and I spot a man with a mane of grey hair sitting against a stone. He’s got this blanket in front of him with incense and various tools, and he’s holding dowsing rods in his hands. We are a very respectful and definitely-out-of-earshot-at-low-speaking-volume distance away, and I start explaining to roomie about the fact he’s dowsing and probably looking for ley lines in the area.As I’m explaining this, he stands and turns to look at us. Remember now, there’s like no way he heard us. And he calls out to us: “Have you two got good imaginations on you?”And now we’re like O_O and say something along the lines of like “Sure? I suppose so, yeah?”And he asks: “Do you know where the word ‘imagination’ comes from?” We just shake our heads, so he continues: “I. Magi. Nation. A nation of magicians.” And he tells us this story about how Merlin is one of his guides, and how Merlin had supposedly performed his first magic trick in that very stone circle: He’d made a friend invisible but couldn’t turn him visible again.He continues to tell us about how the Druids used that circle for rites of initiation in ancient times, too. And then he looks at us again and says “I get Druid from both of you.”At this point, I’m shooketh,and I answer something in the affirmative and this guy just... sits down and goes back about his business as though nothing happened.But where is gets really fucking weird is that literally no one else who was there remembers seeing him. Not even my roommate. She remembers me talking about him, but not our conversation with him.A part of me is half-convinced Merlin himself, or the spirit of some Druid, was there that day and initiated me there. To this day it still gives me goosebumps to think about.

What’s your biggest witchy pet peeve? Shitty research. In the year 2019, I should not be reading about The Burning Times and about how paganism as it is practiced today is actually super ancient. I also hate lists of deities that read like correspondences. They are living, thinking, feeling, etc. entities, not spell ingredients. There has to be a relationship built up before you think you can just call upon any one of them at random.

How have you created your path (e.g. unique, unusual, or highly personal elements)? My path since circa.... 2012 or so has been a lot of UPG and taking things as they come. This was about the time the Wylde Hunt first came into my practice, and at the time, it was rare to talk about them let alone worship/work with them as part of regular spiritual practice. It took a lot of research into folklore and developing my own relationship with the spirits associated with the Hunt in order to figure out how everything sort of puzzle-pieced into place.My deities are also super personal. On Tumblr, I usually refer to them as The Hunter and The Lady of the Lantern, as they are beings who don’t really fit in a particular established mythology. The Hunter reminds me of Herne the Hunter, Cernunnos, The Green Man, but isn’t quite them. The Lady of the Lantern has aspects that remind me of Hel, of Cerridwen, of Arianrhod, of Persephone, of the Morrigan. But at the same time, she is none of them. I have names that only I call them, and I’ve sort of been working on creating their mysteries and building more of my path around devotion to them specifically.

[eswynn]

Who am I? My Name is Brita Wynn Dinsmore. I am creator of possible worlds, seer and empath, teacher of ancient and multicultural wisdom, grower of herbal medicine plants, and priestess of nature- a hedgewitch. I've been a teacher, herbalist, and builder of communities for over 30 years. As an anthropologist and retired professor, I am passionate about bringing you my deep knowledge of history, culture, science, and ethnobotany.  All these things inform my approach to ritual, magic, and esoterica. So, let's embark on a seriously playful journey together in my Patreon channel! What is this channel about? What we are building together here is truly more than just a channel. We are creating a community of light, magic, and healing, where I will offer vlogs, video, and in person classes, magical retreats in nature, as well as live video opportunities to connect in real time through learning and ritual. These offerings are truly transformative, deeply informative, magical, and therapeutic.  If you are ready, I invite you to join me in this journey of magic, herbalism, healing, learning, and self-realization! Why Patreon? I am a retired professor who currently teaches small classes and lives off the land as an organic farmer and herbalist.  So to make this work, I first need to build a steady stream of income so I can continue making weekly interactive live videos and vlogs, video classes, and more. Beyond that, I'm excited to build this business as a sustainable model of community-supported magical media! To do that, I need to invest in a few things, which means having a reliable stream of capital.  I will need a better camera and basic lighting, so I can produce higher quality videos for you! I will also need a newer, more capable computer that can handle video editing, so that I can create more sophisticated and well-edited offerings. Beyond those basics, I have some very exciting plans, and plan to bring you with me every step of the way! What do you get out of it? A whole lot! By supporting this channel, you will get exclusive access to a host of teachings and early access to a lot of content.  Depending on the level you choose, you will have access to weekly videos and vlogs, video classes, live streams, and even one on one tarot readings and herbal and magical consultations, early invitations and registration for in person retreats, and more! I'm so grateful to be able to use this platform to build a community where I can really connect with all of you on such a personal level! I also have some exciting plans to bring you into the world of herbal and magical symposiums and conferences, many of which you might not yet know about, but definitely should! I will be sharing highlights and reviews, interviews with community leaders and experts and more. You will get an insiders view, benefitting from what I learn, and the connections I have made, over decades in these fields, and get a better understanding of what these kinds of events have to offer, AND, I want to hear from YOU about where you think I should go next. As we build community here, I can take you beyond local events in the Pacific Northwest where I live, to the rest of the country and beyond, giving you an exclusive insider view the whole way! Eventually, I would like to take you to sacred ground and gatherings around the world, through live video and guided tours. We will visit places like Stonehenge, Glastonbury Tor, Bath, The Chalice Well herb gardens, Tintagel, Findhorn, stone circles and standing stone sites, sacred gardens and sanctuaries in Germany, France, Greece, Italy, really anywhere else you want to go! I'm SO grateful for each and every one of you. Some of you have been with me on this journey for many years, and many of you will be just joining me. To ALL of you, my deepest gratitude for supporting this vision of community. Thank You! I'm SO grateful for each and every one of you. Some of you have been with me on this journey for many years, and many of you will be just joining me. To ALL of you, my deepest gratitude for supporting this vision of community.

[lolaviscomm]

Interview with Starchild owner in Glastonbury

Walking along the high street of Glastonbury it struck me to see a beautiful double fronted shop with the sign 'magical botanicals' on the window and even more so that there were people inside! The shop was full to the brim with natural remedies, sage, candles, tarot cards, oils and creams.

I began telling the guy at the counter about my FMP project and he came to me with an interesting response

Me: "I'm doing my final project on art foundation on witches in the 21st century and a progression from the previously oppressed label"

Gerald: "I'm not really interested in all that stuff"

Me: (thinking he wanted me out of his shop to stop bothering him) "Well you have a lovely place here I'm impressed"

Gerald: "By that I mean I don't feel comfortable putting a label on what this all is (pointing around the shop). I don't consider myself into witchcraft or even paganism"

We began chatting about modern medicine, consumerism and how we need to get more in touch with the earth and nature to heal ourselves. We began discussing heavily processed food and the derive we've had as humans away from the natural world to a more consumer based culture. It was fascinating talking to him about all this as I had a very similar conversation with my family friend Kerry Ann a few days before. It seems the typical 'pagans' and 'witches' I initially thought I would find surrounding me have so much more to say about the natural world and its power than I had ever considered. I think it's important to analyse and understand why there's a reluctancy for people to identify as a witch- again mainstream society pushing it away? Feeling there's so much more than this label? Wanting to connect to the earth more strongly than any title that limits opinions and puts people in a category.

He kindly let me take lots of photographs in the shop and I plan to use these in the future of my project somehow, looking at the modern 'witch', studying the natural world.

[lovetarot888845-blog]

Gabriella, As Psychic As A Bathroom Seat

Religious energy includes auras, angels, spirits, etheric beings, astral travel , God , etc. Need Affordable Psychics? Hundreds of Top Rated, Best Price Fortune Tellers to Choose. Go Now!Hand-eye coordination and, of course, focus are good property for a teenager, for a mature adult, and for the ageing mind of a senior citizen. The left and right hand should operate independently of one another, sharpening coordination for different activities. Studying a new talent, developing the flexibility to focus, and challenging personal limitations are all advantages of studying the piano at any age. Maybe they had. It is straightforward to sound snobbish as an alternative of skeptical. Lévi wrote of Lenormand that ‘her head was filled with unwell-digested erudition', although he admitted that ‘she was intuitive by intuition, which deceived her hardly ever'. Skeptics have since said the same of tarot card-readers. It would require a sociological research to be sure, however it is possible that tarot presents a method to practise therapy for individuals who in a roundabout way stand outside formal or orthodox educational systems. It definitely seems to flourish in places equivalent to Brighton and Glastonbury, not Cambridge and Hampstead. I do not know what to make of it have been in marriage for 19 he cannot get his means and have sex every 2nd day, he try to puinish me by with hlding intercourse all has been in lots of relationships over the yrs , however comes again to me all the I had a piece and cash, now I have nothing and am dependent on him, as a result of he bankrupt me one even take a look at my cv, as I'm 60yrs outdated. I feel washed out and hung out to dry. This generally is a very enjoyable and enlightening expertise, and what you hear in your psychic reading, in addition to your response to it's likely to make clear you as an individual as well as in your future. This manner you possibly can stand to study rather a lot about yourself regardless of what the psychic says and what your views on it are. If you're a believer then you will gain a precious perception that will tell you a large number about what to expect out of your life within the speedy and distant future and the way finest to handle it.

People who're more spiritually oriented are additionally more apt than those that are less spiritually inclined to engage in various kinds of professional-social behaviors, such doing favors for others or expressing gratitude and appreciation. Praying for someone who shouldn't be a detailed pal or household is the one pro-social habits measured where religiosity, slightly than spirituality, is the dominant affect. If fathers can draw a line, they're those who override orders (mommies) and allows you to reside too. He helps you together with your homework at evening and even attracts your diagrams simply to ensure you don't get scolded in class. Each time I made a mistake, its dad who I feared probably the most. Father is the disciplinarian who brings again our conscience and teaches us learn how to apologize and helps us appropriate our mistakes. At times when nobody understands you and laughs at you at your humorous paper boat, he's the one who claps and applauds your creation. He is the one who performs with you solely to lose at all times, with the intention to really feel like a winner. In relation to doing everyday life together, Exercise companions typically meet with many problems. An Exercise partner's recommendation can at all times be accurate, proper on, but no quantity of such recommendation will ever flip the opposite's weak point into strength. Now, examine your self in a single week, then two weeks, then three weeks. Say, every Sunday evening, check your levels. After the primary week you need to really feel a shift. After two weeks, the rattling ought to be beginning to break, so to speak. After three weeks you need to see a great solid flow.

[thepatchworkcrow]

I had been hoping to film part of my eighth YT Pagan Challenge video outdoors in one of my on-campus sacred spaces, but it seems the weather is just not willing to agree with me. So, so I can give you all a bit of a visual, this post will be jam-packed full of pictures of the places I was talking about in the video.

First thing’s first: my on-campus sacred spaces. I am blessed to be going to a university that is filled with small garden spaces and has a sprawling expanse of wooded ravines hugging along the side of campus. In my five years here, I’ve been able to find a number of places to relax, be one with nature, and perform a few rituals and magical workings in. Three of the major places where I tend to hang out and do my workings are the arboretum, the garden behind the religious center on campus, and a grove back in the ravines behind the art building.

In each of these spaces, I’ve found little places to leave offerings, quiet spots to sit and meditate, and have even done a few rituals there.

The arboretum is full of places to explore, and I admittedly spend a lot more time there than anywhere else. There’s a stump I’ve found a short distance off of the path that I use frequently for spell work, and have left offerings at over the past few years. It happens also to overlook a ravine in a pretty straight shot to the grove I’d found in the woods as well.

In the little garden behind the religious building on campus, there’s a statue of St. Francis that seems to have a presence and an energy all its own. I’ve made a habit of leaving little offerings in the hands of the statue whenever I go there to write, drum, meditate, etc.

And then, of course, there is the grove in the ravines. It’s just off the path, and was shown to me by a good friend who graduated a couple of years ago. It’s often where I go if I’m looking to communicate with the Wylde Hunt while on campus, and has been the site for a couple of rituals. There’s a large three-trunked oak that sits in its center, and there are a few places to sit in little nooks between its roots. I like this place because it is a little further away from the main part of campus, and therefore quieter. You can’t hear the bells from the clock tower and are a lot less likely to see people wandering by. There’s also a fantastic view of the stars on clear nights.

Aside from these natural spaces, I do tend to do much of my ritual / meditation / etc. within the safety (and warmth!!!) of my dormitory bedroom, as well. My room is almost always decorated with pictures that are sacred, beautiful, inspiring, etc. to me and I try to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for myself to live/study/rest/etc. in and for my friends to visit.

My altar space is situated by the window, which overlooks a little courtyard and the woods beyond.While I’m at school, this is the most sacred space to me, and I work really hard to keep it that way while I’m here.

Of course, when I’m home for winter / spring / summer break, I have places where I go to practice as well. Due to the nature of the space situation in my parents’ home, most of those places are outdoors.

In my own backyard, I am again blessed to have a great expanse of land full of trees and a big ol’ forest beyond. In particular, there’s a small grove hidden among a bunch of pine and cedar trees where I do some more private rituals, and then there’s Treebeard, a cottonwood tree where I leave offerings, prayer ribbons, etc. and spend time enjoying the space on the shady hill just beneath him.

I’m also blessed to have other little places of beauty within my hometown such as the local state park, my local witchy shop, and my aunt’s gorgeous and wild garden. These are places that really make me feel attuned to the energies of the universe and the natural world, and where I like to perform tarot readings, have debates about different witchy/spiritual topics, etc. with my friends.

And of course, there are a number of places in Michigan that have spiritual significance to me. The biggest one is the Boyne/East Jordan/Charlevoix area up in the northern part of our lower peninsula. Over the years, it has been a place full of childhood memory as well as shared memories and explorations with one of my best friends, Mark.

Being a pagan who follows a primarily Celtic path and lives within the United States makes it a little difficult to visit holy sites associated with my practice. There are, no surprise, remarkably few here in the states. There are Native American sacred sites, but because that runs along the slippery slope of what is culturally appropriative and what is respect for the culture and traditions associated with those sites, you’ll note that none of the places I’ve shared above are tied to those places. I was fortunate enough, four years ago, to visit the United Kingdom and places like Stonehenge, Avebury, and Glastonbury. These are memories that I hold really dear to my heart, and feel very privileged to have experienced in my lifetime.

Two of my very favorite memories from my trip to the UK came from my experiences on the weekend we went visiting various sacred sites. While in Chalice Well Gardens, I’d sat down by the well head to meditate and get away from the rest of the crowd of students I was with for a while, and man and his young daughter sat down alongside of me. The little girl had to have been about 4 or 5 years old at most, and as most 4-5 year-olds are, she was a little rambunctious and was bouncing around a bit. Rather than be upset with her, or harsh, I heard her father very calmly explain this was a special place, and saw (much to my amazement and admiration really) her nod in understanding, and sit down to meditate with him.

The second vivid memory I hold dear from that trip (as far as sacred space and that goes) occurred while we were in Avebury. It was rather late, the sun was setting, and we really didn’t have much time to spend there, but I remember it being a much more tangible feeling of presence there. Perhaps it was because we could actually approach the stones; maybe it was just the liminal time of day we were there or the place itself. I couldn’t quite say.

As we wandered about the stones, we saw an older gentleman with rather wild grey curls sitting at the base of one of the smaller stones. He had candles, incense, etc. and was using dowsing rods. The rest of our group gave him sort of a wide berth, and I (as the sort of unofficial pagan authority of the crew) stood a respectable and out-of-earshot ways off, explaining to my roommate that he was probably using the dowsing rods to look for ley lines in the area. He then turned to look at us and asked: “Have you two got good imaginations on you?” We were a little surprised, but answered that yes, we supposed we did. “Do you know where the word imagination comes from?” We honestly weren’t sure. “I. Magi. Nation. A nation of magicians. Merlin is one of my guides, you know.” He then proceeded to tell us this tale about Merlin performing his first magic trick in the stone circle in which we stood: he’d turned a friend invisible and was unable to turn him back again. He also told us about how the Druids had used that place as a place for their initiations. I wasn’t at all sure on the historical accuracy of those things, but in the moment, you sort of wanted to suspend your disbelief. Awen was flowing, and you could almost see what he was describing in your mind’s eye. He then looked at us again and said: “I get Druid from both of you.” I was a little shocked because, of course, I was. I told him so, and he simply turned, and went back to his business of dowsing as though it had never happened. And for the life of me, I swear no one else seems to have seen or heard him say these things but my roommate and I. That is no doubt a mystery and a feeling I will remember for quite some time.

And finally, the last part for this prompt: circle casting. I’ll be honest, I don’t perform circle casting in my own work. For one, I’ve been studying off-and-on with a Druid organization for some time that doesn’t utilize them in their ritual formats. But, more importantly I find them to be distracting and a waste of energy and time. Circles, to my understanding, function for a few general purposes:

To contain and thereby magnify energy raised during a working until it comes time to release it at the end of the ritual.

To protect the individuals within and the magical working from the influence of any nasty / negative energy.

To create a sort of liminal and marked out place in which a ritual can occur and entities (spirits, gods, whatever) may be more easily contacted.

However, as I’ve mentioned above, I don’t generally feel a need to do this. For starters, I always cleanse a place before I use it, and if appropriate might make small offerings to any outside spirits that might be poking about to say “Hey, please let me use this space for a bit.” I don’t perform rituals in places where negative energy is hanging about, and I certainly am confident enough in my own ability to raise and manipulate my own energy to not feel a need for the circle of protection, or the circle that focuses energy in an external space. I also work with many liminal deities. I think it’s very safe to assume I don’t need liminal space for them to get messages across. When I do a particular magical working, my own personal energy field acts in the way a circle might: raising, containing, and releasing energy for my working. It eliminates the need for a physical circle- which means less time/resources marking it out, and I don’t need to cut a door in it should I forget something (which I often do!). It also helps hone in my focus on the working at hand. I often find that by the time I draw and cast a circle, call the quarters, etc. I’m quite distracted from what I was originally intending to accomplish.

Please note, I’m not bashing on anyone who uses circles. They can be quite useful to one’s practice especially when you’re just beginning! I just don’t feel a need to use them.

And, thus concludes a very long blog post. Thank you for hanging in there and reading if you’ve made it this far.

Love and blessings to you all -Rachel

YT Pagan Challenge: Sacred Spaces, Holy Sites, and Circle Casting I had been hoping to film part of my eighth YT Pagan Challenge video outdoors in one of my on-campus sacred spaces, but it seems the weather is just not willing to agree with me.