#oracle of devotion

[shisasan]

[dchuntress]

[laurusamystic]

Happy Elaphobolion!🏺

Elaphebolion was the ninth month of the ancient Attic calendar, roughly aligning with March and early April in today’s Gregorian calendar. The month was significant for the celebration of the Elaphebolia festival, dedicated to Artemis Elaphebolos, meaning Artemis the Deer-Slayer.

The Elaphebolia festival was marked by offerings and rituals to honour Artemis for her role as a huntress and guardian. A key part of the celebration was the preparation of special cakes called “elaphoi,” shaped like deer, symbolizing Artemis’ dominion over wildlife and her hunting skills. These cakes were made from flour, honey, and sesame seeds, serving as both a symbolic offering and a way for the community to come together in worship.

In addition to offerings, the Elaphebolia festival likely featured processions, prayers, and other activities aimed at gaining Artemis’ favour for successful hunts and protection from wild animals. As part of the broader religious and agricultural calendar, Elaphobolion also marked the seasonal transition and preparations for spring.

This year, 2025, the festival of Elaphebolia falls on March 6th.

March 6th is also the day that pre-orders for my indie deck, Wisdom of Artemis Oracle, will officially open to the public. As a lifelong devotee of Artemis and a dedicated Hellenic Polytheist, I chose this date to align the deck’s release with one of her most significant festivals—one that is also a personal favourite of mine. The deck features 47 of Artemis’s sacred epithets, including Artemis Elaphobolos. 🏹🦌

Hail Artemis!

[cosmic-ghost-hermit]

Pick a Card: Message from Lord Apollo

Take what resonates and leave the rest behind, baby. But always be open to new experiences. Decks used are Ethereal Visions Illuminated Tarot Deck, True Black Tarot, believe in your own magic oracle and pure magic oracle.

🌤Tip your Reader🌻

_________

PILE ONE

Astrology: Libra, Leo, Aquarius

Song: Apollo by Faith Zapata

Vibes: Yellow, red, white, indigo, owl, pidgin, scrunchies, tot bags, forge, swords, renaissance, skulls, poison, dancing, bus rides, public transport, arm tattoos, 333, 8787

Cards: Justice, 3 of Swords, Queen of Swords, 8 of Cups, The Sun, 7 of Wands, Hidden Familiars, Confidence, Belladonna Visions

Welcome to your message from Lord Apollo, pile one! I can see you had to walk away from something that meant a lot to you to gain a dream come true. You do not feel confident about your decision at all. Mostly because you haven't been able to feel the rewards from this huge change yet. You might have moved away from home or left a job that you have been at a long while. You knew you had to do it. The energy from where you were was changing into something that didn't resonate with you anymore. There was a chip on your shoulder where you used to be. You were not being treated with respect. Where you are going is meant to remove that chip and show you how you genuinely deserve to be treated.

Lord Apollo wants me to let you know that the heart break will be worth it. He knows that you are scared about the future and what is to come. He wants me to tell you that you have been guided to this new experience. Good things are coming and you don't need to be scared. The rewards will come with time and practice. Stand firm in your decision and know things will work out for you. You will receive anything and everything you need to help you succeed where you are going. He knows this isn't something you would normally do. You are a very logical person and you always have a plan. This feels like it is something you jumped into without much planning and it feels really anxiety inducing. Trust yourself. Trust that your guides will have your back. Not everyone is going to agree with your decision and you need to know you don't need their approval to make this decision. Things will work out without the approval of others. It is okay to be unsure. It is okay to be scared. Clarity will come to you on why things needed to go the way they need to go.

_________

PILE TWO

Astrology: Scorpio, Gemini, Cancer

Song: SUNRISE by MICHELLE

Vibes: Yellow, gold, blue, pink, black, squid, octopus, crows, activism, spiral, swirls, fencing, fairies, bubbles, stars, oranges, grapes, peaches, apricots, fruit, 4444, 88, 13

Cards: King of Swords, 4 of Wands, Death, 7 of Swords, 8 of Cups, Page of Swords, Raindrops, Opening Circle, Baraka

Welcome, pile two! Lord Apollo wants me to tell you to take a chance on that person. It could be someone you are romantically interested in but it could also just be someone you want to get to know better. This person you are interested in feels like an air sign (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius). Remember you aren't as naive as you used to be. Broaden your horizons. You don't have to sell yourself short anymore. Change how you think about yourself, my dear. You have changed in nature but you still see yourself in the same light that you used to see yourself. You aren't a victim anymore. I will also say don't throw all caution to the wind. Make sure you have a back up plan and remember to keep yourself safe. Just know you don't have to be as scared as you used to be. You are strong. You are driven. You are powerful. You don't have to hide in fear anymore.

Lord Apollo knows you have been through some scary stuff in the past. What you went through wasn't your fault. You have spent a while mourning and that was important for you to do. You don't have to mourn anymore. You can open your heart up to healing. You can look for love in other people again. He recognizes how much you have grown and wants you to know he is proud of your progress. You have learned what you needed to learn. You are protected from the pain you felt before. It won't happen again. The universe, Lord Apollo and you are looking after you. You are safe. Lord Apollo promises that.

____________

PILE THREE

Astrology: Aries, Taurus, Capricorn

Song: Under the Sun by TWRP

Vibes: Grey, purple, orange, green, shore line, salamanders, lizards, raven, lion, baby's breath flowers, nest, wedding cake, birthday cake, solar plexus chakra, sacral chakra, 1010, 1111

Cards: The Tower, King of Wands, Queen of Pentacles, 10 of Swords, 10 of Cups, 6 of Wands, Wings, Earth Mother, Mantra Medicine

Hi, pile three. Lord Apollo really wants you to listen to your mentors and friends. There is something you want to do. I don't want to sugar coat it, my dear. It is a bad idea. Your guides have been trying to steer you from this path because it is going to be very hard and it doesn't have to be. He asks you to listen closely to the music you have listening too. Pay attention to the music you hear when you are out in public. The lyrics are trying to tell you something important about this big choice you want to make. There is a reason things have been delayed so much. There is a reason why everything has been going wrong. Your friends and guides are trying to protect you from someone who is hurting you. Why are you letting them hurt you? Why are you letting them control you? Why? I want you to really REALLY think when I ask you this. Is this person hurting you? Do they actually make you feel good? Are they erasing who you are? Do they make you wear a mask when you are around them?

Lord Apollo showed me visions of my ex when I started doing this reading. He showed me how depressed my ex made me feel. He showed me how all my friends told me not to go with my ex, but I did anyway. The song I put in this readings description was a song I listened to when I was with him to cope with the pain he put me through. (I hadn't read the cards yet when I put that song there.) Please hear me. Please hear you friend and please hear Lord Apollo. Do not trust someone who says they love you but then treats you like trash. You are so much better than that. You deserve better than that. I see that there are two paths. You can either deepen you connection and trap yourself with this person who is not treating you right. OR you can leave them and give yourself the freedom you deserve. If you choose to deepen the connection it will prolong your pain. You will still end up leaving this person. You will just leave with darker bruises and no self esteem. I have been with someone like this. My guides told me to leave too. It took me a long time to listen and it hurt more the longer I stayed. Please trust Lord Apollo. Please trust your friends. They truly love you. They want what is best for you.

_________

PILE FOUR

Astrology: Sagittarius, Virgo, Pisces

Song: baseball by Hippo Campus

Vibes: Light yellow, light blue, light purple, pastels, black, alternative fashion, yoga, smoke cleansing, geckos, flowery patterns, florida water, perfume, white roses, red dress, sunflowers, hyacinths, cats, 333, 4, 22, 111

Cards: Ace of Wands, Queen of Swords, Page of Swords, The Lovers, Queen of Wands, The Well, Tower, Vervain Everlasting, Salamander

Hello, pile four. Welcome to your message from Lord Apollo. Lord Apollo is telling me you lost someone. You think about them a lot even though you are trying to be independent. Your heart longs for this person all the time. I'm so sorry you lost them. I don't mean to be insensitive but you need to let go of them. They aren't yours anymore. You aren't theirs even if you are still under their spell. I'm very sorry. I can hear your crying to love songs you two used to share. It hurts deeply to listen to something that used to give you so much pleasant emotion. Lord Apollo knows how that feels. He know how it feels too long for someone and cry for days at the loss of them. It is hard to move on. I won't doubt that. He apologizes for your pain. Apollo wants to help sooth your heart.

Lord Apollo wants to help you express the pain you feel. I think you may have felt the need to write something recently. He wants to encourage that desire. He will help you. Write poetry or journal. Whatever you feel drawn to do with writing. I think writing romance stories might help you sore heart heal. Your emotions are a well of creativity. Harness the pain and turn it into ecstatic beauty. If you still feel lonely after writing you heart out my dear. You should get a cat and some rose quartz. You are spellbound by this person who had to go. Cats are good at protecting you from energy from spell work. They absorb negative energy and neutralize it. It will be good for your heart to love a little creature. Cats are also very good at teaching independence. Plus, they are very good cuddle buddies. Apollo and me wish you luck. I hope you heart moves on from the pain. I believe in you, my dear.

[cardboard-strawberries]

Tarot card designs for a deck im working on. I really like collage style decks, but I've been struggling to find one I love enough to buy, so here we are. 4 down, 74 to go 😅

[pagan-stitches]

The Tools That I Use In My I-Ching Practice

This is not a “how to,” just a little discussion on tools I use in my personal practice.

First, I should probably address why on earth a Western folk witch of European descent and a very European practice uses the I-Ching.

(Secondly, I should point out that you don’t need any of this shit, just three pennies and access to the internet will work. This is a practice I’ve grown into over a lot of years.)

Until I came across Eastern philosophy, I was a militant atheist. Growing up in the Baptist South will do that to a kid who is different. We didn’t go to church. Mom was raised Catholic, her grandmother had been a novice nun who wasn’t accepted into the monastic life because of how sickly she was (she never recovered mentally) and one of mom’s aunts was a nun. Dad was raised Lutheran (though the Moravian side of the family is Catholic). Neither family approved of the Catholic/Protestant intermarriage. Both are from the Midwest and I’m pretty sure neither has yet to grasp the concept of “being saved,” they certainly never introduced it to their kids.

I honestly don’t remember how on earth I started reading the Tao Te Ching, but the nature imagery really spoke to me. Worshipping nature was something I could wrap my head around.

Taoism is not a closed system and is “generally understood as a very open and flexible philosophy with diverse interpretations and practices, meaning it readily adapts and incorporates new ideas without strict boundaries or a centralized authority to enforce orthodoxy.”

It is rooted in animism and folk belief and was my gateway drug to philosophy, religion, animism, folk belief and so on. Before long, I wasn’t just collecting translations of the Tao Te Ching, but also the I-Ching. And from there all sorts of books of philosophy and religion.

When I encountered “the Wyrd” studying my own Anglo-Saxon culture and partial ancestry I couldn’t help but recognize something of the Tao.

The Oracle Deck

The Westerner in me just really wants to shuffle a deck.

This is my second deck after my first deck just didn’t work for me. The images were too concrete and static. In the current deck, the art by Joan Larrimore is more fluid, organic and open to many interpretations.

I-Ching Coins

The coins are the only gift I can remember my dad picking out for me, usually he leaves that up to mom. I like to think of these old Roman coins as changing hands all over Europe and as being a conduit to genetic and cultural ancestors. You aren’t typically supposed to clean old coins before using them in folk magic, but I did clean these up enough to discern heads from tails.

I use a bizarre system of cards and coins. With the Oracle cards you don’t get changing lines, which can be an important part of the reading. So, I developed my own personal system to incorporate the lines.

I-Ching Casting Bowl

You can cast the coins on any hard surface. I like to use this turtle shell as a casting bowl because there is a form of divination in China that uses turtle shells that both predates and is associated with the hexagrams.

Turtle shells are also associated with the lunar calendar—and the moon, of course, has its own ebb and flow of changing cycles.

I-Ching Card Wrap

One of the tools I use is a wrap that I embroidered using Elizabethan black work filler on THE Taoist symbol. Yin and yang, heaven and earth—the balance and motion between them is the basis of Taoism and of the I-Ching (and really fucking everything 😉).

Its purpose is to protect the cards both spiritually and psychically when not in use. In Chinese folk magic, the color red is a symbol of good fortune, happiness, and protection. It's also believed to ward off evil spirits and negative energy. I also use a piece of jade in the tie which is also used for the same purposes. The coin pendant is a representation of the year of the ox—the year in which I was born. I picked it up as a souvenir in the Chinese neighborhood in Philadelphia.

I-Ching Cloth

I embroidered the cloth that I use, copied from a “jaw-dropping work of embroidery [that]was done by Me Èè and Me Tchoupi, Tai Dam women in the town of Muang Sing.” @friend-crow

The original piece:

The Tai Dam are an ethnic minority group of people who are mainly from northwest Vietnam, China, Laos, and Thailand. The Tai Dam practice ethnic religions that mix Buddhism and folk animism. They believe in spirits that can be appeased to avoid curses and receive blessings. They also practice ancestor worship. Many Tai Dam people are shamanists who believe in unseen gods and demons.

The use of variegated thread shows movement and change and is what really spoke to me in this piece and made me want to use it in my I-Ching practice—it is the Book of Changes after all.

Many people use a tarot cloth to protect their cards from wear and tear on a hard surface—for me it is as much to set a mood.

Sage and Lavender Candle

Speaking of setting the mood—I love me some aromatherapy. Sage and Lavender both promote calmness and mental and spiritual clarity.

Hag Stone

“Many believe that the hole [in the stone] is a gateway into the world of spirits and Little People. Medicinal broths and brews can be poured through the hole and the medicine will pick up blessing from the other world as it passes through.”

—Brandon Weston, Ozark Folk Magic: Plants, Prayers & Healing

I blow breaths through the hole onto the cards and coins before I use them to forge a connection between myself, the otherworld, and the cards and coins.

————

Again, these are just ways I add depth to my practice, if you are interested in the I-Ching you can get started with a few pennies and the internet.

[hats-off-to-hermes]

I'm setting up a divination shop in honour of Hekate!

Sneak peek - I have four more listings to add:

A message from the angels

A letter from the angels

New moon blessings

Full moon blessings

Divination shop blessing prayer~

I am incredibly excited for this! I've worked on some branding, written up some policies, have most of the descriptions down, prepared graphics!

It warms my heart to work on a project like this for Hekate and perhaps it will become something more in the future

It helps to have small business experience from other ventures that I can apply to this. This feels like a calling though even if not, I am happy and anticipating something great.

Praise mighty Hekate! 🗝️

[magdalene-spirit]

There are images & archetypes of the conscious & mature feminine that have been vilified & disallowed by our culture & have been pushed under & suppressed & exiled.

But when women start to do the work to mature the mature feminine archetypes break through.

No one said others are going to approve or like it. It is a reckoning with a face of the divine that has long been forgotten.

It is time the children remember true respect & reverence for Mother; & not contempt for Mother.

It is time to reinstate the Goddess.

No, you don't always have to be nice & pleasing & start every sentence with 'I'm sorry!

Tiptoeing & acquiescing is a false-self facade, a mask behind which to hide, to be popular & to be liked, to secure false securities, because you can't stand in your own true voice.

Stepping in to the divine feminine will require you to claim your true voice, to draw your line in the sand, to voice & proclaim your yes & no's.

It is not easy, because the facade & the mask will have to be peeled off.

Layer by layer you let go of what is not true, to sink deeper into you & to reveal the true version of you that you find deep inside.

The peeling away can be brutally uncomfortable & vulnerable & exposed.

But it is a choiceless journey for those who have deeply fallen in love, with love & truth.

[croww1tch]

I just got my first oracle deck! I've had lots of tarot decks but I recently found an affordable, nice oracle deck that I felt attracted to. I really like it and it'll probably become one of my common practices.

[zerguette]

Ancient echidnas ocs i drew in a magma session with @/the-crazy-echidna-lady

I've shown em before, but they have finally colours YIPEEEE (and yeah my echidna hcs is that there are 4 echidna clans, being the Knuckles clan the most important one and more large compared to the other clans :]

Btw their names do have meanings in quechua (Apu and Q'ori) and maya (Ch'ul), Frown still haven't gotten a proper name yet.

Also thanks Pachacamac for dooming your people, life couldve looked like this (Tanned had a crush on Frown and Tikal, they couldve been a poly...if only)

[anoutdateddate]

Aphrodite Oracle deck by AphroditeStudios333.

This deck is amazing. The quality of the material is like angels skin. Many of these, or should I say, all of them are Venusian energy! The guidebook is very nice and goes in depth about the meaning of the cards which helps get a better, more thorough reading. I can tell aphrodite is pleased with these! If you’re thinking about getting this deck; GET IT. This is such a need. The edges are smooth, and the back of the cards I live for. 🫶

(Disclaimer: This image does not belong to me. Credits to AphroditeStudios333.)

[visiodeii]

I dont have tarot cards no more (i has ro return it to my mom) so I asked Apollo to show me a message in my dreams.

The guy who I had a huge crush or rather I was in love with ( I was manic!) on in my teens appeared.

What I take from this is:

1. He might come back into my life, as a potential friend.

2. I might get closure

3. I still have unresolved s feelings and I need to let it go

Ig we just have to wait and see!

[laurusamystic]

Wisdom of Artemis Oracle™ deck and guidebook… coming soon! 🌙

[witchw0lvesnwist]

Collective Reading for 2025 The New year! 🥳 Using the Woodland Wardens Oracle cards!🦊

[cookiekitkat8484]

I need the x files girlies to read the original birds of prey comics (the 1999 run) because Babs is literally so Scully coded. Imagine Scully but she can do literally whatever she wants and uses her smarts to take down big international organised crime and help political asylum seekers then steal money from evil rich ppl so her gf can have a holiday on a tropical island. Also they fight dinosaurs like twice (?) from memory. It fucks !!! the ultimate girlboss

[the-polyam-polytheist]

1- Göndlir- Wand Wielder/ Sorcerer

everything is magical if you put effort in, he said. everything has power. plastic, metal, wood, fabric, paint, glitter, ink, mica, ash. these things too have power. my staff is a pale walking cane with runes carved and painted in. i invoke the Well every time i wash my face. my clothes are armor and sometimes drag. some of my wands include: eyeliner, paintbrush, pen. i ensorcel the space around me.