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Tumblr: *rolls out “best stuff first”*

My blog:

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Pluto Retrograde 🤍

@magicalrecipesonline on instagram

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yeah mood

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Stop Learning Tarot Cards Like Flash Cards (You’re Better Than That)

One thing I’ve noticed as I’ve started teaching tarot cards to other people is that they have a tendency to think that every card has an individual meaning and it is their duty to memorize 78 complex sets of meanings before they can begin reading for others. 

That’s simply not true. 

It’s also incredibly inefficient and totally kneecaps you when you move on to learn another deck (and try memorizing ANOTHER 78 complex sets of meanings). Cards exist in relation to one another. Understanding those relationships lets you remember meanings quicker, better understand how cards in a spread might be connected, and give much smoother readings. 

If you’re learning Tarot for the first time or looking to bush up, here’s my advice after reading cards for 10 years. Please, learn from my mistakes.  Tarot is a language

In the same way you learn letters and string them into words and then string words into sentences to communicate, tarot is a language you learn so your intuition can communicate more fully with you and others. And like a language, it’s often best to start with the phrases that you’ll use the most. 

Practice: Go through your deck and pick out no more than 12 cards that are really calling to you and look up those meanings. Write them down if you’re up for it. Go through your deck and pick out no more than 12 cards that give you a feeling of unease and do the same. Notice any reoccurring symbols?

 Tarot is a story

How you understand that story may vary on your tradition, your experience level, your aims. Most standard Tarot decks follow the Fool’s Journey through the Major Arcana as he becomes more skilled and then more enlightened. A similar pattern can be seen in each of the suits. The Court Cards are less narrative in my opinion but a similar progression can be seen. 

Practice: Take out each of the suits one at a time and lay them out in a row. Read the meanings of each card and see how the story progresses. Write down a summary. Do the same with each of other suits’ courts and the major arcana.

Tarot is a system

You aren’t fluent until you know the language well enough to speak smoothly and in most situations. Similarly, it takes understanding Tarot at a high level to give the best quality readings and read without a book. No card exists in isolation and just like when they show up in a reading, you must read them in relation to the rest of the spread - it helps a lot to know them in relation to the rest of the deck. 

Practice: Lay every card in your deck out like this (pardon my bad MSPaint job). Major Arcana up top and Court Cards off to the right and all the numbers lined up with the Fool and World left hanging. Pick one of the cards that resonated with you in the first exercise and look at how it relates to all the other cards in the deck. If it’s the 8 of Pentacles, what do the other 8′s look like and speak to? What do 8 (Strength) and 18 (the Moon) in the Major Arcana connect to it (if at all)? How does it relate to the rest of the story of the Pentacles?  Hope this helps! If you have any questions, feel free to ask! 

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Technically, asphalt is a liquid. Which explains why walking across a parking lot has a different feeling than walking on the road. When tired, walk on the side of the road that has you going the same direction as traffic. No point in walking upstream.

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Tech Witch Talks Random Numbers

Hey you! You want to know something funny? Computers can’t do random. Everything has to come from somewhere. When a programmer needs a random number, they use a generator. This generator has a function in it that spits out a number that fits the program’s needs. How does it feign randomness? Well that comes from whatever the program is seeded with! This can be anything from the timestamp on your computer to the movement of a lava lamp. Anything you can snapshot at that exact moment and translate into a number? That’s a seed! Seed goes into formula, comes out a random number, and gets used by the program. Why does this matter? That tarot app you use is tied to random number generation. Shufflemancy? Tied into the second you hit the button for shuffle. Always keep in mind where your working is seeded from if you are able to determine the source.

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i know vitamin c basically neutralizes adhd meds but lemonade good

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new pronouns just dropped:

- “he” in the way you call an animal you don’t know the gender of “a little guy”

- “she” in the way sailors refer to their boats

- “they” in the way people say “they say that ___”, a faceless and all knowing collective. you are anything, you are everything.

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Irish Ogham series- ✧・ﾟ: Over the halfway mark :･ﾟ☆✧  with the eleventh feda/letter, Muin, ‘neck/back’ or ‘wile’ associated with vine, paired with fluorite Halfway-through does mean there is a full Ogham deck coming soon (it’s going to feature beautiful words too)…

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Sigils With Triggers

Okay, so I got a couple messages from @misaimed-archer Asking about some sigil stuff, some of which being about ‘conditional sigils’ where they only cast when certain circumstances are met, like being in the presence of another sigil or a certain item. Which got me thinking, that’s a totally plausible idea, but how do you do that? So in my somewhat drunken state, I got thinking about it, and this is what I’ve come up with.

So you make two sigils, one for your intent, and a trigger sigil.

So you got those two sigils now. But just because you have the two sigils doesn’t mean they’re going to work as intended. How do you make it so that the ‘trigger sigil’ triggers the intended sigil? How do you make it so that the intent sigil doesn’t work on its own anyways? Well I’ll tell you how!

Putting the sigils inside eachother creates a connection or a link between the two sigils. They’ll act like magnets do when they get within a certain proximity of eachother. But instead of the reaction being attracting to eachother, it’ll activate the otherwise designated purpose of the ‘intent sigil’. So when these sigils come within a certain distance of eachother (which would be decided by the intent and general power of the creator/castor), it’ll trigger the intent!

If you’d like a couple examples on how it would work, click the link below.

Keep reading

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Shameless Self Promo Time

You can tell I feel awkward making these because I don’t use the title field, I just make a header... ANYWAY

Hi, I’m Lynn. If you’re following me, you probably like my techie witch musings. If you do, consider dropping me a Ko-fi? https://ko-fi.com/lynntheory

I’m in the process of adding a store to the page, but for now you can use the commissions feature to get a tarot reading with me, if you are interested. https://ko-fi.com/lynntheory/commissions

If you like my writing and want more of it, check out my Patreon, where for as little as $1 a month you get monthly readings AND a bunch of writing. Win win, yeah? https://www.patreon.com/lynntheory

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This is so beautiful. Gah I love nature so much.

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Witches, Research with WorldCat

Inspired by the love shown to my "witches are librarians and authors" post, let me teach you all about a lovely tool called WorldCat. If you are a massive research nerd like me and want to track your sources for things? This site's going to make things so much easier. (Witches in school? Listen up because this site is good for schoolwork too.)

What is it?

WorldCat is, first of all, a network of library content and services. Looking for books, music, videos, research papers, audiobooks... this site has them all indexed! It can point you at content in databases your local library has access to AND lets you ask a librarian for help if need be. There's even a place to check reviews or write one yourself.

How can this help you be a better witch?

Saved Searches - Looking for a particular topic, like the history of witchcraft? Once you identify the search terms that give you the best results, you can save the search to reference later.

Lists of Sources - Like a book? You can save it to a list! You can keep these private, share them with others, and add notes on each book listed! If you are a real info nerd (like me), you can even get a citation in whatever format you prefer. Items can be tagged, and you can add list descriptions to reference later. Book has more than one edition? You can indicate that too! It’s a fantastic way to remember what you liked and what you didn’t.

There's a bunch of other useful tools, but these are the ones I use the most. Let my knowledge of research sites aid you in being a better witch!

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go easy on yourself. these are hard times.

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DIY Ultralight Spice Kit (for Foodies or Gourmet Camping Food)

✖✖✖✖✖✖✖✖

sew-much-to-do: a visual collection of sewing tutorials/patterns, knitting, diy, crafts, recipes, etc.

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Tech Witchery and Picking a BoS/Grimoire Format

Being a technology focused witch, my goal is to use the advantages of technology to supplement or substitute "traditional" witchcraft elements. This includes how I take notes and store information. However, just like picking out a notebook or binder to store an analog Grimoire or Book of Shadows in, there's a lot of things to consider for a digital version.

If you are looking just to make a Book of Shadows, a record just for yourself, your primary concern is yourself. Think about what works best for you and don't worry about what works for others. If you think you'll have use for a Grimoire as well, some place of information you would want to share, then you need to take others into account.

Either way, when going digital for this, you will need to pick some file formats and applications to start with. Here's a few things you might want to consider:

How do I best process information? Am I a reader? Do I prefer art? Are tables or headers important? How do I naturally take notes?

What devices do I want this data accessible from? Does this need to be on more than one device? Or localized to only one?

Do I want to use a specific device for my BoS or Grimoire that can be magically dedicated to the purpose and kept safe that way?

Do I want a backup copy of my data? Do I have a method for version control in mind? Do I feel comfortable with elements of my content being stored in the cloud?

Is there a particular aesthetic/interface/etc. that will make me feel MORE connected to my craft? Is there an aesthetic that will make me feel LESS connected?

Is any element I am considering a proprietary software/file format/whatnot that will come under threat should the company/software/system behind it fold or become obsolete? Can this file be 'rescued' easily if such an event occurs?

If you are interested in this topic and seeing some of my personal considerations when designing my BoS/Grimoire, I am starting a series on it on my Patreon page. For as little as $1 a month, you get access to blog posts and monthly tarot readings sent to your inbox. https://www.patreon.com/lynntheory