Weight of The World

The Starseed Oracle

Today the question in the Wild Woman Tarot Challenge was “What must be left behind as I embark on this work?” I drew Weight of The World from the Starseed Tarot. It was eerily apt for the question; leave behind the weight of the world, let the weight on your shoulders go – leave it behind. My answer to the question was:

Being hooked on every moment; stay off social media and news sites, the world’s problems aren’t mine to solve. Instead have dedicated off times; for reading, for meditation and for journaling.
Caring for others is good but I cannot help if my own cup is empty. Leave behind worrying by creating healthier boundaries. Let go.

I do tend to be looking at social media far more than is good for me. I look at Facebook, Instagram, Reddit and Pinterest. I am definitely a victim of the fear of missing out (FOMO). Although Facebook is mainly to watch the tarot sale groups to catch decks I want (Oh my goodness me I want the Kissa Tarot!).

I want to start a regular meditation practice and while I have been journaling, I could be doing that more and on a deeper level. I have a huge pile of books just waiting to be read. The decision to be made is do I list meditation, journaling and reading as goals for the day or do I actually plan them out in a schedule? Since I’m an excellent procrastinator I think I’ll have more luck with a schedule.

Some related links to push myself in the right direction:

Housewives Tarot

My newest deck is the Housewives Tarot by Paul Kepple. This is such a fabulous deck, gorgeous illustrations and a well designed guidebook with some retro humour. Below is the first draw I made and yes, that is a real retro cookbook in the background, I collect those too!

My interpretation:  Time to chill out, relax. Things are going well but you need a timeout. Some self care and a good drink. Just stay away from the knives!

The Path Of The Druids

I’m currently studying the Bardic grade of the larger course offered by the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Still at the beginning but very much enjoying it. I’ve bought a nice journal to keep my notes and reflections in and have my pen at the ready! I’m looking forward to reaching the Ovate grade due to my love of tarot and divination. Your can read more about the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids on the website.

Decks I am using at the moment include the Work Your Light Oracle, the Starseed Oracle and the Aboriginal Healing Oracle. One of my favourite things to do is to look up tarot and oracle decks on Amazon and see what’s on Prime – a deck delivered in 24 hours or less, Whee! Especially tempting now that we’re all trying to limit our travel due to Covid-19.

Work Your Light Oracle by Rebecca Campbell

To get myself back into both daily tarot draws and posting on Instagram, I’ve joined a tarot challenge on Instagram. It is the Wild Woman Challenge by the lovely purefield.healing.

Everyday Witch Tarot

My newest deck and I think what will become my favourite deck, is the Everyday Witch Tarot by Deborah Blake and Elisabeth Alba. The deck is published by Llewellyn Worldwide.

Photo of Everyday Witch Tarot, the special edition

This is one of Elisabeth Alba’s special editions of which she made thirty copies. I chose a print of the Four of Swords which was the first card I saw and made me instantly want the deck. My special hand-drawn card is of a gorgeous black cat looking at the moon from his majestic perch!

From the first look through I am tremendously happy with the deck. I am aware some reviewers have said that they find the card stock too thin, in my personal opinion it is just right. I am a gentle card shuffler and I never use shuffling techniques such as the riffle shuffle because I am concerned that over time this would damage cards regardless of the card stock.

The illustrations are beautiful and perfectly themed to allow for intuitive reading of the deck. The guidebook is clear, personable and a pleasure to read. This is one of the few guidebooks that I have enjoyed enough to settle down with and read like I would a normal book.

My first draw with the Everyday Witch tarot was for a deck interview. I use two spreads as a guide for deck interviews, either this one from Little Red Tarot or this one by Katey Flowers.
For the interview below I followed the spread by Katey Flowers.

Everyday Witch Deck Interview

My interview with the Everyday Witch Tarot.

1: What you can teach me – The Magician.
I can teach you how to find your own inner magic. I can open the doors that fear has previously closed. I will tutor you on personal power, authenticity and personal sovereignty; I am your magical ally.

2: Describe Yourself – Justice.
I know the way, I know the rules. I know when to break the rules. I will remind you to choose a path of balance and truth.

3: Describe me – The Star.
You have power within but you still don’t trust it. It’s there waiting for you to harness. Look to the light within; you’re too shy to use your talents, you keep holding back.

4: How can we work together – Nine of Pentacles.
We can work on grounding, on study and on learning. I am all about focus and determination and that is what you need. Focus and effort will lead the way.

5: Your strengths – Ace of Swords.
I am sharp witted and confident; I communicate clearly. I am skilled at harnessing focus and helping you find your own strength. I am a path to being open to the moment, to grabbing new ideas and opportunities. Always reach higher!

6: Your weaknesses – Five of Cups.
I do not work well on emotional issues, particularly those that deal with despair. I like to find and highlight the way, not focus on how things feel.

7: Our potential together – Queen of Pentacles.
We have the potential to bring ideas to fruition, to obtain what you truly want. We will work on focus, learning, in following your path and reaching your goals. We will work on careers, learning and magic.

This deck is perfect for me, the results above gave me goosebumps! It even gave me the Star, in the position for the card that describes me; the Star being my favourite card. This deck has come into my life at the perfect time and will be so helpful at this current stage of my life.

Related Links

Deborah Blake’s website

Elisabeth Alba’s website

Interview with Deborah Blake about the background of the Everyday Witch Tarot.

New Year, New Post

One of my aims for this new year is to update my website regularly. I’m hoping to write a few posts, at least two or three, per week. To start, I thought I would share some photos of two of my newest decks which I received from Christmas from my darling Husband.

Cat Tarot

This was a deck that I was very eagerly anticipating after following its creation on Facebook. The creator is Carol-Anne Eschenazi and you can view some of her sketches and photos of the cards on her Facebook page. The deck uses characters from popular culture, literature and history in a delightful feline fashion! Each card is rich with meaning, over and above the characters each card portrays. Check back soon for a deck interview.

Pagan Lenormand Oracle

The second deck I received was the Pagan Lenormand Oracle, another deck that has been on my wishlist for quite some time. This Lenormand is by Gina M. Pace and Franco Rivolli. Absolutely beautiful artwork with an accompanying guidebook that provides detailed background information and meanings for each card. In an upcoming post I will write about my first time using this deck and my first experience with a stalker card.

I have some other new additions to my collection that I will be writing about soon. These include Ascension To Paradise: The Transcendent Power of the Bird Kingdom, The Celtic Tarot and the Avalon Tarot.

Tarot Deck Bags

Most of my tarot decks are stored in their original boxes, however sometimes the cards start to bend a little in the box, so I switch to storing them in a bag. The Witches Tarot deck was one that was starting to warp a little in its box so I decided to try knitting a bag for it using some sparkly black yarn. I didn’t follow a pattern, I winged it using the cards as a guide for how long and wide I wanted the finished bag. While my design could do with some tweaking, I’m very happy with the finished bag!

I have a collection of material that I want to use to sew some tarot bags and plenty of yarn to knit more. There are some excellent patterns available for sewing and knitting tarot bags so I thought I would share a few of my favourites:

knittedbagwtch

78 Days of Tarot – X Wheel of Fortune

I am participating in the #tarot78days challenge which is being hosted by The Bookish Fox – instagram here and weblog here. You can read the first post in this series here.

X – Wheel of Fortune

The Wheel of Fortune represents the ever-changing cycles of life, like a wheel these cycles are unending. This card reminds me of the medieval poem “O Fortuna”. The poem speaks of fate being a ‘monstrous and empty whirling wheel’.

“O Fortune, like the moon you are changeable, ever waxing and waning; hateful life first oppresses and then soothes as fancy takes it”

Carmina Burana, from where O Fortuna comes, was set to music by Carl Orff, it is a wonderful piece of opera.

Wheel of Fortune drawing

I experimented with different paper and pencils with this drawing.  I still need to pick up a couple of proper lead pencils for sketching rather than a standard pencil, however for colouring I used a set of Derwent Rexel Cumberland watercolour pencils that my husbitect gave to me. The paper I used was from a sketch book I found at a local dollar store, it was only $2.50 but very nice quality. I really enjoyed the shading I could do with the watercolour pencils. I felt quite proud of this drawing!

In writing this post I cam across Derwent’s website and discovered their fabulous video tutorials.


Tarot Deck used: Cat’s Eye Tarot by Debra M. Givin. Website: Cat’s Eye Tarot

 

78 Days of Tarot – IX The Hermit

I am participating in the #tarot78days challenge which is hosted by The Bookish Fox – instagram here and weblog here. You can read the first post in this series here.

IX – The Hermit

Magician Card drawing

An older black cat stands calmly in an alleyway. His thick fur highlighted by a white star on his chest. He gazes calmly at his surroundings, three mice sit beside the cat and behind the scene is the twinkling lights of the city skyline.

The Hermit speaks of wisdom gained over a lifetime & of quiet confidence. Time spent alone or a period of solitude is a theme of this card.

In Rachel Pollack’s ‘Tarot Wisdom’ we see that The Hierophant and The Hermit both signify teachers. The light above the door can signify illumination & wisdom. In this deck, I think the cat’s star, the lighted doorway and the twinkling skyline are all symbolic of enlightenment and the lessons we learn in life, sometimes with the guidance of a teacher.

I forgot the doorway and light in my drawing, but you can see them on the card! I tried watercolour pencils this time which was easier than shading with normal pencils.


My original post on Instagram – The Hermit

Tarot Deck used: Cat’s Eye Tarot by Debra M. Givin. Website: Cat’s Eye Tarot
Book Referenced : Tarot Wisdom by Rachel Pollack.

Osho Zen Tarot

Osho Zen Tarot is a beautifully illustrated deck with rich colours and imagery and a well written and thoughtful guide book. you can read reviews of this deck at Aecletic Tarot.

Osho Zen photo

For my reading, I asked my spirit guides what I needed to know and focus on at this time. The cards I drew were Intensity, Postponement and Abundance.

I need to focus on the current moment, not the past, not the future and not ‘what if’. Now. I need to work more on discovering knowledge for myself instead of following a path that someone else trod before me; make my own path. Balance of the outer and inner worlds will help with this. The biggest lesson: stop postponing things because of fear, uncertainty and waiting for the ‘best’ time. The best time is now.

78 Days of Tarot – VIII Strength

I am participating in the #tarot78days challenge which is being hosted by The Bookish Fox – instagram here and weblog here. You can read the first post in this series here.

Cat's Eye Tarot - Strength

VIII Strength

Where the previous card of the Chariot was about hard control, this card is about soft control. We can see this in the kitten sitting calmly in the presence of a much larger dog. Both animals are calm in their demeanour.

The strength card often depicts a human in the place of the kitten and a lion in the place of the dog. Lions (Leo) are associated with strength and being ‘King of the jungle’. In Tarot Wisdom Rachel Pollack discusses how the lion was seen as also symbolising wild or “animal” desires, giving the card a message of subduing ones desires.

In her own deck (The Shining Tribe) Pollack uses a lioness who is reaching for the future yet still looking to the lessons of the past. Like Pollack, I don’t see passion as something that needs subduing; it is part of who we are.

To me, strength is about aligning with your passion and clearly knowing who you are – your strengths. It is a gentle strength that is tempered by compassion & patience. Another ‘know thyself’ card.

Link to my Instagram post: Strength

Tarot Deck used: Cat’s Eye Tarot by Debra M. Givin. Website: Cat’s Eye Tarot
Book Referenced : Tarot Wisdom by Rachel Pollack.