Witchy This & That~

[Amulette]

Originally Posted by candy_coated_bitch

I am pretty religious about my full moon rituals. Well, I consider Wicca/Witchcraft my religion so it's important for me to honor the Goddess on the full moon. I really enjoy my esbats and find them powerful and magickal.

I keep a record of my magick in a journal/Book of Shadows.

My main form of divination is tarot. I've been reading for over 20 years. And I'm starting to get into scrying.

Thanks also for the Old World Witchcraft tip!

Thanks for sharing about your practice It sounds like you have established a good rhythm with it, and able to gather with others and practice sounds magickal indeedl!! Especially if the dynamics complement one another.

WOW, reading tarot for 20 years! I'm just beginning with that. Any general tips that you had wished you had known early on that you feel like sharing?

[candy_coated_bitch]

Originally Posted by Amulette

Thanks for sharing about your practice It sounds like you have established a good rhythm with it, and able to gather with others and practice sounds magickal indeedl!! Especially if the dynamics complement one another.

WOW, reading tarot for 20 years! I'm just beginning with that. Any general tips that you had wished you had known early on that you feel like sharing?

Sure! It kind of depends on how serious you are about tarot and how much time you're willing to put into it.

For one, make tarot a daily practice. Pull a card in the mornings and look up the meanings. In addition to the book the cards came with there are tons of beginner tarot books out there, and aeclectic tarot (aeclectic.net) is a wonderful online resource. Anyway, after you have an idea of what the card means, meditate on it a little bit. Find your own associations with the images in that card. Put a in couple minutes if you're in a hurry or longer if you wish. Then, pay attention to your day and see how the card influences your day and the little coincidences that pop up.

Note: if you're a beginner you may want to start at the very beginning of the deck and go in order rather than pulling cards randomly.

One thing I also really wish someone told me at the beginning is NOT to worry about reversals. There are two schools of thought on reversals, one being that 78 cards are enough information and reversals are necessary, and the other being that reversals add a more nuanced way of reading tarot. But it's a lot to take in in the beginning. I personally no longer use reversals. Once I made the decision not to, my understanding of the deck completely opened up. If after getting familiar with the basic card meanings, you feel you want to add in reversals, do so. But in the beginning I think it's more of a hindrance towards learning the deck than a help. I really wish someone had told me I could let that go when I was a beginner.

If you are really committed to learning tarot, I recommend creating a tarot journal with a page devoted to each card. Jot down your ideas and associations about each card. Insights and flashes will come to you when you least expect it.

My bff from college and I went through the entire deck twice and wrote up our meanings and insights and shared them. If you have someone else to study with, that can be motivation!

Lastly, do things the way that feel best for YOU. There are really no hard and fast rules in tarot except to respect the cards and not abuse them. But explore different ways of shuffling, cutting or not cutting the deck, you can even devise your own tarot spreads! And if you have an association with a card that's different, listen to your gut.

I personally never cut the deck, and have been doing the Celtic Cross spread "wrong" for over 20 years. But because I'm consistent with it and my cards know my way of doing things it always works out.

I'd recommend cleansing your deck and charging it once in a while in the moonlight or sunlight, depending on the energies you want. Also, keep them in a container. The box they came in is fine but you can also find boxes and bags to hold your cards in. Keep them somewhere near your bed, especially when you're breaking in a new deck. You can sleep with it under your pillow or keep it on your nightstand. I have a few decks in current regular rotation and they are all near my bed.

Sorry if this is way more info than you wanted lol. If you have any specific questions I am happy to try and answer.

Happy reading!

[candy_coated_bitch]

I thought of one more thing--get off book as quickly as you can and trust your own gut and intuition when you read. It can become a crutch where you feel you always have to look up every card, even though deep down you know what the card means. (Been there! I still get the urge to grab a book sometimes and it's ridiculous because I KNOW tarot by now!)

[Amulette]

Originally Posted by candy_coated_bitch

Sure! It kind of depends on how serious you are about tarot and how much time you're willing to put into it.

For one, make tarot a daily practice. Pull a card in the mornings and look up the meanings. In addition to the book the cards came with there are tons of beginner tarot books out there, and aeclectic tarot (aeclectic.net) is a wonderful online resource. Anyway, after you have an idea of what the card means, meditate on it a little bit. Find your own associations with the images in that card. Put a in couple minutes if you're in a hurry or longer if you wish. Then, pay attention to your day and see how the card influences your day and the little coincidences that pop up.

Note: if you're a beginner you may want to start at the very beginning of the deck and go in order rather than pulling cards randomly.

One thing I also really wish someone told me at the beginning is NOT to worry about reversals. There are two schools of thought on reversals, one being that 78 cards are enough information and reversals are necessary, and the other being that reversals add a more nuanced way of reading tarot. But it's a lot to take in in the beginning. I personally no longer use reversals. Once I made the decision not to, my understanding of the deck completely opened up. If after getting familiar with the basic card meanings, you feel you want to add in reversals, do so. But in the beginning I think it's more of a hindrance towards learning the deck than a help. I really wish someone had told me I could let that go when I was a beginner.

If you are really committed to learning tarot, I recommend creating a tarot journal with a page devoted to each card. Jot down your ideas and associations about each card. Insights and flashes will come to you when you least expect it.

My bff from college and I went through the entire deck twice and wrote up our meanings and insights and shared them. If you have someone else to study with, that can be motivation!

Lastly, do things the way that feel best for YOU. There are really no hard and fast rules in tarot except to respect the cards and not abuse them. But explore different ways of shuffling, cutting or not cutting the deck, you can even devise your own tarot spreads! And if you have an association with a card that's different, listen to your gut.

I personally never cut the deck, and have been doing the Celtic Cross spread "wrong" for over 20 years. But because I'm consistent with it and my cards know my way of doing things it always works out.

I'd recommend cleansing your deck and charging it once in a while in the moonlight or sunlight, depending on the energies you want. Also, keep them in a container. The box they came in is fine but you can also find boxes and bags to hold your cards in. Keep them somewhere near your bed, especially when you're breaking in a new deck. You can sleep with it under your pillow or keep it on your nightstand. I have a few decks in current regular rotation and they are all near my bed.

Sorry if this is way more info than you wanted lol. If you have any specific questions I am happy to try and answer.

Happy reading!

Thank you so much CCB for taking the time to share your experience with me. I appreciate you! I have to say I breathed a sigh of relief after reading your advice. I have been stuck on the starting line and I realized after reading your post that I was so worried about doing everything perfectly that it was putting me out of sync with myself. It also was creating fear around doing it at all.

A friend of mine had been sporadically teaching me and she emulated the exact way her Grandmother did things. I respect that, but not knowing her Grandmother it all became very abstract. Now I feel like I can be more playful and curious and find my own way with it. My friend gave me a deck that is not a "traditional deck" but I'm really drawn to the artwork and tone of the explanations. So here I begin, card 1 and a fresh new notebook. My heart is grateful!

[candy_coated_bitch]

Originally Posted by Amulette

Thank you so much CCB for taking the time to share your experience with me. I appreciate you! I have to say I breathed a sigh of relief after reading your advice. I have been stuck on the starting line and I realized after reading your post that I was so worried about doing everything perfectly that it was putting me out of sync with myself. It also was creating fear around doing it at all.

A friend of mine had been sporadically teaching me and she emulated the exact way her Grandmother did things. I respect that, but not knowing her Grandmother it all became very abstract. Now I feel like I can be more playful and curious and find my own way with it. My friend gave me a deck that is not a "traditional deck" but I'm really drawn to the artwork and tone of the explanations. So here I begin, card 1 and a fresh new notebook. My heart is grateful!

I'm so glad I could be of help!!

Yes, some people's way of doing tarot is very precise and restrictive. If your friend's grandmother's way of doing things works for them, great. But I believe the best way of reading tarot is the path we discover for ourselves! Definitely feel free to play and experiment. I think you'll find the cards will play back.

Have fun on your new journey!

[kittygrrl]

[Amulette]

I find this blend really appealing.

[kittygrrl]