Sojourn By Tarot

 Honestly, I forgot about this blog for a little while. I've been dealing with an upset sleep schedule, setting up an Etsy store, and trying to get tasks done on a daily basis (which hasn't been going very well due to the upset sleep schedule). That's all distracted me from my examination of my place in the spirituality spectrum. Except for continuing to read Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig. When I am able to get tasks done, this is one of those I look forward to doing. I'm learning a lot, even though I'm just doing a preliminary read through before I start over again for in-depth study.  One of the things I've noticed is that the book has a knack for providing information or saying just what I need to read just when I'm beginning to doubt things. Every single time this has happened, it has renewed my enthusiasm for the reading and learning of this occult skill. That, more than anything, tells me I'm onto something with this spiritual path. I hone...

In late July, I did a reading on the results of pursuing a spiritual path at this time. The spread is from the book Modern Magick by Donald Michael Kraig, and he advises that the spread be used prior to initiating any major event in one's life; he even suggests the format the question should take. This spread uses only Major Arcana cards. For this post, I'll provide an image of the spread, but I'm going to do something different with the reading itself. Instead of going through each card individually, I'm going to try to make the reading into a story, as I've seen suggested by a number of sources, including Biddy Tarot. So, here goes: My question: What will be the result if I choose to learn Magick now? Date: 22 July 2020 Day: Wednesday Time: ~04:40 Reading: My first thought was, "Wow, there's a lot of reversed cards here." But I kept an open mind and didn't immediately decide that they were all telling me it was a bad time for this. Using a combin...

AUTHOR: Liz Dean FORMAT: Kindle edition ebook. AVAILABILITY: I got this from Amazon. It's also available as a paperback (trade size, I think), and in other electronic formats. WHAT THE BOOK OFFERS: The book provides information on the classic Smith-Rider-Waite cards, along with their symbology and meanings. Ms. Dean includes little historical notes regarding the cards and their development into the SRW cards we know today, and appendices with more detailed information regarding the cards than she presents in the body of the book. WHAT I DISLIKED ABOUT THE BOOK: Honestly, at times it almost seemed as if too much information was being offered, particularly for the Major Arcana. By comparison, the information about the Minor Arcana was very thin. While I understand the importance of the Major Arcana cards, I still would have liked to have seen as much information about the Minor Arcana cards. WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE BOOK: I really liked the detailed information about the...

I have a somewhat unusual way of shuffling tarot cards, and it's primarily because I have medical issues which prevent normal flat-to-the-table shuffling. Several years ago, my left arm suffered an injury that required physical therapy to correct. Since then, I've had difficulty shuffling even standard-sized playing cards, like Bicycle cards, the flat-to-the-table way. With an even more recent injury to my left elbow, the traditional method of shuffling is even more difficult because my left hand now lacks the strength required to hold the cards for shuffling the traditional way.

Considering my general lack of faith in any organized religion, including Wicca and Pagan faiths, I've begun to wonder just how deeply I'll delve into the more esoteric side of tarot reading. My personal term for it up to this point has been the rather disrespectful term "woo-woo", but I'm too conscientious to allow myself to use that term any more (I'm writing this in the wee hours of New Year's Eve Day).

WHERE PURCHASED: I backed this deck on Kickstarter in early 2019 CONTRIBUTER(S): Leah Pantéa, creator and artist PUBLISHED BY: Self-published AVAILABILITY: At thevindurdeck.com with a preorder button; at illustrationxleah.com with a buy button ABOUT THE DECK: Ms. Pantéa took the Icelandic word for "wind", vindur, and applied it to her conception of what this tarot deck should be. The Fool of the Major Arcana is a gender-neutral individual who encounters various teachers who give them different lessons on their way through the rest of the Major Arcana, a journey that is told as a tale one card at a time. All of this is mirrored in the Minor Arcana, where each Element makes a journey through each card, with notes on how the cards are defined. GUIDEBOOK: The guide booklet isn't as large as I was expecting it to be, given the image provided on the Kickstarter page, but it is a bit larger and sturdier than standard booklets. Ms. Pantéa writes a little introducti...

FOR WHOM: Myself TIME/DATE: ~00:15; 28 December 2019 QUESTION: Not so much a question as I just focused on my job situation with my right hand on the deck. DECK: Vindur Deck SPREAD: My Modified Celtic Cross Spread SOURCE: biddytarot.com READING: 1) The Situation: VI - The Lovers, Reversed According to this card, there is some sort of disharmony in my life. On further reading, it seems to indicate I'm not loving and respecting myself. In the realm of employment, I feel that's correct. I've wanted to get back into work for years, and I finally see a way that I can do so. 2) Challenges Inherent in the Situation: V - "Chiron" - The Hierophant, Reversed Something about the current situation challenges me. I don't want to change it. This card seems to indicate that I've been challenging myself more than anything external challenging me. I've been introspective and am upsetting "the status quo" as Biddy Tarot calls ...

I haven't been a practicing tarot reader very long, but I'm realizing that when something doesn't work for me, it's probably perfectly fine to alter it so it does. This is what happened when I wanted to do a reading with the Celtic Cross spread just before the end of December and couldn't find any version I liked as-is.

WHERE PURCHASED: I backed this particular deck on Kickstarter in early 2019. CONTRIBUTER(S): Jessica Bott PUBLISHED BY: Jessica Bott AVAILABILITY: It should be available on  Jessica Bott's website . She also has an  Instagram . ABOUT THE DECK: This deck is a plant-themed tarot and oracle deck consisting of 22 Major Arcana cards represented by Trees; 4 suits of Minor Arcana cards represented by, variously, Flowers (Cups), Crops (Pentacles), Spices (Wands), and Cacti (Swords); 60 Oracle Cards divided into five suits represented by, variously, Poisons, Herbs, Medicines, Mushrooms, and Carnivorous; and 2 single cards, The Unknown - Seedpod, and the Ace of Tea. And, yes, Bottanical was spelled that way deliberately by the deck's creator, using her last name of Bott. GUIDEBOOK: This deck comes with a guidebook particular to the deck. The cards are listed by their names or nicknames (also on their cards), along with their scientific names, keywords, and factoids about...

I am a student of Tarot and Lenormand—though more with tarot. My journey began in earnest in 2019, and despite a number of interruptions, continues. The main reason why I chose to learn the tarot is because I've always had a fascination with it. Every opportunity I had, I got tarot readings from readers whom I chanced upon at fan conventions and pagan parties I went to. If I had money, I paid for those readings, because they all proved to be quite accurate to my life and situations, even if the readings didn't address the question I actually asked.