1919 Ouija via Phantoms and Monsters

Lon Strickler at his blog Phantoms and Monsters (his blog has a new look; nice!) has a piece on use of the ouija back in 1919, and one family's experience.



I found the following interesting, concerning reactions by the University of Michigan to using the ouija board:

Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal: At the University of Michigan, Ouija boards were reportedly “replacing Bibles and prayer books,” so that a local nerve specialist was treating female students for “extreme nervousness” brought about by “too close association with the Ouija board and too great belief in its wandering. They had become fascinated by its message and had come to place so much trust in them that they were in a serious condition when they were turned over to him.” Men were also vulnerable, and a member of the staff warned that “[T]he ouija is becoming a serious menace to this country.”

The Twin Peaks Tarot | The Daily Grail

Oh this is good! A tarot deck based on one of my favorite television series, Twin Peaks. The creator, Benjamin Mackey, utilizes the Rider deck as the foundation for his take using characters from Twin Peaks. The Daily Grail (a site you must visit -- every day!) has more.

"The Twin Peaks Tarot | The Daily Grail: I think there are certain characters that David Lynch was purposefully basing off Tarot archetypes. There's one scene where Major Garland Briggs, he's talking about his experiences in the White Lodge, and there's a scene where he's sitting on this stone throne and he's surrounded by this lush greenery, and the pose he's striking is almost exactly the pose that the hierophant strikes. Then there's also a scene with Blackie at One-Eyed Jack's, she's at her table and she's playing the Tarot Cards. And it's a really small thing, you don't see her doing it a lot and they don't make a lot of direct references to it...but something like that, makes me think that maybe David Lynch has more of a conscious connection to the Tarot." (Benjamin Mackey,creator of the Twin Peaks Tarot)

From Patheos: "Scrying Over You"

Scrying Over You: In the end, the magic’s not in the physical tool. It’s in you, and you can start out with some simple household or inexpensive items. So feel free to use an old, black coffee cup filled with water as a scrying pool. But once you start using it for that, it’s probably best not to also use it for your morning coffee. The first step in scrying is perceiving the spiritual aspects of the world. The second (and often more difficult) part is being able to understand what you see, and interpret what it means back here in the everyday. (Patheos)

Good advice and insights on scrying. Something I've tried, and continue to explore, and I agree with the author that it's not all about distinct and dramatic pictures -- like a movie -- but something more subtle. I also like the advice that anything can be used for scrying; a bowl of water, etc. It's fun as well as comforting, for myself, to use mirrors (especially if you made them yourself) but not necessary. Also not necessary to use a crystal ball, which, depending on the size, can be very expensive. It's not always about the tools, but it is always about you, your intentions, and your relationship with the spirits.

LeGrande Circus & Sideshow Tarot

From the Aeclectic Tarot site, this new deck with a circus theme. Here's the blurb from the site:

LeGrande Circus & Sideshow Tarot: The LeGrande Circus & Sideshow Tarot was created by a former professional clown, and has 78 cards illustrated in the style of vintage circus posters. Each major arcana card features a well-known circus archetype (from the magician to the balanced elephant), while the minor arcana show everyday scenes from life under the big top and its sideshows. - Created by Joe Lee
Tarot Deck - 78 Cards - US Games 2015

I am both intrigued and repelled (mostly repelled) by circus and carnival themes. (And I intensely dislike clowns. Disgusting things.)  After all, I come from circus folk. Really, I do. You can find my I Come From Circus Folk pages on tumblr and Facebook, as well as the following two poems about my circus folk experiences on my blog fragments, found: Big Duke, and Goat.

My grandmother, Louise Gladstone Lee, of the Tom Mix Circus

Another reason I despise circus and carnivals: exploitation of animals.

But back to tarot. I do enjoy the artwork, especially vintage circus posters and related items. I like The Magician card shown here. These cards do look like fun. I don't know if I would personally use them, doesn't seem to be a good fit for me. But as I've learned, you never know what you'll decide works for you in the future.

Mothman Flutterings : Swastika Talking Board and Spirit Board Synchronicites

I have a post at my Mothman Flutterings blog about synchronicity, talking or spirit boards, and the swastika. What's the Mothy connection? The Nirvana company, which produced the Swastika Talking Board, was in West Virginia. Pt. Pleasant, West Virginia, is home to the Mothman of course!

Mothman Flutterings : Swastika Talking Board and Spirit Board Synchronicites: A bit of synchronicity. I was thinking about oracles in general as I was waking up, and Ouija boards in particular. Toying with the idea of a folklore presentation on oracles -- how there were talking boards before the Parker Brothers Ouija board most of us are familiar with today, etc. Then I see this vintage ad for the Niravana Swastika Talking Board this morning on Andy Colvin's Facebook page:

The Orange Orb: White Raven/Black Raven: Mind Postcards and UFOs

I have a post about Raven on my Orange Orb blog:

The Orange Orb: White Raven/Black Raven: Mind Postcards and UFOs: I don't recall having the vivid "mind postcards" pre-UFO events. Or I should say, pre-orange orb sighting - - I've had UFO related episodes all my life. Who knows if these mind postcards, as I call them, have anything at all to do with the energies surrounding manifestations of UFOs. Lately I've been trying to remember events post orange orb sighting, to see if there is a connection between psychic or precognitive experiences, apparitions, dreams, synchronicities and my UFO sightings, particularly the orange orb one.

Connolly Tarot Reviews

One of the decks in my Goodwill mystery box purchase is the Connolly (Elleen Connolly) tarot. I haven't used the deck in a straight out reading, but have been playing around with it. I'm not sure if I like it or not. I kind of do, to my surprise, but there things I don't like. Yet, I do like it. Then again…


I'm not the only one who feels this ambivalence. "Chronata" on Aeclectic Tarot wrote a review of the deck:

Connolly Tarot Reviews: Review by Chronata "Ah the Connolly tarot... I know a few people who absolutely rave about this deck, and I know quite a few others who absolutely detest it. Me?....I'm somewhere in the middle. Normally I wouldn't bother to write a reveiw for a deck that I feel kind of apathetic and "middle of the road" about, but this deck merits some appreciation from me because I actually use it often in professional readings." (Aeclectic.net)

She goes on to write that she uses the Connolly deck in Angel readings, with Angel decks. I can see that; I have Doreen Virtue's Healing with the Angels, Mary Queen of Angels oracle and her Angel Tarot. For times when I feel this is the way to go, it seems like the Connolly deck is a good deck to use, possibly with blended readings using these decks.


The colors are vivid and lovely. The illustrations are nice with a RSW feel in most cases. The cards are clear, easy to read, nice to look at. Gentle yet invigorating at the same time.

But I don't get some of the interpretations, like The Moon card. The Fool should have more action, more energy, instead he stands there rather calmly.  The Christian slant puts me off a bit -- though I just put that in a context of traditional Christian mysticism -- and I am a little put off with Death and The Devil renamed to Transition and Materialism. Then again, Doreen Virtue has done the same.

So, so far I like this deck, to my surprise. I'm not sure how much I like it yet -- I guess I like it more than I don't -- I am looking forward to using them in a reading, as well as blending them with other decks. It does seem like a good deck to use in conjunction with other types of decks (Angel cards, etc.) for those clients who respond positively to those images. I think I'll hold onto this deck for awhile.

---

Mystery Tarot Box Surprise!

At the Goodwill today, looking for magnetic letters for the students. Didn't find those, but I did find a white cardboard box, sealed in plastic wrap and marked "Tarot cards and other misc." The box had lettering on it: "wind chimes, mahogany." All for a $1.99. I figured it was worth a chance, so I bought the box, contents unseen at the time.

I had a surprise when I opened the box! As you can see, there were several decks of cards, including the Alice in Wonderland deck, a RWS deck, I Ching mini deck, a blank deck to make your own cards, the Morgan Greer deck, a Rune deck and a collection of cards of pulp sci-fi covers from vintage publications, such as Astounding Stories. 

Want/Don't Want Spread

A few weeks ago I created this spread. I used this in a reading for someone, and it worked very nicely for her situation. This layout focuses on what the client really wants in a situation, what they don't want, what the distractions or blocks are, and where they can put their energies for positive outcomes.

Want/Don't Want Spread

1.

Overall vibe of situation

2. What you want                                                    3. What you don't want

4. What others want/expect from you

5. Distractions/Blocks from within:                                 6. Distractions from without

what you're doing to yourself                                            don't go there

7. What you have going for you                                      8. Support from others;        

within: focus on this                                                           don't be afraid to ask for help 

9. 

Possible path...

Deck Snobbery

Readers have their tastes. I really like the Deviant Moon tarot, (and it is a popular deck) but I know others who do not like it all. Doreen Virtue's Angel tarot is another deck I like, even though I have some minor issues with it. Others I know find the deck too sweet. And that's fine, of course. There are thousands of tarot and oracle decks out there, to fit all kinds of tastes and philosophies.

But then there are "tarot snobs" and I admit, I was guilty of such snobbery myself. Someone very close to me, who's also been reading cards for a good forty years and more, hates, and I mean detests, the Rider Waite Smith tarot. He's gone so far as to say he wouldn't respect any reader who uses that deck. I used to think that as well, to a point.  But funny thing about opinions; often we have them and aren't sure why, and often, they change.

I've had a mini Rider deck for years. Almost have given it away at times, but couldn't bring myself to do that. Lately I've been reading with the deck, and I had to wonder why I had negative opinions about the deck. As with many of us, when I first began to explore the tarot, the Rider deck was the one I used. It was the first tarot deck I was introduced to -- my mother had the same deck. Reading with the deck lately I had not only good readings, but good energy around using the deck, and those readings.

So I've been looking for a deck similar to the RWS deck. I wanted something very close to the "original" but, slightly different. I finally found it! The Diamond tarot. Unfortunately, it appears hard to find, and is very expensive. Amazon has the decks ranging from about $70.00 to over a $1,000.00! Good time to practice my manifesting mojo and see what comes.

The cards are very much the traditional RWS cards, but the borders add a psychedelic energy to the cards that I like. The wide and colorful borders frames the images in a new way. One of the criticisms about RWS from my friend is that the images are too "obvious" and put assumptions into the client's head. (Hmm. That happens anyway, doesn't it, and the role of the reader is to facilitate the interaction between both…) At the same time, the borders and coloring do add something fresh to the tradition, and I like the interplay between the new and classic.

White Rabbit Oracle

Browsing through Aeclectic Tarot's site, came across this oracle deck; the White Rabbit oracle.  I am in love with the illustrations. Very lovely deck. Reminds me a bit of the Cosmic Tarot deck. So now another one to add my list!

Steampunk Magick

The inventor of Steampunk Magic (k), Gypsey Teague, is tonight's guest on George Noory's Coast to Coast radio program

.

I'm unfamiliar with Teague, but the blending of steampunk and magic seems like a natural partnership. Steampunk itself is new, even while based on old. So how new is this new compared to the traditions it's based upon? Moot point I suppose. (For example, we have at least one Steampunk oracle deck, and so on. Steampunk fashion is popular within the witchy realm)

Speaking of steampunk and magic, I've been enjoying the BBC program Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, based on the book by Susanna Clarke.

 The character of Jonathan Strange is a new practioner of magick, fighting against the "respectable", rigid and conservative master magician -- England's "only" magician -- Mr. Norrell.

Full Moon

Getting ready . . .

Metaphysical Items on Etsy and a Witch Hunt of a Grander Scale - BrianaDragon Creations

Hmm, now here's a perspective from Briana Dragon Creations on the Etsy policy that I hadn't considered, and I think there's a lot of truth in it. Of course, this still affects metaphysical vendors...

Metaphysical Items on Etsy and a Witch Hunt of a Grander Scale - BrianaDragon Creations: Here’s the thing: This is much more than a metaphysical seller issue. This affects pretty much every home business that sells anything that would help someone in any way. Home remedies, herbal remedies, soaps, oils, incense, lotions, and the list goes on and on. This was never about Pagans or any other faith, it’s about the government trying to run all the little guys out of business under the guise of protecting the public. (Briana Dragon Creations)

And, this: (italics mine)

Another point that I’m going to reiterate is that any item which heals or helps a person based on energy rather than direct physical effect is considered a “mind-body healing” item, and is not regulated by the FDA. Metaphysical item sellers actually have a fully legal loophole and are therefore far better off than all the folks who sell bath, body and remedy items. I hate to say it, but the Pagan community needs to get their heads out of their asses and realize that this is not about them, it’s about small business being crushed by unfair laws. If they’d put some energy into questioning the FDA and thinking about the bigger picture, a lot more would happen than just whining about how they can’t sell a spell on Etsy.  (Briana Dragon Creations)

More information and information we can use to change things as well as keep on going.

Etsy Bans "Metaphysical" Items

Sort of. More from Lon Strickler at Phantoms and Monsters:

Phantoms and Monsters: Pulse of the Paranormal: The sales ban of certain items on the popular internet marketplace Etsy has once again effected supernatural vendors. After eBay banned the sale of magic-related services in 2012, Etsy became one of the most popular places for these types of vendors to make a living. Initially it's the restriction of metaphysical goods and services...so what can we expect down the road? Here's a recent article describing the new policy at Etsy: (Lon Strickler)

It's really too bad, and ignorant of course. As the article comments, if Christian religious items are sold, for example, why the ban against other items - and does this violate freedom of religion laws?



Hopefully Etsy will change its policies.

Mind the Gap: Meditations on Magical Realism | EsoterX

From one of my favorite esoteric, Fortean-anomalous-mystical type minded blogs, where the writing is always excellent and the topics varied and unique, is the following on his relationship with knowing tarot -- what to do, how to do it, and much more, such as "truth"… this from ExoterX:

Mind the Gap: Meditations on Magical Realism | EsoterX: So, I put the question to him. Do tarot cards work? After all, he had dabbled in the occult, explored the world of sympathetic magic, altered his own consciousness in myriad ways, and most importantly to the question at hand, given tarot card readings professionally. After I endured a brief diatribe largely summed up by “Who cares?”, and surrounding the poverty of my genetic inheritance and the abysmal greyness of my grey matter, he became more thoughtful, and gave an answer that has long stuck with me as a remarkably sane and fruitful perspective on all things anomalous or esoteric. He said, “Tarot, or frankly any kind of oracle, doesn’t tell you anything you don’t already know”. Then he took a smoke break. (Esoterx blog)

The Ghetto Tarot | Indiegogo

New tarot deck: The Ghetto Tarot. Photographs of Haitians, in poses representing each card based on the Coleman Rider deck. You can fund this project at Indiegogo:

The Ghetto Tarot | Indiegogo: Why call it Ghetto Tarot?

According to the common definition, the ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure. The term was originally used in Venice to describe the part of the city to which Jews were restricted and segregated.

Today, a commonly used definition of a ghetto (especially in the United States) is communities distinguished by a homogeneous race or ethnicity. Additionally, a key feature that continues to symbolize the demographics of American ghettos is the prevalence of poverty. Poverty constitutes the separation of ghettos from other, suburbanized or private neighborhoods. The Haitian people have long ago adopted the word Ghetto into their own language Creole and use it to name the poorest neighborhoods of their cities.

A Haiku, and a Tarot Dream

Funny dream last night, as well as one that came true, in a sense…

Dreamt I came into possession of a new tarot deck. A slight lucid dream moment; in the dream the deck was the Robin Hood deck, not the Robin Wood deck. I was aware of the funny change in both title and meaning of the decks.

 Later, I'm at work, and in a heated discussion about paganism and wicca, and found myself defending myself. Not defending myself but rather, really standing up for myself. 

Today at work, co-workers were commenting about paganism and how the meaning of pagan means not believing in god. I said "Pagans believe…" then I paused, and said "We believe…" and spoke about the different paths. "I'm a polytheistic pagan" I said, among other things. The co-workers are Christian, and they were very interested and very respectful. This was the first time I had come out as a pagan and a wiccan/witch at work. A good experience all around, but odd. I don't know what made me speak up in the first place, let alone make my practices known.

And now, for the haiku that I wrote this evening:

the tarot cards spread

summer evening and a full moon

awaiting the visitor 

Witches and Community | Mystic Cauldron Blog

My friend draiga has a new blog post at her very excellent Mystic Cauldron blog on "village witches." And in a moment of synchronicity, I have been thinking on this very perspective the past few days; of what it means to think of oneself as a "witch" and connection with others in that context.

Witches and Community | Mystic Cauldron Blog: To understand the small town witch, I can’t help but notice that the Conjure and Hoodoo community work in very similar ways to the old village witch. They too, will do “work” for members of their local community and are paid for
their services. When I was living in the South, a friend of mine came from a family of witchy practitioners. But they would never call what they did “witchcraft”. They were good Christian folk, and just did what they did. It was just a family tradition. If a neighbor needed help with certain matters, they would come to her family. And there were matters that her family didn’t handle, but another local woman did. So when her family felt hexed, for instance, they would go get Miss Amy, (as an example) because Miss Amy knew how to handle it, and get their luck back.

I like seeing that people are rediscovering their role as village witches. There will always be those who remain incognito in their general community for various reasons, but it’s nice that some are now making themselves available to the general public. When people call on a witch to help them, it is usually their last resort. They feel the only thing left is magic or a miracle, and they’re hoping the witch can make that happen for them. (draiga, at Mystic Cauldron)

From The Wild Hunt: article on coming out as pagan in the workplace

From Manny Tejeda-Moreno, at The Wild Hunt, on workplace "micro-aggressions" in the workplace towards pagan co-workers.

Column: Religious Discrimination in the Workplace | The Wild Hunt: For me, this raised questions about the experiences of Pagans in the workplace. Pagans are, essentially a rarer find in the social fabric of faith where the most common thread is Christian. In other words, when an individual says “I’m Christian” in the United States, most people think some variant of “you and 260 million other Americans.” With less common faiths, such as Judaism, individuals may be marked by stereotypes, but are also recognized as present in the mainline religious experiences. However,if someone says “I’m a witch,” most people – almost exclusively those unfamiliar with Paganism — are just left with Halloween imagery or TV episodes as a way of understanding the statement. That left me with questions about the kind of discrimination potential that could occur when someone discloses their Pagan faith. In other words, what happens when someone’s actual identity collides with the identity society expects us to have? (Manny Tejeda-Moreno, The Wild Hunt)

Micro-aggressions is a term social scientist Tejeda-Moreno used in the article. It's like teeny moments of passive-aggressiveness. A few years ago, at work, a co-worker "teased" me about being a "crystal cruncher." I took it with good humor and never made a thing about it, but this comment was uttered often, in front of others. (Can you imagine calling someone a "crucifix cruncher" or some such?) Those comments about my being a "crystal cruncher" were forms of micro-aggressions. Those of us open about our pagan and/or witchy ways expect such responses, I suppose, but then again, we are always faced with the issue of hiding vs. coming out. It's something each of us need to decide for ourselves. For myself, I am who I am and find myself very unhappy trying to suppress myself. That's just me however. I would never tell anyone to come out, or, not.

Fortean Card: Spring Heeled Jack; Steampunk Tarot

Unexpected birthday gift: Steampunk Tarot: Wisdom from the Gods of the Machine, designed by John and Caitlin Matthews. I haven't explored this deck yet, but this card did get my attention: Springheeled Jack. As any Fortean knows, Spring-Heeled Jack is a mysterious -- and quite steampunkian -- figure. Spring-Heeled Jack was a real person, or entity, (we don't know if he was human or not) that terrorized London in the 1800s:

In January 1838, the Lord Mayor, Sir John Cowan, drew public attention to a letter he had received from a resident of Peckham giving details of an attack by the so-called "Spring-Heeled Jack." This public acknowledgement of the rumors by the Lord Mayor immediately led to a flood of letters from individuals who had been too frightened and embarrassed to report their own encounters previously.
        On a February night of the same year, Jane Alsop, who lived with her father and two sisters, was assaulted by a devilish -- some say alien -- being who spat blue and white flames at her and scratched and tore at her with iron claws, only to leap away into the darkness when one of her sisters called for help. Less than a month later, Lucy Scales and her sister met Jack as they walked home through Green Dragon Alley in Limehouse. A tall, cloaked figure leaped from the shadows and belched blue flames into Lucy’s face, blinding her and causing her to collapse. As her sister attempted to help, the cloaked figure walked quietly away. (From Anomaly Info.com)

Sightings continued for decades afterwards. There is an interesting related phenomea that occurred in the U.S. in the 1940s: The Mad Gasser of Mattoon, Illinois:

The oft told tale of the Mad Gasser of Mattoon — also known as the “Mad Anesthetic” — began (aptly enough) in the small town of Mattoon, Illinois in 1944. Between the dates of August 31st and September 13th, a thin, black clad assailant would spread a reign of terror with a series of unprovoked and invasive “gas attacks.” Although police and FBI agents attempted to dismiss the whole thing as a classic case of mass hysteria, the evidence supports the reality that during those weeks in 1944, an unidentified person (or persons) managed to infiltrate the homes of local citizenry with an unknown gaseous substance, which rendered — through means as yet unidentified — the occupants incapacitated or violently ill. (Rob Morphy, Mysterious Universe)

The Spring -Heeled Jack card in this deck is the Major Arcana "Death" card. Not representing literal death but transformations, changes. Although at first glance this could also represent the Devil card, however, I haven't seen the Devil card in this deck yet.

As to the usefulness of this deck, to each their own. I have no opinion yet since I haven't worked with the deck. I'm engaged in a debate with my dear one concerning "being arbitrary" and "playing around with symbols." That's a whole other issue though! What do we think of creating new decks with new symbols to stand in for more traditional ones, new contexts and designs, etc? More on this in a future post.

Feathers; Crow and Raven

This image popped up on my Facebook page:

I was reminded of a dream I had the night before last. So much going on in that dream! Including my smudging my home with sage. But part of that dream involved Crow and Raven:

I'm standing in front of our house, which is on a little hill. Lots of grass and small plants all around. The city is below us. Twinkling lights. Very peaceful, yet very energized at the same time . Looking up at the active, beautiful sky. No UFOs, but a sort of UFO vibe. The stars are alive. So energizing and beautiful!  I was telling the person I was with about the differences between crows and ravens, and how, in this area, ravens aren't usually seen. A crow appears; with a beautiful violet streak of color on some of its feathers. Now, a raven appears! The raven has the most glorious peacock kind of blue color streak on its feathers. The birds are glowing. I have the distinct impression the raven came because it knew I was talking about it. As with the crow. The two are aware of each other. Not enemies, not at all, but they keep their distance from each other. The raven seems to be telling me to delve deeper, closer. To what, I'm not sure. I awake with such an energized, positive feeling. 

Newfound 'Gospel of the Lots of Mary' discovered in ancient text | Fox News

(cross posted at my blog UFO-Mary)



Professor of religion Anne Marie Luijendijk, author of Forbidden Oracles? The Gospel of the Lots of Mary,  on the find:

Newfound 'Gospel of the Lots of Mary' discovered in ancient text | Fox News: The text would have been used for divination, Luijendijk said. A person seeking an answer to a question could have sought out the owner of this book, asked a question, and gone through a process that would randomly select one of the 37 oracles to help find a solution to the person's problem. The owner of the book could have acted as a diviner, helping to interpret the written oracles, she said.

Book thieves target the occult - East Oregonian

News from eastern Oregon, where apparently book thieves have been stealing books on metaphysical topics for a long time. What's slightly irritating is that the article leads off with "…books about black magic, Satanism, the occult and other related subjects…" then goes into books on tarot.



Moot point, true. Fact is, focused intent on ridding the public library of such books. Have to protect the citizens from evil don't you know.



I'm surprised they aren't able to trace who the thieves are. Seems easy enough to figure out. By the way, books on mushrooms also go missing.

Book thieves target the occult - East Oregonian: A cursory search for books about tarot cards reveals there’s only one that can be checked out at the Pendleton library, while the other can only be viewed inside the facility.

Of the 36 tarot card books in the Sage Library System, which covers 77 libraries in fifteen counties in Eastern and Central Oregon, 28 percent are considered lost or missing.

While the Sage system does have a small collection of nonfiction books about Satanism, including the Satanic Bible at the Milton-Freewater Public Library, the Pendleton library has no books directly about Satanism.

From Tarotize - Holistic Tarot: The Totem Tarot Spread

I found this recent blog post from Lisa Frideborg at Tarotize on totems inspiring and timely. I've posted several dreams and waking life moments involving Dog, and have been working with this recurring imagery. Without much insight, so far. I can't wait to try Lisa's spread.

Tarotize - Holistic Tarot: The Totem Tarot Spread: These days, it is quite easy to just Google the meaning of totem animals. However, no matter what they mean in general, you may still not find the exact message they have for you at this point in time... There are a couple of ways of resolving this: you can either keep trying to connect with the spirit animal in your dreams or in meditation until the message becomes clear... OR you can do a Tarot reading on it with the Tarot spread I created specifically for this: (Lisa Frideborg, Tarotize blog)

5 Minute Crystal Protection

A nice little ritual that uses a few specific stones and crystals from 7 Witches Coven: 5 Minute Crystal Protection

The Full Moons of 2015

With chart. The Full Moons of 2015

New pouch!

A surprise from my friend Diana who made this lovely pouch for me. The picture doesn't show the pretty green in the design.

Now, which deck to place inside this lovely case? Or, maybe an occasion to purchase new deck. Cosmic tarot, maybe?

Cosmic Tarot

Lucid Dreaming: Dog Again, Two Jacque Vallees

Lucid dreaming: awareness of the self or that you're dreaming within a dream. Here's one definition of lucid dreaming from The Lucidity Institute:

"Lucid dreaming means dreaming while knowing that you are dreaming. The term was coined by Frederik van Eeden  who used the word "lucid" in the sense of mental clarity. Lucidity usually begins in the midst of a dream when the dreamer realizes that the experience is not occurring in physical reality, but is a dream. Often this realization is triggered by the dreamer noticing some impossible or unlikely occurrence in the dream, such as flying or meeting the deceased. Sometimes people become lucid without noticing any particular clue in the dream; they just suddenly realize they are in a dream. A minority of lucid dreams (according to the research of LaBerge and colleagues, about 10 percent) are the result of returning to REM (dreaming) sleep directly from an awakening with unbroken reflective consciousness."

Dog: Spike Returns

Dog visited again the other night: repeating dreamscape of a dilapidated house, somehow ours. Lots more: I don't want to go into the house while Jim is away, the place is in a semi-rural area, lots of open lots with patchy grass, no trees, pretty ugly and bare. Front of the garage half gone, 2/3 seem to have been sliced in half so now it's a sort of lean to. I prefer to stay in there until Jim gets back.  Jim goes off for the entire day to return with a dog. Now our dog. 

Portrait eines Dobermanns, C. Reichert 1916 public domain

The thing about this dog is, the dog (Doberman) is from our waking life. Thirty years ago we lived in a place with this dog, who was great. Just a great, smart, sweet dog. In the dream, I say to Jim "This is very weird; Spike here would be over thirty years old, and dogs don't live that long." I was happy to see Spike again, but couldn't get past the strangeness of how it could be that he would still be alive, and healthy and young and happy at that.

(Dog, as dream guide and recurring image has been a recurring symbol in my dreams for awhile now. I've been working with Dog in my dreams; one, obviously the persistence of the image is important and two, I'm not a dog person. I love animals, and once I get to know a dog, I will often end up loving it. Oftentimes I wish I had a dog, but the timing and living situation is not right. At the same time, I've several extremely unpleasant and dangerous episodes involving dogs.)

UFO Researcher: The Two Jacque Vallees

A night or two after that, I had a dream about a golden UFO which I posted about on my UFO blog the Orange Orb. The UFO researcher Jacque Vallee appeared in the dream, but the man "playing" him was completely different in appearance. I comment to others in that dream that "This is very strange, in reality -- not here in this dream --  Vallee looks nothing like this. Vallee is tall, thin, has gray hair, this man is short, bald, not thin."

Dreaming is deeply intriguing. What lives in our subconscious, the levels and layers of dreaming (such as lucid dreaming), the recurring "dreamscapes" and symbols -- in my case, Dog -- and the frustrating and elusive nature of remembering dreams. It is fascinating to know that we had dreamt that night when we wake up in the morning, but just can't remember the dream. Or, we might have a few vague memories of that dream.  But those memories, that dream history, is still alive somewhere. Where? What part of the mind do these dream memories live? What part of the astral -- outside of us -- do they live?

What message are my guides sending via these lucid moments? What are the triggers that have caused these lucid moments to pop up in my dreams recently? No doubt meditation has been the cause; something I've just started doing again with intent, focus and consistency. (That last part … not easy for some of us.)

All this calls for a reading using the Angel Dreams oracle, which I will post here tomorrow.

Doreen Virtue and Melissa Virtue: Angel Dreams oracle

Sixteen Things Mentally Ill Pagans Have To Put Up With

Oh yeah. From Patheos.com -- How many times have some of us been at events and heard these, often from our fearless "leaders" who are supposed to be oh-so-damn-fucking-spiritual-more-than-you-that's-for-sure? Among my favorites are the following:

Sixteen Things Mentally Ill Pagans Have To Put Up With: 6. People acting like you somehow fail devotion to the gods if you have a mental health issue, especially if you are having a hard time and you are scaling back from your spiritual activities a bit for self-care, with bonus points if they say something along the lines of “I have a (minor) disability and I make myself get out of bed and do this and that and there’s no excuse for you!”

And this:

8. People saying “but you don’t look mentally ill!” or “you seem so high-functioning!”

Then this, which is something those pesky little debunker skeptoids like to say:

9. People treating you like any mystical experiences you have are invalid if you have a diagnosed mental illness, with the implication that your mental illness is creating hallucinations and delusions.

I admit I sometimes tell someone I'm praying for them without asking -- my intention is good, I just forget about the common courtesy of asking first. So when someone does that to me, I don't much mind.



However, it is interesting that the same holds true with readings. I would never do a reading on someone or their situation without their permission. I do not mean a reading for my own personal insight into the situation in the context of how I fit in; I mean a sort of "psychic spying" or intrusion. And in that setting, just how accurate could a reading be?


Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/paganswithdisabilities/2015/01/16-things-mentally-ill-pagans-have-to-put-up-with/#ixzz3PW8B7bh9

Apples and Orangutans: Traditional Witchcraft vs. Wicca

From Sable Aradia at Patheos.com. On comparing Wicca, or wicca, and witchcraft. Wiccan vs. witch. Witchery. Wiccery. All right, that last  is not a term.



But the diverseness and arguments continue with downright vehemence. Those of us doing our thing are accused by others, told we're doing it wrong, or don't get to, or …. you know.



I like what this author has to say about it all:

Apples and Orangutans: Traditional Witchcraft vs. Wicca: Traditional witchcraft is a folkloric magical practice (never magick with a K, that’s pretentious and would admit some kind of association with Aleister Crowley, who is icky like Gardner) based in European folk traditions and honouring European agricultural and seasonal cycles. It involves a certain degree of animism and respect for nature, but traditional witches can be of many different faiths. Often they regard themselves as shamans, animists, pantheists, panentheists, polytheists, and occasionally Christians or even Satanists, as the Horned God is equated frequently with the Devil in folklore. Those who descend from the work of the Clan of Tubal Cain often incorporate elements of The White Goddess into spiritual practice, as Robert Cochrane did. Some claim to be (and some are) witches as part of a family tradition. Its practices are similar to those of folk magic practitioners of other cultures, with a strong grounding in sympathetic magic.

And then there's this, which mirrors my own experience:

A valid argument of traditional witches that I do support is in saying that going to Sabbat circles eight times a year does not make you a witch; practicing magic does.  “Witch” is a calling and a job description.  Yes, I agree.  But practicing magic does not require you to have any faith in particular; or even to have a faith at all.
I was doing witchcraft before I even knew that it had a name.  I know some people claim they were taught in a hereditary tradition that goes back to the dawn of ancient history; I’m not claiming that, but I was changing the weather, seeing the future, and burning candles to influence Fate when I was ten.  I was doing kitchen witchery at twelve.  When I was fourteen, I was dealing with ghosts, spirits and the Otherworld in a manner that others would now recognize as hedgewitchery.  So I guess I’ve always been a “traditional witch.”

 I like her conclusion at the end of the article. You can be both, or one or the other. Solitary, or not.

Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/betweentheshadows/2015/01/apples-and-orangutans-traditional-witchcraft-vs-wicca/#ixzz3P3ioHMTg

Latest UFO News | UFO News Today | Recent UFO News | UFOs

Latest UFO News | UFO News Today | Recent UFO News | UFOs: Tim Beckley, the CEO of Inner Light/Global Communications, has always had a healthy interest in helping his customers make their personal spiritual journey to some kind of positive, joyful outcome. While Beckley resists some of the more “preachy” literary paths to salvation, he does inject into the marketplace a goodly amount of information intended to firm up your faith that there are patient, heavenly forces reaching out to those who are open to them. Not only do these heavenly force reach out to us, we are provided with a method of reaching out to them as well. Which is the subject of a recent release from Inner Light/Global Communications called “Angel Spells: The Enochian Occult Workbook of Charms, Seals, Talismans and Ciphers.” ENOCH’S LONG LOST BOOK
Perhaps some explanation about what the word “Enochian” in the title means. It refers to an “angel summoning” system first developed by John Dee, the most respected scholar of his day, in the 1500s when Queen Elizabeth I ruled over England. Dee, working with a psychic partner named Edward Kelley, attempted to open communications with the angelic realm. (UFO Digest)

Rabbit: Supernatural, Synchronicity and Strange

On my blog Animal Forteana, a new post about rabbit synchronicity. Last night's episode of Ghost Adventures explored the Bell Witch haunting, which includes the supernatural apparition of a hybrid entity that has the head of a rabbit and body of a dog. Bunny coincidences ensued. . . 

(By the way, just how many blogs do you have Regan, one might ask? About a dozen, I'd say. Check back for an updated blog list.)

In the context of card oracles, what messages does Rabbit bring? Depends on the system:

RABBITFertility and New LifeThe Rabbit is known for its ability to procreate, its fleetness, and its movement is by leaps.People with this totem may find that their endeavors go in leaps and bounds also.If a Rabbit totem has appeared in your life, it may indicate a need for more planning or to check those plans already set in motion.Do not box yourself in a corner.This totem may also bring a need to examine the kinds of foods you eat.Perhaps a vegetarian diet, if only for a short time, can help you strengthen and heal.Rabbit is associated with Eostra, the Celtic goddess of Spring, and therefore associated with Ostara (or Easter).This is the reason we celebrate with Easter eggs.Rabbit is also sacred to the moon goddess Andraste, the Norse goddess Freya, and the Greek god Hermes.The Hare is associated with the moon in many cultures including Native American, Hindi, and China. (from Medicine Card Meanings/Golden Mousedeer)

Medicine Cards tells us that Rabbit signifies FEAR:

The keynote here is: what you resist will persist! What you fear most is what you will become.
Here is the lesson. If you pulled Rabbit, stop talking about horrible things happening and get rid of "what it" in your vocabulary. This card may signal a time of worry about the future or of trying to exercise your control over that which is not yet in form - the future. Stop now! Write your fears down and be willing to feel them. Breathe into them, and feel them running through your body into Mother Earth as a give-away. (Medicine Cards,David Carson, Jamie Sams.) 

Medicine Cards oracle, David Carson and Jamie Sams

Gnome Visit?

I'm not that well acquainted with gnome lore. Just not an area I've explored or am into. But I had a weird little dream right before I woke up this morning that was a bit of a nightmare. (Or morning-mare.)

image:pixabay

Jim is outside working in the front yard. I'm inside, watching from the living room window. I see a short, plump man who looks to be in his fifties, maybe sixties, bright white longish and curly hair. He's wearing a dark blue baseball cap, bright red -- candy apple red -- t-shirt, and jeans. He's behind Jim, and picks up our cat by his leg and just starts swinging him and dragging him around.

I am horrified and furious, and yell to Jim "He has Mango! He has Mango!" and then the man looks up at me, gives a wild grin, and jumps onto our porch, thumbing his nose at me, and starts messing around with the things on our porch. I yell at him "Get away from here, get off our porch!" but he just laughs.

He's a nasty little bugger.

When I wake up, I'm breathing hard, I can't move even though I'm awake, and I'm feeling a little frightened. Later in the day, when thinking about how odd this dream was, I get "gnome." "But," I say to myself, "he wasn't wearing a red cap, his shirt was, but not his cap. And he was bigger than a gnome, even though he was short, about five feet at the most." That other voice just says to me "Sigh."

I came across this regarding gnomes and cats:

illustration: Brian Froud

Gnomes | Type of faeries: Males are the guardians of animal kind and show little preference for their animal friends, not withstanding their aversion to cats both wild and domesticated. (Monsters.com)

Well, there it is and as far as I care to go for now. The dream had a "pop in" feel, meaning, it came from "out there." I have had those kinds of dreams before, including this one that I call the "green warty man." (Come to think about it, that was a gnomish type of dream as well.)

By the way, the green warty man I saw was not as cute and innocent as the Brian Froud drawing. My green warty entity was ugly, and not nice.