Tarot Stuff

Hi and Merry Meet,
This past year my husband encouraged me to start reading tarot publicly. At first I was very hesitant, but he and a good friend helped me to start up reading for others. I had been reading for others for a few years now, but not at public functions. I've loved reading for friends and family but that was as far as I would go. I've taken tons of class, been in privet studies and learning groups. My husband has seen how excited I am about and my love of it. 


He has suggested I start small, just get my feet wet and see if I like reading for people I've never met. He signed me up to do a craft show with him. We have been going to craft shows for a few years as vendors. He loves to make and sell jewelry. So, of course I always go too. He said that I should read at the shows since I'm already there and all it would take is setting up a small table and two chairs. I thought about it. I talked to my sister in law when we went to visit them in February. She loved it! She also supported my husband's idea and got me to take it seriously. I told my running partner about this idea. She asked if I could do a home party for her. 


With the love and support of friends and family I did my first craft show in March. I then did my first home party in May. I have since done other craft shows and home parties. Turns out, I really like reading for people I've never met before. My husband is happy that something that gives me so much joy is now something that I can do while he is doing something that gives him joy. It has been a very fun journey. The latest thing with my tarot reading now has been to get on facebook with a page.This was kind of a big step for me. I've done it and now here is it: http://www.facebook.com/tarotintheroc I've been better about updating that than posting here.


I never thought I'd when my friend asked me to take a tarot class that it would have such an impact on my life. I had no idea that my life would change so much just by choosing to learn about cards. It has enriched my life more than I could have ever guessed it would have.


Here is my card for the day. The Ace of swords. New ideas are floating around and  new states of mind are in store. Pay attention to new ideas and thoughts. Break out of old patterns and see old ideas with new eyes. This card is from the Legacy of The Divine Tarot.

Blessed be,
Autumn

Tarot Party

Hi and Merry Meet,
Saturday night I had a home tarot party. It was so nice to have a girls' night out! Everyone had a great time and most were happy with their readings. Lots of relationship spreads were cast. Lots of yummy food and giggles too.

Being that I was the reader for this party, I got to learn a lot about each girl. It's been great doing parties. My confidence has really grown by doing readings for live people. I've done a few home parties now. They are so fun and I love reading. This time I made sure to take a stretch break. I brought some clear quartz to clean my decks between readings. That's been something that a friend of mine suggested I do. Since she had been a professional reader, I value her advice. She has helped me go from just reading for friends to reading for clients. Husband helped give me that push to get into it too. I'm glad he did.

Tomorrow my best bud from college is coming to visit! I can't wait.
Blessed be,
Autumn

Tarot Work

Hi and Merry Meet,
My husband makes jewerly and so most weekends we are at craft shows for it. He has decided that I need another job than just helping him sell his stuff.

He has started to book me a table at shows so I can read tarot. I'm nervous about reading for the public but I've done it for friends for years. I told my girlfriend about it and so she agreed to help me practice. I've booked a home party at her house in May. However, our next jewerly show is in two weeks. So much for practice. I have read for people for years but doing something like this is new to me.

My husband has always been supportive of my tarot readings. He knows I've wanted to read outside my group of friends for a while now. He found a great way for me to do just that. He even helped me make business cards.

Today I've spent the day dissecting my tarot decks. I've been doing a great exercise to make me really dig deep into the meanings. It's been very helpful and refreshing.

Hope you are having a good weekend!
Blessed be,
Autumn

Runes

Hi and Merry Meet,
The other day I found a beautiful tiger eye runes set on ebay.

Runes are something I want to start learning. A year or two ago I made my own set out of lake rocks that I found at the beach. I had fun making them and wanted to learn then, but I didn't really presue it. I had no books, no knowledge and so I didn't get very far.

I bid on this set anyway and ened up winning them. They come with a small booklet/pamphlet to help me. I think now is the time. I've been doing more tarot work and I want to expand my divining skills. Yeah, my pendulums and I are still working on building a connection. I've been working with one of them exclusively and I am starting to get the hang of it. I wouldn't use it yet to read for other people but we are making head way. As for my tarot, I have been doing more readings for friends/family and I am thinking about trying to expand my clientele. I would like to read more for others. I've done a few nights of impromptu readings for friends and people I don't know have asked for one too. That was fun and helped build my confidence as a reader. I would be willing to take that chance and am starting to see what kind of opportunities are around me.

Anyway my runes should come this week! I am really excited about learning to work with them. I've started reading up on them and think this will be a fun new venture.
Blessed be,
Autumn

Weekend Readings

Hi and Merry Meet,
I posted the other day about my daily readings, so today I thought I should post about my weekend readings.

Weekends are my time to relax and reset for the week to come so my tarot readings do the same. I try to do bigger readings to get a feel for the week to come. Once a month or so I do a full person reading. This helps me focus on tne areas of my life that I need work in. The picture below is a whole perdon spread dome with 38 cards. I had to do it im stages since tne whole reading wouldn't fit on my altar. Afterwards I spread it out on the floor of my witchy room.

Today I just did a five card spread. Tomorrow I will do my big weekly one.

Today Husband and I are off to the Lilac Festival! Have a great Saturday!
Blessed be,
Autumn

Stone That Called To Me

Hi and Merry Meet,

I hope that everyone had a happy Imbolc. I did. I did a very small ritual, but it was very soothing and happy. I dedicated a candle to Brid, so when I read my tarot cards I can burn it in her honor. It just felt like the thing I needed to do.

Today I went out with my cousin. I haven't seen her in a few weeks, so it was nice to go out to lunch with her. We caught up with each other. After lunch I went to one of the metaphysical store that I like here in town. I was looking for some stones, but they didn't have what I thought I was looking for. However, I found this clear quartz that has some other things mixed in. As soon as I picked it up I knew it was meant for me. It had a purple sheen to it in the store. Now it is a dull color, but it seems warm and happy when I touch it. Here is my new quartz:

This week will be kind of nuts, and then I get a whole week off from both jobs! I am so excited about that and I will be doing some work around the house and in my meditations. Have a great week!

Blessed be,

Autumn

Life Is Busy!

Hi and Merry Meet,
I have been so bad about updating everyone! A lot has happened since my last post!

Last weekend Husband and I took a road trip to PA to look at cars and relax in a B & B. It was such a nice weekend, just the two of us! We did find a car and they traded my old one that day! We have never bought a car where you get it the same day!! This was a big surprise to us. We weren't ready to actually trade in my car, so we hadn't really cleaned it out... (or brought the title with us!) since I travel to so many building in my teaching my car is like a mobile office. There was so much teaching stuff to take out! I did sort it as we pulled it out so that I recycled the papers I didn't need and filed the ones that I did. It worked out pretty well. So far, I've been really good about keeping the car cleaned up!

The B & B was amazing! Husband book a room next to a stream that had an amazing waterfall. We were so far out in the middle of nowhere and it was so peaceful! It was nice to have some us time to reconnect and just catch up with each other. Husband had been working odd hours due to managing a new project at his work, and I've been insanely busy with the new job and the night job that we have become like ships passing the night. We needed that time together! We did fight about who would get to drive the car though... as it's my new car I thought I should, but he wanted to "test" it out. We compromised so that we both got a turn. It was a great weekend!

Yesterday was my first anniversary of reading tarot cards! Husband has been taking a interest in my cards. I was pulling cards at the dealership to see if we were making the right choice... he started asking me a slue of questions to pull cards for. It was the first time he has show any interest in tarot. So, last night he surprised me my getting me the Deviant Moon deck. It was so sweet of him! I'm so excited about and I let it sit in the moonlight all night to clean it. I did a reading this morning and I am very impressed with this deck. I have admired the artwork for a while and now to actually work with it was really amazing!

Today is Husband's birthday. I'm off to the store to get a cake mix so I can make him a cake! I'm also going to make him some breakfast in bed in a little while. Today is his day, so whatever he wants to do we will do. I know he wants to go out for dinner tonight, so right now that is our big plan for the day! :)
Blessed be,
Autumn

Museum Visit!

Hi and Merry Meet,
I am very excited because today my husband bought tickets to a museum that is hosting a Titanic exhibit. We wanted to go today, however, when I called them today they told me if we wanted a guarantee in we need to buy tickets. So, husband bought them online and we are going to see it tomorrow!

I have always been fascinated with the Titanic. I saw the movie back in the day, but I was more excited to see shots of the boat than the love story part. I've had dreams that I was there. I've had dreams about being at balls on board. I am really excited to see such a big piece of history close to home.

Today, we have had a low key day. I did some meditations on a tarot reading I had this morning. We are looking for a new car for me and it looks like I need to accept that my car might not pass inspection this year. My reading told me I need to find a balance and be open to new ideas. I really hate the thought of giving up the car I have. It has been like a mini tank, but realistically, I need to find a more Eco-friendly vehicle. I wish I could bike to work when the weather is nicer, however, I travel to several schools a day and I only have a few minutes to travel between classes. If I was at one school a day, my bike would be the way to go!!

I've been thinking about getting a new tarot deck. I'm not sure which one right now... I have a few that I'm looking at but I'm open to suggestions!
Blessed be,
Autumn

Busy Busy

Hi and Merry Meet,
Sorry I haven't posted in a while. This week I got some wonderful news... I got a full time job! I am so excited about it. I will start on my birthday. That is the best gift ever!!!!

Tomorrow is my next Wicca class. I'm a little behind on my homework this week. It's due tomorrow and I haven't started it yet. I'll do it after this post so that I'm ready for class. My tarot class finished up this week. I'm sad that that class is over. I loved working with those women. Our instructor said that she would like to offer another session in the spring.

Husband took me out to dinner tonight to celebrate that I got a job! It was so nice to go out and not have to worry about dishes!! :)
Blessed be,
Autumn

My Photo Tarot Deck

Hi and Merry Meet,

I had to get out of the house today. It was warm, sunny, and just the perfect day for a walk! My neighborhood is more on the urban side, so talking a nice nature walk is not something I can just set out of my door and do. I drove over to one of the larger cemeteries in the city.

I love walking here. It is quite, peaceful, and there are lots of trees! The cemetery itself is very old. It is a Catholic cemetery so there are lots of angels and huge statues of crosses. I took my camera with me today. Here is one of the paths that I walked down:A tree in full fall foliage:This tree had amazing energy! It just radiated happiness!

As I was strolling along I got the idea that I could find images that remind me of the major arcana from the tarot deck. I found quite a few! Here's what I found:

The fool:The Magician:The High Priestess:The Empress:The Emperor:The Hierophant:The Lovers:

The Chariot:Strength:The Hermit:Wheel Of Fortune:Justice:The Hanging Man: Death:Temperance:

The Devil: The Tower: The Star:The Moon:The Sun:Judgement:

The World:I have to say, I'm pretty happy with how this came out. It was so spur of the moment and just felt like the prefect project for me today. I feel so much more relaxed and happy now that I've taken my walk and reconnected with nature.

Blessed be,

Autumn

Tarot Class and Other Stuff

Hi and Merry Meet,

The past few days have been kind of crazy here! Yesterday, I woke up to find that someone had rammed their car into the fire hydrant outside my house during the night. I heard it happen, but just thought someone had hit a semi, or a bus... not the hydrant!! It shook my house and all the water pipes reverberated for a minute after. Seriously, I had no idea what really happened! So, when I got up this is what I saw:Yup, that's the hydrant lying on it's side knocked completely off the water pipe. Crazy... I want to know what their car looked like after that! Husband called the city and today they are replacing it.

Last night was my intermediate tarot class!!! I'm so happy that it is back in session. I really missed it. I'm the only one from the original class, but that's cool because the new women in my class are just as amazing! Our instructor encourages us to pick a card and see if we can find that energy in our daily life somewhere. Today my card is The Moon. For the next three weeks I'll pick a daily card and take notes at the end of the day to see where this energy has manifested. She has us do it last go around of classes, but I wasn't so serious about it. I admit, I didn't think it was cool. However, I've been working with one card at a time in meditations and now I'm finding that I do enjoy looking for that energy. It has also helped me connect with my decks more than I thought I could. I'm also trying to rotate though my decks so I'm not dependent on the one that I use for readings with others.

The last time we had classes, our instructor used different decks and asked us to read with them. I found this very difficult as I was stuck on the pictures from my one deck. I've been working with three different decks now so that I can look at them and feel what they mean instead of memorizing what I was taught. This is hard for me! I'm putting in effort and slowly I feel like my effort is paying off. Last night my partner for reading practice used a deck I have never seen. I was able to do a reading and I was pretty accurate with it. It was a cool feeling!

We also learned a few new spreads. This one that I did today is for seeing how to overcome an obstacle:You spread it out in a crossroads patten to see what you direction you want to take. From there, you build the path that you are on. Then you have a mountain and the cards tell you how to approach the problem. I really liked this one. I usually do a very simple daily spread to just get a feel for my day. This one was cool for long range planing.

In addition to the intermediate tarot class, I found out that they are offering a Wicca I course for the next 7 Sundays. I really want to go to a.) learn and b.) meet other people in my area! I think it would be good for me to go. I don't know if I can make the first one as I have a jewelry show this Saturday in another town. I'm not sure if we'll be back in time for me to attend the class. The shop owner told me that if I have to miss the first one, it's ok. I'm going to try to make it back for class! I am so excited to meet and talk with others who are just starting out on this path! :)

Hope everyone has a great day!

Blessed be,

Autumn

The Sleepy Card- 4 of Swords

Hi and Merry Meet,

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Samhain!! Mine was amazing! I had such a great day and a very special evening. I just did a very small ritual but it seemed like that was all I needed for that night. I love when you are doing something and you just know that it is the right thing. That's how I felt.

Yesterday was a bit rough, so before bed I pulled the 4 of swords card. I like to think of it as my sleepy card. I find that nights were I feel like I will toss and turn to review the whole days events are the nights that I use this card the most. I just place it under my pillow, ask the Lord and Lady to bless my sleep/dreams, and I find that I can drift off no matter what is gnawing at my conscience. I learned this trick from a women in one of my tarot classes. She said that she didn't want to become dependent on sleeping aids, so she was looking for alternative ways to fall asleep. She came to this conclusion to use the 4 of swords after a meditation on her cards. She asked that all of us in the class try and sleep with this card under our pillows to see what we found. We all had a similar reaction... full night of peaceful sleep. It's kind of funny since before that class I never felt a strong connection to this card. Now, I see it in a new way. I'm glad that she shared this with us as I found it opened my eyes to how I can look at the cards in different ways. I only use it however, when I'm really fretting about something big and yesterday I felt I bombed an interview... so, needless to say I didn't want to toss and turn and think about what I should have said!

My 4 of swords card from my "Divine Tarot" deck.

Do you use your tarot decks in other ways besides just reading the cards?

Blessed be,

Autumn

Time Off

Hi and Merry Meet,
I'm sorry that I've been gone for so long! I needed some time away from my computer. I felt like I was just taking up too much time sitting here playing on it and not plugging into my real life. So, I've taken time to reconnect with real life and get my computer use back into balance.

Some of things that I've been working on in my mini-time out were reading up on astrology. I've always been interested in my horoscope but never really got into depth with it. I bought a great beginner book on and started to read about it. I found a website that would make up my natal chart so that I could really look into it. I'm fascinated by it! I've also started looking into palm reading. My husband has even taken an interest in this. I keep asking to see his hands so I have something to compare to besides my own. I've been explaining what I'm looking at and now he keeps looking at his hands and has asked to look at mine so we can compare our thoughts. It's kind of cool that he is interested in something that I'm learning.

Since I've stepped away from the computer I feel like my daily meditations are taking the extra time that I have in my day without the computer filling my time. I'm happy with that! I enjoy it and it is very relaxing to me. I'm working on tarot meditations. I pick a card randomly from the deck and then focus on that cards energy. I find that it is helping my with my readings and it is strengthening my relationship with individual cards. I've been using my Mystic Farey deck for this work. I am in love with the art on the cards and the colors of the cards. I have had a hard time reading these cards for others, but for myself I find it is no problem. I use this deck in my rituals since it seems partial to workings and not public readings.

Another thing that I've been working on is my definition and feelings about Samhain. Since this is my first Samhain I have a lot of thoughts about, but they are not very organized yet. I want to explore more about this in another post. I also want to look back at my thoughts on elements in my life.

I hope everyone has had a great weekend!
Blessed be,
Autumn

The Books Are Here!

Hi and Merry Meet,

A few days ago I ordered some new books from half.com. I have ordered books from there before and I've never had a problem until this order.

I received one package of books yesterday. I got Buckland' Complete Book of Witchcraft, Tarot Spells, and then one that I didn't order but got was Blood Orange. Hummm, that doesn't look like The Truth About Witchcraft Today. So, I sent the company a nice note letting them know that there was a small mix-up with my order. I haven't heard from them yet, but I'm sure all will get worked out in the end. :)

Tarot Spells is one that the girls in my tarot class talked about a bit. I thought I would get it and see what all the fuss was over since the next class session is in November. I love used books. This one is very used and very well read.... however, there is a funky energy about it. I found the name of one of the past owners as well as some of the spells that he wanted to try out. I think I need to clean off the old energy and start fresh with this one. Here is the old school cover of it:I glanced though the Buckland book this morning. The one thing that I love about all the different witchcraft books is the different points of view! I love that!! Each author's voice is very distinct and clear. I'm looking forward to really diving into this one to see how he approaches the Craft.

Hope you enjoy the long weekend!

Blessed be,

Autumn

Divinations

Hi and Merry Meet,
I've talked about the fact that I took a tarot class a while ago. I really love my tarot cards and love to do reading. I have done reading for friends and family. I've also done readings for strangers. I've started to look into other divination techniques. Two of the ones that I have become interested in are pendulums and reading palms.

I got a pendulum a few weeks ago. I cleaned it and consecrated it. We are still learning to work with each other. It's a blood stone and it has a short chain on it. I got it when I went to my hometown. The shop there is really nice and she has a huge inventory. At the shop, this pendulum was the only one that felt right. Once I got it home, we are in our "getting to know you" phase. I think my questions are not clear enough and so it gets confused trying to answer me. That's something I'm working on! I need to focus on making my questions very clear and precise.

As to reading palms, I use to have a book about it when I was a kid. It was a lot more complex then I thought it was. I tried to learn it with that book, but I never got very far. In my reading of Green Witchcraft III, there is a section on reading palms. One of the tasks set by the book are to trace your own hand, draw the lines and then interpret what you see. I think I need more practice with this!

Enjoy your evening! I'm off to watch Torchwood: Children of Earth. Love it!
Blessed be,
Autumn

New Reading

Hi and Merry Meet,
A few days I started reading the book Tarot For The Green Witch by Ann Moura. I really like her writing style and I find it easy to follow.

Tarot is something that I enjoy a lot. Before I did my dedication ceremony, I took tarot classes with a friend of mine. I took them with her so that she would have someone to go with. I never expected to fall in love with it. My first deck was the Gilded Tarot. I love the images of this deck. The class really opened my eyes about tarot. There is a beauty and a connection to it that I think is misunderstood by many people. After taking the beginner class, I had to take the intermediate. It was an amazing class and such a sharing of ideas. We had a professional reader as the instructor, but all of us added our thoughts and ideas. I loved how close knit our class became. I learned as much from my classmates and I did from our instructor! She was the one who recommended the Tarot For The Green Witch book.

This book expands on what I know about tarot and is showing me how to incorporated in my craft practice. She uses several different decks to explain the meanings that she uses for readings. I currently have three decks and would love to expand my collection, however, being unemployed at the moment, expanding is not going to happen right now.

I've only read a few pages so far, but I find her take on tarot very interesting. She shows how the cards really relate to the green witch and how they are not only part of the craft, but how the energies are all around us all the time. She also shows how the major arcana are in pairs and how the energies are interrelated.

Tomorrow I hope to be able to get outside and spend some time in my garden! I haven't been able to do that in a while. Hopefully, the weather will hold!
Blessed be,
Autumn

Open Circle

Hi and Merry Meet,
Tomorrow night I found an open circle for the Full Moon Esbat! I'm really excited as this will be my first one and my first time to see a coven. I think this will be good for me and it will give me others to go to when I need some help or don't understand something that I'm learning.

This shop also has Wicca 101 classes. I took my tarot class there a while back and really loved it. Tarot is something that I have fallen in love with and it just makes so much sense to me.

When I took the tarot class, it was because a friend really wanted to go. I was just kind of along for the ride. However, after the first class I was hooked. I spent hours memorizing the info that we had learned. I couldn't wait for the second class. I found the second class to be just was wonderful. My friend, on the other hand, did not find it as enlightening as I did. She dropped out after that class. The third class only two of us showed up for and the final class, only me. I had to read for the owner of the shop (she was also our teacher). This was really good practice even though I was nervous.

Since then, I had done reading for most of my friends and family. I started the intermediate tarot class and have enjoyed it almost more then the beginner class. The teacher for this class was a professional reader and a wonderfully warm loving person. I love my classmates and the intimate conversations that we have.

I am very excited to see how a coven performs an Esbat and it will be nice to be a part of it, even if I am only watching! I am excited about the happy energies that will be there and the celebration of the Goddess!!
Blessed be,
Autumn