ofswordsandcups

[ofswordsandcups]

If you want to attract abundance, you need to understand one thing:

Money works the same way love does.

How many movies, documentaries and real-life stories tell of women desperately wanting to leave a relationship because their boyfriend is keeping such a tight leash on them? And vice versa?

Because love likes to feel free.

Love needs to be trusted. 

A love caged is a love that wants to fly away.

And love is a lot like money.

So when you hate spending on your needs… when you refuse to spend on your wants… when you think that helping others financially is a luxury you cannot afford…

…you cage money.

And the more stingy you are, the more money will want to leave you.

Spent your last few dollars on groceries? Give thanks for the food you bought which will now nourish your body.

Spent a few extra bucks on that chocolate you were craving? Be thankful for the joy that every bite of it gave you.

Planning to put part of your salary into savings, but your dad is ill? Be grateful to be in a position to help a loved one fight for their health.

Like love, money has to flow. Letting it do so is the right way. Only then will it trust you enough to stay.

[ofswordsandcups]

The Universe will always provide for you.

Your job is just the delivery guy.

Or maybe your partner is.

Or perhaps your parents are.

So when that job turns toxic, or that partner turns dangerous, or those parents turn abusive... do not be afraid to leave.

They are all just delivery guys. If they fail to deliver your blessings, the Universe will send another courier.

Do not let anyone threaten you with lack. Your abundance is guaranteed. All you have to do is trust and receive.

[ofswordsandcups]

I hope you realize how fucking powerful you are.

If you tell your body that you are sick, it will create symptoms to support you.

If you tell your brain that you are tired, it will make sure your body backs you up.

If you tell your heart that you hate life, it will share with you reasons to end it.

All of you — from every cell of your vessel to every fiber of your soul — obeys your words.

So tell your body you are healthy. Tell your brain you are lucky. Tell your heart you are happy.

Wield your power wisely.

[ofswordsandcups]

oof

[ofswordsandcups]

Everyone who plays around with Tarot cards long enough winds up with a “bad” card that they love. I just barely persuaded my husband not to get the Ten of Swords tattooed on his body; traditionally, it shows a corpse with ten swords stuck in their body and means “utter ruin,” but he thought that if it took ten swords to kill you, then you must have put up a pretty good fight.

honestly this is the most badass ten of swords interpretation i've ever heard.  i'm stealing this

[ofswordsandcups]

Dream Vision Tarot (1st & 2nd edition)

I did say that I'd be sharing my "manifestation" story about the Dream Vision tarot deck, but back then I didn't think I'd do two. I'll try to be concise about it haha.

When I first heard of the Dream Vision deck back in 2023, the first edition was already out of print, meanwhile I didn't have the means to ship from overseas a copy of the second edition. The reselling prices were insane, with the 1st edition going for 650USD and the 2nd going for 350USD (which is quite a bit of money, especially when you consider international shipping and currency exchange). Nevertheless, I kept it in mind and heart, hoping that one day I'll get to have a copy of it.

I found a copy of the 2nd edition first, as someone was doing a clearance sale of their occult shop. It was sealed, albeit with a bump on the box, but at a good price considering that it was already out of print at that point (meaning, even the creator was no longer selling an extra copy of it). I thought that getting it at it's original selling price was already too good to be true, but boy, was I astounded at my 1st edition story. At that point, I'd pretty much given up on ever getting a copy of it and was even considering getting the Starseed edition. That was, until, someone put their copy up for rehoming in our local tarot/oracle marketplace. They were selling it only for Php 999 (which, as of writing, is at about 17USD) only!! I didn't mind whatever condition it was in, and hoped the seller still had it as their selling post was already 2 weeks old. Lo and behold, they still had it, and were willing to give me free shipping for it! I seriously thought it must've been at a bad condition for them to be selling it at that price, but imagine my surprise when it came in practically like new! I'm incredibly grateful for all the means behind the scenes that allowed me to have not just one but two editions of what is now one of my most favorite of tarot decks. 🥰

(by the way, if you've been interested in getting the Dream Vision tarot too, Emma Zhang will be releasing a 3rd edition, set to launch on Kickstarter this April 16th!)

[ofswordsandcups]

Magical Properties of Vegetables

Alfalfa sprouts: prosperity

Asparagus: lust, grounding

Artichoke: lust, protection, personal growth

Beans: grounding, love, lust, prosperity, protection

Beet: beauty, love, passion

Broccoli: strength, leadership, protection

Brussels Sprouts: protection, luck, rebirth, stability, courage

Cabbage: fertility, health, longevity, love, money, protection

Carrot: banish, clarity, fertility, illusions, health

Cauliflower: protection

Celery: grounding, lust, mental powers, peace, psychic powers

Corn: spirituality, protection, abundance

Cucumber: purity, fertility, healing

Eggplant: wealth, prosperity

Endive: love, lust, physical strength

Horseradish: Exorcism, purification, banishing, empowering, warding

Lettuce: stamina, sleep, rest

Leek: love, physical strength, protection

Mushroom: psychic awareness, physical strength, hidden truths, courage, healing, health

Onion: warding, protection, health, banishing, virility, fertility, energy, psychic power

Pea: love, prosperity

Pepper green: growth, prosperity

Pepper red: energy, strength, vitality

Pepper yellow: empowered creativity

Potatoes: Protection, compassion, potency, wishing

Pumpkin: healing, money, prosperity, abundance, divination

Radish: lust, protection

Rhubarb: fertility, love, protection

Spinach: fortitude, physical strength, general physical health, prosperity, money

Sweet Potato: love, lust

Squash: spirituality

Tomatoes: protection, warding, health, money, luck, love

Turnip: warding, banishing

Zucchini: spirituality, protection, prosperity, lust, abundance

*source: Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Wicca in the Kitchen*

*source2: Scott Cunningham Encyclopedia Of Magical Herbs*

[ofswordsandcups]

Are you never allowed to say anything negative at all? Even when you feel like shit?

Every spiritual belief — from established ones like Christianity, to modern ones like the Law of Attraction — encourages you to be positive. “Look at the bright side of things!” “Be grateful for what you have!” “Like attracts like, so never be negative!”

But you’re human. You can’t always be happy.

Of course you’re allowed to feel and say negative things, both to yourself and to people you trust.

The trick is to make sure you acknowledge that your negative situation is temporary.

When I’m going through a hard time, and someone asks me if I’m fine, I say, “I will be.”

I don’t lie and say I’m okay. That’s how wounds stay wounds — when you don’t admit they’re there.

But I also don’t declare defeat. Because for as long as I’ve been alive, I’ve won every single challenge life sent me. Haven’t you? Trust your track record.

To become a powerful witch, an effective manifester, or simply, a happy person… that’s the key.

Don’t say, “I’m so tired!” Say, “I’m so tired, so I will rest to feel better.”

Don’t say, “I’m fucking broke!” Say, “I need money, and I know it’s on its way to me.”

Don’t say, “My life sucks!”. Say, “Life hasn’t been easy, but things are about to change.”

Don’t pretend your pain isn’t there. Acknowledge it. Then acknowledge that it will pass, and it will.

[ofswordsandcups]

[ofswordsandcups]

What the fuck is the place of lack, and why are you in it?

There’s a saying: “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” Yes, it refers to sociology and capitalism and all that stuff. But it also refers to you.

When you act poor, you stay poor. When you act rich, you stay rich.

Acting poor means you avoid treating yourself because, what if you run out of money?

It means you never travel to other countries because, what if you one day need those funds for hospitalization?

It means you can't be bothered to give to the less fortunate, because you think you are the less fortunate.

That is the place of lack. And when you’re there, you will never have enough.

By “acting rich”, I don’t mean pretending to have more than you do so that other people would think highly of you. That’s a place of lack too.

By “acting rich”, I mean treating yourself every now and then, because you trust that money will come find you when you need it.

It means traveling the world if you want to, because you trust that the Universe will provide for your other needs.

It means sharing what you have, because you know that you are blessed and that your blessings are protected.

That is the mindset of abundance. And with it, you will always attract more than enough.

So ask yourself... where are you, usually? The place of lack, or the place of luck?

[ofswordsandcups]

Popping into a space I don’t usually occupy on my blog to remind yall that tarot readings need PREPARATION. You need to focus inwards and connect with your energy before doing a reading. You can’t just whip out random cards and hope for the best. Especially if you’re doing a reading because you’re struggling. You’ll probably end up feeling worse. Getting overstimulated by a reading because “it doesn’t make sense” then panicking is very avoidable. It doesn’t make sense because YOU DIDN’T PREPARE AT ALL. It is meaningless.

[ofswordsandcups]

Reminder that intentions are important in spellwork! A generic intention won't give you exactly what you desire. Be sure to be specific about what you want from your spells! 🌱

[ofswordsandcups]

show me your favorite deck?

i'm in the mood for a new deck and would love any suggestions you may have! I study the Rider-Waite-Smith system, but I'm open to any Marseille/Thoth deck too :)

[ofswordsandcups]

the intersection of divination and unintentional spirit contact

Generally I'd say, no - divination (tarot cards, spirit/"ouija" boards, black mirrors, crystal balls, etc etc) in and of itself does not automatically conjure or evoke spirits.

If a spirit is already not in the space where you're performing divination, an act of divination will not spontaneously make spirits appear.

That being said, I have experienced and seen others experience increases in spiritual contact, activity, and awareness after "getting into" divination.

My goal in this post isn't to try to make people fearful of divination (which they should not be) but to try and highlight some of the nuances I've experienced at the intersection of divination and unintentional spirit contact.

Generally, we can divide these experiences into two categories.

There's a specific spirit who is already around, and they'd love an opportunity to chat, and,

"Hey spirit chums, isn't it neat that there's a new practitioner in town who's developing a consistent practice? Let's go over next time divination is open and say hi!"

You'll notice a distinct lack of a third category, "the demons you learned about in your nondenominational Protestant Sunday shool spontaneously appear and your house will one day be featured in a string of Amityville spinoffs."

Of course, not all divination occurs in unintended spirit contact. I'd hazard that a minority of all divinatory attempts end up this way.

So, what kind of specific spirits might already be around, wanting to chat?

I believe (and I'm not so unique in this belief) that spirits are just around us and within things, all the time. A person may have spirits in their home and yard; have spirits attached to family heirlooms; be watched over by ancestors, guides, angels, or protectors; or, in the case of many Seekers, have obtained the attention of various gods or other allies.

When a reader shuffles their tarot cards with the intent to access information they would not be able to have if not for magic, we can conceptualize that the reader is opening a little window and peering into the beyond. If spirits are "beyond," and wandering past the window, they have the ability to wave back and say howdy.

Sometimes - and, in my experience, rarely - these spirits will jut in and "take over" a reading in order to deliver some important message.

Much more often, spirits who push their way into a reading don't have anything important to say at all. They're not there because they're big, powerful, important, or relevant - they're there because it's something to do.

Many random spirits who are already around and like to show up to readings are just curious, don't particularly care about you, and are happy to be very weaselly if it means they get more attention from you. These spirits may be thrilled to claim that they are powerful demons, top-tier angels, faerie kings, your hitherto-unknown familiar spirit, and so forth.

A major giveaway is that they will often not reveal this identity until you specifically ask them if they are a faerie king, or whatever, and they'll agree that they are because to them this is Omegle and it's fun to have you on the hook.

These spirits are easy to get rid of, because they have exactly as much power over you during and after a reading as they had before the reading - which is to say, zero.

If these spirits are already not affecting your life, they will continue to not affect it once the reading is over. The fact that a reading occurred does not "magically" give them power or influence over you.

And again - while a reader worth their salt can intentionally petition helper spirits and ask to receive messages, it is pretty dang uncommon for a person's guides to force their ways into readings. More likely than not, you're dealing with some rando.

Now, all that being said - from time to time, various spirits demand attention and will use a reading as an excuse to get that attention. In my experience, this is a problem often experienced by people who are specifically spirit workers (although it can happen to others).

In circumstances like these, it's not a random curious spirit who's taking the opportunity to chat, nor is it a guide giving advice. Rather, a spirit has figured out that someone nearby can hear it, and it would like to engage your services.

It's not unheard of for a spirit worker (or very spiritually sensitive person) to take home a unique little trinket from the thrift shop, something that just catches their eye, something that makes them feel ways about things, and ignore it, and ignore it, and ignore it...

Until they open up the spirit board to try and do a meditation on the meanings of the runes, and the thrift shop spirit barges in and demands a proper shrine and maybe an offering every now and then.

Again, this isn't summoning, or conjuring, or whatever. The act of divination didn't cause the spirit to appear - it just created an opportunity for a spirit to speak.

The solution to getting rid of such a spirit is often to help it out, or respectfully remove it from the premises, or so on. That's spirit working stuff, and not a facet of divination.

But, what about people who experience an increase in general spiritual activity after readings?

Well, it's a bit like buying a new house and becoming very active in the neighborhood. The neighbors take notice of you. That attention doesn't stop the second the cookout ends and you go back inside.

I'm much less inclined to believe that divination alone will cause you to be an active member in your spiritual neighborhood. But many diviners are witches, pagans, or practitioners. They're not just reading cards, but also practicing spells, praying to gods, and modifying their own spiritual environment.

A witch who is attempting meditations to find their spirit guides, experimenting with full moon rituals, casting spells, and trying to take care of their local environment, should not really be that surprised if spirits start showing up wanting to hang out.

It doesn't mean that witch has special spirit-drawing powers (sorry), and it doesn't mean the runes you bought off Etsy are summoning demons - it means you're integrating with the spiritual reality around you.

Of course, people who don't desire random spirit contact don't have to just deal with it. There is a big difference between throwing a neighborhood bbq where anyone is invited, and having a private cookout for friends in the yard.

Spirits, by and large, often don't bother people who don't want to be bothered. Hang a big no solicitors sign on your spiritual house, and a lot of spirits just won't bother.

Again, I doubt that just reading tarot (even if you do it a lot) is going to suddenly inspire tons of spiritual contact. A lot of people work very hard to get spirits to talk to them. It's usually not as easy as coming into contact with spiritual tools.

Even direct divination that actively seeks contact with spirits (like, trying to channel someone's ancestors for them) often does not bring the spirit into the space - it's more like a two-way phone call. It doesn't actually bring the spirit to where you are and then set it loose.

Anyway. Unintended spirit contact while using divinatory tools does happen, but it's... usually not a big deal. It's often the equivalent of someone walking past your picnic at the park and saying, "some weather we're having!"

And in the random instances I've encountered where the spirit contact is actually a Situation, nine times out of ten, the spirit just wants a spirit worker to help them with someone so they can get on with their life.

[ofswordsandcups]

[ofswordsandcups]

Want Instant Good Luck? 🐰✨ Reblog This Lucky Rabbit for Positive Vibes!

Why This Cute Rabbit Could Bring You Luck - And How to Get It! 🐰🍀

Did you know that rabbits are considered symbols of good luck? 🐰🍀 Their association with luck comes from their prolific breeding and the belief that their quick movements and soft fur bring positive energy. Plus, in many cultures, rabbits are seen as symbols of prosperity and renewal.

Want to invite some luck into your life? Follow me, like this post, and reblog to share the good vibes with the cute rabbit! 🌟✨ Let’s spread some luck and positivity together! 🌈💖

[ofswordsandcups]

Tarot Card Associations for Hellenic Deities

Fool - Dionysus, Hermes, Pan, Ate, Gelos, Momus, Horme

Magician - Hephaestus, Hermes, Hecate, Aristeaus, Circe, the Muses, Apollo

High Priestess - Hecate, Persephone, Hera, Circe

Empress - Hera, Aphrodite, Demeter, Hestia, Gaia, Rhea

Emperor - Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Ares

Hierophant - Demeter, Persephone, Hecate, Hestia, Hera, Gaia, Rhea

Lovers - Aphrodite, Eros, Dionysus, Adonis, Hera, Philotes

Chariot - Hermes, Charon, Iris, Morpheus

Strength - Athena, Ares, Heracles, Nike, Bia, Kratos, 

Hermit - Hades, Hestia

Wheel of Fortune - Hermes, Tyche, the Fates, Zeus

Justice - Athena, Themis, Nemesis, Astraea, Apollo

Hanged Man - Hermes, Harpocrates, Prometheus, Psyche 

Death - Hades, Thanatos, Dionysus, Charon, Persephone, Ares

Temperance - Athena, Demeter, Artemis, Harmonia

Devil - Dionysus, Pan, Comus, Ate, Priapus

Tower - Ares, Poseidon, Deimos, Phobos, Eris, Moros, Enyo, Hybris

Star - Aphrodite, Artemis, Astraea, Urania, Hermes, Eos, Hesperus

Moon - Selene, Artemis, Hecate, Nyx, Hypnos, Erebus

Sun - Apollo, Helios, Hemera, Hyperion 

Judgment - Zeus, hades, Athena

World - Hermes, Demeter, Gaia, Hestia, Harmonia, Pan, Tyche