#I read tarot cards for everyone -predicting what the new year would bring

[ipwarn]

Happy New Year!

[collectivecartomancy]

The Right to Free Thought: Rereading Tarot's Swords

Psst! At the end of this month, I’m opening the doors to Tarot in Community, an online space for queers, feminists, and leftists to learn tarot, and merge it with their work in the world. Sign up for the waitlist here!

On the first day of 2020, I drew the Ace of Spades and The Big Joker. I knew my grandmother was going to die.

There would be other signs to come. It felt obvious, but I hoped I was wrong. I put it out of my mind.

There seemed to be death all around my New Year 2020 readings. I pulled the Ten of Swords over and over again. 

Because I had never seen...an unprecedented pandemic, I couldn't tell why. Maybe I was unwilling to think of all it could mean.

But my refusal to think about what was right in front of me did me no good. It helped no one.

Tarot's Swords can bring unthinkable events. They can spur unmanageable conversations, behavior, and feelings.

You pull the Five of Swords, and an ex who dragged you through the mud texts "hey stranger." You find the Nine of Swords and all the terrible memories come rushing back.

You pull the Ten of Swords, and something or someone dies.

There are cards in tarot's suit of Swords that can feel like a bespoke hell. Traditional meanings may itemize Swords' disappointments, but they all boil down to "change"

An unwelcome message interrupts a static silence. A stable mental state, whether comfort or crisis, yields to a less predictable mood.

You grieve what and who you lost.

This is one way to think of the work tarot's Swords are doing.

A change of mood can also be a sign that our environment is safe for big feelings. The reminder that someone who hurt us exists can be an opportunity to set boundaries we didn't have in the past.

Death is life's great and final truth. It'll happen to everyone, and there's nothing we can do to fight it.

Through free thought, by which I mean attention to detail, inquiry, and understanding, we can see that the work of tarot’s Swords isn’t good or bad. 

Through free thought, we can see the role systems play in our limited ability to see the truth and accept reality. Our unwillingness or inability to think and scheme freely limits our capacity for action. 

It all but ensures that we will act without thinking, and reap the consequences about which the Swords warn. 

Swords can cut away what doesn't serve us. This includes ancient feelings tucked away in our bodies like spoiled food in the back of a fridge. This includes being angry at the dead.

Swords shake us up. They make us think. That's their work in the world.

But sometimes Swords just cut.

They don't always feel good.

Out of the four suits of tarot's minor arcana, people tend to fear Swords the most.

Why do we fear the truth? Why do we fear thought? Why do we fear death? 

Tarot's Swords show us how pushing away a thought out of fear can keep us from growing.

When we embrace tarot's Swords, we respect that some questions respond better to logic. When Swords appear, we must admit there is more to life than our feelings.

"What do tarot's swords represent?"

This question is common for those new to tarot. The answers are less than satisfying.

Tarot's Swords represent the element of air. It moves quick. It can kick up with no notice.

It revitalizes us, and we cannot live without it.

The actions in the suit of Swords can be piercing, cutting, and even life-altering. 

Unlike other suits in tarot, Swords are weapons.

Tarot's Swords align with the suit of Spades in playing cards. This is part of why Swords’ meanings can feel more severe than other tarot suits.

The Spades are the suit of the soldier. They are ready for battle. They won't get too caught up in emotions once they've decided what's right.

This is one of the things that makes tarot's Swords so hurtful. They are full of careless or calculated choices, changes, and words.

There's a tendency to intellectualize our feelings when Swords are around.

Like Spades in playing cards, tarot's Swords can show us the consequences of our decisions.

The predictions of the Spades are less abstract than those of tarot's Swords. 

Both Spades and Swords bring the truth to light. Both cut right to the heart, like the image on the Three of Swords suggests. 

Harsh truths

Sometimes stagnation feels better than change.

But can stagnation bring you closer to your goals. Can stagnation make you feel more comfortable doing your work in the world?

Can stagnation push you to be a better lover, or a better friend

Tarot's Swords act like wind in our sails.

We may miss what we leave on the shore. Yet we understand that security and possibility can be a trade off.

If we've poured our time and resources into planning this trip, we might as well travel. There's no use in resisting the shifts in environment that Swords create.

Swords bring a different type of change from tarot's Wands. 

Wands burst into our lives, causing change before we can comprehend it. Wands are a catalyst. 

Tarot's Swords signal change where our egos may have wanted longevity.

Swords force us to communicate. Swords ask us to reevaluate. Swords show us the truth.

Swords can also appear when we are faced with the truth about the world and our place within it. 

When we realize our boss has promoted a white colleague over us, yet again. When it dawns on us that most of our taxes go to war. When we accept that a closeted lover may never come out. 

These are the realities of tarot’s Swords. Truth hurts. 

Change Your Life, Change the World

I'm a child of the Black 90's.

There was a saying that seemed to be everywhere while I was a kid: "you can't be what you don't see." It was so corny.

TV shows, after school specials, parents, pastors, and coaches seemed to all say it at once. "You can't be what you don't see."

But unfortunately, they were right!

If you can't dream it, you can't be it. If you don't see it, it's unlikely you'll think something is for you.

It makes logical sense. This is the problem with making decisions based on feelings alone. That sometimes we must free our mind through understanding the patterns and systems that govern our lives.

Sometimes a theory that helps you understand why you're suffering sets you on the path to liberation.

It can also stop us from mystifying the source of the harm we’re experiencing.

Are you lazy, or does capitalism demand an unjust level of productivity? Are you bad with money, or are wages stagnant?

You can't accept the truth until you admit someone has duped you.

Such thoughts inevitably knock against our feelings in unpleasant ways. It can be painful to take a long look at ourselves.

Thought and change are the blessings of tarot's Swords. One often gives birth to the other.

When we reread tarot's Swords as an opportunity to embrace what’s real, we accept that we are responsible for changing what we cannot accept.

We acknowledge that we cannot move through every day with Wands energy. We can't run around knocking things over and think we'll never have to clean up our mess.

Swords are the suit that alerts us to that mess. Through thought, logic, and embracing change, we can start to reorganize our lives.

Thought gives us the opportunity to ask why something is what it's become.

We are mentally ready for inquiry, theory, and debate when Swords are around. "Why"s seem to be everywhere when you pull Swords. It's your job to answer them.

The power of tarot's Swords comes from honoring our commitment to self-improvement. 

With Swords, we can accept when we are wrong. We can change our lives. We can change the world.

Further Thoughts

Join the Tarot in Community Waitlist

Living in Our Feelings: Rereading Tarot’s Cups

More than Money: Rereading Tarot’s Pentacles

Seven of Wands: Tarot for Conflict

Queering Tarot’s Knights: Becoming Ourselves

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[iliveiloveiwrite]

Rivals

A/N: @obsessedwithrandomthings​ requested some Neville angst in the form of enemies to lovers from me so here is what I hope is Neville angst! Honestly, it’s more rivals with a lot of unresolved sexual tension but I still hope you like! She also made this wonderful banner! I also don’t know if you can tell but I am really inspired by greek mythology and witchcraft lore in general (I'm a historian, what can I say?) and this fic is full of it so if that’s not your thing, then I apologise! Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy!

Summary: Rival professors

Pairing: Neville Longbottom x Fem!Reader

Warnings: swearing, gets a lil bit steamy

Word count: 4.7k

There wasn’t a man on the earth that could infuriate you more than Neville Longbottom.

And you had known Draco Malfoy for over a decade.

There was a history between the two of you; a natural hatred that came with the Slytherin/Gryffindor rivalry, but there was always something more. A deeper attraction that ran between the two of you despite how hard you rejected it.

He felt it too; and he fought it with every breath.

You thought you would get some reprieve upon your appointment as the Divination professor at Hogwarts, but as you entered the staff room your first week there, Neville Longbottom was stood speaking to Headmistress McGonagall.

“You have got to be shitting me?” You cry.

“Professor (Y/L/N)!” McGonagall admonishes.

“I’m sorry Headmistress, but seriously? Longbottom?”

“I’m not thrilled about the prospect of working with you either.” Neville drawls.

McGonagall looks between the two of you, a small frown pulling down the corners of her mouth, “I do hope you’ll get along in front of students.”

You glare at the tall brunette, “There’ll be no issue with that on my part, Headmistress.”

Neville returns your glare with just as much acid, “The one thing we’ll agree on then.”

-------------

It’s the little things he does that bother you; such as smirking at you from across the Great Hall or taking the last of the milk in the staff room. Neville knows exactly how to get a rise out of you, and he does an excellent job of it.

The rivalry that had seemingly ended upon the end of your education, promptly started back up again.

Constant competition broke out between Neville and yourself: who got the higher grades? Who had the highest pass rate? Who got the most laughs out their students?

It never ended. He would goad you, and you’d goad him right back. Practical jokes would be played on each other often. You were both frequent customers at the Weasley twin’s joke shop where materials were hoarded, and plans were formed.

McGonagall watched the two of you bicker in the staffroom; a regular occurrence. She watched the both of you argue from across the room with a fond look on her face. The rivalry would always be present between the two of you; and she was surprised – to say you were a gifted seer, you had not foreseen the palpable tension between Neville and yourself.

She watches the back and forth between the two of you; head moving as if watching a muggle tennis match. Insults and jibes are thrown between you both and yet, despite the bitterness of the words, there was no major malice in your voices.

McGonagall sips at her tea, rolling her eyes at the two of you. She supposes that it would only be a matter of time now.

----------

The week before term starts you get a letter of rejection in your notice box. Your application for the money for new textbooks had been denied. You scrunch the paper in your hands; feeling the all too familiar emotion of frustration running through your veins. Your argument for the textbooks was sound; it would be easier for the school to purchase the materials for the students than to rely on the students to use their own money.

You knock on the heavy, wooden door of McGonagall’s office; entering upon hearing her grant permission. “Headmistress, why has my application for new textbooks been rejected?”

“We’ve had to siphon funds for the Herbology trip.”

You see red, but keep a lid on your temper in front of your boss, “Pardon?”

“Divination is an elective subject; Herbology is compulsory through all seven years.” McGonagall reasons.

“So because of that, my students have to use textbooks that are falling apart?”

“We can add the material onto the reading list if that makes anything better?”

You sit back in your chair, “Term starts in a week. Students will have bought their books already. The very reason I applied for the textbooks was so that students didn’t have to buy them.”

McGonagall holds her hands up, “I’m sorry, Professor.”

You sigh through your nose, standing to leave, “Thank you for your time, Headmistress.”

Anger rises within you; all directed at the maddening Herbology professor. You understood that Herbology was a compulsory subject, and that it was very useful in determining a student’s future career as a Healer or a Potioneer. But Divination was becoming increasingly popular among the muggleborn students who grew up knowing the tales of tarot reading, palmistry and clairvoyance. And after the war, so many students sat in the class hoping for a relief in their grief – to find an answer to the well-asked question, do they find peace?

You confront Neville in the staff room, “The reason I cannot get new textbooks for my Sixth Years is because you’ve used the money for a trip to London to meet Herbert Beery?”

“He taught Herbology here before Professor Sprout, it is a worthwhile trip!”

You pause the rant sitting at the tip of your tongue; letting his words settle. “Repeat those very words for me, Longbottom.”

Neville frowns, “What?”

“Repeat. Those. Words.” You enunciate; each syllable pronounced.

“Herbert Beery taught Herbology here before Sprout. It’s a worthwhile experience for students interested in taking the subject further.”

The cushion in your hands hits Neville in the face. He looks at you astonished as you shout, “You’re taking students to meet an ex-professor?”

“What aren’t you understanding about this?” Neville questions as another cushion hits his face, “Stop doing that!” he yells.

“Why didn’t you bring him here?! He knows the school; it’s known territory! And it would have saved enough money so I could get my textbooks!” You throw more cushions at him; enjoying the way he has to dodge them. “You didn’t think this through at all, Longbottom.”

“Calm down, (Y/N). Your students can always buy the textbooks.”

“Not this close to term starting!” You throw yourself down onto the couch with a groan, “You’re an arsehole.”

Neville glares, “This trip is a once in a lifetime experience for my students. Herbert Beery is officially retiring from the field after this lecture.”

“And yet you couldn’t invite him to Hogwarts?”

“No.”

You stand, shoving his shoulder as you pass him to leave. “I can’t even begin to tell you how pissed I am. I can’t even look at you right now.”

Leaving him there, surrounded by couch cushions, you take a breather in the courtyard. Inhaling the fresh air, you start to see things more clearly. It seems that a friendship would never exist between the two of you; the rivalry stemming from Hogwarts running so deep that it could never be breached by kind words and actions.

A plan forms in your head for the perfect revenge, and it would mean a visit to Diagon Alley.

---------

If there was one thing that your education at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry had taught you, it was if you were going to prank someone, you had to make it a good one. George and Fred Weasley are more than happy to help you enchant the chalk; neither asking too many questions – they see the mischievous glint in your eye and know not to interrogate too much.

Neville walks into his classroom to find his students already sat in their seats. He lets them continue socialising as he sets up his materials for the day; this lesson focusing on the theory behind Herbology rather than hands-on practice. He grabs his chalk from the bottom of the board, proceeding to write the date and title before turning to his class, pulling their attention away from their friends and on to him.

It takes him two minutes to notice to amused expressions and the stifling of laughter.

It takes him five minutes to figure out why.

On the chalkboard behind is a caricature of his face on the body of a baby Mandrake. He’s crying big, fat tears that make their way down the length of the board before turning to dust at the bottom.

Neville can feel his face heat from the anger building within him and coursing through his veins, setting them alight. He knows exactly who’s behind this, and it isn’t any of his students.  

--------

Your class settle into their assigned seats; the crystal balls already placed in the centres of their tables. Once upon a time, students would groan at the sight of them, but now they regard them with interest.

You grin at your students, knowing what lesson they had last, “How was Herbology?”

Thomas Wadsworth in Ravenclaw begins to laugh, “I knew you would have something to do with it, Professor.”

“Was it obvious?”

He shakes his head, “Not really, but everyone knows of your rivalry.”

“How did he react?”

Shea Bard in Gryffindor raises her hand, “He went very red and muttered some curses before teaching us something else.”

You rub your hands together, “What else? Was it funny?”

“Very,” Shea nods, “But we didn’t dare laugh, no-one was in the mood to get a detention no matter how funny it was.”

You clap your hands together, pleased with the outcome. You’d have to send a thank you card to the Weasley twins for their genius minds.

“Why do you have this rivalry with Professor Longbottom?” A voice from the back asks.

Other students turn their eyes from their crystal balls to you; more interested in this topic of conversation rather than predicting their neighbour’s future.

You shrug, “We’ve never liked each other. He’s a Gryffindor and I’m a Slytherin.”

Thomas scoffs, “That can’t be it, surely? Give us something more, Professor.”

“What more is there? We went to school together and we never got on.”

Shea smiles, “With all respect Professor, you have to be aware of the tension between the two of you.”

“Tension?” You question, eyebrows furrowing.

Thomas raises his hand, counting the syllables off with his fingers, “Sex-u-al ten-shun.”

You stare wide-eyed at your class. Shea frowns, “Oh man, you weren’t aware of it were you?”

You clear your throat, “I have to know, how did my personal life become the topic for this class?”

“Since you won’t make a move on Professor Longbottom.”

“Thomas!” You chide.

He frowns, “I’m only saying what everyone else was thinking. It’s so obvious you fancy each other, it’s sickening.”

“Professor Longbottom and I have never gotten along. The most you’re going to see out of us is rivalry and cold stares.”

Thomas rolls his eyes, “Okay, Professor. If you get together before Christmas, Frances owes me Butterbeer for a month.”

“I’ll be sure to keep your bet in mind, Thomas, thank you.” You drawl with an unimpressed look, “Let’s get back to our crystal balls shall we?”

And just like that, the conversation over your personal life and your relationship with Neville Longbottom was over.

--------

The sound of your classroom door slamming shut has you jumping in your spot. You press a hand to your chest; trying to slow your racing heart as you take in the angry figure of Neville Longbottom.

“I know it was you.” He states, enunciating every word as if they were its own sentence. “I know it was you that planted the enchanted chalk in my classroom.”

You place a hand on your heart, grinning, “I am hurt that you would accuse me of such a thing, Longbottom.”

He stalks towards you, pressing you into your desk. He’s so close that you can smell the dirt from the greenhouse; it’s become the scent you associate with him.

“I spoke to the Weasley twins.”

Your grin shifts into a sly smirk, “The jig is up, you’ve caught me red-handed.”

The atmosphere between the two of become charged. The electricity in the air becoming magnetic; stirring something deep within your gut. Your eyes run over his face; taking in the widened pupils and the deepened breathing. He’s feeling it too; feeling it just as intense as you.

You resist the urge to drag him in for a kiss. You resist the urge to taste him; to memorise every inch of him with your fingers and mouth.

“You feel it too, don’t you?” You ask, voice breathless. He pushes himself away from you, stepping away quickly as your words land.

Neville storms out of your classroom; running both hands through his hair with a frustrated groan. You watch him leave, trying to slow the racing of your heart to no avail. He had no idea the reaction he could pull from you, but you were also unaware of the reaction, you could evoke from him.

You push your hair back from your forehead as you analyse your feelings for the Herbology professor; wondering when they had started to lean more towards to love than hatred.

You need to consult someone or something whether it be your cards or your tea leaves; everything feels so gnarled and scrambled, it felt impossible to make heads or tails of it all.

----------

Neville begins to enact his revenge a week later.

It starts with sitting next to you at the weekly briefings; sitting close enough to you where you can feel the warmth exuding from his body – sitting close enough to you where his thigh presses against yours. Through the briefing, he’d lean into you, whispering into your ear, asking for your thoughts. You clench the hand that’s resting on your thigh, and you feel rather than hear Neville’s amused snort at your action. He pulls away when McGonagall calls the end of the briefing and you’re left feeling suddenly cold at the lack of his touch.

He then moves onto catching your eye at every meal time. Upon which he smirks, running a hand over his jaw, not missing the way your eyes track the movement of his fingers. You turn away with a frown, drawing Professor Flitwick into a conversation about the latest journal on charms.

He decides to interrupt one of your lessons on the second day of his revenge. He enters your classroom using the ruse of searching for a student. Your mouth dries as you run your eyes up and down his body. His work overalls are tied at the waist; his muscles gloriously defined by a tight white t-shirt spattered with dirt from the plants, and the tattoos he got in memorial for the second wizarding war stand out against his lightly tanned skin.

In the years you had known Neville, you had watched him transform from a bumbling teenager into what could only be described as a Greek God.

The expression that falls across his face as you take in the sight of him makes it very clear to you that he knows exactly what he’s doing.

You refuse to let him see how he’s getting to you. You shift your attention back to your class; not missing the way Thomas Cresswell points at Frances Bainbridge across the room, calling for the outcome of their bet. You roll your eyes at Thomas and Frances as you let the student Neville came for leave the classroom.

-----------

“What are you doing?” You hiss at him on the third day of his revenge.

He smirks, “Absolutely nothing.”

“If this is your revenge for my prank, it’s messed up, Longbottom.”

Neville’s eyes widen; his face the picture of perfect innocence, “What makes you think that?”

He walks away before you can answer, leaving you questioning the last week of your life.

You finish your week confused and frustrated. The feelings that had always been present for Neville were riled up; you were thinking of him more often, remembering how his thigh felt pressed against yours and the attention he paid you from across the Great Hall at every meal time.

Your heart races every time you think of him, and your stomach erupts in butterflies. You  spend your free periods thinking of how he would feel pressed against you, and how his stubble would feel under your lips. More often than not, you would find yourself with your head in your hands, cursing the day you ever let the Herbology professor into your life.

----------

It was the very last thing you wanted to do, but it was something you needed to do. A headache had been brewing now for three days, ever since Neville cooled off with his revenge for your chalkboard prank. The headache was making you sharper with your students that you intended to be.

This wasn’t a usual headache though; it had stemmed from your witches-eye - becoming a seer’s headache very quickly. The only way this could be relieved was to fall into it; opening your eye and being shown what you needed to see.

You find Neville in one of the many greenhouses dedicated to Herbology. He stands over the freshly potted Mandrakes, sprinkling fertiliser on them. You lean against the door to the greenhouse, rubbing the centre of your forehead. “Longbottom, I wouldn’t usually ask this of you, but I need access to the restricted greenhouse.”

Neville frowns, “Why would you need to go there?”

“There’s a plant I need. Would you please take me?”

“It’s nothing dangerous is it?”

You shake your head, refusing to speak as it would give away your lie.

Neville takes a set of keys from his pocket, searching for a minute for the lesser-used key. You follow him as he leads you to the restricted greenhouse. Such as with the library, the greenhouses had an area controlled against student use for it grew plants that were not only dangerous, but deadly. Mandrakes were one thing - the plants grown here had helped dark wizards gain fame, fortune, power, and all at a cost.

Neville waits at the door as you walk through the greenhouse, looking for the pale yellow flower covered in veins. You find it in little to no time at all, picking a few flowers from the plant. A petal would be fine for now; Henbane could be deadly if used in large quantities. Taking more than what you needed was your way of assuring that you wouldn’t need to bother Neville again.

You make your way back to Neville, smiling smally at the questioning expression on his face. “Did you get everything you need?” he asks.

You nod, patting the little bag in which you had stored the Henbane flowers, “I got it. Thank you, Neville.”

The walk back to the staff room is in silence. You make to walk back to your tower, ready to start the drying process for the Henbane flower, but a hand grips your wrist. You turn to find Neville holding you in place, “You’re being careful, aren’t you (Y/N)? There’s a reason that greenhouse is restricted.”

You pull your wrist from his grip, “I’ll be fine, Neville. Thanks for your concern.”

You walk away before he can say anything else.

--------

Nothing felt clear; everything felt frazzled and vague. It was as if the very threads of your life had become a tangled, snarled mess. Your realisation of your feelings for Neville had left you in a lurch; you’ve caught him watching you multiples times now – all with a puzzled expression on his face, as if reliving the restricted greenhouse and the revenge from your prank on him.  

Your hands run over the top of scrying bowl. The bowl had been handed down to you by your grandmother who had been a powerful seer; it depicts the Triple Goddess in her three forms – maiden, mother, crone.

Incense fills your office; the scent of the Black Henbane given to you by Neville. Henbane had been demonised for centuries; scholars noting that it was used in ointments and could help with conjuring of spirits.

You inhale its smell; your witches-eye opening, more sensitive in the right environment. So few witches possessed the gifts of a seer, it was rare for you to use your talent – usually letting the prophecies and such come to you naturally.

But this was needed. You needed answers for why your tea leaves were conflicting and why your tarot readings were not making sense.

An ethereal voice calls out in greeting, signalling that you had reached the other side, “You called me, daughter.”

“The path is foggy, and I’ve lost my way. I thought I was certain but now I’m not.”

“There is no way forward that does not have him in it.”

“What do you mean?”

“The one who gave you the Henbane to call me forth. He is with you through it all.”

Neville? Neville.

“He doesn’t love me. He doesn’t even like me.”

“Do not be too sure, daughter.”

Your eyebrows pull together, a puzzled expression taking over your face. You knew your feelings for the professor had changed; had felt the long dormant passion flare again but there was nothing to be done about it.

The pull of the spirits is intoxicating; you can feel their hands on your shoulders and arms, caressing your face, pulling you closer and closer – begging you to help them find peace, to answer their questions, to help pay the ferryman but you cannot.

A male voice shouting your name has you refusing the screams of the spirits.

The voice shouts again; it’s closer now, corporeal hands shake your shoulders in an attempt to pull you out of your trance, but there’s no luck.

The goddess bids you farewell before everything falls black.

----------

Your vision comes back to you slowly; black spots still dancing across your view of the vaulted ceiling of the hospital wing. You groan at the pounding in your head, bringing a hand up to rub at your forehead.

“(Y/N)?” A male voice asks; a familiar voice.

The feeling of a cool cloth being pressed to your forehead has you sighing in relief, “That feels nice.”

Neville’s face comes into view; his eyes run over your face, checking for what – you don’t know.  “You’ve been in contact with higher powers – that’s why you asked for Black Henbane, isn’t it?”

You take the cool cloth from him, “I needed to see something.”

“You put yourself at risk doing this.” Neville bluntly states.

You groan, “I know.”

“Was it worth it?” He asks, narrowing his eyes, “Did you get your answers?”

You nod, averting your eyes – focusing on the vaulted ceiling rather than the man sitting next to you. Shame washes over you from the tone of his voice – reproach mixed with something akin to worry. You smile a little, “Neville Longbottom,” you tease, “Were you worried about me?”

“What was so important that you needed to contact higher powers? You know how addicting they can be!” He chides; ignoring your question completely.

You purse your lips, refusing to answer.

Neville leans forward in his chair, bracing his elbows on his knees, “What was so important?”

“I don’t want to tell you.”

“I was the one who found you, did you know that? I found you bent over your scrying bowl, talking to spirits and the higher powers. It was me who pulled you out before they could take something more permanent.”

“And I’m grateful for that, Neville.”

“But you won’t tell me why you had to consult them?”

You push yourself into a sitting position slowly; pausing only to stave off the wave of dizziness and nausea. Neville stands, his hands outstretched to help but you wave him away, telling him you’re okay. He doesn’t look like his believes you, but he steps back, nonetheless.

“I needed some answers about my future, about my feelings. It’s all so blurred, even my tea leaves don’t make sense!”

“So you decided to use your scrying bowl? (Y/N), you had trouble with this when we were students.”

“I’m surprised you remember.”

“Of course I remember, why wouldn’t I?”

“We weren’t exactly the best of friends.”

“That doesn’t mean I didn’t notice you.”

“You noticed me?”

“I always notice you, that’s how I found you. You asking for Black Henbane had me consulting my own textbooks and when I read it was used to help see the future more clearly, I followed you.”

You both lapse into a heavy, charged silence. Neville throws his hands in the air before setting them on his hips as he paces the two steps in front of your bed. You want to groan in frustration; want to scream and shout but it would do no good.

“What are we doing, Neville?” You finally ask, voice tired and head foggy.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean us. The pranks, the teasing, the unresolved tension.”

Neville sits back down, crossing his arms, “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

You pull the cloth from your forehead, glaring at the brunette, “Oh that’s a load of bullshit and you know it.”

He glares in return but doesn’t say a word.

“We have been dancing around this for years, Neville. I’m sick of having to pretend I hate you.”

“You don’t hate me?”

You shake your head, “You piss me the fuck off, but I don’t hate you.”

“I don’t hate you either.” He whispers.

“So what do we do?”

“Honestly, I’d like to take you out to dinner,” Neville states, confidence running through his body.

“Dinner?”

“What’s wrong with dinner?”

You bite your lip, running your eyes over him. He’s standing again, as if unable to sit still through this conversation. His eyes are bright with happiness and another emotion you can’t quite put your finger on; he’s entirely delectable. Merlin, in for a penny, as the muggles say, “How about we skip dinner and go to back to my rooms?”

Neville leans in close; his breath fanning over your face. He smells like recently mown grass, freshly fallen rain, and a hint of lime. It’s intoxicating. His eyes search yours for permission; you granting it as you tilt your face up to meet his, you close your eyes at his proximity, taking it all in. He lightly brushes his lips against yours, with a feather-light pressure that has you chasing him for more. He pulls away with a light chuckle at the look of frustration on your face.

“After dinner,” he promises.

The note of promise in his voice has your breath quickening and your toes curling. In the time that you had known this man, you had hated him but now, all you did was crave him.

His touch, his look, his attention. The goddess had promised you that there was no version of your future without him in it, and now...

And now, you were more than ready for that future.

“I’ll hold you to that.” You murmur, breathless from the thoughts running through your head.

---------

A month later:

Neville finds you in your classroom writing the information for your first lesson of the day on the board in chalk. He leans against the door as he closes it. Neville watches you; his eyes running over every curve and dip in your body, thinking of how less than twelve hours ago he was worshipping it with his mouth and hands. He bites down a groan at the memory; your gasps and moans echoing in his ear – he can still feel the dull ache of the scratches on his back, from your fingernails reaching for purchase.

He struts over to you; enjoying the surprised yelp that leaves your mouth as his arms wrap around your stomach, but he loves the way you soon relax into him, your hands coming to rest on top of his. Neville presses a kiss to the crook between your neck and ear, smirking against your skin as he hears your breath hitch.

Neville leans close, his mouth to your ear, “I’m going to have to teach you a lesson.”

You hum happily, arching into the touch of his hands as they trail lower, starting to undo the fastenings to your skirt.

You knew he would come; you’d played another prank on him, but this time you knew what the outcome would be.

You turn your face, pressing your lips to his cheek before trailing them across his jawbone, enjoying the look of your lipstick staining his skin. “What did you have in mind?” you whisper, breathless from the excitement coursing through your veins.

He smirks as he bends you face down over your desk.

*************

General (HP) taglist: @chaotic-fae-queen​ @obsessedwithrandomthings​ @harrypotter289​ @dreamer821​ @kalimagik​ @heloisedaphnebrightmore​ @nebulablakemurphy​ @the-hufflefluffwriter​ @figlia--della--luna​ @bforbroadway​ @idont-knowrn​ @summer-writes​

[twentytarot]

hi everyone! i’m here with something a little different from my usual pick a card readings to celebrate 100 followers on twentytarot! it’s been just 2 short months since i’ve embarked on this journey to learn about reading for others and i’m really grateful for the support that the community has shown me since day 1. so i thought i would write about the spread i usually use for pick-a-card readings and give everyone a few tips and tricks that will hopefully be useful for you when you read tarot. thanks again for all your support, and i’ll see you in my next PAC reading! 🥰 

the spread i use is a super simple 5-card spread with no fixed positions. i’ve seen people call this spread the intuitive spread or the storyboard spread, and reading it is pretty simple: you ask your question, determine the number of cards you will need (like i said, i use 5, but 2, 3 or 7 is also common), then pull your cards and line them up single file. then comes the hard part: actually understanding what the cards are saying, without having any real guides other than the question itself. i used to struggle with not knowing where to begin, how the cards linked or what each card meant when i was bombarded with so many different interpretations. these steps helped me become much more concise of a reader, and i hope they help you too! without further ado:

TIP ONE: COMMIT

and by commit, i mean: commit to your question and commit to your cards. you want your mind to be as uncluttered as possible when you ask your question so you can be sure when the cards show themselves they’re answering the question you had in mind. ask just one question per spread to avoid getting confused about which cards are answering which question. in this spread, your question is your guide, so you have to be extra clear and specific. if you intend to have 5 cards in your spread, then stick to 5 cards. especially in the beginning, don’t take extra cards just because they all fell out at the same time. if 7 cards dropped out of your hard at the same time, i encourage you to put them back and try again.

TIP TWO: COMMIT (again)

this tip is more on negative cards. don’t worry, i completely empathise with the panic that happens when the five of cups presents itself as the final card in the spread. i’ve seen people deal with this a few ways: some people pretend they didn’t see that and draw again. i really don’t recommend this. life is not always unicorns and butterflies, and redrawing a card is not going to change that. at best, your cards empathise and frame their answer more nicely, but at worst, you draw a meaningless card because of you’re panicking and not listening to your intuition, or your cards just straight up decide they’ve had enough. so commit to that negative card, and put it down on your spread.

the other way i’ve seen readers deal with this is to immediately draw clarifiers. i also don’t really advise this. for one, that’s not committing to the number of cards your spread was going to have, which is going to affect accuracy. for another, it’s going to clutter your mind. it’s going to cause you to want to zoom into the bad card and get to the bottom of it and you’re going to subconsciously neglect the other cards just because they didn’t worry you as much. a spread like this should be taken as a whole story, and you can’t just read one chapter and know everything about it, can you?

instead, i recommend that you leave that card alone first, and zoom out. there’s only one ten of swords card in the stack, buddy. i promise you, you’re not going to get fatally betrayed five times.

TIP THREE: ZOOM OUT

the best way to make sure you don’t leave any cards out while reading is to read them all at one go first. these are the things i pay attention to when i first look at a spread, in the order:

major arcana: are most cards major or minor arcana? are they generally positive or negative? what are the cards’ astrological equivalents, and do they link or hold any significance? for example, if your spread has temperance and the devil, then that suggests this prediction might come true towards the end of the year.

court cards: again, i’m looking for astrological significance here, and linking it to the major arcana if needed. i’m also looking for double counts (eg: queen of swords and justice) that would give hints about the people influencing the situation. there are also some cards that means certain people to me and my cards, so i’m also looking out for that.

dominant suit: i like to call this the “expectations vs reality” clue. for example, if i’m reading for romance and the spread is full of swords and pentacles, then unless i’m offset by some major arcana, i can be quite sure that romance isn’t really in my near future. of course, the cards can still be read for romance and i will, but it sets the scene. similarly, if i’m reading for work and i get cups all around, then the work itself is probably not going to be my main problem.

dominant number: this doesn’t give as much information as the previous steps, but it does help with setting the scene and vibe. for example, many 1s would suggest new, good beginnings, and 5s may hint towards tougher days in the future. for major arcana bigger than 10, add the digits together until you get a number 10 or less to get the representative number.

TIP FOUR: FIND THE “PARTITION”

this sometimes appears as a card, or an imaginary line. basically, it helps you zoom into sections of the spread and tie these sections together. “partition cards” are usually:

the only major arcana card in the spread

the one card with a completely different vibe / category than the cards surrounding it

the one court card in the spread

the one ace in the spread

and imaginary lines are usually:

between cards of two different suits

between patterns in cards (for example: page, minor arcana [break] page, minor arcana...)

between the last major arcana and first minor arcana card (or the other way around)

between sets of cards with different vibes

it’s not uncommon for more than one of these to show up in a spread, and sometimes they contradict themselves. sometimes there will be a tiebreaker. take this spread for example:

the king of swords is the only court card, but the ace of pentacles is also the only ace. where’s the partition? well, i’d personally place it at the ace of pentacles. notice how on the left of the ace if the four of cups: low in energy, lethargic. on the right are much more active cards. so the ace must be the game changer, making it the partition card!

the partition, depending on the question, means a lot of things. most commonly it points you to what causes a shift in energy for the querent. in the spread above, a new beginning will breathe new life into the querent and bring them out of their slump. other times, each side of the partition answers different parts of the question. either way, finding the partition will help you figure out where the querent is coming from, and where they’re headed. once you know this, then you can zoom into the individual cards and look for specific messages for your querent.

TIP FIVE: YOU AND YOUR CARDS KNOW EACH OTHER BEST

i try my best not to interpret others’ cards. sometimes i do, but usually it’s just for personal practice and i don’t tell them what i’m thinking, and other times i’m just trying to convince myself mark lee and i are meant to be. 😂 i kid, i kid. anyway, the point is that there are many ways to say the same thing in tarot, and the reason why your cards have chosen to say it the way they have is because they trust this is the way you will best understand. so don’t take that for granted! really take every card and stare at it until you know exactly what it’s trying to tell you. sometimes it’s instant, sometimes you only get it as you’re falling asleep, but you should trust that this message was written for you to understand, not for you to decipher. the more you trust your cards, the more they will trust you. 

and that’s all! have a good day and stay safe, everyone 💕

[humansofnewyork]

“One thing I love about New York is that it’s constantly reminding you that it doesn’t need you.  It’s like riding a wild horse.  I wanted to be an artist, but the only work this city was willing to accept from me was to sit at a table and read tarot cards.  So I did it for twenty years.  I have no ability to predict the future.  I told everyone that beforehand. There’s no invisible hand moving the cards.  There’s no spirit whispering secrets in my ear.  But I do believe in the cards.  I believe in them like you’d believe in a poem.  I believe in their aesthetics.  I worked with French cards.  Very old cards.  Each card was beautiful, but when you arranged them on the table, they would speak to each other.  They’d relate to each other.  They became metaphors.  I’d merely ask each person to look at the cards and describe what they’re seeing.  Everyone brought their own lives to the table.  Their own memories.  Some people left thinking they’d gotten a prediction. Some left thinking they’d gotten advice.  Some left with specific ideas: the title of a song, the conclusion of a novel, I never knew.  Because everyone brought their own needs to the cards.  Just as we bring them to every encounter.  Just as we’d bring them to a poem.”

[doomedandstoned]

Russia’s ИЛ Share Their Stark Vision in Startling New Video

~By Billy Goate~

This week, we take a closer look at one of the bands featured in our new compilation, 'Doomed & Stoned in Russia (Vol. 1)' (2021), which was released in February. This is ИЛ from Moscow. Sometime after we reviewed their recent album 'Ересь' (2020), we received news that the band had a music video in the works to accompany it. It seemed high time for us to get to know this fascinating four-piece doom collective better.

What is ИЛ's origin story? In other words, how did the band start?

The band was founded in the summer of 2013 by the members of several Moscow doom/sludge metal bands, Predicted and Magnetic TarTrap, which subsequently disbanded. ИЛ ("IL") in English is silt – mud from the swamp. The name gave us the original theme for our first releases, which were much like sounds from the swamps. From the original line-up, vocalist/guitarist Vlad and bassist Nikolay are still in the band.

It is interesting to note that the drummers in ИЛ changed and we have a funny story connected with the fact that instead of one Sergey Vinogradov, an artist from Tula, came another Sergey Vinogradov. With the second Sergey, by the way, we recorded our best albums Нечисть (“Nechist”) and Ересь (“Heresy”), and now he is again in our lineup.

Initially, the chosen direction was sludge-doom with an admixture of drone and noise, but later the band changed its sound to the side of doom metal with death and black metal influences. It is because we grew musically with ИЛ, as if ИЛ was a living organism telling us what to do.

Our current line-up has a second guitarist, Stas from a black metal band ТУГА ("Tuga"), which is very close to us in spirit and theme and shares our rehearsal space, too. Some of our past members played in grindcore bands and others organized drone festivals. It’s classic for ИЛ that everyone listens to different music, yet are connected together by some unusual forces.

What kind of instruments, pedals, amps, and other gear did you use on your most recent album?

Regarding the amps, we do not have strict preferences, but our tastes stop at the classic amplifiers: Marshall, Engl, and the russian Sovtek and AMT. On such devices we recorded our best releases and with them they will sound in the original way.

In terms of drum equipment, our drummer prefers Zildjian, but also likes Masterwork or Stagg. Also, the Yamaha pedal was a pleasant discovery for him. We play in a very low tuning, so our guitars and sound are appropriate, one of the guitars is a baritone.

Usually in Russian venues, you don't have an opportunity to choose from what sound setup to play and you have to play on what is available, but we have learned to get the right sound in almost any situation. We are not “equip psychos” and we do not pray to the walls of Orange amplifiers.

Tell us about your most recent album — what are some of its themes and what inspired you to write the songs?

Many things inspired the theme of this album. First of all, it is the so-called Russian chthonic, Russian death, Russian witchcraft -- all that is characteristic of the dark side of our history, our legends, and beliefs. We have found many books related to these things and absorbed those images from there, which brought us to a deeper understanding of these things. And in many of our texts, our own mystical experiences associated with the world veiled around us: endless forests, fathomless swamps, as you know Russia is rich in such places.

Ересь by ИЛ

The album Heresy tells listeners about the path of a lyrical hero, who is lost in all this variety of horrors and nightmares accompanying Russian chthonic and implicitly striving for complete unnamed madness. As you see, his fate is depicted on the cover art of the album.

About the instrumental part, it is worth saying that we are fans of different genres of music, and each of those who compose it brings something of their own. On the one hand, we love doom metal in its stoner form, on the other hand black and death metal. The new album is closer to the last two genres, and we think it is good for us.

What are some of your other influences in the realm of music, art, literature, history, etc.?

Naturally, there were some influences here, we are inspired by Russian writers Pimen Karpov, who wrote about the terrible Russian sects (his books were actually burned by Synod of Russian orthodox church) and Kondratyev with his witchcraft novels. Collections of ancient Slavic curses and charms, which can hardly be found in paper form.

But of course we pay tribute in all of our releases, including this one, to Howard Phillips Lovecraft. We would even say that we sometimes alter his mysticism and pantheon in our own Russian way. He influenced our first band and continues to influence ИЛ, as well.

In videos and movies, we like surrealism: David Lynch, Jan Svankmajer, and Andrei Tarkovsky. Unfortunately, there are no good Lovecraft movies, but there are good board games with an atmosphere of his madness from FFG. Musically, we have been influenced by bands such as Winter, Electric Wizard, Cultes des Ghoules, Urfaust, Black Sabbath, Disembowelment, Cathedral, etc.

All of our art is drawn by one cool Russian artist: Vladimir Prokofiev. He understands as closely as possible the vision of our music and its design in visual terms, and creates his paintings under the impression of our descriptions and with all his skill. For example, five tarot cards (by the number of songs) are embedded in the vinyl of the Heresy album, each of which is drawn by him based on the text/

ИЛ — Ересь (official video)

Tell us about your new music video. Was it difficult to do? What steps did you take to make your vision a reality?

We've wanted to make a video for several years now and, to be honest, this is our second attempt. We think it is a success! All the work on filming, editing, and release was taken over by our friend Alexandr Swed. We will not describe the plot of the video for you, but if you have read this interview to the end, you will surely find echoes of the things that we described when we talked about the sources of inspiration. We would like to give the floor to Alexandr so that he could talk a little about the process and his vision of the picture, as well as his production.

Alexandr: I believe that the main thing in any business is to burn with an idea and the desire to implement it. This is exactly the case when all the people involved in the production gave themselves completely to this project.

I am extremely grateful to everyone. Thinking over an idea, shooting, and editing is half the battle, but it is teamwork to implement everything in a high quality way.

I'm just starting my way into music videos. This is the fourth music video that I've shot, but everything before that was frankly so-so, and I hope ИЛ's "Heresy" will become for me a starting point in the world of music videos.

Nowadays, it is not difficult to surprise with a beautiful picture, as there are much available film equipment, video editors, etc. And if your hands are not growing out of your ass, it is very difficult to get a bad picture. To hook with a plot, an idea, a video message -- this will be more difficult. Therefore, I try to include the maximum of any idea even in reportage videos. I also often shoot videos with a historical bias, narrative, art, and so forth. Come and see.

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[fairefolked]

hi frends it me ur local piece of trash

welcome to pickett's bc. i've seen this challenge at least six thousand times in the last few months and i've always wanted to do it, but have been to chicken to try. since my computer broke though i obviously have very little left in my game, so i thought why the heck not? it's a way for me to start interacting w people bc i'm a loner and also to build a new world with new unique characters i can include in future stories i love other people's sims more than my own ehehehe

some rules.

i’ll probably accept 10 or 12 sims

as per usual the rule stands at one sim per person 

no occults pls

pickett is pan so boys, girls, trans and non-binary are welcome

my game is maxis-mix, but if you could keep hair and genetics maxis match that would be fantastic pls and thank

please include at least one or two outfits in each category

please also give ur sim a little bit of a backstory or write some facts about them

and write down what they’re looking for from the bachelorette challenge and why they think they would be perf for bb pickett

once you’ve submitted your babies, pls tag pickettsbc so i can follow along

get to know pickett under the cut

about pickett

pickett groves | young adult | goofball, clumsy, good

born in windenburg, raised in brindleton bay. girl has lived on farms her whole life

currently lives in newcrest, but intends to move out to glimmerbrook once she’s achieved her dream. 

personal aesthetic is a mix of cottage core/vintage/grunge. really easily influenced by some trends. including the one that convinces a person to own ten thousand plants.

has recently graduated culinary school and will woo everyone with her bomb af ratatouille. she adds a little bit of fresh butter to make it more creamy and she roasts the vegetables prior to cooking everything together. that’s a secret tho shh.

aspires to own her own restaurant. currently she’s sous chef for a michelin 2 star restaurant.

reads tarot cards every day so she knows how her day is going to go. she also has almanacs bc she’s really into predicting fate/destiny and all that jazz

used to be the fat redheaded kid in school. proved her bullies wrong by losing hella weight and becoming successful. needs arm candy for the ten year reunion to hit the trifecta. she’s still v self conscious though and often doubts herself.

genuinely loves nothing more than rainy days cuddled up with a book and a hot cup of herbal tea. otherwise she’ll be outside jumping in the puddles and making a mess bc she loves that too.

ideal date is a picnic in the middle of a forest in autumn where time is spent getting to know the other person. she’ll cook the food if the other person brings music and book recommendations.

aggressively does not know how to stand on two feet without falling over though. has broken toes too many times to count and has scars all over the shop from odd little accidents.

fav animal are cats. desperately wants her own, but she’s allergic so life sucks for pickett at the moment.

has a bit of a vindictive streak. if someone does something she doesn’t agree with or if someone hurts a person she cares about, she won’t ever let it go.

fave movies are also horror movies but they gotta be good, they can’t be predictable or she won’t make it 10 minutes in. 

deadline is 20th january 2020. make sure you tag pickettsbc and also wistfulsim so i can keep up

[litsavantbookclub]

Regretting You Book Review

Hello fellow readers!

A few weeks ago I finished Lit Savant’s March book club pick, Regretting You by Colleen Hoover. I knew when I started this book that this was a romance story. But it is so much more than that. I have decided to try something new and will use three cards from my rider-waite smith tarot card deck for this review. If you have never read this story I suggest you stop reading right now. Spoiler Warning!

It’s a story about a mother and daughter, family, loss, grief, and the journey of moving away from the past and into the future. It’s about trying to pick up the pieces. Hoover’s novel is like a tarot spread: The tower, the hermit, and the fool. Destruction, loneliness, and new beginnings. All these stages are prevalent in the book.

The first character readers are introduced to is Morgan. She is just graduated high school and is having a night out with her younger sister, Jenny, boyfriend Chris, and her friend sister’s boyfriend, Jonah. It’s clear from the beginning that there is chemistry between Jonah and Morgan. They relate to each other on a deeper level than they do with their significant others. For instance: “sometimes when we’re alone, he looks at me in a way that makes me feel empty when he looks away. It’s a feeling I’ve never gotten when Chris looks at me” (11). Jonah makes Morgan feel like no one ever has including her boyfriend. It’s a feeling that is powerful and Morgan realizes she misses it when it’s gone. However, at the same time Morgan knows that ideally those are feelings that Chris should be inspiring. 

Morgan, willfully blind or not, will not act on this revelation because she will not go behind her sister’s back. Morgan states the following about her upbringing: ...I’ve always felt a sense of responsibility for her since I’m older and our mother doesn’t regulate our activities in any way” (3). Morgan is like another mother to her sister. This is a position she naturally assumed because their actual mother wasn’t around. Morgan is wants Jenny to have someone to be the voice of reason even though they aren’t supervised. 

But Morgan doesn’t just feel that way about Jenny but Chris as well. During the party, Chris gets drunk and Morgan reeling from the news that she’s pregnant is not feeling festive at all. Jonah finds her and they talk. Then Morgan mentions the following: “It’s like my chest has been on a constant search for it’s missing piece, and Jonah is holding it in his fist” (11).  Feeling such intensity scares Morgan and she decides she needs space from Jonah. 

Chris comes back and eventually apologizes and shares the reason he loves Morgan: ...you do things you don’t want to do to make life better for the people around you.” (12). Chris says that the fact doesn’t make Morgan boring but a hero” (12). Hoover’s addition of this is foreshadowing at its finest. Morgan is a hero albeit a traditional idealized version. She does sacrifice and does so wholeheartedly for most of her marriage to Chris. She fills in all the cracks in their home and lives.

Clara during present-day adds to Chris’s comment years later when she says that the first word she thinks of when thinking about her mother is predicable: “predicable is not something I wanted to hear. Because it’s everything I know I am and everything I feared I would grow up to be” (51). Morgan isn’t happy with the way things are. She makes mention of this many times in the second chapter. It’s her birthday and she feels isolated and rudderless. In her eyes, everyone has something going for them except her. During those two instances Hoover points out something that many mothers can all relate to. While we may not be the most exciting roles in the world we are reliable because of this predictability. We sacrifice because that is what mothers do but many times it is something that is taken for granted. Every time we give to others we put our wants and even needs on the back-burner for the good of everyone else. It is noble but draining.

When Morgan found out she was pregnant all those years ago  she decided that everything she did from that moment forward was to focus on her baby and Chris. For example: “...I became someone else. I guess that happens when you become a mother though. Your focus is no longer on yourself” (48).  But now that Clara is months away from graduating high school one of Morgan’s longest stages is at the end. And since Chris has died, she finally has to focus on herself. 

The Tower card is apparent as soon as the car accident takes place in the story. This accident turns Morgan, Clara, and Jonah’s lives upside down. The Tower card is all about upheaval. The card is pictured as a tower’s roof being struck by lighting, flames engulfing the structure, people falling down to the depths below. In a metaphorical sense all of these characters are in free fall, everything that they’ve known family, loyalty, and stability is gone. Both Chris and Jenny’s deaths and their adultery break any illusions Morgan had about Chris as a husband and all the years she dedicated herself to their marriage and her “predictable” role. After the accident Morgan says: “since the moment of the wreck, everything in my life has felt edged in sharp corners, and I’ve been tiptoeing around this world in the dark for the past month, trying not to injure myself” (139). The quotation sets the mood and tone of story Morgan is fragile and vulnerable. She is emotionally bruised and battered unable to pick up the pieces. The tower’s effect can have someone completely stripped and bared psychologically. Yet, The tower is also a card that signals a transition coming. This transition is painful and can be harrowing but it is necessary. 

The Hermit is all about thinking and solitude. It’s about finding answers within yourself. However, it isn’t that straight forward. This requires time and it can be isolating. As with every card in the Major Arcana there are two sides. For a good chunk of the story it’s a rough and lonely experience. These are things that every character is experiencing by the second part of the book. Clara is trying to reconcile losing her beloved father and trying to cope with each passing day while also not seeing eye to eye with her mother, Morgan. Morgan is no stranger to feeling alone and being stuck in her head but the loss of Chris helps her eventually see that stopped caring about herself. Jonah having come back to his hometown is left reeling when he discovers that Elijah is not his biological son. This moment of solitude and thinking takes him down a dark path and he almost ends up leaving town without Elijah. Clara in her own suffering helps him see that even though things aren’t ideal he needs to be there for his son. Even though Clara isn’t aware of everything this helps Jonah put things in perspective. This card is about finding answers inside yourself. Being open to the all the possibilities and not being willfully blind.It’s about having the answers but needing to open up yourself to the act of seeing them and finally making the decisions you need. 

The card is pictured as a graying man with a staff and lantern looking down thoughtfully alone. This speaks to the idea that sometimes we need to be alone with our thoughts. The man has the light with him he just needs to realize it. 

Morgan is guilty of being willfully blind. She, just like Jonah, is observant and has been aware of her unhappiness for a while but has gone with the flow for most of her life. This is apparent ever since chapter one. She knows that Jonah makes her feel much more than Chris ever did. But she shuts it out. Until she can’t anymore. Morgan says the following: “I know if I obsess over the past, that obsession will only serve to anchor me in a place I am more than ready to move on from” (336). And at this point all Morgan can do is try to move on and let the past go. Same for Clara and Jonah. 

The last card in the spread is The Fool. The fool upright represents a free spirit and beginnings. This card depicts a carefree man walking towards a cliff, sun in his face, flower, in his hand, dog yapping at his legs, heading off on a journey unfazed by what lays ahead. This easily describes all three characters by the book’s end. Clara has learned the whole truth and has accepted that her father isn’t without blame but was a good father to her. She is heading off to prom with Miller. She and Morgan are no longer feuding and understand each other better. Morgan has made her peace with Chris’s unfaithfulness and has embraced her unrequited love for Jonah. They are both giving their love a try. Jonah loves Elijah and will not abandon him again. He decides to stay and moves on with his life with Morgan and Clara as his new family. All characters are embracing the unknown and unfazed by the risk this may bring. This is the fool in full effect. The act of starting a journey. The fool is innocent and just wants to experience the good in the world. They want to gain experience and are not afraid of what lies ahead. It’s a wonderful outlook that we all must have had in at least once in our lives. 

Overall, it was an emotional read. Our book club agreed that it wasn’t about what we initially believed. This book has layers. We understood the decisions Morgan made even though we didn’t completely agree with them. 

What did you think about the book?

Did you the usage of tarot cards in this review?

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments below.

My rating: 3.75 

Keywords: Emotional, grief, romantic

[michelles-garden-of-evil]

Episode 16 Review: Jean Paul’s Latest Detained Guest

{ YouTube: 1 | 2 }

{ Synopses: Debby Graham | Bryan Gruszka }

{ Screencaps }

I wasn’t going to start working on another review until next week at the earliest, but I have been re-watching the Agatha episodes from Desmond Hall and, oh my Great Serpent, are they terrible! I don’t wish to spoil too much of what happens then because those reviews are a long way in the future, but I will say that (1) I can’t stand Agatha Pruitt and (2) while some episodes of Desmond Hall Part I have decent writing, in others the writing is very, very, very bad. I can’t help but feel sorry for the fans of both this show and Dark Shadows in early 1970, because Agatha would have been swanning around Desmondton getting on everyone’s nerves during the same period as one of the least-loved arcs on DS, the Leviathan arc.*

Normally, I would type out my complaints about Desmond Hall in the OneNote notebook where I take screencaps and save them for when I write those episode reviews in a year or two. However, I felt that I had to mention the awfulness of Episode 91 in this post, because that is what compelled me to return from my hiatus early. I needed to remind myself why I like this show enough to dedicate a whole blog to it, and so I took a (metaphorical) trip back to Maljardin to re-watch and review Episode 16.

Our mascot!

On the last episode, Jean Paul hired Reverend Matt Dawson to conduct a funeral service for his wife Erica, still frozen in the cryonics capsule  and awaiting her resurrection by THE DEVIL JACQUES ELOI DES MONDES. Now Jean Paul--who has changed into a very nice pinstripe suit--is showing Matt the crypt at Maljardin where the capsule is located. “Even with the electrical connections, the compressor and cryonics capsule, I think this probably will be the best place for the service,” he says to the horrified minister. “Don’t you think, Reverend Dawson?” All Matt can do is smile and nod in response while privately questioning the life choices that led to this moment.

He’s probably thinking, “I left my ministry to stalk a 20-year-old full-time for this?!”

Jean Paul continues interviewing him. “You have no objection to a service without a burial?”

“No,” Matt shakes his head. “I have officiated at many such services, where the body is usually placed in the family crypt.” Considering that the vast majority of families don’t have family crypts--at least not in their basements--I think that he’s humoring Jean Paul. After all, he’s seen so many red flags already--the isolated island, the extreme secrecy, Jean Paul’s reluctance to tell anyone about Erica’s death, the whole cryonics/resurrection thing itself, and now his insistence on conducting the funeral service around a cryonics capsule.

He questions the idea that a body held in cryonic suspension can be brought back to life, and Jean Paul continues to deny that Erica is forever dead. He also continues to insist that the usual laws of nature don’t apply on Maljardin, and that on that island he is God:

Yes, Reverend Dawson, your new client thinks he’s God. There’s another red flag for you, Matt, that Jean Paul Desmond is not a client that you want to work for and you should probably cancel the agreement, give up on Holly, and try to get off the island while you still can.

Jean Paul tells him of a man who was allegedly brought back to life after dying in a blizzard, and who lived three decades as “a soulless corpse, like a zombie” before dying again. After saying “zombie,” the camera cuts to Quito who is spying on them, confirming that Quito is indeed a zombie--although, considering that Quito has emotions (which he expresses through body language) and pets whom he clearly loves, the “soulless” part is unlikely.

Did he offend Quito when he called zombies “soulless corpses,” I wonder?

It’s at this point that handsome devil Jacques takes over and starts trolling Matt. “You are a theologian trapped by your own logic and teachings,” he remarks with a mocking smile. “When you run out of answers, look to the fire god. He’s got some new ones, new for even you.” Which goes over about as well as proselytization usually does: that is to say, not at all, especially without one of those poorly-written smiley-face tracts that are absurdly popular with Christian fundamentalists. But Jacques, unfortunately, is straight out of copies of SMILE THE FIRE GOD LOVES YOU and so has to resort to confusing Matt (and us) with non sequiturs instead:

Jacques: “I don’t advocate or procrastinate.” (That has to be a line flub.) “I live and let live.”

I’m surprised he didn’t bring up the age-old theological question about how many angels can fit on the head of a pin and awkwardly try to connect that to the situation as well.

Matt storms out and Jacques stays behind to gloat. “I haven’t had so much fun,” he quips, “since one of my colleagues fiddled while Rome burned.” This reference to the Roman emperor Nero is without a doubt the clearest evidence so far that Jacques is indeed supposed to be the Devil, who at some point came to occupy the body of Jean Paul’s ancestor.

Back in the great hall, Matt returns to stalking Holly, who once again rejects him, because stalking only leads to mutual love and committed relationships in bad romance movies. He insists that he has something important to say to her, and she agrees to listen, but only for five minutes. He insists that Elizabeth doesn’t like him and that he followed her to Maljardin because he “thought [she] might need [him] for protection, guidance, maybe even comfort.”

According to StrangeParadise.net, this is an allusion to a real person, Reverend Harold Davidson, described in more detail on this page. I won’t copy Davidson’s bio on here because of its length, so I’ll just quote Holly by calling him a “lecherous minister.”

She rejects him, he leaves with his proverbial tail between his legs, then she proceeds to mope while sprawled in Jean Paul’s favorite chair for arguing with Jacques. Alison finds her there and asks what’s wrong, so she starts to explain before Matt arrives again and interrupts by insisting that he’s not trying to keep her from her inheritance like she claims. He’s right, but that doesn’t change the fact that Elizabeth is using him to do just that. Now it’s Holly’s turn to flounce, and she does it with more gusto than Reverend Stalker.

He talks to Alison, who fills him in on the whole situation, speaking again about how Jean Paul thinks he’s God and also about how Matt is now a prisoner on Maljardin.

Alison explaining the concept of a detained guest to Matt.

Matt suggests that Alison get Raxl to try to reason with Jean Paul, unaware of how well that didn’t work out a week before, He insists, though, that “perhaps these Tarot cards [that Vangie gave him in Episode 14] will sway her.” Although Alison is skeptical and so is Raxl upon her arrival, that all changes when he gives her the pack of cards and tells her that Vangie said “that [she] should use them for everyone’s good.”

She knows instantly that Vangie has predicted that Maljardin is doomed.

An interesting conversation between the two follows. Matt reveals to her that she should contact Vangie at “the third hour” (3 AM, also known as the “witching hour” or “demonic hour”), which means nothing to him but “everything” to her. She recaps for him about Jacques Eloi des Mondes, the conjure doll, and the silver pin, mentioning that “the power of the Great Serpent made him an eternal prisoner” for three hundred years.

Raxl: “Jacques Eloi Des Mondes! It must be he who walks. It must be!"   Matt: "Impossible!" Raxl: "You believe in God, but what about His work?” [I think this is a line flub for “word,” which would make more sense in context.] “I trust the Tarot cards, but what about the words of the woman who reads them?" Matt: "I'm a messenger, not a convert." Raxl: "One conjure doll, one silver pin. If that pin were still driven into that doll's head, we would all be safe."   Matt: "Raxl, that is witchcraft!" [And reading Tarot cards--a form of divination--isn’t?] Raxl: "Do you feel safe, Reverend?"

He gazes at the portrait of Jacques without another word until Jean Paul returns, explaining that he had to apologize to Quito after inadvertently hurting his feelings earlier, most likely with what he said about zombies. He asks Matt if he’s started preparing a speech for the funeral service, and an argument erupts between the two of them:

Did I mention yet that Jean Paul is more than a bit of a control freak?

Jean Paul decides that maybe Jacques had the right idea as far as the detained-guest thing went, and so puts the island on lockdown: “There will be no further trips to the main island and no trips even for mail until a matter between the Reverend and his conscience is resolved.”

Jean Paul is a male example of what is known in certain fandoms as a yandere, or a character who is madly in love, enough to hurt and even kill anyone who they believe is standing between them and their love interest.

Meanwhile in the basement, Raxl performs a ritual to contact the Conjure Man using Vangie’s Tarot cards while Quito enters the Not-So-Hidden Temple. And with that, the episode ends.

Raxl and the Tarot cards.

This was an interesting episode, with Matt as the central character for a change. The major theme of this episode seems to be belief, and how, whether seen through the lens of science (Alison), Christianity (Matt), or voodoo (Raxl), Jean Paul’s plans to revive Erica appear crazy at best and dangerous and/or sacrilegious at worst. There’s also the suggestion that Erica might return as a zombie, which does not seem to bother Jean Paul as much as it should (make of that what you will). Did it make up for the badness of Episode 91? Yes. It’s genuinely a good episode, even though some of the lines don’t make sense--but I think that at least most of those are line flubs.

Coming up next: Raxl sends a message to the Conjure Man, so Jacques decides to interfere. Also, Jacques’ portrait becomes much stranger.

Notes

* I don’t know the exact original airdates for most episodes of Strange Paradise. Maljardin aired from October 20, 1969 to January 19, 1970 in Canada according to StrangeParadise.net, but the show premiered in the United States on September 8, making the US six weeks or 30 episodes ahead of Canada. The YouTube user retronewfoundland has the endings of several episodes on their channel with the original Canadian airdates. The nearest episode to Episode 91 that retronewfoundland has a clip from is Episode 84, with the airdate of February 17, 1970 (a Tuesday). This means that (according to my calculations) Episode 91 would have most likely aired in Canada on February 26, and in the US six weeks earlier on January 15. Either date places it contemporary with the Leviathan arc, which lasted from November 14, 1969 to March 27, 1970 (source).

{ <-- Previous: Episode 15   ||   Next: Episode 17 --> }

[twdmusicboxmystery]

More Evidence That Beth = New Dawn and Rick = Capt. Hansen

Okay, this is something I’ve been thinking about for about a week now. Before S7, I did THIS THEORY about how useless it was that they gave us Dawn and Capt. Hansen's back story while at Grady. It was useless and really kind of a waste of screen time...that is, unless Beth is alive. She was the only one who heard and could have learned anything from that back story. There were scenes when Dawn talked to Beth about things and nobody else was in the room. Dawn died, so obviously having that back story isn’t about Dawn growing from it. And certainly no one else in TF heard it or can benefit from it in any way. So, if Beth is really dead, that was a complete waste of air time.

Of course, I don't think that's the case. As I said in THIS POST, I think it was a foreshadow for what would happen with Beth. Dawn talked about Capt. Hansen being her mentor and how he started to crack, and she was forced (she thought) to kill him and take his place.

I’ve always thought that that would play out in some way with Beth and Rick. Rick because he was the first sheriff and Beth’s mentor and she is supposed to be the new sheriff in town, which makes her his protégé. The difference is that I don’t think Beth will kill Rick. She’s a better person than Dawn and that simply wouldn’t be her solution, no matter what Rick did. I think the scenario will be more like her stepping in as a leader if for some reason, Rick can’t lead for a time.

Now, over the seasons I've theorized many ways in which this could come to pass. For example I thought perhaps when Negan showed up and we saw Rick cracking under the strain of what happened to Glenn and Abraham, perhaps she would show up then to take over. Obviously not. I've had several theories about how this would play out. And, as we haven't seen Beth yet, none of them have proved correct.

So, last week @wdway was hashing out some of her awesome theories in our group. She started to talk about the Empress tarot character (I reblogged the post about this yesterday). Basically, she's one of the tarot card characters and most of the symbols around her are things we’ve seen around Beth. So we've theorized more than once that they use the Empress as a template for Beth’s arc and her character.

For some reason, that got me thinking about the story around Beth and Rick and what it might mean moving forward. So I’m gonna throw some pretty wacky theories out for you guys to consider. So, let’s call this a predictions post.

If you need any more evidence of Beth = Tarot Empress, check out THIS DESCRIPTION, specifically the parts under “description” and “history.” Also, check out this picture. 

The emblem on the shield is an eagle. The positioning of the bird looks like a Phoenix and a lot like the one we saw in the moonshine shack in Still.

So, the first thing the first epiphany I had has to do with the 12 stars on the Empress’ throne above. We've definitely seen a number 12 quite a bit. I’ll talk about this more in subsequent posts, especially in regards to the opening credits, but right now there is a walker in the opening credits that appears to have a 6 in his eye with two lines to it. We think it represents a double 6. In other words, 12. Then there’s episode 6x06, which was a huge Beth-symbolism episode (again 6+6=12). There are lots of other examples two but I’m not going to go into all of them.

So I suppose the major worry here is that may be waiting until S12 to bring Beth back. Don’t worry. I don’t think that will be the case. I have another idea of what the twelve could be referencing.

It occurred to me that Gimple has said many times that he has planned through season 15 of TWD. Gimple took over at the end of S3/beginning of S4. So, if you start at S4 (because he wasn’t show runner in the first three seasons) 12 seasons out from that would be season 15. So, I'm thinking 12 seasons represents the entire arc Gimple planned when he took over in 3x16. The Empress’s arc reigns over those 12 seasons.  

That should give everyone hope because in 3x16, which is an episode he rewrote, he put all kinds of resurrection symbols into it, including a very obvious scripture about resurrection. 

I think it’s meant to show that the arc he planned for the next 12 seasons would be full of resurrections. That goes well with what we know Beth and her arc, as well as everything else we’ve seen in intervening seasons.

Again, I don't think until S12 to bring Beth back. We know a coda is the final passage of a piece of music and represents something different than the stuff heard earlier in the piece. Bringing her back in season 10 is still late enough in the 12 season musical piece to count as a coda, imho.

This got me thinking about other things too. I’ve said a few times that the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that Beth and Rick will end up in the same place, possibly at Grady.

We’ve had a lot of evidence for that (Rick’s hallucination, the helicopter, etc.) So in conjunction with the Dawn/Capt. Hansen stuff, I think that might back this idea up. Dawn and Capt. Hansen’s story being a template for Rick and Beth would make a lot of sense if Rick ends up at Grady. Suddenly, Beth would be there with her mentor. If she somehow trained directly under Rick to be a leader for a while, it would definitely make her the new sheriff in town.

You could even argue that's why they had Rick place the sheriff’s hat on Beth’s head in 4x16. The symbolism there is Rick sort of anointing her his new sheriff, especially now that Carl is gone.

Dawn flat out says that Beth reminds her of herself and she was young. That pretty much proves that Beth will become the new Dawn at Grady (New Dawn Theme). She’ll return as a leader and of course become new sheriff in town.

@wdway also pointed out that back in 4x02 (again, right Gimple officially took over and the 12 season arc began) we saw a “new dawn” picture on the wall during the council meeting behind Daryl and Carol. 

Kind of interesting because all the other members of that council—Glenn, Sasha, Hershel—are all dead now. So that might have been a purposeful foreshadow that the New Dawn (Beth) wouldn’t arrive until only Carol and Daryl were left.

We also saw this theme printed on two different books. One with Bob in the veterinary college, which incidentally looked exactly like Grady and was an obvious foreshadow of it. 

The second one was this season on a book Daryl had in his camp when Carol went to get him (can’t seem to find my pic of it, but I’ll take an other one to post later). That happened in the episode entitled Stradivarius. In other words, the musical episode.

Coincidence?

We’ve also discussed that perhaps Beth will show up at some point, without Rick, and tell Michonne where he is. That could still work with this scenario. I was thinking that her leaving Rick behind (turn of the tables, anyone?) might constitute a betrayal of Rick on her part, which could account for the analogy to Dawn killing her mentor. Really just throwing out ideas here.

Of course the show often uses anti-parallels. So maybe Beth doesn’t need to betray Rick at all. It will be more of an anti-parallel in that aspect. And that brings me to Trevitt. (Remember, he’s the guy that was brought into Grady with internal injuries and died when Edwards had Beth give him the wrong medicine.)

I’ve always thought we should read something more into Trevitt’s role in Beth’s story, but it’s hard to say what. This may not work out across the board, but Trevitt was brought into Grady badly injured.  I was thinking that the last we saw of Rick, when he left on the helicopter, he was pretty badly injured. Wouldn’t it be interesting if he was taken to Grady and brought in as an injured patient, just as Trevitt (and later Carol) were? The anti-parallel there would that Rick doesn’t die, as Trevitt did. 

Also, consider that Trevitt fell out of a window to the ground and Rick was blown off a bridge. Those injuries do have certain parallels, such as flying through the air. It's not like either of them was dealing with a walker bite, or gunshot wound.

I also considered the fact that Trevitt was a doctor at St. Ignatius. It’s still hard to make heads or tails of the St. Ignatius reference, but Ignatius did start the society of the Jesuits, a Christian organization that became a huge force for good at the time. Maybe it points to them starting a new group or a new community?

We’ve talked about the possibility of Beth showing up in FTWD or in other places. Just keep in mind that this doesn't negate any of that. It's been six years now since Rick disappeared. If he went straight to Grady, it's obvious that neither of them make it back very quickly. They have a long journey ahead of them and a lot of the other things we've seen could still be true of how she returns. It will all fit together at some point, we just don't know how yet.

All these things point to the New Dawn/Beth/The Empress arriving very soon. And again, I have no idea if it will pan out in any of the ways I’ve mentioned here. These are just some things I’ve been thinking about. Most of them are loose ends that still need to be tied up, in terms of the symbolism.Thoughts?

[blossom--of--snow]

Maura and Mr. Gray, after the kids leave the nest. “So...what do we do now?”

Sorry it took so long, and I apologize profusely for any errors! S/o to @okaynextcrisis for taking a look!Happy early birthday to you, my darling friend!

Maura hadalways appreciated that Mr. Gray’s arms enveloped her in an embrace rather thana hold. Always available for comfort, not in constant need of it. As Maurawatched Blue drive the dream Camaro away from Fox Way, she had no problemaccepting help alleviating the pain. Every summer break ended too abruptly,since everyone avoided the subject of Blue’s return to school until the morningof, when the raven boys arrived to help Blue load her car down with textbooks,mismatched luggage, and coolers full of yogurt.

“Maura?” Mr. Gray’s breath ghostedover her ear, but Maura’s emotional distress and the Henrietta heat eradicatedany sex appeal.

Maura swiped angrily at her damp,pink cheeks. “I’m fine. Let’s go in before we become permanent fixtures on theasphalt.” She squeezed the last of her tears out when Mr. Gray kissed the crownof her head. This was only his first time seeing Blue off to college, his firsttime watching Maura melt down over a pesky few weeks between daughtersightings. Witnessing vulnerability did not scare Mr. Gray; neither did itscare Maura to show it. However, since Mr. Gray returned, Maura had beenpositively spoiled by happiness, and she wanted to be blissfully happy for aslong as she could be. While Mr. Gray made elation more easily accessible, makingMaura happy had been Blue’s joy for twenty years.

Like every summer, 300 Fox Way wasonly about ten degrees cooler than Henrietta. The unpredictability of the airconditioner remained its only consistency, and the quantity of fans depended onthe meager availability of outlets. Today, the heat was mitigated by theabsence of half the household. In anticipation of everyone’s emotional distress,the psychics took a day off, in a manner of speaking. Maura, Calla, and Jimiagreed that they would not give readings today, but, after spoiling Blue allsummer, they couldn’t afford a complete day of rest. After saying their goodbyesto Blue, Jimi ventured into town to run her errands, and Calla drove to work inthe sky blue Thunderbird that Ronan dreamt the family for Christmas. Orla had saidher goodbyes the previous Thursday, before embarking on a week-long beachsidevacation with a decidedly richer and more intelligent boy toy than her usualbrand.

It may have been colder in theSahara, but Maura and Mr. Gray had the luxury of an empty house.  

“So? What do you want to do now?”Mr. Gray asked, leaning against the hallway doorframe.

Maura gulped half the water in herglass. Damn that man and his biceps, that perfectly parted hair that she lovedto muss under any circumstances. “I suppose crawling into bed and delving intoa deep depression is too dramatic.”

Mr. Gray shrugged. “Crawling intobed sounds fantastic,” he teased. “Mental health issues may put a damper on themood, but I can still take you there.”

Rolling her eyes, Maura drainedher glass and added it to the ever-growing pile of dirty dishes Orla neglected toclean before she left. She wouldn’t pass up the enticing possibilities an emptyhouse offered, but she would have to be cheered up first. Something about havingsex to keep from missing Blue seemed… grotesque, and Mr. Gray leftgrotesqueness behind when he became Brenin Thames.

Oddly, Blue chose his new name.Shortly after he arrived on Christmas morning, everyone crammed into thekitchen so Mr. Gray could present the family with five different identities,claiming in that nauseatingly sentimental way that if they were to be part ofhis new life, they should help shape its first step.  

Calla chokedon her own bile.

After significantly roastingBarney Klempt, Asher Copperbottom, John Smith, and Thad Duke, Blue preferredBrenin Thames.

“It’s Welsh. For ‘king,’ I think,”Blue explained, legs dangling off the kitchen counter.

“And it doesn’t make you soundlike a pedophile, a closeted frat boy, a painfully obvious member of thewitness protection program, or a racist,” Calla sniggered from behind her thirdWhite Russian.

The Gray Man then turned to Maura,who toyed with her cards at the kitchen table and pretended not to devote herattention completely to her boyfriend. “What say you, noble blade?”

Thankfully, he knew better than to take her hand, to open Mauraup to any psychic revelations. The last time he asked her such an important question,he asked if he would come back, and neither of them wanted an answer. Mauraknew that he’d spent his whole life confronting the plausibility of death, orwishing for it, and that he thought it better to make her see that death didnot bother him than force her to confront the possibility of his death again.Brenin Thames would live the rest of his days with Maura Sargent, writing forthe Henrietta newspaper and even occasionally writing for pleasure.

Maura, completely unabashed,fearless, and mischievous, met his gaze. “Sounds fated to me.”

Now, eight months later, Brenin worethat exact expression. “I think I know exactly how to lift your spirits,” hesaid, uncrossing his gray sweatpants-covered ankles.

Maura sauntered over with thefurthest intention from compliance. “Cocky,” she snickered as she passed him.Despite her best efforts, she giggled when Brenin reached under the Kinks T-shirtshe’d stolen from him and skimmed his fingertips up her ribcage. “You dorealize this is only a temporary fix?” She squirmed away from him and towardthe stairs. “Try harder.” She had bounded up four steps before she heard Brenintrying to catch up. Unlike Maura, he always wore shoes. After a lifetime oflurking in dark corners, he could be as loud as he wanted in this house.

Maura cursed in compounds as she tripped over one of Orla’slaundry baskets at the top of the stairs, and squealed when Brenin seized herankle. Wrenching her leg free without breaking any bones in Brenin’s face, shemade a beeline for the nearest room with an open door, cackled after sheslammed the door in his face, and locked the door.

Brenin pounded in mock ferocity, and even though she knew hewould never break it down, Maura teased, “You break it, you buy it!”

“You said to try harder, darling.”

Before she could retort, Maura realized whose room she’dviolated. Despite almost four years’ worth of dust, no one could bring herselfto empty Persephone’s room. Jimi frequently struggled for the right turn ofphrase, but last month, she couldn’t find a better way to suggest that theyclean out the room and store Persephone’s bright beads and flowing skirts and wispyscarves and tarot cards.

It had onlytaken a few minutes for the five of them, Orla, Jimi, Calla, Blue, and Maura,to end up in a blubbering pile on Persephone’s bed.

Since her friends were out, and Maura had never liked cryingalone, she unlocked the door before collapsing on the bed that no longer held Persephone’sscent. At least the pillow was still as soft as Persephone’s voice.

Hugging the fluffy pillow to herchest, Maura leaned into Brenin’s side as soon as his thigh touched hers. “I’mnot usually this bad, sending Blue off to school,” she said.

Brenin tucked a few rogue strandsfrom Maura’s jostled ponytail behind the ear not resting against his shoulder.“You’re not bad, Maura. Just a littledown.” He gestured to the empty room; even with all of Persephone’s belongings,it was empty without her. “This makes it a harder.”

Maura sniffled and drew her legsinto his lap. “Don’t think for one minute that you don’t make everythingeasier,” she whispered. Maura considered herself an independent woman, and lovehad not taken that from her. It had only added a few components, fear for thelife of yet another person. For most of her life, she had been teetering on atightrope of bliss and devastation. She had long since quit counting on hergift to predict every tragedy—when she could avoid it, she preferred not toknow. But since her happiness usually correlated with her family, unexpecteddepartures always shook her. That question, lurking in the depths of her mind,after ever past tragedy and before all those unknown: Should I have seen it coming?

The threeyears before Brenin came home were hardly different, just more intense.

“You mean to tell me that youdidn’t appreciate my letters?” Brenin asked, running his hands up and downMaura’s thigh.

Maura tried to snicker, but withher runny nose, it came out as a watery snort. “Irregular postcards with linesof Old English poetry hardly count as letters.” When Brenin didn’t immediatelyrespond, Maura nuzzled his neck. “What is it?”

“You didn’t answer me when I askedif I would be back someday,” Brenin began.

Maura stiffened, hoping she’dmisunderstood his meaning. “It wasn’t fair of you to ask.”

Hugging her tighter, Breninfulfilled yet another of Maura’s hopes. “No, it wasn’t,” he admitted. “Even ifyou’d answered me, I’m not sure I would have known for sure.”

Again uncertain of his intent,Maura opted for teasing since her skepticism had failed her. “You don’t trustme?” she teased, lifting her head so that he could see her sparkling eyes.

Brenin cradled one of Maura’scheeks in his hand and smiled, but his eyes couldn’t quite manage to catch up.“I trust you with my future,” he said. “And I don’t mean that in the corny,punny way.” The smile finally reached his eyes when Maura laughed. “No, it’s apersonal failure. No one could have made me believe I’d see you again until Iset eyes on you myself. If I couldn’t do that, I needed you to know I wasthinking of you.”

To alleviate the weight in herchest, Maura kissed Brenin, weaving her fingers through the hair that wasfinally starting to match the rest of his wardrobe. By the time she straddledhis lap, they were breathing the same air, only pulling away for brief gulps ofhumid oxygen. Running her hands under his shirt, Maura traced Dean Allen’sscars and longed for the billionth time for Brenin to feel saved, even if shehad been too late for Dean. Brenin Thames, Mr. Gray, Dean Allen—they all madethe same man, no matter how much he wanted to distinguish between them, betweenevery new identity, every new life. Those identities simply contributed to theevolution of a man who desperately wanted to stop running for good.

“What was it that you were goingto do to cheer me up?” Maura asked. She panted with her sweet, wonderful manwho left everything he’s ever known (however unpleasant) to start a new lifewith her and her family.

Grinning wickedly, Brenin slid hisfingers underneath her shirt again and stroked her hipbones with his thumbs.“Go wait in the bedroom, and I’ll show you.”

Maura arched an eyebrow, butcomplied by backing toward the door. “How transparent,king of swords. I’m disappointed in you.”

“I always make it up to you.”

Maura hummed, running her fingersover Persephone’s untouched desk (housing, of course, her unfinished PhD) onher way to the door. Biting a swollen lip, she hesitated, remembering Brenin’s“personal failure.” When Persephone died, Calla and Maura were lost. Inaddition to the confusion of their own grief, their psychic connection had beensevered. It took years to align their abilities with Jimi’s, to replace a bondthat had come so naturally. If she could avoid it, Maura would rather notreplace another.

“I do hope you trust me now,” she said, leaning against thedoorframe. “Now that you’re safe, here with me. I may not always be right, andI may not always tell you what you want to hear, but I think you know I willnever tell you something I don’t truly believe.”

“I do,” Brenin said. “You make me see life…as somethingbetter, instead of expecting the worst.”

Maura hummed again, but this time, she slipped out of theroom, her former urgency restored. “Don’t make me start without you.” To hersurprise, Brenin did not immediately follow her, even when she began to leave atrail of clothes on the staircase.

Brenin obliterated any sensuous visionMaura had of what was coming to her when he burst into the bedroom wearing thelegendary tan bell-bottoms and orange disco shirt, complete with a poppedcollar and dipping neckline. Maura, who had stripped down to the thigh-skimmingT-shirt, gasped upon his entrance. “My God,” she giggled. She pushed off themattress and danced a slightly distorted version of the Macarena on her way tohim. “How do you make this hot?”

Brenin hoisted Maura into his arms,fastened her legs around his hips, and spun to face the wall adjacent to herbedroom door. He had only just started to smirk when Maura gripped the sides ofhis head and kissed him hard. Her sharp bite to his upper lip told him heshould stop smiling and put his tongue in her mouth. Always defiant, he nippedback and pulled away in the same half a breath. “What time is Jimi supposed tobe back?”

Maura flung the cracked door wideopen and let it bounce off the back wall.

“Don’t care. Got it.”

[glitteroracle]

Glitter Oracle Astro-Infused Tarot Scopes for the Taurus New Moon & Uranus into Taurus, May 15th 2018

It’s here, my darlings. The moment many of us have been waiting for. Not merely an astrological key-change, but a watershed moment which will define the coming decade. Uranus, planet of disruption, rebellion and innovation, is shifting into Taurus. And I have an important question for you I’m surprised no-one’s asked yet: Are you READY for the reliable, consistent Taurean(s) in your life to change beyond recognition? Are you ready for Taurus to get free & freaky & break out of their comfort zones & challenge everyone around them to do the same? Simple answer: you ain’t. Uranus brings unexpected, gamechanging events which zing out of left field, and if you think you can predict its shockwaves, think again! But the Bulls? They’re champing at the metaphorical bit. Since Uranus turned direct at the beginning of 2018, every Taurean you know has felt a change in the air, a longing to break free, as if urged forward by a cool electric hum at a pitch only they can hear. As Chiron arrived in Aries, it only got more insistent. And now, at last, the stage is cleared and ready for some major earth-liberating action!

Enthusiastic musical metaphors aside, Uranus truly will bring unpredictable change, excitement and a restless edginess we’ll call anxiety, into our lives between now and 2027, when it leaves Taurus. Uranus in Aries has seen the rise of selfie-culture and social media as a hollow replacement for the personal gains Millennials have been barred from by the financial crisis. It has brought determination and willpower, counterbalanced by aggressive and selfish me-first politics. The place Uranus in Aries has been transiting in our charts has been the area where of our lives where we have fought to be the pioneer, and yet, where we have thus far failed. Remember that Uranus is something of a mad scientist, and a lot of our wild schemes over the last few years were never meant to make it out of the lab, no matter how disappointing that may have been at the time. It has truly been a learning experience, but many of us will breathe a sigh of relief to feel the fresh & rather odd new atmosphere of the god of the future in the domain of the earthy, stable, conservative and abundant Bull.

First & most obviously, Uranus going into Taurus will radically affect our collective embodiment. Expect huge advances in nutrition, surgery, and robotics. I think this could well be the moment when we start to embrace that we are becoming cyborgs, and that AI takes a few fast and radical leaps forward. I hope that this also enables us to recognise our fellow species as possessing rights & innate value – for Taurus rules the Earth, the creatures, plants and minerals which inhabit it, and how we value our resources. If we so value our home, we need to treat it better, and fast. The last days of Uranus in Aries have seen geopolitical tensions rising as volcanoes erupt and molten lava – the Earth’s own fiery blood – destroying property and lives.

I also strongly believe Uranus in Taurus heralds the coming of a new age, at last: The Age of the Divine Feminine. It is now time for the sacred strength, power, nurturance and vulnerability of feminine wisdom and leadership to be reclaimed, cherished and upheld by a gender-diverse mass of spiritual warriors. Jupiter in Scorpio’s #MeToo has brought the shame of sexual abuse at the heart of our culture to light, now Uranus in Taurus is here to make the change real and lasting, with a little help from steady Saturn & Pluto in Capricorn (legislating energies).

I also wish to balance these notes of optimism with a cautionary one. The last time Uranus was in Taurus saw a repugnant uprising of Fascism in Europe which rapidly accelerated into war. With Chiron (god of both wounds and healing) recently landed in Aries (war), this has the potential to be a tense combination. Because Taurus rules the land and possession – MINE – and Uranus rules collective rebellion, transpersonal feeling, the MASS – we must watch for doing something for an artificial, temporary sense of belonging, just because everyone else is doing it. We must continue to fight the fascism that has been springing up across the Western world. Start within, and work your way outwards to your local community. The potential for change right now cannot be underestimated. Let’s remember that we are all stewards – not landlords – of this Earth. Everything we are gifted here is temporary. What cannot be taken from us are our values, and that is what we must work on refining and infusing with the Uranian spirit of respect for diversity and difference. So let’s work on building communities and structures which are fantastical, flexible and capacious enough to carry us into hitherto undreamed futures, with our integrity, faith in abundance and a generous spirit intact. As Chelsea Manning would say: We got this!

A little note on these scopes: I felt that this moment is so special that I wanted to give you MORE. So I pulled two cards for each sign – one for the New Moon, and one for Uranus’ ingress into Taurus. The New Moon card gives an emotional snapshot of where you are in the present moment, & clues about the next six months. The Uranus card indicates what this transit asks you to develop over the course of the next nine years. Please read your Rising sign first if you know it and your Sun sign to get the full picture. I hope you get pleasure & guidance from these scopes! They were a joy to write and I loved using the cards to gain an insight into your life journey at this moment. If you enjoyed these, you can send a donation via the link below, or book a reading (check them out under the Offerings tab) by emailing glitteroraclereadings@gmail.com. Please share and quote with attribution.

Much love, & many blessings!

Glitter Oracle, xxx

TAURUS

New Moon card: The Emperor 

Uranus in Taurus card: King of Swords

My dear Taurus, as your birthday season draws to a close, Uranus has something major in store for you. The appearance of the Emperor at your birthday new moon, with Sun, Moon, Mercury and Uranus about to arrive in your sign makes the impact of this transit extremely clear: it’s about personal sovereignty, and ruling your realm with a confidence you have probably never felt before. Strive for justice and equanimity even as you feel powered forward by a new intensity to actualise your own agenda. It’s yang time for you Taurus! Usually slow-moving, steady, and chill, this New Moon challenges you to become a bit more like brother Aries, himself recently Uranized, and boldly pursue your dreams without worrying too much about what others want. The masculine complement of The Empress (a Taurean card), the Emperor incites you to focus on your projects and what you want to accomplish. Giving anyone else the reins or control over any act of your life would be a sucker-punch to your self-confidence right now, as we can either OWN an archetype this strong or project it. So don’t waste this energy and give your power away! We’re talking strategy, willpower and marshalling your resources – which you have plenty of – to secure the life you want to develop for yourself over the next six months.  

The appearance of the King of Swords as the signifier of Uranus landing in your sun sign makes this a double dose of masculine energy, and indicates that you will be working on developing your powers of clear sight, clear communication and clarity in all areas of your life. Uranus will gift you the power of ruthless honesty, sharpening your wits and deleting sentiment from your decision-making processes. You are going to become a master of speaking your mind, and from this place you will develop a trust in the powers of language to express your true feelings in a way that you never have before. As Uranus is the higher octave of Mercury, which rules Gemini, the natural significator of this card, you are going to benefit from the airy smarts of those folk, whilst retaining your earthy practical savvy. By the end of this transit, you truly will be a force to be reckoned with, a person of your word.

GEMINI

New Moon card: The Tower

Uranus in Taurus: The Empress

Wow! A double whammy of major arcana suggests that the Taurean lightning bolt of this New Moon is a landmark moment in the story of your life to date. This new moon is a BIG shake-up. The Tower is a card which points to change forced on one from the outside: often a crisis, or simply a complete inversion or erosion of the status quo. Many of you have just left or are about to leave a job, a country or a relationship – or perhaps all three! Whichever: you know that the changes of the moment are calling for radical shifts within YOU. You are re-evaluating your self-concept from the ground up in the rubble of what was, and waiting for the dust to clear. This New Moon instructs you, in true Taurus fashion, to dwell in the present moment of chaos and re-orientation to see as clearly as possible the structures that have collapsed. In fact, they never truly had the potential you thought they did. In order to build something entirely new which will serve you well and be fashioned out of materials which truly suit your purposes, you first come face-to-face with yourself. What do you want to keep as we head into your birthday season? Which ghosts – beliefs, past loves, habits – is it time to bid farewell to? Solitude, play, meditation, dreaming and creative writing are helpful activities at this time. Be tender with yourself. Birthing a new paradigm is not simple or fast work. You don’t need to worry about the details yet; for now, setting your intentions and getting clear on the vision is enough.

The Empress is an auspicious and beautiful sign for Uranus in Taurus. Uranus will be transiting your 12th, and the inner work you begin at this New Moon is part of an ongoing process to bring the values of the Divine Feminine into play. As Uranus helps Taureans develop their Mercurial wits, they will turn you on to the delights of your Taurean side: your sensuality and the rhythms of nature, a physical connection to the Divine through your body, working with the magic of the earth and natural cycles. What’s so beautiful about this is the opportunity not just to inhabit your body – something rather difficult for Geminis to do for long periods – but to heal it, and in doing so, to find deep resonance, wisdom and understanding in almost-forgotten stories, healing methods and myths. These may be the brilliance of our feminine ancestors; this may be communication with animal guides and nature spirits. What is evident to me is that your healing and embodiment is strongly connected to the survival of the earth. You will be the sign leading us forward in terms of the Divine Feminine and what that looks like in a post-gender, eco-apocalyptic age. You will alchemize the sudden odd insights of Uranus in the 12th and transform it into a vision of care and nourishment for the self, community and planet which has the femme power and wisdom we so badly need.

CANCER

New Moon: The Chariot

Uranus in Taurus: 8 of Rods (Wands)

Hey Cancer, you’re not having the easiest time of it astrologically at the moment, but the New Moon and Uranus will bring with them a welcome sense of momentum! These two fast-moving cards together suggest a sense of dynamism, movement, courage and daring, indicating that what you start now will be significant in the years which follow. The Chariot, a card associated with Cancer, draws on your cardinal, initiatory nature, giving you the ability to battle for what you love in the service of protection – it’s quite literally a moving shell. This card in particular, with its image of a tunnel leading up into the light, indicates to me that lately life has felt like a never-ending mound of drudgery, causing you to feel pinned down, to drown in deep emotions, or feeling otherwise unquantifiably held back. Now you have the starting gun and you can move off in the direction of your heart’s desire, animate stalled projects and generally glean vitality from the race itself. There’s big energy and dreams in play, and you’ll gain nothing by holding back. Start your engines!

The 8 of Rods with its eight arrows seems an extremely fitting companion for the Chariot, indicating that this Uranus transit is going to develop your ability to speak your truth and well, a la Nike, just do it. This is a Mars in Sagittarius card, indicating boldness in speech, thought and action. The rather hesitant Crab is going to lose their shyness and slowly learn to take risks, stretch out into unfamiliar terrain and put themselves out there. So these cards taken together suggest that you both MOVE, and send advance notice of your arrival. Tell confidantes your plans, announce it to your social media following, send the contracts, make it real. Take the risk of sharing your feelings and ideas, and declaring where you stand. The focus here is feeling free to express yourself among your associates and your larger networks (as Uranus goes into your 11th house), which in turn will enhance your career, your relationships and your personal courage as you learn to get comfortable with the vulnerability of putting yourself out there. It takes practice, but every time you express your true feelings you win hearts and minds both for yourself, and for your wider cause.

LEO

New Moon: Page of Rods

Uranus in Taurus: 6 of Swords

Lavish Leo! The appearance of the Page of Rods for this New Moon brings a rush of raw and difficult to contain excitement, confidence and enthusiasm in new projects. Now is the time to welcome in fresh start-over energy and infuse your career, heart-work and visibility with your self-belief. These last years of Uranus in Aries have been surprisingly tough, continuously slamming you with challenges to your very belief system even as it offered you new opportunities to break out of your comfort zone. This card affirms that the time is right to believe in yourself and pursue your current aims with gusto, verve and originality. The new beginning you have waited for is here. How can you nourish your body and soul deeply enough to do your creative work? You can’t run on empty. This Page suggests that you fuel your fire through a slight adjustment, a small but innovative tweak to your daily routine which clicks things back on track – whether that’s 15 minutes of mediation, exercise, a supplement, or daily doses of play with children or animals. Go outside, breathe the fresh air & gather inspiration. Remember the wild, strong, creative creature that you are!

The 6 of Swords augments this suspicion I have that Uranus into Taurus presents a welcome relief for you. You are currently reaching the end of a difficult period, having recently departed unsatisfactory shores: in many cases, an actually harmful or toxic situation which was damaging your health and self-perception, for others, grief or disappointment, surgery or a recent passing of a loved one. Uranus is assisting you in letting go and attaining a healing respite. The call of the new is your journeyman, your healer. There is a suggestion here that over the next decade, you will be developing your capacities as a space-holder for people going through tough times, whether that’s as a counsellor, healer, doula or simply a friend. Allow Uranus to bring you the gift of integrating the recent past, and in doing so, to turn you on to your true vocation, as they transit the 10th house. This house is about career and reputation, but I truly believe it’s about heart-work: the work where by shining your light, you share with others the magnificence available to them through life. At the moment, you don’t even have to worry about the direction of your raft: just do the work of letting go so that when you arrive at your new destination, you are lightest, brightest, most resilient, open-hearted self.

VIRGO

New Moon: Page of Pentacles

Uranus in Taurus: Knight of Pentacles

Well, this is certainly an interesting pairing of kid sister with their big brother for you, wise Virgo. This power-up of the New Moon is a surge forward in terms of making your plans real, practical and tangible. It’s time to take your inspiration and manifest it: your favourite stage of things, planning out all the details and testing the viability of your ideas. Ask yourself how you can cultivate a playful and childlike attitude to the material world. Taurus season is a perfect time to revel in the pleasures of the moment and enjoy everything you have built up until now, whilst revving up for the rest of the year.

Uranus in Taurus will demand that you take the inspirations of the present and develop them into a mature vision of steady and sustainable prosperity. Joining up with Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, Uranus in Taurus indicates the coming of a new Earth era, and you are going to be the overseer, catching all the details and ensuring that everyone is doing their part. You are going to prove yourself as a reliable provider of the objective feedback and support which all successful enterprises need to thrive. There are battles ahead, and either you will meet these qualities in yourself or they will be exemplified through another. Remember to stay connected to the innocent impulse which is palpable at the New Moon and have fun, in spite of the new responsibilities you are taking on. Don’t get bogged down in the inevitable grind of bureaucracy and paperwork involved in setting up a new business or taking on an academic position: keep in mind that it all aims at the bigger purpose of doing what you enjoy and serving the world through precision and excellence. Even as you explore the fresh and somewhat unsettling terrain of Uranus in your 9th, you are learning to exemplify the qualities of a steadfast, brave and trustworthy guide.

LIBRA

New Moon: 8 of Cups

Uranus in Taurus: 9 of Rods

Luscious Libra, in recent months and years you have been conquering demons and facing testing conflicts through the mirror of your personal relationships and how you are perceived by others. These two cards together indicate that this New Moon is an important moment in this ongoing story. The 8 of Cups tells me that it is time to leave behind that which is no longer serving you. This is a time of high emotion, deep disappointment, even grief. There is no more water in those stacked cups. Which situation has drained dry of life, colour and possibility? What is currently causing you pain because it did not live up to expectations? It is difficult to leave if you still believe there is water in those Cups. It is difficult to let go of something that made you happy, or a story that helped you navigate a troubling time, but this new Moon confirms that you must. This may be a new situation or a very old one, but the wisdom of the day says get out of town and into pastures new. You may not know where you are going, but what is important is that with Venus currently transiting your 9th of foreign horizons and new adventures, you must recognise that joy and fulfilment ARE possible. You just have to keep walking ahead, putting one foot in front of the other, in the opposite direction from your heartbreaks, griefs, broken dreams and past failures. There is terrific strength to be found in admitting the truth.

Uranus in Taurus builds on the work you have been doing whilst it was in your opposite sign of Aries, and you are going to be developing the capacity to stand your ground. You have vanquished many of your old enemies – many of these were internal beliefs holding you back; in some cases old rivals or interlocutors have been revealed as weak, harmless or simply wrong. You may be ready to give up, feeling exhausted, battle-weary and defiant: but no, the challenges are still flying thick and fast. It’s just that you are now drawing on a deeper well of strength, and entering into a game where your innate understanding of people will serve you brilliantly to ensure you don’t get manipulated. With Uranus heading into your 8th, pay attention to the thoughts others might call paranoid; get and stay savvy about the competition and your assets. Value yourself enough not to give your talent, emotional labour or resources away for free. Good things come to those who wait. Victory is near. Lift your chin up and discover a strength you didn’t know you had. The moment of reckoning is here, and Uranus is onside to transform you into a warrior forged in the darkest depths of the soul, to bring you what you so richly deserve, whether that’s justice, inner peace or self-mastery. You will prevail!

SCORPIO

New Moon card: The Moon

Uranus in Taurus: The Tower

Another powerful spread of major Arcana featuring the Tower. This new moon finds you in a poetic, even dreamy mood. It asks you to go deep within yourself and discover the fantasies, illusion and strange beasts which dwell in the shadows. There is a risk with the Moon of believing too much in the misty and ephemeral shapes of your imagination, casting a Neptune-like fog over everything. In this case, it’s likely to be in the sphere of relationship, where you currently have so much planetary action. For whatever reason, the way forward isn’t currently clear, and you are seeing things with a mystical and possibly false lens. It is a somewhat treacherous time when it is difficult to discern psychic knowledge from projection. To do: re-centre. Re-tune into your infamous Scorpionic gut instincts. Face fears. Engage in depth psycho-analysis, whether that’s through dream examination, actual therapy or revisiting the last 7 years. Explore the emotions arising now through your creative talents. TALK to your partner: more communication brings more clarity – but listen to what they are NOT saying as much as what they are. You need to balance your dreamy optimism about what could be with a trust in what you know to be steadfast, unchanging and true at this Moon.

Uranus in Taurus will be a hard reset for you in the arena of relationships. The Tower is shaking up your life as it enters your opposite sign, and you will feel its impact significantly. Initially the changes will come from outside of you, so be wary that any fragile or compromised things in your life may well come crashing down over the next few years. As you befriend your inner eccentric and learn to roll with the punches, the changes will come from within, and others will start to notice the difference. For you, this transit is about shadow work: facing and taking responsibility for what you project onto others, whether that’s people, business partnerships or health mentors. All one-to-one relationships are up for review and are the areas where you can grow the most now. Don’t worry. You will emerge from this process whole, unique, and deeply aware of what you can bring to and what you need from relationships. You will be utterly changed, in ways you could never have expected, but need more than you could admit.

SAGITTARIUS

New Moon card: 6 of Rods

Uranus in Taurus: Ace of Pentacles

This New Moon wants you to know that you are on your way to victory! This is a start-over moment in your 6th house of wellness and daily routine. Celebrate your achievements thus far. These may be considered small, minor, or psychological and therefore invisible to the outside world; or it may be that you are going to win a dispute at work, at school or in a legal matter. The important thing is that you make the time to crown yourself with the winners’ laurels and celebrate all that you have done and are doing for yourself and your community. Daily routine, nutrition, physical and mental health are as essential as any other area of life and not easy for a busy and mutable soul such as yourself to fix your mind on. Whilst Jupiter opposing indicates there is still more to do, know that you are protected and guided in the choices you are making right now to secure your health and wellbeing and smooth running of your life.

The advances you make now are essential to your future prosperity, because Uranus is favouring you with a welcome sign: the Ace of Pentacles! This is a fresh financial opportunity and the ability to fund yourself with fat cash through the upgrades you are making in your daily routine. You’re on a journey of learning to convert your creative genius (Uranus through the 5th) into sustainable income. Whilst this card indicates an inner, personal feeling of new consciousness, it also points to material manifestations such as a job, career opportunity, funding, or a new headquarters for your operations. Get in touch with your inner boss and keep your ear to the ground for new opportunities, because this transit will see you mastering your money and being richly rewarded for your talents.

CAPRICORN

New Moon card: 6 of Swords

Uranus in Taurus: Death

The New Moon in your fellow Earth sign of Taurus indicates that now is a time to let what’s passing, pass. As you receive a fresh impulse in your 5th house of play and leisure, you are still in a maturation process, leaving behind recent defeats, perhaps in creativity, self-expression or dating. The 6 of Swords suggests that you cultivate inner peace and allow yourself to survey the scene. Naturally you desire to prove yourself a competent and masterful artist, lover, and/ or performer: but more can be gained now by listening and processing what’s gone down. Although this may bring a tinge of sorrow to the New Moon festivities, this period of quiet, recovery and healing is essential to your progress forward.

If you do the work, you will reap the results whilst Uranus is in Taurus in the 5th. The potent card of Death indicates a time when you kill of aspects of your old persona and release what is no longer resonating. With Bad Daddy of the zodiac Saturn in your 1st,  taking a fresh approach to your creative work will help you to completely redefine who you are, what you want out of life and the kinds of limitations you are and aren’t willing to accept. Surprise: Capricorn is going to be at the head of the Uranian revolutionary brigade! The work you’ve been doing since Saturn ingressed into your sign at the end of 2017 means that you have already been facing difficult times and killing off old parts of yourself (very literally in the case of, for instance, Capricorn fka twigs who recently revealed that she had been through major surgery). This puts you ahead of the pack when it comes to seeing what needs to be done to usher in a new and more sustainable era: economically, spiritually and politically. None of this will come easy, but you’re a Capricorn – you love a challenge and you have the necessary leadership skills. I see a pioneering spirit in this card and I strongly feel that this indicates the Saturn-Uranus-Neptune in Capricorn generation are about to kick off & transform the stale economic paradigms which serve the interests of the minority rather than the majority.

AQUARIUS

New Moon card: 5 of Cups

Uranus in Taurus: Queen of Cups

Your ruling planet is about to head into a square with your sign, Aqua genie. The appearance of two Cup cards and the Taurus action situated in your 4th house shows me that you are at a time of deep inner processing. Not much is happening on the outside as you cocoon yourself in your domestic sphere, and that’s perhaps, in part, because you’re licking your wounds after a recent disappointment. This is a LOT of water, and you are feeling all the emotions. Something has been spoilt and all you can see is what has gone wrong. Aquarius, most readers would tell you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, focus on what’s still in the other Cups and stop dawdling. However, you’re not a sign that really lets yourself feel very often. This new moon illuminates you at a moment of upset. Take a closer look and try to analyse what went wrong. Were your expectations out of whack? Could what was on offer ever have been a workable prospect anyway? Let yourself feel the hurt, and be cleansed by it: then let it go and move forward, with what remains.

This is essential work for you to do, as Uranus in Taurus is turning you on to a higher, happier and more fruitful dimension of the Cups suite: the Queen. Comfortable with emotional nuances, streetwise and empathic, she is the mystical artist of the Tarot, and the archetype of the beloved wife. Aquarius, as Uranus cruises through your 4th, this card asks you what you really require for happiness and peace in your home life. You could fall (back) in love with your inner creative muse over the next few years and be inspired to start painting, singing, writing poetry or otherwise practising your genius. The Queen asks you to remember that whatever you do, you should do it for the emotional pay-off. Not the status. Not the glory. Not even the temporary high – but the long-term satisfaction of mastering a craft and sharing it with others, finding and developing a soulmate relationship, or forging a sanctuary for yourself. By the end of this cycle, you will know that stable sources of love, consistent artistic practice and solid family ties are as essential to your happiness as the freedom you will always both covet and exemplify.

PISCES

New Moon: 4 of Swords

Uranus in Taurus: King of Pentacles

Pisces, my tip for you is to take a rest. Separate from yourself from the chatter, gossip and noise around you. Make your excuses and slip away. You really need the serenity and re-grounding available to you at this moon. You are in the middle of a particular venture and you need a little time-out to process things before you can go any further. With your ruler Neptune currently in your sign, this is a time of you coming into your own and finally realising many long-held dreams and goals, facing inner demons and conquering new hurdles with aplomb. Even so, you need to recharge your batteries so that you don’t fall back on the progress you’ve made. I know it feels counterintuitive because it took you a while to power up to where you are, but trust me: for now, chill.

Because Uranus in Taurus will ask you to do a lot of work and transform into a more mature, faithful and responsible version of yourself. You are stepping into the role of community leader, practical guide and knowing elder. This transit will see you getting in control of your resources – financial, spiritual and emotional – and ensuring that you, organizations you’re responsible for, and the other party, get a fair deal. It will also ask you to rein in your appetites, in order to cultivate the discipline required to keep you in balance. Uranus in Taurus will help to enfranchise you for the work you’ve already been doing in unexpected ways. Your job is to keep learning, growing, studying, talking, and putting into practice the ways you are developing your intelligence, your abilities, and your consistency. I’m excited to watch you step into this new role and grow!

ARIES

New Moon: 3 of Pentacles

Uranus in Taurus: 6 of Pentacles

Last but not least – as if you ever could be – Aries. You have radically surprised yourself and others as Uranus passed through your sign. You have taken on new challenges, struck out into alien terrain, and become more determined than ever to march to the beat of your own drum. These two Pentacles cards show you reaping the rewards of that often-tricky path. The Three of Pentacles for the New Moon indicates that you have been mastering a craft and building a business, most likely through self-employment, and you are ready to take it to market. A fresh opportunity may be arriving as your second house of income is packed with Taurean action, and I think you will be rewarded handsomely for your talents.

The 6 of Pentacles for Uranus in Taurus indicates that your business has legs. You are going to have the ultimate satisfaction of not needing to answer to a boss, freed from ties of financial dependence or money with strings attached. Instead, you may be in the position to help others, and it suggests a working atmosphere of pleasurable and equal co-existence. All of this stems from the work you have been doing whilst Uranus was in Aries. encouraging you to believe in your talents and a vision of the way you want to structure your days: at times this felt very erratic and inconsistent, and here we see you coolly cashed-up and dividing the spoils. Your reading might not be as dramatic or glamorous as some of the other signs, but these cards carry the quiet satisfaction of knowing you can be self-made and self-sustaining, and for the independent Ram, I doubt there could be any better gift.

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Copyright Glitter Oracle Astrology, 2018. 

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[worryinglyinnocent]

Fic: The Darkness Within (14/?)

Summary: When washed-up paranormal investigator Rum Gold meets Belle French, he does not quite know what to make of her claim of a supernatural presence in her life, but sensing her genuine fear, he begins to investigate. What he uncovers shakes the cynicism he has so long held to its very core, and he calls in the help of disgraced ex-priest Father Macavoy to help him lay some demons to rest…

A slow burn, eventual rumbellavoy. The rating may increase in later chapters.

Rated: T

[One] [Two] [Three] [Four] [Five] [Six] [Seven] [Eight] [Nine] [Ten] [Eleven] [Twelve] [Thirteen] [AO3]

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Fourteen

Gold had thrown out most of his aunts’ belongings over the years, keeping just a few items of sentimental value and things that he thought might be useful. As he crawled under the bed in the spare bedroom where the boxes labelled ‘Aunt Elvira’ and ‘Aunt Miriam’ were stored, he only hoped that he had kept the right things. Their spell journals were still out on his nightstand, opened at the Circle of Light, but there was nothing in there of any practical use for what he needed to find out. It was becoming ever clearer to him that he needed to dig into his own past before he could help Belle figure out what was going on in her own present.

He knew comparatively little about his father; Malcolm Gold had been something of a forbidden topic in the household ever since he had upped and left his only son without viable explanation. The only people who could tell him anything, his aunts, were long since gone, and Gold had never known his mother. She’d died in childbirth, according to Aunt Miriam, but now that all these revelations and connections were coming to light, Gold wasn’t quite so sure about anything anymore.

He hauled out Aunt Miriam’s box and flicked through the notebooks and papers therein. His aunts could not help him out, but for all their lives had been solitary, they’d had friends and acquaintances. Perhaps they could tell him more about his family.

Finally he found what he was looking for, Aunt Miriam’s address book. A lot of the names had been crossed out, with little notes against them. Over half of the contacts in there were dead, but Gold’s eyes were drawn to one name with a clean blue line of fountain pen ink ruled through it. Madeleine De Ville.

Maddie De Ville had been one of the more prominent figures in Gold’s distant youth, and although she had long since passed on, her daughter was still very much in the picture. Gold’s friendship with Carella De Ville had had many ups and downs over the years, and he wasn’t quite sure where they stood at the moment. They hadn’t spoken for a long time, certainly not since Gold had quit the business. Carella’s own relationship with the supernatural had always been a strange one as well, never quite as immersed in it as her mother, living an adult life that could only be described as non-magical, but still a firm believer with a hand in the paranormal.

Gold shoved the box back under the bed and got back to his feet with difficulty. He really didn’t like how much he was having to rely on his cane these days. Perhaps there was going to be a change in the weather soon and that was what was causing his joints to ache so much. He really didn’t want to think of any kind of other alternative explanation so he convinced himself that he was just getting old and creaky, and left it at that. Taking Miriam’s address book down to his study, he flicked through his own contact books, finding the ‘Personal’ section. Carella De Ville had been living in Boston with her girlfriend when Gold had last had contact with her, and he hoped that she had not moved on or changed her number in the intervening years. He dialled cautiously, almost hanging up about three times before finally going through with it. Of all the people who could help him, Maddie De Ville had been the closest to his aunts and the most likely to be able to help, and in her absence, her daughter would hopefully have inherited some of her knowledge.

“Carella De Ville.”

Gold was so surprised that his gambit had paid off that he couldn’t speak for a few moments.

“Hello? Is there anyone there? Can you hear me?”

“Ella, it’s Rum Gold.”

This time there was silence on the other end of the line.

“Rum Gold. Well, yours is a voice I haven’t heard in a while. What are you up to? Still continuing on your futile quest to disprove the existence of the supernatural?” For all her words might be disapproving, she sounded bright and, Gold dared to think, pleased to hear from him.

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I’ve come across something very strange and it’s opened up a whole can of worms.”

“He believes at last!” Ella cried, and Gold could hear laughter in the background. “The prodigal son returns to his roots after denying them for so long.”

“Yes, well, something’s happened to shake my conviction. Is that Ursula there with you?”

“Of course, darling, who else is it going to be? I would have sent you an invitation to the wedding but I don’t know where you’re living now. Someone said you’d moved to the arse end of nowhere in Maine, but I didn’t believe them. You couldn’t wait to get out of the sticks when you were younger. You loved it in New York.”

“Yes, well, we all need a change sometimes. I take it you’re still in Boston?”

“It’s an old house full of presence, Rum, I could never leave it.”

“You’re a fashion magazine editor, Ella, you shouldn’t believe in all that stuff,” Gold grumbled.

“Everyone needs a hobby, darling. The moment you turn your hobby into a job, that’s when you lose your passion for it. You should know that better than anyone.”

She did have a point, but Gold wasn’t about to let her know that.

“Anyway, what can I do you for? I like to think I know you well enough that you wouldn’t just seek me out after all this time for a social call. You always had an agenda, even back when we were kids stealing Mother’s incense.”

Gold sighed. “I have a new case.”

“Really? I thought that you’d retired.”

“I had. But this one turned up in my back garden, literally, and I’ve got to see it through to the end.”

“Really? Well, this does sound interesting. Tell me everything.”

Gold knew Ella well enough to know when she was genuinely interested, and she was definitely interested now. All the same, he didn’t want to spread the details of his and Belle’s peculiar predicament too far. He needed help, but with the details of the case being so close to home, he wasn’t sure how much detail he should divulge. He’d already dragged Joseph into the mess, but at least he was on the other side of the Atlantic and fairly safe. He had no idea how volatile the entity sharing Belle’s mind was and he didn’t want to bring anyone else too far into the firing line if he could help it.

“I think it has something to do with my father,” he said eventually. “And I was hoping that you could shed some light on the man.”

“I never met him, Rum, I don’t know what you’re asking me for.”

“I know, but your mother knew my family quite well and I was hoping she might have left some clues behind.”

Ella was silent for a long time, then let out a long breath that whistled down the phone.

“I’ll see what I can pull out of the attic,” she said. “Can you give me any clues as to what you’re looking for?”

“Any history of mental illness in the family, really.” Gold didn’t really want to think about what would have happened to Belle if she had been born into an age that took a much less compassionate approach to such maladies. “Particularly sleepwalking.”

“Right.” Ella didn’t sound entirely convinced. “Well, I can’t promise anything, but looking through Mother’s old diaries is always fun.” She paused. “There’s something you’re not telling me. Is there anything that you might want to use my own particular talents for? I’d be most disappointed if you called me up after all this time just to use me for my familial gossip.”

Gold pondered her offer. Ella styled herself as a fortune teller, reading palms and tarot cards. He’d never looked too far into her hobby because she never charged for it and therefore there was no monetary fraud involved. It was just a little bit of fun between her and her friends, and he’d never taken much interest in whether or not her predictions came true. He was sure that a lot of her talent came from the fact that she was incredibly observant and could usually tell a lot about people from their facial expressions and the way they carried themselves. She could have been an excellent addition to any law enforcement agency, but had decided to follow her interests into fashion instead.

Maybe she could give him some insights into Belle that he had seen for himself.

“There’s a young woman,” Gold said eventually.

“Good god, Rum, are you in love? I’m afraid that’s one of the fundamental rules of magic you know. You can’t make someone fall in love with you.”

“I am not in love, and I have no desire to make her fall in love with me. I just want to help her.”

“All right. I take it that this has something to do with your sudden desire to find out if your father was a sleepwalker, and the case that literally landed in your back garden.”

“Yes.”

“All right, I won’t read too much into it, but I’ve got nothing doing for the next couple of weekends if you want to bring her down to Boston. A change of scenery might clear your head.”

“I’ll run it by her.” On the face of it, it was an incredibly ridiculous idea, taking Belle to Boston to see a palm reader, but he had already said that he was trying to eliminate as many roads as possible, and Ella was certainly the only person that he would trust to take him down this particular road. Besides, he needed to visit her anyway for his own research.

“Anything else you can tell me about this young woman you’re not in love with?”

Gold took a deep breath.

“Joseph thinks that she’s possessed.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

“Ella? Ella? Are you still there?”

“Yes, yes, I’m still here. That’s not the kind of thing you just drop into conversation casually, Rum! Oh god, what the hell am I going to do with you? Never mind. I’ll get going on dredging up your family’s dirty laundry and you let me know when you’re bringing your possessed girlfriend to see me.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Gold protested, although thinking about it, she was certainly getting there. They’d been on what could be classed as a couple of lunch dates, and they’d kissed in the street outside her apartment.

“Hmm.” Ella did not sound convinced. “Well, despite the fact you may have just unleashed the apocalypse on the east coast, it’s nice to hear from you again. And nice to hear that something might finally have broken your stubborn scepticism.”

“Yeah…” Gold’s worldview was certainly being shaken up by his current investigation. He could only hope that Ella and Joseph might be able to shed some light on the situation before he got too unnerved. “Well, thank you for your help.”

“Don’t thank me just yet, I haven’t done anything. I might not be able to find anything useful, but Mother was always one for hoarding. There might be something up there. Good luck with Joseph and the demons.”

Gold snorted. “Bye, Ella.”

“Goodbye, Rum. Don’t be a stranger.”

He hung up and wandered over to his computer. A tab was flashing at the bottom showing an incoming text message over Skype. It was from Joseph, which was rather disturbing since it was the middle of the night over in England.

Rum, I’ve worked out one of the languages that Belle’s entity was writing in. You’re never going to believe this.

Try me, Rum replied, and he waited for Joseph’s reply. The man seemed to be taking an awfully long time to type, but then again, Joseph had never been one of the most technologically savvy people in the world and it was two in the morning for him.

Scots Gaelic. And not the type that’s spoken now. This looks like it dates back almost two thousand years. No wonder I didn’t recognise it.

Gold just blinked at the screen. He really didn’t need any further proof that Belle’s entity was connected to his family.

What does it say?

Still figuring that out, Joseph replied. There aren’t exactly any 5th century Scots Gaelic speakers around I can ask to translate for me. I’ve got one word so far, which is ‘dark’.

Gold snorted. That wasn’t ominous at all.

There are other languages in there as well, haven’t identified those yet. I think I’ll probably have to go even older. The thing says it’s been there forever, after all…

Gold pushed back from his desk, staring at the screen and wondering what on earth to say in response. Everything was picking up speed, their investigations were beginning to bear fruit and take direction.

And he was utterly terrified.

[cirquedufreak-rp]

WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS [Clarity].

[Evonna Falk] will reside in the [Violet] tent. At home, she is assigned to home number [239]. [Clairvoyance] will be useful to the Midnight Circus. Remember our only rule: Once you join, you cannot leave.

Faceclaim Information Name: Kim Ahyoung (Yura) Group: Girl’s Day

Character Information Name: Evonna Falk Stage Name: Clarity Age: 24 Tent Assignment: 239 Home Island Cottage Assignment: violet

Skill:

Clairvoyance is the ability to interpret the thoughts and memories of other people. Memories that surround items can be seen if linked with significant emotional energy. The ability is only triggered by physical contact through the inside of her hands. Strong emotional energies linger and cause exhaustion. She is also unable to identify emotions unless obvious in thoughts. Clairvoyance does not pertain to species other than humans. Objects hold no influence without strong human attachment and reading objects weakens her eyesight

Member Status: Since June 2013 Performance Details:

Clarity isn’t an audience performer, but instead a sideshow in a smaller tent that is dimly lit by string lights. Customers come by the singles and couples usually. The clairvoyant uses a special tarot deck that she made for herself.. She allows the guest to shuffle the cards and cut the deck before they hand her the deck back and she makes hand-to-hand contact. She pulls however many cards the customer(s) pick and interprets the “findings” for them. Her favorite part of performing is giving people peace of mind.

Personality:

Evonna quickly loses energy when it comes to socialization. Living in generally isolated territory for most of her life she has developed comfort in being alone; in fact, if she goes long periods without being to herself, irritability quickly sets in. She is also predominantly a conscientious woman, giving her personal duties proper attention and being prepared for countless scenarios.

Contrary to Evonna’s relaxed demeanor, she is not completely emotionally stable – some might even say ‘neurotic.’ Guilt and jealousy are the two most prominent attributes of her instability. Thankfully she isn’t easily swayed to anger or fear, though.

Another key trait of the clairvoyant is her openness to experience, as living in a predictable tundra would inevitably lead to a taste for adventure and new knowledge. Finally she also has a tendency to be agreeable – in conflict she searches for resolutions, and in social interactions there is a dominant sense of caring and understanding.

Background:

Evonna was born May 16th, 1993 in Busan, South Korea. Due to ‘financial barriers’, her birth mother had previously arranged adoption plans where a couple by the name of Ethel and Claudis Falk would bring Evonna back to their home in Germany once she was ready to leave the hospital. Ethel and Claudis were fairly decent parents, but they had their quirks surely. Instead of hugs, she might have been given a carving knife and instead of “I love you,” she would hear “don’t go alone.” It’s no surprise of how rigid her adopted parents were, however, when their living conditions were taken into consideration. Far enough outside of civilization to be called Siberia, Evonna and her parents had to remain as self-sufficient as possible; therefore, they had to be as tough as possible. Affection wasn’t displayed openly, or at all really.

Evonna’s particular talent hadn’t always been a part of her life; in fact, for her first thirteen years she remained fairly oblivious to the state of her parents – even moreso with the rare stranger. A family based on defense and rigidity had no room for emotional intelligence.

Not long after her thirteenth year, though, little happenings began that made the young girl question her sanity. There were moments when her mother would touch her and Evonna could hear her mother speak but in an echoed tone filling the entire space. Never did her mother address her in these moments, but instead referred to herself.

Eventually the contact-triggered hallucinations became more vivid audibly and visually once flashes of daydreams set in the past began revealing themselves. Around the age of sixteen Evonna would finally concur that she had some innate connection to other’s thoughts and memories through physical contact. Ethel and Claudis were given hints over the years, but never took the matter seriously as their excuse was “Cabin fever. Happens to everyone out here.” The more her mind clarified, though, the less she could treat the occurrence trivially. One day, out of frustration, she grabbed her father’s arm and told him to remember something he’d kept secret. She saw the moment he found his younger brother, dead in the snow after them being separated in a blizzard. After consoling her father and gaining his trust and astonishment, she questioned her parents pressingly why this would be happening to her.

The teenager’s birth mother, Lee Chanmi, had been involved in witchcraft, according to Claudis and Ethel. Ethel told her daughter that the clairvoyance was a sign that past a certain age the devil would come to reclaim her. Claudis and Evonna took these statements as jokes, for they were rare and nothing else would be mentioned. But fear developed and grew within the cold woodland household, when Evonna woke up to Ethel praying at the foot of her bed every morning. After becoming suddenly ill at the age of eighteen, her father had found out that for over a week Ethel had been poisoning Evonna’s food, her excuse being “She’s almost old enough.” Panic filled Claudis as he slowly processed his wife was truly delusional. He promised his wife of 25 years that the very next morning they would travel to the closest town and find her a doctor.

That night, Evonna, in her frail and sickly state, tossed and turned as she dreamt of all her mother’s devilish claims. Pulled from restless sleep in the middle of the night, a horrifying fantasy had come to life as Claudis stood at the side of her bed calling her name and huffing in distress.

“You have to go, she’s going to hurt you!”

Thankfully her reaction skills were above average living in an icy terrain. She pulled herself out of bed as quickly as she could and began packing supplies.

“Are you coming?” She asked her father almost casually but inwardly hoping for the right answer.

“I can’t,” he replied solemnly. Tears filled Evonna’s eyes as she ran in for a final hug goodbye. As she hugged Claudis, her being was surrounded with loving words that could only have come from her father’s mind. “She won’t hurt me, she needs me,” he spoke. Across the house Evonna could hear her mother banging on the walls and door of their bedroom. “I’ve got her locked in our room, but she’s equipped, so it’s best you hurry.” With haste the young woman traded a bracelet hand-made from her mother with the one her father was wearing just before she rushed out the door and into the cold night.

Hunting had developed many skills for the woodland woman – agility, environmental awareness, and stealth; however being fatally ill for several days would have an adverse effect. Days passed before she reached a town, mainly due to exhaustion and inability to travel at night for the abundance of predators. After finally reaching civilization, Evonna took to the streets, trying for the attention of anyone who would look at her - hoping for small donations so she could eat. Not much time needed to pass before she realized nobody wanted to give the handouts she desired, but around this time she also noticed a young man at a table and chair on the side of the street. He was shuffling a deck and pulled out two cards that seemed to be for the woman standing opposite of the man. He had a jar filled with money on his table and Evonna wanted to know what his method was. He didn’t look that much better off than herself.

After nearing the table for a noticeable amount of time, the man called her over. He could read her confusion and explained to her that what he was holding was a “Tarot” card deck and it offered insight. Evonna wanted to learn more so she watched as he performed for countless people passing by. It was amazing; he offered them the same information she had access to, except she had even more knowledge. After weeks of stealing meals and regaining her health steadily, she had finally accumulated the funds to buy her own deck, and from there she took to the sidewalks just as the young man had. Passerbys were amazed when she would draw a card, touch their hand, and reveal their darkest secrets or reassure their concerns. The gig was not a steady one, though, as authorities would take force if she didn’t move along after a day or two.

In the summer of 2013, she had made it to Gwangju, South Korea where she came across a circus that only opens at midnight. After being invited by one of the ringleaders Evonna dedicated her life to a new home and a new family. Nearly a year later she joined the remaining members in fleeing from Asahikawa, Japan after one ringleader’s death and the group’s steady decline. She spent the next four years replaying the part of her life where she traveled alone. Eventually she gathered the courage to return to the abandoned camp out of curiosity of what might be left. What the young woman found was an extraordinary sight – people, familiar faces and new – and she couldn’t help but grin stupidly.

[jay-omnipotent]

Open For Readings - Jay’s Tarot

(King of Pentacles from the Everyday Witch Tarot by Deborah Blake, art by Elisabeth Alba)

I’ve had mixed feelings about reading for money in the past, which is why I’ve always done free readings. But some insight from members of the community and some life changes are encouraging me to finally put my skills to serious use. So, here marks the opening of Jay’s Tarot. :)

My History

I’ve been reading tarot for about ten years now. I started as a kid with the Starter Tarot deck, reading for family, friends, and myself, and got a lot more into it in my later teenage years, expanding to various other decks.  Tarot has always been deeply wrapped in my spirituality, hence my trouble with asking for money for readings and why I won’t be charging too much for my spreads. I’ve come at reading from a few different perspectives and now incorporate memorized meaning, symbolic interpretation, gut intuition, and sometimes clarification from the book to give properly holistic answers. I’ve read at parties and most recently for a non-profit fundraiser, so this is the next step in upping my game.

Prices

When I read you, you get to choose the deck, spread, and medium over which I give you your message. Note: I include a picture of your spread with every purchase, typed or over call!

3-card, Past-Present-Future spread, typed: $5

The most common tarot spread, used by just about everyone. It is quick but powerful, establishing the foundation of the issue at hand, the current situation and advice, and the likely outcome or the goal that should be sought.

10-card, Celtic Cross spread, typed: $15

Another more common, but much more intricate spread. This is a go-to for deep analysis of an issue or question, taking into account past and future, and internal and external factors, giving comprehensive understanding and advice.

3-card, over phone or Skype: $10

While I’m good at typing out what a spread means and that alone can be enough, sometimes what you need is a conversation. With this option, unlike the basic one, you’ll have the opportunity to ask follow up questions, get to clarify confusing aspects of the reading, expand upon your situation more, and get more of my personal insight. This conversation can go up to 10 minutes (but I’m usually flexible). As I don’t include a typed version, I recommend you have a notepad handy for any key points that come up.

10-card, over phone or Skype: $30

Same as the 3-card, only this conversation can go up to 30 minutes. This is really helpful when interpreting larger spreads as we can examine all of the intricacies and inter-card connections and have time to really get to the root of your answer.

You Choose / I Choose / Customize Your Spread: Priced as Appropriate

Let’s be honest, there are infinite tarot spreads out there. If you’re looking for something that can best tackle your specific question (relationship questions are a big example), you can either bring me a spread you’d like me to do, ask me to choose (or make!) one that I feel would work best, or we can work together to customize an old spread so that it fits your needs. These can be done in a single written piece or over a call just like the others.

And of course I won’t ask for extra if I feel the need to draw an extra card or go another few minutes into a call.

If these prices are too high for you (I understand the broke life well) but you’re still interested in my readings, give me a follow and stick around. As well as the general tarot posts and occasional witchy reblogs, I plan on doing sales and specials at least once a month (like the one at the end of this post!), and you might even score a free reading. Who knowwwws.

Contact Information

While you could send me a message through Tumblr, your most reliable method of contact is by emailing me at jaymore1545@gmail.com. We can discuss your question, spread, pricing, and anything else needed, and I’ll give you the link to my paypal.me for when you’re ready to pay. So you’re aware, you’re free to email me about setting up a reading without making a commitment, but I will only draw cards after a full payment has been made.

Opening Deal!

From now until December 15th, anyone who reblogs this post gets 50% off their first reading of any kind. Yes, that includes video chat readings. Furthermore, anyone who correctly guesses my Sun Sign in the tags has a chance to win a free 3-card reading. I’ll draw three names on December 1st, feature your blogs in a post, and we can go back and forth through Tumblr messenger or by email figuring out your spread’s meaning.

Thank you for reading!

I hope my tarot knowledge is able to serve this community, that I’m able to help you all, and that I make some great friends along the way!

To see what decks I read with and to read my general policies and disclaimer, check the read more.

My Decks

From the Light Grey Art Labs, the Cosmos Tarot & Oracle Deck.

This deck has 78 tarot cards and 22 oracle cards, each individual card drawn by a different artist.

Each card is connected to an astrological story, and as such it gives the standard tarot meanings a very unique twist.

This deck’s Oracle cards are used to show motion, such as the pushing and pulling forces behind a spread’s message. You can add oracle cards to any spread for $1 per card.

The Wildwood Tarot

My first deck following my beginner’s edition, the Wildwood also takes a unique interpretation of the traditional Rider-Waite card meanings. The major arcana is shifted around a bit, and the cards are given a variety of possible interpretations. Full of Celtic and nature themes.

The Everyday Witch Tarot

This deck has incredibly clear, beautiful symbolism. It is very easy to read so you are sure to get an easy to understand message, although it may lack the depth another deck could give when dealing with a complex situation. Or, maybe having everything spelled out in easy terms is just what you need! This deck also does not read with reversals, which contributes to the theme of simplicity in readings.

The Linestrider Tarot

This deck is gorgeous and every card is made like a watercolor painting. It is very intuitive, and the book places a special emphasis on the meanings that arise when certain cards come up together. An introspective, emotional deck, with a book that takes standard tarot interpretations and deepens them to previously unknown levels.

For those interested, I also own the Gay Tarot and the Color Oracle, but I have to admit that I am less experienced in using them.

General Policies and Disclaimer

Understand that tarot is going to be what you make of it. Some people view it as magic, divination, and a way to predict the future or contact the inner voice. Others view it strictly as a tool to force the mind to shed light on over-familiar situations in new and unfamiliar ways. I cannot guarantee that my readings will accurately predict the future or even make sense. The more you work with what messages I give you, or the more information you give me to work with, the more a reading will make sense. Something that appeared to mean one thing may mean something else. Personal flexibility in your own interpretations is key to a satisfying reading. Sometimes, a reading can predict an event that has not come to pass or that has not been consciously realized yet. Meditate on the message, and maybe, whether spurred by an internal or external event, it will click.

Financially, what this comes down to is that I cannot offer refunds for unsatisfactory readings.

This should go without saying, but, should I read a negative event in the future, I am not personally responsible for that event coming to pass. While I doubt that tarot will ever show me a literal death, there are other negative events such as loss of a relationship, job, home, etc. that may come up in spreads. Be prepared for bad news just as much as good news.

Most importantly, I am not a certified mental health counselor or life advisor. My readings are to help you consider your own circumstances from another perspective and may encourage you to follow through with or think deeper on your plans. And again, my readings come from a spiritual background, not one of college education. Should the cards be encouraging you to take an action in your life, please consider all perspectives before doing something potentially risky. My cards and I are not responsible for negative circumstances that come about from a decision influenced by one of my readings. Really, this goes for all tarot readers.

I reserve the right to turn away clients for any reason, though it will almost always be because I believe their question is truly not suited for tarot or if they are asking essentially the same question multiple times in a row hoping for a better draw of the cards. Again, it is not my place to help you with problems affecting or that could affect your mental or physical health. If you’re heavily depressed, please talk to a doctor. If you’re at risk of harm from someone, please contact law enforcement. Yes, I’ve read myself on matters of mental and physical health, so if I do agree to a reading near any of these topics, understand that they are supplementary at best and that your main source of help should be from professionals in the relevant field.

Another thing that should go without saying: I can turn away anyone should I think, for any reason, that they are harassing me or even just being rude. My services are a space for zero negativity (excluding polite but negative reviews and constructive criticism - I’m not that harsh) directed at me and I will cut connections for the slightest appropriate reason.

Phew. All that stuff out of the way, I just want you to know that I want the best for you and that I’m going to interpret every spread from a perspective of what you can do to make whatever situation you’re in better, or even better! I’ll put love and understanding into every reading as much as I am able to.

And if you read this far? Triple thank you.

[lovehaswonangelnumbers]

New Post has been published on https://lovehaswonangelnumbers.org/energetic-navigation-28-october-3-november/

Energetic Navigation 28 October – 3 November

Energetic Navigation 28 October – 3 November

By A Gift From Gaia

Progressively speeding up as we move deeper into the Solar Minimum and yet we have barely begun, the energy we find ourselves in is transforming those consciously aware rapidly, moving through realisations and releases almost hourly compared to how it was not so long ago when “things” would take “time”, of course, we realise that the “time” we took was again part of what required releasing and by releasing the lower aspects of this energy spectrum, the weighted time of the human linear way, it became Divine Time which simply showed the love within the energy, the light, and offers perfection in every moment. To exist in Divine Time is to be in a space of complete surrender, it’s a space where judgement would be self-sacrificing and defense creates internal wounds, Divine Time is the higher conscious view of Saturns playing ground and once you acknowledge our Lord and the rules on the gate he will gift you with the most magical experience as you release the restrictions of the lower octave programming we came to accept and be ruled by.

Breaking Free is a theme of energy that we have been surfing all this year, releasing from the Devil Tarot Card that represents the Capricorn energy, but as we know the Devil represents the low octaves of the human, the machine, the blind and so to use the old unconscious ways of the fear spectrum such as defense and judgment, blame and shame allows those loose chains to remain in place, those chains are not fixed, they are easily removed and so the choice to remain has always been yours.

The resistance creates disharmony, release brings magical celestial harmonics and with these Mars square Saturn and Pluto transits that are now reactivated for the next couple of weeks, the Mars square Saturn lined up yesterday and the Mars square Pluto is heading in now, we are continuing to learn how to ride this wild stallion, although perhaps some have mistakenly picked up the wild bull as it went charging past, see that’s a little different energy, the stallion holds heart, he can be tamed, the bull on the other hand doesn’t seem to hold the ability to connect, has no care, just wants to charge his angry self into every obstruction, and will eventually burn out his energy and most likely refuse to move for quite some time.

Both patterns, both rides are super important, those choosing the charging bull will no doubt learn to catch a ride with the stallion next time around and by that phase the chances are the bull will have allowed you to observe why you chose him, that the walls you had built up around, caked in unconscious belief systems posters and flyers to keep the truth of the wall hidden behind pretty dreamy pictures and fluff dressed in pity MUST come down.

This energy however you choose to move through is evolving us, taking us on lightspeed travels, zipping parts of our minds back into our ancient self, to retrieve data required for the now, and yet the next minute we are travelling with the ancient future self to receive the confirmation because the gems being retrieved are often beyond imagination and require boosts to fully understand the resonance and the codes held.

This means MORE raising of the physical body vibration, more listening to its requirements and acting in the moment as opposed to the old ways of waiting/weighting, which only ever slows us down, ignoring the most subtle signs of the body, even so much as making the request for thirst or hunger dissolve and opting for avoidance tactics signals to the body a lack of interest, a lack of unconditional love, there will be no self healing until EVERYTHING the body says is understood and innerstood, meaning we act upon everything, in the NOW because the now is the space in which we choose, now is The Creator of the ever evolving you.

This Mars energy we are experiencing is such a powerful clearing and creative energy if you understand how it behaves, and once that is understood we realise it is simply our own energy, emanating out from within and using the power of creation to highlight where our creation is not in harmony with our highest aligned timeline, and he is showing us the wounded masculine in its process of healing, as he is hot on the heels of the feminine, Venus, who is just one step ahead, Mars is focused, he is heading out of the underworld where he has been hidden behind the sun and he is now making the most out of this journey, fully aligned, fully committed to begin to unify with the feminine, the wounded masculine within is ready to support, ready to place his energy where it matters, within, to show his Queen her value, the true twin flame within, is ready to merge and become One very powerful light force energy.

What makes this more magical is that Saturn holds no expectation and the lesson is to realise it is the motion that matters, holding the awareness and making steady positive steps, in fact any speed or idea of rushing, pushing or charging ahead will only create an experience to understand patience, and again to step back into the flow of Divine Time allowing this to form so it can show you all the magical light gems along the way, and we don’t want to miss a single one, every light gem is so ridiculously valuable especially during this Dark Moon energy we have been surfing leading into todays Scorpio New Moon, which is opposing Uranus in Taurus, there is the bull again and he is acting rather jumpy with Uranus on his back, taking random turns, bucking and spinning, this is pure expect the unexpected energy, and for the cosmic surfers this is likely to bring a whole heap of new ideas and ways to underpin the new physical body vibrational upgrades you have been focusing on, this is something I noticed just a couple of days ago as myself and Reese, my son, have been adding some rather new and interesting things to our diets to assist on his road to recovery.

I would also like to just say a massive thank you to everyone who has been donating and sharing our fund, you have all encouraged him MORE than I could have imagined as he is now listening and open to trying natural ways to heal himself, a few days ago he would refuse ALL, didn’t believe anything would work other than the meds, we have so many new things and we are sharing them together, and yarrow tea seems to be quite a favourite. We had so many messages and a whole list of things to try which I read out to him, and talked to him about and just that, just by those messages of love from you all out there has helped him open up to receive and try more things to support this disease. We do have an awfully long road ahead of us though and we will still require some extra support as I am paying privately for Hydrotherapy sessions and so if these energetic navigation reports assistance you in anyway could I please ask for a small donation to the Help My Son Walk Again fund I have set up on GoFundMe (link below), however if you would rather donate through Paypal please do so using the email address – connect@agiftfromgaia.com or hit the link paypal.me/agiftfromgaia

What has been interesting to See in this is that there is a reflection of weakness, whilst I don’t have Ankylosing Spondylitis I have become aware we do have weakness in the same area which is why we are now healing this as One body, he is afterall a future version of myself, his template was created during times of dis-ease and of course this becomes the baseline frequency of his genetic makeup, so it makes sense we do this together.

But what this experience has been showing is exactly how this all works, how when you release all fear and restriction, when you listen to the requests of the body, when you care more, when you prioritise Self and plug only into that which nourishes, which incorporates all feeds that enter the field, then the experience becomes nothing short of enlightening and therefore rapid, the moment you release the push and the need what transpires is the flip, the rise and the expansion into new healthFULL experiences and by using the signposts being delivered by our celestial map it becomes an incredibly INjoyable transition.

The Scorpio New Moon energy takes us in deep, it allows so much to be seen and released to begin yet another transformative week that sees us welcoming in the backwards dance of Mercury in Retrograde, we are dredging the pool of Scorpio, we are digging away at the bottom and there will no doubt be more data to be found as ancient relics are unearthed giving us yet more clues as to why we find ourselves here and from these clues we will soon realise new paths opening up for us to journey.

This Mercury Retrograde is coupled with a solar wind prediction, we await the codes heading in and I will be back to translate. Stay present in the heart angels and open into pure acceptance for how the guidance moves us.

Please place a 💙 in the comment box to keep the heartbeat of A Gift from Gaia alive in the body of Facebook and please share the post or invite those you feel will resonate to this space, one small action can change the entire dynamics of a reality, you may just be turning on the light for someone lost in the dark.

Here is the GoFundMe page to support my son Reese and his healing, it is essential we get him walking now as we are already facing irreversible damage.

gf.me/u/v8gqjy

Thank you All 💙💙💙

*****

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