#jasper reviews tarot notes

[jasper-pagan-witch]

2024 Grimoire Challenge Review - January Week 1

Well, I had to wait until Wednesday to get out of the house and get a binder and some paper for my challenge grimoire this year, so I basically speedran all of the December prep and the first week of January, because I will never learn and never improve on this habit of mine.

Keeping in line with other grimoires I've used in the past (such as the Epsilon Ledger and the Delta Book of Tarot Spreads), this red binder has been named the Eta Binder. I wrote down my proper name (let's go, trans mages!), tacked @2024-grimoire-challenge onto it to remind myself that that's what we're doing, and gave it a date of working. Since I started on Wednesday, that's 1/3/2024 (because I'm an American) to an unknown end date.

I had to scramble to come up with a list of 52 plants and stones to work on. I just went through the list of herbs and teas offered by my local ("local" being half an hour away) spice shop and capped it off with some Missouri flowers. For the stones, I just flipped through Judy Hall's Crystal Bible (somehow both a really good and really bad reference book) back and forth a bunch of times until I had a list of crystals I hadn't already done dives about.

As for my magical study ideas, I mostly just threw shit down that I've been interested in or have just gotten interested in. I gave each deity I worship their own bulletpoint and also split up the specific areas of pop culture magic I'm digging more into. I made sure there was a blend of comfortable old stuff, brand new stuff that I'm not sure of, and things that are generally outside of my purview.

Through the power of "work had too many 3-ring binder dividers", I have split my binder into seven sections - 1 is Plants, 2 is Stones, 3 is Work-Related Notes, 4 is Spells Designed (if I complete any, they'll be moved into my spell binder that also houses all of my correspondence lists), 5 if Journal, 6 is currently blank, and 7 is Empty Pages.

Then I finally got started on the actual projects. For the plant and crystal prompts this week, I used an integer generator online to choose two numbers randomly and received caraway (aka Carum carvi) and muscovite (aka KAl2(AlSi3O10)(F,OH)2), so I used my normal research process for the two. It was actually pretty fun, if you ignore the fact that my hand hurt so much because it ended up being 4 pages (well, 2 pages but front and back) EACH of information drawn from books and digital sources that I was all but copying word for word.

As for the Work-Related Notes, that's where I've saved things like my Definitions page, Spellwriting 101 (in my practice), and a page about my Common Tools.

I will admit that I skipped the year outline, mostly because the passing of the year means near nothing in my craft. I don't celebrate any particular "magical holidays", I don't work by the moon cycle, I'm definitely not Wiccan and thus don't celebrate the Wheel of the Year, seasons just mean whether or not I have to wear a coat, and I don't care about matching particular workings to days of the week. I'm starting to think I'm just a deeply boring person, upon reflection.

Then we get to the Work Spaces / Altars page, and oh boy! I don't actually do...workings at my altars, so they're probably better described as shrines. I have my Primary Work Space (my wooden desk, the metal microwave stand I've stolen from somewhere, and the tiny red bookshelf under the microwave stand) that is an absolute MESS at every given point that holds whatever the fuck I'm working on, regardless of what project it is. I have a Thoughtform & Spirit Shelf (which is actually a partial shelf) in my big red bookshelf that holds the anchors for my thoughtforms but also my PokeFamiliar. I have five altars around my room that are currently holding seven deities, a candle for an eighth deity, the Lokifam, three spirits, the Unknown Benefactor, the symbol of an animal spirit I want to reach out to at some point this year, and Jasper's Casper (an adorable little ghost that my coworker and her daughter crocheted for me to celebrate the first anniversary of me working at the library).

Shit's a bit cramped in here!

And today, I'm writing about my Personal Practices that have made it into my craft. I'm actually working on this now, but I paused to write up this summary. It's pretty neat to think about all the stuff I've done that I still do.

Results: My hand hurts and my head is throbbing, but c'est la vie. This is a really fun challenge, and I hope it goes all the way through 2024, unlike when I tried to do the 2023 challenge and the host of that one vanished into the aether.

[jasper-the-menace]

Introduction

Howdy. I'm Jasper, a nonbinary aroace menace, they/them pronouns. I'm currently level 21, looking to level up later this year.

This is my main blog, so you get a bunch of bullshit, my fandoms, my fanfiction, my interactions with my mutuals, and sometimes stuff on the spicy end. We get weird here.

Before You Follow

I am an adult. If following an adult bothers you, please feel free to block me for your sake.

I engage in fiction to deal with things, or because I want to. I don't care how "pure" it is, we're refusing to give purity culture a platform here. I also write some stuff that leans into being fucked up.

I'm queer as hell and we use microlabels here. I love people with neopronouns.

I'm also a polytheist. And a furry. And an occultist. And also big into scorpion biology. Gods, I know so much stuff about scorpion biology now.

My asks remain open, but there will be times when anon is unavailable. If you want something answered privately, let me know. Just be aware that I will retain a screenshot of my answer before sending it for my personal files so I can keep track of things.

Side Blogs & Social Medias

@jasper-the-menace : my main/personal/shitpost/fandom blog

@jasper-pagan-witch : my witchcraft/pagan blog, feel free to send questions that way

@jasper-tarot-reader : my tarot reading blog (send an ask but respect the guidelines)

@the-college-of-whispers : my Elder Scrolls pop culture witchcraft blog (currently closed down while I’m designing it)

@tri-flight : my Flight Rising blog

@jasper-grimoire : a witchcraft side-side blog where I organize notes and posts I want to keep for later

@missouri-witchcraft : a witchcraft side blog for Missouri magic and resources because those are impossible to find

@jasper-graphics : a side blog for creating dividers and similar things! (The divider I use on this post is actually one I made there!)

@jasper-polytheist-wizard : a bad advice/shitpost type of magic blog

@jasper-and-the-forty-servants : my work with the Forty Servants deck-and-servitor-system by Tommie Kelly

@owl-writing : my writeblr blog for original works

@jasper-book-stash : my bookblr blog to read and review whatever the hell I have

@jasper-the-courteous : my evil and less fucked up side blog inspired by an April Fool's Joke in a Discord server

@jasper-reblogs-art : a blog that I reblog any art I see to

JasperWritingWitch: my AO3 account (do not follow my AO3 if you’re a minor because I read and write a lot of Mature/Explicit stuff)

JespurrWizard#6396: my Discord, feel free to friend me if you want to talk because Tumblr’s IM/DM system is terrible for my dyslexia

jasper.divination.and.wizardry: my Instagram, I gave in and finally made one

[jasper-pagan-witch]

hi jasper, i hope this question isn't too annoying lol

so i seem to remember that you made a post (maybe an answer to an ask) detailing your personal journals/books for your wizardry, but i can't seem to find it. it was interesting to read, and i'm trying to compile my own magical notebooks and wanted some inspiration from the way others had made theirs.

did you make a post like that, or am i imagining it? lol. thanks in advance

I know I've done that. I know for a fact that that post exists. It's from April 18th of this year and is already outdated. So for you, anon, I'll talk about my currently in-progress magical grimoires and adjacent magical books.

Book Review Notes - a 3-subject college-ruled red spiral notebook. It's where I write the information down for my book reviews. I actually need to type up and post my review of Tarot By Numbers.

Challenge Book - a 3-subject college-ruled red spiral notebook from a different brand. This is where I do those 7/15/30/31 day challenges - usually all in the same day.

Book of Bullshit - a 1-subject college-ruled grey spiral notebook with a front pocket. This is my arcanabula, my orizon, this is where I write down frantic notes about spells or tarot spreads I'm developing, random notes of things I'm researching, and random thoughts that have no better place.

The Tome of Spells & Refinement - a 1-and-a-half-inch black o-ring binder where I keep the spells I have written (including ones that have never seen the light of Tumblr), my crystal grids, and information about my Magic The Gathering spells that I need to develop.

The White Binder - a 1-and-a-half-inch white d-ring binder. In here, I keep most of my miscellaneous information that I refer to a lot, including my MTG enchanting board, printouts of Dungeons and Dragons and The Elder Scrolls materials for me to review, and most of my non-pop culture magic information. My servitors and thoughtforms also have information in here.

The Epsilon Ledger - three faux-leather (aka plastic) notebooks from Walmart. These hold correspondences, information about necromancy and local magic, prayers and devotionals to deities...anything that's personal but not journal-esque. These are grimoires proper, only information, not musings or records of readings.

The Zeta Witchbook - a 1-subject college-ruled black notebook from the generic Target brand Up & Up. This was for the @2022grimoirechallenge before they fell off the face of the planet.

Enby Dragon - a cheap notebook from Amazon with a dragon in the nonbinary flag colors on the cover. This is where I keep my information on Flight Rising pop culture paganism involving the flights and the deities.

Volo's Journal - inspired by the D&D/MTG artifact of the same name, this is a fancy-looking grey sketchbook where I keep information on different types of non-physical entities and, well, animals alike. I use art cards from MTG for the visuals because my drawing abilities leave much to be desired.

Mixin' It Up - a 1-subject college-ruled purple notebook. Since I get some powders pre-mixed, I write down what they're made from and the mutually-shared correspondences between them.

This is to say nothing of the literal stack of empty notebooks that I am saving for future magical usage, nor of the notebooks that I used as grimoires and similar things earlier in my craft. I...may be mildly addicted to notebooks.

I hope this has given you a few ideas, anon!

~Jasper

[jasper-pagan-witch]

When you folks are looking at reviews of tarot decks, what's the most important things to know? Whether the pips are fully illustrated? If there are nips or penii hanging out? Whether any of the cards are renamed? Whether any cards are switched to different numbers? Something else entirely?

And for oracle decks, is it mostly the theming? How many cards? Again, if there are nips or penii hanging out? Something else?

Given that I have 50 tarot and oracle decks, it's time for me to start writing long reviews, so I'm looking to cover what people most often look for in their decks.

Feel free to either send an ask or reblog this post to answer my queries!

[jasper-pagan-witch]

For the post about what do people look for in decks? A major thing for me, at least for now is if sensitive bits are out. I'm dealing with some leftover purity culture views about myself, let alone other bodies so I'm not looking to be challenged just yet by art. In general though i tend to prefer flower, animal, maybe tree, and definitely fantasy themes for oracle or tarot. Mostly whatever feels right, sorry if that was too ramble-y to be helpful.

This is actually very helpful! I've taken this into account myself, as a sex-repulsed asexual who does tarot readings for the youngins on occasion. I'll definitely make this a "line item" for the reviews!

~Jasper

[jasper-pagan-witch]

F.

specifically why they’re hated and what they actually mean (both normal & rev)

Regarding this post, where option F was "Something to do with the three most hated cards in the tarot deck: Death, the Devil, and the Tower."

I think, ultimately, what makes the three cards so despised is a twofold problem: the inherent Catholicism of the tarot, and the "love and light" framing in New Age witchcraft trends. (Edit: So there's a third part, and it's that people dislike being told bad news. Thanks Guia for reminding me! I completely forgot about that aspect.)

Put the tomatoes down for a moment, please, hear me out.

Tarot, as we recognize it now, can be traced to the Italian card game of tarocchi (or any other number of varying spellings). It utilized what we now know as the Minor Arcana, and rich families would commission cards called "trumps". When Waite and Smith worked together on their first tarot deck meant for divination, the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, they incorporated twenty-two different trumps as the Major Arcana. So you can see why the Catholicism leaked in, by virtue of being from Italy, and that's why the Devil card is *gestures* like that.

In New Age circles that I unfortunately witnessed (the horrors I have seen...), anything that isn't 100% positive is treated as an affront to...I guess pseudo-Wicca? New Age trends tend to follow a pop culture idea of what Wicca is (and keeps the Gardnerian gender essentialism to boot) and that includes the variations of the line "and it harm none" - which is where you get people saying that cursing is 100% bad, all the time, no arguments. These are the sort of people who think you can "manifest away" bad things happening to you through the Law of Attraction and get spooked when "bad" things happen regardless. So the Tower card scares them the most because it's a reminder that change, even catastrophic or "bad", is inevitable.

(Side note, I think that also ties back to a branch of Christianity? The one that thinks that money happens to you if you're "good" and poorness happens to you if you're "bad" and you can become rich by being a good enough [fill in branch here]. I can't remember the exact one and this is just a side note so I'm not gonna put too much effort into this paragraph.)

And, well, most people in the United States are often spooked by the idea of death and the realization that no one can ever truly become immortal, along with the question of what happens after we die. So Death, even if it's rather referring to change, reminds people of it and scares them.

(Second side note: I also have a crack theory that Death is number 13 because of the 12 apostles and Jesus's last meal where Jesus was betrayed. I don't think it's a coincidence, especially when you look at the actual Devil card or the fact that Judgment often depicts Judgment Day. I have no peers reviewing this theory.)

(A third side note: I consider Death to be "the trans card" because I have yet to pull it for someone who didn't come out as some kind of trans later, INCLUDING myself. It's my way of reclaiming the "killed one's old self" narrative often used against trans folks.)

As for what the cards mean upright or reversed...ultimately, that comes down to the deck. Even RWS-derived decks have variations therein, so ultimately you should check the guidebooks of the deck to see the particular twist they've taken on.

There's also an argument that intuition trumps written meanings, but I'm meh on that one. I find that intuition built on top of the written meanings make for very effective readings through my works on @jasper-tarot-reader.

But if we just crack open an RWS guidebook or three, we come across some interesting stuff about the three cards. I'll be using the RWS guidebook, the Tiny Tarot guidebook, and the Radiant RWS guidebook.

13 Death upright: end, mortality, destruction, corruption, change (especially sudden), transformation, loss (especially financial), failure, illness

13 Death reversed: inertia, sleep, lethargy, fossilization, sleepwalking

15 The Devil upright: ravage, violence, force, vehemence, extraordinary efforts, fatality, predestined evil but not for the reasons thought, bondage, subordination, bad influences, disaster

15 The Devil reversed: fatality of evil, weakness, pettiness, blindness

16 The Tower upright: misery, distress, ruin, poverty, hardship, adversity, calamity, disgrace, deception, sudden and incredible change, disruption, termination, unexpected events

16 The Tower reversed: the same as upright but to a lesser degree, oppression, imprisonment, tyranny

I hope these rambles were fascinating to you, anon! Please, feel free to let me know your thoughts!

~Jasper