witchmailbox

[witchmailbox]

Willow’s Masterpost of Witchcraft Information and Masterposts!!!

All of these links will direct you to posts I made and worked hard on for the witchcraft community! Many of these are for beginners or people still finding their footing in magic. I hope this is of some use for someone out there!

Updated as of: 4/9/2020

Posts for Beginners Finding Their Way

🔮 Willow’s Beginner Guide: Where to Begin? - a guide on how to start witchcraft and step into the world of using magic

🔮 What is Visualization and How Do I Do It? - a guide for new witches struggling to visualize when doing spell work or energy work and how to help strengthen visualization skills

🔮 “What is My Path and How Do I Find it?” - an explanation of Paths in witchcraft and how to help find your own path at the start of your witchcraft journey 

🔮 Advice to Beginners (ask) - my personal advice to beginners and how they should start researching

Tools, Correspondences, Associations

🔮 Air Witchcraft: Tools and Associations - a masterpost of correspondences, tools, crystals, herbs and more for those getting started in air magic

🔮 Cosmic Witchcraft: Tools and Associations - a masterpost of correspondences, tools, crystals, herbs and more for those getting started in cosmic magic

🔮 Earth Witchcraft: Tools and Associations -  a masterpost of correspondences, tools, crystals, herbs and more for those getting started in earth magic

🔮 Fire Witchcraft: Tools and Associations -  a masterpost of correspondences, tools, crystals, herbs and more for those getting started in fire magic

🔮 Storm Witchcraft: Tools and Associations -  a masterpost of correspondences, tools, crystals, herbs and more for those getting started in storm magic

🔮 Water Witchcraft: Tools and Associations -  a masterpost of correspondences, tools, crystals, herbs and more for those getting started in water magic

🔮 Fog in Witchcraft - a masterpost about the histories, modern use, associations and spell work using fog

🔮 Love Magick Masterpost - the ultimate masterpost about love magic, tips and correspondences, types of love magic and much more (intended for mature adult audiences due to topics discussed)

🔮 Pokemon Offerings Masterpost - a simple masterpost for offerings, altar pieces, associations and pop culture tips for witches new to pop culture magic who wish to incorporate pokemon into it

🔮 House Hunting Crystals - a list of crystals and their associations that may be helpful when moving or looking for a new home

🔮 Crystals for Artsy Witches - a list of crystals and their associations that may be helpful to witches looking for inspiration, creativity and getting over artist’s and/or writer’s block

🔮 Crystals for Overcoming Fears - a list of crystals to help oneself face and overcome their fears

🔮 Insect (and Non-Insect) Correspondences - a list of insects and other critters and their correspondences for spell work

🔮 Carnivorous Plant Correspondences - a list of carnivorous plants and their correspondences for spell work

🔮 Unconventional and Affordable Ingredients for Spells - a long list for spell ingredients and their correspondences for witches on a tight budget as well as some budgeting tips

🔮 Nebula Correspondences - a list of nebulas and their correspondences for cosmic witchcraft and spell work

🔮 Autumn Leaf Magic - a list of correspondences and suggestions for using leaves and autumn for witchcraft and magic

🔮 Bubbles In Magick - a masterpost about incorporating bubbles into spell work and their correspondences

🔮 Soups and Broths in Magick - a masterpost of correspondences and uses of soups and broths in magic, also my very first post

🔮 Witch Tips: Peacock Feathers - a little post about the correspondences and uses of peacock feathers in magic

Urban Witchcraft and Indoor Magic

🔮 Stuck in the City: Forest Witch Edition - a masterpost of altar ideas, spells, correspondences and tips for witches who are stuck in urban environments or spoonie witches unable to travel to be forest witches 

🔮 Stuck in the City: Landlocked Sea Witches -  a masterpost of altar ideas, spells, correspondences and tips for witches who are stuck in urban environments, landlocked witches or spoonie witches unable to travel to be ocean witches

🔮 Witch Tips for City Witches - a list of tips and advice for witches who live in cities or urban areas without access to nature or rural spaces

🔮 Sigil Baths - a small information post about sigil baths and working them into your magical routine

🔮 Stimmy Witch Tips - a list of tips for people who stim for numerous reasons and how to incorporate it into your craft

🔮 Witchy Sleep Over Ideas - a fun list of things to do with other witches when hanging out or during sleepovers

🔮 Artsy Witch Tips and Ideas - a masterpost style list of suggestions, tips and ideas for witches who want to incorporate art and art supplies into their craft

Spell Casting, Spells and Cursing

🔮 Substitutions, Reworking and Personalizing Spells - a long guide on how to adjust spells to work  better for you or how to change ingredients for spells for ones you prefer or have available. 

🔮 Intent and Spell Writing - a guide to writing spells and how to work intent into them

🔮 Object Cursing - a masterpost and informational post about cursing objects and how to maintain them and even remove curses from specific objects

🔮 Advice on Cursing (ask) - an ask reply with advice on cursing, cleansing afterwards, preparation and some suggested ingredients

Mysticism, Spirit Work and Divination

🔮 Guide to Crystal Throwing and Crystal Divination - a guide on how to use crystal throwing for divination purposes and general associations and meanings behind crystals that can be used

🔮 Guide to Colormancy - a masterpost style guide to using colormancy for divination, suggested methods/tools and correspondences of colors 

🔮 “Get to Know Your Deck” Tarot Spread - a tarot spread for beginners to help them get to know their tarot cards better and how to improve working with them

🔮 Questions for Tarot Reading - a little guide to help those new to tarot to help better ask questions to their own cards and to other readers to get the best and most helpful answers they can

🔮 Divination Tips for Beginners - a list of tips and advice for those who are new and starting any type of divination

🔮 Guide for Cleansing Tarot and Oracle Cards - a simple guide for cleansing and taking care of cards you use in divination

🔮 Spirit House Rules - a guide on how to write and maintain rules for spirits you are working with for your own personal protection and comfort

🔮 Crystals for Divination - a list for crystals commonly used in divination and psychic practices

Dream Work and Dream Interpretations

🔮 Dream Journals and Dream Work - an advice guide on how to use dream journals and how to incorporate them into witchcraft

🔮 Lucid Dreaming Masterpost - a masterpost about lucid dreaming, how to lucid dream and how to use it in witchcraft and magic

🔮 Nightmare Prevention Masterpost - a masterpost going over a list of herbs, crystals, tips for preventing and handling the aftermath and more for those who suffer from nightmares

🔮 Dream Work Masterpost - a large masterpost of correspondences and ingredients specified for Dream Work

🔮 Dream Interpretations: Snakes in Dreams - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature snakes

🔮 Dream Interpretations: Mermaids and Mermen - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature mermaids and/or mermen

🔮 Dream Interpretations: Vampires - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature vampires 

🔮 Dream Interpretations: Teeth - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature teeth

🔮 Dream Interpretations: The Planets - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature the planets of our solar system

🔮 Dream Interpretations: The Sea - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature the sea and ocean

🔮 Dream Interpretations: Amusement Parks - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature amusement parks, carnivals and rides 

🔮 Dream Interpretations: Tornadoes - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature tornadoes and their destruction

🔮 Dream Interpretations: The Weather - a long post about analyzing dreams that feature different types of weather

***all of these posts are from my personal Grimoire and are all from my personal blog over the years. Please do not repost these on this platform or others without my permission. These posts are from years of work and research and a lot of love and effort were put into them

Like what I post? Want to support me or buy me a delicious coffee? Feel free to check out my Ko-Fi Page!

[witchmailbox]

Cartomancy After 101: Developing your own sets of card meanings that you swap out depending on your needs [concepts & tips]

My hypothesis for this post is that most forms of cartomancy heavily rely on the context of the question or situation being read on.

As context shifts, so do the specific interpretations that readers pluck out of a pool of general meaning.

By leaning into the idea of context and building extremely contextual meaning sets, readers can elevate their skills and more reliably produce very specific readings within contexts they have studied and prepared for.

This is going to be a long one, so I'm making sections for readability.

1. Cartomancy Relies On Context

Most "little white books" that come with tarot and oracle decks, and cartomancy websites and published resources, divide card meanings into the general and contextual.

E.g., a tarot card's general meaning usually includes key words such as heartbreak, betrayal, and backstabbing. Then, contextual meanings might be provided:

Interpersonal relationships: Is a relationship about to end?

Business: Make sure any new business deals won't screw you over.

Spiritual: How can you use your spirituality to help with heartbreak?

While these contextual meanings stem from the base source of the card, they aren't interchangeable. Imagine if a querent asks you about their small business, and you reply, "well, have you tried using your spirituality to deal with interpersonal heartbreak?"

Therefore, a major role of the reader is defining the appropriate context of a question.

In order to practice their skills, many diviners offer to do "blind" readings for others. This means that the reader doesn't want any background information about the question at all - but even so, a reader may still ask for the context of a question.

E.g., a reader may say, "don't even tell me your actual question, but just tell me what kind of question it is - if it's about employment, a relationship, etc. Otherwise I won't know how to frame the answer."

[I don't mean to say that all readers always require context in this manner. Many readers do not, especially very practiced ones. But I don't think that means that context is irrelevant, even to very experienced readers who can obtain context on their own.]

2. Developing Meanings for a Specific Context Results in More Specific Readings

The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook by Caitlín Matthews begins by introducing the typical meanings of Lenormand cards. Later, she provides a custom set of meanings she personally developed related to her years spent in live theater.

Because of her time spent performing readings for theater workers, and about theater, she had developed a complex and unique system of meaning for Lenormand which, for the purposes of reading about live theater, was immensely more accurate and specific than the general Lenormand system.

While the general meanings of Lenormand informed her custom system, the custom system was not interchangeable with general meanings and was only applicable to a specific context and its related themes.

I discovered the same phenomenon by accident years ago, when I was frustrated with how general and nonspecific my readings had become.

I wanted to be able to use tarot to read accurately for everyday situations. So, over the course of several months, I worked with my primary divinatory ally to develop my own set of notes for the tarot, specifically for reading everyday, mundane situations.

The meanings given for the cards don't work very well at all for mystical, spiritual, or meditative self-exploratory readings. The meanings are things like, "you're the only one putting energy into this relationship," or, "don't go to the party if you didn't receive an invitation."

I use this set of meanings when I want very plain and straightforward readings on everyday situations, which it's very good at. I got what I wanted: accurate and specific readings on day-to-day questions with the tarot.

The meaning set fails at every other kind of question.

Recently, in my ongoing experiments with a custom oracle mashup of playing cards and tarot, I decided I wanted a meaning set that was useful for troubleshooting creative writing projects.

This deck has general meanings like, air/movement/exchange, water/observation/stagnant, and earth/categories/planning.

I developed contextual meanings like, "the dialogue in this scene is doing what it needs to do," "the character's motivations aren't clearly explained," and "the external goals of the character don't match what's already been explained about them."

By focusing on a specific context, readers can get very good at reading certain types of questions.

3. Exploring Specific Contexts Improves Overall Reading Ability in Any Context

By taking the general meanings of a card and developing them in new, unique ways that are still true to that card's roots, you create a huge learning opportunity to connect more deeply with that card.

Not only can you explore the unique evolutions of each card as it intersects with your interests and life, but your understanding of the deck as a whole can evolve.

When I was working with my original set of "everyday" meanings for the tarot, I discovered that many times I developed card meanings that really overlapped each other, making some cards redundant. When I decided to sort this out, my understanding of - and relationship to - tarot rapidly changed. I'm at a new level of understanding that I hadn't been able to achieve just by using general meanings for the 15 or so years of reading I had been doing before that.

The elements are currently a major part in my practice of witchcraft. As silly or abstract as it may seem, exploring how an oracle card that generally means water/observation/stagnant could apply to a specific type of fiction writing deepened my relationship not only with that experimental deck, but also to my craft as a whole.

As I've explored custom meaning sets in general, my ability to rapidly link abstract symbols has improved. Even if a specific meaning set doesn't apply, just having explored that makes my readings stronger.

For example, if I draw a card and I don't know how to apply it to a certain situation, having different sets of meaning floating around in my head is a little like having three or four helpful aunties shouting suggestions. None of them may be completely accurate, but it's a far better starting place than having no aunties at all.

By investing in very specific sets of meaning that only apply to certain contexts, readers can gain insight and skills that assist them in all types of readings throughout all contexts.

4. Sundry Suggestions for Those Convinced

Here are a handful of tips and tricks I've collected throughout the years. Take or leave them as you desire.

Choose very specific contexts. The more specific, the better!

Well, I'm sure this one is more down to personal preference, but don't be afraid to choose extremely specific contexts.

In my examples above about the creative fiction meaning set, the context wasn't "literary analysis" or "creative writing." The context was, "troubleshooting commercial fiction manuscripts and outlines to be more in line with modern commercial standards."

That isn't great at brainstorming, coming up with story ideas, dealing with literary fiction, grappling with major artistic themes, etc. It does one thing great: helping you workshop a commercial manuscript that you'd like to send to a publisher.

Put thought into what deck(s) you're using.

Even when using general meanings, many readers identify that certain decks are just better at certain kinds of readings. If you have multiple decks, try swapping them out as you experiment and see which ones work best.

Develop not only individual cards, but the deck as a whole.

Depending on your preferences, you may find value in not only developing individual cards, but also groupings of cards.

By taking entire sections of cards (say, all of the wands cards) and linking them to an important concept within your context (say, the behaviors of all the dogs you train), you can make large leaps of progress.

The same could be done for all the kings cards (your mentors in the dog training world), all the #3 cards (they're all going to relate to, say, small change or progress), and you can end up quickly mashing up new meaning sets:

Today's dog training business reading suggests that a Youtuber who's information you rely on is going to release a video about the importance of small behavioral changes.

Assigning broad meanings to different sections of cards is a good way to start exploring specific contexts.

Let card meanings evolve as you explore.

As you take notes, there's no need to settle one one meaning for the card as it is and then avoid changing it.

If your original idea for a card is "stubborn dogs who are not motivated by treats," and you perform multiple readings on it where the card only really makes sense if it means, "this dog will show up super tired and just want to nap," then it's fine to modify notes as you go.

I find that over time, modifications actually end up being multiple possible interpretations, once again deepening my understanding of the card as a whole (this card refers to difficulty inspiring action and engagement).

Often, card meanings come to me very vaguely and are practically stand-ins until I can figure something out for them.

Be mindful of spreads.

I can apply some meaning sets to literally any spread and it'll come out just fine.

Other meaning sets I have don't play great with tons of spreads, and may only work well with small spreads, using signifiers, and so forth.

There's no need to avoid highly contradictory meanings.

If you've got two ideas for a card (the dog is well-adjusted and friendly, or, he's very reactive and dangerous) and you aren't sure which fits, keep both meanings and use a combination of readings and real-world verification to experiment.

Your unique context sets don't need to be congruent with each other.

While I believe it's a good idea to seek fidelity to the original/general meanings of a card, this doesn't imply that the unique contexts you develop have to coincide with each other.

Maybe you have a meaning set specifically for energy work, and a separate one for religious spirit work.

In your energy working set, the wands cards could always relate to fire energy and only ever refer to a spirit if drawn in conjunction with a court card.

But, in your religious spirit work set, the 4/wands might always refer to the spirit of a home, regardless of elemental alignment.

The meanings you develop for one context don't need to adhere to the rules you create for other contexts.

Playing card decks can really simplify the process.

Tarot cards, with their intrusive little pictures, can often impose their own meanings on a context whether you like it or not. Even if horrendous betrayal makes zero sense for your context, sometimes it's impossible to get those ideas of the 3/Swords out of our heads.

If you're finding tarot to be too confining, try experimenting with playing card decks. They're smaller, draw less attention, and most importantly, do away with the art that can anchor our minds to the wrong concepts.

(Split the difference by working with a tarot deck that just uses suit symbols for the pips, but has full art for the major arcana.)

5. Hey! Thanks for reading.

I hope you're having a good day ^-^

[witchmailbox]

Divination Tips for Beginners

Divination can be hard and draining, it takes up a lot of energy. For those who are still new to it, it can really drain you and result in headaches and frustrations. Here are some tips to help all you beginners out with divination and how draining it can be.

Drink plenty of water, being dehydrated is not fun and especially not when you are using so much energy

Take a shower or bath before any divination work to help cleanse yourself 

Meditate before big divination work to help center and ground yourself

Crystals good for divination and psychic work: nuummite, amethyst, amazonite, fluorite, and aqua aura quartz

Clear Quartz is a good energy booster and can help you feel less drained after divination

Drink some black tea to help ground yourself and give yourself extra energy for divination work

If you are starting to feel tired during divination, that is okay, take a break or take a nap. Forcing yourself to keep going will only exhaust you further and make everything more difficult. You deserve breaks

It is okay to use notes during divination, don’t worry what others say. Its not ‘unprofessional’, even veterans in divination use notes. Keep a notebook with you full of different meanings of cards or stones or runes, take notes as you go, write down your thoughts and keep it near you every time you practice.

Yellow is the color of divination, keep yellow things around you to help. Yellow blanket(s), yellow pillows, yellow candles, yellow pieces of paper; anything you can find. Purple is also another color good to help with psychic abilities and awareness

Herbs good for divination and psychic work: cinnamon, lemon, cherry, lettuce, grapes, orange (orange peel), mint, pumpkin, celery, lemon balm, catnip, thyme, rose, seaweed, star anise, mullein, mugwort and rosemary can all help you. Bake with them, eat them, use them in teas or keep them near you in a sachet or jar

Stretch and take little walks. Sitting for a long time can be killer and make you sore. Stretch your legs and take little five or ten minute walks during long readings and psychic work. Muscle and joint stiffness is never fun

Rather than trying to tackle large readings every day, do small ones. Like a few questions to your pendulum, pull a single card, draw a crystal from a bag, etc. Small daily practices can help you in the long run without exhausting you. 

Open a window and let some fresh air in while you work, it will do wonders, especially since air is the element associated with divination work.

Keep a small bowl or cup of salt near you, it will absorb the negative energy about you especially if you are feeling frustrated

Moon water is great for divination: drink it, make tea with it, spray the room with it, anoint yourself with it, keep it near you, etc

Cleanse your space before divination work, again it will keep negativity away from you 

Cleanse and charge your divination tools regularly, it really helps in the long run. Put them in the moonlight at night (especially during full moons), keep salt near them, smoke cleanse them if you can, burn white candles, use crystals/gems, etc

Its okay if you get confused and don’t know how to interpret something. Take notes on it and with time it may become more clear to you. Don’t force yourself to try to understand

Mistakes happen, you won’t always be 100% right on things. No one is, divination is not a certain thing. Things change all the time, its okay. Don’t let it get you down.

If you are tired, sick, stressed, or anything else and don’t feel like doing divination work that is fine. Its okay, you don’t have to do it all the time. Especially not if you are feeling unwell and tired. Rest and take care of yourself, you can continue practice another time

If you use tools in your work like mirrors, tea cups/mugs, cards, crystals, etc try to bond with them. Creating a bond with your tools can improve your divination quite a bit

You don’t have to practice on other people, you can do it for yourself and your own questions. Its an old wive’s tale that you can’t use tarot or divination on yourself, you definitely can

Try to get a good nights sleep before and after divination

Once you finish, treat yourself. Get something to eat, watch a movie or show you like, curl up with a book, snuggle into a blanket, play with your pets, take a nap; do whatever makes you happy. You did a good job and deserve some time to rest and recharge afterwards

[witchmailbox]

Questions for Tarot Reading

Sometimes it is very difficult to come up with questions for tarot readings on the spot, whether you are giving the reading to yourself or if you are getting it done by another. Here is a small guide to hopefully help you with better wording your questions.

What shouldn’t you ask?

A good place to start is with what you probably should avoid. This does change reader to reader so this is not always true, but some typical things are:

Avoid Yes/No questions, these may be fine for pendulum readings but they are very difficult for tarot reading which gives you more details than a simple yes or no. Limiting yourself to yes/no questions can make the reading more difficult to interpret and even in my case when I get yes/no questions I am sometimes left baffled at what the card could mean.

Avoid questions that dig into another’s life. This could vary between readers, though such questions can be rather rude such as asking how two other people’s relationship is going or asking about a person’s secret life like “what is K keeping from me?”. these are generally avoided because well, they are rude and can make readers uncomfortable. Instead try to reword these questions such as “How could I improve my relationship with K, i feel like we are distant?” It is much more proper and involves you showing more appropriate interest in this person’s life

 Try not to ask outrageous questions. This should be a bit obvious but asking a tarot reader “how will the world end” or “when will WW3 happen” etc may seem funny but again, it is a bit rude. It is very mocking to us, try to ask questions we can actual try to answer. 

Don’t ask about your own death or when/how you will die. Though this is not agreed on by every reader, I know myself and many are uncomfortable with this question and will not answer for numerous reasons, including that we don’t want to scare or panic someone.

Health and Medical Advice. many tarot readers are not comfortable answering questions about your health or the health of others. We are not doctors or medical professionals, go and ask these questions to someone with knowledge in the subject, not us

Mental Health/Illness questions. Many tarot readers will not answer these questions because again, we are not professionals. Please seek professional help about your mental illnesses.

Always ask the tarot reader what questions they are not comfortable answering. This varies so much between person to person, so if they are doing free readings or event readers, check their FAQ if they have one or ask them what questions they are uncomfortable in asking. They will appreciate your courtesy and it can also ensure you don’t end up asking things that they won’t want to answer.

How can I come up with good Questions to ask?

This is a bit more difficult than what you can’t ask for it, again varies person to person. But as a general list of suggestions, here are some common questions that many don’t mind answering and can be nice for you too:

How will my week/month/year go? Simple but good for a general overall reading

How can I improve my relationship with _____? Not too nosy into the other person’s life and also gives you some information you can work with

How will my schoolwork/career go this month/term? 

I feel distant from _____ how can we best approach this problem?

What should I focus on this month?

What is holding me back? What can I do to improve myself?

What energies are around me today/this week/month?

What should I be more aware of in my life?

What is something i have been blind to recently?

I want to improve my ____, how can I approach this?

What are some good things coming my way?

What are some bad things coming my way?

There are many other questions you can ask but these ones above are some good general ones to start with.

When asking questions, try to make them about you rather than others. This is because you are the one getting the reading, not the other person. Plus, again some tarot readers may have personal preferences not to answer questions relating to another person’s life without their permission.

Remember not all tarot readers will do the same things! Always ask, if they don’t mention it in their FAQ if they are comfortable answering the following:

Love/Romantic Readings: I know other tarot readers who will not answer questions related to whether your crush likes you or how another person’s relationship is going. It makes some people uncomfortable due to lack of consent in some forms of these.

Communicating with Spirits or the Dead: not all tarot readers work with spirits so they may not wish to try to communicate with them

Questions about the Deceased or Death: again, some people are really uncomfortable with these types of questions

Deities: not all tarot readers are willing to communicate with your deity for you or see how your deity feels, especially when they are not connected to that deity or have a very different religious standing. Please respect that

Past Life Readings: not all tarot readers believe in past lives so not all will be willing to do a past life reading

Spreads: Not all tarot readers if they are offering you free readings will be using spreads. Spreads take time and a lot more energy 

Entity Communication: these would include communication with fae, merfolk, dragons, angels, demons, guides/guardians, and many other things. Not all tarot readers are willing to interact with these entities for you, especially if they are inexperienced with them or uncomfortable.

Revenge Readings: these would include questions related to how you can get someone back for something they did, if they will get punished for it, etc. Again, many readers may not be comfortable with these types of readings due to how aggressive and the wish of harm to come onto another can put people off.

Please always remember that tarot readers will be doing the absolute best to give you a clear, accurate reading. But, take readings with a grain of salt, things change all the time, so the reading may not always be 100% accurate. Don’t attack the reader for this, for they are trying their hardest to give you a good reading. Things aren’t always accurate, though we all try to be as accurate as possible to give you good advice. Sometimes the reading may seem like one thing will happen but something else happens, we readers make mistakes too. We are human. And the future is ever changing. Just remember that a reading you are given is never carved in stone.

I hope this has been helpful to you all and has aided you in understanding what questions to ask when getting a reading done. Have a wonderful day all of you!

[witchmailbox]

What is my path? – a spread to determine where you are, and where you need to go

[witchmailbox]

How I Do A Tarot Reading

Disclaimer: This is all based on my experiences/path/preferences. It’s just a bit of inspiration for you baby witches! 

Selecting The Deck  Typically I use my Rider-Waite deck as many witches do, but on occasion I use one of my other decks. You might ask yourself when you consider tarot how I know which one to use. Usually when I pick another deck it’s because of one of two things, either the deck offers something the Rider-Waite deck does not or I want to challenge myself. A Rider-Waite deck is much easier to use and connect to than other decks, so when I want to challenge myself or am feeling particularly confident in my divination. 

Cleansing The Deck  I typically do this by knocking on the cards with my dominant hand or holding them above a candle flame (Obviously not too close.) But you could use whatever method of cleansing things you prefer. You also don’t have to cleanse your deck before every reading and it’s really only necessary you do it regularly, whatever that means for you. I just prefer to be safe so I always cleanse it. 

Shuffling I’m terrible at shuffling I will admit, but I shuffle until I feel I’m finished. Sometimes it’s once or twice, sometimes I do it a few minutes. 

Laying out the cards  I usually slide the cards at an angle across a flat surface so I am in view of all of them. 

Selecting the cards  Usually I stare at the cards, and using my intuition/ability to see energy I pick out the ones with the most intense energy. The cards I pick usually look very black, or dark blue. I pick out however many I need, without flipping them up until I have the total amount of cards I need. Then I flip them up and interpret them one at a time. Then all together, at the end in their final context. 

Tips for interpretation 

Practice lots  As with anything, practice helps. Maybe pick one card every morning to get practice in. 

Rely on only you  I have said this before and I’ll say it again, with witchcraft at the end of the day you can rely on only yourself. Your morals, ideas, likes, dislikes, and of course intuition. This applies to tarot too.

Pay attention  If a card falls out of the deck, pick it up. If you see the same card again and again, look into why. Maybe even ask the deck why that card always appears, or ask another form of divination. 

Be specific, and realistic 

Instead of “Will I fall in love?” Ask the tarot things like:

“Will I fall in love in the next (Insert amount of time)

“How will I know I am falling in love?”

“What should I look for in a partner?” “How will I meet a partner?”

Those may not be perfect examples but you get the idea. 

In addition, do not ask the tarot things like “Will I die in 2 years?” Instead ask:

“Is there any harm coming to me I should be warned of?”

“Is there anything I can do to improve my health?”

Ect.

Try different methods/spreads  If you experiment with different methods you’ll be more confident in the ways you approach tarot. This can be applied to most things in witchcraft. Also, have a few basic spreads you turn to depending on your needs and what you use divination for. Try different spreads, or make your own. 

What about reversed cards?  I personally use reversed cards, but I don’t think you have to. I usually look at reversed cards as a sister to the original card. For example, the opposite of love isn’t hate it’s indifference. I see the cards as love and hate. Not quite opposite, but almost, the negative side of something without direct opposition. People approach this different ways though.

I hope this helped you or you learned something! Enjoy! Happy divining! 💖

[witchmailbox]

Heyy! If it’s not too much of a hassle what are some divination tips for tarot? Sometimes it feels like I am really good and than other times it’s like ehh

Sure, I could use a break before I start crocheting again 😅

I want to emphasize that tarot is one of those things where people really build up personal beliefs around it, so the following is in no way universal. It's all just what I currently feel and believe, heavily influenced by my beliefs as a spirit-working witch.

Most of the actual tips are at the end. I hope this helps!

Structures and Methodology

Tarot can't "magically" come up with valid answers no matter how it's put into use. It's a hammer and a screw situation; sometimes, using the tool incorrectly is less than useless.

Not all tarot spreads are very useful. The type of spread can have a huge influence on success. Try setting aside 'one question per card' spreads and see if that helps improve consistency in your results.

Not all tarot meanings are very useful. Tarot card meanings evolve and change over time. Modern meanings tend to be much more heavily skewed towards topics of introspection and self-help. Try reading books about the history and interpretations of tarot cards themselves to expand your understanding of each card. I recommend The Mystical Origins of the Tarot by Paul Huson for a strictly historical look.

Not all tarot questions are very useful. Learning how to phrase and frame questions, along with how to select a spread to place them in, are vital skills for the reader. Try focusing on strictly defined, open-ended questions.

Not every tarot deck is useful for every reader. It can come down to art and author meanings, but it can also come down to personal connection: a deck may work great for you for reading some types of questions, but fall flat on other types; or be more hit-or-miss. If you have multiple decks, try rotating between them or doing deck interviews to discover what types of questions they best address.

Memorizing the cards is not necessarily useful. It's not just that there are 78 cards, with 78 potential reversed meanings, each card in and of itself potentially having multiple meanings; it's also that depending on context, the core meaning can entirely change. Professional readers at events will pull out the guidebook and look up card meanings. There is no actual reason to try and memorize the cards unless you really just want to.

It's useful to have a map that helps navigate the cards. By adopting simple structures that paint large parts of the deck with broad meaning, interpretations can be easier to tackle. Another popular 'map' is the Fool's Journey.

You don't have to use the entire deck for every reading. Only using some parts of a deck to read is called reading with a restricted deck, and I really recommend practicing it as a way to develop a relationship with the deck structure. It can also be a very useful way to focus readings on one area of life (e.g., a new business venture reading may be read using only Wands and Pentacles).

That being said,

Check to see if cards are accidentally missing. Reading with a restricted deck is one thing, but I find my readings go weird if a card accidentally fell out and is lost.

You should take notes on your readings. I know it's a hassle, but the information you can glean and analyze from your own work is invaluable to figuring a lot of stuff out, like, what kinds of spreads work best for me? And what kinds of questions do I excel or fail at? Because next comes...

Energy and Individuality

Some questions are more draining or difficult to read than other questions. Here are my illustrated beliefs on the matter, explaining why some questions that seem straightforward can be nigh impossible to grasp. Try taking notes on the scope of the questions you can answer well.

Not all diviners are equally skilled at reading on all things. A diviner may have a special talent for certain types of questions (such as the outcomes of new ventures, or navigating the inner landscape), yet may fall flat when it comes to other questions (relationships or social intent, for example).

Any specific situation may have barriers to being read clearly. This is true even of mundane situations not expected to have magical influence. Sometimes, a certain situation, person, or concept will be shielded from view - and that can have nothing to do with the reader or querent.

Celestial timing may be a factor. Things like moon phase, time of year, or time of day can sometimes influence people's abilities to easily connect or easily interpret cards. Try paying attention to timing as part of note-taking and see if that's a factor.

Caffeine, drugs, alcohol, and rest can be a factor. Once I reach a certain level of fatigue (usually before bedtime) I can't read at all. Caffeine can sometimes also "close the veil" for me and limit me from being able to interpret readings. It might not be a factor for everyone, but it's something to pay attention to!

For practitioners, metaphysical workings can use up all available energy for divination. I find that my "pool" of magical energy feeds both my divination and my spellwork. Exhausting myself in one area (such as doing lots of energy work exercises) means I have exhausted myself in another area (no juice left for readings).

Witchcraft and Magic

Spells and wards can affect your ability to perform divination, sometimes in weird and unexpected ways. Go through spell notes to see if there is a chance prior, ongoing spells may be messing with your ability to read on certain questions. A big giveaway is when divination doesn't seem to work well specifically within a warded area, but this isn't a strict rule.

Prepare a place of reading, or reading cloth, enchanted to assist with finding answers. By consecrating and tending to such a place, such as a divinatory altar or divinatory reading mat, powers of far seeing, truth, and accuracy can be accumulated and much more easily raised. For those that have the space, a full divinatory altar can be an extraordinary tool. For such places, especially consider the power of symbols which open roads and gates.

Prepare a Charm of True Reading. Find, or develop, a small rhyme, charm, or prayer that calls on powers which support you and requests that your upcoming reading be clear and true. Repeat this before each reading, as desired.

Prepare an oil. A skin-safe carrier oil steeped with bay laurel, star anise, and lavender; or just bay leaf if the grocery store fails you, can be enchanted (especially under the full moon) to assist with opening the second sight and securing more accurate readings. Dab some on your forehead, ideally along with the Charm of True Reading.

Prepare a head covering. For some people, covering the head and/or partially blocking vision, can assist with entering divinatory headspace and with the receipt of visions and intuitive connections. As much as I like fancy things, I often end up using sunglasses and a hat. Being in a dark room might help as well, especially if you can get a candle in there.

Prepare incense. Here again bay laurel, star anise, and lavender can serve if you're able to powder and burn your own blends (remember to enchant them); but an enchanted stick of commercial incense will be fine (in any scent). Enchant the incense for the purpose of casting away doubt and influences that cause ill-sight, and to create an energetic haven where answers readily arrive to be interpreted by you, the reader.

Cast a circle. If you like to write your own rituals, especially focus on the concept of the circle being a liminal space between time that connects the worlds, almost like Grand Central Station where many threads of fate (and information) meet.

Consecrate your deck. Use any consecration ritual you like, but especially one that employs powers supportive of divination, true seeing, and psychism. This is almost certainly best done on a full moon. Consecrate your deck to be a tool which can peer into the threads of fate on your behalf, and then only reflect absolute truth back to you.

Enchant a tool to nurture and safeguard your decks. A lovely amethyst stone or clear quartz (or any variety of stone, bought or found), maybe one marked as special by putting it in a handy net, can be enchanted to be a protector of any deck it sits on. The value of this is to keep the deck enthroned in an additional layer of protection against untruth, but also to keep it bathed in energy related to divination and psychism. For those worried about decks getting magically "dirty," this is a good solution.

Also, cleansing decks sometimes is necessary, but it can be an easy operation. I find that spreading the entire deck face-down and mixing up all the cards in a big pile provides an adequate cleansing much of the time.

Spirit Work

Show your deck some love by providing it with offerings and a shrine, just as you would for an honored spirit. If the shrine isn't possible, an offering is excellent - maybe once weekly or monthly (depending on how often you use it), and even a small offering before each reading is useful. In my beliefs, this action goes far beyond making a deck happy with you - it can provide real, tangible effects on energy drain and the 'power' of your readings.

Petition gods, ancestors, or helper spirits. Beyond a Charm of True Reading, simply praying to helpful and benevolent powers to provide an assist can be really helpful. This is also an important way to develop a relationship with a guiding divinatory power. Speaking of which,

Get in good with a god or spirit who is associated with divination, psychism, etc. The Moon itself is a very solid choice. Apollo can see the future, and his buddy Bay Laurel (whom itself can be worked with as a divinatory spirit) can pack quite the punch. The dead are often said to be very good at helping with divination, but necromancy isn't for everyone. A witch who wants to become powerful in the ways of divination is wise to seek out helper spirits who are very good at this task.

Don't forget the gods and spirits of the thing you want to read on. If I wanted to know whether or not selling something online is worth the trouble, I might not just ask a far-seeing spirit to help me. I might also petition Hermes to grant me special insight into his domain. You can even use other spells you've cast (such as a prosperity spell) as a "foothold" into a certain area, but that's a whole topic in and of itself.

From time to time, a spirit may cause trouble. Divination can sometimes be interfered with by spirits who are upset with us. General offerings to appease offended spirits, or to make nice with the spiritual neighborhood around you, are well undertaken. They can be done even if you don't know that you've actually upset anyone.

[witchmailbox]

Theme and Action: a tarot method for brainstorming plots, setting, and characters

I find a lot of story brainstorming spreads to be clunky and rigid, so I did a little experimenting and came up with a method I like a lot. I haven't done a ton of testing yet but I thought I'd share what I have.

Basically, it's a two card draw from a deck split into majors and minors. Each draw always has one major card (theme) and one minor card (action).

When you have a question, like:

What are some ideas for the next scene?

Why would that character behave that way?

What's the defining characteristic of this vampire clan?

What do the people in this society fear most?

Why is this scene dragging?

What does this character need to feel more real?

You would draw one major card and one minor card!

Themes and Action; what it's about vs how it manifests

We could call these cards a bunch of different things depending on exactly how the question is framed, but Themes and Action are good enough.

Basically, the major arcana card gives subtext or context, and the minor arcana card provides specific incidents. Like this!:

"In my vampire setting, what is the most important thing in vampire culture?"

Theme: Death

Action: 10/Pentacles

Interpretation: (Theme) The most important thing in vampire culture is the process of dying and the equalizer of death itself. (Action) This has resulted in cultural rituals where death is treated as a sacred adoption or initiation into a new family/estate.

(I really drew this test spread and it really was death lol)

We can swap out the Action card to see a different outcome:

Theme: Death

Action: 5/Swords

Interpretation: (Theme) the most important thing in vampire culture is the process of dying and the equalizer of death itself. (Action) the horror of death and loss has never been overcome in this society, and it must be dealt with as an individual - because vampires process the pain of their own deaths by taking it out on each other.

Here's a different example. In an urban fantasy book where a witch solves ghost mysteries, pacing is dragging and we need our next scene to be exciting. But despite a foot chase after a suspected ghost poacher, the scene doesn't feel fast paced or exciting. The question is, "how do we spice this up?"

Theme: Hermit

Action: King of Cups

Interpretation: (Theme) instead of a crowded street, the character will be isolated and without normal support. (Action) she'll be trapped in a closed space with the story's main villain, who most closely connects with the King of Cups

Another swap, this time switching out the theme card:

Theme: Empress

Action: King of Cups

Interpretation: (Theme) the scene feels boring because it's action without development. Show the main character's personal development and give her a 'level up' moment. (Action) have the ghost poacher lead her to a premature showdown with the main villain, whom she faces bravely for the first time.

This is already long so I'm not going to go on and on with examples but so far I've found this method to be pretty versatile.

Try interpreting Theme and Action as literally as you can within the context of the story!

If you're writing a story about a flower princess who sleeps on a dewdrop in the mystical Gnarlwood Forest, the Sun card will mean one thing.

If you're writing a story about vampires, the Sun card probably means something very different.

Major arcanas can be literary themes, like the moon representing deceit within society, but they can also be literal; in a werewolf story, the Moon card might represent the celestial body that controls the lives of certain people.

The most important thing for me is to avoid interpreting the cards in a general self-help sense.

The cheerful villagers of prosperous Splitsky Castle are waiting for you to invent a festival so a mysterious stranger can come to town and get the plot going.

The question is, "what kind of festival gives me the right setup to pull off the plot point I want?"

The theme card is the Magician, so ideas for the festival could be:

A festival honoring magic users (if they exist in your setting)

A festival honoring the resourcefulness of the villagers

A festival of stage magic and trickery

The action card is the 6/Cups.

Probably, the festival is not about healing your inner child with Jungian shadow work. More contextual ideas might include:

A festival where children are chosen to be trained in magic

A festival celebrating teaching the next generation important skills

A festival meant to delight and entertain children with stage magic

Developing related factions or foils

Draw a major arcana card to identify a certain Theme, maybe along the lines of:

What do they hold to be sacred?

What do they not care about, or hate?

What is their most cherished virtue?

What is the defining feature of leadership?

When they sing about home, what is in their songs?

This theme will be the same for both entities.

Draw different minor arcana cards to show how each entity expresses that theme.

Conversely, work in the opposite direction: keep the minor arcana card for both entities, and swap out the theme card.

Finding Action cards when you know the Theme

Holding the deck so that it's facing you, thumb through the cards until you find the major arcana card that describes your theme. The most recent minor arcana card that was on top of it, even if separated by other majors, is the action card.

Reversals

I tend to read both cards as upright and reversed, and just apply whatever meanings are most relevant. In my experiments using reversals ended up being too finicky and specific, and limited my creativity.

Complex Concepts and Plots

For a complex reading, like plotting an entire novel or building an entire character, I have found more utility in doing many pair readings rather than doing one large spread with many pairs.

My tests so far have suggested that the most creative freedom is found in asking specific questions, like "what is this character's driving motivation," and "what is her quirky hobby," and "what makes her put up with her annoying best friend," rather than trying to build a giant spread that includes all of these things at once.

As a caveat, in plot spreads, I will sometimes put pairs down without returning them to the deck, and then connect Theme/Action pairs with single action cards to suggest events that connect the dots.

[witchmailbox]

Spoonie Witch Masterpost

All of my spoonie, disabled, chronically ill, mentally ill, accessible and low-energy witch posts!

These are meant to supplement medication, medical care, and professional treatment. You do not have my permission to use these as a sole alternative for those methods. Please be responsible with your health.

”What’s a Spoonie Witch?”

Spoon theory

~Updated July, 2020~

Click the original post to check for updates!

Bedridden witch:

Bedridden witch - Original edition

Bedridden witch  - Nature edition

Bedridden witch  - Worship edition

Bedridden witch - Divination edition

Bedridden witch - Stale energy edition

Bedridden witch - Elements edition

Bedridden witch - Pastel edition

Bedridden witch - Kitchen edition

Bedridden witch - Winter edition

Bedridden witch - Ocean edition

Bedridden witch - Love edition

Bedridden witch - Weather edition

Bedridden witch - Garden edition

Bedridden witch - Bath edition

Bedridden witch - Wheel of the Year edition

Bedridden witch - Discreet edition

Bedridden witch - The setup

Bedridden witch series (all linked in separate post)

Tips and tricks:

Witchcraft in the Hospital

Witchcraft & Meds

Tips for taking meds

Low energy devotional tip

Bath magic made easy

Witchy things for spoonie students

Cleansing (via your phone)

Charging crystals: My version [X] Simple version [X]

For when you can’t sleep

My daily routine

A tip for using salves

Chronic migraine relief

Brainfog lifting

Limited hand mobility + witchcraft

Witchcraft + Aphantasia

Nonverbal witchcraft

Witchcraft for the Chronically Fatigued

Low energy cleaning + cleansing

Other:

Chronically ill witchcraft: For your symptoms

Mentally ill witchcraft: For your symptoms

Spoonie sigils: (Pain and Symptoms) / (Energy/Motivation and Mental Illness) / (Healing and Misc.)

Spoonie sigils: previous version

Small devotional acts (for the Greek + Roman pantheon)

Some gentle reminders [X] [X]

How I recovered from depression influenced by chronic illness

Dealing with the emotions that come with a diagnosis and some advice I wish I’d gotten

Low energy plants

Magic to replenish energy

Periods suck. Witchcraft helps.

Sick witchery

Probably some other ones I’m missing!

[witchmailbox]

Witchcraft Exercises

Just a quick compilation of the posts I've made about exercises to help improve your craft. These can be used as journaling prompts, inspiration for activities, or as methods for pulling yourself out of a slump and recharging your witchy inspiration.

Witchcraft Exercise - Quantifying Your Craft

Witchcraft Exercise - Dig Through The Ditches

Witchcraft Exercise - The Book of Lessons

Witchcraft Exercise - Home Brews

Prompt - Music to Witch By

Most of these are also available in the May 2021 bonus episode of Hex Positive (check your favorite podcatcher).

Happy Witching!

[witchmailbox]

Tarot Spells

I made a post recently about some of the best card combinations for certain spells, but this is a larger list I have compiled.

Career

New business/project success: The Magician, The Sun, Ace of Wands

Business prosperity: Three of Wands, The Sun, Ace of Pentacles

For a home business: Ace of Wands, Three of Wands, Four of Wands, Nine of Pentacles

For employment: Eight of Pentacles, The Emperor, Judgement, Page of Wands

To get a new job: Ace of Pentacles, Seven of Pentacles. Magician

To take your career to the next level: Eight of Pentacles, Six of Wands

To get a promotion: Three of Pentacles, Six of Wands

Money

To receive a windfall: Ace of Pentacles and Wheel of Fortune together

Prosperity and money: Ten of Pentacles, Knight of Pentacles, Page of Pentacles, Six of Pentacles, Ace of Pentacles

Home and Family

Fertility: The Sun, Ten of Cups, Ace of Wands

To find a new home: Ace of Pentacles, Four of Wands

To have a child: The Empress, Queen of Pentacles, Ace of Wands, Six of Cups

To get married: The Hierophant, Four of Wands, Ten of Cups

To bring peace to a home: The Star, Temperance

Truce in family quarrels: Two of Swords, Ten of Cups, Two of Cups

Health

To overcome a bad habit: Strength, Temperance, Judgement, The World

Healing and good health: Strength, The World, The Magician, The Sun, The Star, Three of Cups

Stress relief: Hanged Man, Ace of Cups, Temperance, Four of Cups

To improve mental health: Page of Swords, Ace of Swords, Six of Swords

To heal an illness: Queen of Cups, Two of Pentacles

To relieve a long-term condition: The Sun

Preserve beauty and health, and delay aging: Ace of Cups, Wheel of Fortune, The Hanged Man, The Star

Reverse aging: The Hermit, Judgement, The World

Love and Friendship

Friendship: Three of Cups, Two of Cups, Knight of Cups

For love: The Lovers, Knight of Cups, The Star

To attract love: Ace of Cups, Two of Cups, Lovers

To make friends: Three of Cups

Progress

Action/to set things in motion: The Chariot, Ace of Wands, Eight of Wands

For courage: The Star, Strength, The Chariot

For inspiration, ideas and creativity: The Magician, The Moon, The Star

For success: The Chariot, Six of Wands, Five of Wands

For success in the arts: The Star, The Magician, The Sun

Overcoming obstacles: Two of Cups, The Chariot, Strength

Self-improvement and transformation: Temperance, The World, Judgement, The Magician, Strength, High Priestess, The Chariot

To bring about change: Wheel of Fortune, The Magician, Eight of Wands, Judgement

To help with a decision: Justice, The Hermit, The Star, The Lovers

For success when faced with competition: Five of Wands, The Chariot, Six of Wands

Dreams

For dream work: The Star, The Moon, Ace of Cups, High Priestess

For good dreams: Ace of Cups, The Moon, The Star

For prophetic dreams: The High Priestess, The Moon, The Hermit

Other

For binding spells: Temperance, Two of Swords, Eight of Swords, Hanged Man

For knowledge: The Hermit, High Priestess, The Moon

For protection: The Star, The Chariot, Temperance, Four of Wands

Happiness and positive energy: The Sun, The World, Ace of Cups

Luck: The World, The Star, Wheel of Fortune

To develop psychic abilities: The High Priestess, Two of Swords, The Moon

To pass an exam: Ace of Pentacles, Eight of Pentacles, Six of wands

To release guilt and pain: The Moon, Judgement, The World

Get away from a bad situation: Wheel of Fortune, Eight of Cups, The World

Adjusting to traumatic change: Wheel of Fortune The Magician, The World

[witchmailbox]

Tutorials with Pokemancy: Making Your Own TCG Oracle Deck

One of my favorite ways to practice Pokemancy is by using Pokemon cards! In this tutorial, I am going to teach you how to create your OWN oracle deck using cards from the Pokemon Trading Card Game.

Before we get started, let’s go over some definitions and recommended reading:

Pokemancy: the practice of using Pokemon in ANY form to produce messages, advice, and possible divine future events.

Pokemon TCG Cartomancy: Probably the most widespread type of Pokemancy; it is the use of Pokemon TCG cards in order to divine messages. This is comparable to tarot, oracle and lenormand. Like a tarot reading, the person interprets the cards that are pulled for the reading in order to deliver the message to the querent (person receiving the reading). TCG Cartomancy decks can be put together using any of the thousands of Pokemon cards in circulation, the sky is the limit with what you put into your deck. Energy cards, trainer cards and stadium cards can also be used!

An argument for Pokemancy & why it makes sense in the modern occult community

Introduction

Divination is most effective when you are using a tool that is comfortable for you. This is why personalized tools are become more and more popular. I have seen a rising interest for personalized divination tools such as tarot decks, oracle decks, rune sets, bone throwing sets and many, many more. 

With that in mind, Pokemon cards can create a HUGE amount of variety and customization for a deck of cards used for divination! As of May 2020, there are:

Over unique 9000 cards in the English release

Over 20 billion cards in circulation

86 card set

That’s a lotta cards! 

But admin! Where do I start? How do I pick my cards?! Which Pokemon do I use? Can I use energy cards? What about the trainers? Which of the 168 Pikachu cards should I pick?!

Not to worry! We are going to cover all of this in this tutorial.

The purpose of this tutorial is to show you that there is no limitation to creating a divination tool that suits you. While I will be offering some basic guidelines and structures, this tutorial is not meant to place limits onto what you can make! Some people may not resonate with my suggestions, and that’s entirely okay.

Deck Theme & Purpose

Many people who read tarot and oracle are familiar with the following phrases:

“This deck is amazing to use for love readings!”

“I’m not sure about you guys, but the imagery on these cards just BEG for shadow work readings.”

“The thing I like about this deck is that it can be used for just about anything.”

Often times, when an artist is creating a tarot or oracle deck, they are designing it around a certain theme or purpose. For example, a deck full of dark, gloomy imagery was probably made for people who want to get readings about death, shadow work or heavier topics. A deck full of inspiring, softer art probably works great for self-empowerment readings and spiritual guidance. And a deck full of couples, cutesy pictures and love symbols will probably strike the right cords with people who want relationship readings. The same goes for TCG oracle decks.

Here are some very basic ideas for some of the most popular deck themes. Remember, you can use your own meanings too:

Relationships/Love

Fairy-type Pokemon

Water-type Pokemon

Pokemon that you consider to represent love

Pokemon that know the moves ‘Attract’ or ‘Covet’

Cards with pink, red or white colors

Business/Finances/Money

Grass-type Pokemon

Ground-type Pokemon

Meowth & Persian

Trainer/Support cards that ask you to draw more cards

Trainer/Support cards that may be associated with money or business in the games, anime and manga.

Spirituality/PokePaganism/Past Life Regression

Psychic-type Pokemon

Legendary Pokemon

Pokemon that are important to you

Energy cards to represent the elements

Stadium cards to represent locations that you may want to focus on during meditation

Healing

Chansey or Audino

Pokemon Center Cards

Pokemon/Support/Stadium cards that inspire you and make you feel good

Energy cards that you associate with healing

Shadow Work

Dark-type Pokemon

Psychic-type Pokemon

Trainer/Support cards associated with villains

Legendary Pokemon associated with the dark

The lists and ideas can go on for as long as you’d like! If you want a more general deck that you can use for every day, go ahead and add in a mix of everything! You can even use the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana of the tarot as inspiration.

Balancing Your Deck

My personal Pokemancy deck takes a few things into consideration, and these things may be important to you too:

Representation of the elements. I have one of each energy card in my deck, it gives me deck a sense of balance and allows me to use the deck in many different ways. The energy cards can help clarify readings, or really REALLY bring up the energy that is surrounding my life at the moment. This also plays into the type of Pokemon I choose; I make sure to have a few of each type in my deck.

Visual aesthetics. As a professional tarot reader, I take a card’s artwork into consideration any time I am reading. The art helps me connect with the card, and really get to know it. Often times, I find more and more meaning in cards with complex art. Some readers prefer a more minimalist approach so that they do not get distracted. But, with that being said, I pick cards that appeal to me!

Pokemon that are important to me. If I have a connection with a Pokemon already, it makes it easier for me to read it from a divinatory standpoint. 

Pokemon that I want to understand better. On the flip side, sometimes I add in Pokemon that I would make to make a better connection with– Pokemon that are currently “challenging me” in terms of grasping their meanings.

A good balance of “common” Pokemon and legendary Pokemon. My personal practice puts legendary Pokemon in the same seat as gods and goddesses. Common Pokemon give off more of a standard spirit energy for me. So, I have a mix of both in my deck so that I can have a good idea of whether or not this reading involves a connection to the lower realms, the middle realms or the higher realms.

A variety of trainer cards and stadium cards. I’ve got a few trainer cards in my deck in order to represent archetypes, and I have stadium cards that relate to different realms, locations or places that may be relevant during readings. For example, if I pull the Guzma trainer card, it means that I need to be strong and relentless in the face of an adversary, but I should be careful not to let my power get to my head. However, if I pull the Sabrina trainer card, I need to stop and allow myself to look at things logically and calmly.

The size of the deck. I like an average size deck, so my current Pokemancy deck is 40 cards. You, however, can choose as many as you want! As long as you aren’t overwhelmed and you feel that you can make a connection with your cards, and provide readings that make sense, then have at it.

When you put your Pokemancy deck together, you are going to want to try a few practice readings. If you find that your readings aren’t making a whole lot of sense, or if every reading is exactly the same despite changing the question, you may want to add a few cards, remove a few cards, or consider mixing up the variety of your cards. (Maybe all of your cards are TOO positive, and aren’t allowing you to see potential conflicts. Or maybe your cards are TOO negative, and you aren’t able to see the good in your situation!)

Storing Your Deck

                  ✨Deck storage is very important!✨

                      ❤️  Please protect your cards! ❤️

Yes. PLEASE treat your Pokemon cards kindly, ESPECIALLY since you are now using them as a tool for divination! If you ask me, you should have already been protecting those cards already, but now it is even more important to do so. Now that you are using these cards for readings, they are going to get shuffled a lot more! If you were only holding these Pokemon cards in binders and boxes, and not using them to actually play the TCG, then you may not be familiar with how much the cards can wear out and be torn up. 

There are plenty of things that can damage your cards:

Rain

Humidity

Heavy shuffling

Improper storage (can cause warping and bending

Unwashed hands (and I’m not just talking COVID-19, I’ve ruined cards with sticky hands before.)

Protecting your cards from damage not only increases the lifespan and quality of them, but it also makes the deck feel better all around. Tarot readers put their decks in pouches, leather deck holds, deck wraps and so many other lovely things. We as Pokemancers have our own storage methods as well.

I recommend getting a TCG deck box and card sleeves from one of these places:

Your local game shop

The Pokemon Center Website

Walmart, Target, Amazon, Ebay, etc.

You can also get some beautiful custom boxes from Etsy.

If you want, you can then put that deck box full of your cards into a tarot/oracle pouch, tuck it away in a wrap, or place it on your shelf.

Another way that you can protect your cards is by performing your readings on a reading mat or cloth. These mats and cloths can be found on Etsy, anywhere that you can purchase witchcraft materials, or you can make your own with some fabric!

Or, if you want to stick with the spirit of Pokemancy, buy yourself a Pokemon TCG playing card mat.

Bonding with your deck

So now you’ve got your deck, what’s next? Now, you want to take some time to get to know your deck. The more you know your deck, the better your readings will be. Think of your deck as a friend. The better the connection, the easier it will be to get along.

The most practical way to understanding your deck is by reading with it. For today’s tutorial, I threw a quick deck together in order to show you guys some examples on how to read with your new divination tool. Ignore the fact that the cards are naked, I ran out of card sleeves.

Let’s break down a simple reading together:

I asked this deck: what can I do to set myself up for success? 

Next, I shuffled the deck and pulled five cards. The top three cards are a classic past, present and future layout, while the bottom two give me some advice for the present.

When reading individual cards, I use everything on the card. But, let’s start simple and only focus on the three main points: the flavor text, the attacks and the card art.

Past: Duskull

The flavor text of this card reads: It doggedly pursues its prey wherever it goes. However, the chase is abandoned at sunrise.

The Pokemon has two attacks: Dark Guidance and Spooky Shot

The card art has a picture of Duskull weaving through a room, possibly abandoned due to the graffiti on the walls.

What does all of this suggest? In the past, I worked myself way too hard, often through the night until the sun rose. My form of guidance was putting me in a dark space, and it was pushing me to a point where I was abandoning a lot of things that were important to me.

Present: Morelull

The flavor text of this card reads: It scatters spores that flicker and glow. Anyone seeing these lights falls into a deep slumber.

The Pokemon has one attack: Ram

The card art has a picture of Morelull standing in the woods, illuminating the dark.

What does all of this suggest? Right now, I am pretty worn out from working too hard, to the point where all I want to do is sleep. However, I’m starting to see what I did wrong with my routine in the past, illuminating some possibilities for improvement.

Future: Noctowl

The flavor text of this card reads: Its eyes are specially adapted. They concentrate even faint light and enable it to see in the dark.

The Pokemon has two attacks: Hypnoblast and Night Raid

The card art shows Noctowl perched on a tree branch against a clear sky, head tilting like it knows something.

What does all of this suggest? In the future, I will be able to focus on the light side of things, or the good parts of life, even when I am surrounded by a lot of darkness (stress, bad mental health, etc.) Even if I am in a tough place right now, my future is bright.

Advice Card #1: Timer Ball

Trainer cards do not have any attacks or basic flavor text, it only has the card’s description. This is also an item card, which limits my ability to find meaning in the card art. However, I can relate this card back to the Timer Ball’s use in the Pokemon games.

The Timer Ball’s catch rate increases the longer you are in battle with a wild Pokemon.

What does all of this suggest? The more I work on myself now, the better my outcome will be in the future. I should not rush for my final outcome.

Advice Card #2: Pokemon Fan Club

Again, this is a trainer card, with no attacks or flavor text. Unlike the Timer Ball though, the Pokemon Fan Club has some more depth. 

The Pokemon Fan Club is an organization spread throughout the Pokémon world, with at least one club house in nearly every region. The club is considered a place for people to meet and chat about their favorite Pokémon and to show off their collections to each other.

What does all of this suggest? I should look to friends and groups of like-minded people (such as my classmates or people in my different communities) for support and drive right now.

Once you finish the reading, you can shuffle the cards back into the deck, thank it for its message, and then put it into storage.

And there you have it! See how simple that was? As you get to understand your cards more, you can use the numerology of the Pokemon’s height, weight and Pokedex number, the Pokemon’s typing, whether or not it is a basic Pokemon or stage 1 or 2 Pokemon, and so on. Don’t overwhelm yourself though! Start with a few factors of the card, and then add on more once you’re confident.

Just about every tarot spread can be adapted for your Pokemancy deck. Try out a few and see how your cards respond to them!

Conclusion

Making a Pokemon TCG oracle deck can be a lot of fun! It’s accessible for those who are still in the closet with their witchcraft/paganism (you can just tell people that you’re collecting Pokemon cards), it has a nostalgic factor, and it’s exciting when you learn about the depth of these cards. There are so many combinations that you can come up with, so go out there and make the deck of your dreams.

Please share this tutorial if you found it interesting! 

[witchmailbox]

Words of Honey Glamour Spell

A spell to help your compliments sound as sincere and honest as they are; help others take them to heart and to brighten their day.

You Will Need:

🐝 Honey 🐝 Mirror 🐝 Warm Water

(Warning this spell may be a bit messy due to sticky honey)

Time of Day: best to be performed first thing in the morning

Steps:

🐝 Mix your honey in a bowl with your warm water until it is a consistency in the middle of honey and water.

🐝 While looking in the mirror apply some of the honey-water to your lips (I recommend using a popsicle stick or spoon, something other than fingers)

🐝 “My words are as sweet as honey, to those who hear, let them soak into their hearts, and make their day sunny”

🐝 Lick your lips after saying this and taste the honey and sweetness, desiring it to be like the words you speak for the day

🐝 Once you have finished your spell you may was your lips of any sticky honey left over and then may begin getting ready for the day

[witchmailbox]

Talk to Your Objects- A Guide to Light Spirit Work

This is a practice that can take a little bit to hone, but can save you a lot of time and really enrich your practice in the long run. Talk to your stuff. Like, really, talk to it. More importantly, listen to what it says back.  This idea largely stems from an animist perspective, where everything has its own soul. By that extension, even inanimate objects are something we can commune with, and through that gain a deeper understanding.

Examples of Use

Talking with a ritual tool regularly, so when you use it you’re bonded with it much more closely.

Asking a unique tool or ingredient directly how you can use it. (Hello, necklace. What kind of enchantments would you take to best?)

Asking for elaboration on a traditional correspondence (what kind of love does it attract? How strong are its protection properties? Protection from what?)

Being more mindful about everyday objects and when they need to be cleansed (such as your bed.)

Knowing when something is “up” with an object (because you’re more readily familiar with its energy)

A deeper understanding of exactly what is going into your spells and why

What You Need

Some level of comfort with discernment, energy work, personal shielding, wards, and banishing. This isn’t a guide designed for absolute beginners, so if there’s anything you don’t feel ready for yet/don’t understand, learn about that first and return to this when you do feel comfortable! 

Something to speak with (for starting, I recommend something that has meaning to you already. I don’t recommend pictures of people because that risks turning into a different kind of spirit work which isn’t what we’re here for.)

An open mind. 

And Then…

Make sure before you do any spirit work that your personal protections are up and refreshed, whatever that means for you. Find a space you can focus and sit with the object in your hands. Talk to it. Really say something out loud, directed at its essence like you would speak to another human. “Hi there. How are you feeling?”

Responses can come in a lot of different ways. You may hear a “voice” in your thoughts that sounds different from your usual thinking voice. You may have images pop into your mind’s eye. Your hands may feel energy of a certain texture, color, etc. Be open to however the message may come in. Do this regularly, and get comfortable with the way that object’s essence feels, how you receive messages, etc. Start with little, inconsequential things while you feel it out.

How Do I Know What’s Real and What’s My Imagination?

Short answer: You don’t. Do it anyway. Long answer: There’s never going to be any 100% certainty in spirit work. It’s important to remember that whether these entities even exist is up for debate in wider culture, and it’s definitely possible for a believer to delude themselves. That said, practice really really does help. Ask about things you can verify, or things you can see payoff with (aka simple signs.) Trust your gut if something feels very fake. If you’re having regular doubts, roll with a conversation in the moment and look back on it with a more critical eye later. That way, if it is real, you’re not wasting all your energy in the moment trying not to doubt yourself. Let yourself communicate comfortably, get what information you’re searching for, and review it when you’re not in the thick of it. If you make the call that something is your imagination, that’s totally fine! It still teaches you something. Now you know what that object’s energy doesn’t feel like, and can recognize that flavor of your imagination next time. 

[witchmailbox]

Masterpost Post

More posts are on their way. Check with the original, updated masterpost to see if there's anything new since this was reblogged.

(Some of the links are under more than one category :))

Tarot

Give Better Readings (aka, Get Ready to Go Pro) Masterpost

Divination and Spellcasting: An Exercise, and Tarot DLC

Ways to Read Reversals

Tarot Superstitions You Can Totally Ignore

Did you know you don't have to use the entire tarot deck for every reading?

Super Easy Tarot Tips

Ask: Tarot exercise for when you're feeling stuck

Ask: What do you do when all your divining seems to be out of whack?

Energy Reading & Psychism

How I Sense And Perceive Spirits: The Browser Analogy

Ask: Tips for practicing discernment

Ask: Tips for practicing intuition

Discernment: Let’s Chat About It

Craft & Cast Practical Magic Series

Link to tag - will put in individual posts later

Intent

Sometimes your intent doesn’t even matter.

What’s intent good for then?

How to be a transmission (vroooom)

Ask: Personal correspondences and intent

Defense, Protection, & Banishment

Just an FYI - you can totally over-ward and it sucks

Witchcraft 101: Protection Explained (Part 1: Aggressive. Part 2: Defensive. Part 3: Illusory. Part 4: Neighborly.)

So You've Got a Spirit Problem: An Adept's Guide to Taking Care of Business

Cross Protection Amulet

Guardian Animal Shielding

Red Pepper Spellbreaker

Ask: Spirit traps

Energy Work 101: Basic Shielding

Giant Guardian Magic

Spirit Work

Offerings: Why, and How?

How to talk to the spirits within the things around you

Discernment: Let’s Chat About It

Ask: Performing magic without spiritual allies

Ask: Getting started with spirit work when you can't discern

lowest spoons candle dedications

Ask: Spirit traps

So You’ve Got a Spirit Problem: An Adept’s Guide to Taking Care of Business

Spellcrafting and General Magical Theory

Splitting spell intent isn't your friend

Developing Incantations and Word-Based Charms

Power shared is power lost

Low-Spoons Record-Keeping: Practicing Spells & Techniques

Crystal Knot Magic

Ask: OBFUK: An alternative to visualization

One of the most powerful and liberating things you can do

Ask: My opinions on manifestation journals

Power shared is power lost

Energy Work

Energy Work 101: Employing Power Therein

Energy Work 101: Basic Shielding

Spells

Red Pepper Spellbreaker

Cross Protection Amulet

List of low-spoons spells and magic activities

Shadow Work

Ask: My opinion on shadow work

Planetary Magic

In defense of astrological timing

Ask: Performing magic without spiritual allies

Astral Travel, Hedge Crossing, & Journeying

Ask: What happens if you die on the astral?

Cursing and Baneful Work

Ask: Did casting a curse attract the attention of bad spirits?

Discourse & Meta

Y'all ever get the vibes that we’re out here seriously over-complicating witch shit

Get started w/ witchcraft

Advice for people who want to ask for witchy advice

Witchcraft does not have to be a lifestyle

Lil concept for intermediate or beginner+ witches

[if you like my posts, consider buying me a coffee :)]

[witchmailbox]

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