Readings Page Update LAUNCHED!

[Note: This was an update for an earlier page version that no longer exists. I've removed the link, but am leaving the post as a record. =) Thanks! ]

Dear Readers,

My Readings page reboot is finally done! And live! Here it is!

If you also follow my YouTube and Instagram (possibly also mentioned this on my Facebook page, not entirely sure), then you know I've been working on redoing my Readings offerings for the new year. I wanted to have it done by January 1st, but personal life issues in December threw me way off. I started redoing the page in mid-February and was making great progress to have it done by the end of February to start out with March as the beginning of my Spring Quarter (that's a new thing, you'll read about it on the page!). But then February 28th, in the home stretch, all the work I had done that week was suddenly lost when the page--for some unknown reason of technology--reverted all the way back to original draft... It was a blow, for sure. I spent two hours that night trying to redo everything from that week, realized it was already after midnight and therefore officially March 1st, and decided I needed a break lol.

So I finally got back to finishing the page today, and IT'S DONE! FINALLY! The link is above. Just wanted to update you. So many hours creating the images, taking the photos and doing the editing, typing out the descriptions of decks, deciding which decks will be available each quarter, typing the descriptions of the readings... and it's finally ready for the public. 💗

Blessings~
-C-

Let's Look at Your Year Cards!

Hey, there!

As you probably know if you watch my videos or follow me on other social media, or especially if you sponsor my videos on Patreon, I learned about the concept of Tarot Year Cards using numerology only a couple years ago, and since then have really enjoyed getting into it! I have done two Patrons-only videos on the subject for those who sponsor my videos, which are private videos, for my Patrons exclusively.

But something I've loved doing ever since I learned about this system is figuring out my friends' cards and walking them through what that means for them. Many of my friends IRL are interested when I bring such things up, but are not the type who want to go out and learn tarot and numerology for themselves--and why? I mean, that's what they have me for! Haha. So, the other day I was doing this casually for a friend, as it just happened to come up in conversation, and I decided,

Why not make this into an offering to my friends/viewers/followers online, just as I do for my personal friends?

So that's what I've done! It's not really a specific laid out SPREAD so much as a grouping of your Year Cards/other major influential cards (along the lines of the system Mary K. Greer discusses in her book Tarot for Your Self). This "spread", or group, consists of anywhere from 3-7 cards, depending on YOUR personal numbers, but consists of 7 separate "positions" that we'll look into.

Fundraising for Witchcamp!

Dear Readers,

The time has come again to offer readings for fundraising purposes! Last time, I was helping raise funds for Pentacles of Pride, International. This time, I'm helping out one of my own projects--My first trip to a Reclaiming Witchcamp! Donations, Etsy purchases, and Readings will go toward registration and travel fees, as well as hopefully making up for some of the money I'll not be making while not working for the week I'm away at camp--because when you return from walking between the worlds, there are still bills to pay. ;)

And this time, I'm joined by two special guest readers who are offering their talents to help pay my way, as well: Sheldon, Executive Director of Pentacles of Pride; and my mother, the Rev. Rose. =)

Here is the link to the Readings page!
http://thewitchystuff.blogspot.com/p/readings.html

Thank you for reading!
Blessings~
-C-

Post-Solstice

Hey, Readers,

Once again, there are several things I want to talk about, and they keep piling up before I decide what to talk about and when. So I'll start with the first one I can think of and move on from there. Sometimes, it is best to begin at the beginning.

An obligatory post-solstice note. On the eve of the solstice, I spent hours of the day divining with my oracle cards. I wore a "witchy" outfit to rehearsal and got back to the house around 10pm. Grams asked me to fetch the mail, so I used that as an excuse to spend a few extra minutes outside in the dark--after which I composed this Tweet:

Click to view on Twitter

On Solstice Day/Litha/Midsummer, I spent most of the day on the warm, sunny porch, again working with my cards and generally soaking up the sun (not physically--wear sunblock!). On Sunday I had a Circle meeting where we were scheduled to watch a documentary about mythology and perform a Solstice celebration ritual. (I Tweeted a photo of my gold toned attire.) We ended up spending the first hour and a half of our meeting playing with the adorable foster kittens my friend is caring for, and then finally getting to the documentary a while later after some snacks. It was a History channel Clash of the Gods episode about Medusa, which certainly makes you view the gods in a different way. But after that, no one else seemed interested in doing a solstice ritual. Nothing formal was planned but I don't mind spontaneity, so I was hoping to get to do something. However, everyone else was content to just eat and chat for the next couple hours. So I'm very glad that before going to Circle, I went to a local park/nature reserve by myself, found a secluded spot in the woods off the main trail, and did a short devotion there. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten to do anything for the sabbat at all.

Oh, and afterwards it was still light out at 6:30pm, so I went to the lake by my old house where I had celebrated Litha last year at dawn, and where Willow resides. The beach has been grown over a lot by grass, and algae creeped along the water line so that I had to search for a section of water I could wade into. I shared freshly picked strawberries and blueberries with the fish, and left some for Willow, as well. It all made me think of the song we had listened to in church that morning--"Canned Goods" by folk singer, Greg Brown. This is the video of it that we watched during service.

~

Fast forward to Monday evening at rehearsal, and the director and I were walking toward the back door to get something from her car when we passed by the tech director. The director asked of him, "How was your Solstice soirée?" He proceeded to describe how he and his kids (two of my cast members) went to a show reunion party and then to the Observatory Park for the solstice event. Then he asked me how my solstice was. Mind you, I have not told anyone there that I'm pagan, though I do wear pagan jewelry every day, so if they know what it is, it's visible. No one's ever said anything, though. So I told him, I was supposed to go to a group celebration but we just watched a documentary instead and no one wanted to do a celebration, to which he responded, "Oh, TELL ME they didn't blow off an esbat for a documentary!" Not just everyone in the world knows the word "esbat." All in all, this summer working with the show has been a lot better than last year when the young kids always managed to work the topic of dying into the conversation, which was followed up by going to Hell, the devil, Satan, and so on. This year, I've received multiple compliments on my pentacles (I wore a few different ones over the past three weeks), heard about a cast member's love of Greek mythology and who her divine parents would be if she were a demi-god, and had a short conversation about everyone's solstice/esbat plans. The director has always randomly talked about solstices and full moons, all the years I've known her, and she wears a lot of crystal jewelry. But I never let myself assume that meant she was pagan/a witch/anything similar, whatever the term. And I was never aware if she knew that I was. But it certainly is an interesting feeling to have someone whose religious affiliation you don't know, ask you casually about your sabbat. Through years of being met with strange reactions, I got used to editing my statements so as not to startle people. I even said "celebration" instead of "ritual" when I described what I did, just to feel it out and see what was really going on. Might I live in a world where finally, a question like "How did ritual go?" is as commonplace as "What did you learn in school today?"

Click to view on Twitter

Blessings, and I hope you had a Happy Solstice~
-C-

Tarot & Oracle Stuff

Hey, Readers,

That's an appropriate greeting for this post.

I think one of the stereotypes of witchcraft is that we all read tarot. A girl I follow on Tumblr somewhat recently revealed to her followers that she is a Christian witch, and one of the first questions she got was "Do you read tarot cards?" And I laughed at that, because it was funny to me that as soon as some people hear "witch," even a Christian one, they think of fortune-telling and divination. Now, it turns out she DOES read tarot. I'm not saying it's not an ACCURATE stereotype! But a stereotype, nonetheless. Not every single one of us does it.

That bothered me for years, because even though I was given an oracle deck several years ago and I picked it up pretty quickly, I never felt able to understand tarot. There was a lot more to remember--my oracle deck is based on characters from folklore, and already knowing their stories, it was easier for me to feel "off book" than with tarot where the symbolism was new--and so many people were expecting it of me. My mother is a tarot reader, and she's done shows and parties for people, reading many people's cards to rave reviews. People would always ask if I was also a reader, or if she was teaching me, or, on the rare occasion I would meet someone who would come up to me and say, "You're a reader." Not a question, but a statement.

I've known my whole life that I love symbolism and hidden meaning. I love explaining things and making what looks complicated more simple for people. But I couldn't seem to do that for myself when it came to cards. I still felt like I had to read the meanings to remember, and I didn't like reading the meaning and then applying it to people. I felt like it was no book, or no reading. So for a while I was quite resentful when people thought that my being a witch meant I had to read tarot. I must be a tarot reader, for I was a witch! I didn't like that idea, so I would tell people that I do have an oracle deck but I don't read tarot and I've never read for anyone else because I don't feel ready.