In the Woods

I welcome loving, supportive, healing, cleansing, honest and authentic relationships into my life right now.

Decided to do the tarot spread from Agatha All Along.

SELF-REFLECTION SPREAD

I mostly use tarot as a tool for personal introspection. Even people who don’t believe in divination of any kind can use tarot as an aid to explore different perspectives to a situation or even their own psyche. These are some things which I believe I need to confront about myself before achieving any real personal growth.

1. FIXATE

What are the parts of yourself or your life that you tend to get hung up about. Confronting yourself can be good, but overly obsessing on a particular problem or aspect of yourself can inhibit growth. 

2. IGNORE

Conversely, what do you tend to push to the side. This can go both ways: some are unable to see the good things in themselves or their lives, while others gloss over their faults and avoid addressing their problems. 

3. FALSE

What are the things we think to be true about ourselves, or our lives that are not. These are often negative qualities, a lot of people think they are less capable, less deserving or less worthy than they really are. 

4. DECIPHER

What about ourselves have we yet to understand. Everyone has some things about themselves which they don’t yet fully grasp or cannot quite put to words.

5. WANT

What do we most want from ourselves and our lives. The things we wish were more true about ourselves or that we aspire to be. This is a long process to achieve, and part of that is learning that we can’t just skip to this step, we need to deal with the other parts of ourselves too, including the undesirable parts, before we can achieve true personal growth.

Note: Tarot is not a substitute for professional counselling and other forms of licensed therapy! Feel free to use it as a complimentary practice (unless otherwise advised), but do not rely on it as your sole means of treatment if you believe you need professional counselling.             

1, 2, 3: What’s on fire? 

I know you think you don’t need these three cards. But trust me, you need these three cards. They orient the whole spread to make sure you’re on the same page as to what’s really gone up in flames in your life.

4: Is it really that bad?

What’s the reality? What’s the lesson here? All the time, “bad” things happen (or spontaneously combust) and it’s actually for our own good. Here’s a peek at your silver-lining, though you may not be ready to embrace it yet. Also, if you’re making a mountain out of a molehill - this is where you’ll get a reality check.

5: Who/what piled up the garbage?

Maybe it was you? Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it was someone else, or a life circumstance, or a particular desire. Find out.

6: Who/what set it ablaze?

Piled up garbage is one thing. A burning pile of garbage is another. Garbage can be salvaged. It’s best to let flaming garbage burn itself out. So who/what decided that there was nothing redeemable here? What circumstances looked at this pile of garbage and gave a resounding: “Fuck it!”

7: How can I forgive them?

You can also frame this card as: How can I move on? Whether you set the blaze yourself, or it was someone else, or a circumstance or life event that did it for you, forgiveness will give you the strength to leave the ashes where they lie. 

Note: Look, if you try this spread thinking that nothing is really that messed up in your life (like I just did), you’re going to probably get called out on something. Take it with a grain of salt. The severity of a garbage fire is truly relative to how you feel about it.

Hey you! Stop scrolling for a moment, it’s time for your checkup. Take a moment to check each of these things and fix any problems you might find.

Wards and Shields

Are your special spaces still warded properly? Are the barriers still strong? Are there any holes or damages?

Are your personal shields still there? Do they need refreshing? Are there any gaps in coverage? Can you still do your work through the barrier?

Altars and Tools

Are the altars clean and organized? There’s no dust?

Are there any offerings that have been sitting out that need to be refreshed or disposed of?

Is there any unusual energy in any of your consecrated items?

Does everything feel charged and ready?

Your Body

Have you taken all of your meds that you need today?

Have you been eating/hydrating properly?

Getting enough sleep?

Does your body need anything from you right now to feel a bit better?

Entities and Other Things

Are there any regular offerings you give that you could/should check off?

How are things with your familiar? Your companions? The local land wights? The spirit(s) of your house? Do they need anything from you to keep the relationship strong, if you have one?

Are there any unexpected entities hanging around/taking up anchors? (Give your knickknacks a good check for this, as well as any old toys and jewelry.)

allspice - money, luck, healing

catnip - cat magick, beauty, happiness

deadly nightshade - moving on from heartbreak

mandrake - exorcising evil, protection, prosperity

oak leaves - strengthening unity, purification

rosemary -  good health, protection, banishing negativity

sage - coping with heartbreak, cleansing, wish granting

straw - purification, protection

wormwood - calming anger, inhibiting violence

apples - spirit communing, love, healing

pumpkins - moon magick, abundance, protection, fertility

turnips - ending toxic relationships, death magick

walnuts - divine energy, blessing, wish granting

I actually spoke of this on my blog @woodlandangel​! Angels are chaotic good, as i’ve been told. They do “good”, but to terrible extents. Even in the Bible, we see angels doing terrible things despite being “good” aligned. 

I wouldn’t even say they’re good per se. Just loyal. Very loyal to what they believe is the greater good, and in doing so will go to dangerous extents to ensure their deeds are carried out. 

The same can be said for demons as well. Not all of them are bad, and some are safe to interact with. And it makes sense since demons are fallen angels (if you ascribe to that belief). 

Though I don’t think to call on angels would bring you intended harm unless they’re commanded to harm you. If anything you’d be harmed indirectly. 

As a Catholic, I encourage others to reach out to the angels that’re named, and thus safe to work with. They’re typically the ones that’re called on to safety and protection, so I really do encourage people to call out to them. 

Deck Interview Spread

I found this spread a few years ago on Aeclectic Tarot. It is a simple six card spread that allows you to meet your new tarot deck and get to know it. It’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s personality. It will show how it can help you grow, become a better reader and a better person. It is usually the first spread I throw for any deck.

The cards can be laid out any way you prefer, I lay mine out left to right.

Card #1: Tell me about yourself? What is your most important characteristic? The general personality of your deck. This question will reveal if your deck is painfully truthful, a prankster, a pragmatist, a romantic, etc.

Card #2: What are your strengths as a deck? The best features of your deck. This will help decide what kind of questions to ask and spreads to throw.

Card #3: What are your limits as a deck? This card represents the challenges, blocks and obstacles your deck may have. This is also helpful to decide what questions to ask and spreads to throw.

Card #4: What do you bring to the table? What are you here to teach me? We all have teachers in life and Tarot’s higher purpose is to teach us. To show us our areas of growth and help us improve.

Card #5: How can I best learn from and collaborate with you? Tarot, like all relationships, is a partnership. This card shows how to best utilize that partnership and shows you the best way to approach your deck.