midwest, midbest, mid-evil, medieval

I personally have always been drawn to cities. I grew up in the suburbs and moved to an apartment in the city center as soon as I could. These are some of my favourite things to do to incorporate the city into my craft. These could also be applicable to non-witch pagans who live in the city and want to utilize their environment.

• If the empress and emperor come out next to each other in a reading, they represent a couple. Usually a married couple, or a couple that have been committed long term.

• The hierophant often represents traditional, religious and spiritual matters... but it can also represent being a role model or person of authority (look at the rider-waite deck and notice the two people below the hierophant). This may be different depending on the deck, though.

• Court cards most often end up representing individual people for me. Each court card represents different personalities. They usually end up representing people whose astrology placements match the element of the suit the most (swords = air signs, wands = fire signs, pentacles = earth signs, cups = water signs).

• Write down your readings as you go, even if you're a more experienced reader. Doing this will document your readings and it will help you learn how to interpret the cards. You can look back at the readings later and see what ended up being accurate and what didn't.

• Be mindful of how fast you are shuffling the cards. Most of the time, those "jumpers" aren't related to the reading at all. They're just a result of rushed and clumsy shuffling. If the same card jumps out a second time, then it may be related to the reading. Use your intuition to pick the cards.

• If your deck's imagery isn't minimalistic, focus more on the imagery than memorizing the general card meanings. Think of the symbolism behind the imagery.

Hello dear,

It would be hard to make a universal list for this because B1/B2 can look many different ways, the best advice I have is to check out famous authors and see at first glance if their stuff looks too hard for you or not. Here are the basics and an example:

B1/B2 with a good dictionary:

Correspondance by Charles Baudelaire

Dans les bois by Paul Verlaine

La demoiselle by Théophile Gautier

Les malheureux by Louise Ackermann ♀

Crépuscule by Guillaume Apollinaire

Les yeux d'Elsa by Louis Aragon (which I would claim to be the most beautiful love poem in the world)

L'hirondelle by Sophie d'Arbouville ♀

Chanson à boire by Nicolas Boileau

La nuit de printemps by Théodore de Banville

L'ennui de Léonore by Victoire Babois ♀

Les feuilles mortes by Jacques Prévert

Regrets d'amour by Pierre Corneille

Des vivants et des morts - Andrée Chedid ♀

Le désir by Anatole France

À Aurore by George Sand ♀

Par un mauvais temps by Alfred de Musset

Melancholia by Victor Hugo

Le bonheur est mélancolique by Cécile Sauvage ♀

C1/C2 but give it a try anyway:

Première soirée by Arthur Rimbaud

Luth compagnon de ma calamité by Louise Labé ♀

La sagesse by Alphonse de Lamartine

Prière de Socrate by Gérard de Nerval

Le temps de vivre by Anna de Noailles ♀

Le songe by Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve

Ce que dit l'homme de peine by Paul Éluard

Élégie du printemps by Pierre de Ronsard

La grande douleur que je porte by Christine de Pisan ♀

Poème à Uranie - Voltaire

La prison by Alfred de Vigny

L'amour et la folie by Jean de la Fontaine

Ô qu'une sagesse profonde by François de Malherbe

L'âme errante by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore ♀

Les fleurs by Stéphane Mallarmé

Le lundi à Vêpres by Jean Racine

C'était novembre by Vénus Khoury-Ghata (1937-) ♀

Holy shit:

Escargots by Francis Ponge (XX, surrealism)

Nous ne sommes fâchés by Joachim Du Bellay (XVI)

Ballade des dames du temps jadis by François Villon (XV)

Lai du Frêne by Marie de France ♀ (XII)

Je brûle avec mon coeur by Théodore Aggripa d'Aubigné (XVI)

Plus:

Entire anthology about female poetry

Hope this helps! x

🌾The irish would sweep their floors from the door to their hearth, to bring in good luck rather than sweep it out. (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4428251/4388467/4465967)

🌾Soak your bed sheets and pillows in lavender and rosemary water to help with sleep! (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4666586/4664150/4668362)

🌾Tie a red rag or ribbon around the neck (like a scarf) to ward the evil eye. (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4798657/4787663/4923346)

🌾To get rid of the evil eye, write the 26 letters of the alphabet on a piece of paper and burn it under your nose (I’m not a fan of breathing in smoke so I would change this method to burning the piece of paper along with some cleansing herbs (garden sage, cedar, juniper etc) treating it as incense and waft the smoke over you, taking in the scent indirectly) (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4658430/4654747/4659635)

🌾Another cure was to burn a piece of clothing worn by the possessor of the “evil eye”. (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4798707/4792016/4924255)

🌾Charm for Protection: “The Deer’s Cry” I arise today through the strength of heaven the light of the sun the brilliance of the moon the splendor of fire speed of lightning depth of the sea stability of the earth and the firmness of rock. (https://illustratedprayer.com/2018/03/17/saint-patrick-and-the-cry-of-the-deer/)

🌾Garlic boiled in milk is good for colds (A soup made with garlic and milk among other ingredients would be perfect too!) (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5070791/5064262/5096665) Along with garlic, onions and wild sage is good for colds too (Add them to your soup!) (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5009200/4997255/5103281) (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4701685/4692572/4728101)

🌾Hanging a brigid’s cross up over the door or in the house prevents fires. The cross is burned each year in the hearth and a new one is made on Imbolc to continue that protection. (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4769994/4764934/5013850)

🌾On Bealtaine before sunrise cut the branches of whitethorn and mountain ash. They are wreathed around the door for good luck.

🌾Mountain ash is the safeguard against all witchcraft!

🌾If a branch of mountain ash cut on Bealtaine is woven into the roof of your house, your home will be safe from fire for at least a year. If the branch of mountain ash is woven into the timber of a boat, no storm will upset it and no man will drown for at least a year.

🌾Bind the twigs of the mountain ash cut on Bealtaine around valuable objects to protect them from witchcraft/ hexes and curses (Traditionally bound around milk pails and butter churns)

🌾Herbs picked on Bealtaine will have especially potent magickal healing properties! Especially the Yarrow which is picked for divination. On Bealtaine, find a yarrow plant and dance around it singing: “Yarrow, Yarrow, Yarrow, I bid thee good morrow, And tell me before to-morrow, Who my true love shall be” Then the herb is placed under your head at night and your true lover will appear in your dreams! (https://www.libraryireland.com/AncientLegendsSuperstitions/May-Festival-2.php)

good morning from me and my slightly chaotic desk.