#craftedintentions

Tarot Spotlight |

The Crow Tarot by MJ Cullinane is one of those decks that has it all. Bright, saturated colors, easy to recognize Rider-Waite imagery, high quality cards, and a detailed book - this deck is gorgeous!! So gorgeous that my significant other actually claimed this deck as there’s.

Persephone // 

Goddess of Spring, Queen of the Underworld. As a devotee to Hades, Persephone was always the next natural step. As we come close to Mabon, I honor Her. She who makes her own destiny.

I see her as the great compromiser, the one who makes her own choices no matter what. The Lady of the Underworld who embraces female sexuality for pleasure instead of just Motherhood. Being between the Maiden and the Mother is very rare in a Goddess, and as I am in that same place, I find Persephone to be a calming influence.

Now that I’ve relocated to an apartment, my Altar is now located on two large bookshelves. While this works for space saving, it’s also really great for giving each one of my Gods and Goddesses their own little vignettes. This section specifically includes Hecate, Her travel Altar gifted from a friend, and numerous books and oils as well as my tarot cards. 

My practice in the last few months has also changed - with this move, I completely upended my life and while work responsibilities have increased exponentially, so has my wanting to grow spiritually. 

What’s new in my practice:

- Daily Tarot Cards | Technically this wasn’t new, but it’s something that I wasn’t consistent in. Now I pull a card daily and have been doing so since January. My significant other has also found their way in their spiritual journey and has been doing daily readings for themselves the last few weeks - there is something really special about sitting down in the morning and pulling cards together.

- A step away from rote prayer | There was a time where every morning I would pray the same prayers to the same Deities and while it was great to get my head ready for the day, it felt more like words and less like actual prayer. I’ve stepped back from this because I felt that while I was saying the words, they started to have little value to me and was just a practice that I was DOING and not FEELING

- Reiki | In January I received my Reiki Master Certification and I really didn’t do too much with that. Over the course of the last month, I began diving in to balancing myself, and weaving Reiki into my daily existence. Most recently, I have just attuned and taught my significant other Reiki one and am planning to continue teaching on a small scale.

- Tarot Readings | I am planning on offering readings for purchase somewhere within the next few months. I have done readings professionally over the past 2 years and have had a lot of successes as well as many clients that are looking for me to do so - I just have to figure out how to do it virtually. 

- Exploration | I have spent some time exploring different paths and practices and incorporating more traditional work into my own spiritual path { Italian and Folk Magic } as well as learning more about traditions that are very different from my own. Knowledge is power, and I am thinking of continuing to put myself out of my comfort zone to better understand the significance of different spiritual acts that I am inspired by. 

Aphrodite //

I feel her in the cool breeze that hits you right at dusk in the middle of August. I see her in the bright colored candies in the grocery store, the fresh baked pastries at the bakery. She is sticky sweet and too delicious for words. I see her at the clubs in the eyeliner clad girls who are getting over someone by getting under someone else. I see her in the little girls playing in the park, braiding each other’s hair, thinking of what if’s and will be’s.

I taste her in the honey that I put in my tea. In the salt that hits my lips when I walk on the beach. I feel her in the soft, cold, pearls that I find in my grandmother’s jewelry box. I see her in every girl gang, every femme fatale. Dangerous, Sweet, Sentimental.

My Goddess Aphrodite, she who reminds us to love Love. She who holds your hand and gives you your favorite candy. She who celebrates every stretchmark and every blemish. Your fairy godmother, the one that teaches self-love while making sure that you are well loved. 

Lemurian Crystals

Personal Experience with these Energetic Time Capsules | Crystals from the ancient civilizations of Lemuria are energy and memory keepers. Once seen as the batteries of Lemuria and Atlantis, these are now star seeds; scattered around what is now Brasil. These powerful stones hold an encoding of energies past and are very connected channelers; carrying with them the strong energies of what they were charged with. Rechargeable, these stones are able to carry, transmute, and enhance magic or energy. 

The ridges on the side act as a barcode. Run a thumb up and down during meditation to unlock some of what may have been encoded in these powerful keepers. Utilize them to gain knowledge; let them guide you through past lives or the Akashic Records. Personally, they are my go-to stone to keep with me when embarking on any kind of divination.

Very powerful in rituals where entities are allowing you to access their energy. Protection spells are my go-to; these stones are capable of capturing some of the essences of powerful beings who wish to assist you in you protection work.

I was having a moment the other day where I was feeling Aphrodite with me everywhere I looked. I ended up with a statue of Her for my Sacred Space and as I was heading out, this bottle CALLED to me. 

Aphrodite is in my upcoming zine, and to me she is all about cotton candy, sugar plum, sexy sweet, self care QWEEN, own your power type LOVE. She was pushing me to care for myself and fill myself with sweetness; to remember that I am a powerful being, a queen, a sexual and sensual lady.