W17C8 T1NG5

Hello everyone! I thought I’d pen a little post on how to bond with your tarot or oracle cards. I have two tarot decks and one oracle deck and I wanted to give some advice on how to give the best readings.

Night, Cards

One thing that gets you to know the energy of your cards and the cards to get to know your energy is to sleep with them in your bed. Put them beside your pillow or under it and by the time you wake up the next morning, you will have a special connection with your cards. 

I did this recently with my oracle deck, called Literary Witches Oracle, and I woke up the next morning and did a little card pull. I felt so much more connected with them. It felt so different than other readings I’ve done.

Write Down The Meanings 

This is best for tarot decks. Pull out the card and write down first the meaning you feel holding the card and then look up the meaning in a book and write it down too. Having these two meanings will let you feel cards a little more because you used your intuition to get to know your cards.

Read and Read Again

Do readings with your cards. Not just for big life decisions but for little things and little ideas. Your cards want to get to know you just as much as you want to get to know them. Let them understand your heart just as you understand their meanings.

Be Careful

This last one I find is extremely important. Don’t just give others readings willy nilly. Try and be careful who you choose to give readings for. Don’t just give a reading to everyone, try to give them to people who will treat your cards respectfully. The reason I find this so important is because I have given readings to people who don’t respect tarot and it didn’t feel good after. My cards did not feel happy. 

So, with all these tips under your belt let’s hope you can go into learning and reading your cards. The cards are more than just tools but also friends. 

Blessed Be!

“Interpreting the last card does not mean you are done. You have ten more things to do before the reading is through.”

1. Count the major arcana.

The more there are, the stronger the reading’s predictions will impact the querent’s life. If there are none or just one, almost none of it will matter in the long run.

2. Note the sequence of the major arcana.

If the querent is asking about someone, and the major arcana are between 0 and 16, that person is not meant to stay in their life. If the question is about a dream or an opportunity, and the cards fall between 17 and 21, it will manifest completely.

3. Count the cards from each suit.

The presence of all suits predicts a balanced outcome. More Wands means strong passion. More Swords means anxiety or manipulation. More Cups means the heart is running the show. More Pentacles means wealth is about to diminish or grow.

4. Mind the aces and the tens.

Two or more aces means the situation is only just beginning. Two or more tens means it is now coming to a good or bad ending.

5. Note the multiples between two and nine.

Twos mean clever thinking is of paramount importance. Threes speak of infidelity or the need for cooperation. Fours guarantee stability, just as sixes do harmony. Fives and sevens spell difficult challenges, but eights and nines promise that the labor is almost over.

6. Regard the ruling colors.

A dominant black predicts burdens and hindrances. Red and yellow combined ensure passion, clarity and manifestation. Blue and white together advise that the solution can be found through spirituality and intuition.

7. Count the court cards.

Nine times out of ten, court cards are people, not influences. They are doing the manipulation or they need to be manipulated.

8. Notice the suits of the courts.

Wands and Swords are friendly. So are Cups and Pentacles. Any other combination spells rivalry and obstacles.

9. Watch where the cards are facing.

“Is the woman in The World looking at The Tower? A tragedy has to occur before success can take over. Is the King of Cups facing away from his Queen? Their relationship is suffering. His love for her has begun fading.”

10. Look at the bottom of the deck.

Hey everyone!✨ I wanted to share my ways of cleansing a tarot deck; different ways for different purposes, occasions and how much time you have.

Sorting and shuffling ⭐️

Generally this is the one I use most often. I find it comfortable to just sit around and shuffle my deck, watching tv or YouTube or something. However, if you want to get more in the mood, you can play some music corresponding to the energy you want your deck to have.

What you do is you sort the cards into minor and major arcana, then shuffle them back. Make sure to pay attention to any cards that jump out at you. You can take as long as you need shuffling your cards. Make sure you touch all your cards at least one, though.

Meditation❄️

Now full disclosure, I’m not a meditation expert. Actually, I’m not very good at meditation at all. However, I know it works for a lot of people, so I’m including it here.

Sit comfortably, both hands on your deck and allow your mind to be “free”. Visualize a white glow, cleansing the energy of your deck.

Moonlight⭐️

I really like this method, both because of how easy it is, and how powerful it is. It requires the full moon, so it’s not something you can do every day. The moon possesses a lot of energy and will thoroughly cleanse your deck.

Leave your deck overnight where the moon shines on it. Make sure not to damage the deck if you leave it outside. When you wake up, the deck will be fully cleansed by the moon.

Knocking ❄️

This one is not powerful, but when someone touches my deck, the first thing I always do is give it one big knock.

• do not and I cannot stress this enough do not jump into things you know nothing about, you could really hurt yourself.

• if you must learn by experience, try something simple like, do not attempt spirit work the first time you try witchcraft.

• please find sources other than Tumblr. while it is really resourceful, it is full of misinformation or things that mean a lot to the individual who posted them but not much generally.

• compare, compare, compare! try searching for information in different sources and compare them in order to form your own opinion.

• trust your gut. your interpretation of things is just as important as the generally accepted meaning, if you try to use red to attract love, but for you red represents anger, you might attract a...lover with anger issues. so please please please, take into account your own feelings on the matter.

Here's a real tip for all you baby witches out there, diving into spellwork before anything else: Spells aren't as simple as going through the motions, and a spell probably won't work if you don't understand how to use your Will.

This is what I've been taught by my mentor who has been a witch for 25 years. You have to set your intentions and use your Will to match. What is your Will and how is it different from your Intention? This post may get long, but it's important and I haven't seen any others cover this, so please don't give up half way through!

Basically, it's like this:

Intention: your reason for a spell, your goal/what you want + ingredients to match

Your Will: the Power you put behind your spell or working

The intention part is easy. You figure out your goal, pick a spell or create a spell that uses ingredients or actions that match your intent, and then you perform it. This is what most of Tumblr will teach you how to do. While working with simply your intent can sometimes work, it's more like a coin toss because you're not actually making your spellwork as powerful as it could be.

But your Will, as I've been taught, is the most important part of any magick and is the most often overlooked. You can make magick with nothing but your intent and your Will together. Did you know that? What is your Will? It's the power you put behind your intent. Your Will is your Power.

That's right, baby witches. You have to learn how to tap in to the power around you as well as the power within yourself. This is why spells are never as simple as you think; if you can't add your Will to a spell, it will never be as powerful as you want it to be. This concept can prove difficult, so I'll try to break it down as simply as I can.

Your Will comes from the energy within you, but you can also tap into the energy around you to add to that power. This means that to find your Will you have to first learn how to:

Perceive Energy

Feel Energy

Feel your Own Energy

Touch Energy

Gather Energy Inside and Around You

Manipulate Energy

Infuse Energy with Intent

This is the basis for finding and understanding magick. Magick is all about energy, and the sooner you learn how to do these things, the sooner you'll start to realize your power as a witch. And this is why I say that spells are not as simple as Tumblr makes them; at least, they shouldn't be.

When you're performing a spell, you should be raising energy and infusing that energy with your intent. You could be adding energy to your ingredients, or simply raising it and holding it, to be released into the world when the spell is finished. That's your Will; the energy you add to your working. The stronger the energy, the stronger the spell.

A simple way to put it: Intent + Will = Power

So please do yourself a favor. Research energy. Find it, figure it out, feel it within you. Take your time to truly understand that power so you can properly perform powerful spellwork.

How to Enchant Objects

This is just my way of enchanting objects. There’s probably tons of other ways to do it, but this is just what I find works best for me. Enchanting an object is when you give a specific object a purpose, like protecting, or good luck. Jewelry works great for this but it can also be something like a chap stick, a coin, or a hairpin. Enchanting objects is a great idea because you can take the object with you just about anywhere, and it’s super discreet.

1. Cleanse the object you want to enchant

This firstly should involve physically cleaning it if you can, whatever that involves without damaging it. Next you want to cleanse it of negative energies. I like to pass it through smoke or put the object in salt, depending on what it is. It’s important to clean the object of any existing energies before you give it a purpose.

2. Find the associations for the purpose you want.

Say you want it to bring good luck. Some associations for good luck might be a waxing moon, cinnamon, the colour green, Mondays, bay leaf, peridot, pyrite, citrine, etc.

3. Pick the ingredients you can find or want to work with.

You don’t necessarily have to have a variety of herbs and crystals, but say one herb, and one crystal will probably be good enough. I always like to use a candle, but I also have a large variety of candles to choose from.

4. Get a small dish and arrange your ingredients as you like.

Now would be a great time to light that candle if you’re using one. Place the object either in the center of them, or on top of them. As you do this, make sure you’re focusing on filling the object with an intention. Tell it what it’s supposed to do, and when it’s supposed to happen, and for how long. Be very clear, maybe even be thinking of ways it could fulfill that intention for you. Meditate on that for a few moments.

The Elements are the forces of Nature and life, and are incorporated into ritual and magick. Every aspect of existence is bound up in Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. And the fifth element which is Spirit (or also deemed Aether), which is present in each of the other four. Each of the four classical Elements is associated with one of the four cardinal directions; North, East, South, and West.

There are also energetic associations, that add great depth to interpretations of how people with different zodiac signs interact with each other, for each sign is associated with an Element, and each Element is different.

𝐄 𝐀 𝐑 𝐓 𝐇

↟Direction: north

↟Energy: ♀

↟Rules: grounding, strength, healing, nature, stability, foundations, empathy, fertility, death, rebirth, and wisdom.

↟Season//time: winter//midnight

↟Zodiac: Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.

↟Ruling Planets: Venus, and Saturn.

↟Colours: green, brown, black, white, and gold.

↟Plants: cedar, cypress, honeysuckle, ivy, magnolia, grains, primrose, oak, sage, and nuts.

↟Crystals: emerald, tourmaline, quartz, granite, dedrock, peridot, onyx, jasper, and amethyst.

↟Tools: pentacle, salt, crystals, dirt, herbs, wood, plants, and flowers.

↟Virtues: patience, truth, dependable, thorough, focused.

𝐀 𝐈 𝐑

↟Direction: east

↟Energy: ♂

↟Rules: mind, clarity, knowledge, logic, abstract, wind, consciousness, intuition, and memory.

↟Season//time: spring//dawn

↟Zodiac: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius.

↟Ruling planets: Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus.

↟Colours: yellow, gold, white, and light blue.

↟Plants: acacia, anis, aspen, clover, frankincense, lavender, lemongrass, pine, and vervain.

↟Crystals: topaz, amber, citrine, jasper, and agate.

↟Tools: feather, wand, staff, incense, pen, broom, and bell.

↟Virtues: intelligent, practical, optimistic.

𝐅 𝐈 𝐑 𝐄

↟Direction: south

↟Energy: ♂

↟Rules: energy, will, destruction, courage, strength, self-knowledge, power, passion, sexuality, self-healing, divinity, light, and flame.

↟Season//time: summer//noon

↟Zodiac: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius.

↟Ruling planets: Sun, and Mars.

↟Colours: red, orange, gold, and white.

↟Plants: allspice, basil, cinnamon, garlic, juniper, hibiscus, nettle, onion, poppies, peppers, and thistles.

↟Crystals: ruby, garnet, red jasper, bloodstone, quartz, tiger's eye, and agate.

↟Tools: candle, lamp, athame, dagger, and burned herbs.

↟Virtues: courage, enthusiasm, willpower.

𝐖 𝐀 𝐓 𝐄 𝐑

↟Direction: west

↟Energy: ♀

↟Rules: emotion, intuition, psychic, love, deep feelings, the unconscious mind, fertility, tides, reflection, lunar energy, and healing.

↟Season//time: autumn//twilight

↟Zodiac: Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces.

↟Ruling planets: Moon, Neptune, and Pluto.

↟Colours: blue, aqua, silver, and green.

↟Plants: aloe, apple, chamomile, ferns, gardenia, jasmine, lemon, lily, lotus, moss, seaweed, rose, thyme, and willow.

↟Crystals: amethyst, aquamarine, beryl, blue tourmaline, lapis lazuli, opal, pearl, and sodalite.

↟Tools: seashells, ocean water, seaweed, moss, stones, chalice, and cauldron.

↟Virtues: love, compassion, receptivity, and flexibility.

1.) The Root of My Insecurity: In what area of your life are you the most insecure about? I’d pay attention to suits for a broad area, and then punch in.

2.) Current Unhealthy Coping Mechanism: What are you doing now to deal with this insecurity? Is it healthy? This is the place for your cards to call you out.(lol) 

3.) Healthier Coping Mechanism: How can you better cope with your insecurity? How can you grow into a more confident person?

I want to create a master list of all types of Divination, otherwise known as “fortune telling,” psychic readings, etc. But not all are the same! When I learn of other types, I will add them here. Also, feel free to re-blog with any I’ve forgotten, and I’ll add them to the list (with credit to you next to it). 🖤

✨ The Clairs ✨

- Clairvoyance: When you can see visuals during a reading, have visions, sometimes prophetic dreams.

- Clairaudience: When you can hear sounds during a reading. You may also be able to hear spirits or guides of someone you’re giving a reading to.

- Claircognizance: When you just have a knowing of something. Could be that something is going to happen, or during a reading it seems like you’re just given the answer. (This is what I use the most in my Intuitive Readings)

- Clairsentience: When you have a physical feeling on your body. It could be a tingling sensation, goosebumps, and actual tap, etc.

- Clairempathy: When you can feel what the other person is feeling emotionally, or how a situation feels emotionally.

- Clairsalience: When you can clearly smell something that isn’t a part of your environment. This could be a perfume of a deceased loved one, the smell of bread baking in an abandoned bakery, etc.

- Clairgustance: when you can taste something that is not actually in your mouth. This could happen if you are channeling someone, in a haunted bar, etc.

- Clairtangecy: when you can touch a physical object and and then almost immediately no something that has happened previously with this item, I know a lot about a person that wasn’t previously known by touching their hand, etc. If you’ve seen the show Charmed, Phoebe has this ability.

✨ Cartomancy ✨

Using cards to give a reading. Typically the intuition of the person giving the reading would be used, as well. They can be drawn one at a time or used in a multi card spread.

- Tarot: A deck of 78 cards with a Major Arcana (22) and Minor Arcana (56). Many people use tarot, and there are many different designs to choose from. The Rider-Waitte deck is the most popular, but I would suggest finding one that really speaks to you.

- Oracle: there are so many different types of oracle cards from Faerie Oracle, Moonology Oracle, to Angel Oracle. These cards can have as many as the creator wants in the deck, and can be used pretty much the same as tarot cards. I use a Moonology Oracle Card Deck for all of my card readings at the moment.

- Playing Cards: For broom closeted witches or people who aren’t able to purchase a set of tarot or oracle cards can actually use a deck of playing cards, instead. The deck of playing cards won’t have as many cards as a tarot deck usually has oh, and there are no cards to represent the Major Arcana but they can still be used for divination. Each of the different suits of playing cards corresponds to a suit of tarot cards.

Hearts = Cups

Spades = Swords

Diamonds = Pentacles

Clubs = Wands

✨ Tasseography ✨

When someone drinks a cup of tea or coffee, then the reader will turn their cup upside down, turn it a number of times on the saucer, then read the formations on the inside of the cup.

- Tea Leaves: Using loose tea leaves, preferably green, black, or white tea. The person having the reading will drink the brewed tea with the loose leaves in it. Once finished, you will ask your question, swirl the excess liquid and leaves around 3 times, then place the cup upside on the saucer for at least 1 minute. After this the tea leaf reader will interpret the images inside your cup.

- Coffee Grounds: Typically done in Turkey using a strong, velvet-like Turkish coffee. The person having the reading will be told to drink with intent, and once they are finished, they should place the cup upside on the sauce and spin it 3 times. Then let it sit for about 1 min. The coffee grounds reader will then interpret the images on the inside of the cup.

✨ Bibliomancy ✨

Using books to receive Divine guidance. Choose a book, ask your question, then flip to a random page with your eyes closed and read that page or a paragraph you point to for your answer.

- Sacred Bibliomancy: I’m not sure if this is actually what it’s called, but that’s how I’m distinguishing between the different types. In Sacred Bibliomancy, you would use a sacred book to you like the Bible, Quoran, The Tao te Ching, etc. You would use a book that is sacred to your spirituality.

- Secular Bibliomancy: With this one you would choose any book that calls out to you, ask your question, etc. This could be a book on your bookshelf, at the book store, library, etc. This one does not have to correspond with your spirituality, or any type of spirituality.

✨ Lithomancy ✨

The use of stones and crystals for divination. These would typically be chosen at random, and the reader would interpret what that some means for you and your question.

- Runes: Stones that are engraved or written on with the Nordic alphabet. I don’t know a ton about runes, but I want to learn more.

- Crystals: Natural stones that have energetic and magical properties to them. When you draw these, the magical property correlates directly to what you’re asking about. Let’s say if you drew a Rose Quartz when you were asking about if love is coming your way. This crystal would indicate that yes, love is coming, because Rose Quartz represents love.

As a Tarot reader....

1. What expectations do I hold for my self?

2. What special qualities do I possess that are unique to me?

3. Where do my strengths lie?

4. What holds me back from reaching my true potential?

5. What aspect of myself do I need to develop more fully?

6. How I can best connect to others through Tarot

7. How I can strengthen the bond I have with my Tarot cards.

Hello everyone! I thought I’d pen a little post on how to bond with your tarot or oracle cards. I have two tarot decks and one oracle deck and I wanted to give some advice on how to give the best readings.

Night, Cards

One thing that gets you to know the energy of your cards and the cards to get to know your energy is to sleep with them in your bed. Put them beside your pillow or under it and by the time you wake up the next morning, you will have a special connection with your cards. 

I did this recently with my oracle deck, called Literary Witches Oracle, and I woke up the next morning and did a little card pull. I felt so much more connected with them. It felt so different than other readings I’ve done.

Write Down The Meanings 

This is best for tarot decks. Pull out the card and write down first the meaning you feel holding the card and then look up the meaning in a book and write it down too. Having these two meanings will let you feel cards a little more because you used your intuition to get to know your cards.

Read and Read Again

Do readings with your cards. Not just for big life decisions but for little things and little ideas. Your cards want to get to know you just as much as you want to get to know them. Let them understand your heart just as you understand their meanings.

Be Careful

This last one I find is extremely important. Don’t just give others readings willy nilly. Try and be careful who you choose to give readings for. Don’t just give a reading to everyone, try to give them to people who will treat your cards respectfully. The reason I find this so important is because I have given readings to people who don’t respect tarot and it didn’t feel good after. My cards did not feel happy. 

So, with all these tips under your belt let’s hope you can go into learning and reading your cards. The cards are more than just tools but also friends. 

Blessed Be!

What do I need to do to attract love?

How is my current relationship going?

Why do we feel stuck?

Career

What changes do I need to make to succeed?

Where am I right now?

How to move forward?

What do I want?

Self

What do I need to hear right now?

How to get unstuck?

A (witchy) use for those 5 million empty notebooks you have lying around:

• Divination Journal - Tarot, Pendulum, Oracle Cards, etc.

• Psyche Journal - Aspirations, Goal Tracker, Mood Tracker, etc.

• Dream Journal - Sleep tracker, Dream entries, etc. Working Grimoire - Spell drafts, note taking, etc.

• Correspondence Index - Sections for Crystals, Herbs, Colors, etc

• Astrology Journal - Horoscopes, Astrology Charts, etc. Witch's Planner - Moon Phases, Sabbat Planning, Esbat Planning, etc.

• Garden Journal - Track plantings, waterings, harvests etc.

• Occurrence Book - Keep track of the things that happen to you.

• Body Journal - Period tracker, exercise tracker, meditation tracker, etc.

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.

What the Fuck Am I Doing? Tarot spread

(Please excuse the poor editing I did this on my phone)

1) What should I be focusing on?

What needs to be done that I am not/cannot seem to focus on? What is my goal? What should I be doing?

2) What am I thinking about instead?

What's distracting me? What is keeping my attention away from what I need to do?

3) Why is it distracting me?

Extra cards optional, pull as many as you need to figure out the root of the problem

4) How do I refocus?

🔮Path Ahead Spread🔮

1. Preparations

2. Where I want to be

3. How to get there

4. What’s in store?

5. Driving force