a journey

[ID: A graphic with a blue gradient background and a title in the top that reads Week Ahead Spread.

In the middle, there are three card shapes, numbered 1-3.

Below, the numbers are listed with their corresponding meaning:

Energy of the coming week

Advice to navigate this energy

Something to be aware/mindful of

At the bottom, soul-squad.tumblr.com is written. End ID]

Hi everyone!

Here's a simple spread for your weekly check-ins. There's plenty of these out there, but I wanted to put one out there of my own partially as a kick-off of sharing more spreads on this blog. I have a few things planned, so follow to stay tuned!

If you use this, please let me know! I'd love to see how these help people 🥰

Love,

[image description: Over a low-contrast background of a crystal, there is a description and visual aid of a tarot spread. From top to bottom: "Revelation Reading, available in January", two semi-transparent card shapes labeled 1 and 2, "The first card is the Revelation card, which represents something the querent needs to or will soon learn. The second card is the Epiphany card, which represents a person or experience that will teach the querent their lesson." The image is overall purple toned. /end ID]

My original spread, the Revelation spread is the seasonal reading I'm offering this month!

Interpretation-only readings are $10. Live video readings or hand-drawn illustrated readings are $18. The illustration theme for this reading this year is Fresno Nightcrawlers.

Astragalomancy: Ain’t Just for Squares: A Quick Guide to Polyhedral Divination

Four-Sided

Yes or No Questions: Your pocket-sized spirit [companion]. Evens approve, odds oppose. Interpret as you will…

Other alternatives to asking yes/no questions: fate dice, pennies, whether or not your [SO] left the toilet seat up.

Six-Sided

Quick Queries: Roll one die for a little insight; more for some clarity. Add your results together for new conclusions.

Keywords: 1: inspiration; 2: union, 3: exploration, 4: discover, 5: transformation, 6: completion.

Eight-Sided

Fate and Fortune: The perfect party tool; complex enough for querents, easy enough for a novice.

Keywords: 1: union, 2: community, 3: foundations, 4: exploration, 5: discovery, 6: risk, 7: reward, 8: transformation.

Ten-Sided

The Journey: An intermediate path for your personal journey. The Starling divination workhorse.

Keywords: 1: inspiration, 2: union, 3: community, 4: foundations, 5: exploration, 6: discovery, 7: risk, 8: reward, 9: transformation, 0: completion.

Twelve-Sided

The Stars: Sub out your usual keywords for the star signs and watch your interpretations reach new heights. Helpful for reading expansion or character creation.

Twenty-Sided

What is meditation basically? Lots of people will tell you that meditation is supposed to calm your mind. 

But what will really meditation do to you is that you’ll be able to CONTROL your mind. Or at least you’ll be better at it, which is something huge, believe me. And controlled mind is a big tool in magic work.

There are 3 basic types of meditation.

1. Just observe your mind. This is something that you can do when you have time. Sit on your couch, lie on your bed - whatever feels good for you - that’s the key. Close your eyes and just try to observe what’s your mind up to. The important thing is - don’t try to think. Just let your mind exist. It almost feels like falling asleep, actually. Once you try it you can feel how freeing that moment is. 

2. Be aware. Yes, awareness of your body and later, of what is happening around you. For example, try to be aware of your breathing. Focus on how you breathe. Just feel how your nostrils feel the air coming in and out. Tap on your forehead with your finger and feel the spot. Be aware of the sensation. Focus on it like nothing else exist. Just the sensation you feel on your skin. 

3. Focus on one thing and one thing only with your mind. As I always say, start with something easy like an orange. Orange is easy to imagine in your mind. Picture its structure. Picture its taste on your tongue. Picture how it feels when you touch it. Basically, put together a picture of everything you know about the orange and keep mind picturing it. Feel the orange for as long as possible. If you lose your concentration, it’s alright and you did nothing wrong - we’re humans, not robots. Just try again :)

Questions you may ask:

Q: What if I don’t have time for meditation? I’m busy with school and work! 

A: Well, of course we live in a world that needs our presence. And number 2 and 3 can be done while you wait for the bus, while you’re stuck in traffic jam, and so on. Don’t lose hope, just because you’re busy :)

Q: Is it really necessary to meditate? 

A: Nothing is necessary, it’s your choice. But the truth is, if you choose to meditate, you’ll be able to control your mind better and it’s not only helpful in magic work. It can help you if you have trouble sleeping and so on. Helps with anxiety, too, btw. 

Q: How does meditation help control mind?

A: Number 1 can teach you: 

- how to be aware of what’s going on in your mind on the level you can’t reach yet. Later, you can use this new entry to your mind and analyze your psyche better. 

- how to not fall asleep when you try astral traveling before going to bed.

- lucid dreaming :)

  Number 2 can teach you:

- how to be aware of what your body wants and needs even though it can’t speak.

- how to be aware of what is happening around you in a crowd - kind of good skill to have these days, sadly.

- how to feel if something paranormal is happening around you.

  Number 3 can teach you:

- how to use your willpower as a tool for your magic work.

- power of good imagination raises IQ and plain common sense. 

Remember that if something isn’t going well for the first time you try, it doesn’t mean it’ll be like this forever. Things can better with practice. So don’t worry. We were all lame shits when we started. 

Sometimes you need to let some things go in order to move forward. It can be difficult looking over the things you’ve carried with you for so long and determining what you should hold onto and what you should release in order to grow and make room for what comes next.

This is by far the most abundant ink I have in my house is that of inks made from flowers. This is the easiest and fastest inks to be made and require the least amount of materials to produce brilliant and soft colors. The inks from flowers can be either stunning and dark, or a lighter and more pale like one would expect from watercolor. Flower inks don’t last as long as inks produced from berries or nuts, and being left in the sunlight will fade their colors faster, but since this ink is so fast and easy to make, it can always be in supply. The shelf life of this ink is about a month if kept in the dark, but this is dependent on the color itself.

Materials:

Glass containers (preferably mason jars or drinking cups)

A pestle or other wooden tool (to crush the flowers with)

Boiling water

Cheese cloth

Rubbing Alcohol or 100 Proof Vodka

Glass storage container

Optional: Gum Arabic

I tend to get a lot of asks about how I learned to read tarot. Usually my response is that I made my readings as concrete as possibly but I don’t think I’ve ever done a great job describing what I mean by that exactly. 

Please keep in mind that my learning style might not be your learning style. This won’t work for everyone. But if you, like I was, feel overwhelmed by all the possible meanings of the cards and doubt your intuition at times, then my style might be helpful for you.

1. Start doing readings- This was the first step that I took when seriously undertaking my journey with tarot. I had tried book learning, several times in fact over the course of a few years. Each time it failed. The card meanings would never stick. This was because I wasn’t utilizing them but was just trying to use route memory. I was terrified to start reading. I knew nothing about the cards! But once I took this step my learning grew in leaps and bounds and I learned on the go because what I was learning became useful.

1A. Figure out the best way for you to start reading- A substep to step one but very important. When I usually say that someone should just start doing readings if they’re struggling to learn they kinda get freaked out (understandably so). But you don’t need to! There are several ways to start doing tarot readings. You can read for yourself (full spreads vs a card a day) or read for others in person or read for others online. Do you want to read for people you know and are close to or for complete strangers? Figure out which way makes you most comfortable. Some people are too nervous to read for others and that’s ok! Others do best when they are talking to others and can explain what they see and feel that way. For me, I was most comfortable reading for others online, where I had the time to write out a response and could focus without the anxiety of someone sitting next to me just waiting. I’ve always been a better writer than talker anyways and readings for others gave me some objectivity that I didn’t have when I was reading for myself. When you figure out where you are most comfortable on the spectrum, you’ll feel more comfortable doing readings.

2. Avoid big spreads and pick a max amount of cards to pull- We’ve all been there, the beginner staring at the celtic cross thinking “Yes! this is the spread I’m gonna do!”. If you’re like me, after you pulled all 10 cards, you ended up staring at them overwhelmed trying to remember what they mean and how they connect.The bigger the spread, the more symbols, energy and forces are at play and for a beginner its easy to get confused. If this is you, consider avoiding spreads larger than 5 cards, I’d even go so far as to say avoid traditional spreads all together. In my experience, most questions can be answered in 4 cards.

2A. Create your own spreads- This is the hard part to understand because they aren’t really spreads per se. But when you go to read, don’t pull cards with 1 general question in mind and expect a concrete answer from the cards. Of course, some readers can do this and you will likely be able to do this with time but when you are beginning it is easier to break down your general question into smaller questions and assign one card to answer each part of the question. While it may seem like you’re creating more work for yourself, you’re really giving the cards a more stable voice and helping your intuition pick up on how to listen to the cards. So instead of just asking “What can I do to find a job right now?” I would break my question down into 3 parts:

Card 1: What is holding me back from finding a job right now Card 2: How can I encourage job opportunities to enter my life Card 3: What do I need to do right now to help me find a job.

This is a smaller spread customized by you for the question you are reading for. This should give you more confidence when it comes to interpretation. 

3. Don’t be afraid to use your resources- Be it your little white book, Biddy Tarot, Golden Thread Tarot or Labrynthos don’t be afraid to use your references in the middle of your readings! Some people have this thought that using a book or online resource in the middle of a reading makes them less of a tarot reader. This is not true! I was constantly referring to my resources when doing readings, both in person and online. Sometimes I’d look up the meaning of every single card. The key here is not to regurgitate what your resource says but to really listen to your intuition on which meaning really applies to your current reading. It might change between each and every reading and that’s ok. Trust your intuition and see this as an exercise to make it stronger. 

4. Look for connection between the cards- This is where the cool stuff comes in (ok, it’s all cool but I think this is my favorite). If you’re following step 2 then you only have a few cards to interpret which will make it easier for you to see the connection between the cards. When reading don’t settle on simply interpretation the cards as stand alone pieces but really try and find how the cards support the overall reading. This will help you discover your own reading style and own meanings for the cards.

That’s pretty much it! It’s hard at first but progressively gets easier the more you practice! With enough practice you’ll become a budding intuitive reader with your own style that people will love and appreciate! 

Imbolc helps us say farewell to the hibernation of winter and usher in the bountiful months of spring. I hope that this spread can help you determine what areas of your own lives are stagnant, and how to bring them back to life!

1. Frost: This position represents that which has frozen over in your life. Where do you see stagnation? In what ways have you become stuck?

2. Flame: This position symbolizes the spark that will help you usher in your productive season. What can help you move forward with your goals? What will thaw out your frozen motivation?

As the wintery days starts stretching a little longer and signs of life starts peeping about in nature, we are reaching the zenith of the season. The Winter crossquarter is a time of returning light and returning life that marks the end of the cold hibernating season. Candles are lit to welcome the returning light, animals are stirring from hibernation, snow is beginning to thaw leaving behind slush and snowdrops. It is time to look forward to spring, cleanse the home, the self and prepare for the brighter half of the year! 

I see the three sabbats: Samhain, Yule and Imbolc all as new year-ish celebrations, samhain being the death of the year and entering the cold hibernating phase, yule being the rebirth of the year- the longest night which marks the point where we will be returning to the lighter half and Imbolc being the true start to the year after the hibernating/resting period has ended. As the first half of winter is dedicated to resting this period I deem it as cleansing/shedding. I made a transitional wheel here that has gained some traction on this site over the past year.   A lot of us witches practice alone and have our own solitary rituals for each sabbat that we observe (or the ones we’ve created just for ourselves that we observe alone!) Like any solitary eclectic witch I do things my own different way but some of these things might line up with others practices. I do refer to some of the equinoxes/solstices/crossquarters by their celtic sabbat names but I celebrate them in a secular animist way and treat the wheel of the year I celebrate as more of an agrarian cycle and celebrating nature. I use sabbat names as a point of reference and also people that do celebrate these witches sabbats more traditionally might find value in my personal practice! Here is my personal correspondences post and my personal Imbolc tag!

When I am alone and casting spells a lot of it is visualization/intent so my solitary rituals are more like activities I like to do then specifically casting a spell. If I am doing a spell with an activity based on it a lot would be listening to music to get in the mood and focusing on a candle while visualizing for a period of time! Eves are also important to my celebration as I like to stay up until midnight and cast a spell then!

Imbolc’s Eve

January 31st, (Wednesday 2018)

Cleaning AND CLEANSING This crossquarter has a lot of emphasis on cleansing and preparing for spring to come, and has a tradition of ‘spring cleaning’ (though it’s not quite spring yet), but even if you are in the deep winter months it’s good to get the air within the home flowing since it tends to be bottled up and stagnating to keep the warmth in. This might not sound like much fun, but when you make it into a magical ritual, this can be a very purifying and elevating experience!

Use fragrances like juniper, peppermint, wintergreen while cleaning. Juniper is my preferred scent as it’s cleansing, airy, cool and sharp!

Sweeping Use a besom to symbolically sweep away the unwanted energy and or patterns you want to rid yourself or your space of. This is an old tradition!

Shedding As the days get longer and the air warmer, it’s time to shed! Get rid of old stuff you no longer need and should part with. Donate old ugly clothes, toss old things, maybe give new life to things you haven’t used in a while. It’s time to purge!  

Hang chimes I love the sound of metal chimes as the instrument of choice for this sabbat. It reminds me of melting icicles and wintery air. Chimes makes a great cleansing and peaceful sound for your space!

Make Candles!!! Unless if you’re in a space where you can’t have candles, it would be great to create some candles for the sabbat! Candles are very easy to make and you can make them in pretty glass votives instead of trying to find a mold for them. You can even get some tea lights and infuse herbs, fragrances and glitter on the top instead of making a whole candle if you don’t have time. I enjoy using warm plain wintery fragrances for this sabbat such as vanilla or sugar. Having refreshing candles like eucalyptus and mint is nice too! But I’d probably want to make those in a creation like:

Ice cube Candles! Here is the DIY link!

Beautiful herbal pressed candles

Make Ice Lanterns! Wonderful alternative if you can’t have open flames indoors, if you have a spot outside where a lantern would be safe to burn, then this makes a beautiful midwinter decoration! (If open flame isn’t ok anywhere for you, having electric candles works great for this cause candles outside tend to not stay lit due to winds and falling snow/water.) Here’s option one with water balloons and here is option two with a carton!

Body Scrubs Make some enchanted body scrubs to exfoliate away the old and bring energy for the new! Here are a few favorites for the sabbat! (honey sugar scrub, coconut oil sugar scrub, lavender vanilla sugar scrub)

Milk Bath Spell As this sabbat is about cleaning and renewing the home and the self, I love to have a ritual bath each year. This sabbat also has symbolism of motherhood, nurturing and overall milk and dairy and a milk bath is a way to incorporate the symbolism into your solitary practice! They aren’t too hard to make in advance and here are a few simple recipes you can build off of! If you make it in a jar you can charge it overnight with a quartz crystal on top of the lid! (Plain milk bath, chamomille lavender oatmeal milk bath, pink salt milk bath, milk and honey bath melts, almond milk bath, rosemary chamomille detox bath)  

Enjoy snacks while doing crafts such as: yogurt pretzels, buttermints, grilled cheese bites, cheese puffs, white chocolate wafers, bread sticks and cheese dip, and if you are not a fan of dairy then animal crackers (in honor of hibernating animals!), or rosemary crackers, dark toasted bread (like pumpernickel), sliced apples, parsnip fries!

Cleanse and Decorate the altar! Wipe down all the incense ash and the surfaces with refreshing essential oils, purify the space, and decorate it with wintery elements, eucalyptus garland, silver mound, lambs ear and white candles!

Midnight Spell:

The Crossquarter is a time to focus on what you would want to initiate or manifest for the new year. This time is ideal for road opening spells if you need something to open up for you by the time spring arrives. Set goals for yourself, clear paths for yourself, and focus on achieving them by manifesting it on this night!

An activity for road opening could be writing down your goals and sealing it in a plastic bag. Take a bowl and put your goals on the bottom then fill it with a thin layer of ice cubes. Light a white candle on top (preferably a floating candle) symbolizing you in your path to reach your goals. As the last of winter’s snows thaw, the barrier of ice between your candle and your goals will be melted away.

A quicker and simpler task would be to burn bayleaves which is something I do annually (and also is a common tradition). You burn bayleaves to manifest desires into reality yet also it can be a divinatory practice as the way the bayleaf burns will show you if it’s a task that’s being blocked, if you have to work harder at it or if it’s something that will happen right away.

Banishing the old and unwanted This should preferably be done first but think about the qualities that you are not fond of or habits that you’d like to break for the new cycle to come. Light a bundle of juniper or eucalyptus/wintergreen incense and smoke cleanse yourself to start anew. Think about the qualities you’d like to replace the negative ones. Instead of thinking of things like “I want to be less lazy” focus on it more like “I’m productive, I’m motivated, I’m energetic” etc.

Imbolc Day

February 1st 

Wear all white! It’s midwinter and a time of cleansing! Wear white to either honor winter or to celebrate the fresh start of the new year to come! (Bonus if you want to wear sparkly makeup like glittery eyeshadow, nail polish, lip gloss)

Fresh Air Open up the windows for a few minutes to let the air in and get the stagnant air flowing! It might be very cold but its good for the air flow for at least a few minutes! 

Soundbath Use chimes or a singing bowl to cleanse your space and bring in good energy. This would be great to do while you have the windows open for a moment!

Day of Light! Fill the home with AS MUCH LIGHT as possible. Open all curtains! Light lanterns and electric candles! Put on white fairylights. Welcome the return to light!

Ritual Bath Have a magical ritual spa day! Have some special scrub that you never use cause you don’t have time? Today is the day for it! Have a colorful bath bomb you still haven’t used? Make a bath ritual with it! If you had made the milky bath jar from the night before, have a rejuvenating magical experience and maybe channel your bath witchery to do some energy work in the bath. You can do some tub “grounding” by getting well connected with your physical form and energy surrounded by the magic of the bath you’ve created. Also light some white candles and play some relaxing meditative music. For this sabbat I have a few sound tracks I enjoy listening to! ( 1 , 2 , 3 )

Visit a Sauna House Especially if you don’t have a bath and you’d like to get out of the house, going to a sauna house is a wonderful outing and perfect for this sabbat. Especially with symbolism such as fire stirring in the earth, a great way to celebrate that is to sweat it out instead of being out in the cold! The sauna houses by me are all Korean bath houses and they are INCREDIBLE because not only do they have wonderful hot tubs but they also have saunas made out of salt bricks, clay, quartz and jade and it’s a wonderful place to do energy work in or meditate.

Eat seasonal winter roots Not a lot is available in the middle of winter but I love white hardy roots like potatoes, rutabaga, parsnips (they make amazing fries!) and turnips. There was this amazing dish a chef made called rootatouille which was a wintery version of ratatouille (which is such a summer harvest dish). Rootatouille is made with roots and covered with a delicious cream sauce instead of tomato sauce. (Skip to 3:33 for the rootatouille part)

Enjoy a nice creamy drink like a milky tea or frothy latte! Especially if you don’t have time to make yourself a whole dinner then just having a pleasant milky tea or a frothy creamy latte is enough to get festive! Here’s a recipe I love to do sometimes on this sabbat:

Whole Milk or Oat Milk 

Kava (Like two tsp to a cup of milk?)

Nutmeg

vanilla bean or extract

cardamom simmer the milk (do not boil) with the spices. Mix until well infused and blended. Enjoy! (Also if you never had kava before, it’s something that makes you feel very very chill and some people use it as an alternative to alcohol. Don’t operate any machinery or do any of the things you shouldn’t do while drunk. It has different effects on different people but if you don’t know how it makes you feel yet then don’t plan on doing anything for the rest of the day).

Evening:

Light a bunch of candles!! Make sure that your space is still filled with many lights as the evening rolls in! If you don’t have a lot of candles or don’t want a lot of open flames, I love the look of white fairy lights and white electric candles. It’s mysterious and icy and less worrisome! 

Feast! This feast is usually dairy-centric as it’s a very wintery and also maternal feast. Most animals are lactating this time of year and it was a time people had access to something in the middle of winter to eat. Therefore, other than grain, roots and dried meats, dairy has symbolic importance but there are other things available if dairy is not your thing! However a dish I like to make for myself is spicy shepherds pie because the top mashed potatoes is like the snow and the bottom meaty part is like the thawing earth. I put a lot of spices in the meaty bottom so it symbolizes the life stirring in the earth and the warmer days to come. Shepards pie is also easy to make a vegetarian/vegan version of. If you do love dairy a great dessert to enjoy would be a slice of cheese cake or even better- tres leches, but if you are not a fan of either, another dessert I love to make is essentially a brownie sundae where the brownie once again symbolizes the stirring earth and the vanilla icecream (which you can get a non dairy version of) is like the thawing snow. When the two fuse together it might create a light brownish slush which is kind of the sign of winter’s end that everyone dislikes cause they think it looks dirty but I love to celebrate it in the form of a tasty melting dessert. Bonus if you want to make a snowdrop topper to garnish it with.

Here’s a link for a fantasy feast I made ages ago with some recipes!

🍋 wake up early and enjoy the sunrise!! the sun continues to grow higher in the sky, the spring is coming. appreciate and honor that fact if you’re able.

🍋 take a cleansing (ritual if you please) shower! whether you use scent corresponded soaps + body washes or just envision negativity being washed off and positivity being brought in, starting the day by cleansing away bad energy is a fabulous way to start in my book.

🍋 SPRING CLEANING! this is a perfect time to declutter and cleanse your space. get rid of anything and everything you don’t need and even go through your room/house with sage or incense if you wish!

🍋 going with that ^, rearrange your altar if you please! create a fresh start by adding some colors/correspondents of the sabbat. whether you prefer more of the pastel pinks, yellows and purples to represent the growing flowers and spring days to come, or more reds, yellows and oranges to honor Brigid, the Goddess we tribute to on this day, there are so many possibilities to spruce it up!

🍋 take a nature walk!! this is alwayssss on my to do list when celebrating a sabbat, but i feel like it’s extra special on Imbolc. take time to look for signs of spring, flowers beginning to bloom, leaves starting to bud, snow slowly melting away. the sun is coming, better and brighter days are ahead.

🍋 LIGHT! CANDLES! Imbolc is also known as St. Brigid’s day and Candlemas, it is the absolute best time to light some candles, turn on the lights and open the blinds to let in the sunshine!

🍋 do some art!! Brigid is well known for her connection to arts and crafts and poetry, so let your artsy side shine. your creativity is at its peak this time of year, don’t let those juices go to waste!

🍋 make a Brigid’s cross, a corn doll, or even a candle inspired by the spring! wrote a poem, create a playlist, honestly anything that makes you feel closer and more connected to the season, Imbolc and Brigid.

🍋 do a tarot spread connected to Imbolc! i adore sabbat themed spreads, i feel its a great way to get an idea of your life currently and allow yourself to take some time to grow, heal, balance, etc.

🍋 FOOOOOOD. dairy, bread, meat and seeds are very popular for this sabbat but please feel free to create delicious dishes that fit to your needs! i plan on making some honey bars or citrus cookies as i have more of a sweet tooth.

🍋 if you do cook something and would like to honor Brigid/the season/your personal deities, put some aside and offer it to them!

🍋 leave out SAFE AND ANIMAL FRIENDLY food for the local wildlife! as animals slowly start to reappear, honor them with a tasty treat. please always make sure it is safe before hand and don’t leave anything that could harm the earth or those around you! fruits, vegetables and seeds are your safest bet.

🍋 create a vision board or a goal list!! i always think of new beginnings + opportunities when i hear of Imbolc, so now is a wonderful time to set some positive goals for yourself!! put this year in perspective and use what you created to work into your craft. need more love? healing? want to work on your focusing? now you know what spells/rituals/potions you should be working on.

🍋 PLANT SOMETHIN! it’s still quite cold where i am, but if you’re able plant some flowers or herbs! start up a beautiful garden to take care of this year. if it’s too chilly outside, start an indoor garden! there are plenty of herbs/succulents and such that can still manage to thrive with enough sunlight, water + love.

🍋 reflect. the winter months can be hard for all of us, so take this time to look back for a minute and realize that light and positive times are ahead. please don’t dwell on the past, but rather see how far you’ve come and plan on how you want to better yourself in the upcoming year.