Llewellyn Publications's Blog, page 46

Knight of Spring

The Victorian Fairy Tarot

Lunaea Weatherstone, art by Gary A. Lippincott

To see more, click HERE. 

The Knight of Spring comes to greet you on behalf of The Victorian Fairy Tarot!

Knight of Spring

No one embodies the spring fever that comes over the fairies more than the Knight of Spring. He is an energetic explorer who must have a mission or quest and who becomes restless if kept closely at court. The everyday and the routine have no appeal for him. Dashing, brave, and a bit of a rogue, he sees the humor in most situations, even the most daunting. It’s all a great adventure for this enthusiastic and daring fairy knight, and he is more than ready for the challenge. His flower is Pyrus japonica, also known as fairy fire, whose message is “temptation” – in this case, the temptation is to see what is over the next hill, and the next, and the next…

Llewellyn’s 2017 Tarot Catalog Is Here!

We are proud to bring our readers our seventh annual tarot catalog! Discover the newest in tarot offerings from Llewellyn, Lo Scarabeo, and Blue Angel, plus get free shipping on US orders over $30 and 20% savings when you order online with the promo code found on the cover! Hurry, savings good through 8/1/17!

Do Animals Go Crazy for You?

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Danielle MacKinnon, author of the new Animal Lessons.

Are you one of those people who, when you walk in the door of someone’s house, their dog comes barreling over and wants to give you kisses no matter how much you protest? Does your cat take your seat the moment you’re about to sit in it? When the animals in your life aren’t heeding you, there’s no need to worry. It’s actually a sign that something pretty wonderful is happening: the lesson the animals have to teach you is finally manifesting!

Animals are much smarter than many of us give them credit for, and they work at much deeper levels than most suspect. They will intuitively hone in on that “thing” you need to work on within yourself, and they’ll highlight it for you until you are able to focus and grow in that area.

So, if your animals aren’t listening to you, it’s because they’ve connected to the core of your being and they know this is something you need to work on to become the happiest, healthiest, most empowered person you can be—not just in the relationship with your animal, but in the rest of your life as well. And not only will they keep highlighting that area you need to work in, but they’ll keep at it until you finally give in and start working on that piece.

Perhaps that means that you start setting better boundaries with your dog, or perhaps you get your cat her own seat and let her know that yours is off limits. Whatever it is that you need to do to shift the energy, they’re going to continue not listening to you until you shift that part of yourself within!

By the way, lessons from animals aren’t always about being more empowered. The animals in your life could be helping you feel more loved or more confident. Take a look at the animals in your life—is there a repeated pattern? That’s the key to figuring out what they’re trying to teach you!

Our thanks to Danielle for her guest post! For more from Danielle MacKinnon, read her article, “Three Ways You’re Likely Sending Your Pet Mixed Messages.”

5 Ways to Make the Cards Your Own

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Melissa Cynova, author of the new Kitchen Table Tarot.

I’ve been reading cards for nearly 30 years, and I’ve found over the years that tarot readers get into trouble when they decide that there is only one way to learn the cards. One way to study, or teach, or interpret the cards. Once you start knowing something for sure instead of wondering or gaining a new perspective, your capacity to bring in new ideas and new flavors to your readings stops cold. This can only limit you as you read for different people, engage with new communities, and read with new decks.

I’ve learned more about my cards by reading books, studying the imagery of the cards themselves, and stalking tarot folks on social media. When I teach, I’ve got a few techniques I’ve learned over the years that I share with my students. It’s one thing to learn the cards, but it’s another entirely to make them your own. Here are five ways you can do just that!

Make a playlist!I have a playlist with a song or two for each tarot card. I’ve got my songs on my website at Twelve Ways Your Chakras Can Enhance Your Decisions.”

How to Really Bring the Tarot to Life

Bringing the Tarot to Life

In my many years of acquiring books and decks for Llewellyn, I’m always looking for something that is new and unique but not just gimmicky. It’s not easy to find ideas that are clever and actually useful to learning tarot. Scott Martin is one of those rare people who brought an idea that was so unique and at the same time such a great fit with tarot. Having been involved in New York theatre for many years as a teacher and director, Scott is very familiar with the exercises that actors use to help them get to know the character they are to portray on the stage. As a tarot enthusiast, he knows that being activity involved with the cards is the best way to get to know them. He married the two and this brilliant book is the result. Here is an example of one of the delightful activities:

Tarot Stars in the Revival

Select a play, a movie, a TV show or even a book with which you are familiar and make a list of the main characters.

You are the casting director. Choose a tarot card to “play” each of the characters.

To illustrate this exercise, let’s consider the 1939 film classic, The Wizard of Oz and the four main characters: Dorothy, The Cowardly Lion, The Scarecrow and The Tin Man. They are all on their personal journey of discovery.

Dorothy: Perhaps Dorothy is the Fool on the Fool’s Journey. At the end of her journey, she discovers that “There’s no place like home.”

The Lion: The Eight of Swords. He thinks himself a coward, but finds that he was imbued with courage after all. Like the Eight of Swords, he possessed what he needed all along but was held back by his lack of self-confidence and belief in himself.

The Scarecrow: He is indecisive and confused, because he thinks he lacks a brain. In his search for a brain, he may be represented by the Eight of Cups, who is also on a quest for what he thinks is missing. By story’s end, we discover that the Scarecrow was deemed “the wisest man in all of Oz!”

The Tin Man: This touchingly vulnerable character wishes he had a heart. Perhaps he doesn’t notice it, because he has always been in the service of others. Let’s cast this gentle soul as The Six of Cups, which epitomizes that generously giving spirit.

Choose your own vehicle now, and cast from the seventy-eight pool of “actors” who have arrived for the audition. List your cast of characters, the “actors” you have cast in the roles, explain your choices and log them into your journal.

 

Learning from Childhood Magic

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Penny Billington, author of The Path of Druidry and The Wisdom of Birch, Oak, and Yew as well as co-author of the new Keys to the Temple.

“One day, you will be old enough to start reading fairytales again,” wrote C. S. Lewis to his god-daughter. Hopefully we have all reached this stage, for magic demands the openness of the child. Unfortunately, our life experience teaches us to button up, raise a shield, to avoid, avoid, avoid… Until we fall in love, and learn that to be vulnerable and open to relationship is worth the risk. Then we get hurt and close down a bit more even though we know it’s a retrograde step…and so the merry-go-round spins.

We can measure our success as magicians—and as mature humans—by our relationships with the human and more-than-human world. So, how to stay in that accepting, non-judgmental state that’s essential to experiencing the world as truly magical?

Fortunately, we have basic “how to” guides easily to hand, in stories we can read in minutes, not hours: every time we pick up a fairy story, we align with the magical mindset of the hero/ines.

Let’s take a typical example: we’ll call it, “Jack or Jill seek their fortune.” They’re usually the third child; a magical placing, but as youngest, often overlooked. So off they go, with just a crust for their next meal; and what happens? The world makes demands on them, straight away… and they respond, gladly. A bird is hungry, and is given half of the bread; an unhappy gate is squeaky, and they grease it with butter; a horse whose mane is caught in the hedge is rescued… and so on, and so on.

Jill/Jack’s behavior is an example to all who would work magic: they are simple, open and trusting: seemingly alone, they respond to a world that is a marvel of sentient life forms and connections.

And what are the results? They find whatever has been captured or stolen by the evil magician, and liberate it, treasure or prisoner: this will be their reward, but only if they can make their escape. They flee for their life with their spoils—but how can an untrained adolescent escape from an angry magician? Here, they reap the rewards of their earlier selfless service, as the sentient world works against evil and allies itself with trust and goodness.

The bird warns Jack or Jill when they need to escape; the gate lets them through but then clangs shut in the magician’s face; they ride on the horse’s back to freedom and to a new life at the end of the quest. And, to point the moral, the story sometimes expands: if any siblings try to duplicate the adventure just for the reward, their selfish attitude means that they will undoubtedly come a cropper.

It’s not rocket science. If the simplicity and trust of Jack/Jill are the portal to magical relationships, then our work must be to maintain a generosity and acceptance of what the world brings us. Not an easy job, but what rewards if we can master it! Who knows, we might even end up with the prince/ss, the treasure or half the kingdom.

When we have learned that lesson from our earliest stories, we will be ready for stage two. That is to revisit grown up magical fiction and read it in the same way—not just for story, but also for hints about behavior, technique and underlying principles. Which should we to put into practice? What lessons can we bring to the real world?

In this way, with dedication and commitment, we might become the priest/esses that we have always known slept within us. Or, as the great magical teacher Dion Fortune once wrote, we might just gain the Keys to the Temple itself. With my co-author, Ian Rees, I’ve spent the last few years exploring and interpreting her system for doing just that… but that is a story for another day!

Our thanks to Penny for her guest post! For more from Penny Billington, read her article, “Five Aids to Magical Thought: Dion Fortune and the Path of Occult Fiction.”

Tune in to the Angels of Your Sun Sign

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Patricia Papps, author of Heal Yourself with Angels and the new Angels of the Zodiac.

Lead a happy and fulfilling life with your own special zodiac angels who work in conjunction with the ray of your zodiac sign. Zodiac angels have a special power and a deep love that will raise your consciousness to a higher spiritual level, enabling you to embrace life in all its glory and face any problems with courage and faith. My book, Angels of the Zodiac, will show you have to use the power of these angels to enhance your life and sort out any problems that you are experiencing. They bring an understanding of the reason for this particular incarnation and will bring you answers to the spiritual questions you may have.

Each zodiac sign has four angels that bring their wisdom and love to enrich your life and heighten your awareness of the spiritual aspects of your being:

Each sign has a special angel that brings a particular lesson to the soul
Each sign has an angel for the special lesson that the soul has incarnated to learn
Each zodiac sign is also under the influence of a particular colour ray, and this ray has a special angel that will bring help and guidance in your daily life
Zodiac signs also come under the influence of a planet, and each planet has a specific angel that brings a perception of your life that will bring happiness and joy to your soul through belief and awareness of the special help of the angels

How do you tune into this special power of the zodiac angels and enjoy their help and love? Angels of the Zodiac provides clear instructions on how to harness this power through meditation that will, with practice, bring you awareness of their presence and their loving energy. As you become more aware of a particular angel’s presence in your life, their love will be able to bring a healing balm to your emotions and a clarity to your mind that will enable you to live joyously and abundantly.

Tune in to your special zodiac angels today and develop a lifestyle that is harmonious and happy. Angels work miracles in your life and bring their love to expand your consciousness and bring awareness of your spiritual self. The meditations in the book will bring a peace of mind and stability to your life and bring you into an awareness of angels that will enable you to realise your dreams. Zodiac angels open our awareness to the mysteries of the Divine and lift our consciousness to a higher level of understanding. This brings a deep peace and inspiration to our lives and helps us create the sort of life we would like to be living. Enjoy working with your angels today and you will find life is fulfilling and joyful and has a deeper meaning that you ever thought possible.

Our thanks to Patricia for her guest post! For more from Patricia Papps, read her article, “The Angels of Your Sun Sign.”

The Many Magical Uses of Herbal Waters

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Aaron Leitch, author of several books, including Secrets of the Magickal Grimoires, The Angelical Language Volume I and Volume II, and Essential Enochian Grimoire.

Greetings fellow witches!

Herbal washes and waters are among the most popular tools used in traditional forms of shamanism and folk magick around the world. They have existed for as long as humans have known how to make herbal teas, but their uses go far beyond medicinal beverages. In fact, they are exceptionally powerful tools in any witch‘s arsenal—it might just be easier to list the ways in which herbal waters cannot be used than to list all of their diverse applications. Visit any botanica (shops that cater to African and Caribbean Traditions, such as Santeria, Voodoo, and Hoodoo) and you will typically find several shelves fully stocked with herbal washes for as many purposes as you can imagine.

Yet, for some unfathomable reason, they have been slow to work their way into modern forms of witchcraft. Perhaps this is due to the less-than-amicable relationship between most indigenous folk traditions and modern Neopaganism. In past decades, some aspects of the older systems (such as their focus on the dead and underworld, and their use of animal sacrifice) made many Neopagans uncomfortable. As a result, many things—even very useful things—that originate in those traditions were overlooked by Western practitioners.

Today’s witches and ritual magicians are much more open to magical items that might be found on shelves next to skulls and coffin nails. However, some of these, like herbal washes, are new and mysterious to modern students, who are often unsure exactly how they are intended to be used. Over the past few years, I have posted some blogs on how to make these waters (see here and here) and even video of the process being done. But I still get one question from practitioners above any other: How are these waters supposed to be used? Therefore, in this blog post I will just barely scratch the surface of the nearly endless applications for herbal waters and washes.

Before I get to that, however, let’s briefly discuss herbal waters in general—what are they? My above reference to teas is a major clue: they are made by extracting the essences of plants via water. The difference is that teas (and coffees) are extracted with hot water, while herbal waters do not utilize heat. Instead, plants sacred to the desired occult force are submerged in room-temperature spring water and, by hand, torn and shredded again and again until the water has turned an opaque green. This is done while invocations of the desired force are recited. For example, if I were to make a Solar water, I would use plants sacred to the Sun, and infuse them into the spring water while reciting Psalms associated with Sol. When complete, the reduced plant material is removed, leaving only a dark green-tinted water.

If we get right down to brass tacks, this is a form of ritual plant sacrifice, the chlorophyll being the blood of the plants. When complete, you will have a powerful substance fully charged with the spiritual essence of the desired occult force—and it can be used absolutely anywhere you need to apply that force. Let’s get to some examples:

Use it like a regular holy water to cleanse sacred space and charge it with a specific occult force. For example, sprinkle Lunar Water around your circle and upon your altar before invocations to the Moon. You can also sprinkle it upon yourself and other ritual participants (or observers) for the same purpose.
Use it as a wash for your ritual tools and furnishings. Some magical tools are dedicated to a specific deity or force, and an herbal water can help charge and consecrate them to their purpose. Just lightly dampen a cloth with some of the water, and gently wipe the tool, altar, talisman, etc.
Mix a few drops into your sacred inks or paints. This way, your tools and talismans will have their occult force bound directly into the characters and images you inscribe upon them.
Use them in place of blood. One of my first introductions to herbal waters came in the form of Santerian omiero—an herbal water that is fed to the Orishas (Gods), and is considered as powerful (or more so) than animal blood. As I mentioned before, the chlorophyll that makes the water green is essentially the blood of the plant. With this in mind, you can use herbal waters in any place a spell normally calls for blood or sacrifice. It is only necessary to determine what occult force the animal represents, and use a water with plants also sacred to that force. (I talk more about this here.)
Use them as libation offerings. Very similar to their use as blood substitutes, you can offer herbal waters to any spiritual creature. Just use a water containing essence of plants sacred to (or enjoyed by) the entity. It can be poured into a bowl and placed on an altar, poured out onto the ground, sprinkled into the air, and it can even be used in the preparation of other items you wish to offer—either adding it to food dishes or using it to wipe down offertory objects.
Use as a Floor Wash. Just put some fresh water and a natural cleaning agent into a mop bucket, then pour in some of the herbal water and mop the floor as usual. This will charge your home or business with a desired force. For example, wash the floors of your shop with Jupiter Water to attract prosperity. Wash the floors of your home with Solar Water to bring light and happiness.
Put it in a spritzer bottle and spray it literally anywhere—including upon yourself or others—to attract a desired occult force. This is great to use alongside the above-mentioned floor washes, as you can continue the cleaning by charging the entire room.
Add it to your ritual baths. A Solar Water would be a good addition to any standard ritual purification bath. However, you can use other waters to charge the bath with other specific forces. A Lunar Bath could help with dreams and visions. A Mercury Bath could help with study or divination. A Jupiter Bath can attract prosperity and friendship. A Mars Bath could aid your resolve or ability to fight. A Saturn Bath could help you become more invisible.
Beauty aids. I know of one young lady who mixes a bit of honey into a jar of Venus Water, and applies a small amount to her face every day. On one hand it helps her physically (many plants sacred to Venus are natural beauty aids), and on the other it creates a “glamor” to make her appear younger and more beautiful. Just make sure you aren’t allergic to any of the plants used in the herbal water before you use it!
You can even spritz it over doorknobs, walkways, and furniture to make sure others will come into direct contact with it. In this way, it is very similar to Hoodoo blowing and sprinkling powders.
Use it as a base for other magical concoctions. For example, Mars Water and/or Saturn Water make great bases for War Water. You can use them in jar spells, add a few drops to a sachet, or include them as an ingredient in any number of witches’ brews. Just make sure all the plants used to make the herbal water are edible if you intend to ingest anything that includes it.

As I said previously, the above is only a small sample of uses for herbal holy waters. The only true limit to their application is your own imagination. If you would like to try them for yourself, you can visit your local botanica and browse their shelves of “floor washes,” or find them online.

Regardless of whether you make or purchase these waters, I hope this guide will help you understand just how useful, versatile, and potentially powerful they are. No occultist’s ingredient shelf should be without them!

Our thanks to Aaron for his guest post! Visit Aaron Leitch’s author page for more information, including articles and his books.

The Marseille Tarot Revealed

The Marseille Tarot Revealed

Marseille Tarots have a rich history, a unique artistic style, and layered symbolism. Yoav, (who sadly passed away last year) was a modern master of this tradition. In this book we have a record of his knowledge of not only the cards themselves but also about reading the cards. Whatever style of deck you use, you can probably pick up some surprising insights from Yoav’s work. Here he talks about the questions asked during a reading:

What is the Question?

Many Tarot books attach much importance to the explicit formulation of the question. It is as if the cards were somehow obliged to answer the exact wording of the query. But as I see it, even if the querent comes to the reading with a clear and precise question, we should regard it only as a starting point. People are not always self-aware enough to know what exactly it is that troubles them. And even if they are, they don’t always feel free to reveal it right away during the first minutes of a meeting with a total stranger. In other words, the question that the querent presents at the beginning of the reading is not always the real question, which we are supposed to answer in order to help him.

That is why at the beginning of the session I prefer to let the querent present his story as he chooses, listen to him and maybe ask some questions of my own when something seems strange or unclear to me. Eventually we may arrive at a focused question and spread the card in order to answer it. But we may also just describe the situation, open the cards and see where they lead us. While the querent is speaking, I pay attention to the way he presents things and interpret it by the rule that everything is a sign. If the querent starts out with a long and detailed story, perhaps the first thing that he needs is just someone to listen to him. If the story is complicated and winding, he might be avoiding the real problem and trying to hide it behind a cloud of details. On the other hand, if the querent declines to give us information or challenges us to find out by ourselves what is the matter with him, we should note his closed and defensive attitude and understand it as a need to protect himself. We will probably have to work hard to gain his confidence, so that he may allow himself to bring down his defenses.

We should be suspicious of an all-too-clear and explicit question, as it might be just a cover, hiding the really essential point. For example, a person may ask how he can improve his situation at work or with his life partner. During the reading, the question may come up as to whether at all he wants to remain in his present job or relationship. Of course, in such a case we are not supposed to give him a definite yes-or-no answer, only to open him to new insights on the subject that he can later process with himself. In another instance, a querent may tell us about a business problem, but the reading may show that a family complication is bothering him and not letting him devote his energies to his business. In such a case, the real question is what to do about the family complication.

Many people come for a Tarot reading expecting a fortune-telling session, as if the cards are to say what will happen to them. So they may ask a question about future events: When will I get married? Will the business succeed? Will the quarrel end? Taking such a question at face value and giving them a definite answer is usually not productive. Right or wrong, an optimistic prediction may lower the motivation of the querent to make an effort as he may believe that success is guaranteed. A pessimistic one could also lower his motivation, this time because he may think all is lost anyway. The point is that such questions are formulated in terms of the future only on the surface of things. It is a language in which the querent expresses his present fears and concerns about the future. It is important to calm fears when they arise. But the real question, which has practical consequences, is not about the past or the future but always about the present: what can the querent do now in order to improve his situation?

The querent’s reactions at the end of the meeting should also not always be taken at face value. Sometimes it happens that people tell me things like “You didn’t tell me much that was new,” or “I didn’t relate to the message you conveyed.” But a few months or years later I meet them by chance, and then it turns out that the reading was meaningful and occupied their thoughts for a long time. In such cases one can hear things like “I didn’t understand at the time what came up in the reading, and only a few months later did it dawn on me.” It is important to remember that the prospect of real change always arouses real resistance at first. The significant test is over time, after the querent has digested and worked out what came up in the session. Thus, the criterion for a successful and productive reading is not whether the querent comes out from it with an immediate feeling of satisfaction. Rather, it is whether in retrospect he considers it as having been a positive and helpful experience.

Quick! Fix It with a Chakra!

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Cyndi Dale, author of a number of books, including the new Llewellyn’s Little Book of Chakras and the new Subtle Energy Techniques.

We’re constantly looking for a better “quick fix.” Just the other day, my dogs were yapping at a squirrel that had run into the house just when the dishwasher started leaking soapy water and the doctor’s office I’d been trying to reach for a week (finally) called back. I needed a fix—quickly.

Based on the title of this piece, you can guess that I managed my way out of this predicament via my chakras. Chakras are subtle energy organs that transform subtle energy into physical energy and vice versa, energy being defined as “information that vibrates.” How could a chakra help me eliminate a squirrel problem, silence the dogs, and stop the dishwasher in time to reach the phone?

A little known fact about the chakras is that they can operate like an “on” switch. Every in-body chakra manages a specific set of physical, psychological, and spiritual functions. Every chakra is also associated with an auric field, which expresses that chakra’s energy. A message emanated through a chakra is sent to the world through its related field, which in turn, commands change in the environment.

Are you starting to see how a chakra might command a “quick fix?”

During my home crisis, I figured out which chakra could best serve my needs, shouted the “marching command” available through it, pictured its coloration, and the following activities occurred within a few moments, all because my first chakra governs physical activity:

The squirrel spun around and dashed out the back door.

The dogs rushed after the squirrel, into a fenced-in back yard.

I slammed shut the door, thereby quieting the house.

I accidentally pressed against the dishwasher apparatus, suspending the slopping of the soapy water.

The phone rang six instead of its usual five rings and I answered.

Want to practice a chakra quick-fix on your own? Following is a list of the seven in-body chakras, their locations, colors, and marching orders. Shocked by an event and you can’t respond? Turn on your second chakra, see orange, and let your emotions flow. Teaching a class and you freeze? Internally focus on the fifth chakra command, and the color blue, and here come the words! For every need there’s a chakra to fill it.

Chakra
Focus Point
Color
Marching Order


First
Hips
Red
ACTION!


Second
Abdomen
Orange
LET THE FEELINGS FLOW


Third
Solar Plexus
Yellow
I NEED A GOOD THOUGHT


Fourth
Heart
Green
HELP ME RELATE


Fifth
Throat
Blue
GIVE ME THE WORDS TO SAY


Sixth
Forehead
Violet
SHOW ME WHAT TO SEE


Seventh
Top of Head
White
SPIRIT—HELP!

You might even want to print out this column, just to have it handy!

Our thanks to Cyndi for her guest post! For more from Cyndi Dale, read her article, “Twelve Ways Your Chakras Can Enhance Your Decisions.”