Tag: Witchcraft

Rebuilding the Tower

A story by Calista Moon on .

Well, my darlings, we’ve talked about a good many cards that sound daunting and in fact are not. Today we break that streak. Today we talk about The Tower. It doesn’t even really sound scary. It almost sounds safe if taken at face value. A tower; tall, removed, defensible. In the world of tarot, though, it means much the opposite. Where you once were safe and comfortable is going to fall, or is currently falling apart.

Upright, it brings energy of upheaval, destruction, and massive change. Whatever is coming is inescapable and will shake you to the core of your being. You’ll be wracked spiritually, mentally, and physically. You aren’t sure what’s true and what’s not anymore, or even who you can and can’t rely on. As devastating as this razing of your beliefs is, keep in mind that things must fall apart for other better things to fall together. It won’t be easy. And perhaps it hasn’t quite started crumbling yet, but the foundation is cracking. If you let things fall away, it will allow space to rebuild and growth in ways you were unable before. Try to see this as a way to break free and allow your soul to evolve. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t grieve the past. Change is scary, and sometimes this can feel like it was such a deep cut that you could never recover. Take each day one step at a time, and you will find the way forward; the way that leads you to your Highest Good.

Reversed, has a similar meaning, but with one very important distinction. The Tower’s reversal points to the fact that you are the one instigating the change. You are calling your foundational beliefs and morals into question and could even be seeing the truth of a situation, but ignoring it. Resisting this level of change won’t make it go away. It will just get louder and more chaotic until you allow the change to come. At its best, this may be a forewarning. If you’re in touch with your intuition and have been sensing change on the horizon, it can be in your reading to let you plan ahead to lessen the impact of the chaos that is on its way.

Change comes in many forms, from the turning of the seasons in the Wheel, to unpredictable sucker punches that knock the wind from our lungs and leave us gasping for reprieve. Know that when the Tower comes, it comes with good intention and an unflappable fire. From destruction we create, and when your slate is wiped clean is when it is easiest to make something entirely new. Trying to see the positive at work is hard in these times, but do your best to remember that it is happening FOR you, my darlings. Not TO you.

Blossoming In The Beltane Reunion

A story by Calista Moon on .

My darlings! May we be well met as we come up on the third Sabbat of the year. The Beltane celebration starts on April 30th, the same day the new moon settles in Taurus. We’ve talked about the way the energy of the new moon is ideal for manifesting, so I want to focus on the lively energy of Beltane in this post. Before we get too deep into it though, here are some reminders for how to connect to the black moon.

Take some time to clean your altar. If you’re celebrating Beltane, you may be doing this anyway to harness the high energy in the air, but the new moon is a time for fresh starts. For my little rock goblins, selenite, clear quartz, labradorite, tiger’s eye, and tiger iron are great manifesting and new moon connecting stones. Cinnamon brings abundance, luck, and prosperity. Mugwort awakens psychic gifts and banishes negative energies. Basil is a great protection and wealth herb as well. I associate all three of these with the new moon, bringing in fresh new opportunity and pushing out old energy. Green would be a great color to add and really bring in that fresh spring feeling as well!

Now let’s talk about Beltane! I don’t know about you, but this is what I’ve been waiting for since the weather turned cold. Beltane is the halfway mark between the Spring Equinox (Ostara) and the Summer Solstice (Litha). It is the height of the Spring season, and is still celebrated today as May Day in a lot of areas. Originally it was a Celtic fire festival, like Imbolc, and, like Imbolc, is celebrated from sundown to sundown. So Beltane will last from sundown on April 30th until sundown on May 1st. A couple large differences between Beltane and Imbolc is both the weather and the role that sexuality plays in this Sabbat. If we look to nature, we see attraction and babies everywhere at this time of year, and we use that energy to our benefit as well. Birds hatch, flowers bloom, and it’s even said that the Fae reawaken during Beltane. In some cultures the Fae and the May Queen are tied closely to Beltane, but I’ll let our Master Librarian fill you in on that. I’m sure she has far more knowledge than I do in that realm.

During the day, Beltane celebrations would start with people decorating their doors, windows, and livestock with yellow and white flowers, symbols of the sun and its promise of fertility, positivity, and abundance. A maypole would be erected with ribbons attached to the top. Young men and women would then grab a ribbon and dance around the pole, interweaving their ribbons together. Handfasting ceremonies would take place during Beltane to insure abundant fortune for young couples. There is even something called a May Bush, which is much like a Christmas tree! A thorn bush, or sometimes just a branch, would be decorated with ribbons, brightly colored shells, and rushlights. I had to look that last one up myself as I’d never heard of rushlights until I started looking into the history of Beltane. They are rushes that have been soaked in animal fat to act as small torches. (If you want to decorate a May bush this year, use smart fire safety, my darlings. String lights, fairy lights, what have you, may be more modern, but they are much more practical and safe than rushlights in this day and age.)

As night would fall, the Beltane fire was stoked, and all other flames would be extinguished. Candles, hearths, what have you, would go dark and be rekindled with the Beltane flame to protect the home and bless it with abundance. People would dance around the Beltane fire, and young couples would leap over the embers to in hopes of abundant love and fertility. Some would use the flames to create a smudge stick of sorts and let the smoke cleanse their homes and cattle, or even drive the cattle to leap over the fire itself in hopes of protecting the herd and bringing prosperity and abundance. The next morning many would roll in the morning dew as they believed it to increase beauty and maintain youth. A Beltane rain is said to cleanse and bring blessings of radiance, warmth, and abundance as well.

From a deity perspective, Beltane is the reunion of the Green Man and Mother Earth. Now that she has fully awoken after her long sleep and the Green Man has come of age in the cycle of the year, they embrace and express their love in the green and growing places. This is part of where the maypole came from. It is a phallic representation pushed into the earth, the joining of the Green Man and Mother Earth. As the ribbons intertwine and sheathe the maypole, it becomes the womb of the earth, full of life and potential, bringing kind weather and fertile land for crops. The Green Man is an ambiguous title for Mother Earth’s lover, and he can take many forms. In the Celtic pantheon he is the horned god Cernunnos, but this is a time when you can work with any fertility gods or goddesses. And remember as you harness this energy for growth that this is also the time of the New Moon, a powerful time to manifest!

So how do we celebrate now? While a lot of these rituals still take place today, such as the maypole and fire festivals, we can do a number of different things. As usual, whatever feels right to you is the way to celebrate, but here are some ideas and how I intend to bask in the new life around us. Take what resonates and leave what doesn’t, my darlings.

We’ve talked about making a ritual fire and decorating a May bush. You can make your own Maypole with a good stick, colorful ribbons, some fragrant herbs or flowers, and even tying on a crystal to decorate your altar. Making a fairy garden, or sowing new seeds in a plant garden are great ways to represent the rebirth in the air! You can also visit and decorate a nearby spring or well for the occasion and bless the waters there. If you’re looking to harness the sexual nature of this Sabbat, try cooking a meal with your lover and using aphrodisiacs to ramp up the desire between you like the Green Man and Mother Earth.

Personally I will be partaking in quite a few of these rituals! I love this time of year. Usually I spend time outside with nature appreciating the greenery, which is also a lovely way to honor the earth. However after researching the history of this Sabbat, I feel inspired to tackle traditional methods of celebration. I entirely intend to make a ritual fire and dance around it like the wild woman I am. I also want to decorate the rose bush in my front yard and lay out some offerings for the Fae and one of my deities, Persephone, who happens to be a fertility goddess. If I can find myself a good and hardy stick, I want to try my hand at making a maypole for my altar, which itself needs a good clean.

Oh! Let’s talk about rocks and plants! Two of my favorite topics, you know. Being all about sun and growth, Beltane’s associated colors are white, yellow, red, pink, and green. Some crystals to add to your workings or altar right now are Carnelian, for creativity and passion, Emerald, for luck and prosperity, Rose Quartz for love in all its forms, and Malachite, the stone of transformation, for courage and clearing negativity. Good herbs to throw into your cauldron or ritual fire are Yarrow for healing, love, and protection, Mint to symbolize personal strength and virtue, Lilac for high self-esteem and confidence, and Frankincense to cultivate inner peace and purification. If you’re one to make offerings to the earth, deities, Fae, or anyone else, cherries and peaches are wonderful choices during Beltane. Cherries represent sensuality and the elixir of life, while peaches are associated with perpetual vitality and satisfaction.

Once my altar has been decorated for the Beltane season, I will pick up the journaling I did during the Pink moon. Remember how we talked about the cosmic energy of the Pink moon was preparing us for this New moon? I suggested and embraced shadow work around the passion of my spirit, what brings me energy, and what stops me from engaging in these fulfilling activities. I have spent the past few weeks working to incorporate my soul fire into my daily life and I want to continue this work, so I intend to sit down in my cleansed space and meditate. What would my life look like if my spiritual garden burst fully into bloom? If every dream I have opened to my soul’s flame, like flowers spreading their gorgeous delicate petals to the sun? How would my soul, my body, my mind feel in this harmony? I will hold and charge a talisman with this passion and flow, and carry it with me. I’ll spend some time journaling about what this projected passionate life looks like on a day to day basis. Remember to stay realistic in your vision. Contentment and discipline stay when motivation and passion wane.

With my meditation complete, I will head outside to stoke my ritual fire. Once it’s burning brightly like the fulfillment of my future, I’ll recite this invocation. I found it during my research and tweaked it to suit my own intentions and ritual.

The Beltane Fire sends its flames to the sun
The promise of summer warmth to come
The Horned God dances through the green,
Chasing after his Goddess and Queen

The Earth Mother laughs with joy
That her young consort is no longer a boy
Their sacred marriage empowers the earth
As we seek their blessings of love and mirth

New spring blossoms clean and bright
Clarity grows in the gathering light
Now is the time for action and life
To fertilize plans and banish strife

Father Sun and Mother Moon
Whose balance keeps life in tune
Bless us as we thrive, grow, and dance
In the beautiful universe expanse.

Dance free across the Beltane fire
Let the ashes raise you higher
‘Neath the moon, now dark and new
The Greatest Good come swift to you!

And so it is. And so it is. And so it is. Blessed be.

And then…we dance! Dancing isn’t for everyone, but I like to think of it as moving in time with the cosmic flow. However you move is the best way to move. Let your body guide you, it knows where it wants to go, and the universe will love however you move! Think of this aligned future you’re manifesting and the bright fulfillment you desire; that you deserve! Send the energy of your dance up with the flames to shift the machinations of the universe to your dreams. When I feel my future has been solidly rooted, done and dusted, I’ll sit and buzz in the thrum of the energy I’ve raised until the fire dies.

In the morning, I’ll go roll in my yard and scare my good suburban neighbors as I embrace the morning dew with affirmations of beauty, vitality, and the fact that we must grow old, but no one must grow up. Being young at heart is a quality I hold dear, and rolling around in the grass is a great way to engage your inner child. Playing is so important, my darlings. I hope you let yourself play and cut loose this weekend as you celebrate however you like! Blessings and fortune be upon you!

The Devil’s In The Details

A story by Calista Moon on .

Hello hello, my darlings! I’m so glad to be writing to you again! I prepared the last few blogs in advance as I started my new job, and while I’m glad I took the time to focus on my new responsibilities, BOY did I miss talking to you every week. Now if you read my Pink Moon blog, you’ll know that we’re in an energetic upheaval for metamorphosis right now, as we prepare for the new moon in a few days on the 30th. What better time to dig deep into our habits and cycles with this next card; the Devil. Scary sounding again, I know. Don’t panic, this isn’t what you think! The Devil card represents our shadow selves. It’s important to remember that these are not “bad” parts of us, but we do get an instant gratification that we can overindulge to our detriment.

The Devil arrives upright when we have been tricked into thinking that we have no control over our shadow self’s manifestation in our life, or that we could never break free of their hold on us. A lot of times, they surface through addiction, eating habits, or any other immediate satisfaction. It’s important to acknowledge the hold these things have over you and the impact they’re having on your life. They are within your control, however hard it may be to change ingrained habits. These are not the kinds of shadows that you can be freed from overnight. It will take time, discipline, and willpower, but it IS possible to change and it is only you who can make these changes. He can also represent your wild side or sexuality. You could be exploring the freedom of promiscuity, or perhaps darker fantasies. As long as you’re doing this in a safe space with clearly laid boundaries, this can be a very enriching experience! But delving deep into that carnal gratification has the potential to become detrimental to your well-being if things go too far or you find yourself exposed to disease, so choose your partners carefully. On that note, The Devil can also represent a POWERFUL attachment between two people. These kinds of connections can be deliciously intoxicating, so enjoy yourself! Just be sure that you don’t lose track of your personal boundaries or inner guidance, as this can lead to a deeply unhealthy codependent relationship.

When the Devil is reversed, he wants you to know that you’re on the verge of a breakthrough. You’re on the right path to your Highest Good, but you need to let go of unhealthy attachments or limiting beliefs that are holding you back from leveling up. You need to confront the fears and anxieties that you have imposed on yourself to fully release them and move forward. This is an opportunity to explore your deepest darkest places consciously, with calm confidence and courage. Once you understand your innermost shadows, you can choose to leave them behind or use them in a more constructive way. Remember, there is no light without darkness. We are both, and our shadow selves are not bad. They simply are. How we use them is what makes them “good” or “bad”. If you’re feeling unsteady about exploring these depths alone, a professional therapist can help you navigate the dark corridors of your shadow self that binds you. I’m a big proponent of therapy, it has changed my life being able to have a safe space to explore my dark thoughts, or rather, the parts I thought were dark, but are actually quite normal. If you’ve got a brain and it’s on, seeing a therapist is always a good idea, but especially if you’re feeling bound by your own mind. It can help release secrets that are weighing on you, and help you find the source of those thoughts. Usually they’re there to protect us, but have grown out of control. I need to get off my soapbox though, because there is one more important meaning for The Devil reversed, and that’s detachment. If he represents attachments when he’s upright, then the reversal makes sense to represent the importance of detachment. This is actually a Buddhist principle that doesn’t want you to stop caring for the important people or things in your life, but instead to let go of your dependence on them for your happiness. Enjoy their existence without relying on them always being there. You are strong and capable and cosmically connected to everyone and everything anyway.

The Devil is all about embracing your shadow self in healthy, constructive ways instead of destroying yourself or your life for instant gratification. It takes time and potentially help through a trusted individual, but if you can embrace and channel the darker side of you, your path will become clearer and less rocky. I know this was a longer explanation, but I hope it helps you receive him in your readings with open arms and less preconceived notions! The Devil wants you to find your ultimate freedom! From the world, from your attachments, from society, and even from yourself, my darlings! I know you can do it!

Easy Does It

A story by Calista Moon on .

Welcome back, my darlings! The last couple of weeks have been about embracing change and the extremes that can affect us. Today, I want to talk to you about moderation. The ideal state of being is balance, and this next card shows up to tell us to keep ourselves level in upheaval type situations. Temperance is the fourteenth card in the Major Arcana, and calls for emotional level-headedness,

Upright, Temperance demands patience and moderation. Even when stressful situations arrive, temperance wants us to maintain an even keel. Consider all perspectives and walk the middle of the road. Bouncing to extreme ends of the spectrum won’t help you or anyone else. If others are creating friction, being a peacekeeper and combining the diversities to create something new that is even more valuable than the individual ideas. It can also be a sign that you are at peace in whatever situation you find yourself, and may be learning a lot about something that interests you.

Reversed, this card is a warning. You’ve been straying from your long term vision and found yourself at one end of the spectrum. You know you need a moderate approach to reach this goal, so restore balance as soon as possible. Once you do, the stress and tension will melt and you’ll find the flow once again. As you realign, you may encounter tension from others, especially if alignment demands you change living arrangements, relationships, or careers to achieve the moderation that will help you succeed. This can even open the door to deep self-healing in a private way. Focus on your long term plan, and align your daily activities with your higher purpose.

This is one of the few cards, in my opinion, that follows the “understood” idea that upright cards are good and reversed cards are bad. Usually the cards don’t follow that formula, but there are a couple that do, and Temperance is one of them. When this shows up, check your emotions. Are you being level headed and objective? Or are you responding emotionally and irrationally? Everything in moderation, my darlings!

April’s Pink Moon Is Going Super Saiyan

A story by Calista Moon on .

It’s that time again, my darlings. The wheel continues to turn and we find ourselves preparing for the fourth full moon of this year; the Pink Moon. It’s also known as the Hare Moon or the Egg Moon. Sound familiar? If you were raised in the Christian beliefs, you would be right in thinking that this is yet another pagan celebration that was hijacked by the Catholic church during the Barbarian conversions. There is a lot of mythology and lore that is interwoven magnificently around Easter and the Pink Moon, but I don’t want to get into that too much this month. If you’re interested, I would suggest researching the Germanic goddess Eostre.

I want to focus instead on the sky and the earth, this month. The Pink Moon is about attaining fullness. It falls during Aries season, and the adventurous spirit of this fire sign is coming through to set us after our ambitions. The energy in the air is restless and ready to be utilized! One of the best parts of this year’s Pink Moon is that it is going to be in the air sign of Libra, the scales, who will bring balance to this restless energy. Aries and Libra are a wonderful system of checks and balances. Where an unchecked passionate Aries can burn recklessly, the cool intellect of Libra will stall the flames and help focus our energy toward our goals. Together they blaze a beautiful trail.

This gorgeous pairing of signs around the Pink Moon is the perfect time to reflect on the obstacles or fears stalling our progress and adapt to the situations at hand so that we may overcome and even transcend this level of internal or external struggle. Now is a time to let love flow around you and release the very human need to cling tightly to the familiar. This kind of trust can open the door to a lot of discomfort and fear. That’s okay. Let that fear in. Sit with it. It is there to try to protect you, and it learned to be fearful from the past. Reassure it that everything is going to be fine. The universe has your back, and always has. Attune with your intuition and meet that fear with love until it tires itself out.

That is an act much easier said than done, of course. We’re human after all. But let me toss a few more cosmic movements into this mixture to see if we can persuade your fears to relax. So we’ve got ambition, and the intellect to focus it, as well as the moon’s transcendent energy. Already a lovely combination, but what if we saw Jupiter, the planet of opportunity, potential, and luck, meet up with Neptune, the planet of the unconscious, evolutions, and imagination for the first time in roughly 150 years? Furthermore, what if we saw them align in Neptune’s home sign of Pisces; ruler of dreams, intuition, and emotional awareness? And, to help focus that wild combination of intuitive luck and imagination, what if Venus, the ruler of Libra, showed up to bring love, beauty, and compassion to the equation?

I know. That’s a lot of information. It can get a little muddy sometimes, so let me try to nutshell all of this as best as I can. Today, on April 12th, the fortune and potential of Jupiter aligned with the evolutionary imagination of Neptune. That evolutionary energy is being emphasized since Neptune is in its home sign of Pisces. These two together, evolution and luck, are going to be with us for the Pink Moon on April 16th. The same Pink Moon that is overflowing with the energy of Becoming, wholeness, and adaptation. The same Pink Moon that is driven by the fiery ambition of Aries season towards our desires, and whose energy is being focused by arriving in the clear intellect of the fair and balanced air sign of Libra.

This Full Moon is about Becoming with a capital B! It is about preparing for the next New Moon. It is begging us to Let. Go. Let go of the fears that keep us stagnant. Let go of the what ifs and anxiety that keep us from opening to opportunities. Because, before the month is out, Jupiter and Neptune will be joined by Venus’ compassion in Pisces just in time for the New Moon. These three are an incredibly powerful manifesting trio, and Venus’ added energy will be leveling up all of our interpersonal relationships. Luck, evolution, and compassionate love coming together. Now is the time to be courageous. Reflect on your big picture, adapt and trust in the world around you, and in that flow you will transcend what you currently perceive to be an obstacle, and see it for what it really is. A stepping stone towards the point where your fortune, love, and evolution meet.

I think the key to harnessing this collective energy under the Pink Moon on Saturday is going to rely a lot on balance. It will require the balance of your gut with your mind. Emotions and intellect must be kept in check of one another. Where Libra sits and ponders over a situation, Aries will light a fire under them to keep moving. Some really good balancing stones to incorporate in your Full Moon ritual this month will be Rhodonite and Unakite.

Rhodonite is a self-esteem and self-image booster, as well as helping open us to the world of possibilities. It can help us look closer at ourselves, and helps enhance our relationships with our self, friends, business, and romantic interests. Unakite is a heart healer. It recalibrates our frequency to resonate with love and compassion while balancing the emotions in the body, such as fear and anxiety. If you’ve ever heard someone say feel your feelings, that’s what they mean. The tightness in the chest or shoulders, the knotted forehead muscles. Unakite will help recalibrate the way we interact physically with our emotions. Letting love flow into the spaces where fear lives can help us let go of the stagnation that makes us feel safe in familiarity. Contrary to the old adage, the devil you know is not actually better than the devil you don’t.

This is already a very lengthy post, so I won’t be going into a step by step for the Pink Moon. My ritual this month is fairly personal and will incorporate a lot of shadow work anyway, so I want to leave you with a few questions to help you fill the corners of your heart and mind with the trusting love of the universe, and a prayer. What gives you vitality and energy? What could you lose if you incorporated this into your life more? What could change? What stops you from tending to the needs of your spirit’s flame? Where does this stem from?

I bask in the fullness of the Pink Moon. As the grasses reach for the sky, I too yearn for growth. I acknowledge the traumas that have marred my spirit. I release the pains that weigh on my heart and mind. I meet my shadows with love. I am open to change and love in all forms. I look to nature for examples of how to relinquish worry and embrace the joy of living in the present. I trust in the abundance and perfect love of the universe. And so it is. And so it is. And so it is. Blessed be.

Note: shadow work is absolutely not for everyone. However, if you find some of these questions touch parts of your mind or heart that scare you, and you feel ready for change, I would encourage you to journal a little on these thoughts, my darlings. Examination of ourselves is the best way to prune away that which doesn’t serve us any longer, in my opinion. And I for one am very ready to remove what’s holding me back from my love filled, evolutionary potential. Blessed be!

All Things Must End

A story by Calista Moon on .

Happy Tuesday, my darlings. I know I just posted yesterday, and we changed our perspective about the scary sounding Hanged Man. Well today we’re going to get back on track and look at another scary sounding card. This one may well be scary in the moment, but is a natural part of the wheel that perpetually turns. We’ll be learning about the Death card. Again, scary sounding, and sometimes emotionally painful, but contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t necessarily mean that someone or something is going to die soon. Death is a representative of change, and for something new to begin, we need to let what came before end.

Upright, Death is a harbinger of the ending of a major phase of your life that is no longer serving you. We may know what this is or we may not, but if we resist this necessary change, it could result in emotional and physical pain. This can be sudden or unexpected change, so you might feel like you’re getting sucker punched, but if you can maintain a sense of flow with this transformational energy, you’ll mitigate a lot of unnecessary suffering. This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t grieve what is lost, but losing ourselves to what is being taken from us can stagnate our progress and blind us to unexpected opportunities that are suddenly available to us. Letting go of our unhealthy attachments and cutting out unnecessary excess will ease our journey to our Highest Self. Old memories, belongings, and baggage are weighing you down on your path. It may be painful to let them go, but it will strengthen you for the good that is to come.

That being said, it would make sense that the reversal says we’re resisting the major shift that is trying to take place. Maybe we don’t want to let go yet. Maybe we don’t know what we need to let go of to relieve the distress we’re feeling. You will create more distress by resisting, so make an active effort to embrace change. You can break up your normal routine, add an affirmation about positive change to your daily sayings if you use them, and keep your mind open to opportunities you wouldn’t normally take. If you’re going through a personal transition, keep it to yourself for now. This is your journey to travel, and the opinions of others may shake your resolve. Wait until the transition is complete before you share your metamorphosis with others.

Ultimately, the Death card can bring pain. Change isn’t always easy, but if we accept it instead of fighting it, we can lessen the suffering that we endure. I know that seems like common knowledge, but when the emotions of loss and grief are involved they can cloud our better judgment. Changing your mindset from “this is happening to me” to “this is happening for me” can be the difference between an extended painful release, and a gentle flow forward, my darlings. Be open to change. Believe in the good things coming. I’ll see you next week!

The Hanged Man’s True Nature

A story by Calista Moon on .

Welp, I entirely missed Tarot Tuesday last week, my darlings! Honestly I’m appalled with myself because I’m excited for today’s card! Most people see this one as a negative, but really, it’s all about breaking stagnation! I’m getting ahead of myself. Today we’re talking about The Hanged Man. See? See how ominous that sounds? But it’s not, I promise. The Hanged Man isn’t at the gallows, but he is stuck. Let’s get into it!

Upright, this poor man looks to be upside down. He’s hung by the legs, and encourages us to look for new perspectives on the situation in question. Take the time to pause and let go of old mental models or behavioral patterns that have got you going in circles, and essentially heading nowhere. If you decide not to slow down, the Universe will most likely put things on hold for you, so don’t keep pushing forward hoping brute force will get you where you want to go. Surrender to the opportunity to reevaluate where you’re at. I’m always reminded of the movie Big Hero 6 with this card. If you haven’t seen it, it’s criminally underrated and you should absolutely take the time. But! Near the beginning of the movie, Hiro is facing a creative block and can’t think of how to invent something wonderful and new. So his big brother, Tadashi, picks him up and shakes him around, ultimately turning him upside down and says “Shake things up! Find a new angle!” That’s what the Hanged Man wants us to do. Break the routine and try out different approaches and ways of thinking. This could be really inconvenient, or cause you to put important projects on hold, but it will absolutely be worth it.

Reversed, the Hanged Man denotes resistance and indecision. You know you need to hit the pause button but you’re resisting it by keeping yourself tasked and busy to avoid the issue that needs your attention. The Universe will only force you to pause and you may end up crashing. If other people or circumstances have left you on hold unexpectedly, ease into the period of rest. If you’ve been spinning your wheels for a while, this can be a positive sign that you’re ready to move forward. You’ve got a new mindset and renewed energy to change direction. If you’re stalling due to indecision, take the leap! Make the decision to move forward before the Universe drops you in head first!

See what I mean? This card is about changing up your perspective and breaking out of the stagnant rut. Like we said a couple of weeks ago, change is the only constant in this world. The wheel keeps turning, and we turn with it. So take a break when it is given, and move forward when prompted. Staying in tune with your intuition will help you know when to do what, my darlings. Look to other cards in your reading if your gut doesn’t lean one way or another, and trust yourself. You know what you need. The answers are within!

Where Passion Meets the Mundane

A story by Calista Moon on .

Hello, hello my darlings! It’s that time again. We’ve got a New Moon a couple days away, and this one is sitting in Aries. As the ruler of ambition, passion, action, and desire, Aries wants us to make a move! What better time than April Fool’s to firmly plant some seeds? That’s right, this New Moon comes to us on April 1st, but don’t be taken in by the lighthearted nature of the day. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac year, and much like the Fool of the tarot, it starts us on a long term journey. If you don’t know what I mean, go check out my other blog series called Tarot Tuesday.

Being a New Moon, this is a perfect time for bringing in fresh energy and I know I’m ready to focus on something that makes me feel passionate, something that gives me energy and sparks my inner fire. Aries is a fire sign after all! If you’ve been lacking in the motivation department, maybe it’s time to channel the stubborn, hard headedness of this ram as the moon prepares to fill with light and opportunity. If you want to harness this drive, some stones you can include on your altar are Bloodstone, Topaz, and Jasper. If, like me, you enjoy burning herbs, some Aries herbs to add to your cauldron on Friday are Basil and Eucalyptus. If you’re more of a beast master or mistress, try putting a tiger or ram likeness on your altar to honor Aries and welcome their energy into your life. Keeping it simple is always nice, though so if you just want some colors to add, Aries’ colors are blood red and black. Or, for the gardeners among you, add some geraniums or daffodils. Dogwood branches or Alder branches are a good representation as well, if they’re available to you.

Now I know I’m getting heavy into this Aries energy, it’s coming in hot this month in my opinion. That doesn’t mean we should forget the lady of the hour; the Moon. Mugwort and Cinnamon are good moon herbs for awakening psychic gifts and bringing in abundance, respectively. New Moon stones are Selenite for cleansing, Clear Quartz for grounding, Labradorite, the magic gem, Tiger’s Eye for manifesting, and Tiger Iron for commitment to choices, and her colors are violet and purple, the colors of a moonless night. What else is out thriving on moonless nights, animal lovers? Owls and bats, soaring through the darkness with precision and focus.

When it comes to jump starting ambition, I have some specific desires this month. My health has been very unstable for the last few months, and now that I’m finally starting to feel myself again, I want to maintain my vessel. If you know me, you know I’m a thick lady. That’s thick with a capital T and three C’s. Thiccck. I move my body regularly, I try to feed it good nourishing meals, and overall I do my best to love and appreciate every single cell that works so hard to keep me alive and mobile. With my health being so low these past few months, though, my routine has become much more sedentary as I tried to heal. I want to get back to my movement. I want to have a clean and healthy space in which to live and not only that, but to thrive! So this month, I’ll be doing a lot of mundane magic, which we don’t hear much about in the aesthetic world of witchcraft. As always, this is what my process looks like, but everyone’s craft is different and there is no wrong way to practice. Do what feels good!

Let’s talk about what mundane magic looks like. Instead of a step by step, I’m going to go through how I intend to cleanse my space and what that means to me.

1. Start a simmer pot. You know me, I need good smells for good magic! Since my health problems were respiratory based, I don’t particularly want to burn herbs this month. If you’ve never made a simmer pot before, it’s a fun and easy way to incorporate your herbs. Get a pot and fill it about halfway with water. I’ll be adding lemon slices for cleansing, Rose Petals for self-love, Basil, and Eucalyptus essential oil. The last two are for protection and channeling that Aries determination. If you don’t want to clean a pot, you can also use an essential oil diffuser to get the same effect! Turn that puppy on low and give it the occasional stir to help the scents permeate your home. Changing the quality of the air in my home is refreshing and invigorating to me.

2. Once the simmer pot is going, I’m going to clean up my altar. It’s pretty cluttered at the moment with herbs, tools and stones, as well as wax and ashes. I like to think a messy altar means I’m doing the work, but we’re starting a fresh cycle here. So I’ll remove everything, scrape up the wax, dust and wipe everything down with moon water, clockwise cleaning for manifesting, darlings. My deities will appreciate fresh candles and clean candlesticks too, I’m sure as well as refreshing offerings and organizing all my ingredients and tools. I’ll be adding Bloodstone, Labradorite, and Tiger Iron, as well as Rose Quartz for self-love, a reminder of why I move my body and care for my space. I’m building a discipline. That’s what stays on days when the motivation wanes.

3. When I’m satisfied with my altar space, I’m going to do something I despise. I’m going to dust. SIGH. I probably only dust the whole house once or twice a year. I’m sure that had something to do with my recent respiratory issues, and it’s been a hot minute since I’ve attended to the “magic sprinkles” as I like to call them. So I’ll don a mask, remove all the abandoned cobwebs from the corners (only the abandoned ones, mind you), and wipe down all my knick-knacks and surfaces. Don’t forget to dust your plants too, if you have them! Even though I can’t stand this chore, I am kind of excited to see all my belongings cared for and tended to as I intend to care for myself.

4. To follow that up, I’ll move into plant care. Making sure they’re all watered and removing dead leaves. Check to see if any of them need repotted or a rotation in the sunlight. This is a normal weekly chore for me, but I feel like it’s important to note here that after doing something I really don’t enjoy, it’s important to spend time doing something that brings you a sense of lightness.

5. Finally I’ll do my remaining normal chores; clean and refresh bathrooms, take care of any dirty dishes in the sink, take out the garbage, follow up on the never-ending chore of laundry, and vacuum. These can feel really boring and daunting, especially after doing several other chores, so if you struggle like me, try taking a few minutes before starting them to rest and meditate. Think about the impact these dirty spaces have on your daily life. How often are you in the bathroom? How often do you see the sink of dishes? How often do you step on a weird crunchy on the ground? You are doing these chores to care for yourself. You deserve a clean floor to lay on and flail around on without wondering what’s down there. You deserve a welcoming bathroom where you want to relax and take a hot shower or bath. Clean dishes help maintain your internal health both physically and psychologically, and you deserve to be healthy in all areas of your life. Tell that inner voice to shut up, you DO deserve it! Mindfulness and intention are the keys to mundane magic.

It’s important to note that you know what you need. If you don’t have the energy or capacity to do all of these things, you certainly don’t have to. This is just how I intend to jump back into a healthy routine after being so unhealthy. Take care of you and do what feels good for you.

This will be a long day for me, that’s true. But when I’m finished I will make some tea, sit down in my clean home, and know that I have worked hard for myself. I know that I will feel good. I will feel deserving of the hard work I put in, and the weekend will be spent in a clean space that I have cultivated for my own betterment. I hope that whatever you manifest this month, whatever drives you, and sparks your fire, that you know you are deserving of all things that are good, my darlings. Because you are!

A Short and Sweet Verdict

A story by Calista Moon on .

Hello my darlings! Welcome back to Tarot Tuesday. Today we’ll be diving deep into the Justice card. While the word justice generally evokes a feeling of legality and courtrooms, this card can be applied to any level of confrontation, as the core of Justice is about searching for the truth in an objective and unbiased way.

If you’re seeking justice for a wrongdoing and the Justice card arrives upright in your reading, it’s a positive sign that justice will be served. Beware that if you haven’t acted in alignment with your morals and the overall good of all involved, you will be called out and forced to face the consequences of your actions. However, if you’ve stayed aligned with your Highest Self, you have nothing to worry about. A verdict will be passed down soon and there will be no appeals or second chances. You must accept the decision made and move forward. It can also mean that you are at the crossroads of an important decision that may have long term effects. If you can’t stand by your decision and effect the consequences, continue sifting through your morals and your alignment until you fine the place where you can confidently stand by your choice with integrity. Nothing is as clear cut as we think. Confront your beliefs in what is fair and ethical as you explore new territories that challenge your belief system.

The reversal of the Justice card is just as it sounds. You know that you’ve done something immoral, and you’re deciding to either cover it up and hope no one finds out, or to own up to the mistake and responsibly try to resolve the problem. Whatever you choose will bring consequences, so listen to your conscience and do not try to blame others. You must accept your place in what has happened. The appearance of Justice reversed can also mean the opposite. Your inner critic could be coming down too hard on you for inconsequential mistakes, micromanaging your every decision. If this resonates, start addressing the critiques from a place of forgiveness and self-acceptance. Deciphering which meaning is intended is up to you, so take some time to sit in your feelings and assess the objective truth of what is taking place. If you’re making an important decision that will impact more than just yourself, make sure you have all of the information necessary, and that you aren’t harboring bias that could sway you. These will complicate your ability to find the truth and slow the delivery of justice.

Justice is a card that demands self-awareness and the ability to detach yourself from the situation emotionally. You must dig deep into your own truths to find the good that serves everyone, not just yourself. This can be a difficult journey, especially if you’re trapped in a victim mindset. Self-pity won’t serve you or anyone else in this situation. Quiet your emotions and try to look at what is happening from an objective viewpoint. Often the hardest journeys are the most rewarding, my darlings. Do the work, take the time, and consider everyone’s perspective as valid as you search for the universal truth of a situation, and you’ll find justice.

Big Wheel Keep On Turnin’

A story by Calista Moon on .

Hello, hello again, my darlings! I hope everyone had a lovely Ostara and is thriving in the growth of the earth! What a perfect time to talk about the next card in the Major Arcana! The Wheel of Fortune is up today. No, not the game show, this card is all about the constancy of change. We all know it. Most of us don’t like it, but you can’t fight change. It will happen whether you’re ready or not.

Now upright, the Wheel of Fortune represents good luck and karmic destiny. You are feeling the abundance in your life or will be feeling it very soon! Opportunities you never fathomed are presenting themselves to you, and you can choose to take an entirely new direction with your life. In the same vein, if things have been going well lately, they may be about to return to “normal” soon as the wheel turns. As long as you go with the flow, the outside factors influencing the situation will resolve themselves. Stay open to the idea that the Universe has your back and will take care of whatever is happening. You may not want the good times to end, but change is the only constant in this world. Fighting it will only cause strife.

Reversed, the Wheel of Fortune speaks to just the opposite; bad luck and resisting change are either on their way to you or are already here. You may be feeling helpless or you could be stuck in a bit of a victim mindset right now, but remember that changing your destiny starts with accepting where you are now. You had a role in getting here, and while sometimes things are out of your control, that doesn’t mean that everything is out of your hands. If you’re feeling that this change was forced on you, it makes sense that you would be resistant to it, but accepting the inevitability of change can make the transition smoother and save you from unnecessary distress. There are a couple positives to this reversal, though! One being that, if bad luck and change have been plaguing you for a while, the wheel is about to turn, so this may be coming to an end soon. The second positive aspect could be that you are finally breaking a negative cycle that has followed you through life! Sometimes this can happen naturally and gently after a time of introspection and soul searching. Other times, specifically if other cards of upheaval are present in the reading, such as the Tower, it can mean that you need to hit the absolute bottom before you are able to accept and release to the change that is staring you down.

We’re all familiar with the phrase “life is full of ups and downs”, right? That’s the embodiment of this card. Sometimes, we are on top of the world, others we feel like a bug crushed beneath the boot of life. Either way, the wheel keeps on turning. We can’t be on the top all the time, but neither can we be on the bottom all the time. Nothing is forever, and we can either fight change or flow with it. Which one will you choose, my darlings? Let me know down below, and I’ll see you next week!