Occult Projects

I’m mostly posting this to share the beautiful imagery of the deck once more.

Not trying to be cryptic but I, glutton for punishment, went back to the Tabula Mundi deck for more, and it seems to be a deck that breaks you down to build you back up.

I did the Riddle of the Sphinx spread from the accompanying book, and it blew my mind 🐳

Right, ok, this is not a deck that pulls punches...
Treated myself to a bundle from MM Meleen while waiting for the Telos Tarot to arrive. My usual routine when I get a new deck is to ask:
Who am I?
What readings are you best suited for?
What message do you have for me now?
I lay them left to right...so it seems I am presently the Seven of Disks - ouch! Can I take the alternate title
“Success Unfulfilled”? Please?
What’s interesting is the Four of Swords suggests the deck is best used as a refuge of sorts. To create a space which sets aside this worry or that opinion. To calm the mind in order to sort it out. What’s the point of a refuge that coddles you over setting your mind straight with incisive insight?
Time to follow the Hermit and go introspect, for a while 🦦 the seven of disks is telling me my efforts need to
be redirected...

Mini collective reading for the current energies:

You may be feeling up against authority today/this week, and we’re not always comfortable being expected to kowtow to others ‘just because’.

However, now may not be the time to get on your soapbox with the intent to speak truth to power. A change of tack is needed instead.

This is where the Empress comes in. She is the Emperor’s equal and complement. Her power derives from the Earth, and from love.

Responding to authority with love and empathy can be subversive (in part because it is often least expected!). You might just find that the roaring lion has a thorn in his paw. This can lead to unexpected solutions and greater understanding for all.

By responding with empathy, you can leave a lasting impression on others.

Day 3: Crystal
Crystal is something translucent, clear, made of glass, unblurred.
Some preserved specimens from the Hunterian Museum.

Day 2: Burn

Throwback to 2022 when we hiked near Loch Awe.

Burn is Scots for stream, and you need to fill up on fresh water from a burn when trekking in the Highlands

A little late posting…
Day 1: Freeze
No one wins a staring contest with a cat. Here’s a moment we both froze staring each other down. He won (I had work to get on with)

I was very excited when I clocked ‘s Deck of Hebrew Letters was kindly donated to the TABI raffle. Then my name was called! I made a beeline for it. Excited to see how this can help me learn more about Hebrew and Kabbalah in the Tarot.

For the week ahead: Ayin.
Be patient. Set realistic goals.

Corresponds to The Devil card. The thing about this card is that sometimes it’s asking you “How seriously have you been taking things in this ‘reality’? Remember this is the dream world; you are asleep. Do you really need to act from your ego?” You are a spiritual being, you are eternal, why are you panicking?

Chill, nothing can come from flying off the handle. A greater sense of control comes from letting go of control.

Thank you soooo much .t.wanders! 😭 I can’t wait to devour the Rock Art book and the Creative Visualisation one is right up my street! Also love the tea and the packaging and bookmark is ingenious!! Feels like a Christmas/Birthday pressie. Such a kind soul ♥️🎉🌻✨

Here’s a cheeky wee pick-a-card reading for the week ahead, with the Rock Art Tarot.
Use the stones at the top of the cards to help with your choices, and for the reveal. Card 1 has obsidian, card 2 has carnelian and card 3 has clear quartz. Check the comments for your reading!

Let me know if your card resonates 🥰⚡️✨🖤

Really loving my new find: the Rock Art Tarot by Jerry Rowling. Printed in 1996. Colourful vintage decks from the last century are my right up my street ✨

A curious combination of energies! For today and through the weekend. Let me know if this resonates for you!

CURRENT ENERGY: THE FOOL
A wonderful card to pull with the Jupiter-Uranus conjunction right around the corner; a time of breakthrough and expansion. However, the Fool isn’t always setting out on a brand new path, sometimes he restarts a journey. The optimism and joy at the possibilities are there, and now feels the right time to do this, but past experience of the ‘cliff edge’ can bring trepidation.

ADVICE: NINE OF SWORDS
Ever seen someone go to take a jump, hesitate at the last second, then stack it? If only they’d just kept going and hadn’t let their thoughts get in the way! Forget about what went before, forget the “What ifs”, the only risk comes from your hesitation. Get out of your head. Instead of wondering “what if I fail?” ask “what if I have an absolute blast?”

OUTCOME (from following the advice): SIX OF PENTACLES
You have everything to gain here. By accepting the Fool energy, your optimism can be the rising tide that lifts all boats. This is one of those pentacle cards that links the material and spiritual worlds, and speaks of gain on both sides. Having faith in yourself will lead you on a prosperous course.

Hello! I will be reading Tarot at The Others’ Market in Hastings on the 20th

Drop in readings and booking available, feel free to DM me ahead of the market to book a slot

Looking forward to meeting everyone on Saturday!

Check out my Reading Reviews highlight for past clients’ feedback

I rarely do this before a day in the office, but whilst getting ready this morning I felt called to pull some cards (typing this on the tube 🤗). Upon reflection the message here is confirmation of the interview excerpt I shared yesterday, of David Whyte quoting a poem called ‘Lost’ by David Wagoner.

Energy for the day: Two of Swords.
“What do I do when I’m lost in the forest?”

Advice: Ten of Swords.
“Stand still.”
This ten card’s advice is to stop fighting, accept and release. “Stand still. Wherever you are is called Here. And you must treat it as a powerful stranger. Must ask permission to know it and be known.”
(Ok the figure’s not standing but you can’t get any more still 😂)

Outcome: Five of Cups.
Grief involves letting go of attachment to expected outcomes. There is freedom and uncertainty here.
“The forest knows where you are. You must let it find you.”

And the Tower at the bottom of the deck? He turned up in a reading yesterday as something my inner child wants to manifest 🎉

The transit this week of Venus into Pisces got me thinking. A dark side of this can be that we choose to believe a beautiful myth. Truth can be inconvenient and painful, but it can also set you free, in the long term.

Here’s an exercise to uncover a beautiful myth you tell yourself (if you’re ready!). Take the Moon card, shuffle it in your deck. Then find the Moon card. What’s behind it is the myth, and what’s in front is the truth of the matter.

I’ll go first! My ‘myth’ card is the Ace of Cups and ‘truth’ is 3 of Swords. Ouch!

You may need to sit with it for a while, and journal. I went for a walk as it helps me think.

For me, the myth is that starting the soul’s true path, what you came here to do, should feel wonderful and have a beautiful light to shine the way. The truth is that those first steps are most likely in the dark, lonely and maybe even painful. And you know? Looking back that is how things have played out; it’s just the initial steps (as 3 is early in the cycle) that are the hardest, but not the whole journey. Some of us just signed up to do it this way 🤦🏻‍♀️

My mother passed 2.5 years ago, now and then I like to ask for a message from her. I’ve been surprised how strong it comes through and I hear the things she used to often say.

I had no special spread here, just wrote down some questions.

Does Mum have a message for me today?
The Hermit - “Go within”

What is the message?
Knight of Wands and Pentacles - You need to direct your energy in a sustain and solid way. She used to always say “Make a list!”

Should I give up X item?
Three of Swords - No! (This surprised me, but it’s possible I may regret disposing/donating a physical memento. So I won’t)

Will my skills in X increase?
Five of Wands - “you know what they say about practice!” There’s an additional message of having fun with it, don’t be too serious. Make it a fun game.

Will you be around to give me guidance this year?
The Empress - “I’m your mother!” Of course she’ll always be there 🥰

Are you with X?
Page of Swords - This is someone who passed young, and was an Air sign. The page looking at the Empress tells me everything ♥️

Card for IWD: Queen of Pentacles

I actually pulled this yesterday, but its more fitting to talk about today on International Women’s Day 🥰

All Queens in Tarot are watery, connected to their emotions, the Moon and intuition. The suit they’re in represents how they express their water element, so for the Queen of Pents this is through the physical.

When we connect the material and divine feminine we get Mother Earth, or maybe the Cailleach (Divine Hag). This queen can cultivate her surroundings and also the people around her. Her desires complement the common good, but that doesn’t make her some doormat who lives to only serve. She is hearty and sensual and knows when to live in the present moment. She wants the good life, and she deserves it.

She empowers, in the true sense of the word: giving the authority or power to do something that effects real change. Alleviating poverty and improved education leads to higher socio-economic status, which fosters improved health outcomes and reduces the birth rate, helping to limit the strain on the Earth’s resources. The empowerment of women is the rising tide that lifts all boats.

Card of the day:

The Lovers:
Love and choice. Love, or choice?

There’s a fork in the road ahead. One path looks much like the road you’ve already been travelling down. There’s some comfort in familiarity; you know the landscape. The other path only shows a glimpse of something new, but is largely unknown to you. This uncertainty is unsettling, it seems risky to go a new way.

But this new path is calling to you, it’s expansive, exciting, and even the thought of it makes your heart beat faster. The path you already know doesn’t do this, in fact there’s nothing new there. You’ve gotten everything you could from it. Maybe that’s why the new road seems so insistent? To grow, to feel alive, you know you need the change.

The love in this card is for yourself. Do you love yourself enough to take this risk? Will you choose out of love, or fear? Think of Future You as your best friend, what would you tell her to do? What would put Future You on this new road that’s calling?

Put down the things that would keep you tied to the comfort zone you know you must leave just now. This might be a small thing, even. It doesn’t have to mean a great leap. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

I’ve been pretty quiet on here the last few months, and have been trying to get back into a regular habit of posting. I thought I’d share a recent card pull.

🌻 Last year’s move to London and the subsequent need for a day job have sort of taken over, especially the latter. Things had been going one way then it felt like the rug was pulled under me, which has really put me on edge! I had a review yesterday that I was dreading, and had asked the cards a couple of times what I needed to know about it. Well, this is one of those wonderful ‘override’ readings where the cards go above the question and told me what I really needed to remember!

🌻 10 of Wands - This has been my attitude to work, ‘oh what a heavy burden I bear’. Carrying all that weight, terrified of dropping everything and what that might mean. So dramatic 😏

🌻 4 of Wands - This is how I SHOULD be viewing my job. The visual difference is striking: I am not meant to be holding up the wands, the wands are doing the supporting. This is just a job, nothing more, intended to support ME. This simplifies things immensely, just like this card has a simpler visual message compared to the 10. I often feel the 4 of wands describes circumstances where our basic needs are met, freeing us for creative pursuits; the things that make you want to get up in the morning, that give life its flavour.

🌻 Ace of Cups - Letting go of the ‘burden’, and seeing it stand all on its own frees me to return to the creative wellspring, to hold the cup. The ace of cups can signal a return to one’s emotional centre. This cup is also the Holy Grail, and the seed of a creative and spiritual blossoming.

🌻 Sometimes we need to be a part of the rat race, for a while, and work with the system in order to get by. There is a side of me that feels it necessary to struggle, as if anything easy means trying to cheat at life, ending in some sort of comeuppance. But there’s a danger of being consumed by ‘busy work’, of forgetting this is not what I was actually put here to do. Letting go of worry about the daily grind doesn’t have to be fearful, it can be joyous, if we allow it.

How about a wee pick-a-card for the energies for the coming week?

Choose a pile and swipe to see your cards, then check the comments for the reading.

A common spread I like to pull at events:
A theme for the rest of the month / an area to focus on / what you are growing into.

The Death card has been stalking me a little the past few weeks. As a Scorpio sun, I find this quite an exciting card, but knowing the ‘moment’ is drawing closer is pretty unnerving! I only have a vague idea of what this ‘death’ will be, but no further details. Let’s see how that goes!

The Seven of Swords for me often symbolises self-preservation. We can’t always be open about our plans or intentions, but that doesn’t make a person deceitful! This card advises me to use my intellect to ensure I end up hamstrung, or hoisted by my own petard.

I am becoming the Queen of Swords! She is the witch in the woods, the person often misunderstood but is there to offer compassion and wisdom developed from living through her own trials and tribulations, to those that would seek it. She has broken free from whatever held her back, as signaled by the cut ties around her wrists.

Just a little New Moon magick spell being cast