Cartomancy cheat sheet for fortune telling with playing cards.
Many witches incorporate physically cleaning their space as part of how they cleanse the energy of their space, but most tips out there involve sweeping or adding ingredients to mop water or to surface cleansers. But I have carpets! (and simply vacuuming just didn’t feel like enough).
So, my ingredients are for cleansing, healing, and peace:
Rose
Lavender
Rosemary
Pink Salt
Bay Leaf
Chamomile
Eucalyptus
Cinnamon
Fine Salt
I ground that up in my food processor, but a mortar and pestle works really well too! I just had too much shoulder pain to mess with that lol
Then I added that to baking soda and cornstarch, which help to eliminate odors and lift stains/grease/grossness. I wish I had the measurements but I just poured it in until it seemed right…
Mixed it up really well and ended up with something like that ^ then I added oils with similar properties (here I will specify that the oils I use are herbal infused oils that I get from a small mompop Indian market, not essential oils). Just a couple drops of each, or else the powder will clump up too much:
Lemon oil
Peppermint oil
Rosemary oil
Lemongrass oil
Lavender oil
Eucalyptus oil
Mix all of that up, and then spread it over your carpet. I tried poking holes in the lid of my jar, but that didn’t spread as easily as using my hands. Lightly tossing it to spread it over the carpet also allowed me to be more involved in my intent. Leave the powder on your carpet for about an hour, and then vacuum it up!
cosmic friends earrings by AbovearthAU
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good crystal necklace but you don’t get much say in what intentions it manifests and the energy it releases. Enchanting a pendant can open a whole new realm of possibilities using herbs, stones and candles to bring in all the energies that you wish to carry with you in a single necklace.
For this beautiful cicada pendant I wanted it to bring me protection, luck and power.
What you’ll need
A black candle - I used two
Protection herbs and incense: I used a bay leaf, black salt, dragons blood and lavender
For power I used snake skin and for good luck I used cinnamon - these intentions were secondary so I only used a single herb for each
Protective crystals: I used black tourmaline and clear quartz
Steps:
Cleanse your space in your preferred method
Get in the right headspace: you can do this by meditating on your intentions
Set up your alter with the surrounding the pendant with crystals and your black candle. Light them up
Call on any spirit guides to aid you, and begin focusing on your intention
Touch the pendant, ask it for aid and begin envisioning your energy seep into it as you focus
Sprinkle each herb onto your pendant - setting your intention with each one. Tell your pendant what the herb will do
Do the same thing with your crystals, touch them and then your pendant. Infusing those vibes
Talk to your pendant - reiterate what you want, thank it, etc
Let it sit on your alter. Allow the herbs and crystals to stay with it until your candle finishes burning
Protection is so important! And having a pendant that you personally enchant is so powerful! Why not give your favourite necklace a little magic?
Bonus extra step:
Every morning before I put any necklace on I always give the pendant a little kiss and ask it for aid in my day. It just feels right haha
this post is OC based on my personal tarot practice; the examples given are hypothetical for the sake of this post.
Well-meaning guy: "If you think that event was a bad omen, why not read tarot to clarify?"
Person who learned tarot from popular online resources and introspection-focused art decks: "I drew the 6/Cups, so I guess my ward falling off the wall is about my inner child?"
Tarot meanings change and evolve over time. Historical meanings are often not the same, or even contrary to, modern meanings. (Consider, 6/Pentacles: the French present moment was misinterpreted to mean presents, gifts).
By acknowledging that many modern meanings available for tarot cards are modern interpretations for modern concerns, many of which have fuckall to do with witchcraft, we can also acknowledge that we can apply our own sets of meanings to tarot to achieve personal interpretations in pursuit of personal goals.
I call this concept symbol sets, and you can apply your own symbol sets to certain tarot readings in order to rapidly obtain information about magical events in your life.
Symbol sets can be swapped out for each reading. You can intend to operate on your "normal meanings" for a typical reading, and then intend to operate with "magical omen meanings" for another reading.
There are no such things as universal tarot card meanings; there are some traditional meanings, some historical meanings, and many modern meanings. Adjust what each card means to you to your heart's delight.
The more symbol sets I've developed and practiced with, the more versatile and accurate my tarot reading has become. Working with custom symbol sets might be the single biggest leap in my reading ability in 16 years of practice. At least, it feels that way!
Here is one set that could be suitable to troubleshooting potentially magic events:
Swords, or Air: Misfortune, betrayal, malefica, ill-intent, adversity, due to harmful (even if unintentional) spirit action, pointless or wasted effort. Sometimes, banishing, binding and hexes.
Wands, or Fire: A lot of power, excessive power, due to your own actions, uncontained energy, something you did was very much overdone. Sometimes, protection and empowerment.
Pentacles, or Earth: Mundane, physical and normal reasons, an everyday occurrence, mundane but natural growth and change. Sometimes, unlocking and unblocking.
Cups, or Water: Blessings, magic working as intended (even if unexpectedly), the normal course of magical events, magical growth and change. Sometimes, cleansing and purifying.
Major Arcana: Guiding spirits and gods; their behaviors, guidance, or messages.
A spirit worker might like to add an additional layer of complexity, which modifies the prior set:
Court Cards: The actions of another being, such as a practitioner, god, or spirit, whether they acted intentionally to bring about the event or not.
(Further breakdown, as an example: Swords courts are beings intentionally acting badly; Wands courts are the most important spirits of your path; Pentacles courts are mundane folk or spirits unrelated to your path; Water courts are other practitioners, or spirits related to your path without being in your "inner court.")
Interpret any card drawn within these principles. Here are a few random examples. Let's say, a money spell has failed to produce results, and we'd like to know why.
5/Cups [disappointment, failure]: This is the normal course of magical events; the spell wasn't cast well, and so nothing is happening.
9/Wands [determination, boundaries]: A lot of energy was raised, but incorrectly targeted or released; the energy is cooped up.
Judgment [judgment]: An important spirit in your path wants you to deal with what you have been avoiding, and will interfere with your magic until you face them.
Card 1: The source or cause
Card 2: The current state of affairs
Card 3: Suggested action
Example; the money jar doesn't work: Card 1, King/Swords: The source of failure was the person in the discord server who promised to curse you for not feeling the same way about Destiel as they did. Card 2, Page/Pentacles: The current state of affairs is that as a symptom of the curse, an unaware person or spirit is blocking the prosperity you seek. Card 3, Queen/Cups: Ask a benevolent spirit or helpful practitioner friend to assist you in unblocking the situation.
Card 1: Why this thing happened
Card 2: Why it didn't happen; one thing that wasn't the cause at all
Example; the ward fell off the wall: Card 1, 10/Pentacles: This happened because of random happenstance in the home; it was not a magical event. Card 2, Ace/Swords: This action was unrelated to malefica or bad spirits or things like that.
Card 1: The current state of affairs
Card 2: The outcome of your intended plan of action
Card 3: Recommended plan of action
Card 4: The outcome of the recommended plan
Example; the spirits did not seem to appear during a spirit petition spell: Card 1, 3/Wands: Sufficient energy was raised to attract the attention of spirits, but they may not have been properly called to action. Card 2, 6/Swords: Your plan to call the spirits back and re-cast the spell is a fruitless attempt at a transition into a new plan. Card 3, Empress: Communicate with your primary goddess or powerful spirit of the earth and obtain input and guidance. Card 4, Magician: This plan will result in obtaining important magical information about this type of summoning spell you are trying to achieve.
There are some spirits and gods in the worlds that really must be approached with the correct offering, or will be very offended if you bring the wrong one. This post is not about them.
Thanks goes to @river-in-the-woods for help proofreading and providing additional perspectives
Spirit and deity work is a huge part of my deal, and therefore so are offerings. When I help people with various spirit issues or perform divination that suggests a spirit wants to contact them, I usually recommend giving offerings as a first step.
This usually creates a lot of questions, like:
I don’t want to worship them, so I’m not comfortable with offerings.
I only want to work with spirits I don’t need to pay.
What kind of offerings are OK? I can't afford to buy extra stuff right now.
I can’t have a shrine or leave food sitting out so it’s not possible for me to make offerings.
The reasons why offerings are given change from culture to culture, and situation to situation. I personally see offerings as being one of two things: good manners, or equivalent exchange.
How to do so comes after the saucy radio dialogue and the fairy tale.
Your grandma comes over. She was just on a 5 hour flight to come visit you. She comes in through the front door. You offer her some water and a snack.
Offering grandma water and a snack isn’t a form of worship or payment. It’s polite and respectful. It took her a lot of energy and effort to come and see you. Her well-being and comfort are important to you (in this hypothetical, of course).
When I drive 10 minutes to see my best friend, she always offers me tea. She’s not paying me for my friendship – she’s happy I came, she wants me to be comfortable, and it’s a sign of mutual respect. “I value your presence; I’ll offer you some tea.”
If my friend stopped offering me tea, I’d wonder if our relationship was doing OK – and if she explained to me she was out of money, or she’s doing a no-tea challenge, we’d be perfectly good.
But if you greet grandma empty-handed and say you don’t think it’s your job to provide her meals, the situation feels a little different. It feels to me as if grandma might not be as interested in making the trip to see you next time.
“Hey, what are you doing here?”
“I’m going to bury some stuff. I just did ritual and an important part is burying the remnants at the crossroad.”
“Right on, we’re the spirits of the crossroad, so you came to the right place.”
“Yeah, so you’ll be opening the gates of the four directions and delivering my spell to manifestation, right?”
“Sure, we can do that.”
“…”
“…”
“Are you going to, uh… pay us for that service?”
“I don’t see why I should.”
“But you need us to open the gates for you. We have to spend our own energy to do this work. I mean it’s not terribly difficult, but still.”
“Yeah, but I don’t see why that should be on me.”
“Not even a tip? Have you got some change in your pocket?”
“To be honest, I don’t think it’s fair to me to have to pay.”
“So you want us to work for free?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t care what it costs us to do this work for you, you just want to take the fruits of our services without regard for us?”
“Yes.”
“And we should do it because you feel it's unfair to have to pay us for our work?”
“You got it.”
“And if others told you that you must donate your labor to give them what they want because it's unfair to give you a wage, this would be…”
“A huge injustice. This is actually a major problem in my country right now. We are so underpaid for what is demanded of us that it really is hurting my mental health and wellbeing. You have no idea how hard it is to be exploited for someone else’s prosperity. I kind of feel like one day I might just go off grid and refuse to be a part of their system.”
The fairy queen Medb was curious about the humans beyond the Greenwood, so she decided to meet them all, from the wealthiest noble to the poorest villager, and to give a gold coin to the kindest one. Before she left, she cloaked herself in a human disguise and dressed as if she were a hardworking seamstress.
First she went to the house of a rich farmer who owned herds of cattle. She knocked on the door and was greeted by the mistress of the house, Frau Hilda.
Medb said, “I am a traveler and the road has been long, may I have some water?”
Frau Hilda kindly invited Medb inside. She sat the queen down at her large, clean table in her warm and cozy kitchen. Frau Hilda went to the larder. Medb could see that her larder was overflowing enough with fine wine, cheeses, and sausages to serve an army. Frau and fetched two jugs of milk and two loaves of bread. One of the jugs of milk was thin, and the loaf of bread was dry. The second jug of milk was thick, as if it was pure cream, and the loaf of bread was hot and fresh.
“Here, have some milk and bread,” Frau Hilda said. “It is much better than water, and will restore you from your travels.” Frau Hilda poured a glass of each milk, and handed the queen the thin milk and old loaf. Frau Hilda herself drank the rich, delicious milk and ate the hot bread.
“This is much better than water, and I thank you for your kind generosity,” agreed Medb.
The two women spoke kindly and politely to each other. Medb learned about the wealth and prosperity of the farmer and his household. They spoke until Medb finished her thin milk and old bread. As she left, Medb thought to herself that the thin milk and old bread, although better than water, were the poorest things in the larder. She kept her gold coin to herself, and walked down the road.
The next day, Medb came upon the hovel of a poor woodcutter and his wife. She knocked on the door and was greeted by Frau Brunhild.
Medb said, “I am a traveler and the road has been long, may I have some water?”
Just like Frau Hilda, Frau Brunhild kindly invited Medb inside. Frau Brunhild’s kitchen was small and cramped. She went to her larder and Medb could see it was almost empty. It only held a bag of flour, a scrap of bread, and a jug of water.
Frau Brunhild brought out the water and bread. “I am sorry I don’t have any milk for you,” Frau Brunhild said. “But let us share in what little we have.”
Frau Brunhild poured Medb some water and gave her one-third of the bread. “We must save some for Mister Brunhild,” she explained.
“I thank you for your generosity,” said Medb. “You show kindness in sharing what you have.” The two women spoke kindly and politely to each other until they had eaten the bread and drank the water. As she left, Medb thought to herself that although it was only water and a little slice of bread, Frau Brunhild had truly offered the best in her larder.
Medb was so moved by this generosity that she returned to the hovel that night, and hid the gold coin in one of Frau Brunhild’s shoes, and after that the Brunhilds always had better prosperity and fortune.
No matter what you have, your best is your best. You do not need to over-spend, give away too much, or sacrifice your wellbeing to give respectful offerings to spirits. If the best you have is a glass of tap water, that is good enough.
I’m copying this over from my neighborly protection post.
Food and Drink: Good offerings include things with strong tastes and smells, foods high in caloric value, milk, honey, all nuts, eggs, and seeds (things which contain the potential for life are very good offerings), all home cooked/baked foods, fresh water (an especially good offering), coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco, and juices all make very fine offerings.
Perhaps tellingly, the finest or most necessary offering is simply a glass of fresh water (yes, it can be tap water).
Consumables: Incense and candles both make good offerings. Both should be burned. I am actually more wary of using real resins and herbal powders for spirit offerings, since the natural powers of these plants are released and may affect what I’m trying to do (or make it easier or harder for spirits to speak to me, or drive away spirits I’m trying to talk to, or draw in ones I don’t want to talk to). For these reasons I like to use stick or cone incense for offerings. It is the light and warmth from the candle which is enjoyed by spirits so it can be any type or color of candle.
Artwork, fake paper money, origami, and other burnable stuff can be dedicated (another way to think about this is to gift it to them) and then burned. The point is not destruction; the astral essence of these things is released so the spirits can possess them in their world.
Non-consumables: Coins are very common offerings. Small, delightful objects (especially shiny ones), like shells, little figurines, or toys often make good offerings. The act of devoting a ritual tool or vessel to a spirit can be an offering. Things which can be consumed (like cigars or paper art) don’t have to be burned and can be given as regular offerings also.
Energy: Your personal energy is a great offering. You don’t have to give a ton of it away. Try making an energy ball and sending it upwards and away, intending that it reach the spirit you want to give it to. I often like to pattern these gifts into an object, like an energy coin or energy apple.
Lay out the offerings on a clean surface. It doesn’t have to be an altar or a shrine, although I suspect such consecrated places can make it easier for spirits to access and enjoy your offerings. It can be just like setting out a glass of water and half a sandwich for grandma.
Do something which indicates the offering is for the spirits or a specific being. My friend can make me a cup of tea, but if she just sets some tea down on the table and walks away, I’m not going to be sure it’s OK for me to drink it until she says, “this is your tea!”
What you do can be as simple as standing before the offering and saying or thinking, “This is for [names of spirits, or ‘the household spirits’, etc], please enjoy! I’ll come clean it up by noon, enjoy it before then.”
At a minimum I recommend leaving non-consumable offerings out for fifteen or thirty minutes. If it’s a candle or incense, they burn out when they burn out (you do not have to let large candles burn completely, but be careful of promising a candle as a gift to spirits, then going back on that promise and using it for something else). Energy offerings are given instantaneously and no waiting period is necessary.
Whenever you return to clean up the offering, it’s polite to say something like, “thank you for coming by, and I hope you enjoyed! It’s time for me to clean up now. Please return to your abodes; as you came in peace, leave as friends.” I personally like to affirm the purpose of giving an offering - that it’s because I want to be a good neighbor, I want to have solid relationships with the spirits around me, and that I hope we’re all going to be friends. I also like to affirm that although I invited them all to the offering, they should go home now - I wanted you for the BBQ but it’s like 9pm now and we’re going to bed, so you need to go home too.
I throw out food. I compost it if I can. Whether or not you can eat food already offered to spirits is a whole discussion and beliefs vary. My belief is that you shouldn’t eat it after it’s offered.
Other non-consumable objects can be buried if they’re nontoxic to the environment. They can be left on an altar or shrine, and cleared out on a regular basis (like once a full moon, or on holidays).
I mentioned briefly above that I don’t believe you should eat offerings after they’ve been offered. This is a pretty complex topic that does merit discussion.
For example, I sometimes eat the offerings while they’re being offered. I have a close relationship with various spirits, and sometimes I invite them into my body to taste and experience the food and drink I eat.
The reason I don’t prefer to eat offerings after they’ve been offered is that my belief is that the metaphysical substance which supports us as living creatures has been removed and taken away from the spirits. I don’t believe the food would be harmful, but that it also wouldn’t be helpful. To me, throwing the food away isn't a waste because it already fulfilled its purpose.
However, tons of people believe that you should eat food and beverage offerings. This is in order to avoid waste (because after all, even if I say metaphysically the food served its purpose, I’m still throwing away totally edible food). I am advised that in Buddhism, offerings given to ancestors, buddhas, and bodhisattvas aren’t degraded at all, and you can safely eat and drink offerings afterwards (and not doing so would be wasteful). For buddhas and bodhisattvas offerings are just a sincere gesture; the ancestors do get nourishment from food offerings and they greatly benefit from it. Even so, food offered to ancestors is still perfectly wonderful to eat.
In other belief systems, some people think that eating offered food can actually make you sick, especially if it’s offered to the dead. This may be due to a metaphysical change in the food, or because the spirits don’t want to share.
Sometimes, whether or not food is eaten after being offered depends on the type of spirit or god it’s given to; chthonic entities often seem to frown upon their offerings being eaten or shared.
Some believe that food offerings shouldn’t be eaten but neither should they be trashed; they should be burned or buried.
Sometimes, dedicating a food or drink offering to a spirit is a way to bless it under their power. If I dedicate a glass of water to the Indweller of the Sun, it’s understood to be imbued with the virtues of the Sun. If I drink it, it becomes a form of equivalent exchange - I gave something to the Sun, it gave something to me, and this ritual action is completed when I consume the offering.
Given all these varieties of belief, it’s safe to say that you probably can’t go wrong. If you can’t or don’t want to waste food, or it isn’t counter-indicated by your path, eat food offerings.
If you’re especially nervous or worried about what might happen to you if you do eat them, then don’t. Or, avoid the problem altogether by just giving energy or incense offerings.
Some of you may have already come upon this one, but I’ve found that when it comes to objects I want to imbue with magic or bring to “life” (in an animist sense), simply just breathing on them goes a long way. Like a rock can be “dead” and then you can just breathe on it and the little fella just wakes up. Of course you can do this on anything you want, like stuffed animals and figurines and all of your tools. You could even do it on a snowman if ya want. So yeah. :D ETA: Breathing on things can also be fine for quick cleansings. Just blow on ‘em like you’re blowing off dust or whatever.
What do you use deadnettle for?
Mostly I use it for magic pertaining to happiness, growth, beauty, or opportunity. I also associate deadnettle with the ability to make proper use of available resources, so I sometimes add it to a spell if a little bit of flexibility, fortitude, or Making The Best Of Things is called for.
Purple deadnettle is an early spring flower, very popular with the bees, and it grows abundantly pretty much anywhere it can find loose damp soil. It turns my yard into an oasis of tiny bell-shaped wildflowers and happily bumbling bees long before the early summer clover begins to bloom. This sweet little flower was one of the first gifts my new home gave me and it helped kickstart the bond I'm developing with the land.
(Apparently, it's also edible, although I've never tried it.)
Pictured: A patch of purple deadnettle in my yard, with vetchweed and dandelion puffballs mixed in.
forever my fave piece of cake ever. perfect carrot cake w the perfect amount of walnuts, heavenly spiced with cinnamon and cardomom & topped with the perfect cream cheese frosting, edible flowers and lime zest. i love her
Hello! I've taken a peek at the witch craft book library you've put together, but I'm a bit confused how it works. I can't find books it says have been uploaded and I was wondering if you could help me figure out what I'm doing wrong. Thank you for uploading such a large amount of readings in one place ♡
I completely forgot to update here! So due to the large amount, (and I refuse to give google my money for storage) I've been moving them to MEGA. I'm still slowly moving things over from the Google Drive, it's a work in progress and I haven't had much time lately. If you can't find what you are looking for then please don't hesitate to ask. ☺ I'll update the Masterlist to include the MEGA link as well so it's easier to fine. ☺
Thanks everyone for being patient while things get moved around!
MEGA Library:
https://mega.nz/folder/gWM2VLqQ#WJogJj3_w3ysb0RxoX-igQ
Library Masterlist:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-NC7wToVh0_hpNbuvhBEI2BUdWPbkpLlM2G15P76tiA/edit?usp=drivesdk
(Still Cleaning Out) Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10mkrjBylnr59A6lWrJQ7R7SNgbZTu8d4
Ancestor Veneration
In the occult discords I frequent I periodically see questions from new practitioners who want to start spirit work and have been directed to start with their ancestors, but they’re in a bind because like many young folk today they don’t have such a great relationship with their family. For their own reasons they don’t know their family history and either feel disconnected from previous generations or don’t want to connect to their bloodline. Over the years my personal ancestor veneration has taken shape in a way that I think might be helpful or of interest to people who want to strike up a relationship with their ancestors, but don’t have a great one with their living or recently deceased family.
Beloved Dead: These are my known/recently deceased spirits, people I have known in life who have passed on. Not always technically ancestors, because these spirits aren’t aren’t necessarily related to me, or in my direct line of descent. The only requirement is that I knew them in life, as well as in death.
Ancestors: My actual forebearers, the people I’m directly descended from. I know many of their names because my family tree is very well researched, but I never met them in life. This also includes the ancestors whose names I don’t know but are still in that familial line, those spirits I refer to as “unnamed ancestors” or “unnamed forbearers”.
Cultural Ancestors: This by far the largest category, because there is no upper limit to the number of sub categories I can squeeze in there, none of which rely on actual blood ties. It has my ethno-cultural ancestors, the Irish people who came before me, the Italian people who came before me, the Norwegian people who came before me… etc. But it also has the ancestors of the things I choose to identify my self as: The disabled people who have come before me, the witches who have come before me, the Sailors, the Dancers, the Musicians, the Storytellers, etc. Everyone in this category connects me to some kind of cultural history that exists outside of my bloodline.
For me calling on my ancestors is a lot like calling on a deity. I petion them/ dedicate my actions to them, when I’m doing something that’s in their realm of influence. For instance: Say I’m cooking a traditional Italian meal, I would call on my Italian cultural ancestors, and they would get some of the meal as an offering in repayment. I would also probably call on the individual spirit of my grandmother, one of my beloved dead, since she was the one who taught me Italian cooking, and it’s quite likely her recipe I’m using.
I also have specific days set aside for my most frequently called upon groups Christmas Eve was always big with the Italian side of the family, and I still celebrate it the traditional way, so that’s become a day for my Italian cultural ancestors. St Patricks Day is for my Irish cultural ancestors. St. Lucia Day is for my Norwegian ancestors. I’ve set aside Talk Like a Pirate Day to venerate all of the sailors, fishermen, and wayfinders who have gone before me, and
I feel like this approach gives me, and perhaps others, the most flexibility and the most options to approach ancestor work on terms that work for me. Have a great relationship with the family you’ve interacted with, but uncomfortable with the actions of your ancestors a few generations back? Interact only with your Beloved Dead and your Cultural Ancestors. Want nothing to do with your biological family, but still want to do ancestor work? Create a spiritual found family by working only with Cultural Ancestors. This way of thinking about those who loved what we love before us could be applied to any interest or personal identity that a person holds dear. However you choose to define yourself you can can use to draw a connection to people who also defined themselves that way in the past.
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