A gathering approaches.  I’m in the heart of my home tending to a bubbling brew atop the stove.  Cozy knitted socks warm my feet against the October chill and the steam from the pot of wine tickles my nose with the scents of late fall.  Warm clove and cardamom meld with the bright citrus of orange peels.  Five-pointed anise stars and thick cinnamon sticks bubble to the top of my burgundy brew.  I swirl the collection of herbs around with a wooden spoon and my cat jumps up onto the kitchen counter, trying to get a better view.   

The doorbell chimes.  My fellow witches have arrived!  I let them in and we share our tales of magic and mischief as I carefully pour the mulled wine.  The steam spirals above the mugs and twirls towards the window.  I catch a glimpse of the trees outside.  The crackled brown leaves of late October are frosted with ice crystals, yet they still dance as the wild wind whispers through the branches.   

We move to the living room and get cozy by the crackling fireplace. Cheers! We chime our haphazard collection of glasses and mugs together and begin to warm our bellies and hearts with our autumnal witches brew.

MULLED WINE

Recipe adapted from Ina Garten
Makes 8 Servings

Ingredients

4 cups apple cider
1 bottle of red wine
¼ cup honey
2 cinnamon sticks
1 orange, juiced & zested
4 whole cloves
3 star anise
4 oranges, peeled for garnishes (optional)

Instructions

Take a large pot and add the wine, cider, cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, honey, and orange zest & juice.  Bring to boil then simmer over low for around 10 minutes.  Pour into mugs and add an orange peel as a garnish.  Enjoy!

A lightning strike then a loud crash.  The tower comes tumbling down and we are thrown from on high to crash-land below, beaten and broken.  The only way to face a ‘tower card’ moment is to stand up, brush the dirt off your knees, and begin to build again.  In a time like that, when all seems lost, you look to the distance and see a small shining light.  Subtle at first, but growing lighter by the day as you pass through a long tunnel. And then as you reach the end of tunnel, there she is - hope.  

There are certain moments in your tarot study when you become taken aback by the sheer wonder of it all.  How the cards not only bring us truth, but do so poetically.  In tarot, the Star card comes right after the destructive force of the Tower card.  At a time we need it most.  The Star card shows a beautiful maiden at the edge of a lake.  She is pouring two cups of water - one into the great healing lake, and another onto the sand.  Glittering stars illuminate our lady as she dips one foot carefully into the waters of our subconscious and places the other firmly on land. She is of course the Water Bearer, a personification of Aquarius.  

I used to be baffled when I first learned that Aquarius is in fact an Air sign.  I thought as a ‘water bearer’ it made much more cosmological sense for Aquarius to be grouped in with the other water signs.  But when I meditated on the Star card it began to make sense to me.  The star card is about hope, renewal, and inspiration.  These are ideas and constructs that we form in our mind, and our mind is ruled by the element Air.  Yet, water is ever present in the Star card.  Water as a symbol is usually connected to healing and the subconscious.  It is the combination of both the healing power of water and our mind’s capacity for hope that brings us to a state of true healing.  This is what the Star card represents to me.

When this card appears in a reading it foretells a time of calming energy and mental stability.  These things are necessary after facing any kind of drastic upheaval or change.  The Star card gives us permission to forgive both others and ourselves so that we can move on to the next stage of our life.

I like to mediate with this card whenever I’m facing a difficult time within my life.  I visualize myself next to the lake featured in the card.  I imagine my toes caressing the smooth sand at the water’s edge.  Dipping my hands into the healing water, a bright light forms in the ripples and travels up through my body bringing me into a state of calm.  I then go in search of the beautiful maiden.  Finding her off in the distance beneath a tree, I ask her how I might best move on from my difficulties and bring balance again into my life.  

In my experience, when I do this visualization and meet the water bearer, she usually gives me good advice.  Of course, I believe that it is really just my own subconscious that is coming forth and proving the answers I need to grow. Just as the maiden dips her toe into the water of our subconscious realm, we do the same when we participate in tarot readings or meditations.  The healing guidance we need is always there, within ourselves, and tarot is a tool that helps us discover it.

Do you use tarot to help you get through difficult times?  Share your experiences with the healing power of tarot in the comments below.  While I associate the Star card with healing, is there a different card that you like to use for healing spells, meditations, or tarot sessions?

Do you like deciphering hidden symbols and decoding ancient alphabets?  If so, put your Indiana Jones hat on because it’s time to get to work.  The English Magic Tarot is not for the faint of heart and you're going to need to use the full extent of your brainpower to uncover its secrets.  That’s because each card (including the minor arcana!) has a hidden message for you to translate.  This is the reason why I purchased this deck.  While the artwork is nice and the theme is certainly interesting, it was the hidden symbols peaking from the images that made me stop in my tracks and purchase this deck immediately.

The title of the deck brings us our first clue. The English Magic Tarot weaves a tale of “high” and “low” magic throughout English history.  Kings and Queens make an appearance of course, but so do astrologers, druids, and characters from English folklore.  England has a deep and expansive magical history and this deck attempts to take us through that journey card by card.  

With a deck like this the guidebook becomes an essential component of your understanding.  It helps us comprehend who is depicted in each card and their historical significance.  The history featured within this deck starts with the end of the Renaissance and goes to the beginning of the Early Modern Period. I always had a bit of trouble remembering the succession of the countless Kings and Queens throughout English history.  By studying this deck and guidebook I now feel that I have a deeper understanding of English royal history.  In addition, I learned a good deal about the magical traditions of the “common folk” and how those beliefs and rituals have lasted through time.  

The artwork of this deck is in a storyboard-style with sharp lines and bold colors.  It is dramatic and the characters appear in dynamic action poses.  This style works well when the cards are all laid out in a large spread where you can easily see how they can form a storyline.  However, when looked at individually they loose a bit of their luster.  While I’m personally not as much a fan of the comic-book style, I know that many others will absolutely love this bold and unique artistic interpretation.

One of the first things you’ll notice while attempting to translate the hidden riddles is that there are 4 distinctive ‘alphabets.’  The Enochian alphabet, created by court astrologer John Dee, was easy enough to decipher by looking up various translations of it online.  The backwards writing was also fairly easy to translate by holding the cards up to a mirror.  The Futhark runes I found a bit tricker, as they didn’t match up exactly with examples of alphabets I found online.  The hardest to translate was the Ogham writing.  This writing consists of a series of notches in a straight line, which made it tricky to determine where one word ends and the next begins. In addition, it did not fully match up with examples of this alphabet I found on the internet.   

Once you’ve fully translated the major and minor arcana, you’ll then need to figure out how it all fits together to create a coherent passage.  Shall I give you the final translation?  No. That would be too easy I think.  It’s up to you, brave explorer, to venture off and solve these riddles alone.  For it is the act of translating these cards that forces you to spend considerable time with each image and thus develop a personal connection with this unique deck.

A freudian carnival with lusty intrigue as the main theme, the Eros deck is coquettish and dripping with innuendo.  This deck will certainly make you blush.  Sex is not just included, it is the main star of this deck; each card finds a way, often humorously, to incorporate it.  The characters in the cards are topsy turvy, each image filled with both shock value and little inside jokes that only an experienced cartomancer would detect.  

The Fool begins our journey through this bacchanalian adventure, his cartoonishly large ass setting the tone for what's to come.  Flipping through the major arcana you’ll find yourself laughing at a drunk Temperance, a Justice holding scales-turned-brassiere, and a Hierophant that, looking upon The Lovers doing The Devil’s dance, has him praying with knees upward.  

Try counting the genitalia in this deck, I dare you. There must be hundreds.  Some are subtly referenced, like the rooster or ‘cock’ on the Emperor's’ shield, some are hidden in plain sight like the Magician’s “wand”, while some stare proudly at you as if they were saying, “look at me, look at me.” 

Moving into the minor arcana you’ll find a classic Pip style common to marseilles decks in that there are not unique individual scenes.  Normally, I would find this a bit disappointing, but this is not a normal deck.  Each Minor card contains erotic symbols of their own--some delicately hidden and others standing prominent.  Looking through the suits you’ll find yourself counting, "...8 penises, 9 penises, 10 penises...", wondering just how many they can fit!

The court cards conclude this deck looking like boisterous buffoons enraptured by their desire.  They seem to be performing their own kind of courtly embrace as they look to the side waiting for someone to join them in their revelry.  Perhaps they’re looking at us, the readers.  Maybe they're asking us to open a bottle of René Pogel and begin to indulge in some horizontal refreshments of our own.  

With a deck like this you have to ask when, if ever, you would actually use it in a reading.  With love and sex as its primary theme this deck would certainly work well for readings focused on relationships.  The comical nature of many of the images also suggest that this deck would be fun to bring to a party and do readings for your friends.  Though I have to admit, at it’s core, this is a collector's deck. This kind of uniqueness appeals to the collector impulse of cartomancers.  And let’s admit it, most of us tarot readers have hoarding tendencies when it comes to our deck collections.  

The uniqueness of this deck even goes beyond the cards themselves: the box the cards come in is ‘titillating’ in both senses. Additionally, the companion book, more than just a guide, is an adult coloring book filled with naughty limericks to enhance your readings.  

It is clear that each component of this deck was carefully thought out.  Looking beyond the humorous and sexual surface level, you see a deck with beautiful artwork, clear attention to detail, and outstanding creativity.  So while this certainly isn’t the first deck I grab for readings, it still holds a prominent place on my shelf and in my heart.

If you'd like to find out more about this deck you can do so here.

If you're interested in a reading with this deck, or any of my other decks, you can sign up here. 

If you'd like to see a full walkthrough of this deck, you can view the video below: 

What are your thoughts on this deck?  Share in the comments below.

The grain swells against the morning wind as waves of amber and gold ripple through the fields.  I envision what these wheat fields of Illinois might have looked like a long time ago.  Farm boys swinging scythes, their calloused hands aching with a summer of hard labor.  I envision horses neighing in the distance, their glossy chestnut mains shining in the summer sun.  I imagine a large farm table filled with sun-ripened tomatoes and loaves of freshly baked bread.  The delicate sounds of a summer afternoon, the wild hum of grasshoppers leading to the warm and hazy glow of lightning bugs as the sun falls below the horizon.

Today when I look upon the fields outside my city, I find endless rows of wheat and corn.  The fields go on for miles, a never ending surface reflecting the color of our summer sun.  In the midwest it seems we have our own ocean, but instead of water, our ocean is a sea of harvest.  Our modern fields take on an otherworldly quality in their grandness.  The visions of amber punctuated only by roaring machines that have taken the place of of scythes.  

Living in the Midwest I feel a great connection to the harvest festival of Lammas.  While other regions may provide more glamorous resources, the midwest has taken on the role of Ceres, the goddess of grain.  Our wheat and corn travels across the country and beyond to nourish millions.  It’s so easy to become complacent and unaware of the skill and hard work necessary to create this endless sea of golden fields.  So upon this harvest festival, us Pagans take a moment to give thanks for the summer bounty nature has provided.  

Looking upon my modern feast, I see not only the foods from my region.  I see the success of our beautiful country united.  I see grains from the midwest baked into an herbed loaf.  I see goat cheese from New York, and olives grown in California.  I see beer made from the hops of Washington and charcuterie from Kansas.  To hear people speak, you would think we are more divided as a nation than ever.  Yet looking at my harvest table I see value in each region of our country and feel united in this celebration of the summer bounty.  So upon this harvest day, let us come together ‘round our tables.  And let us take a moment to appreciate and give thanks to all that makes our feasts possible.

How will you be celebrating this harvest festival?  Let me know in the comments below. 

This image from Local Milk Blog

The waitress poured my coffee into a delicate porcelain cup as I stared out the window looking towards the old cobblestones that my feet would soon tread.  It was hot that morning and the trees in the nearby park hung thick and languid waiting for a breeze to sway their leaves.  I was staying at the Hawthorne Hotel right in the heart of Salem, Massachusetts.  I had read that the place was haunted so of course I booked a room hoping to investigate later in the evening.  At the moment though, ghostly apparitions were far from my mind.  Instead, I was thinking about what these streets and buildings might have looked like in the spring of 1692.  

My trip to New England had taken me across Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts.  There was one main constant across these states and that was the forest.  Tall pine trees and heavy maples grouped together.  Looking into the forest the sunlight soon became obscured under a canopy of leaves.  Even today, in our modern world, I felt that the forests of New England seemed to conceal mysteries and magic.  

It is no wonder that the settlers of New England feared the woods.  The early villagers of Salem must have worked relentlessly to carve their town from these forests.  The ‘civilization’ they created for themselves still did not allow them to escape fear.  Their fear came, not from the forest, but from each other.  Their fear built and built until the fear created a life of itself.  Accusations and hangings ran rampant through the town, spreading like a virus.  And then, in about a year it somehow died off and the great witch trials were over.

It seemed odd thinking about such historic tragedy on a hot summer day.  Walking through the town you discover a much different community.  I’m not quite sure why modern witches have gravitated towards Salem.  Perhaps they enjoy good irony or maybe it’s an attempt to reclaim and proclaim the real meaning of the word 'witch'.  You are reminded of what occurred in 1692 around each turn as you pass by shops, museums, and historic markers.  Regardless, it was enjoyable to walk through the quaint town and visit its many shops.  While some stores were filled mostly with tchotchkes and souvenirs, I did encounter a few stores providing supplies for the discerning modern witch.  

Returning to my hotel in the evening I wandered the halls for a bit passing by the two rooms where various hauntings had supposedly occurred.  I wish I could say different, but honestly I didn't get much of a ghostly feel from the hotel.  As the skies turned dark I looked off in the distance to the line of trees.  For some reason, I couldn’t keep my mind off the sensation of walking through the forests of New England.  Here I was in a haunted hotel in a town covered with dark history.  Yet I felt it was the woods in the distance that held the real mystery and only there would I gain an true understanding of this place.

My recommendations in salem

 

where to visit

The Witch House

Peabody Essex Museum

Witch Trials Memorial

The House of Seven Gables

places to eat & Drink

Notch Brewery & Tap Room

Far From The Tree Cider

Caramel Patisserie

Rockafellas

favorite shops

Circle of Stitches

Haus Witch

The Coven's Cottage

Wicked Good Books

Have you been to Salem before?  What were your thoughts?  Share your favorite places in the comments below. 

There it was, a lonely glass filled with "two-buck chuck" wine and next to it a small plate with four town-house crackers.  The ritual was over and as I turned to partake in the "cakes & ale" portion of my full moon ritual it somehow felt all wrong.  Here I was all exhilarated and energized from participating in this sacred rite.  I had just danced to the beat of drums with the summer air swirling around me.  I had called the energies of the elements and felt their presence within my circle.  I had pondered the beauty of the full moon and felt my own connection to its mysteries.  

And now it was over.  It was time to ground my energy and recover, which meant partaking in the "cakes & ale" I had laid out for myself.  Compared to the beauty and energy of the summer full moon, the wine and crackers before me seemed lackluster and uninspired.  While I have nothing against cheap wine, in fact I rather enjoy it, it somehow didn’t feel right for this ritual.  It was summertime and the flowers were in full bloom all across the city.  The scent of honeysuckle lingered in the air as the fresh breeze from the lake tempered the evening heat.  Summer was a time of sticky-sweet strawberries and cool lemonade.  Wine, on the other hand, reminded me of an autumn landscape filled with burgundy and chestnut-colored leaves.  

In general I’ve been trying to eat more seasonally as I know that doing so will make me feel more connected to the changing seasons.  I’m not sure why this intent hasn’t filtered down to my own solitary full moon rituals.  It seemed that I was just going with routine; casually picking whatever I happen to currently have in my apartment for the "cakes & ale" portion of my rituals.  A simple ‘cakes & ale’ definitely makes sense for group rituals, but as I practice mostly solitary I know that I can do more.  Besides, I really do enjoy cooking and know that with a bit more effort I can really end my full moon rituals with something unique and truly representative of the season.

Here’s some links to a couple recipes I've found that I’m planning to make for future summer full and new moon rituals.  These recipes and photos are adapted from Local Milk Blog and The Minimalist Baker.

I’d love to know if you ever change-up the "cakes & ale" portion of your full and new moon rituals.  If so, do you have a favorite recipe?  Share in the comments below.

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Summer "Cakes"

Lavender Blueberry & Ricotta Turnovers

White Peach, Rose, & Basil Hand Pies

Herbs de Provence & Rose Olive Oil Cake

Summer "Ales"

Blackberry Basil Mojito

Cardamom & Rose Iced Latte (non-alcoholic)

Rhubarb & Strawberry Margaritas

"I’ve always wanted to find a pagan group.  Sometimes I feel so lonely doing rituals by myself in my bedroom.” My new friend, lets call her Ashley, took a sip of her wine and relaxed in her chair.

Ashley and I initially met through Instagram.  Upon seeing all the pagan and tarot content on my feed she sent me a message and we started talking about all kinds of topics.  As she also lived in my city we decided to meet in person for some wine and occult discussion - two of my favorite things.

“Have you ever gone to any of the pagan community events in the city?” I asked.  I was waiting for the answer I knew I would hear.  An answer I’ve heard from countless other girls my age.

“Uh, yes..” She started. “But I didn’t really vibe with the people there.”  Ashley looked at me, waiting for the indication that I understood the subtext of her comment.

And yes, I did understand exactly what she was talking about.  For I too have had a variety of ‘interesting’ encounters at various events since I started learning about paganism and wicca as a teenager.   

Going to a new pagan event can definitely be a bit nerve racking, especially if you’re going by yourself.  Some events I have gone to have been wonderful experiences.  In fact, I just went to an excellent summer solstice celebration where I met a lot of new pagan friends.      

However, this is often not the norm.  Usually at pagan events there is always a much older man, often with minimal social skills, who approaches me and begins a conversation.  This usually doesn’t bother me as I love talking about spirituality and paganism with new people.  However, often the conversation takes a dramatic turn when he says something inappropriate and completely out of context to what we were discussing.  This is usually in the form of the man saying something about his sex life in order to see my reaction or have me divulge personal information about my own sex life.  

For example, I might be discussing my ritual plans for the next Esbat and then he will randomly yet suggestively mention how he’s really into sex magic and is planning on meeting up with some of his ‘friends with benefits’ for a full moon tantric sexual celebration.  At this point there is an awkward silence as he waits for me to reply and I think about how to exit this conversation as quickly as possible.

While I’ve never felt in danger at any Pagan events, these types of conversations have definitely made me feel uncomfortable.  Just because us Pagans tend to be a sex positive group of people, it does not mean that I feel comfortable discussing sexuality with strangers. I wish more people understood that and this is why I’m writing this article.  

Of course I do not to mean to suggest all male pagans and witches are like this or that this occurs all the time.  I have plenty of kind and respectful male pagan friends that I’ve met at various events.  However, I believe that we do need to recognize that this is in fact a real issue within our community.

I have had countless young girls who find me on social media and message me about similar issues and experiences they’ve had.  How many young and bright girls does our community lose from our inability to seriously tackle this issue.  

I understand that this article is sure to draw some controversy and by no means am I trying to call myself an expert or say that I have the solution.  All I’m asking is that we have our own discussions about these topics so we can continue to build a respectful community for all.

What are your thoughts on this issue?  Do you have your own experience that you’d like to share? Post below in the comments.

A dark and hazy landscape sets the tone for this photo-based deck.  Empty buildings, foreboding beaches, and desert boulders punctuate the images.  Each card, including the minor arcana, contains an image of a young figure contrasting with the desert-like background.  

With the Invisible Light tarot deck Brandy Allen showcases the people and nature of California.  The California she portrays, however, is more apocalyptic than the bubbly brightness most of us associate with this state.  Half the cards consist of black and white photography and the other half uses a limited palette of crimson, chartreuse, and lilac.  The subdued tones enhance the dystopic dreamscape portrayed in these images.

The dusky figures in this deck are thin and fragile, yet their beauty is evident.  They occasionally appear nude, yet their sensuality is not the main focus.  They seem lost, searching perhaps, as eternal wanderers in this strange world.  In this deck the figures look like us, are fragile like us, and in that way we can relate and connect to them on our level.

Occasionally this deck uses Rider-Waite symbolism but the references are often subtle and not the main focus of the image.  I would consider this deck to be an intuitive deck.  A deck that would be good to meditate with, possibly to place one or two images on an altar and envision yourself walking among these California searchers.

This is a youthful deck and is something that would certainly appeal to millennials.  As a millennial myself, I was definitely drawn towards the characters depicted in the cards.  However, the imagery falls a bit flat when considering several cards of the Major Arcana.  I expect my Emperor, Hierophant, and Chariot to be powerful and strong.  The figures, while languidly beautiful, sometimes don’t portray the otherworldly power these characters represent.  Although, I do certainly appreciate how each suit card is pictorial and that alone definitely makes this deck worth a look.

I commend Brandy Allen for her unique style with this deck.  She really brings something to the table that I have not seen before and I look forward to using this deck more.  One of the true joys of being a reader in the internet age is that it has allowed artists from all over the world to connect and create their own interpretations of the Tarot cards.  I look forward to seeing what Brandy and other deck creators do next.

If you'd like to learn more about Brandy Allen and the Invisible Tarot Deck you can do so here.

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