The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Oracle Deck Interview Spread

The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Oracle deck just came out. I literally ordered it the day it was released. I really love The Wild Unknown Tarot deck, so I KNEW I wanted this Oracle deck when I heard about it. I ordered the deck and book set and I'm glad I did. The deck comes in a very sturdy two piece box that fits the 63 card deck snugly. Also included with the deck is single sheet of card meaning keywords. The accompanying book is about twice the size of the deck. It includes an introduction with some information about the deck itself, using the deck, and a few spreads. For the listing for each card there is a full sized illustration, keywords, paragraph expanded meaning, listing for when in balance, when out of balance, and how to bring back in balance. This deck is divided into four "suits" associated with the elements, Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. Each element has 14 animals in it, with the exception of Spirit which has 7 (associated with the Chakras).

As a person with a passion for animals, I really enjoy animal Oracle decks. This deck is no exception. Here is the picture of my deck interview spread for The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Oracle deck.

Deck interview spread with TWU Animal Spirit Oracle

Tell me about your personality and characteristics as a deck.
Earthworm-shy, hesitant, intimidated, reluctant to share inner vision
     I found this card to be so interesting for this deck. This deck is quite literally brand new. It just came out a week or two ago. This card talks about being new and trying to establish confidence. I thought it was so interesting for a deck to describe itself as new and not feeling confident but working on it. Quite fitting, I think.

What are your strengths as a deck?
Bear-- waking up, beginning anew
     This card indicates that this deck excels at helping us with new beginnings, when we are working with new directions and personal transformation. It can help us work to overcome obstacles.

What are your weaknesses as a deck?
Butterfly-growing pains, transformation
     When reading the accompanying book, the thing that jumped out to me is relationships. This isn't a deck to turn to when you're needing to ask about relationships.

What types of readings do you prefer to be used for?
Vulture-purifier, essential re-balance
    This deck seems to be best for helping us move back into balance. It works well for clarification and doing the work that people prefer to avoid.

Anything else I need to know about working with you as a deck?
Panther-annihilation of the unnecessary, purging
     This deck won't stand by and see us stagnate. Though uncomfortable, it will help us move from disorder back into balance, basically whether we like it or not.

I'm looking forward to seeing if and how this deck might work in combination with The Wild Unknown Tarot deck.

I hope you've enjoyed this deck interview spread with The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Oracle deck. Please join me in the future for more deck interview spreads.

Do you enjoy working with animal Oracle decks? Please feel free to share why or why not in the comments...  :-)



https://www.thewildunknown.com/

Don't Be Afraid to Use the Book

I woke up this morning feeling fairly discouraged. The weather is shifting here, so the past few days have been a bit rough for me physically. It is incredibly frustrating to have a bunch of relatively good days and then crash and have several bad days in a row. It frustrates me that the weather affects me so much physically. However I can't change that, so I do my best to work on acceptance.

Over the past couple of weeks, life has gotten in the way, so I haven't done much with my personal Tarot practice. I woke up today feeling quite discouraged. I decided that even though I was brain foggy and feeling yucky, I was going to do a reading for myself. I decided to do my favorite combo reading of drawing an Oracle card, three Tarot cards, and a Rune. I used the Oracle of the Shapeshifters and the Animal Wisdom Tarot.

The message I got was so uplifting it brought tears to my eyes. It confirmed that I need to keep things simple and do what's right for me and not worry what all the "experts" say. In doing so, I will be successful and happy. The Rune I drew, Laguz, reminded me that I need to go with the flow and for now, follow the easy path. I was getting so bogged down in the advice of others, trying to do things "right."

I'm so glad I did the reading, even though I was feeling crummy. It was just the encouragement I needed for today. Living with the ups and downs of chronic illness can be very difficult. It's nice to have tools to help me improve my outlook and move forward.

As for the title of this post, I was reminded of something else today. Don't be afraid to use the book for doing your readings. I have quite a few Oracle decks and Tarot decks. With most of the Oracle decks and a few of the Tarot decks, I still need to use the accompanying book to help me interpret the cards. There's nothing wrong with that. Oracle decks especially are so varied in their systems and meanings, it can be difficult to truly master each and every one. Working with the Animal Wisdom Tarot is new for me. The author has done an EXCELLENT job with choosing animals that support the more "traditional" meanings of the cards. But these are not immediately understandable to me. I utilized the book (also excellent) that came with the deck to help me interpret my reading. I'm so glad I did! Using the book helped me really understand the connection of the chosen animal to the more traditional/conventional meaning of the cards.

I've felt somewhat guilty about using the accompanying books with Tarot decks in readings for myself. I've felt that as an aspiring Tarot professional I shouldn't need to use the book to do readings. I have studied Tarot for a number of years now and have a handful of decks that I feel quite confident in using for readings without needing to utilize a book for interpretation. However, there are SO many different Tarot decks. There really isn't anything wrong with using the book that comes with these decks, especially for personal readings. The books give you insight into the nuances and unique interpretations of each deck's theme that the deck author has come up with.

I definitely believe in working on learning the "basics" of Tarot, especially if you'd eventually like to become a professional reader. It is my opinion that intuition is great, but can be even greater when it has more information to work with. Learning Tarot as a system helps give our intuition more information to work with and draw on to help guide our readings. So there's nothing wrong with adding to that well of information by using the accompanying deck books when you read, especially in the beginning.

Far too often I see the advice given to people new to divination "Throw the book away! Use your intuition!" Well, I tried that in the beginning and my brain just doesn't work like that. I ended up sitting there looking blankly at the cards and getting frustrated. It was only after reading some books that I began to have intuitive insights when reading the cards.

I also realized that with my brain fog from my chronic illness issues, there's days when I just can't process. My brain just literally doesn't work correctly. Some days that means I can't even attempt a reading. Other days it means I can do a reading, but I need some help in order to put all the pieces together. A quick look at the book or my collection of card meanings can be just what I need to gain insight and put things together. It's not about regurgitating stock meanings and cobbling them together. It's about reminding me of what I already know but my brain just isn't quite putting together because it's not up to par that day.

So don't worry about using the book. It's there, so use it! After a time, if you feel comfortable, set the book aside and try reading without referring to it. If that doesn't work, go back to using the book. There's nothing wrong with using the book for readings for yourself.

Are there any decks that you use the book with? Do you feel comfortable setting aside the book, at least some of the time? Please feel free to share in the comments.



http://lucycavendish.com.au/

Finding Balance and Simplicity and New Sparklies

Sorry it's been a while again. I was working on some stuff for getting my Tarot business going and got a bit bogged down in the planning. That's an ongoing issue I have, getting caught up in planning and not actually DOING. So I'm working on that. It's hard to find a balance between adequate planning so you can be successful and not using planning as procrastination due to fear of failure. I'm finding that that's an ongoing issue for me. I'm doing my best to work through it, though it's not easy. I'll get there though.  I'm working on starting, doing, and keeping things simple. I've been looking at some business resources and they're very helpful. A key message I keep seeing, that's particularly applicable to me, is to start and don't worry about having it all planned out. You'll make mistakes, fail even, and that's ok. But you can't ever succeed if you don't start. My goal is to start doing readings on Fiverr, to actually DO something to get started. Then I'm going to work on providing readings as my own business.

I'm getting a bit bogged down in creating my niche. I know how Tarot has helped me in getting unstuck and helping me cope with chronic illness. So maybe that's where I need to start. I keep seeing how you should create a narrow services niche for the most success. I'm just not quite sure what that should be yet. I'm doing some work to try to figure that out.

On a more fun note, I have a BUNCH of new crystals and stones! My husband brought most of them for me from a work trip he went on. I'm just LOVING them!

Here's what they all are, from top to bottom, left to right...

Top: Selenite wand

Row 2: Rough and tumbled carnelian, kunzite, moldavite, blue topaz, jet, fire Opal, fish fossil, fossil horse tooth

Row 3: Iceland spar/optical calcite, blue calcite, red calcite, orange calcite, green calcite, honey calcite

Row 4: Fuschite, green Opal, raw emerald, indigo gabbor/Mystic merlinite (a new find, never heard of it before), desert jasper, bumblebee jasper, yellow jasper, brecciated jasper

Row 5: Picasso jasper, red jasper, leopardskin jasper, hematite, desert rose selenite, fulgurite (created when lightning hits sand)

The Selenite wand is HUGE! It was only $10!!! The pen in the picture is a regular sized pen. The wand is 12-14 inches long!

Selenite wand size

All the pretty sparklies!!!  :-) Many of the pieces were on a list I gave my husband, but he chose some himself. He always makes great choices for me. He's not really into crystals and stones, but inevitably he chooses ones that are very applicable to my life. Now I just need to find space for these new additions on my already VERY crowded dresser top reserved for my crystals and stones.  :-) This just gives me the kick in the pants I've needed to dust and organize my stones.

So I'm back, and I plan to post regularly. I'm going to keep things simple and not get bogged down in planning procrastination. I'm going to DO!


Do any of you struggle with procrastination? Please share in the comments.

I Got A Bit Overwhelmed...

Sorry it's been a while... I got a bit overwhelmed. I'm really trying to move forward with everything, my life, my business. I've been using Leonie Dawson's Create Your Shining Life and Biz workbooks and I really love them. They are all about dreaming and goal setting. I started using them last year, though I didn't do much with them in 2015. I got them again for 2016 and I've been using them MUCH more this year. I've found them to be quite helpful.

I'm really trying to start a Tarot consulting business. With the Leonie workbooks package, those who pre-ordered the whole set of workbooks and diary/planner ended up being gifted a free enrollment in Leonie's Business Goddess 2.0 Business Course online. I figured since it was free, I might as well use it. I completed that course and got some excellent ideas. I also got Fiona Benjamin's 5 to Thrive email business course for signing up for her email newsletter. I completed that also and got even more excellent business ideas. I'm actually quite proud of myself that I completed two business courses online.

Then I got overwhelmed...  All this time I've been trying to keep my blogging fun and low key. I tend to get bogged down in over-planning and over-thinking. Then I get overwhelmed and I don't actually do anything. I also tend to procrastinate out of a fear of failure. I'm afraid to fail so if I just put stuff off and don't even try then it's not possible to fail, right? All this reared its ugly head as I was trying to figure out how I'm going to start my Tarot business. So I ended up doing NOTHING for a while. Not good, but it is what it is.

I did some Tarot and journaling work to try to work through this latest blockage. It was very helpful. In the meantime, my birthday and the Spring Equinox have come and gone. I did Tarot work on those days too, which will be shared in upcoming blog posts. Ultimately, I realized that I have to do what works for ME. That means trying to implement a few "business" things that might work, but also staying with my original primary goal of having blogging be fun, low key, and relatively spontaneous. It's about narrowing some of my focus down, but not too much. It's about finding the balance between some planning and utilizing some business tools for success without becoming so bogged down in the planning that I don't actually do anything.

So I'm back. I'm looking forward to writing some upcoming blog posts about some of the insights I've gained during my break. I'm looking forward to implementing some of the business techniques I learned from the two courses I completed. I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. I'm looking forward to starting my business. My plan is to get started on Fiverr, which I only recently learned about. I'm working on getting things set up so I can do that. I did some readings about getting started on Fiverr and they were quite favorable.

I feel excited again!  :-) I hope you'll join me here next time and in the future. I have some interesting stuff coming soon...




http://leoniedawson.com/

Oracle Deck Excitement!

I splurged recently and bought Paulina Cassidy's The Faerie Guidance Oracle. I'm so glad that I did! It's very cute, but then I really like her artwork. I have both her Paulina Tarot and Joie de Vivre Tarot decks and her Witchlings Deck. I enjoy all of them, though I don't work a lot with the Paulina Tarot. I prefer the Joie de Vivre Tarot, which is currently one of my working decks. I also just found out recently that she's creating two new Tarot decks, which are still in the process of being created. I can't wait for them to be released! Anyway...

The Faerie Guidance Oracle is a deck of 40 cards with uplifting and positive messages. I'm not normally all that interested in Faeries, but I was drawn to this deck. I went back and forth a bit about getting it and decided to just do it. It is quite similar to the Witchlings deck, but with a slightly different take. I REALLY like it!

I know some people are a bit turned off by "positive" decks. I generally tend to be one of them. Life isn't all positive, so decks shouldn't necessarily be all positive. However, I have found that this deck, along with Witchlings, is positive but still gives an accurate and realistic message. The answers are just framed in a more positive light. Honestly, sometimes I've found that I need that. I don't want a deck to blow smoke up my a**. But sometimes I need the message to be given to me in a more positive perspective, a bit more gently, particularly if I'm having a flare up of my chronic illness issues. This deck, and Witchlings, gives honest and accurate answers in a positive perspective, without completely glossing over some of the "not so positive" stuff.

I have been wanting to find an Oracle deck or two that I can use to offer readings to clients. I LOVE Oracle decks, but I usually have to rely on the accompanying book meanings for reading them. There's no consistent system for Oracle decks, like there is for Tarot, so you have to learn each individual Oracle deck's "system" which is based on the deck creator's whim and intention. I have several Oracle decks that I absolutely adore for personal readings. But even with as often as I use them, I still need to rely on the accompanying books. I just can't quite get their "system" down to do readings without the books. For personal readings that's just fine, but for readings for clients that's not really professional. So I've been looking for an Oracle deck or two that I can use for clients, some of whom may not be entirely comfortable with Tarot. I think I've found them!

Since I've gotten The Faerie Guidance Oracle, I've been experimenting and practicing with both it and the Witchlings deck. I have found both decks to be quite accessible. I don't have to rely on the accompanying books to complete a decent reading. I get good intuitive hits from both decks. I've also found both decks to work well with a few spreads, which I don't generally use very often. I'm continuing to practice more with both decks. I feel certain I'll be quite comfortable using these decks for client readings in the future. That's so very exciting for me!  :-)  I'm hoping to have my Tarot business up and running soon. Now I feel I'll be able to offer a wider variety of readings for clients by including these two Oracle decks for readings.

I hope you'll join me in the future as I continue to explore working with Tarot and Oracle decks.

What new decks have you gotten recently? Feel free to share in the comments.



http://www.paulina.ws/

New Year's Energy and New Beginnings

This year I'm REALLY feeling the energetic shift of the new year. I usually don't feel that shift very strongly, but this year is definitely the exception. I'm not usually big on New Year's resolutions and a lot of the superstition and such surrounding the new year. This year feels different though. This year I've really felt an energetic shift. The end of 2015 felt quite low. I was really feeling the cold, dormant, quiet, dare I say "dead" time of the year around the Winter Solstice. That is natural and normal for the time of year. I just usually don't feel it so significantly. Since after the Winter Solstice and especially with the new year I've felt a significant shift towards new cycles, waking up, a noticeable and improved energetic shift. I have made a conscious choice to start some things "fresh" and new for the new year. I've made new batches of altar offerings and will be doing a good physical and energetic cleaning of my altar and my crystals and stones. I've started new physical journal notebooks for this year even though there was some room left in last year's notebooks. I even opened up a new set of pens (Sharpie colored pens) for writing in those notebooks, for a fresh start. I wasn't being superstitious, it just felt like I needed to do those things. Nothing crazy or too intense, just a few tangible changes for the energetic shift of the new year.

I've also been exploring some new directions for my spiritual path. One thing that's been bothering me lately has been my difficulties in actually physically being able to do shamanic journeys and meditation/visualization. When I try to do so I end up with bad brain fog and fatigue flares, which I mentioned recently. I decided to do a reading about how to deal with this. I did a 3 card draw with the Oracle of Shadows and Light and a 5 card draw with the Deviant Moon Tarot (borderless edition). While I was shuffling the Deviant Moon 2 cards jumped out and I felt that was meaningful. Sometimes I KNOW I fumbled a shuffle and cards fell out because of that, so I'll just put them back and reshuffle. Not so today... Those 2 cards provided the perfect overview of the entire reading. It was personal so I won't share all the details of the full reading. But here are the two cards that jumped out...

So basically, the gist of the entire reading was that a cycle has been completed and it's time to move forward in a new direction.

I've have been feeling so conflicted over my difficulties with journeying and whether or not it's something I'm supposed to continue to pursue, and what will my guides think, etc. This reading has helped me feel a bit more comfortable setting aside shamanic journeying for now. It doesn't mean permanently, necessarily. In addition to my physical difficulties journeying I've been finding interest in some new things, some new directions. This reading really helped me feel comfortable about pursuing those new directions.

So for now, I'll be focusing on Tarot, working with color energies (including crystals/stones), Druidry, and bioregional nature spirituality work. I'm trusting that if my guides need me to know something I'll get the message how I'm supposed to get it.

There's a couple of quotes that I read recently that I felt were meaningful to me. They are absolutely manifesting in my life right now.

     " I will be willing to release the comfort of familiarity, whenever that familiarity is keeping me from something better. I will be willing to learn new things, and try new things, especially things that are outside my comfort zone. I will embrace change, even if I am fearful."

Unfortunately I can't remember where I read these statements. But they feel particularly applicable to me right now. What's interesting is all I've done is write those down in a few places. I'm not even reading them all that often. There's definitely something to be said for writing your goals and such, for manifestation.

So here's to the New Year, new beginnings, and energetic shifts. We'll see how things unfold and move forward...


http://www.strangeling.com/
http://www.deviantmoon.com/wordpress/

New Year and Creating a Tarot Spread

I've put off writing my first blog post of the year for a bit. I have been going through some difficulties and frustrations related to my chronic illness. Lately, I have been unable to meditate, do visualizations, or journey. Doing so creates bad brain fog and fatigue flares. I think this is because they are fairly intense mental concentration and exertion. For people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and many other chronic illnesses, mental exertion can be just as debilitating as physical exertion. This difficulty has led me to feel a lot of frustration about how am I going to cope with the loss of those skills/tools with my spiritual practice. I've been feeling very disconnected and out of sorts.

All of that is starting to resolve. I've been exploring some different aspects of energetic healing, mostly having to do with color. I'm not sure how keen I am on the chakras concept. I have a hard time reconciling chakras with what I know of physiology. But I am interested in the concepts of the four elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water) and their associations (Body, Mind, Energies/Will/Passions/Creativity, Emotions) and incorporating color and crystal energy healing into that. So I'll be exploring more of that as time goes on. I feel really called to work with color energy (including in the form of crystals and stones). The readings I've done lately have shown that this is a good area for me to focus on.

I also came up with a Tarot spread today. There's a quote that I've seen several times recently that I've come to resonate with a lot.
     Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.    ~Arthur Ashe
It seems to be a quote that is an energetic focus for me lately. I was doing some thinking this morning and came up with a Tarot spread inspired by this quote.

• Where am I?
• What do I have?
• What can I do?

I did a personal reading using this spread this morning, with both the Oracle of the Shapeshifters and the Tarot of the Magical Forest. The reading was quite personal and VERY meaningful to me, so I'd prefer not to share it here. The reading helped me to make a difficult decision on where to place my focus on some things for now and what I need to let go of for now. It tied into my 2016 yearly overall reading that I did previously. This tied a few things together and helped clarify some things that I needed to hear but are a bit difficult to face. Nothing to worry about it, just some personal stuff. It's a good thing and this new spread was very helpful for me today. So I wanted to share it with you. After I finished the readings I thought of one final question that could be included.

• How do I start?

I haven't read for that question as I already had a few things in mind for how I might start. But it would be a good addition to the spread.

I hope you are all having a good start to the New Year.