Pull up to three cards and use them to… create and/or describe your perfect vacation.
No vacation would be right
without you along
I need you at my side
or else everything just goes wrong
Together there is fun and joy
and a lot of indulging in pleasure and play
In the end it doesn’t matter where we go
It’s being with you that makes my day
So I wanted to try and get back into my Friday paganism posts. I’ve sort of been slacking off on those a bit since the new year and I think it’s time to get back on track.
Since the Pagan Perspective channel on YouTube is talking about a subject that I’m completely clueless about this week (that would be starseeds), I decided to pick up a question from one of the pagan servers I’m a member of on Discord.
Question for the week of March 30th: Let’s talk about wands today! Who has a wand? What does it look like? How do you use it? If you made it, how did you make it??
I don’t really use wands in my practice all that often. At least not in the traditional “wands are used to direct energy” sort of way. I find that my hands do this just as well if not better in most cases.
In my practice, if I feel the need to use a wand, I most commonly use tree-fall sticks for wands when I need them, and then return them to the earth with an expression of gratitude when I’m done with them.
Outside of that, I have the following….
(Click Image for Larger View)
Left Photo: An amethyst crowned antler with the Inguz rune carved into it. This piece was originally a pendant included in one of my Witches’ Moon boxes a few months ago. I wear specific jewelry, though, and it just isn’t something I would wear.
I loved the amethyst setting, and the fact that it was made out of genuine antler, though. So I chose to set it on my altar as an offering to the energies of creation, evolution, and balance. I feel with the combination of the antler, amethyst and inguz rune (which stands for fertility and is the epitome of the phrase “life finds a way”) it is a perfect fit as an offering to those energies.
Center Photo: Selenite (the white stone) and Nuummite (the black stone) wands. Selenite is a high vibration stone used for cleansing and dispelling negative energies. It is one of few purification crystals out there that does not require cleansing or re-charging, and can also amplify the power of other crystals. This selenite wand sits in a dish among a collection of my other crystals to help keeping their energies cleansed and balanced. I also sometimes use this wand in energy purification in certain holiday rituals.
Nuummite is (to me) an extremely heavy stone. Not in weight, but in its energies. It is very powerful in assisting in grounding, which is not something that I need any assistance in (which is probably why I find its energy so heavy). Because of the overkill of grounding this stone can produce for me, it’s dangerous to my mental health to remain in contact with it for too long. It is also a very useful as a protection stone, and I primarily use it for this purpose.
Right Photo: The “wand” in this picture is my father’s kila, which I inherited when he passed. A kila is (in the most basic of explanations) a ritual item used in certain Buddhist traditions to dispel evil and protect against negative energies.
I personally do not use the kila in this way. Instead, this kila sits upon my altar as a representation of my ancestors along with a deck of canasta playing cards that once belonged to my great-great-grandmother and were used for divination purposes.
My Entry for the Your Tarot Self-Portrait Challenge.
Just sneaking under the cut-off with only two days left to enter!
I have to watch out for the Gloominous Doom
As he likes to visit with his pit of gloom
My nearest and dearest know what to do
I depend on them to steer me true
[Faeries Oracle – Gloominous Doom]
One of the biggest recurring challenges of my life has been my depression. I had my first Major Depressive Episode at the age of fourteen and have had a number of them since. When not in an episode I deal with long-term dysthymia. I depend on my loved ones, and especially Gideon, to help me in keeping track of my mood levels and helping me identify when I appear to be slipping into that pit of a depressive episode as well as help me in finding my way back out of it again.
A survivor, I am
I fight the good fight
There is no swerving from battles or strife
Determination
Is how I confront the struggles in life
[Stolen Child Tarot – Five of Wands]
I am strong and determined. I don’t allow others to push me around or allow them to sway me from what I know is right… and what I know is mine. This card’s imagery is about determination and empowerment to me, and it speaks to that strength within me that demands that I stand strong and demand the best from myself and that others “toe the line” where I am concerned or pay the consequences.
Grounded and sure footed
I am who I am
My moral compass and inner voice
Guide me true
Again and again
[Earth Power Oracle – Magnetic North Pole]
I live my life by the guidance given by my moral compass and my intuition. Both of these aspects work together and speak to me through an inner “voice” that is never wrong. I have spent my life learning to better trust myself and that voice, and in doing so have become more and more grounded, and more and more sure of who I am and comfortable within my own skin. I know my weaknesses and my strengths, and am happy to share the lessons I have learned to help others find their own direction as well.
Sometimes this means
Putting on a fierce face
and plowing through obstacles
no matter the pain or the pace
[Tarot of the Hidden Realm – Ten of Swords]
My history is filled with obstacles and accidents, painful moments and instances that could easily be considered moments of victimization. Instead of allowing these moments or the residual effects of those moments to drag me down, I face these experiences with a snarl of force and determination, knowing that each of these experiences are going to hurt… but if I face them head on I will make it to the other side, having survived and ready to move on.
I juggle a lot
and I’m busy as a bee
Responsibilities require balance
that I appear to manage with ease
[Hush Tarot – Two of Pentacles]
I started adulthood at 16 when I emancipated from my parents, and signed a mortgage at 19. I have spent the majority of my adult life juggling at least four part time jobs and a home business, as well as sustaining a healthy relationship with my twin sister, a long-distance high-demand relationship with my partner Gideon, and a close friendship with my best friend. There is also self care, of which there is an excessive amount because of the need for daily physical therapy and occasional recreation, my spiritual path and my tarot practice. Most people would never guess that I juggle so much, or carry so much responsibility. I shoulder it all. I balance it all. The key to balance in life? Is flexibility. Scales are not still and stagnant. They sway… and like those scales, in order to balance life’s responsibilities we too must sway and constantly adjust.
In truth, though,
Life’s not about balance or battles
Life is about adaptability
Perspectives
And learning from the trials
[Wayhome Tarot – The Hanged Man]
I see the struggle and strife and trials I have gone through, as well as those things I will go through in the future, as learning experiences. They have allowed me to see things differently, and changed my perspectives over time. Whether it is the chronic, constant pain or being the victim of a crime, there is a benefit and a lesson to each experience if I am open to seeking it out and taking that new, different perspective in. Every different perspective I find changes me in some small way, opening me up to something new and giving me more… more understanding… more empathy… and more knowledge with which to navigate the world and relate to those within it.
Pull (at least) three cards and use them to… write about either a real or fictional abandoned building.
Loew’s 175th Street Theatre – Manhattan – 1969
He was once a pillar of the community (La Force) where people came together and socialize. A beacon of light to all that shined brightly on even the darkest of nights (Le Judgement).
Disrepair came upon him as less and less people came to visit and upkeep decreased, allowing deterioration to sneak in.
Then one day the lights shut down and the doors were barred. Seats were left to gather dust that had once gathered rumps of rapt men and women and children. (L’ermite)
Many people felt they no longer needed the hope that he represented (Le Fou), while others found other ways to entertain, uplift, and educate themselves (Le Faucheur and Le Bateleur).
Now what had once stood tall crumbles (la Maison Dieu) with neglect in an uncertain world (La Lune).
And yet still, he his hopeful (Les Etoiles) that in time a new purpose will come (Le Pendu and Wheel of Fortune) and people will return once more (Le Monde).
Pull up to three cards and use them to… create and/or describe a fictional character.
One of The Nameless
Even in his youth, he was already an old man. His grandmother saw it the first time she looked into his infant blue eyes, and even once that newborn shade darkened into a dark shade of brown, she wasn’t able to look back again.
It wasn’t just that his eyes were filled with an age he had yet to have lived, it was the desolate coldness in the rich brown gaze. There was a darkness there that went far beyond color.
As he grew up, he had no friends. It wasn’t that he wasn’t good looking, or even that he had some mysterious appeal. It was just that he didn’t want them. He felt no connection to them, and thus preferred to be alone.
This made him a perfect candidate for recruitment after he’d left the military, and the agency that picked him up trained him in skills that the military only hinted at, then began sending him on the kind of top secret missions that changed the world, one assassination at a time.
Pull at least three cards and use them to… write about a (real or fictional) call that was a wrong number.
The Phone Call
There came a time many years ago where a boy filled with youth and potential (Il Sole) lay within a bed, his body broken into pieces (La Torre di Babele).
Lying within the bed after one of the many surgeries needed to put the boy’s body back together, he almost ignored the call when the phone beside his bed rang. Almost. Instead, exhausted and disheartened, he answered.
On the other side of the line came a man’s voice. A voice he had never heard before. The man was confused and struggling, driving in the rain and lost in an unfamiliar city. He was on his way to a blind date, and couldn’t figure out which way to go (Gli Innamorati). He had meant to call his date and get directions, but had clearly dialed the wrong number.
The man, oblivious to the boy’s own plight, was all worked up and expressed that he was greatly tempted to just turn around and go back home (Il Diavolo), writing his date off as a flop and accepting (although mournfully) that perhaps he was meant to be alone forever (L’eremita).
The boy in his recovery bed felt bad for the man and his struggle. He felt that no one that longed so deeply to find a connection with another should allow their fear to keep them from finding that connection, and he said as much to the man.
He told the man that he should go through with the date, because after all… what if (La Ruota della Fortuna) this woman is the person that the man has been waiting for his entire life? (Il Guidizio)
In talking with the boy, this premise gave the man hope (Le Stelle), and he decided to try and go through with the date after all.
The boy in his bed did a search of the man’s destination on his tablet, and pulled up a map with directions (Il Bagatto) to the place that the man was supposed to go. As the man drove, the boy talked the man through the steps to get to his destination (La Luna and Il Carro).
Once at his destination, the call ended with the boy wishing the man good luck, and the boy then went back to his rest and healing. The call was soon forgotten in the fog of medications, surgeries, and physiotherapy in the days and months that passed.
Then one day, a few months later, the boy’s phone rang again with an unfamiliar number. Again it was the same man! This time calling calm and happy (La Temperanza) and wanting to thank the boy.
He told the boy that on the night of the first call, the man had been dead set on going home. But, the boy’s encouragement had given him hope and, in going through with the date, he had indeed met the person he’s been waiting his entire life to find. The man had called to thank the boy, for the man’s life had completely transformed because of this date (La Morte), and he told the boy that he and the woman from the blind date were going to be married (Il Papa). This news gave the boy pleasure and hope, and he worked even harder to recover so that he could dance at their wedding.
Twisting the Leaf 