Various Paganism, Tarot, Etc

When to Cleanse Divination Tools

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This is a prompt from one of the Discord servers that I’m a member of.
“Do you cleanse your divination tools or anything else that you may use? If so, how often? If not, why is that?“

So, I know that the question is about divination tools, but I thought I would add a bit extra to the response as divination tools are not the only tools that get cleansed in my practice.

Ritual tools get cleansed and consecrated before each ritual (as opposed to spellwork tools, which might or might not get cleansed beforehand). This is because rituals are for sacred appreciation and connection with divinity. Spellwork is more about goals and intention.

Divination tools get cleansed when it feels like they need it. For me, this boils down to clairsentience and psychometry. My hands are very sensitive to energy so I can feel when energy I don’t want in the deck is there, and will cleanse it to resolve the issue.

This “unclean” feeling usually feels like a creeping cloying prickle/tingle feeling on the inside of the skin/beneath the skin starting in the palms and spreading through inside of forearms to outside of biceps. It can often create an urge to want to wash my hands. For cleansing during these instances, I use smoke cleansing, and go through the deck one card at a time, passing each card through the smoke while pushing my own energy through the card to “crowd out” and cleanse away the unpleasant energies I want to get rid of.

That said? I do minor cleansing of my decks when I use them just due to the fact that 1) I naturally push my energy through the deck during the shuffling process and 2) after having recently worn the finish off my wooden reading surface, I’ve shifted to using a selenite plate for shuffling and “knocking” of the deck during the shuffling process. I also have one in quartz, but I prefer the selenite one better.

Other divination tools are similarly done. If they feel “off” energetically, I’ll cleanse them with either selenite, smoke cleansing, or both while pushing my own energy through them.

Moving Forward Tarot Reading

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Tarot Arte de Luna Rivas

Card to represent current state.

Ocho de Bastos – You are feeling like your momentum has been disrupted and that you have dropped the ball on things you wanted to get done. You worry about “falling behind” because of this, which you perceive as being even worse than stalling out for a time.

What I am moving towards.

Siete de Oros – Slow progress is coming. The realization that you have gotten more done than you realized will be upon you if you are open to seeing it. You aren’t stalling out or backsliding and losing ground… you’re just moving forward more slowly than you realize or are used to.

Lesson to be learned.

Cuatro de Copas – Pick and choose your battles. It’s okay for certain projects and things that need done to get set on the back burner so that you can train your attention on what is right before you. That doesn’t mean you’re abandoning those other projects, only that other concerns and priorities need to come first.

How the lesson will help me grow.

La Muerte – Slowly, as seen in the Siete de Oros above. This lesson is a study in slow and gradual change, and how it is okay to take things slow instead of rushing in and pushing yourself too hard.

How the lesson could hinder me.

As de Bastos – It will force you to “slow your roll” on new projects and inspirations. There’s only so much time in a day, only so many things you can take on at a time. Sometimes you have to accept that you just can’t do all the stuff you want to right away… or, in some cases, at all.

Final outcome.

El Carro – Determination will carry you through, no matter the speed you are moving at. Just keep moving.

DECK USED: TAROT ARTE DE LUNA RIVAS

Weekly Creativity Prompt – The Hierophant

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Prompt:“Pull the card from your deck(s) that matches the card posted below. Compare the imagery between the card provided below and the card(s) from your own deck(s). How would you read them differently and why?”

Tarot of the Hidden RealmTarot of the Hidden Realm – Here in this card I see a kind old man willing to guide and teach, but not with a strict demeanor.  Instead he nurtures our curiosity, provides us room to grow and guidance to keep us on the straight and narrow path as we explore and learn. He’s understanding, and willing to listen as well as to teach, and it is this energy that fills the card and any reading that this card would fall into.

The Hierophant in the Wandering Moon Major Aracana, Tarot of the Hidden Realm, Mara Lunne Tarot, Radiant Tarot, and Second Sight Tarot

The Wandering Echo Major Arcana – In this deck, the Hierophant is renamed the Teacher, and we see in the imagery the shifting grow of a moon from half to three-quarter and finally to full.  The keys in the half moon speak of the tools we have and the knowledge we must gain, where the development of the moon speaks of growing into our knowledge as we learn more and more until finally we come to a place where we have the keys needed to unlock the doors to even more knowledge… and still more to explore.

Mara Lunne Tarot – One of the more traditional imagery cards in those chosen for this activity, this card depicts the Hierophant as a robed religious figure with a halo of holy knowledge surrounding their head and a tomb in their hands. In this depiction I see peace and serenity. There are no harsh lessons here, only trust and guidance passed down from generation to generation, and entrusted to us to be passed down as well.

Second Sight Tarot – Although the imagery in this card is not as traditional as the one to either side of it, I see this one as far more leaning into the “atmosphere” of the traditional imagery in the RWS tarot. It is in the ruffled cuffs of the sleeve, and in the Marionite cross (which I believe was meant to be the Papal cross) which serves as an emblem for the office of the Pope in ecclesiastical heraldry.  This card speaks to me of stringent rules and rigid tradition.

Radiant Tarot – In this card we see the crow figure standing crowned and holding a key of knowledge. He is robed in red, speaking of knowledge and authority, and the head is turned to the past, speaking of knowledge that comes from the past through generations and traditions held in long standing.  This card speaks to me most strongly of tradition and knowledge that holds structure and formality, but is perhaps not quite as stringent as what is seen in the Second Sight Tarot card mentioned above.

DECK USED: TAROT OF THE HIDDEN REALM, THE WANDERING ECHO MAJOR ARCANA, MARA LUNNE TAROT, SECOND SIGHT TAROT, RADIANT TAROT

Aspects of Self Lenormand Reading

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Aspects of Self Lenormand Reading with the Binx Lenormand

Shifting Mindset – Ship and Birds – Don’t allow yourself to become overwhelmed by all of the small responsibilities that come with the day to day running of your business.  You need to start looking at starting your own site now that you’re surfacing out of the depression and will have an easier time dealing with all that’s involved with this. 

Open Heart – Ring and Bear – Be open to the possibility of new opportunities to make money.  Watch closely what you agree to, and be protective of what you have… but not to the point that you close yourself off to new opportunities that could be good for you.

Soul Awareness – Woman and Whip – Keep in mind that when emotions run high, people often lash out in ways they wouldn’t normally. During these times, take a breath and a step back to stay calm and level headed instead of allowing their emotions to carry you away with them into a less stable mindset.

DECK USED:  BINX LENORMAND

Relax Oracle Reading

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Relax Oracle Reading with the Chemins de Qumran

How to let go of life’s stresses?

La Foi – Believe that everything happens for a reason… even the bad things. Make sure that you are looking for the lesson or boon that grows from the ashes.

How to get to stillness?

Le Libre-arbitre – Make the choice. You are not tied down to or forced into chaos. It is important to realize that the chaos in your life is there by choice. If you want less chaos and more stillness, you must make choices that will help you find that stillness.

How to maximize the fun to be had?

La Peur de La Mort – Stop worrying so much about what bad stuff might happen. There’s a difference between good judgement and living in fear.

DECK USED: CHEMINS DE QUMRAN

Weekly Creativity Prompt – April Fools

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Prompt: Draw (at least) three cards and use them to tell us the story of a (real or fictional) April fools trick.

Starless Sky TarotPeople express love in different ways, and sometimes we forget this.  When the old man’s daughter in law and new husband moved in across the street, he had high hopes that he would be able to connect closely with them. (The Star)

Sadly, there was no connection at all and he resigned himself to the idea that the rest of his years in his old farmhouse would be lonely ones.  It wasn’t that they didn’t wave hello now and then, it’s just that it seemed they were so… distant.

After a few years, he wasn’t able to live alone anymore, and he began to look at moving into an assisted living facility. Then in April, he heard sirens and he came outside to find the house across the street on fire! (The Tower) He rushed across to help and brought them home with him. He spoke with them and expressed how sad he was for them, and how he’s sorry that he didn’t take more of an effort to stay close.

They in turn took him outside and showed him where the firemen were standing in the yard laughing.  The fire was out, and it was now obvious that the house wasn’t destroyed but a facade had been built to fool him into thinking it had been.

They brought him over and showed him that behind the facade, the house still stood, and while the facade had stood for months, they had built onto their house to create a small apartment for him to come join them.  The firemen had been in on the trick, and they came over to say hello and wish him a happy April Fools.  And in the weeks that followed, the old man moved in with his daughter in-law and her family so that he was not alone any longer (The Sun).

DECK USED: STARLESS SKY TAROT