Divination: Major Arcana 9 - The Hermit

Today's card comes from the Barbara Walker Tarot. The Hermit is a card of introspection and inner journeys. Bearing the lantern of truth / lantern of spirit, the Hermit seeks knowledge of themself and the world.

In an upright orientation (also known as direct) the Hermit speaks of a time of withdrawal and isolation for the sake of focus upon one's inner life and spirituality. In an downward orientation (also known as indirect), the Hermit warns one of the dangers of avoiding social contact and disconnection with the world at large.

In the Fool's journey, the Hermit appears to guide the Fool farther along the mysterious path to self knowledge.

For additional details about this or other cards we've reviewed, please read my book: The Veiled Witch's Handbook for Psychics: A Practical Guide to Divination and the Psychic Arts.

Godspousery Notes: Silence.

Silence happens in relationships. It can happen when partners are busy doing their own thing. It can happen when partners are hindered by challenges in communicating (i.e. distance). It can happen when partners just run out of things to talk about at the time. Some times, silence is used as a goad to get you to do something. Some times it is just a natural part of the moment and you can be together and quiet at the same time. And, some times, silence is used as a form of punishment or manipulation (this is different from the 'goad' comment because manipulation is a bit bigger and tends to have more negative connotations than 'goad').

Over the last week, things have been pretty silent between Loki and I. It isn't that I'm being ignored or that I'm getting the silent treatment over something. He's giving me space to handle things like familial obligations and such. At one point in time, Loki went radio silent for a long while. I couldn't make sense of it after years of daily contact (including stupid jokes, pranks, and commentary on what was going on). Finally, I asked someone who was in better contact with Flame-hair at the time to help me figure out what was going on.

That was when I was told that the silence was Loki pushing me to stand more on my own two feet. It made sense as they detailed how I had been leaning pretty hard on Loki for support over the few months prior instead of taking proactive measures to handle the problem. These days, when things get quiet between Loki and I, I stop and ask myself a few questions.

1. Am I handling my problems as best I can?
2. Am I looking to Loki to solve my problems for me?
3. Have I been getting enough 'real world' social contact?

If the answer to all three is yes, then it is most likely that the silence is either because Loki's really busy with something, giving me space to solve problems, or is just off somewhere sleeping. (Gods sleep. It happens.) If the answer to one of the above is no, I then work to address that.

Usually, Loki gets quiet to keep me from getting too distracted to work on things in my life. Being godbothered and having a laundry list of things on my plate at any given moment makes focus a challenge. Times like now, he's quiet so that I can get stuff done and be more efficient at my tasks as a wife and mother in this world.

Sometimes, Loki gets quiet when I am flailing around looking for somebody else to solve problems that I have the capacity to solve. I've come to realize, he gets exasperated with me when I get like that. It's a thing I'm working on. Handling situational overload with out getting into a tizzy is a growth process. Kinda like being in therapy.

And Loki will go quiet because he wants me to focus on my 'real' social contacts. It's his way of helping me with my social phobia. 

Fifth disease, babysitting, and chaos.

Dear Reader,

My plans to have an organized and well written week on here got shot down by a string of unfortunate incidents. My youngest child has come down with Fifth disease. He's been home sick for the last few days and alternating between being his usual self and being upset because of how itchy and uncomfortable he's been. Keeping up with him has been something of a challenge. The boy's got a great deal of resilience in the face of most anything. Fifth disease is only serving to slow him down a bit. We're keeping him home from summer school for the week. While he is technically not in the contagious phase of this disease, he is so uncomfortable that it is hard to get him to focus on things.

Then there was the day that I did emergency babysitting for a neighbor and my writing plans for the day got tanked there. The young lady I was watching was very pleasant and well mannered. But I couldn't simply just assume that she was going to sit and do something like play legos while I sat writing for a half hour. She needed some one to entertain her, hence my not writing and spending my time talking with her.

Aside from that, my computer is beginning to act weird. I've run a virus scan on it. It says it is clean. So, I am beginning to think it may be time to back up documents in preparation for the computer to be wiped clean and have the operating system reinstalled. It's about seven years old. On windows machines, you kinda need to do the wipe everything and reinstall from time to time.  I am not entirely sure how I'm precisely going to go about backing up EVERYTHING but I know it is going to be a project and a half. I will likely be enlisting the assistance of my husband. He knows more about this stuff than I do.

On top of all of this, I have two birthday parties to plan and an anniversary party to start planning. Everything happens all at once, it seems. I'm trying to get back to posting on here more, but life keeps getting in the way.

July for Loki: Who do you love?

Loki has many faces. Loki is a complex deity on top of being gender fluid and a shape shifter. His most well known faces are the Lie-Smith and the World-Breaker. He's however more than just that. Loki is the cunning one and the sly fox of the Aesir. He is a known mischief maker. But he is also an inventive problem solver. Loki is the god of paradox. A bound god and yet walking free (because, clearly, he is some how free to roam if he's still off having adventures with Thor and visiting his people), he is a paradox. Loki is also the mother of witches. He is the father of monsters. Loki is the loving parent of the unloved children. Loki is the ambassador of the Aesir for many.

Loki is all of this and so much more.

People tend to focus only on the 'bad' parts of him. They forget that without Loki, most of the treasures of the Aesir wouldn't be there. (Neither would fishing nets if you go by the lore.) I love Loki in all of his faces and forms. Are there some that make me uncomfortable? Well, yes, but there are things about myself that make me uncomfortable. That doesn't mean that I am any less deserving of love. Just because something or someone challenges your sense of comfort doesn't mean you get to reject them for it. And that's a big part of working with and loving Loki, having your sense of comfort challenged.

I don't know about others, but I know that Loki doesn't want me complacent. Loki has expressed to me many times the sentiment "comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable" and that's been our dynamic.

Divination: Major Arcana 8 - Justice

Dear Reader,

This week's card is Justice and she comes to us from the Sharman-Caselli Tarot which was designed by Juliet Sharman-Burke and Giovanni Caselli. Justice is a card that I have a special relationship with as it is one of the cards associated with my birth name.

Justice speaks to us of consequences and the need to make hard decisions with an impartial and clear mind. She represents legal matters. In the direct orientation, a querent can expect a fair and merciful result. In the reversed orientation, a querent must be careful of impartial cruelty masquerading as justice and the harshness of karmic blow back for past errors.

In the Fool's Journey, the Fool finds themself facing the consequences of their past decisions before they may move forward in their decisions.

For more details about this card and the others we have reviewed thus far, consider consulting my book, The Veiled Witch's Handbook for Psychics: A Practical Guide to Divination and the Psychic Arts.

Godspousery Notes: Just Keep Swimming

Dear Reader,

I was going to post this yesterday but yesterday was as chaotic and busy as the other days last week. Having spent my day running in circles and working very hard to be social despite the heat wave making me want to be a refrigerator based hermit, I just didn't have the energy to post. The recurrent theme over the last several weeks is "Don't give up just because it is hard." It's shown up in tarot readings, fortune cookies, and Loki singing 'Just keep swimming' ala Finding Nemo. (Which is an adorable animated film that I really should watch again, I'm sure the kids will love it.)

It has been very difficult not to fall into despair over things like my ongoing struggle with writer's block, the continuing calamity going on in my country with the manufactured 'border crisis', or the fact that my chronic illnesses are not going to go away no matter how healthy I eat or how much 'good' stuff I do (i.e. exercise, yoga, or meditation). I suppose one could say that I am suffering with temptation right now. Most of the time, people think temptations are things like forbidden food and pleasures. But, right this moment, the biggest temptations that I am facing are to just give up on my dreams and resign myself to remaining insignificant in the eyes of the people around me.

I recognize that this is depression speaking. I recognize that this is my illness, not myself. At the same time, I am in a battle with myself here. My most cunning opponent who is as slippery as a greased eel happens to be 'scumbag brain'. The only means I have to 'win' against this opponent is to refuse to give up. I feel horrible and like I am letting you all down. Loki has strong opinions on this. 900000% of these opinions are that this emotional argument is bullshit. Logical and healthy brain recognizes that this is correct but the horrible feelings are still there. It's challenging to hold space for those feelings.

I tell myself, let myself imitate my gods in enduring this. Odin hung upon the world-tree for nine days and nine nights in agony. I am sure that he suffered thirst, hunger, and no small amount of anguish that he could have ended at any time by coming down from the world-tree, but he didn't. And Lady Anna, Queen of Heaven, suffered the temptations written in the Clear Recital if not more. She could have chosen to do away with them and yet she did not and she endured them. I know that there are countless other stories of suffering endured in the holy writ of all the world's faiths. In all of those stories, bravely carrying through the suffering brings its own reward, relief. So, I live in hope of relief of my present suffering and keep my gaze upon the Holy Ones as I slog forward.

July for Loki - Loki loves me, the wtf tells me so.

Dear Reader,

I'm one of those odd souls that is involved with a deity (two to be exact). No, I'm not a bored housewife playing make believe. And I'm not busily writing erotic fan fiction for Marvel!Loki for my to live vicariously through. (Though I did write a single Marvel!Loki fan fic piece at Loki's request. He thought it was a hilarious prospect.) But, I am in a relationship with Loki that looks a lot like what you'd think a long distance relationship looks like.

How does he communicate with me and express his feelings? Well, it can be by way of obvious signs or it can be through subtle things. One of the more consistent elements of the signs that he gives me is that they come through a little off kilter with the rest of the environment. It may be that someone walks by wearing a smart ass t-shirt with the exact thing I needed to hear on it. It may be that just a progression of weird but beneficial things happens over a period of time.

I am one of those psychics with what's popularly known as 'godphone' and we communicate via that method pretty often. I reality test my responses on my bad days. For a while I was concerned that 'godphone' was just my telling myself what I wanted to hear. Then while I was in the hospital for a major depressive episode with psychotic features (because my bipolar II sucks), I was having those doubts as I was hallucinating someone screaming at me that I should kill myself. With great trepidation, I asked for medication to help with that. A few minutes later, Loki said to me, "Can you hear me now?" That eradicated all of my doubt that 'godphone' was real.

But, even with my confidence that 'godphone' is legit, he still uses signs and omens to convey messages. After all, I'm not always at the phone listening. He expresses his affection through things like bad jokes, awful puns, and general humor. He tells me that I take life too seriously. He's probably right.

Veiled Witch's Videos On Hold.

Dear Reader,

Between the fact that my kids are on break from school and keeping me pretty busy (and they love to photobomb every picture or video I take) and the fact that my apartment sounds like an airport because of all the fans running right now, I'm putting videos on hold until school starts up again in September. Hopefully the weather won't be oppressively hot then and I won't have a ton of background noise making it hard for the microphone to pick up what I'm saying.

I did a test video this morning while the kids were at summer school for the first few hours of the day. It didn't work up well. I was only able to clearly record every other word at best. While I could theoretically go to another room and record the video, it is horridly hot in the rooms where you can't hear the fans and/or the air conditioner running.

Practical Witchery - Organize and Label Your Supplies.

Dear Reader,

If your witchcraft practice includes herbs and plant parts, it's positively vital to keep things organized. On the plant, the berries of nightshade are fairly easily identified. You have the rest of the plant to go by. Off the plant and dried, nightshade looks a like any other dried tiny red berry. This has potentially lethal consequences if you like to make herbal teas and you're including some manner of dried tiny red berry. There's a reason why they call it deadly nightshade, after all.

Not only is it important to organize and label your herbs but how you have your other supplies stored away. Magically charged rock salt is going to be different from uncharged rock salt. Both are completely different from table salt and sea salt. Ideally, it is good to keep all of your magical supplies in one location which makes them easier to access when you want to use them. I highly recommend a cabinet that is relatively cool, in indirect lighting, and secure from little hands. After all, you don't want a curious child to find out about nightshade berries.

July for Loki - Oh yes, he lies.

Dear Reader,

Loki the Lie-Smith. He has a reputation for it. Most people assume that he's bad because he lies. The trick is, often, in many of those lies, is hidden a bit of truth. Has he lied to me? Yes. It's sometimes a blatant and foolish lie for the intent of buffoonery and fun. Loki's deadpan humor is spot on and sometimes it's hard to tell if the tall tale is legit or not. Sometimes it's a selective editing of the truth in an effort to soften something harsh. And sometimes he lies just to see if I'll catch on to it.

More often than not, his lies are designed like clever word problems that if you navigate them successfully, you'll find the truth at the root.

One thing he can't tolerate in my experience is a badly told lie. It's one thing if it is buffoonery. The more egregious and ridiculous the lie, the more points you score. It's like bragging when you're playing that game. But, if you're going to lie in earnest don't expect him to favor you if you can't do it well. As he said to me one time, lying is an art form. An amateur can do it well, if they have skill. A professional had better do it well or they're a failure. The critics don't take well to failure from professionals. And, as Loki has said in the past, he is one of the connoisseurs of falsehood and judges the art form to high standards.

Divination: Tarot, Major Arcana 7 - The Chariot

Dear Reader,

Due to technical issues here on Blogger, I am unable to post the image of this week's card from one of my favorite decks. It is the Chariot from the Deviant Moon Tarot by Patrick Valenza. This card is true to the 'deviant' theme of the deck because it does not feature the standard image of a person struggling with two horses pulling in different directions as they are riding in a chariot. Instead, it features a clockwork monstrosity that is simply glorious.

The Chariot indicates a decision, much like the Lovers. The decision called for by the Chariot is far more challenging and is often between two equally severe options. In an upright (also known as direct) orientation, the Chariot suggests that the decision is not one of great strife. In a downward (also known as reversed) orientation, the Chariot speaks of difficulties with the decision and a possibility of confrontation.

In the Fool's Journey, the charioteer is the Fool wrestling between his desires and needs, struggling to balance them in order to successfully move forward in his journey.

The card is visible on the mirror blog's post for today.

July for Loki - Fashionably Late

Dear Reader,

In all the business of family obligations, summer school starting, and trying to catch up on household chores, I had quite forgotten about the July for Loki thing. Fortunately, I know that he's more bemused with this because I am always praying or thinking of him.

Currently, I have hit a block in my devotional writing pretty much entirely across the board. Loki's argument is that I have been repressing myself. It wasn't a pretty conversation between him and I. Loki did what he always does, tells the uncomfortable truth. I didn't enjoy it but the longer I sit with it the more I am forced to say that he is right.

A lot of people who are intimately involved with Loki don't talk about the rough times. It's kinda embarrassing to say that you've been called out on your bad habits and such. Loki is definitely one to do that. It happens a lot more than most will admit. Loki can be gentle, tender, and affectionate. He can also be a completely merciless taskmaster and push you to the limits of your abilities all for the sake of your growth and well being.

My recent argument with him was a fine example of him pushing back when I started to push the limits in the wrong way. Insisting that I'm perfectly fine and that there's nothing wrong is a bad habit of mine. It's deeply ingrained and Loki positively hates it. When I start to engage in it, he will get in my face over it. An angry Loki is as beautiful as a raging fire but equally disturbing. It's especially uncomfortable when he turned that attention full force on you because you were the one who put the bee in his bonnet, again.

It's part of any relationship that you get angry with each other and have arguments. Fortunately, the arguments are not an all the time thing because communication is more varied and he is an excellent communicator. He also tends to laugh when I get angry and just start spluttering which gets me laughing, despite how angry I may be, and that ends most of the arguments. Sometimes it makes me angrier but, anger doesn't last forever. And it's ok to be angry once in a while because emotions happen.

Divination: Major Arcana 6 - the Lovers

This week's card is the Lovers. It comes from the Old English Tarot. The artist is Maggie Kneen. The iconography of the card falls along the industry standard decks. The Lovers is one of the most sought cards in a reading about relationships because it is the penultimate card of love and relationships.  In the direct orientation, the Lovers speaks of a relationship that is secure and filled with mutual affection. In the reversed orientation, the Lovers warns of conflict in matters of love and problems with jealousy.

In the Fool's Journey, the Lovers represents where the Fool makes the first of their decisions. The choice here is between two equally lovely paths involving equally fascinating and lovely individuals. The Fool's intuition as represented by the angel above encourages them to follow one path despite the call of the second.

To learn more about this card and the rest of a standard tarot deck, consider purchasing my book, The Veiled Witch's Handbook for Psychics: A Practical Guide to Divination and the Psychic Arts.

Happy Summer to all!

Dear Reader,

I have been very busy off-line with my boys being on summer break. Add in the familial obligations to extended family and it's been hard to get time to plan blog posts let alone type them up. Summer school has just started session. Both boys are excited about it and so am I. This means I get a couple hours in the morning that I can use for blogging and other writing business.

I have found my big box of tarot cards. I'm going to post up the next installment of the Tarot Tour tomorrow. I haven't a picture of the latest crop of preemie hats because I had just recently dropped them off with the person collecting them. The total donated is close to twenty five so far. My scarf knitting is proceeding much slower. Again, no pictures this time because I had dropped all three of them off. I really need to figure out how to knit faster if I am going to crank out more scarves for charity.

I look forward to sharing with you the weird and wonderful things going on around here this summer. I also look forward to the coming of autumn and less heat and humidity. I'm trying to enjoy the flowers that are abundantly blooming but it is a bit hard with how the air feels like I'm breathing soup of late. Hopefully, those of you who are also in the northern hemisphere are finding that summer is treating you well. And my readers who are in the southern hemisphere are finding that winter is not as harsh as usual.

Blessings to you and yours, I'll see you tomorrow!