Where to Buy A Tarot Deck

Where do you get your magical or spiritual tools? Witchlings and newbies often feel lost because they’re not sure where they can get supplies and if it matters where those supplies are procured.

Here’s the short answer: You can buy them anywhere you like.

 

Where to Buy A Tarot Deck

 

Amazon and other online retailers are the easiest places to buy a tarot deck. You can pick up a deck for less than $25 easily, and some decks sell for under $15. You also get reviews from fellow readers and could quickly google up more images of the deck to help you with your decision.

Decks are usually in the game section of online retailers and there’s often a lot of price variances depending on where you’re getting a deck. Sometimes the deck aren’t actually cheaper online so be aware of that. Usually though, getting a mass produced deck off the internet is the cheapest and easiest way to get a deck.

I’ve already talked about how buying a deck for yourself isn’t a bad thing so browse through your favorite online retailer and see what decks appeal to you.

 

 

Independent artist also sell their decks online and they’re definitely worth checking out. New indie decks are popping up everywhere and there’s so many good ones! Often supported by Kickstarter and other crowd-sourcing campaigns, they may be bought from the artist’s website or online shops like Etsy.

Be aware that each indie deck will vary in quality due to publishers and costs so they may not be exactly what you expected in terms of quality. I’ve been pleasantly surprised many times though so it’s usually worth the risk!

Indie decks also tend to run at a higher cost due to the printing cost but the money is usually going straight to the creators so it’s worth it. Indie decks may also be limited edition and may not be printed another time so if you see one you like, you might want to snap it up.. Some of my favorite decks are indie and I adore them to pieces plus I get to support the creators and that’s always a bonus.

 

 

Of course, you can go old school and check retail locations.

Bookstores are an extremely good source for decks but you’re might not find anything that you like. Tarot decks are usually sold with other paper goods, like books, so bookstores are a less-than-obvious choice that might yield some great choices.

Game stores may also have decks, although they’re more likely to have card games used as divination tools. In particular, check stores that cater to the Dungeon & Dragons crowds or other board games. I picked up an out-of-print deck for under $25 while my companion picked out Magic the Gathering cards in a store like this. Don’t forget to check out the dice too – these places often have amazing dice collections that are perfect for divination too.

New age stores, metaphysical stores, and new age markets are the most obvious place to look for a deck of cards but they may be marked up higher. That being said, you’re more likely to find some really interesting decks here and may even run into independent artists creating their own decks.

Typically, decks are either overpriced or underpriced so be aware of what the original print price was and what the price is online before you buy.

 

 

 

 

Used bookstores do occasionally have decks. I’ve scored a few decks from used bookstores. You’ll usually find these decks up at a counter under lock and key or tucked in the probably small metaphysical section (check near the religion stuff). If not, you can ask to see if that store takes any of those decks in. You may be able to strike a deal with the store owner for them to accept decks and give you a call so you can buy them. This is especially good for collectors.

Used goods stores, flea markets, and yard/garage/estate sales are another great place to score some decks. I find them less often this way and they’re usually not in the greatest of condition. You will almost always need to cleanse the picked up this way and you should probably do that before you bring it into your space.

Pro Tip: If you’re buying a used deck of cards, make sure to count the cards and see if any cards missing. You can still read the deck without cards and some companies will even let you replace cards if you contact them, but it’s way easier to just avoid this step entirely if you can.

Decks found this way are usually underpriced but you do occasionally see some people grossly overpricing decks due to lack of research or emotional attachments.

 

 

Sometimes other readers end up selling decks. Collectors may be thinning their collections or their spiritual path has changed so some of the decks don’t work for them anymore. Sometimes people buy decks because that look awesome but then the deck doesn’t end up resonating with them well. Or they just need cash fast.

The bonus of buying from fellow readers is that the cards are probably well cared for. They may be worn or altered though, so be sure to inquire about this before purchase. The energy from the deck is also probably pretty good, assuming the seller actually used it to read with, of course.

This is just like buying anything else from a person – you take a risk but you’re probably dealing directly with the current deck owner. It’s also a good way to get your hands on rarer or out of print decks.

 

 

The internet itself is another place you probably aren’t checking. Online decks accessible via your browser have been around since the internet itself really took off. App stores for you mobile devices have a literal TON of apps you can download and use.  This is without a doubt probably the easiest for anyone who is even slightly tech savvy.

There’s a great deal of variation and some decks even publish their own app version of the deck like the Wildwood Tarot or Witches Tarot. I’m seeing a lot of  good things from the up-and-coming Labyrinthos folks (Golden Thread Tarot, Labyrinthos Academy,and Luminous Spirit Tarot) but I find the meanings rather minimal. I highly recommend Galaxy Tarot which allows you to do readings, have daily draws, and has a wealth of information to learn from.

This is definitely a growing market. The deck will be virtual so you can’t hold it in your hands but it’s super low-key and so long as you have your device, you have a deck. It can be really convenient that way and some apps will even do daily draws for you.

This is probably the best option for those folks who aren’t even sure they want to read tarot. Many apps are free or relatively cheap. They also come with build-in meanings so you can teach yourself how to read the cards from these meanings.

And before you ask: yes, they work perfectly well.

 

 

So those are just some of the places you can get decks from. Finding your perfect deck can be difficult but these are some good places to start looking. Following other readers and seeing what decks they’re excited for and picking up is a good idea as you’ll see where they’re getting their decks and usually, why. Good luck and happy hunting!

 

Decks featured:

  • Sacred Rebels by Alana Fairchild and Autumn Skye Morrison © Blue Angel Publishing
  • Sacred Creators Oracle by Chris-Anne Donnelly © Chris-Anne.com
  • Linestrider Tarot: Kickstarter Edition by Siolo Thompson ©
  • Heart of the Faerie Oracle by Brian Froud and Wendy Froud with Robert Gould © Harry N. Abrams
  • Enchanted Lenormand by Caitlin Matthews © Watkins Publishing
  • Deviant Moon Tarot Borderless Edition by Patrick Valenza © US Games Systems

 

Book Review: The Soul Searcher’s Handbook by Emma Mildon – 4.5/5

The Soul Searcher’s Handbook by Emma Mildon – 4.5/5

This book gets a four and a half star review merely because the book is gold – but there are some things that could have been mentioned, like cultural appropriation. THat being said, the book’s like a tour guide. It’s not meant to be a 101 book. It’s suppose to give you a peek into various new age practices. So I forgive it. A few paragraphs of ethical responsibility concerning cultural appropriation would have nailed it for me. But even without that paragraph or two, this book is pretty neat.

Your average practitioner won’t find any use in this book. Instead, this book is excellent for those newbies who say, “I want to get started in this field but I have absolutely no idea of what I want to do or where to start”. This book is written for them.

 

So I requested this book from my library and waited nearly a month for it. I requested it on a whim – it was on my amazon book list but only because it sounded potentially interesting. The wait had me a little unenthusiastic for it because I picked up half a dozen other books at the same time – three of which I intended to review. So, since this was a mostly a personal read, I stuck it off to the side and waited.

One night, scattered-minded, I picked up the book to get the first chapter read. I figured the book would be super encouraging and deeply personal. The kind of thing you can’t read in bits and bursts but rather in a few long sessions. Boy was I wrong.

Immediately, I liked the book. It’s actually great for short reading sessions because of the nature of the book. It’s half handbook, where you look up things and read about them and half encouragement. It’s the writer’s tone of voice that sells it to me though. She’s funny. She’s all of us. She googled ‘how to be spiritual’. She doesn’t really have a label for what she is but she’s given a good chunk of the new age world a whirl. Fascinated, and hoping the author didn’t fail by cultural appropriation) I moved the book to my current reads pile and dug in.

Let me first say this. This book assumes that you’re female gendered. Flat-out. It refers to training bras and other female exclusive things. The subtitle of the book is ‘A Modern Girl’s Guide to the New Age World’. What it doesn’t do, as far as I’ve understood at least, is define woman or female. So it’s inclusive in that sense. All women are included.

That being said, I do think the book’s worth reading through if you’re of any other gender. It doesn’t shame or degrade other genders but instead focuses on promoting women.

That being said, it’s a really good and honest guide to various new age-y practices. Some of them are things like chiropractors which I don’t even consider new age and others are things like past lives and crystal healing.

This woman has clearly done her research so she knows what she’s talking about from what I can tell. I don’t practice everything in this book so some subjects I’m not as familiar with.

Here’s my concern. While she’s perfectly educated on the history and religious backgrounds of things like chakra, mundras, dream catchers, and yoga, she doesn’t mention cultural appropriation at all. Which, of course, makes me frown. I was extremely surprised to see, halfway through the book, her recommend native or DIY sources for your dream catchers. Hey! That’s a good start. Less pleased when it came to the term “spirit animal” which is a contender for needing a new term so it doesn’t clash with native beliefs. I kind of wish she dug into the reasons why you shouldn’t do various things or the differences in how chakras is in religious context versus western context but… that’s really outside of the scope of this book.

This reads as a primer and gives good, basic, honest info that you’ll want to know if you’re looking into certain practices. You might be able to google several types of yoga but those Wikipedia and google pages aren’t going to tell you what the experience is like. This book does.

So, while I do believe this book could stand to be improved from a standpoint of cultural appropriation, this book doesn’t market itself as a stand-alone guide. It’s a starting point. Something to give someone who’s interested in a topic a little push to start researching. Like a tour book, it’s not going to give full details. For that, I forgive it.

This book has a bonus of a glossary and notes. Specifically, end notes with citations and stuff. Be still by heart. I love that stuff so I can track down whatever source I’d like to and research more about it – and debunk information by looking at that source too.

The Curse & Blessing of the Sun [Spell Saturday #49]

The sun is normally considered a Very Positive Thing but… it’s not always? Anyone who has hated mornings, is light sensitive, or has sensitive skin has cursed the sun. (Or, if you’re me, you’re all three and everything is terrible lol).

This is a spell that can be used as both a blessing and a curse. The set up is exactly the same but it’s the intent and words behind what you’re doing that matters. It’s also a spell that can be set up well in advanced and used in an extremely subtle and low-key fashion.

The Curse and Blessing of the Sun Spell

What you’ll need:

  • A sunny, hot day
  • An opaque box with lid or top.
  • Writing utensil (Sharpies and paint works well)

Find a box that is completely solid and opaque. A black is probably best but you can choose any color so long you can’t see what’s inside. It must have a lid or top that isn’t easily knocked off. You should be able to write a sentence on the interior bottom of the box.

Cleanse and clean the container. Let it dry completely.

Think up a phrase that you can slip into conversation that has to do with the sun. A good example might be “may the sun’s blessings be upon you” or something like that. This will entirely depend on your speech patterns. You may want to use a double meaning and associate another word with the sun, such as sunshine. Make sure that you pick several words or a fairly long phrase. You will not be able to use these words or phrase without cursing or blessing who you’re speaking to.

You can set this up in several ways. You can use a specific phrase such as above or you can pick several words and work them into a conversation. Those words must be said in whatever order you’ll write them down in inside the box. Whatever words or phrase you pick will be used only for this curse or blessing so don’t pick things that you’ll accidentally say.

Once you’ve worked out the words or phrase, write them on the interior bottom of the box. Take the box outside where the sun can directly hit the bottom of the box between sunrise to sunset. Be sure to watch the sun during this time. You don’t want a bit of darkness or shadows to touch the words if possible so you might need to move the box around or put the box away before the sun sets, depending on your environment ad situation. The box should sit in the sun for at least three hours.

When you’re ready to bring the box in, quickly put the lid on the box (remember, you don’t want shadows in the box while there’s also sun shining in it). Once the lid is on, tell the box (and the sunlight inside the box) exactly what you want to happen. Maybe you want to curse your targets with sunburns or bless them with warmth. It’s up to you. Make sure to include that trigger phrase or set of words in your instructions.

Keep the box sealed and out of the way. Stick is on a shelf or under your bed. When you want to curse someone, say the words in order or the phrase. This will trigger the spell and curse or bless the target.

Once you use the trigger words or phrase, you have to reset the box spell. This means you’ll have to put the box outside and let it soak up the sun again, repeating the set up for the spell. The good part of this spell is that it will get more powerful the more you reset and use it so it’s actually really handy that way.

Notes:

  • A small jewelry box or a cardboard gift box is perfect for this spell
  • Do not use the same box for a curse and a blessing. If you want to use this spell to create a blessing and a curse, cast it twice on two different boxes.

UPDATE:

You absolutely can use the same box for a blessing and a curse. Clever wording and intention can create totally different results. For example, you might say something like “may the sun’s warmth find you” to bless and curse someone. Emphasizing the word “warmth” might bring comfort as a blessing but the word “find” could bring nightmares or insomnia and “sun” could bring sunburn or even a fever.

You’ll have to play with wordings and intention well before you set up the box. You want the sun to realize that you want both so focusing on the duality of things is probably a good idea – the sun brings warmth but too much can burn, for example.

Happy casting!

5 Things I’m Obsessed with Right Now

Wow. What a week. Actually, the last two weeks have been absolutely non-stop here at the Crossroads House. Now that the worst of my obligations are out of the way, we can get back to the witchcraft. I’ve got a lot of work to do this weekend but in the mean time, let me talk to you about my current obsessions.

I’m an ADHD and OCD Gemini soI have the attention span of a hummingbird, the obsessiveness of an impatient child wanting to go somewhere, and the chaotic adventure that is being a Gemini. This means my obsessions tend to be all-consuming… for about three days to a week. Then it’s something entirely new. In fact, I stated this post at the beginning of February and had to update one thing and entirely change another by the time I published it in early March. Haha. It can be hard to keep up with my own whims!

Anyway, here’s what I’m obsessing and researching about right now…

 

01 Wind Knots

Capturing a strong wind by tying a piece of rope in a knot is an age-old spell. Sailors would unknot the rope once, twice, or thrice depending on the amount of wind they wanted.

The theory behind it is super simple and doesn’t have a great many variations to it considering it’s fairly widespread. So what’s there to obsess over? The knot. I study knot-making as a hobby (are any of you surprised?) and trying to find a knot that aligns with my goal has caused many late night internet searches.

While any ol’ knot will do, I want to create a wind knot that can be “snapped” open. You pull both ends and the knot comes loose. There’s a few contenders that can make this happen but getting it to work without tangling with the other knots is a challenge that I keep coming back to.

 

02 Beeswax

I live in Rhode Island and, for some reason, I have the hardest time ever finding local beeswax. I usually have to pick mine up when traveling through New Hampshire or Vermont. I’ve even ordered it from Oregon. Finding beeswax with a solid source behind it is my ever-continuing odyssey.

The dream is to find a local supplier within the Rhode Island-Massachusetts-Connecticut area with a solid beekeeping record. I want happy bees for my beeswax. Once I get that I can start regularly keeping salves in my inventory!

If any of you know a beekeeper with lots of beeswax to spare in the New England area, drop me a line, will you?

 

 

03 Crystals

My mother likes to tell stories of when I was a toddler, coming home with pockets full of rocks and dirt. Or as a teen, moving house was a pain because I had a few boxes of rocks. I’m smarter about packing my rock collection now and I do my own laundry so no one but me knows what rocks are in my pockets but I’m coming back around to the usages of my collection.

As a kid, I wanted to know what the rocks all did. What did this crystal do? What did that mineral mean? But I fell away from it. I think that I partially got away from it because a) collecting crystals is expensive, especially if you’re looking for ethical sources and b) I had spirits knocking on my door every night and damn, if that didn’t get annoying.

But I’m coming back around. It started with a piece of quartz I’d picked up that felt great for healing. I tucked it among my blankets at night and to my surprise my body didn’t ache the next day, even after an intense workout. And that was only the beginning. Another piece of quartz, an amethyst point, and a bit of rose quartz joined it. Re-learning crystals is on my “to research” list and something I’m excited to dive into again.

 

04 Fairy tales

I’m a researcher at heart. I’m always willing to do research on something. I really love research. I was definitely that quiet eight year old reading Latin encyclopedias and adult novels in between fairy tales. I’m that person. I just want to know things.

The other day I was reminded of a book I wanted to read on Japanese fairy tales. I couldn’t find the book in the library system but I accidentally ended up requested something like fifteen books on fairy tales. None of them Japanese fairy tales, mind you. Oops.

Rereading some classic fairy tales is always good for both my spirit and my witchcraft. It reminds me to slow down and really appreciate magic. Plus, it’s just been nice to go back and reread some of my favorite stories from childhood once again.

 

 

05 Tea

While I’ve always appreciated a cup of tea, I’ve always been the only tea drinker in my house. But recently, my brother’s gotten into the habit of drinking tea, then my Dad, then my Mom. We don’t even all live together and they started all at the same time!

This has us trying all sorts of new tea. They’re sticking with what they know but I’m happy for the chance to slip in some less-than-ordinary teas for me to try while they sip their usual.

Not that I’d ever say no to a cup of earl grey. Yum.

 

That’s what I’m obsessing over right now. What about you all? What have you been into recently?

The Awakening Spring Ritual

On my personal spiritual calendar, I have a long festival called “The Awakening”. This is a ritual performed during that time which is used to call up the spring.

 

Let me quickly explain something. While I do have a full spiritual calendar and perform spiritual duties and rituals, they’re not the same thing as my witchcraft. My witchcraft is secular in nature. It stands alone and apart from my spirituality. A ritual of this nature isn’t witchcraft for me (but it might be for you.) That’s probably a bit confusing but I’ll go more into my secular witchcraft vs spirituality in a later post.

 

 

Planning the Awakening Ritual first requires a look at the calendar. The ritual always starts on March fourth but I’m not super strict with my calendar. Since this year the fourth was a bitterly cold day below freezing I pushed the ritual back two days to the sixth where the weather was suppose to be sunny and above freezing and the Moon would be in Gemini (my Sun Zodiac Sign). I hoped the weather would be a bit warmer but I have to compromise in some places usually.

Next I gathered up the items that remind me of spring. This takes quite a bit of running around and preparation on my part. Fresh flowers are an absolute must. Melted snow is also a requirement, gathered back during the last snowstorm. Clean, cool, clear water is collected from a local stream but I also used bottled water and purified tap water too.

 

 

Fragrant floral tea, handmade juice, pitchers of lemonade, milk, and that clean drinkable water are served alongside a fresh salad, a thin green soup, mountains of fruits and vegetables, and freshly baked bread. Small cakes, shortbread tea cookies, honey, and fruit smoothies are laid out for the taking. Flowers and scented candles are table decorations. Bright, cheerful instrumental dancing music plays throughout the ritual.

A spring dress or robe is also selected in a light or pastel color. Sandals or flat shoes are selected but ditched at the first available moment. Typically, the ritual is held outside under the bright sun but if that’s not possible, an indoor picnic occurs instead. In either case soft blankets and numerous pillows offer comfort and rest. Space is left for dancing and singing.

 

 

Spirits are invited to join in the festivities, if they wish as are humans. Offerings taken from the food and drink are for all to enjoy, whether human or otherwise. Most often though, the ritual is merely held within the company of servitors.

Table or ground serves as the ritual space. A plate of fresh greens and a cups made from the skin of fruits are used to serve the season of spring its own offering. The food served to spring is only made of ingredients that wildlife can eat. Spring is treated as an honored guest and is amused by singing, dancing, and storytelling. When the chill of evening starts, a hole is dug in the garden and the offerings given to spring are buried in it with a sincere prayer for spring’s growth and blessings to the participants.

 

 

During the rest of the festival, spiritual cleansing and cleaning of shrines or ritual spaces takes place. Shelves are scrubbed with blessed water and new items may be procured as needed.

Most of the festival is actually taken up by journeys to each and every local land spirit and giving them offerings from the feast. This can be somewhat arduous because you have to hope the food doesn’t spoil before you get to hike out to some distant rock cropping to leave the offering.

Some of these journeys are rather long. I’ve even gone as far north as New Hampshire to make these offerings and sometimes as far as New Jersey or even western Connecticut. Each offering is something like a business meeting and wake up call. Negotiations made be made as needed but usually it’s just a simple hello.

At the end of the Awakening Festival, I bring it all back with a smaller feast that’s more akin to a tea party back home. It’s a good time but is the first big festival of the year so a lot of work goes into it.

Burn Those Winter Blues (Spell Saturday #48)

Feeling down in the dumps? Has the winter blues got you? Here’s a quick renewal candle spell to energize your life once more.

What you’ll need:

  • A candle that is the opposite of how you’re feeling
  • A piece of paper

 

The candle will be a personal choice in this spell. For example, if you’re feeling very shut in, you might want a candle that gives a lot of energy so maybe an orange colored candle that smells like honey and clementines might be a good option. Or a yellow lavender-lemon scented candle could be very good when you feel like time is slipping away from you. You can skip the scented candle and just go for color symbolism or you might want to double up and used some aromatherapy or herbs.

Next, write out all the things that have got you down, no matter how minor they may be. It could be something like “man, I hate how all my friends are sick right now” or “I wish my heating bill wasn’t so expensive” or something more vague like “I’m always so tired in the winter”. Be as specific or as vague as you like. Be sure that the things you’re writing down are connected specifically to your current slump and not just a general concern. If you’re not sure how you feel right now, just write or symbolism the “the current me” instead.

Set your candle up and dress it any way you like. Lit the candle and say

“Fire, I create you and summon you to life

Hear my plea and take these concerns away from me”

Burn the piece of paper and let the candle burn out. It’s a good idea to meditate to sort out internal problems or plan the rest of your week/month out while the candle is burning. You can do whatever you like to the candle remains, even reuse it in another (but similar) spell or to repeat this spell at a later date.

Notes:

  • A votive sized candle is the perfect size for this spell because it gives you several hours to meditate or get work done in plus they’re often available in scents whereas it’s more rare to run into scented tealight candles. Larger candles can be used for this spell, especially if you wish to repeat it.
  • Practice fire safety! Don’t leave candles unattended and don’t burn things in an unsafe container.

Happy casting!

 

February Round Up

What a month.

This month has been a whirlwind for me. Posts were going great and I was doing really well on all the projects I had going. But then it suddenly became too much and by the third week of February I crashed entirely. I needed a break and anything I attempted to do except rest fell apart. Since my Silence Festival (three days of unplugged utter silence) was the same week, I just kind of disappeared from the world for a while.

On top of that I had some family stuff and projects that needed some attention (which will continue into March but it won’t be a surprise at least!) Plus I injured myself no less than seven times. My poor hands are covered in band-aids. On the other hand, I’ve recently achieved a small fitness goal so that was exciting for me.

 

 

That being said, look at the site updates! There’s new stuff! Well, kind of. I moved some menus around and cleaned up some back end stuff. Two big things is that I’m now accepting sponsorship and so on. This is more for fellow shop owners and indie deck creators that rather than some big corporation. No worries, this suddenly isn’t becoming affiliate link central. I also added an ongoing projects page. This is a loose timeline of when to expect certain products in the shop or certain projects to be up and running.

There’s going to be some new additions to the site soon that required this kind of sprucing up. Namely, I’ll be putting up a sourced correspondence page for you all. My biggest challenge right not isn’t the correspondences themselves but implementing them in a way that’s convenient and cleanly done. A huge long list isn’t super interesting to me nor is a million page hopping links. If you’ve got any ideas, let me know.

 

 

Oh! But a major score was to be had when I found an intact copy of my links from my tumblr resource page. Tumblr is where I originated as a blog and a lot of my posts were/are really popular there. About a year back, tumblr FUBAR’d page links and in an instant, everything was gone. I’m so excited to be able to give this resource back to the people. The posts may be old and rant-y but their tumblr originals.

The only problem is tumblr itself. It seems to really hate links in super long pages now so even copying and pasting the document over doesn’t work. New links were erased too. So I ended up keeping the page live here on my website and redirecting people here from tumblr so they can click a tumblr post and be re-directed BACK to tumblr. How dumb is that? At least it’s safe from the vicious tumblr gremlins I guess. Sheesh.

 

 

Let’s get to the posts this month though, hm? This February was about love and divination. We started off with five divining techniques to discover your sweetheart and then discussed the spell / divination of knotting a garter which me and like three other people found interesting. Haha.

With Valentine’s Day smack dab in the middle of the month, I reviewed Edain McCoy’s Bewitchments which got a pretty great review. For the big night itself, Tarot Emulation Attraction Spell brought your favorite tarot card avatars into your personal closet. Be the High Priestess for your coven meeting then be the Knight of Wands or the Lovers for a night in with a special someone. That special night in could be even more special with the super popular Chocolate Rose Tea Love Philter recipe. If that special someone isn’t paying attention to you, the spell Think of Me or the readin Love Letter could be handy too

 

Chocolate Rose Tea Love Philter by This Crooked Crown

 

Love’s not all about romance though. Friends are important too! The Friendship Knot Spell is definitely something you might come back to when your current crop of friends are less than awesome.

I probably could have followed my own advice offered in five tips for loving yourself or gave myself a reading using the included divination spread Loving Myself. Or maybe I should have visited my astral friends featured in Spirit Destinations: Spirits Who Can Help. Instead I went to my old self-care habit of reading and writing (which isn’t bad either!)

The all-purpose spell Wish Granter, Bring Me A Wish is a bit unusual but might be worth trying if you need something. There was also a somewhat nasty curse using a plant’s growth that I’m kind of in love with. (Not sure what that says about me. Haha)

 

 

So it’s been a weird kind of month. Next month is definitely off to a better start already and I’m so excited to share some new stuff with you. Plus spring is so, so close and I’m really excited to ditch the winter blues. Thanks so much for reading and see you in March!

Decks featured:

  • Sacred Creators Oracle by Chris-Anne © Chris-Anne.com

Wish Bringer, Bring Me A Wish [Spell Saturday #47]

This is a bit of an arts and crafts sort of spell but extremely low-key.

  • Paper
  • Pen
  • A bit of your hair, fingernail, skin, etc.
  • A coin

wish-bringer-grant-me-a-wish-by-this-crooked-crown

First, fold your piece of paper so it’s a pocket or an envelope. You can do this in any style you want – even go wild and make some origami. Here’s a super easy tutorial.  It doesn’t matter what it looks like so long as it creates some edges so nothing slides out. Avoid methods that involve tape or glue.

Write down the wish you want to come true in the center interior of the envelope. Be as descriptive or as vague as you’d like. It’s far easier to make your envelope, unfold it, and write in the interior center your wish. But if you’re good at guessing or you’ve made envelopes before, you can write the message beforehand. You don’t want the message on a folding angle if you can help it.

Fold your envelope up, put in your coin and hair, and bring it to a crossroad or beside a river and bury it shallowly.

Notes:

  • Use your fingernail or another hard surface to make the edges as tight as possible. It’ll keep the paper more crisp and keep the envelope from falling apart.
  • You can write your wish on a separate piece of paper if you want but it’s easier and less wasteful to just write on the envelope.
  • The reason we don’t use pre-made envelopes, tape, or glue is to keep the spell as environmentally friendly as possible. If you don’t care, then you can use any old envelope.
  • Any coin denominations is fine.
  • This spell doesn’t designate who should answer the spell’s request. It could be any kind of spirit or being. You can add in why you would like to respond to the wish but there’s no guarantee that the wish will be fulfilled or that the requested being will even answer.

Happy casting!

A Plant’s Curse [Spell Saturday #46]

Plants are usually seen as healers or helpers in magic. It’s not rare to run into a plant that can also be used for cursing. Added to that, most plants used in cursing are used dry and only a bit of it. This spell is not one of those.

This is a spell that only grows in strength. As the plant grows stronger, your target’s success and life begins to fall apart. It’s a serious business curse. It’s not the kind you use when someone’s a jackass but when someone truly deserves to have their life ruined.

What makes a person deserve such treatment? I leave that up to you to decide.

 

A Plant's Curse by This Crooked Crown

 

What you’ll need:

  • A plant you can keep alive
  • A picture of your target
  • The name of your target
  • A piece of your target’s hair (optional)
  • A pot for the plant
  • Soil for the plant
  • Rocks for drainage for the plant (optional)
  • Chalk or sharpie

First thing you’ll need to do is to get a plant you can keep alive. The easiest choice for this spell is a cactus with spines. Poisonous plants are a fairly obvious choice as well. The second choices could be any number of poisonous plants. I think roses would be a great choice if you were cursing an ex-lover. Cuttings from your target’s yard or re-potting a plant that was a gift from them would also be good. Or you can just pick something that you know you can keep alive. The only real requirement is that the plant must be grown in soil. Do not pick an air plant or a plant that grows primarily in water.

Once you have your plant picked out, pick an appropriately sized potted plant, soil appropriate for the plant, and rocks for water drainage if necessary. Do yourself a favor and spend ten minutes googling your plant’s requirements for soil, water, light, and drainage before you buy it. I’ve spent twenty minutes standing in the middle of a greenhouse staring at my phone to make sure I had everything I needed for a plant’s survival. Since the plant’s life is immediately tied to this spell, it behooves you to make sure you can keep the plant alive to the best of your ability.

 

 

Next gather the items related to your target. Print out a picture of your target and make sure you have their full name. If you can, get some of their hair. Be careful with how much hair you grab. Roses, for example, love calcium so a hank of your target’s hair is absolutely perfect for a potted rosebush. They’ll love you for it. But some plants want different soil requirements so if you add calcium to the soil, you’ll change the pH levels and risk killing the plant. A few strands of hair won’t hurt your plant but double check your plant’s requirement before dropping a handful in there.

Write on the interior bottom of the pot your target’s full name. Use chalk or a sharpie. Place a few rocks at the very bottom for drainage, if needed. If not, put a thin layer of soil there instead.

Next, rip up the photograph into as small of pieces as you possibly can get. Sprinkle them into the pot. Now place the rest of your rocks for drainage on top of the paper and layer a very thin layer of soil on top of the paper until there’s none showing.

Wet the soil and rocks a little and gently pick up the plant, massaging the roots (without breaking them!) as much as possible and say,

“Little plant

You’ll grow so strong

And all you’ve got to do

Is to take from [target’s name]

Take your strength from their success

The weaker they grow, the stronger you’ll grow

Ruin their life so you can thrive.”

Finish potting the plant, watering it as needed, and place it in the best place for the plant to grow. Ideally, the plant will grow big and strong while your target’s life will slowly fall to ruin. If your plant needs re-potting, simply repeat the spell with new soil, target’s name, picture, and hair.

Make sure to take care of the plant really well. If the plant dies, so does your curse.

 

 

If you want to cancel this curse, you have two choices. And neither are guaranteed to work. The whole curse is based on the plant growing and so does the curse. Canceling that is going to be tricky.

The first choice is to uproot the plant. Either let it dry out in the sun or burn it. Scatter the soil from the plant at a crossroads and cast the stones used for drainage into living water. The picture and hair, if any traces of it remain, should be burned in a different fire than you used to burn the plant. The pot should be smashed or otherwise destroyed.

The second option relies entirely on your confidence to cleanse things. If you’re very competent at cleansing, then take the plant out of the pot it’s currently in and place it on the ground or on a plate temporarily. Cleanse the plant. Reach deep and make sure the plant understands that it no longer derives strength from your target. Give it another source to derive power from, like water, fertilizer, or the sun. You can reuse the pot and drainage rocks but scatter the soil at a crossroads. Re-pot the plant in a new batch of soil. Once again, remind the plant of its new magical source of energy as you re-pot it.

 

 

Notes:

  • If you need to scatter the soil during re-potting, feel free to use as many crossroads as possible. No one’s going to want to see a mound of dirt in an intersection so you’re better off taking a walk or drive and tossing dirt here and there along the way.
  • The stronger the connection you have to the plant, the stronger the curse will be – and the more likely that the plant will be able to cancel it at a later date using the second method.
  • Using hair is the best option here. Skip fingernails as they take longer to break down. Blood could also be used but that’s far less sanitary. Avoid urine or other bodily fluids and they could kill the plant.
  • Plastic’s way cheaper and lighter than a terracotta or ceramic pot but they can be harder to break. Consider this ahead of time.
  • If you’re particularly malicious feeling, you can give your cursing plant to your target as a gift. Only do this if you know they’re going to take care of it.

Happy cursing!

Spirit Destinations: Spirits Who Can Help

Even if you’re familiar with astral travel and spirit realms, it’s difficult to find spirits that are both trustworthy and helpful. Sometimes you’re looking for a specific kind of spirit and that’s even harder.

Why someone might look for a particular kind of spirit varies. Sometimes you’re serving as courier. Sometimes you need to heal a spiritual wound. Other times you want help casting a spell or information. And sometimes you don’t know why you’re doing something, you were just told to do it. (Let’s be honest here, this one’s probably the most common reason).

The following spirits are very busy but they are willing to have their pseudonyms shared with my followers so they can help. I can personally vouch for each of these spirits and many are personal friends of mine. The region itself, especially the valley of the spirit ruler, is extremely safe for dreamers and residents alike.

 

Laeta – A healer spirit of renown. Laeta takes patients from all over and usually does so without payment. They can heal spiritual and physical wounds, speed up recovery and ease symptoms of sickness and mental illness. Laeta can also perform spiritual surgery. Pretty much a spirit physician. Remember to give yourself time to heal in the physical world as well.

Laeta can be found in the infirmary, a lower yet airy level of the castle. Ask for directions from anyone within the castle.

Heleinra – She’s a catalyst spirit. She can incite things to occur such as inspiration and motivation but she can also encourage healing, ease bouts of depression, and so on. She will require a trade or purchase of services.

She’s a bit harder to locate (although, she’s close to Laeta) so ask around the castle grounds for her and take a peek into Laeta’s infirmary to see if she’s hanging out there.

 

The Maidens – A cluster of spirits who focus on love, relationships, sex, passion, and beauty. They’re matchmakers. There’s at least five of them, possibly more. Gaining their attention may be difficult as they remain close to the ruler but they can definitely help point you in the right direction in regards to love. Be aware that they shift bodies easily and are members of the proverbial fashion police. They may ask for equal trades for their services so the price they request may be very high for you. Make sure you verbally agree to whatever you’re buying. Sometimes they get carried away.

 

Candle Smoke

 

In order to find the Maidens specifically, you’ll have to gain entry to the ruler’s hall (which is mostly just walking in and being polite to staff) and try to catch their eye; they tend to wander the hall so it could be relatively easy to gain their attention. A quiet word with one of the guards will also work. You can also join the queue to talk to the king and when called upon, ask for the Maidens’ assistance (although if you do this you should offer the king a small gift as thanks for their attention.)

Moba – A spirit that serves under another spirit within the ruler’s court. Think of his position more like an assistant. The spirit he serves under is directly in service to the ruler so you won’t meet with Moba’s boss. That being said, Moba is great for pointing you towards a direction to increase your wealth or find opportunities. He won’t, specifically, help you get that wealth but he can point you in the right direction. Typically he appears as a young teenage boy and will probably be darting about the castle or the ruler’s hall. Speak clearly and quickly with him; he’s very busy and won’t have long to talk. He may or may not collect payment, depending on the favor.

The spirit ruler of this area is may be helpful as well. They can be asked for advice, information, guidance, or tips. They may even be asked for aid in combat, magic, or political situations. Just make sure that you’re willing to tithe them appropriately and pay whatever they’re going to charge. They’ll expect clear cut agreements though so don’t worry about being tricked into an agreement. This is doubled if you explain you’re a dreamer/spirit walker.

If you want to speak with them, you’ll need to ask one of the attendants in the hall for an audience. You may need to wait for an audience and that wait may take too long so you might need to make several trips with the hope that you can get an audience while you’re still lucid and within the astral plane.

 

How to pay for a spirit’s service:

You may need to “pay” for a spirit’s services. They may ask for currency, worship, trade, barter, or even just information. There’s a lot of ways to pay for such things so ask in advance what they want in payment before agreeing to anything.

How to find one of these spirits:

First, go here. All these spirits are found in the service of the same spirit ruler. Typically, this area’s pretty safe and the people friendly so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting through the forest, up to the castle, and asking one of the guards or staff for the spirit you’re looking for.

It’s also a good idea to make an offering to them within your own home. They may not show up in your home but you never know. Do NOT summon them. They will not help you if summoned. It is a condition of this information being shared. Good luck and happy adventures!