The Crafts: Wixes, Spells, and the Weaponized Placebo Effect

Carrie Fisher is getting a spot during Día de Muertos next year. Like no I guess she's not technically family but fuck you she is in spirit. She needs marigolds.

 

Sadly the photos are on the back of the last month's calendar page.

 

Would it help any if you used the ashes for something? To encourage new growth? Like uhm, starting up a planter with them?

 

I can probably put them on my houseplants, but I'm not sure if burnt inks would be good for them.

 

all right, I finally got time to do some interviews of my tarot decks, of which I now have two!
I started with the Shadowscapes tarot deck, which was sent to me by @rats this Christmas c:

Spoiler: Shadowscapes Tarot

Q: Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic?
Card/My Interpretation: IV, The Emperor. Okay, well....I have to admit I got a bit of a self-important feel from this card when I picked it out, so I'm....sort of feeling like my deck might be leaning a little bit that way. That said, the card's meaning is creating order out of chaos, leadership and strength--so I'm feeling like the deck's most important characteristic might be the ability to create order and also strength, although what kind of strength I'm not sure. That's a pretty good characteristic, though, imo.

Q: What are your strengths as a deck?
Card/My Interpretation: So for this one, it...well, I was re-shuffling them to ask this question, and it spat out two cards while I was shuffling, so I'm assuming that's its answer. The cards were IV, The Emperor (again? really?), so apparently it's big on one of its strengths being the ability to create order. The other card was Three of Swords, reversed. I know that upright, the card means grief and heartbreak, loneliness and separation, and generally how I interpret reversed cards is 'the opposite of the usual meaning', so...I'm thinking recovery and making new relationships are this deck's other strength, which is interesting and honestly probably a really good thing for me.

Q: What are your limits as a deck?
Card/My Interpretation: XII, The Hanged Man. Hmmm....apparently this card means letting go and surrendering to experience, accepting what is and giving up control, seeing things in a new light....that kind of stuff. I'm taking this to mean that this deck's not especially good at coming at situations with a unique or changed perspective, and that it's also not good at accepting what is--it's going to want to change things a lot. That...could be either good or bad, depending on the situation; I'll have to keep this one in mind.

Q: What are you here to teach me?
Card/My Interpretation: So once again, I ended up with two cards--VII, The Chariot, and VIII, Strength. It's....interesting to me that despite shuffling incredibly well, I ended up with two cards that are one after the other in terms of, like, numerals and such. That might mean that the things it's trying to teach me will come in succession, maybe? Anyway, The Chariot deals with self-confidence, establishing an identity, and achieving victory--so I'm thinking my deck is, at least in part, here to teach me how to establish my own identity, achieve victory in things, and have self-confidence. All things I need, honestly.... Strength apparently deals with calm composure and patience, and unshakable resolve to see something through to the end, so I'm guessing that this deck is also here to teach me about having patience and composure, and being resolved no matter what--also things I need to work on. Seems like a beneficial deck for me to have.

Q: How can I best learn and collaborate with you?
Card/My Interpretation: Holy crap, so it spit three cards while I was shuffling it this time--apparently my deck likes to be wordy. At least, that's what I'm getting here. Anyway, the cards were VII, The Chariot, Knight of Pentacles, and a reversed Ten of Cups. The Chariot, again, deals with self-confidence, establishing an identity, achieving victory....I'm not sure if the deck means that to best learn from it and collaborate with it, I need to establish self-confidence and an identity first, or if it means that I need to really listen when it talks about those things or what it answers when I ask about those things. Either way, an interesting message. The Knight of Pentacles is apparently about moving steadily towards your goal, and striking with all the force you have when you reach the goal; I'm interpreting this to mean that the deck will work best with me if I'm not wishy-washy about what I want or what I need or what I ask, and that the best way for me to learn from it is to start being more focused on achieving the goals I want to achieve. Finally, we have the reversed Ten of Cups....which apparently means the final attainment of serenity and peace, and emotional contentment. Since it's reversed, though, that means for me it would mean never attaining peace and serenity, or emotional contentment. I feel like I can interpret this one of two ways....either it means that the way I can best collaborate with it is to never achieve peace and serenity, or it means that the best way for me to collaborate with it is to stop focusing so much on achieving peace and serenity in my life--and given that a lot of my struggle in life is trying to achieve peace and serenity that will last forever, I'm thinking it means the second interpretation.

Q: What is the potential outcome of our working relationship?
Card/My Interpretation: So, uh...at first it gave me a card that basically, to me, signified sudden annoyance and unfriendliness--I'm getting the feeling it doesn't like answering a lot of questions all at once. Which probably means it's wordy with its answers, but it likes breaks in between questions. Good to know. Anyway, I told it to just answer this one more question, please, sincerely, and then we'd be done, and after that, it spat the Ace of Cups and IX, The Hermit. Ace of Cups is apparently linked with the first stirring of emotion, attunement, and compassion, which seems fairly straightforward to me--through working with this deck, I'll start to have more compassion and attunement...although to what I will be attuned, I'm not sure. Anyway, The Hermit apparently means being introspective, seeking solitude, and being an inspirational friend and teacher, one who can help to illuminate the secrets of one's mind. I....feel like this has a dual meaning; The Hermit represents what the deck will do for me, i.e. help illuminate the secrets of my mind and be more introspective, but also what I will gain/become from working with this deck.

Overall....it looks like a pretty positive reading, imo, I think this deck is gonna be really good for me.

Spoiler: Homestuck Tarot

Q: Tell me about yourself. What is your most important characteristic?
Card/My Interpretation: XIV, Temperance. Apparently this means balance, harmony, and avoiding the extreme. Seems fairly straightforward--I'm assuming its most important characteristic is being balanced, and avoiding the extreme in answers, which is a good thing, I think.

Q: What are your strengths as a deck?
Card/My Interpretation: I got XVII, The Moon, reversed. Upright, this card deals with fear, falling prey to illusions, and loss of direction. So I'm taking it to mean that this deck's strengths lie in alleviating fear, helping me see the truth, and helping me remain on my path or find my path if I've lost it. A pretty useful set of strengths.

Q: What are your limits as a deck?
Card/My Interpretation: So it spat this one as I was shuffling, and it's II, The High Priestess, reversed. Upright, this card means biding time and having patience. I'm going to guess that means this deck isn't very good with waiting or being patient--if I ask it a question, it's going to want to give me a solution, something I can do immediately, right now, and it's going to want me to do that thing right away. It's not good at waiting for things to fix themselves or waiting for anyone to do things. This is....not a great limit for it to have, honestly, considering my impulsiveness--I'll have to remember this.

Q: What are you here to teach me?
Card/My Interpretation: Again with the card spitting. This time it gave me two, which I'm thinking means this answer's important, because it doesn't seem inclined so far to offer more than one card for anything--I get the feeling it likes to give brief and concise answers. Anyway, the cards were V, The Hierophant, and a reversed Three of Cups. The Hierophant apparently deals with knowledge, education, and seeking deeper meanings, which again seems to be fairly straightforward--this deck is here to teach me to search for deeper meanings in things, and to expand my knowledge, I'm thinking. Then there's the Three of Cups. Upright, this one apparently indicates happiness and energy born from closeness, and being in tune with those who you're close with. So reversed....it means the opposite, which would be feeling stifled and worn out by closeness, and being out of sync with them. Hmmm...this could either mean that it's going to teach me that close relationships are bad and harmful, or the card represents how I am now and how I feel now about close relationships, and it's going to teach me to be happier with my close relationships and be more in tune with my close people--the second interpretation seems to fit most, thinking about where I am right now with close relationships.

Q: How can I best learn and collaborate with you?
Card/My Interpretation: It gave me the Ace of Cups. This card is, again, linked with the stirrings of love, emotion, and attunement; according to this deck's booklet of meanings, it also indicates a willingness and desire to seek out a new opportunity for love or creativity. So...I'm going to interpret this as meaning that the way I can best learn and collaborate with this deck is by being willing and open to seeking out new opportunities for things.

Q: What is the potential outcome of our working relationship?
Card/My Interpretation: Hmmm. Two cards again....V, The Hierophant, and a reversed card, VIII, Justice. The Hierophant again deals with knowledge, education, and seeking deeper meanings, so I'm guessing that our relationship will lead me to be more knowledgeable and seek deeper meanings in things. Justice upright means fairness, ethics, impartiality, holding people accountable, accepting consequences, and understanding coincidence. So reversed it would mean....unfairness, a lack of ethics, being partial and biased, failing to hold others and yourself accountable, refusing to accept consequences, and not understanding coincidence. Since that's pretty much how I am now, I'm feeling like this card indicates that our working relationship will end with me gaining the things the Justice card represents, but I could be wrong. Hmmm.

anyway, those're the interviews. make of 'em what you will. feel free to comment.

 

....so while I was packing up the Homestuck deck, I was thinking about how tired I am, and the deck spat out a reversed card at me--specifically, I, The Magician. apparently it means 'taking a deliberate action or making a choice', and I'm feeling like the deck is yelling at me to sleep. :P

 

afaik, my homestuck deck has been REALLY TROLLY. which. seems fitting.
so color me totes unsurprised it's making you get some rest

 

Hey

Hey guys

I was just talking to a friend of mine about you know, monthly blood and how we call it Shark Week and how sharks are actually really cool and cute. I joked that it should be a time to help the lost spirits of sharks that have been culled or caught or otherwise died bad deaths by humanity's hands - but then I thought about it seriously.

Is there some ritual that would be good for calling and directing those kinds of animal spirits, to say I'm sorry and to help them find somewhere safe where people can't hurt them in the next life? (Obviously I'll wait until I'm bleeding again, because blood in the water and I'm on the tail end of it now and I don't think I'd arouse the attention of even a dogfish XD)

Any ideas or tips would be helpful!

(OH ALSO WATER-CRITTER RELATED - I'm getting a permit soon to hunt freshwater crayfish/crawfish, but I want to make sure their energy goes back into the water where I found them if I find any edible ones. I was thinking of pouring the purgewater - that's the salted water you use to make them clean their guts - back onto the bank, but I'm worried about the salt effecting the stream or river in the area.)

 

I want to do a read for the New Year but I always have trouble thinking of questions. Do you guys have thoughts on the subject?

 

Did a New Years tarot spread!

The previous year in summary: Wheel Of Fortune.
Kind of a turning point, but with a sense of fatalism--like I have no power to change things.

What have you learned from the past year: Nine of Cups.
Learned to put more emphasis on my own self-fulfillment.

What you aspire to in the next twelve months: The Fool.
Beginning a new chapter in my life, a more optimistic one.

What empowers you in reaching your aspirations: Two of Cups.
The people I'm truly connected to--my loved ones.

What may stand in the way of reaching your aspirations: Two of Swords.
Avoiding my problems instead of facing them.

Your relationships and emotions in the coming year: Seven of Swords.
Issues with running from things--again, running from my problems. Make efforts to work on this!

Your career, work and finances: Knight of Pentacles.
Stubbornness that might get me somewhere, while remaining realistic about the possibilities that are and aren't open to me.

Your health and well-being: Two of Wands.
Developing more personal power--maybe recovery?

Your spiritual energy and inner fulfillment: Six of Pentacles.
Resources and knowledge--knowing what to do to help myself.

What you most need to focus on for the year ahead: The Devil.
Focus on working on fixing my own ignorance and hopelessness.

What will be your most important lesson in the coming year: Ten of Cups.
That I am loved, and I can be happy.

Overall, where are you headed in the next twelve months: Ace of Swords.
Heading towards a stronger life!

 

Looks like my reply was well-timed! I found that spread online; feel free to give that one a try?

 

Ooh, and it has twelve cards too, I'm not used to spreads that big but I might give it a try.

 

So, in this Reddit post (which, by the way, holy shit), someone said:

And I mean. This whole year being the way it is because of freaky memetic magic stuff actually makes a lot of sense, TBH.

 

Onna's New Year read:

Spoiler

The previous year in summary: Ten of Pentacles, reversed (History Week)
Abundance, permanence, convention- permanence and convention were pretty well overturned this year. No one thought it could happen but it did.

What have you learned from the past year: Wheel of Fortune (Eternal Scouts)
That all things have their cost and everything is a trade-off, I'm guessing, because that definitely is something I learned.

What you aspire to in the next twelve months: King of Pentacles (Marcus Vansten)
Success in business, obviously, which... I guess? I feel like I'd very much rather have less stress than more money, so this is a little hard to understand. Maybe I'm secretly hoping for angels to recruit me or something.

What empowers you in reaching your aspirations: The Devil (the Man in the Tan Jacket)
I MEAN THIS DOESN'T SEEM VERY EMPOWERING

What may stand in the way of reaching your aspirations: Ace of Pentacles (Yellow Helicopters)
........opportunities, practicality, and trust? At this point I think this asshole deck is just protesting against being asked about my own aspirations which I should damn well know for myself. It gets pissy when I try to ask a question twice, too.

Your relationships and emotions in the coming year: Ten of Swords (Cassette) (while I was finding this one, the Knight of Cups- Computer- fell out of the deck as well.)
So there's the Everything Is Awful card. Not great. Or, alternatively, the gentle and sensitive one, which is a little more optimistic. Maybe the former is what I get for passing up the latter, idk.

Your career, work and finances: The Lovers, reversed (the Whispering Forest)
It's going to be difficult to relate to people at work, maybe? I need to learn more about this stuff, some of these are seriously opaque.

Your health and well-being: Ten of Wands, reversed (Parade Day)
Overburdenment and one's reach exceeding one's grasp- except not! I'm thinking I'll be fine if I don't try to take on too much.

Your spiritual energy and inner fulfillment: Six of Wands (Summer Reading Program)
Victory! I'm not entirely sure what spiritual victory looks like for me, but victory!

What you most need to focus on for the year ahead: Queen of Cups (Cactus June/Judy/Jane)
...I'm not terribly good at court cards, as I've said before, but everything I'm seeing focuses on being super sweet and gentle, which... is not entirely welcome. Alternatively, it's super vital that I pay more attention to that nWoD game!

What will be your most important lesson in the coming year: Page of Swords, reversed (the Masked Army)
Be less alert and defensive, I guess? Because not everything is a challenge? Easier said than done...

Overall, where are you headed in the next twelve months: Seven of Swords, reversed (Old Oak Doors)
Greater honesty, I suppose. Again- not terribly welcome, but maybe I need that, who the hell knows.

...overall, this doesn't thrill me, but there are a few bright spots. And a lot of things I'd welcome any help in making sense out of because wtf.

 

Well, might as well. Silhouettes Tarot, don't fail me now.

Spoiler: read me a read

Previous year in summary: 10 swords. I... yeah. "At least that shit's over with." Never was drawn a more accurate card; this year has been a lot of that, especially wrt my family.

What have you learned from the past year: 8 Wands. Change coming quickly, things happening in a hurry. I... don't really feel this? If anything, 2016 feels like it was just a big long waiting game of a year.

What you aspire to in the next twelve months: 5 Pentacles. Poverty, loneliness, separation. uhhhhh... well getting away from my mom, I guess, but did you have to put it like that? Jesus.

What empowers you in reaching your aspirations: VIII, Strength. I just facepalmed at this. Strength empowers me. I mean, yes, patience resilience is about all I have going for me, but... really.

What may stand in the way of reaching your aspirations: 4 Wands. Stability, shelter, satisfaction. Are you... sure you didn't get this swapped with 5 pents up there, deck.

Your relationships and emotions in the coming year: I, the Magician. Individuality, first achievements. Uh, datefriend maybe? idefk.

Your career, work and finances: 3 Wands. Successful business, and being in the right place at the right time. Gotta keep my eyes peeled, I guess.

Your health and well-being: XI, Justice. The only meaning I can really parse that might be relevant here is actually making decisions, which, yes, I am intending to do in the new year. Because enough of this period shit.

Your spiritual energy and inner fulfillment: Knight Cups. A dreamer, a romantic change. Still "datefriend maybe"???

What you most need to focus on for the year ahead: the Happy Squirrel. Lol. First time I've actually drawn it... Simple happiness and the little joys. Yeah, I need more of that, tbh.

What will be your most important lesson in the coming year: 10 Wands. Carrying depression and being overburdened. Like I'm not already? :l I hope you mean in the sense of "having a better way to deal with that," deck.

Overall, where are you headed in the next twelve months: XVII, the Star. Hopes for the future, optimism, a wish.

 

Here's hoping Radiant is as optimistic as it's seemed so far?

Spoiler: New Year spread

The previous year in summary: Knight of Pentacles
Being cautious and focused, maybe, but I dunno about hard-working.

What have you learned from the past year: Seven of Swords
I've been kind of an asshole, maybe.

What you aspire to in the next twelve months: The Hermit
(It's about here that I've realized the little white booklet is bizarre and useless. Hermit as treason? what??)
being introspective, maybe looking into spirituality more, getting even more alone time.

What empowers you in reaching your aspirations: Eight of Wands
"what empowers you to reach your aspirations?" "reaching my aspirations!"
finishing things, though, that's kind of what it is, instead of having a million things in progress

What may stand in the way of reaching your aspirations: Queen of Pentacles
spending my time and energy on other people? harsh.

Your relationships and emotions in the coming year: The Devil
ignorance, being trapped, feeling hopeless. fun times, apparently. probably my mental state when trying to move away from my parents

Your career, work and finances: Ace of Pentacles.
Prospering! Achieving concrete results by being practical, sounds like things could work out if I put in the effort.

Your health and well-being: Nine of Cups.
Being fulfilled, generally doing well, having pleasant experiences.

Your spiritual energy and inner fulfillment: Three of Pentacles.
Needing to reach out or at least connect with what other people are saying about their spirituality. More organized research into witchy things in 2017 might be a good idea.

What you most need to focus on for the year ahead: Queen of Wands
Trying to be more optimistic and confident, reaching out to people.

What will be your most important lesson in the coming year: Ace of Wands
'Stay determined', mostly.

Overall, where are you headed in the next twelve months: The Star, (same as @Starcrossedsky, interesting)
Finding hope and peace, and sharing it with the world in whatever way possible.

Court cards, my nemesis x_x And this is conflicting on whether I need to connect with people or retreat emotionally.

 

we should form the I Fucking Hate Court Cards Club

 

GOD court cards... pages are the only ones I can get consistently.

 

this actually makes THREE people I know who've gotten the star in relationship to 2017, I saw a similar spread on my witch dash that also got the star.

 

I did a New Year Spread with my Victorian Fairy tarot. It has the four suits as Spring (Wands), Summer (Cups), Autumn (Pentacles) amd Winter (Swords), which is a beautiful system and works particularly well to talk about the passing of time. My spread was one card for each month, arranged in a semicircle, and a thirteenth one for "general considerations about the coming year" in the middle.

It was honestly surprising how gentle and soft the picture it painted was. I wrote it down in a notebook and I don't have it with me now, but the months spread was full of Spring and Summer, and it had the Kings of both of those suits - happy cards. The least optimistic ones were the Four of Winter (temporary respite, meditation in preparation of coming challenges, waiting for the storm to pass) and the Seven of Autumn (defending what you have with all your strenght, fighting to protect what's yours) and even those are about COPING with adversity, and thriving over it, not just being lost or hopeless or scared in its presence.

There were also two of my personal favorites: the Eight of Summer (a leap of faith, leaving things behind in pursuit of a deeper truth) and the Moon (imagination, dreams, illusion - I feel a deep connection to the Moon card and tend to interpret it in a much more positive light than most people do, but that's how the card instinctively speaks to me). And January was the Fool, which I just found amazing for the first month of a year in which I'm trying to recover a sense of hope, wonder, faith and hard work in pursuit of my dreams.

The thirteenth card, for "other considerations regarding the new year", surprised me, but also had an impact on me: the Queen of Winter. A figure of wisdom, learned and willing to speak her mind, but also one who is aged by sadness, who suffers the bitter pain of loss. I think that's a good description of who I am as I step int this new year. For me, the message of that card as a final consideration was very clear: don't let the harsh winter of last year keep you from recognizing the sweetness and the joys that this one has in store for you.