Tarot To Cut Ties
With Scorpio season fast approaching, we are reminded of the importance of honouring the natural cycles of life. Associated with Death in tarot, Scorpio alludes to transience; the need to allow for things to end, transform and move from one state to the next. We give the seasons this grace each year, and without question, and yet for many of us, it’s all too common to cling to things that have long outworn their stay.
Change can be scary, which is why we often see the Death card depicted so bleakly. But, it’s also natural. In fact, when we try to evade its inevitability, we often find out how futile that is. In other words, we can't escape the pain of goodbyes, because holding on past expiry comes with its own host of challenges.
A Spread For Spooky Season
Halloween is right around the corner, so we’ve got a themed spread to get you into the spirit!
One of our favourite activities in October, is cramming in as many scary movies as we can. This spread was designed with that in mind. Let your scary movie come to life with the aid of tarot or oracle! There is lots of room to get really creative with this one - so allow the prompts to guide you, but also allow the imagery to really bring things to life!
P.S. We have 5 other Halloween themed spreads available over on Patreon: In The Shadows, Beyond The Veil, Costume Party, My Magic Power and Trick or Treat! Join us to unlock more!
Off With Their Heads! An Exploration of the Queen of Swords & Kālī
It's tough to find a deity as terrifying, yet awe-inspiring as the Hindu goddess Kali. Her name is derived from the Sanskrit word kala, which can be taken as kālá (time) or kāla (black), and thus she is considered to be both the ruler of time and the dark, or black goddess. This is certainly fitting upon first glance, as she is often looked upon as a goddess of death and destruction, brandishing a sword and holding a severed head by the hair as she flicks her bloody tongue and shows off her signature necklace of human skulls and her girdle of human arms. To others, however, she is the Great Mother, who watches over and cares for her children, shielding them from the inevitable pains that arise from life in this temporal realm.
Tarot Ethics - 13 Prompts to Consider for Your Practice
Preface: We wrote this article back in 2022, but the world has changed much since then, and we think it’s a good time to come back to this piece and include some points around AI and LLMs. Please enjoy the revamped and updated version of this post!
Podcast Feature: Tarot, Telepathy & The Wisdom of Symbols with Jeff Carreira
A couple months ago I (Julia) sat down with Jeff Carreira for an interview about tarot, The Telepathy Tapes, cosmic consciousness and the wisdom of symbols. You can listen to it now on any podcast app - here’s the Spotify link. For those who prefer the written form, the interview has also been published in Jeff’s magazine, The Artist of Possibility.
The Three Temples in Tarot
Have you ever wondered what's happening with those 3 pillared cards in tarot? With such striking visual similarities, there must be something connecting this series of cards, right? Since 2020, we've developed a particular interest in, and spent a great deal of time contemplating these keys and how they may connect to one another. We're talking specifically about The High Priestess (2), The Hierophant (5) and Justice (11).
Blue + Red = Purple
Colours, like numbers or sound, carry deep spiritual significance. Within the system of tarot, they bring many layers of meaning, much of which we won't even begin to scratch the surface of in this post. But, that's not to say we can't start peeling back those layers!
The World of Fortune: The Wheel of Fortune, The Zodiac, and the Minor Arcana
If we observe the direction of movement indicated by the positioning of the three figures who appear to be "riding" the wheel on the Wheel of Fortune card, we can discern that it seems to follow the same counterclockwise motion as the standard Zodiac…
Happy New Year - 2025!
We’ve officially made the shift from 2024 to 2025. Some folks may be feeling very in tune and aligned to this moment, ready to set intentions and let go of the past. For some though, the turning of this particular wheel may be feeling a bit lack luster.
We’re here to remind you that even when the year shifts, it doesn’t mean we are all obligated to feel energized to seize the moment. The date on the calendar may be changing, but that doesn’t mean we’re all ready for a major overhaul. For many, especially in the Northern hemisphere, it’s still freezing outside! The days are short, the nights are long and our energy is turned inward. The winter season is for hibernation, rest, reclaiming our energy and gestating. We may have a vague idea of what’s taking shape, but it's not necessarily ready to see the light of day.
Patreon Exclusives
We recently (rejoined) Patreon, after regrouping and coming up with a more clear and sustainable strategy for engaging with that space. We have always struggled trying to balance our enthusiasm for sharing, with ensuring we’re also being compensated in some way. I don’t think we will ever get it right, and the aim isn’t to totally capitalize on this stuff either, so it’s ok if the balance is off to some degree. The reality is, we don’t want this work to be the main way we generate income. We both have other avenues for that. What we do want though, is to be able to do this 100% our way, without the pressure of having to compromise because bills need to be paid (that’s why we don’t advertise in this space).
Pamela Colman Smith: The Artist Who Brought The RWS to Life
I come across this sentiment now and again, that suggests Pamela Colman Smith (illustrator of the RWS tarot) has just been discovered. Maybe some folks are genuinely only now uncovering her name and contribution, but that doesn’t mean this information, today, is being actively suppressed. At some point throughout history, yes, she may have been relatively unknown. But, those days are long over, and the secret is no more. If you don’t know who Pamela Colman Smith is, and you read tarot, particularly a RWS deck or variant, it’s time to get on board!
Challenging the 8 of Swords: The Gift of Confinement
If The Fool were a symbol for absolute freedom and unbounded possibility, then the 8 of Swords must be its energetic antagonist. All you would need to do is observe the body language, posture and predicament to realize these two figures were occupying opposite ends of their particular polarity - liberation vs. confinement.
When I pull the 8 of Swords in a reading, yes it’s annoying, but it’s rarely a surprise. Usually, I'm able to identify right away that's how I've been feeling - frustrated, unsure, bound. I could equate it to a really bad case of writers block (though not limited to the act of writing). It’s actually one of the cards in the deck, in my opinion, that does a really good job of visually depicting the feeling it represents.
Unexpected Elements: Feeling Through the Swords
The suit of Swords is known for being connected to the element air, which in turn associates it with things such as thoughts, ideas, intellect, concepts and communication. But there is something curious happening within this particular grouping of cards, which connects it strongly back to the element of water.
If you observe the landscape of the Swords, you might notice something that we also noticed - something that stands out and takes up a lot of space! For such an airy element, there sure is a of a lot of water visible in these cards! In fact, there is almost as much visible water in the Swords as there is in the Cups. And, if you don’t count the court cards, there is actually more. On top of that, 4 of the Swords cards not only depict water, but large bodies of it! Like, HUGE amounts of water! What’s going on here?
New to this Website (or Tarot)? Start Here!
Whether you’re brand new to tarot, an advanced student or looking for niche topics on the periphery of this tool, we created this guide as a way to easily navigate our website to find the right resources for you.
Locate the heading that most accurately describes what you’re looking for, settle in and begin your exploration!
30 Prompts To Connect With Your Spirit Guide
In 2016, I hosted a very successful online challenge all about connecting with Spirit Guides. If you’re wondering how I grew my social media following, this played a huge role. For some reason, it super resonated with people at the time and just took off. I repeated the adventure in 2019 and while it didn’t have the same participation as the first round, it was a joy for me to revisit with those who were interested.
Now, I’m not hosting another challenge - I don’t have time for that. But, I’ve been meaning to update those original prompts for awhile because I know there are folks out there looking for ways to bridge this connection, and I know how much this exercise served those who worked with it in the past.
Making Magick with the 6 of Swords
Before Pisces season engulfs me entirely, I figured I should try to make at least one blog post before the month is up. This should be pretty easy to do, because all of the content was essentially already written. You see, I kind of forgot I started writing some kind of “book” back in 2018. It was supposed to be a resource to help you work intentionally/ritualistically with all 78 tarot cards. Looks like I got 60K words deep and then the whole thing was put on the backburner when my mom got sick. After that, it was Tower after Tower after Tower and well, it’s been collecting digital dust every since.
Shining A Spotlight On Strength
Tomorrow, January 25th, is the Full Moon in Leo. We’re also nearly complete the first month in our Collective Year 8. Both of these things share something in common and that’s their association to Strength in tarot (Justice in some decks, but we’ll get to that). Given the heavy influence this card will have on us for 2024, we thought it would be helpful to dig beyond the keywords and the basic correspondences to get to the root of what it really has to offer.
We think in this case, it all boils down to energy (just like everything else, we suppose!). But, how does that apply practically? Well, it applies because as unlimited as energy actually is, we all (at least at times) struggle to tap into it, maintain it and use it effectively. If that weren’t true, we'd be powerful beyond measure and this article would be a moot point!
Tarot/Oracle Spread For The New Year
We know it’s getting down to the wire here, but in case you’re looking for a little last minute tarot/oracle spread to usher in the New Year, we have you covered!
This spread looks back at the previous year, while embracing the energy on the horizon. It’s equal parts insight and advice, with a focus on not just what the year has for you, but what you have for it. We hope you find it fruitful and that it serves you well.
2024: Our Collective Year 8
We just released our Personal Year Guides for 2024, but what about the collective? While each of us moves into our new respective year, so too does the collective shift in tandem. With this, we find ourselves universally in a Year 8 in 2024, which we arrive at by simply adding all those digits together - 2+0+2+4=8.
What does that mean? Well, the number 8 speaks to energy, movement, momentum and reward (among other things). It corresponds to Strength (Justice in some decks) and The Star in tarot. The number 8 also makes us think of that powerful Lion’s Gate portal, the concept of infinity and the myth of Ishtar, whose symbol is the lion (Strength) and the 8-pointed star (found on The Star)…curious.
2024 By The Numbers - Navigating The Personal Year Cycle
It’s going to be 2024 before we know it, so we wanted to get ahead of the game and release our Personal Year Number information a bit early this year!
For those who have been visiting us for awhile, you’ll know it’s tradition around here to offer these free, comprehensive guides each and every year. We do this because this system has become something of a special interest for us. Ever since I (Julia) started paying attention to it in 2015, I’ve really been able to see how the themes of each year manifest themselves, which helps me to prepare and respond accordingly. It’s kind of like working with the cycles of the moon or the seasons. Once you begin to acclimate to its rhythm, you can begin to see how your own life mimics that flow, and how you can get the most out of the current you’re in.