Why is the tarot so... "old"?

Hey everybody!

I just was asked to guest blog over at tarotwisdom.com, and true to form I just had to rant about something. In this latest caffeine-fueled frenzy I take on why everyone in the Tarot looks like a hippy Renaissance Faire junkie. What's wrong with suits? (even though it is against my official religion to ever wear a suit)

http://tarotwisdom.com/updating-the-tarot/

Please support tarotwisdom.com by checking out my newest post. It is free (duh) but the page view really helps them. And I think you will like my post. Okay, thanks for reading. :-)

Baby Steps

The first lesson of the new year comes just before the old year ends--which is right now. 

Baby steps. Learn to love 'em.

The short version is that things WILL be screwy at first. Things WILL GO WRONG--and that's okay as long as you don't panic, and don't try to take on too much at once. Small steps can be retraced, can be corrected almost without thought. But trouble is lurking for the fool who leaps too far out, too early. The new year will being new skills, and they will take time to learn. Imagine yourself flying a plane for the first time. You manage to get up in the air and suddenly there is a storm. Now the plane starts zig-zagging and getting squirrely. You are ass over teakettle and the ground is not so inviting a place at the moment.

Don't panic.

Baby steps. You will make mistakes. And it will be okay.

This new year is about the larger vision, the long-term goals, and undoing a lot that has been done. Look at the world of politics. Here in America we have the stage set for the gunfight at the OK Corral. Healthcare repeal. Gays in the military repeal, Tax-cuts--repeal. Who wins is who makes the smallest, most consistent victories. There is no "big score" right now. Mercury is retrograde in Sagittarius as we enter the new year. It is getting the hell away from the stellium that it would complete with the Sun, Pluto, and Mars. All three of those will be in Capricorn by the end of the day, and Mercury, being the fickle (and smart) bastard that he is, wants NONE of it!

But... Merc is EXACTLY sextile Jupiter in Pisces, which just so happens to be conjunct Uranus--less than a degree separating them--and closing fast. Merc is sinister (separating--breaking free, leaving, moving away from) while everything else is dexter (closing in on). At this moment Merc is the ONLY retro thing in the sky. It's "all engines full Mister Scott!" and Merc sees the hysteria of he crowd--the unthinking zeal and flees.

Auntie Moon is in Cancer--ALL POWERFUL, trining (perfect resonance with) Jupiter/Uranus--who are boinking over in Pisces. Something big will happen this day. Decisions made, plans cemented, things birthed--but they must take baby steps or the year will be FULL of crazy chaotic plans that go awry/haywire/w-r-o-n-g.

Get it? Srak?

So... Let's all be careful out there. Today the work begins. You have a few last minutes to plan, if you haven't done so yet.

Ready.... set.. Ka!

Last minute Yule magic that WORKS!!

Did you forget, or delay, Yule magic this year? Boss got you down? Santa being stingy? Holiday visitors being a pain in the ass? Boy do we have a sale for you!

Okay, here is a spell you can whip up in 5 minutes, or dress up and incorporate into your other Yule magics, with candles and robes, athameees and other kooky fun stuff. Make yourself some breakfast (oh yeah--you can do this today, or, if you don't read this in time, you can do it any time between now and January 3rd, but try to do it today/tonight if possible, tomorrow is also great).

So for breakfast you have an egg, or you can just grab an eggshell. Now get some soil and plant a seed in it. That's pretty much it. But let's go into this a bit.

The eggshell is protective and is attuned to and thus representational of the full moon (the moon is full tonight/at the Yule). Given that the sun is new (dark, or at it's lowest part in the year--hence "Yule") this is like a mother protecting her baby as it is born. She is full or "fully and completely present" (no drugs, no distractions, no absence--she is almost overprotective--but can you really be overprotective during a birth? -- ask Cairelle, she is the nurse). This is asking the goddess (working with the flow of nature/Nature) to nourish, nurture, and protect your dreams, goals, and efforts during the new year. Please remember than an egg is not just a shell but contains the nutrients needed to form a baby chicken--and who doesn't love baby chickens? I won't belabor the point. You get it or you need to study more.

The soil you are inserting into the eggshell is support, structure, and nutrition to your seed, the seed is your new year, your new life, and all the things you want this year to be. You can add a little Miracle-Grow(tm) or other fertilizer to enhance the spell, but don't overdo it. Frequent watering over the next month will help your seed, and your spell, grow. The whole process takes no more than 5 minutes.

The rest you should know. But if you have any questions, please post them here.

NOTE: If you want to add the Tarot to this, I would suggest placing The Empress as a backdrop and perhaps one "minor" Arcana card to represent your prime goal.

Strength and Justice

I just read a very thoughtful post at http://www.taroticallyspeaking.com. It was a joy to read, but the opening argument was based on flawed information (IMHO) so I commented as thus:

"Naturally, with the symbolism present in the cards, Justice would correspond astrologically with Libra, and Strength with Leo."

(to which I replied)

Au contraire my friend.

I would like to put forth that Justice implies authority. 8 is a Capricorn number, being the doubling of eight, or the re-doubling of two upon itself. The square is the first dimensional shape (dot(1), circle(2), triangle(3), square(4)...)  that presents opposing forces in a structure capable of reinforcing itself ==> [X]. Anyway, the doubling of rigidity and structure coupled with authority and rule of law (e.g. "justice") infer Justice has an affinity to Capricorn. Libra is a possibility, but Justice ignores the primary traits of Libra, being beauty, partnership, and group thinking. Executive authority and decision-making (e.g. "dispensing justice") are Saturnarian. I realize I am challenging the ancients, but those bozos thought the earth was the center of the universe and that the Tarot came from Egypt. So: I am officially challenging the ancient "Tarot experts."

Secondly, Strength is more representational of Aquarius than Leo. First, the card number is 11 (the eleventh house is that of Aquarius--which is also ruled by Saturn--more on this later).  The emphasis is control of the beast, not the strength of the beast. The beast (or lion, if you prefer) can be seen as the animus, or the egoic need for expression, individuality, survival. The opposition of Aquarius (Saturn) to Leo (Sun) is the clash of the Titans, the individual railing against the responsibilities of life as part of a collective.

Without turning this into a complete tirade, I respectfully submit that these two cards represent the signs above, as it makes sense when one takes the time to understand astrology, and the Tarot as it tries to assimilate astrology into itself.

Ping website

New Astrology for Witched podcast (episode 4) is up! Easy Tarot Podcast coming in 2 weeks!

Cairelle and i talk all about why MOST people's New Year's resolutions DON'T work, and how to make sure that yours do, how to get out of jail (free) or escape anything really, how to manifest Sagittarius energy for all kinds of purposes, including but not limited to: dreaming up new things, making instant miracles happen, transmuting chaos into purpose and form, how to save your butt at the last minute, the revenge of the pop-tart faerie, Gemini versus Sag (it's like Godzilla versus Mothra), some stuff about triads that is sure to confuse everyone, complaining about old people, Christmas Tree magic! And soooo much more. (Really--we went on for 2 hours). Lots of fun and stuff you won't learn anywhere else in the universe! I promise! 


Please tell your friends!


Oh yeah--Here is a visualization of what we can expect on this Yule (December 21st!) Noe hoe the moon will be fully eclipsed by the earth.

Rant

I was just over at Paganspace(.net) and someone had posted how the "new" way of seeing Tarot court cards was that Kings could be women and Queens could be men, and it was impossible to tell men from women in a reading because the genders had been removed by the new experts. (Something to this effect)

Well that set me off. Here is my rant. I have been supr busy lately and not posted in a while, so I am reporting here what I wrote there. By the way, the new Tarot podcast will be out in a few days at http://easytarotlessons.podomatic.com/. We will be covering cartomancy (reading with playing cards) and alternate meanings of the court cards, coincidentally enough. Okay, so here is my rant from PS:

We will be discussing that on the next episode of the Tarot podcast--and as for gender abandonment, I have to disagree completely, along with those who refuse to see anything bad in the Tarot. Fluffy bunny readers and politically correct hipsters trying to reform the Tarot is a bad joke. It is like trying to improve the Great Wall of China by carving holes into it so that bunnies and kittens can frolic safely and pass through from one side to the other, in case the grass is greener on the other side. When we look at the Tarot and say "this is a man, and this is a woman," which is how the elders assigned gender to the cards--which ONLY HAPPENS in the court and major arcana cards, it specifies who is doing what. When you remove that ability to discern male from female you end up with a vagueness that is the bane of true psychics.

Faux psychics and bad readers give vague answers that can be applied in any number of ways (their client is left to fill in the blanks later through their own imaginations). De-sexifying the court cards is neutering them. Male is male, female is female. If the cards don't work then we have one of two problems: the system is flawed (or that particular deck is ill-designed), or the reader needs to develop their skills. There is no substitute for genuine ability. The Tarot makes it easy for anyone to read, but it still takes practice and dedication to develop true ability. It is no different than going to the gym. Some people love exercise, some hate it. Some take to psychic exercise while others avoid it in favor of TV.

I understand your frustration. There are so many "instant experts" roaming the planet right now, pop-metaphysicists, "gurus," "coaches," and "law of attraction" experts (like anyone has ever been an expert on the law of anything--most people spend their time trying to bend of break laws, and suddenly this one tiny part of metaphysics is all powerful and popular). There is just so much CRAP (lies) out there right now, and so many people shouting that it is hard to know the truth.

Forget what ANYONE says: Look at the cards. What do you see? Do you see a man? You have a man. Do you see a thief? It's a thief. Occupation can trump gender (if the card represents a thief to you in this reading then that thief can be either male for female, but in a later reading if that card says to you "I am a dishonest man" then it is obviously a male). Character trait can trump gender (the Queen of Swords can be any of these, but not necessarily ALL of them: Leo woman, Leo girl, Any fire sign female, drama queen, attention whore, female athlete, beauty queen, model, female boss, woman entrepreneur, and so on). Most of those specify a woman--but "drama queen" could be a fussy male with serious issues. When you are in the middle of a spread the card will reveal what it is. Generic meanings are only general guides--at best--and each spread, each reading you give, will show cards meaning different things.

If the cards could ONLY indicate 78 meanings they could not possibly illustrate every conceivable event, action, intent, or entity in life. Cards MUST flow and morph as needed, within their structure of meaning.

Anyway, I hope this helps.

Judika Illes review of The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot--EVER!!

Hey gang, Judika was kind enough to let me know what she thought of my book on the Tarot. As she is a super-amazing witch, expert on spells and many-things magical, I thought I would post her opinion here. This is completely unedited (so I hope she spelled my name right!).

Review: The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot- EVER!!

Dusty White has created the perfect text-book for a tarot course whether in a class-room setting or for self-study. I have been a professional tarot card reader for over two decades: I wish The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot— EVER!! had existed when I was first learning and that is the highest praise I can offer. Furthermore, even now, as an extremely experienced and well-read tarotista, I still received many new insights, perspectives, and information from White’s wonderful book. This is a book to keep close at hand—it serves as a reference and a guide through the tarot as much as an instructional manual. I expect to return to my copy repeatedly.

The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot—EVER!! is exceptionally well-organized, lucid, practical and extremely comprehensive but also tolerant: White appreciates that there are many varied and disparate ways to read tarot and presents readers with a wide selection. A particularly nice aspect of this book is that it may be used with any tarot deck although White recommends that beginners use a Waite-Smith or Waite-Smith derived deck—I concur—and explains precisely why. The book contains suggested exercises and workbook pages. Each card is discussed in depth as are a variety of spreads. This book is highly recommended for beginners and adepts alike. My only suggestion: perhaps Dusty White would like to expand this series by adding similar volumes focused on astrology and runes. – Judika Illes, author of The Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells, The Encyclopedia of Spirits, The Weiser Field Guide to Witches, and Pure Magic: A Complete Course in Spellcasting.

Please be sure to check out Judika's books. They are easily on par with Buckland, Cunningham, and Silver. She really knows her stuff, and you can learn a LOT from her.

New Tarot Podcast! (is here .... finally)

Hi everybody!

So, the new tarot podcast is here, and it is free, and it is fun (well fun to do--hopefully to listen to as well). Here it is:

http://easytarotlessons.podomatic.com/

Once a month or Cairelle and I will be covering the Tarot and cartomancy. We will teach you the EASIEST WAYS to learn the Tarot ever. The show is about two hours of instruction per episode (listen in buts or all at once) and is based on my basic Tarot book, The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot--EVER!! but you can follow along and learn even if you do not have the book yet. We want to help everyone learn this amazing skill and perfect their abilities to predict the future and to manifest their goals and desires.

Please join us! It is free to download and learn from. Here is the iTunes link. itpc://easytarotlessons.podomatic.com/rss2.xml Just post that in your iTunes (in the top menu bar look for Advanced, and then Subscribe to Podcast, and paste that address in it--or you can search for us in the iTunes store--or you can just click on the link above (this one: http://easytarotlessons.podomatic.com/) and scroll down a bit and look for the giant button on the right side of the page that says "Subscribe with iTunes!"

We will help you master the Tarot quickly and easily.

Thanks for reading :-)

The EASIEST way to learn the tarot

Okay, so you have an invitation to a party tonight and you have three hours to master the Tarot and impress all of the hotties there. What's a single person to do? You could order my book (The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot--EVER!!), but Amazon can't deliver in 3 hours, so you have to do it on your own. Okay, so let's get to it, since time is short. You do have a deck of cards, right?

Okay, so this method ONLY WORKS if you have cards that have actual images on them. Some decks have only pictures of coins, crystals, wands, swords, or whatnot--just like "regular" playing cards have diamonds, clubs, and hearts. What you need is something with a picture. This helps you decipher the card's meaning, but it also gives your audience something to focus on, rather than other hotties at the party.

Take your deck (I will just assume you have one) and start flipping through cards. make two piles. the first pile will be cards that grab your attention, the second will be cards that do nothing for you. What we are doing is looking at each card for a few seconds and seeing if you can figure out what is going on in that card. Is someone fighting? This may indicate a fight in the future. Are two people kissing? Well, good times await! Is someone getting paid? (Hopefully not for kissing--but I have no desire to judge people's lifestyles)

This is not going to help you master the Tarot, or convince people that you have magical powers, but it will familiarize you with the cards you hold, and see the real purpose of the cards is to b able to react to the images you see. See something you don't like? Congratulations, you are reading the Tarot (on a very basic level--but it is a good start). A card that offends you is a warning sign to change directions. If the whole deck offends you by the way you should set it down and go do something else, like fix a car, or play Canasta. Maybe go read a book or something. Only education can overcome religious prejudice.

Okay, so let's say you see some cards that look like fun (someone has a lot of money, or they are happy, or they have a date, they are dancing, or if you think fighting is fun: they are fighting); and you see cards that look miserable. All you are doing is seeing snapshots of life. Every day brings fun and dismay to people all over the world. Some people have easy lives, others have hellish existences (usually because of other people). The Tarot shows us life--not some candy land reality where we only see what we want to see. Again--if you are afraid of the future, you should have mommy and daddy protect you even when you are 40. It's a harsh world out there.

I include these asides, as you will find when reading that people come to you seeking answers but they also bring personal prejudices with them, like baggage in an airport--and they will want to share their beliefs with you; as if you want to hear them and instantly agree. Everyone has an opinion on the future: some don't want to know what will happen to them tomorrow or next week. Others plan their future carefully. Still others plan YOUR future and try their best to make money off of it. The tarot simply allows you to see if you can guess what might be coming up, and therefore be forewarned. Forewarned is forearmed.

So, how do we take these random images and make them make sense and have some fun at the party (you are going to buy a copy of my book, right? It comes with free online support!) and get you dates with all of the hotties? Well as for dates you are on your own (that's my OTHER book :-) ) but for right now I want you to see how the cards are merely pictures of things happening to people. That is the real secret of the Tarot. The skill is in you. When a card comes up look at it as a day, as in the phrase: "Ever have one of those days?"

So what is that day like? Payday? break up with your boyfriend day? Girl's/guys's night out? One card can sum up a day--or it can show an event to come. Or it can describe a mood you are in, a goal you want to achieve, o something left behind. This is why we have spreads. "Spreads" are blank charts where you put cards. Place #1 shows this, place #2 shows that... that's all they are. Here is an easy party spread:

Place #1 (Put a card down): This is what you want.
Place #2 (Put a card down next to it) This is what stands in your way.
Place #3 (Put a card down next to card #2) This is what wants to help you.
Place #4 (Put a card down next to card #3) This is what you will probably get.

See? Nice and easy.

You can do lots of spreads, but the point is to relax and have fun pointing out what you see in a card and allowing your querent ("querent" the person who asks you for a reading) to yap with you about what that card means to them ("Oh! That must be my boyfriend! He is...") and make the process fun. Don't try to impress everyone with your "mad skills." Just have fun. TELL THEM you are a student and are just practicing. They will not mind at all, and some people will even try to teach you some useless information about the Tarot. Occasionally you will even meet a real Tarot journeyman (skilled reader) who will show you a few neat tricks.

Combining cards: For now let's stick to two cards. Remember the kissing and the fighting above? (Is someone fighting? This may indicate a fight in the future. Are two people kissing? Well, good times await!) Well what if two people kissing leads to people fighting--and doesn't this happen a LOT at parties anyway? Or, what if two people fighting leads to two people kissing. Here we are simply telling a story with the images on the deck. First you kiss and then her boyfriend comes over and says "not with MY girlfriend!"

See how easy this is?

Try putting two cards together and seeing if they make sense. If not, pick two other cards. This is not a crash-course in the Tarot. It is just a fun article on how to get through the night and have some fun. Don't take anything you see too seriously. You will just spook yourself. And if you are reading at a party and you don;t know what you are doing, take out all of the "major" Arcana cards and put them back in the box, or stuff them away safely (so they don't get wet, lost, or bent). No sense confusing yourself or scaring people when the "Death" card shows up, or "The Devil." people's superstitions will rise up and make up all sorts of idiotic nonsense and ruin the party. Just have fun, and all will be well.

If you really would like to learn the Tarot, please check out a copy of my book, The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot--EVER!! on Amazon. It really works, and it is really EASY, and I like to think it is fun. So far people like it. I am very lucky that way. And it comes with free online support from the author (me!)

Alright, now take your deck (but not the "major" Arcana -- the ones with the names on the cards) and go play!

TODAY!! One-day only event!

SUNDAY! 

SUNDAY! 

SUNDAY!!

Hey! Are you tired of Guitar Center, Monster truck madness, and giant used-car tent extravaganzas having all the fun? Well we have a sale-a-bration for you!

(And it's today only)

As you may, or may not know, today is Samhain. The real Samhain. Trick or treat day was a week ago and I hope everyone got lots of candy, slutted it up (for those of you who are into that kind of debauchery), and watched scary movies. Now it's time to roll up your sleeves and get to work.

Samhain is 15 degrees Scorpio--the exact middle of Fall, or "the Fall of the Solar Year." This is when the veil between the living and the dead is said to be at its thinnest. Thus it is the perfect time to dig yourself a grave for old, nasty, worn-out, bad, unhappy habits, ex-friends, ex-'s of any kind really, old jobs, boring lives, and anything else you want to get rid of, bury, put to rest, and never hear from gain.

"I quit!"

That's what you would say if you were using the infamous "Take this ____ and shove it!" spell. You can use any words you like, but today is a great day to burn a bridge or two. there are even songs about quitting, leaving, saying "Goodbye to You!" and whatnot to help strengthen your resolve and cement the last few nails in the coffin as you kick old garbage to the curb (for the trash man to come and haul it away).

I have done this before (several times actually) and it is a grand and glorious feeling to remove yourself from rubbish, and release yourself from restrictive bonds you have outgrown. "Just do it!" Get a small container (like a coffee can or something) and make it an impromptu trash can. Start gathering clutter (and actual trash! -- nothing like a banana peel and some coffee grounds to make your point) and things that represent your undesired nuisances and toss them in as well. Get a piece of paper and write down descriptions or draw pictures of anything you don't have a physical representation of.

You can do this is you are a witch, or christian, a buddhist, voodoo, hoodoo, or any other path of belief (sorry if I didn't include yours--my fingers are tired from all of this typing). Just get rid of unwantables today, and start your new life tomorrow! It's like a mini New-Years "rebirth" but you get a head start on everyone else. You also have the flow of the energy of the world around you to push you along downstream.

Of course you can also do this tomorrow if you miss your chance today--but instead of a 100% off sale-everything-must-go extravaganza, it will be more like a "50% off event!" DON'T put this off, or you will miss out!

*Supplies limited to stock on hand, no returns-all removals final, end-consumer is responsible for discarding their own baggage, limited quantity, MSRP of items discarded varies with ejection, please be aware that once discarded possessions may not be recoverable or may be taken by someone else.

Another astrology post. New Tarot one coming soon

Hi again :-)

I am getting ready for our scorpio podcast tonight, and I was reading someone's post on how their Jupiter is here and their Uranus is there, and they included something that looked like a paragraph of generic computer read-out, and it just made me want to set a few things straight. With all due respect, assignation of individual traits to outer planets who change signs at the least every year (Jupiter) or take several years to change signs is a tricky business. You see, you have a generation of people to describe, not just one.

Let's take Jupiter for example: It takes Jupiter roughly twelve years to go around the sun--or one Jupiter year (trip around the sun) is twelve "earth trips around the sun," or 12 earth-years. So, here we are with a full year in Aries (I have Jupiter n Aries, and I think everyone should).

133 million new screaming babies enter the world every year. That's a lot of Huggies(tm)! That is 133 million new "Jupiter in Aries" brats, all with the same description above. That means that EVERY ONE OF THEM is an individualist. If you were born in (Jupiter in Aries year) you are this. That much I subscribe to, as I am a professional astrologer of many decades. However, we have to be careful how much personality weight we place on it and how much individualism. I can see how Sag's born with Jupiter in Pisces differ from me, but there is a lot more to be considered. In the case of outer planets, especially trans-Saturn, where planets stay in signs for 10, 12, even 21 years (oops! Pluto is NOT a planet), assigning characteristics to individuals means you are describing generations of people. Not everyone born with Pluto in Scorpio is dark, mysterious, sexy, powerful, and interested in the occult.

This presents a real problem. We can't--and shouldn't--ignore the location of the outer planets, but as they are more of an overall backdrop (e.g. we had a picnic in SUMMER, not we had a picnic on Tuesday at 6pm before the sun set) instead of an event or specific quality we can point to we have to see them as a trend, and their importance now becomes clear when we see how they relate to other planets by sign and house position.

Let's say my Jupiter is in Aries. Okay, woohoo--so are 133 million other people, and then another 133 million who are 12 years older than I am, another 133 million who are 12 years younger than I am, another 133 million who are 24 years older than I am, and another 133 million who are 24 years younger than I am (and so on...) The numbers are FAR worse for Saturn, and onward.

But, *my* Jupiter is squaring Mars! Ah....ha! Oh shit. Thanks "God!" dammit! This sucks! Well, my Jupiter is conjunct my midheaven (yaaay!). Okay, so I have hat going for me. Well, you take the good with the bad. My Saturn is in Aquarius (along with over 250 million other people who are 1 year older or younger than me) but it aspects----nothing. So it is not as much of an issue. It is not a stone around my neck. But, I have 4 primary planets in Capricorn (dammit!--again). Well now Saturn is super-powerful in my chart. I am a stone around my own neck. I feel like Sisyphus some days.

So, this is not for casual perusal. Otherwise we get into useless stereotypes. Astrology works, but it takes some real digging to get to the facts beyond the "sun is up-that mean's it's daytime all over the earth" mentality that is so prevalent in pop-astrology. Unfortunately there has not yet been a computer programmed with enough information to really create a valid horoscope interpretation. We can paint images in broad strokes with a fat brush, but detail eludes us. Until someone who knows all of this stuff intimately sits down and spends a few years inputting all of the variables--and it would be best done as a team project, like the pyramids--we simply cannot trust generic computer meanings and MUST rely on competent astrologers.

This is a non-Tarot specific post, but I love this FREE website/software so much I have to share the love. It's called:

http://pixlr.com/editor/

It is a free online Photoshop clone. It does not do everything PS does, but it does far more than most of us ever need to worry about, and it is free (not $1,000), available anywhere you have an internet connection--super easy to use--and perfect for quick photo edits (complex or simple).

I have had PS before, and I may break down and but a new copy again when I can afford it for my new computer (I lost it when my old computer died). But for now I am using Paint Shop Pro, which is fairly powerful, but slow and takes forever to load up.

http://pixlr.com/editor/ starts right up and you can even log-in and save your images online. At least I think so. I have signed up but not saved anything online. I am in love with this simple tool as it is easy and it works. I guess this would be "cloud computing," something I am not a huge fan of, but in this case, being as it is free, I am a big fan, and wanted to spread the love. I highly recommend you try it. It works for me--and there is no money involved at all. I make nothing off of this, and you can't either. But you can edit your photos fast and free in a "Photoshop lite" online environment.

Update on the new deck

The workbook for the new deck is almost done and the refining of the sketches to send to the finishing artists is nearing completion as well. Hopefully we will be ready for investors by the end of the year. If you need more info, just comment here.

Strengthening your inner ear (so you can read better)

(This is from the ATS forums. I just posted it there and wanted to share some of what goes on with the world.)

I just had a dream, and I was forced to wake up by the alarm clock (need to do a Halloween podcast with the Vampire Metrou--their first one ever--let's hope it works out well). I was in an intense discussion and upon awakening I was sad that many of my (salient?) points had gone unspoken. I do like to think in a dream I have good points to make.

So immediately this reminded me of our chat here. Some things are difficult to do in a dream, read fine print, especially if you are dreaming about tomorrow's newspaper, or arguing definitively. Now my use of the word argument here is not meant in a "shouting match" kind of way. It is meant in the more Greecian sense ("I hopes") of dialog and having a point/counter-point friendly discussion about something. This discussion was very friendly by the way. Oh well, it is fading even now.

So one of the ways you can strengthen your inner senses (for lack of a better term at the moment to relate clearly what I am referring to) is to work on your dream skills. Your ability to read in a dream and recognize and remember words, listen to a song and sing along, or react to other people's spoken words--without waking up or having your conscious mind come stomping in and destroying the balance between awareness and "otherness" will help improve your reading skills to an amazing degree. This set of skills is also reciprocal. Your dreams will take on new dimensions of reality and fun that you had not realized you were missing.

This "stomping about" effect is exactly how the faeries see most humans; as uncultured troglodytes who lack finesse and by nature break everything they touch and have to shout to hear themselves think. It's not an unfriendly view--just one of weariness. Look around you and ask if you ever encounter humans whose sole awareness seems to extend to their line of sight. You can generally tell these people by the way they drive. But I digress (oopsie!)

The process is similar to writing, or as noted earlier, reading a really engrossing novel. My grandfather had the gift of being able to watch TV, listen to the radio, and read a newspaper all at the same time (and he married a MUCH younger woman and had 8 kids with her--yeah, he was a Scorpio, how did you guess? But the oil money he made certainly didn't hurt, I am guessing). The man's powers of concentration an observation were legendary. I wish I could have learned more from him. I doubt I can reach such heights, but a lifetime of practice can yield great results, so I had better start... um... at some point.

If you have bought a copy of The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot--EVER!! please read this!

Two things actually:

1: Cairelle and I are doing Tarot podcasts. I dunno how many we will do. We will do them until it is no longer fun. If you have questions, please post them or get in the chat room and listen live when we are doing the show.

(here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/witchyliving/2010/10/25/the-easiest-way-to-learn-the-tarot--ever-part-1)

2: There are ongoing LIVE exercise practice sessions and Tarot games (coming soon) in the ATS forums. I want to make sure that anyone here who has bought my Tarot book has access to the free fun and instruction available to you. This is all for you, and it does not make me any money (as it is free and it takes a LOT of my personal time after work to stay on this). It takes time away from designing the new deck or writing Astrology For Witches, but it is important to me to ensure that anyone who wants help or wants to engage with other Tarot students and masters online has a safe, fun place to go.

But there are real humans doing real exercises and really interacting right now. Let's have fun yapping (positively) about the Tarot. How often do you get a group of Tarot enthusiasts together having fun? No pressure, just experimenting with the cards.

Okay, so there it is. Please let me know if you need anything, but the sandbox is open; come play with us!

:-)

Baby's first Ouija board!

Okay, so pardon my crappy Photoshop skills. I think it would be a hoot to make these from antique high-chairs. I would buy one, if, I had like a baby and stuffs.

New fun Tarot game just started! :-)

Hi,

For anyone who has a copy of my book (The Easiest Way to Learn the Tarot--EVER!!, not the one on training your dog to do yoga), or anyone who just wants to have some fun, one of my students just started a fun online game of Tarot tag based on Exercise Two from the workbook. The exercise is called "This happens to me, and this happens to you!" and builds Tarot comparison skills in a fun, relaxed, no-pressure environment.

So the game is a simple daisy-chain of getting a card recommended to you. You have to spot-analyze it and pull a random card for someone else. Do this in a FUN way, based on what the card says to you. No need to get too deep. This is supposed to be enjoyed, not stressed over. They will log in and take a turn at pointing out what they see and leaving a card for someone else. The game is called Breadcrumbs, or Hanzel and Gretel.

Here is an example of the game from my workbook:

Me: 4/Pents

My cheap boss refuses to give me a raise! I didn't like him anyway.

You: Knight of Pents

I have so much money, I need to stop and think about where to invest it.

Anyway, it's free, and if you wanna have a bit of short-attention fun fin a game of forum tag, it's over on my server. Not to worry, I am not trying to lure anyone away. This is my home. But as my student created the game on the site that is devoted to learning the Tarot, I am gonna leave it there. If you are interested, it's over here:

http://forums.advancedtarotsecrets.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=112

(you have to log in first) http://forums.advancedtarotsecrets.com/