DPO meets the Deviant Moon, when my significant others meet

Having a wee moment wondering about this PDR business and the DPO. I feel that Im missing working with Tarot so much for my own reflections. I know the beauty of the PDR is that we can play with other decks, but, as the DPO is an oracle its just not tarot - even though its wonderful.

So... today I thought Id mix it up a bit. I want to know more about woad, about why it keeps coming up, what am I missing about this card?
Heres the 2 sides of woad.. the plant and the dye, the yellow that becomes the blue, the thought the becomes creativity, inspiration and Awen. I think these two pics are really powerful of what Woads energies are..


And I figured I could use the Deviant Moon to help me do that. DPO and Tarot fix all in one :P Using a Recurring card spread

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Card 1 - the recurring card, in my case Woad
Yes I see the familiar face of the boar in the rock, the spear head, the ivy and holly, and the curl of a rams horm in the tree.
And of course the plant itself - that strong energy leading to so many things...
I know all this!! But I feel Im missing something, something more.
Last night whilst I was at a friends house I caught a glimpse of wild boar on the tv, and their CUTE tiny little piglets. Now, I dont really do 'cute' as such, but with their stripes I couldnt help it! But I wouldnt want to get caught in the line of fire of a wild boar.
Actually, maybe thats what people think of me? Small, cute sezo with a dark twist? Oh, Ive never thought of that before!

Now its time for the Deviant Moon to play (oh boy Im excited!).
As Im shuffling I can feel this world is a bit bemused by all this. 'I mean,' says the DM, ' plants are plants, they dont talk, they dont walk, they dont DO anything. Plus its dark in our realm, plants look like shadows, and not really interesting, until the moon shines on them and they sparkle in the frost. But they are ONLY plants', I think they will learn :D

Card 2 - what's underneath, the root cause - Sun
Oooh thats nice to see! Im doing a lot of work to bring out my potential, and so this is what Woad is about. The process isnt just one of kicking and screaming, but its like a mindset that is always open and ready for battle. Like old warriors that keep up with their training even in peacetime.
The Sun in the DM is about unity also, so Woad is highlighting how all my goings on are joined, steamlined and forming one path, one road :D

Card 3 and 4 - the past influences or fading energies - Queen of Cups and The World
The queen I think reflects how I try to keep so many plates spinning because I love them all so dearly. And sometimes, it can feel disjointed. Like now I feel the DPO and Tarot are two different things, yet with Woad I've worked a way of unity and bringing them into something new! Sometimes I do feel its an either/or situation, like if I start one idea I am 'betraying' the other (yes how daft is that!). I care so much for all that I have in my life, I love to have it yet loathed to put it to one side if I need to. And so I sit, reflect like the Queen does, worrying about the drop that is to be spilt and not the ship that is crashing into the rocks. I focus too much on the detail and not on where the undercurrents want me to go.
The World is showing that I'm processing this, that Im coming to an understanding of absorbing and doing, feeling and being that is part of it. I can see it all as part of me, of what I do, and not just one or another. No matter the label I give myself I am me that weaves all this together, and its all good. My opposing beasts of doubt and inaction have been tamed (mostly!) and I can now just go with my flow.

Card 5 - what the person knows or wants with regard to the card's issues - 4 of Swords
The figure looks like an angel, like a fairy thats been squished into the ground. But shes not, shes sleeping, shes in that process of fairy rebirth and will be even more beautiful than before.
And I think this is the really long term part of woad. Of forging things together, of making a mindset that is open and 'can do' about it all so that there will be a tiny yet significant change of mindset, of perspective.
When I first drew this card I thought I would need to drop something, or I will do something to force me to stop and I thought NO! I like this momentum, i love this bustling energy all around me.
So I drew another card to reflect what I now want, after looking at Woad some more, and drew the 9 of cups who says in a dodgy foreign Genie type accent Ah I have you now little one! You asked and wished and now I have you! Your wish is my command! The momentum will not stop, it will carry on, it will grow and burst like stars!
Ta Dm - I hope I wont regret that wish lol.

Cards 6 and 7 - what's to come or what will flow from it - 5 of Wands and 9 of Swords
AH CRAP I HAVE SO MUCH GOING ON IN MY LIFE, IN MY HEAD, IN MY BEING! HOW THE F*** AM I GOING TO FIT IT ALL IN? WHY DID I DO THIS TO MYSELF? WHAT SHIFTS AND FAN SPREADING 'FUN' WILL IT BRING?
Those are the DMs words on it exactly. But then the Sun comes out and says.. hey, its all good, its for a reason, you love it, its part of you. Of who you are... now stop worrying and just dance and let it flow!

When I stop and think, I panic, I freeze, I doubt and that is not what Woad is about. It says now is the time to just focus and do - it works, dont work out how or why, just accept and learn.

Dancing Bear did a DPO reading for me, and I think her Chamomile/Bramble advice is really imporant here too. To pick the fruits you have to go through the thorns, yet sometimes you need to sit back and drink some tea to work out how to do it, with a plan :D

DM base card for this was the King of Wands Oh yeah , he looks like he needs woading up, the 'just do it' man of the deck, the seducer of the pack to make you do it and love every second of it, even the odd twinge of guilt, because you've done something thats made you alive. How many people are alive with their eyes wide open?

Too true Sire!

And because its the first day of my holiday, and I want to, heres a piccy of the reading :)

Full Moon... hooooooooowl

So I used Eowyn's new moon spread, so I want to use her new Full moon spread

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1.- What can be seen with clarity, so bright that can even blind you. - Fir Club Moss
I can see lots of things very clearly at the moment. Eyes wide open... and in that there is a sense of awe and wonder. And ya know, thats something I have been missing recently.
I had an amazing experience last night connecting to the Horned One, lord of animals... and it was just, spine chilling. Just amazing that after 10 years or so of spiritual 'stuff' that I do, you get things that take you completely by surprise and with wonder.
And I think the Fir Club Moss is fab. Im a tiny plant in the big whole of the universe, but its connection, its energy, its nwyfre and magic is as strong and as life changing as the ancient yews and the standing stones.
Hengwah as one Mr The Bard would say :)

But also, a small thing can start a huge change. And I hope this is true for somone i care about, and I hope i get to help them through that change.

2.- What gets completed. What closes a cycle. Cuckoo Pint Rx
A period of disharmony and toxicity... well I hope this is very true! We need some harmony and balance!
But, this is something that individuals have to seek out for themselves, to realise and integrate what they do and have done and own it.
And I've been part of that myself... I really hope to catch up with a dear old friend this week that I havent seen in a long time, who I wasnt exactly pleasant to the last time we actually spoke to one another. Although hes forgiven me (or he'd say nothing to forgive) I guess I wont have harmony in me until I see him myself and get a hug :) It will mean a lot to me.

3.- What begins to fade away, to darken, to abandon you... or what needs to be. Primrose Rx.
Theres a really amazing line in the book for primrose 'to what degree is your quest in life to find completion through another human being, or through yourself?'
How so very very true.
But also, to what degree can you try to actively avoid harmony with another being by pretending to be 'questing'? Ive had a few readings recently talking about a love interest coming into my life - and Im like 'really? Are you sure? Im way to busy to bother about boys' but maybe the universe has other plans? I really dont know how to feel about that.
Hmmmph.

0.- Yourself. Shadow card, from the base of the deck. Woad
Ah good old woad, how many times does it come up for me at the mo? Me and my Huntress energy, questing, hunting, a bit 'do or die' in some aspects. Well, it keeps the Gods on their toes hehehe.
But whatever, I am free... the sky is my limit. I have the freedom to do what I want, and ok I have things that im duty bound to, things like uni/work etc, but they are part of my freedom. I freely chose that path and I freely love to run on it. And my others.
Ya know, I cant complain because Im free to make the most of what I have, and most of the time I do try to do that.
This Page of Swords chappy though, this Primrose man... hmmmmm
but lets not throw out the idea coz thats when we judge that which isnt even seen yet.

But I hope hes hot ;)

New Moon Spread

From Eowyn's post Ive decided to do her New Moon Spread as we at that time between waning and waxing - we are still, we are at the darkest part of the Moon's cycle. And within that darkness is the unknown, and yet the potential of everything. Like the cauldron of Annwn, like Ceridwen's cauldron, like the darkness of the womb where life is created or else we bleed. Here there just IS, stillness, the void, the moment before the big bang but yet every moment there ever will be.
I love dark moons :D


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1.- What lays on your dark depths. What is unseen. What we stumble against in the dark nights - Heather
Theres an undercurrent of change. Theres the obvious stuff that is clear, but theres that deep energy shift. I have been sleeping really well recently (which is not normal for me) and I think its because of my being on all kinds of levels changing and forming something new... all those winds of change.
And in that, yes there is a feeling of not 'belonging' because in life we are our own persons, our own life paths and sometimes that means going to this weird inbetween place - were we become a stranger amongst friends, or that process of when we try to make new ones. We stumble and fumble... or bumble (bumble bees!)
I think this also refers to my deep concern, yet perhaps inevitable reality that I will drift away from people. Thats sad, but at the same time I'll be drawing closer to new people. Swings and round abouts.

2.- What will begin to show, to arise.- Woad Another friend.. I think I've done a lot of work on being clear in directing my energies.. now its time to see what the 'offshoots' are from this stalk of woad. I've got my freedom, now its time to explore, time to play, time to roam around the forest like the Wild Boar, king of his lands. Although I hope I dont go bull in a china shop like the Boar does lol.
I also feel that this is where I will be tested.. all the prep work done, now its to see if I really mean business. Will I be found wanting?

3.- What will illuminate the dark path. The key in the night.- Primrose And another friend.. the nearest card the DPO has of love, of deep love of what you do and who you are. Its usually something we only experience for someone else, i.e. loving how your partner because so inspired by a book or an idea and watching them chase their tail making it 'work', and we rarely appreciate that in ourselves. Well I do very much. I have a deep love of my path, of my relationship with the Gods and provides me such trouble and joy. Im one dedicated puppy lol, but as Woad shows, a determined one too.

0.- Yourself. Shadow card, from the base of the deck - Agrimony Ohh and another friend. This is a fabulous gathering of plants.
I've also got some Agrimony burning in an incense I've made. I'm preparing for a load of new beginnings that will happen in this moon phase. Not just the thinking, the planning, and even the prep to be 'ready' is nearly all but done. Now Im ready for the new sight, and for the inevitable new shit that is going to come and mess up my nice clean headspace LOL.
Just remember to take it one step at a time :)

So overall I have a reading that highlights energy shiftings in the darkness, my own energies changing and now I'm ready to play. But my guiding light will be that Im listening to my heart, to what is wanted of me. Which is what I have been carefully listening to and defining over the past few months. Now its going to come to fruition :)

I love it when a plan comes together. Very much a lover of a plan.

PDR review reading.

Its been ages since I've played with my DPO. It seems ages since I was even outside under the full moon in the snow, cleansing its bag and spread cloth. Its with a touch of nerves that I pick up my DPO this evening. How will we fair now I've been ill for so long and not played with it. I tried to pick it up the other evening, but it just wasnt happening and the plants just said 'leave it out' lol.

So, Ive had to do a centering and focusing practice before even opening the deck bag tonight. But that feels appropriate. To put the 'vibes' of illness at the door and let the flowers of the plants sing to me something hopeful.

So I finally get a chance to play with Onyx's tweaking of a previous spread, tweaked with the Primary Deck Reflections in mind.. Onyx's post for the spread here

The spread..

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Position One: How am I progressing with my PDR? Cuckoo Pint
Well, the card shows that Im making a real progress with the PDR, far more so that I ever thought I was. If I think back to how I was very sketchy in my aims when I set up this blog - yet my experiences and the readings I've had with the DPO have come on really well. I've been able to go with my intuition a bit more and let the plants speak to me.
Cuckoo Pint I also think of like the Lovers, the union of male and female, the fizzle of attraction and how that plant is just saying 'come and get me baby' lol. And I have had some decks that have battled for my affections (one Deviant Moon) and other interests and flu that have been also in the background. Yet its been a very good constant for me.
I think we are a really good match! I think its also because the plants want to permeate through all the levels of your being. Its not just an oracle deck to find out what will happen with X or who will ask me out on valentines day. The plants energies are there to really work their magick on you. And Im more than happy for them to do so.

Position Two: Why do I need to do this PDR? Nettle
OK... heres the stinger. Part of my deeeeep down reasons to play with this deck was to fight against an assumption I'd made about the DPO. I thought 'Philip, Stephanie and Bill had a fab idea with this deck, but plants just don't 'read' the same way other types of oracles do'. And boy did they prove me wrong! So its that shedding of my misconceptions, that my own issue with it had created a problem, like people who think of nettles as evil stinging plants yet are marvelled when they drink its tea, or make nettle string etc. Its an amazing plant.
Also, I've had a few stingers in 2010 so far. And the DPO has been a wonderful processing tool of whats been happening. Whether this blog is a wonderful processing tool is something to be debated about in my head as I progress with my PDR. But yes, its definitely good for me to do this regular practice and reflection with the plants.

Position Three: What problem am I facing with my PDR? Vervain
The Hare on this card is looking at me.. or rather looking at me and wanting to LEAP back into the Nettle or the Cuckoo Pint cards. A lot has happened to me over the past few weeks, both on the inner and outer realms, both to do with PDR and not to do with PDR. And thats groovy - thats the wonderful mystery of what life is all about.
I guess what my problem is that sometimes I get so excited and want to LEAP OFF to other ideas, other possible areas of study, that I forget that solid foundation. These changes that have happened to be recently I really feel are due to the work Im doing with the DPO, reflective connecting process of Spirit and my Self - and thats a very sacred process not to be forgotten by the new shiney thing in the corner (yes I have short attention spans and magpie tendencies). Also, I get an idea and want to leap off making connections that never get finished.
SO Vervain is saying this is where I have felt connected, nourished and empowered, and this is where I need to keep working, putting more time in with the cards. Not to be forgotten.
I think especially as March is looking to be a particularly 'mad march' (get it, mad march, hare.. oh nevermind LOL), its a reminder to be focused.
Thank you Vervain :)

Position Four: Where do I need to focus on developing in my PDR? Yarrow
First words in my head - divination.
OK I've shown that DPO is more than a reading deck, its more than pretty set of pictures, BUT i do need to do more readings for others with it. It was part of my plan when doing this PDR and so it should continue to be!
Yarrow and Nettle both have snakes... perhaps this is something I need to consider? Hmph. Yarrow is not a card I 'feel' a lot for, apart from the arrow thing, but I feel that doesnt apply so much here. Hmph some more. I think the snake is significant.

Position Five: What can I gain from this PDR? Clover
*sings roll me over...*cough* maybe not..
Well Im also stumped on this card. Ok, deep breathe and feel..
The card is like a little piece of faery in the woods, an untouched place by man. The blessed 4 leafed clovers are hidden in the card but I can see them. Its like I've been on a quest to find one thing, and found something so much greater.
So here is an idea of small caterpillers big butterflies grow.
The Salmon is a fish of wisdom and inspiration but only by the food it eats and the waters it lives in. So I need to fill my PDR with good positive ideas so that positive outcomes come from it.
And not to forget that my personal life affects my relationship with the DPO. If I have illness then that will affect the DPO and my PDR - and I really did not want to play when I had the flu. So there is a feeling of deep respect and sharings of energies that needs to be appreciated.
The books keywords of Wisdom, health, good fortune, venom, liberation and assimilation all roll into what I have felt. However the words dont justify the feeling. There is this deeper energy work with my PDR experience of the DPO that is really important to me in ways I know and cant even begin to know. That might sound weird pagan hippy shit - but its how I roll!

The base card (also a base card, plants have ROOTS ya know!) is Woad another old friend and ally here in DPO land.
The PDR keeps me on the straight and narrow, the stem of the plant vs the umbrella like nature of the roots and flowering point of the card. I was speaking to an archaeologist friend of mine about spears, and how with a spear you have to hold your nerve, you are getting up close to your prey and you need be bloody bonkers to do it considering prey like the Wild Boar.
LOL Maybe Im bonkers trying to hunt myself? Well they do say God helps those that helps themselves...


BBQ anyone? :P


So... what does that mean for my February plans with the PDR.
1) Keep it as the DPO. Its just working so well, its going somewhere interesting and I want to find out where it goes
2) Its a really good nurturing rock for me to learn the DPO, to reflect on myself, but also to have a connection with those who are also following a PDR experience on AT. So its that reason I want to 're-open' the doors to the blog and celebrate that connection. You have to be in the web to feel part of it.
3) continue holding myself to the outline set out in post 2 of this wee blog. Its working, Bramble is a good 'get off your arse and do something coz its good for you' energy to have around me at the mo :)

Groovy! My PDR chums will be so happy :D

Woad - advice and friendly word of caution

Gosh today has been a busy day - most of my days seem to be busy ones at the moment, hence no posts since sunday (which seems an awful long time ago!).

Today I have come to the blog as I pose a question to my DPO..

'What do I need to know/be aware of about X?' Yes I know X is mysterious, but then life is by its nature very mysterious!

I decided to pull one card, using reversals and got Woad Ux
First thing that I was drawn to was the spear.. like an arrow but not. Spears are bigger, heavier and speak of a style of fighting that is slightly closer combat than arrows. Meeting your foe face to face on a battlefield.
But theres the same fierce flow of energy that comes with an arrow, of throwing your spear and then pulling it out of a persons body to give them a coup de grace. The spearhead reminds me of a flame, but not a flickering flame.. one that is strong like a blue gas flame, that will grow and burn brightly against the horizon.
Even the trees are full of this energy, a knot in the holly tree looking like the curl of a ram's horn, decorated heavily with ivy.
The stones seem to be set up like an altar, a place to celebrate our warrior spirit, a place to go when we need a bit of courage, to fuel our fires.

So.. what do I need to know about X? well fueling fire isnt a bad thing. Woad is not about aggression for the sake of it, but to give us singlemindedness to achieve aim. Maybe this is why spear is different to arrow, as you only have one spear, one idea, rather than the option of firing till your quiver is empty. So I need to be aware of that with X in that I need to focus my energy very carefully, not seem 'fluffy' and frayed at the edges. A woman who knows what path she is on and wants to commit to it.
I also feel that X will be a great resource for me to really fuel my own passions, shedding light on things I havent tried before, have done and see in a new light, or just different because of who Im with!

I know woad makes a blue dye, but here all I see is yellow, rays of sunlight, fire and flames. I look at the plant itself and see the long stalk, showing that having one path can lead to many roots or many flowers, lots of opportunities. Its about putting purpose into the chaos and finding 'form'. Like in Kabbalah terms we talk about how if 1 is the dot then 2 is the line - to dots joined together.

Also, I feel that Woad is a kind word of warning too. Think about all that you have and have fought for previously and how you are in a space of 'maidenhood' as shown in the Lady of the Hunt spread/reading. That is yours to keep, knowledge to fight with and experience to fight for - you are not dependent and willing to bend over to it. I need to stand firm, and stand free even though I may be 'joined' A line is still only 2 points joined up together :)

and I think generally there is a feeling of 'Oh just GO FOR IT!' :D Exciting times folks

Monday's Daily Cards

OK, Monday morning before work I pulled three cards..

Borage, Woad and Mistletoe Reversed
The base card of the pack was Juniper

At half 6 in the morning I thought 'what the hell?' and thought nothing of it. Today I can reflect on those cards with something really interesting, which sort of follows on from the reading I did on Sunday.

Borage I feel relates to needing personal courage to deal with stuff on the inside. Lore comes to mind about people putting borage in their shoes to be safe and couragous on a journey, or for warriors to drink borage tea before going off into battle. It deals with our own inner wobble, that crisis of confidence, that insecurity, that voice that keeps nagging at us and stills it. It fills us not with outward artificial energy, but with our own vitality of who and what we are. Its so easy to forget!
I got so caught up in my bubble yesterday I did self implode (see previous posting if your that nosey!). I needed to stop hiding and deal with why and what I was upset and that had knocked my energy off centre. Not easy but had to be done. For me, true courage is me crying. Im rubbish at it, I feel like I shout at myself whilst I cry because Im meant to be brave and strong and keep it all in - well NO. Infact letting it out was far braver, far more couragous. I feel Borage did give me a bit of help.

Woad is then the next step. Once you realise you have an issue, you've confronted it in your head, you need to DEAL WITH IT. So Woad was that outward I need to speak to people, stand up for my truth and hear their truth and tell them what I think of them.
Not easy.... and very odd for me to do that in a place of owning and being open about my emotions, rather than just masking them behind anger and using the anger to bury my emotions.
So yeah, that was my 'body paint' to contact what had upset me and let them know, talk about it, discuss it and see what occurs.

Mistletoe Reversed shows that sometimes, what you think was one harvested tree, still has unexpectd fruit to grow. I thought I had process things and come to terms with stuff - but then a new stage in that process begins to unfold. First you have the wobble, then the processing, then the clarity :)
So yeah, rather than the very dire 'oh know whats going to be stripped and pulled out of my life now by Ceridwen's scythe' thought on monday morning, has now turned into something really postive that shows how I have stuff to learn still - and thats groovy!

The Juniper to me highlights that cleansing. I needed that emotional 'wash out' to just help with the processing. I needed to cry, to tie up loose ends and feel whole again. And I do feel Im on that way now.

I really do feel these plants are more than just an oracle.. they do offer their healing energies so much, as if their magic is helping you through your stuff! How awesome is that!

Moons and Calendars (Happy New Year!)

So new years eve is not only new years eve, but it falls on a new moon... that is also a blue moon (second full moon in a calender month) and it is a partial lunar eclipse.

OMG! or really? I mean. Its a full moon yes, but its only a blue moon according to the calendar that we use, which is just a fluke really, and its a lunar eclipse that isnt visible to the UK.

However, I have been a bit moon-crazy (or loopy-lunar!) for a while. I had this random thought in the night a few weeks back about moons and druids.

What would a phase of the moon mean to an ancient druid? What does a phase on the moon mean to a present-day druid, that isnt just a diffusion of knowledge spread from Wicca to Druidry in recent times. I mean, why do we see the Moon as Female? Is that something druids have picked up from the Wiccans and just not questioned it? Many cultures at male moon deities - and would the druids really have associated Gender to the luminaries?! I mean stars dont have gender assigned to them.

So the only bit I could link between ancient druids and moons were as a method of counting time, in a calendar. However, I dont like the Graves Celtic Moon calendar idea (which he later admitted was complete forgery!).

So perhaps part of my DPO project is to pick a card for the lunar month as a guide? Or just to be aware of the plant happenings as we move throughout the solar year?

But would that start at a full moon? Or would it be at the new moon, the point of void, the death/rebirth moment. Hmmph stuff to ponder indeed!

To go through these thoughts I've drawn 3 cards, Comfrey from the top of the pack, Woad from the middle of the pack and Ivy at the bottom of the pack
Well, two very day time cards and the Ivy with the full moon lol. Maybe thats suggesting how the moon and sun are linked, that there is no real seperation, as the the moon is only the light of the sun reflecting from a rock floating around the earth? lol

Comfrey is about union, it is BoneWort and knits together skin and bone, spirit and body.Woad is about being brave and defending what is yours to defend - ie my idea that the druids didnt do moons lol, well at least not in the way that modern druid types do - and the moon/gender thing really doesnt feel appropriate to me at the moment. So I'm not going to be going ga-ga over how She is beautiful, no She, just the Moon. The Ivy though is reflecting that whatever we THINK the druids might or might not have done, we cant escape that deep pull we have as human beings, as beings of water, of just primal instinct that the moon is sacred.

Perhaps the idea here is for me to link sun and moon together? Working with the solar and lunar festivals? My friends Sue and Jake spoke to me of their awareness of how the solar festival is boosted by the power of the moon. For example, May day might be on 1st, but the hawthorn, the big indicator for the celebration of Beltane to most folks, may not be in bloom till May 15th which happened to be around the time of that full moon. So, it could be something to be aware of and see how it unfolds.

I do feel though that once again the DPO is asking me to not just think and analyse the cards, my spirituality etc but just to have the stillness to feel and experience why I am lunar loopy, by being with the Moon at its times and seeing what unfolds within me (theres that Ivy ya see).I think its also asking me to just sit and FEEL what is flowing. To not THINK about what might have happened, but what I feel is right to happen and seek to be receptive to the ideas that come to me at the moon.

Ivy again in so many days... ooooh.

SO... that is why I havent done a big New Year Full Moon/Blue Moon reading. Too much in my head and what feels right for me now is that years and months, the 'calendar' is based on moon cycles. You cant have blue moons when you have a calender based on months of the moon cycles! Plus I already had a reading done on my birthday for my year ahead and it seems daft to do it twice. Birthday years seems to click better with me than the calendar turning a number type of year.

But I do keep having this connection to the Moon. I'll have to ponder and see where it is taking me :)