TarotSulis.co.uk

A week or so ago I contacted Sulis from TarotSulis about making a bag and spreadcloth for my DPO. We exchanged a few emails and lots of photos from Sulis of materials and colour choices etc this is what I got....


Here is the 'reading side' of the cloth, with the bag :D As you can see my DPO are very snug in that bag! You can't quite see in the bag, but the inside is a golden yellowy silk, so the cards are always kept in sunshine :)
I picked the colour of the reading side because a) i dont like black and b) it matches the print and c) red is like the red ochre earth, the blood of the land etc. Reminds me of a very special place not too far from here that has a spring water with a high iron content, the 'red'spring :)


Here you can see the print side of the cloth, with the bag and the reading side :)



And here you can see a few cards I pulled at random :D


As you can tell, Im totally IN LOVE with this set. Im so grateful to Sulis for putting it all together and being so patient with me :) The deck is so happy in the set.

Ive never felt this about a cloth and bag, but I feel that at the Full Moon I'll do a cleansing and consecrating of the deck, the bag and the cloth to bind them all together as one happy family!

Thanks again Sulis - they are just fantastic and I couldnt have imagined them any better!!

Assumptions and Integrity

Hello folks,
Now Im going to sound like a Principle sending a naughty letter home - and I really don't want this to be the case. However, I feel like I need to. Im a woman that likes to speak her mind (sometimes to my misfortune but hey, Im being honest!) and so here it is.

This blog for me is like an extension of Sacred Space. Here I can put down my thoughts and interactions with the DPO. I find this to be a wonderful thing. What I find even more wonderful is that people want to read my wafflings!

However, dear reader, you have a responsibility to yourself on reading it. If you are here to support me, a fellow PDR player that likes to read and share in the journey that is PDR thats fantastic! You understand where this is all coming from, and you are always welcome. But in reading someones readings, you have to be careful. Obviously here I won't go into a huge depth and detail about how readings relate to my current personal life. I will try to be a bit broad and give the basic jist of how I think the plants connect with whats going on. Do not however, try to assume and fill in the blanks for yourself, thinking Im obviously meaning this or that. I have lots of things going on in my life, often all at the same time, and I could be waffling about any number of things! You could be convinced Im reading about one topic, when really it was actually referring to something quite different.

So, I ask you dear reader to use your noggin (thats your brain). Ask yourself why you are here? What is your intention reading these pages? I ask you to search in yourself, reflect upon it with your honour and your integrity. Do not presume or assume, be just be here to sit with me and enjoy the plants. To share in the journey, to sniff the daisies and feel the Sacred Garden both at day and at night.

And on a random note altogether - I can't get Juniper out of my head at the moment lol.

Lady of the Hunt spread

Someone on AT mentioned doing the Lady of the Hunt spread from Tarot for all Seasons (Christine Jette, who by the way I think is a brilliant tarot author so you dear reader should go and buy her books!) and it inspired me to do the same.
I feel theres a new phase, a new energy thats around me that wants me/needs me. Of course I have no idea what this is, so Im hoping to find out more about this new energy! And as darkness falls outside and the moon is rising, that Bent slither shining brightly with Orion keeping Her company, now is the time to do it :)

Forgive the spread lay out not looking very rounded-cresent-ish, but its hard to do a semi-circle in numbers and dashes LOL.

--1-----------
-----2--------
---------3----
--------------
---------4----
-----5--------
--6-----------

And card 7 is the base card.

Card 1 - This begins the new phase (what brought you here, what you have already prepared thats important now). Flax Ux
I love this card, Im a spinner both spindles and on a wheel. It was also a meditation that a friend ran years ago that got me into herbs and plants. We walked through her garden and randomly picked a plant that we feel a connection to. Without knowing what it is we then went on a meditation to connect with that plant. I later found out mine was Flax (thinking it was Vervain and obviously failed miserably in my ovate herbal 101 LOL).
So, Flax to me speaks of that moment, of really connecting with the plants. And this connection to the deck, to the outside world and the wild plant kingdom.
The book talks about communing with spirit, feeling part of the web of wyrd and just feeling connected to the universe. And I do feel that now. When I started this blog as part of the PDR (Primary deck reflections) project from the Aeclectic tarot website, I was very honest about it all. I didnt know how much I was able to commit to it, how long I'd be able to do it for etc. I didnt even know what I'd talk about! But I've been inspired. Going to the OBOD gathering last solstice really ignited a flame in me that had been fading and then that spark caught with all this food for thought from the DPO. This blog has been that little change/tweak I needed to get my focus and feel the magic.
And I feel so much more connected to my druidry, my healing path, my tarotoholic and seeing path. Flax shows how all parts of me are weaving together (think back to Betony on my lack of facebook page reading!). Definitely got the right 'head' on now :)

Card 2 - This shapes the new phase (outside influences, events and people)Borage Ux
Ah that old friend :) The warrior part of me has been creeping in again. I dont think I need any borage tea to get myself feeling brave at the moment! I think Borage is just saying that I have a very resilient personality, I tend to keep going. I planted Borage a few years ago and it still grows in the pot/planter whilst all the other plants in it have died (I did warn you I was a rubbish gardener!).
The book mentions forgetfulness and I never really understood what that meant - but I think I do now. I get so bogged down in the details, in the how and why I just fail to move. When I say 'hey i'm going to do xyz whatever the weather' it tends to happen! Like me driving to glastonbury, like me starting this blog, like me announcing to the world I am going to the 2010 Tarot Conference in London in October. I have no idea how to get there, where it is and I wont know anyone there (OK I know folks from the AT site but not actually physically met them before).
So, jumping head first can be good :D
I feel it also suggests that I need to just let go and forget whats been and gone, dont let the ties drag you down.

Card 3 - The centre (the main theme, opportunity or challenge, this is the focus of the spread) Bramble Ux
This seems odd, the 2 previous cards have been very inclusive, very open and receptive. Now we have Bramble that has a fence... I feel like there should be sign on here saying 'do not pass'.
I feel here is that now I am aware of the connections (Flax) and my independence to jump around the place (Borage) that I need to preserve this 'mobility' I now have. I've had a feeling like this before, to celebrate my Maidenhood. OK so its not *THAT* maidenhood (I hear ya giggling as you read this), but Im at a time of my life that has no big attatchments, no huge responsibilities. Course I have my nursing studies, my tribe, my family etc, but they are expressions of me, none of them bind me, none of them make me feel trapped or have to explain myself. Perhaps this reflects my singledom in that, for now, a bloke in my life is just not where my energy should be right now.
I have freedom, I have time to explore all of what Spirit has instore for me and that needs to be protected, by me and by THEM. Although I imagine THEIR thorns are a bit bigger than a bramble's lol.


Card 4 - This is what is needed to succeed ( the elbow-grease to make it materialise, the follow up to magical workings etc) Puffball
Awww I love this froggy friend. Frog is an energy I feel very connected to, and was important to me on my Bardic journey :) The Frog card in the DAO has mushrooms on, so its only fair these Puffballs have an amphibious friend too.
The book echos Flax but on the Inner Realms. I've done the physical stuff to make connections, to find my place on the Wyrd and make myself 'known' again. Now Puffball suggests I need to do lots of work on the Inner Realms, with THEM and with Spirit. I did a ritual last night for the first time in ages that was just for me, and I felt so nourished and connected. I need to make time to be out under the stars and calling on their names as I call on the elements, I need to toast to the rising moon and the setting sun. Its not easy with shifts, with REALITY, but I need to make that time. Its important, its necessary.
This could also be why Bramble has appeared and spoken of my 'Maidenhood' because its hard to be dedicated to ritual and personal practice when someone wants you to pop over for coffee 'sorry hunny Im too busy outside freezing my arse off talking to Ursa Major tonight for coffee and cuddles' doesnt go down well - plus I feel guilty saying no to people!
But this all needs to be grounded in humility and service to Spirit. Not to make me feel 'holier than thou', which isnt very me anyways, but can happen to anyone. Plus work will balance me out. No finer way to feel humble and grounded than dealing with wee and poo LOL.

Card 5 - The Direction you are headed (future outlook)Mandrake
Hmm well the beginning of romantic love isnt really appropriate here.. the coins in the card seem right but not right at the same time. I feel perhaps its just a card of good luck, of a good omen for this fertile period.
The stuff about relief from pain is interesting, but I dont know how it can relate.
This is obviously a card I need to meditate on :)
I do see that is has a warning though - of obsession. Whilst I LOVE working with the DPO I can see that it needs to be carefully balanced. So, like last weeks big reading, theres that suggestion that it needs time to amplify, to settle, to be processed and digested. Not just lots of random spreads for the sake of playing with the DPO.
Hmmmm.
Card 6 - Advice card (what you need to do next). The Banes
Oh Im excited to see the Moon in this card! Granted its a full moon, but I can live with that LOL. Perhaps thats a very obviously symbol to do a next big spread or magical working at the full moon, keep the power and momentum going?
The book talks about the unexpected. And the unexpected brought me to this place, the PDR threads, going to glasto and even my break up. Whilst it was very unexpected and random, I can see that it was obviously for reasons that aren't meant for me to know just yet. So theres that slight surrendering continuing, that the unexpected occurs, we experience the love, the joy, the tears and the turmoil and then we process. Gods I make it sound like an initiation of some kind... oooh goosebumps as I type that.. interesting!!!!

Card 7 - The base card Juniper
:) I do love this card. I have all the 'know-how' in my bag of tricks (the cranebag in the card). Its in me, in my heart, in my head, and now its the time to just see and feel what happens. I've done this with working with Horse, and now it seems Im to do it again with the plants.
Juniper has a common ally with the Justice card in the DCT, of spider. Thinking about it Flax too is associated with webs and spiders. oooooh. One thread has gone, another is made, the scales have tipped and something new is here in my life! How fantastic!
One of the keywords to Juniper is Magic :D Whilst is only magical if you accept the wonder, dont poke at it, dont demand to know why or feel threatened when you are put on a path without your full 'consent' before hand.

On another note, I haven't physically met a juniper tree/bush before. Perhaps i need to get my hands on one :) Of course, all I'll want to do is put on a long beard and shout at people for eating my juniper berries (Life of Brian reference, is you havent seen it, I demand you watch it!).

What a spread, lots of stuff going on, lots of positivity and a new perspective of what I have been randomly connecting to recently. See, there is a great synchronicity in the universe! There is also so much blue! I need to ponder this further, what blue and the plants could mean. Hmmph


Oh and I would like to thank Guided Hermit from AT for finding me that 'why me' processing end of relationship spread :) Its a fab spread and I have used it, but I've decided to not share it here as I felt the plants were trying to kick me out of focusing on whats been and severed and focus on this new energy, this new 'purpose' the Gods have planned for me :) But I do thank you! Taking Juniper to heart, Ive dealt and processed stuff and to post it up would just rehash it for me, infect the wound etc. Plus, it keeps things honourable and above board.

And last random note, Sulis on AT is making me a bag and reading cloth for my DPO. If you'd like to see her work, please look at her website Tarot Sulis for her bags, her cloths and for readings. Its been a pleasure walking the creative process with her and I look forward to showing off my bag and cloth when it appears! Of course, piccys will be taken and here for you all to see :D

Blessings from the serenity of the moonlit Garden
/|\

Moons and Druids part deux

Image of the cresent moon taken from this astronomy site

Did you see the moon last night? That very thin slither of the cresent? That shiney silver blade high in the sky? It was just stunning! I had to go out and do a bit of ritual and celebrate the Bent One, with a Silver Birch and and milk based beverages. It was very illuminating and a very nourishing and empowering experience :D I feel I've connected to that wildness of Heather (see previous post about why Im waffling about Heather), of community, and there was a message for me as well! Those bees are interesting critters huh!

So, Im back to having a loopy lunar moment, and dug out all my 'druid something' cards - the Druid Animal Oracle (DAO) my DPO and the Druidcraft Tarot (DCT) looking for moons in all their glory.

Now, I do have a confession to make. I really never got on with the DAO. Sure its pretty and sure it's nice, but I just saw pretty pictures. I never felt the animal energy spring from the deck, when I know others prefer the DAO to work with than ANY tarot deck out there (yes its SLIGHTLY sacreligious, but I like them and so I forgive them lol). But doing this has made me connect to something in those animal cards so maybe I'll play with them more with the DPO.

So... waxing moons (apologises to those in the southern hemisphere but I gotta call it like I see it here from the UK).
DPO - Mistletoe
DAO - Hare
DCT - Moon (i know its got the whole moon, but the only shiney bit is the first cresent), High Priestess, Prince of Cups

Full Moon
DPO - Mugwort, Ivy, The Banes
DAO - Owl, Crane
DCT - Queen of Cups

Waning Moon
DPO - None.
DAO - Blackbird
DCT - Seven of Swords, Star, Ace of Cups, Hermit

Dark Moon
OK this is a bit speculative because obvious these are just night scenes without a moon, which I think would be good dark moony cards
DPO - None
DAO - Bear
DCT - Ace of Pentacles, Death and possibly the Queen of Pentacles.

Now what does that mean? I dont know LOL. But its really interesting. Why is there no waning moon or dark moon in the DPO? And So many Cresents in the DCT and only one true full moon in the whole deck?

And one random thing Ive noticed is how similiar Yarrow and the Adder cards are so similiar! And ya know - I never liked those elemental dragon cards.

So, loopy lunar stuff continues. But that Bee in the Heather card really got me wondering about bees so thats why I picked up my DAO again.

Its tempting to get bogged down in the thinkery of it all. Why do I seem to go lunar loopy, what does it mean etc But I remember the reading I did previously here and I just need to be brave and go with it and see where the journey takes me.

Inspiration firing, Brilliant!

But I did have a look in Herbcraft (Franklin and Lavender) and saw a list of herbs to the phases of the moon - which I think would be interesting to note here,although again, knowledge that as yet is not yet fully digested.
Waxing herbs white rose, camphor, lily, cinquefoil, mugwort, aloe, ox-eye daisy and poppy
Full moon herbs cinquefoil, red rose, mugwort, dandelion, frankincense, marshmellow and poppy
Waning herbs garlic, myrrh
Dark moon herbs garlic, parsley, willow and forget-me-not

Now I dont completely agree with that list, but its an interesting place to start from eh?!

A guide for my healing process

So, second relationship break up in less than a year. What a track record eh? LOL

So I thought I'd draw a card as a guide for the process of healing my heart once again and I've drawn Heather. It was funny, as I was shuffling and thinking about how Im feeling now, I thought of Heather and its interesting how it turned up :)

Im not sure of copyright etc at the mo for me to post up the cards, but I figured I would post a pic of some mountain heather. The above pic is one I found on the web from Maison de Stuff, I hope they dont mind, but it was such a fabulous picture I just had to share. And I've also got Damh the Bard going round my head, with his version of Wild Mountain Thyme, whilst we are all around the blooming heather. Or rather, drunk as skunks in a pub on the Clee or Glastonbury Town Hall :D

A piece of heather that I used for some other healing work with Spirit that I did recently came from Lake Vyrnwy, so perhaps I need to take a trip out to visit some wild and rugged places at the mo. The great outdoors is such a place of nourishment and inspiration to me, so I should make an effort and go out and do things that will make me feel better. Of course, right now all I want to do is hide under the duvet. Very warrior-woman of me LOL.

The little huts of the community are really important to me. My friends, my druid community, have been an amazing and overwhelming network of love and support for me over all the recent wobbles. I am so honoured and humbled to have such people that I can call friend. Like worker bees, we all support and look after eachother. :D Not to mention the folks on Aecletic Tarot, who have been supportive, helpful and wonderful, the kindness of 'strangers' is just beyond words right now. Ive had random support from the most unlikely of places, co-workers and even my ex who said such lovely things to me. So im seeing a lot of positivity and 'lucky heather' in what feels a pretty shitty time right now. Although I have a 0-2 score with love (im trying to find a funny angle to it all, im not being flippant, just, me), I am loved, honoured and respected - held safely so I can experience, process and do what I need to do. Theres not many folks that can say that about their lives!

Bees also to me, I feel, speak of communication. And that has been a problem over recent weeks. Communication has been icky, has been misunderstood, under the influence of honeyed mead, and sometimes not even there at all, like a Bee bashing against a window. So perhaps now its time to make communications as clear as possible. Bees also to me link with messages from the Gods, whispers on the wind etc. Perhaps I need to listen to what Spirit has instore for me now :)

Theres stuff in the book about heather promoting rest to the weary. And after 2 relationship breakups, my heart does feel very weary. Sure I'll survive and I'll keep going - during all this turmoil and emotional highs and lows ive surprised myself with my uni course and getting brilliant grades (hey, gotta blow my own trumpet!). But emotionally I feel I need a little support. So, when I go to bed tonight Im going to do some imagining and stepping through the Heather card, or maybe even visit the Sacred Garden and see if I can find Heather in that inner landscape to share its healing with me as I dream :)

And to end, here we have the Princess of Swords from the Druidcraft tarot, high in the heathers :)

ETA -
I did go to sleep thinking of heather, and today I feel full of energy and much more rested and at peace with things. Its sorted my head out a bit more and emotionally I feel much more stable and in a better place of some more processing :) Granted I cant remember anything in my dreams that could relate to the card, but I just trust that its work happened on the Other Realms :)

So I decided this afternoon to hit some books - Culpepper, Greives Modern Herbal, Cunninghams Herbal, a Druid's Herbals (Ellen Evert Hopman) and Herbcraft (Franklin and Lavendar) and in the older texts of Culpepper and Greives there is NO MENTION of heather at all. Now I've looked under all sorts of odd names but I cant find anything. But I did look up some interesting correspondences to heather so I think I'll look into these a bit more as I learn more about these plants :D
Gender Female
Planet Venus
ElementWater
I dont know what I'd do with this information, but its interesting that whilst I agree with female and venus, I dont agree with water. Water makes you think of just general emotion and intuition. I want to think of heather as rain... I get such cleansing glee from rain (its my frogskin!) and heather has a magical history of rain-making. Its that soft rain that the wind beats hard into your face, that takes your breath away yet totally revitalises you. Its the sudden heavy rain that makes two friends dart for cover and become lovers under the tree etc.
I really love heather :)

Plants and Modern Technology

Ok.. last night, for a variety of reasons that I dont want to go into, I decided to delete my facebook page.

So I thought I'd ask the DPO - What unexpected lesson will I learn from being without a facebook page? Betony Ux was my reply.
And its the carved celtic head lying on the floor that i find disturbing here. The book meaning of healing discord, protection etc are nice, but none of it seems to address what that severed head means.
So, heads to me reflect living in your head, words swirling round and round, like a 9 of swords moment.... so perhaps the severed head says that deleting facebook will bring me some space away from things swirling, and I can find space to breathe and for inspiration to come in. I think of the story of Bran and his severed head, which saved his people, brought stories and inspiration, and then later protection to the land, perserving what was precious to him as his head was buried (until legend says Arthur came and dug it up LOL).

There are bits in the book about communication, which is important considering Im asking about facebook. Facebook is a way of communicating with people, but the people I love the most Im in regular contact with anyways, and the ones I dont talk to who are on my facebook, well, is it worth me having that connection to them, like a constant string attached me to if we arent in such regular contact? Maybe it'll be interesting to see who of my facebooky friends seek contact, or are prepared to actually make an effort to contact me properly rather than just the odd reply on a status message. And ya know, who gives a crap about status messages anyways LOL.

Betony is a healing plant, antiseptic and antibactarial properties, like Mistletoe being an panacea.
Its also woundwort - that cleans a wound and then promotes healing... I hope that is true, but I feel that would be VERY unexpected if that happened. But I feel it could reflect healing my connection to my other bits of me, that have been neglected because ive been so addicted to the damn website - my spinning, reading etc. So in a way its putting that severed head back on, but the right 'head' on.

But I know I spend way too much time that is healthy on facebook, and I think I need to be reading more actual books rather than looking at peoples facebooks.

Druid Plant Calender 15 Jan - 14 Feb

Ok so following on from the other post, this is month two of the Druid Plant Calender.

After shuffling I got Chamomile
I do like this.. it offers fresh energy and revitalising that is soft yet flowing. Not the big BURST of spring energy, but just that washing away of the snow and those first few days of spring sunshine to warm our skins.
Also, its usually in this period that you keep your nostrils open for the smell of spring on the wind, like the smell of the chamomile leaves :D
Even the dainty flowers look to me of a waxing sun, new, delicate and growing in power.

And after the whole festive period, we do get a bit of a lull, a lack of zest for life, so maybe drinking some chamomile tea will help keep the blues away and get us all in the mood for spring :D