The Rowdy Goddess

An Ecstatic Vision of the Goddess, dancing in harmony with the Universe.

Archive for the category “Divination”

31 Mar 2015
2 Comments

Year of the Green Sheep

I see that it’s been more than a year since I’ve blogged or posted anything.  The past year has been full.  Full of change, full of sound and fury, and full of good things, too.  It has been very absorbing and it’s been hard to find anything to write about.  Perhaps that has changed.  The Year of the Sheep seems to be a nice transition from the rapidity of the Year of the Horse to a more soothing and gentle pace.  The Year of the Sheep may well help us reflect as we graze quietly by the still waters of tranquility.

The year 2015 marks the Year of the Green Sheep in the Chinese lunar calendar.   Green because the element marking this year is Wood.  In the Chinese cosmology, wood is associated with trees and nature with the color assigned is wood.  Is it sheep, ram, or goat?  The answer to all of these is yes, based on the translation of the Chinese word used.

The Sheep person is calm and gentle; well-liked by everyone.  The creature and people associated with this sign are considered very cute and remind people of beautiful things.  Sheep people are smart and kind-hearted, showing compassion and sensitivity to others.  They prefer a life of quiet action.  They are thrifty and cautious in business and financial matters.  At their worst, sheep people are vain, timid, pessimistic, and moody.

The Year of the Sheep is considered a time of good luck, peace, and calm after the tumult of the Year of the Horse.   Sheep tend not to be confrontational so the year tends to be more about smoothing out the edges rather than confronting all that is wrong.

For my part, the previous years have been ones of change, both good and sad, and not so great luck.  I hope for a year of beauty and peace.  At least I hope that whatever life brings, I can greet it with compassion, sensitivity, and intelligence.  In that hope, here is a card reading to reflect on how to envision life’s moments through the eyes of Sheep.

Year of the Green Sheep Tarot spread

Year of the Green Sheep Tarot spread

 

Card 1:  What dilemmas are you facing; how is your luck faring?

Card 2:  What skills do you need to face your situation with sensitivity?

Card 3:  What must you leave behind?

Card 4:  What actions will propel you forward?

Card 5:  What will keep you going strong and firm?

Card 6:  What brings a smile to your face and joy to your heart?

May the Year of the Green Sheep bring forth beauty, calm, peace, luck, and opportunity for you.

Posted in Divination, Tarot, Tarot spreads and tagged , , ,
06 Mar 2014

Howling at the Moon Tarot Spread

Last week I wrote about Howling in Winter and the power of the Wolf.  Today, by tapping into that power, I’m posting a Tarot spread based on the Wolf’s Howl.  A-Whhhhooooooooo!

This spread can  be used to help clarify situations; to help you see things that you are not seeing and to provide guidance for avoiding pitfalls as well as what is needed to move forward.

Tarot spread

 

 Card One:       The Heart of the Matter

Card Two:      How does the situation express itself?

Card Three:    Inner wisdom needed

Card Four:     Fears or what is to be avoided.

Card Five:      What are the next steps to move forward?

  May your journey follow your voice of freedom and release!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Divination, shamanism, Tarot, Tarot spreads and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment
31 Jan 2014
2 Comments

The Year of the Green Horse

2014HappyNewYearHorseThe Chinese New Year of 2014 begins January 31st at the new moon. This is the Year of the Horse.  In Chinese astrology, each set of twelve signs cycles through the five elements: Air, Fire, Water, Metal, and Wood. This year, the element is Wood. Because wood is associated with plants, the color is green. This is the Year of the Green Horse.

The Horse as Totem

Often, shamanic practitioners refer to their drums as their horse, the spirit that conveys them to the realms of magic and mystery. The horse as a totem is considered a Spirit Messenger, a Be-ing of great sensitivity and intuition. The Horse as totem has similar energies of service, nobility, movement, and freedom.

Horse is also a Creature of between and boundaries, since Horse is notable for its strong sensual and physical nature as well as its magical spiritual one. Horse is about wildness, and about being tamed, harnessed, and bridled. Horse is about carrying burdens, and about being free as the wind. Horse is known for its strong instinctual nature with strong passionate drives, emotions and desires. Horse is about discipline, success, and achievement.

Come run with me
As we race, wild and free,
With the wind.
Come with me as we express our desires
And find our bliss.
Run, trot, and gallop
In pursuit of Joy and Happiness
Be still and calm with me in realizing our dreams.

Come ride with me
As we work to accomplish our desires
We hold the saddle and bridle
Lightly in service to Wonder
We speak Mystery
In Messages from Spirit
We cross the borders
To find our magic.
Blessed Be.

The Year of the Horse

Horse people are cheerful, witty, talented, and good with their hands. Full of Yang energy, they are energetic, active both mentally and spiritually and have great charm and sex appeal. Generally they are very gifted. They are both able to conform while at the same time very rebellious. There are lots of contradictions in their nature with their great humanitarianism and then their wild adventurous side. They are wonderfully warm hearted and have fantastic communication skills.

The predictions for the Year of the Horse are for happiness, luck, and good wishes. It’s generally a thrilling year with lots of opportunities. It will be up to the person’s sense of adventure whether you grab those opportunities or not. Thrilling does not particularly mean easy. Most predictions are made in the context of the individual’s zodiac sign.

Since the astrology designation tends to be predictive in nature, why not cast your favorite divination method. Some questions might be:

• What opportunities will come my way during the Year of the Horse?

• What will thrill me about the Year of the Horse, and what will not?

• How can I explore the adventurous side of my nature.

• What must I change about myself to become the person I want to be during the Year of the Horse?

• What kinds of things can I do for the greater good of humans and other beings?

• What areas of my life do I need to tame?

• Where in my life do I need more freedom?

Year of the Green Horse
A Tarot Spread
Use this spread when you feel deflated and lost, when you aren’t sure how to achieve your dreams, or you feel pulled by conflicting desires/needs. This explores the energy and burdens you need or don’t need so you can move forward
once again!

hORSE TAROT

Position One: What are the messages from Spirit?
Position Two: What are you saddled with?
Position Three: What do you need to brush away?
Position Four: Where do you need to kick up your heels?
Position Five: Where are you unbridled?
Position 6: What helps you move?
Position 7: What leads you on and what inspires you?

Posted in Divination, shamanism, Tarot and tagged , , ,
29 Oct 2013
1 Comment

Tchotchke Oracle: Rocking the Magic of Everyday Things

contents of tchotchke oracle

Tchotchke Oracle

As we enter the path of Wicca, Paganism, or adopt a new divination system, we enter a new world of exploration, and of shiny objects and alluring collections of really neat things.  Garb, cloaks, fantastic objects, athames, wands, and so much more.  We can be lead to believe that we need the perfect cloak, the ideal chalice, and all the other accoutrements available.  I once quipped (and have never lived down) that this is the shopping religion.  The same was true, I might add, of mainstream religions.  When I was a Christian, I spent a great deal of meager salary on the perfect leather-bound Bible with gold-edge pages in exactly the right translation.  Then I accumulated more translations and commentaries.  None of these things deepened my walk with Deity; study, communication, fellowship, and prayer did that.  The same is true of the Pagan path.  It is our actions and connections that bring us closer to Spirit. Deborah Blake writes about this online and in her book, Witchcraft on a Shoestring.    She presents practical and frugal ways to practice our Craft along with ways to be authentic and magical.
I once heard Ted Andrews speak and he said that nature is speaking to us all the time and that we need to turn our minds and our ears to hear a new language.  I think the same is true with objects.  The objects we have in our lives accumulate meaning and symbolism that mean something to us personally.  We can read that meaning and let the objects talk to us, help us solve or problems, or lead us to new insights.   This idea was further verified when a friend on Facebook, Morewenna, posted a picture of her Magpie Oracle.
Her posting spurred a lot of conversation and discussion and I realized I could do this too.  I would name mine Tchotchke Oracle for several reasons.  Tchotcke is fun to say, my father used to pepper his talk with Yiddish phrases picked up from people he met in his gregarious ways, and I grew up in an area rich in Jewish lore, customs, and humor.  One woman told me her fiance defined the word tchotchke as “cute little things” and he referred to his balls as tchotchkes.
Kristen Madden in her book, Magick, Mystery, and Medicine has an activity she calls a junk walk.  Go outdoors and with your spiritual mind notice things for your junk bag.  Ask permission to take it with you, and then add it to your bag.  This bag and the contents can guide you and the nature spirits will talk with you through the contents.
I went around my house cleaning out draws, crannies, and other hidden places for little things to put in my oracle.  These things reflect my eccentric interests, hobbies, spiritual path and family life.  There are charms, shells, buttons, and all sorts of items.  I am proud of the fact that I didn’t have to buy a things, not even the bag.  It is large.  Plastic, manufactured, useful, and not useful were all part of the oracle.  I did a little ceremony in front of my altar to welcome the wisdom of the oracle into my life.
I’ve used it in several ways.  I had the members of a shamanic class I was leading put together their own oracle bag.  We were exploring a particular question so each of us drew objects from our own bag and talked about what it said in relationship to the question.  Since the amalgam of our insights were not clear, we drew a map to represent the question since it was centered on a place.  We then closed our eyes and tossed (gently) our objects onto the picture.  I then drummed and we journeyed to the place and explored our question.  Our journeys and the objects intertwined and overlapped, giving us all deeper insights into the complex question we were exploring.
I’ve drawn objects at random moments when I’ve needed a lift, at a time of reflection, or just fooling around.  I have laid out objects in a pattern used for Tarot so each object serves a role or poses a question.  I then read the objects in relationship to their position and then as a collective message.  Sometimes the oracle speaks clearly, sometimes eloquently, sometimes mysteriously, and at other times, just kicks my butt.  I’ve used it in tandem with Tarot, my divination tool of choice to augment a reading.
Others, such as Carrie Paris , have developed oracles according to other systems such as Lenormand.  On her website, she provides a free sheet that you can download.  You then place your charms, objects, and tchotckes and read it in relationship to whatever you are exploring.
This time of year is one of two where the veil between the worlds are the thinnest.  The messages and omens from the other realms are more easily accessed.  It is a time of ancestors, death, harvest, waning times, and preparation for hibernation (retreat).  Every time is a good time to reach out, this may be an easier time.
Wishing you an open heart, ears to hear, and eyes to see.  May the Spirits speak their love and blessings to you!

 

 

 

Posted in Dark, Divination, Questions, shamanism, stuff and tagged , , , , ,
13 May 2008
1 Comment

Manifesting Pendulums!

For the past few years, I’ve been manifesting pendulums. Not on purpose, they just come to me. For a couple of years, that was the gift I got for presenting at Pagan Pride Days. It was pretty cool, and some of them were just gorgeous. But I was perplexed because I wasn’t particularly drawn to them. I kept joking that it was a sign from the Goddess to learn about pendulums. I bought a couple of books, but didn’t bother to read them.

When Mouse and I started vending, one of the vendors sent me a beautiful one. It really called to me. You can see a picture of it here. One of my friends is a great pendulum dowser and I watched her use it. It’s very simple and such a tool for manifestation, concentration, and intention. Another witch in my coven taught us a chakra clearing method using pendulums. And I was set. I had a pendulum in my purse, by my chair and by my computer. I have been using a pendulum to heal some joint pain/arthritis in my right hand. It’s working.
Then I started losing pendlums. I discarded one of my purses, actually threw it away, and forgot to empty the zippered pocket. Along with a set of business cards, one of the cool pendulums got thrown away. I felt really bad, almost as if I had abandoned a friend. I said good bye in ritual and in dreams.
A few weeks ago, as I was packing to go to the Readers’ Studio, I discovered that I had lost my spiral pendulum. I decided not to panic and tear the house apart looking for it [that was hard], and just packed my bags.
The Readers’ Studio rocked and then rocked some more. Tarot is my divination of choice! One of the vendors, Mists of Atlantis had some wonderful pendulums. Two were made of citrine. I love citrine. This lovely yellow crystal continues to call to me through the years (that’s another story for later). So I carefully tried them both. I finally chose one and for the first time, manifested a pendulum by purchasing it. I think it’s special having come from the Readers’ Studio amidst all that divination magic; and Garnet, the proprietess of the Mists of Atlantis is a very magical person.
So I take my wonderful new pendulum back to my spot in the Studio classroom, open the bag my deck is in, and there is my spiral pendulum. Is that crazy or what. I must have stored away my pendlum when the cable guy came to install the new modem. Or maybe it just wanted to be near the Tarot.
And then as we were taking a break at the Readers’ Studio, the stress reliever gift they distributed were — you guessed it — pendulums. So now I have a sweet rose quartz pendulum. I think there’s more to learn here and I’m excited to move into that space.
Blessed Be your manifestations!

 

 

Posted in Divination, Tarot and tagged , , , ,

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