The Rowdy Goddess

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

Archive for the tag “Readers Studio”

Get Your Tarot Gear On!

Creating My Own Tarot Accessories

Finding practical and comfortable ways to carry around your tarot decks and associated accoutrements can be a challenge. Books, journals, notebooks, handouts seem to be an important part of the experience of Tarot, especially if you are taking a class, going to a conference, or teaching a class. Readers, too, need to have a way to carry it hither, thither, and yon, as my mother says.

I also want to avoid looking like a bag lady whenever I can since I seem to have leanings in that direction  so I want to complement my style. My style seems to be comfortable and funky. I have some exacting standards about purses and bags. So I decided to make a bag to take my tarot cards and journals about.
I found a nice bag pattern from Lazy Girl Designs, the Towne Bag. I bought some funky home dec fabric on ebay. This is very Peter Max 1970s heavy fabric. It was fun to work with. I think I’ll do a reading with the Tarot cards on there at some point, they are interesting choices.

I had some fabric leftover, so I covered an old binder (reduce, reuse, recycle) with the fabric to hold my handouts from the Tarot School’s Readers Studio. I think it all turned out really very well. My next project is to find the right notebook/journal for taking notes and cover it with fabric, too.
So I’m geared up to learn and teach Tarot!!!

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!

 

 

Two of Swords


I’m just back from the Tarot School’s Readers’ Studio. What a fabulous wonderful time. I learned so much (more on that later) and met so many wild, funny, and fabulous people. The accomodations were great and things were just wonderful.

The Two of Swords came up a lot in my readings which surprised me a lot. I don’t get that card very often. Over the past few years as I teach Tarot more, I am stuck by the quality of stillness in the Two of Swords. The figure in the card has to stay so still to maintain that balance. And everything else around her is also so very still. It’s like the whole Universe is holding its breath as this woman maintains the balance of the two swords.
Traditional meanings include blocked feelings, closed off, being defensive, waiting for something, and keeping things at a distance. I think one of the reasons I got the card is that I’m wrestling a lot with competing priorities. Lots of good things are happening and there are lots of choices to make. One thing about myself, is that when there are lots of choices to be made, I shut down and refuse to make the choice. Then sometimes happen by default (not always a good idea) or I just go with what is flowing the strongest at the time (sometimes good, sometimes bad).
This is something I need to reflect on a little more. I came away from the Readers’ Studio inspired to go back to my writing. Where to find the time? I don’t want it to take away from the other cool things I do, either.
More to come….
May all your choices be happy ones today!!!

The Crone Zone

 

Last year at this time, I looked at the calendar and realized that Friday the 13th was smack dab on the dark moon. Lucky day, favorite moon sign. What else was I to do. I scheduled my croning for that day.

If you’ve read this blog from the beginning, you know that I have struggled a bit with the crone designation. I’ve realized, after all, that it doesn’t have to be all that’s left. The Crone offers out a richness and power that is not limited to that one single concept. It was something I wanted to explore.

The ritual was fabulous. Three priestesses, Sci, Phaezara, and Thia Moonstone embodied the Moirae. I had done a number of shamanic journeys, seeking the ancient mothers of the elements and asking their wisdom. In addition, a tarot reading at the Tarot School’s Readers’ Studio gave me a lot more insight into this crone initiation. Each portion of the ritual helped complete the journeys and give me more insight into the Crone.

And as I stepped over the threshold, I was greeted by the Crone herself who gave me a shell necklace in celebration of arriving at this strange new shore. It was a wonderful, personal ritual attended by dear friends and beloved witches. Oh yes, and we danced to “The Golden Years,” by David Bowie.

And so the journey begins. This month, I passed the thirteenth month without a period. The day fell, not surprisingly, on the Dark Moon.

And may the cycles of your life be blessed!!!

Luck from the Lady Tonight!

Luck from the Lady Tonight!!
I’ve always been able to trust my luck. I’ve had some whopping bad luck but mostly I’ve had good luck. And I noticed, too, that I can make good luck happen for me and for friends. I was talking about this to a friend and she said, ‘then it’s not really luck is it?!”
That got me thinking about what is luck? Is it random acts of kindness and hostility by an indifferent Universe? Is luck something that can be cultivated and grown?
I believe it’s the latter. If you look at the big picture–and I mean the hugest picture–then everything, even chaos has a pattern and a purpose. Energy moves with purpose. Luck is another form of energy and if you can figure out how to move with its flow, then you have good luck. If you move against it, then your luck is less than auspicious.
Off on and on for awhile, I’ve had a thought. I don’t have a pentacle for my altar. Maybe I should shop for one or make one. The thoughts were fairly fleeting and I never devoted much thought to it at all except every once in awhile. In April, my coven [the one I’m in] had this absolutely fabulous day where we met for lunch, shopped, and ended up at the house for two rituals; one ritual was the dedication to the coven of two really terrific people and the other a full moon ritual. It was a memorable day. The husband of one of us makes these lovely stone carvings and she brought me an example of the stone so I could see if it was something I wanted to have a heron carved in for the coven I high priestess. The example was a lovely pentacle carved into the stone.
After everyone left, I realized that she had left the pentacle behind, so I emailed her and told her that I’d bring it the next time we had a gathering. She wrote back to say that she left it behind as a gift and thank you. I was so excited to get another wonderful gift from these fabulous people, but also because my random wishes turned lucky!
On another day, I was watching television and saw pictures of my Alma Mater, the University of Maryland [Fear the Turtle] and said to Mouse, “I haven’t been there in more than 25 years. I’d like to go back and see what they’ve done to the place. It’s just that everytime I go home to Maryland, I want to go to the eastern shore to see family and the ocean. A vacation trip to UM is a little lame. Later, at work I was thinking that I need to update my knowledge on copyright since I work with intellectual property all the time. Then I’m reading my email and get a notice of a conference on digital copyright. Guess where? You guessed it, the University of Maryland! How cool is that.
Last month I won two drawings in two different places. I was at a gathering held at a friends’ BnB and the prize was a one-night stand–er, stay–in their deluxe suite. They pulled ticket after ticket and no one had it. I wasn’t even thinking about it, and I won!! We haven’t gone yet, we’re saving it for a very hot summer’s day.
The other time was at the Tarot School’s Readers’ Studio. They instituted a new thing at the end of the session, drawings for donated prizes. And I won a complete set of Llewellyn’s Special Topics in Tarot. Eight books by Mary Greer, Nina Lee Braden and others. Very fabulous.
Now you’re thinking, oh she’s just lucky and I’ll never get that lucky. Yes I am lucky, partly because I stopped giving strength to negative statements like “oh I never win anything. It’s one of the most important lessons I learned at Akasha Con. Something I’ll write on a little later.
So if you think lucky, you will get lucky. And everybody wants that.

Post Navigation