"
my very first deck"
This is my very first deck. I bought it at a little known shop that had stood in Renton called SACRED TRADITIONS. I bought it with the suggestion of the clerk, Angela, from the Coven of the Flaming Star and i knew it was love at first sight.
I collected allot of decks over the years. Some for their beauty, others for their feel, and some were gifts from family and friends who had given up cards or had no more use for them. I remember visiting my older sister Kendra (catholic lol) at her university when I was just a teenager and reading for her and her roommates. They were always respectful of my old-school views, and it gave me the confidence I needed to explore intuitive reading as a profession.
"The Gustav Klimt" deck is my very favorite. I obsessed over it once I had bought it (on a whim no less) and I used it for the majority of my time working at a pagan book store in downtown Seattle. Usually I just spent my time at the store giving information to interested pagans and helping curious witches with their problems, but I did read cards during that time.
When I'm consulting the oracle, three entities I make a part of the endeavour are three entities I have a close relationship with;
THE MORRIGHAN- yes yes yes, many fear and abhor her, but she has been my patron goddess for a decade and my relationship to her is something seldom understood unless you yourself are connected to her, then you know what i mean when i say she's a bad-ass entity! The Morrighan is more than a goddess of war and death, she rules over the unique mysteries the unknown and walks between the worlds, keenly observing the way a crow observes the world around it. I do not call on her for help or anything like that, i only invite her to be near me and guide me away from illusions and into prophetic truths.
"ALIGENA PANDEMOS- one of the few deities I worship who isn't Celtic in origin or of Turtle Island medicine (Native). Celtic reconstruction is a strong influence on me, but my relationship to Aligena (Aphrodite) is special and mysterious even to me. I have worshipped her since I was literally a child. She has many names and her particular traits are similar to goddesses in many cultures, including Celtic, but dammit "there's SOMETHING about her that at 9 years old I recognized as a real energy. When reading intuitively, she is the energy of abundance and prosperity that surrounds me. When I read professionally, I kept a statue of her wreathed in flowers with coins laid at her feet to symbolise "fortuna "where it surrounds her energy.
BRIGHID- my dearest love, she is who I connect to while cleansing my cards (by smudging them with mugwort and lemon balm/or/rosemary, salt and then wrapping them in black and gold cloth). I usually repeat a charm to her over and over while cleansing my cards right before reading from them.
Lady of the home and hearth
we tend the eternal flame
with happy hearts in your honor
sacred mother of the cradle
"forge and fury, be this eternal"
Keeping a clean and well lighted reading area is special to me. This is my dining room but I often use it when reading from my home. I clean the room beforehand by smudging and singing a blessing of thanks to Spidermother, sacred to my family. I sprinkle spearmint in the corners sometimes or throw salt in the entrances to give it grounded energy. Any decoration I put up or further cleansing i try to keep as low key as possible so that my clients stay focused on the reading, not the artifice of the material world...
But man is it purty ;)
Origin: http://ceremonial-magic.blogspot.com
