Crafty Kitchen Witch

Reading and Ceremony for Charging a Tarot Deck a reposting by Joy Vernon Clearing and Charging a Tarot Deck To clear a deck or any other magical tool is to remove or neutralize the energy that exists in it. To charge a magical tool is to imbue it or fill it with your own energy and with a special purpose or intention. Although you can successfully read with a deck that has not been cleared or charged, if you take the time to do these things you will find that the tool has become much more personalized and powerful since it is sharing your energy. It’s like the difference between a toy you had when you were a kid that just sat on a shelf ignored and one you dragged with you everywhere you went. You want your cards to have the energy of your favorite toy (but maybe not the greasy kid finger residue). Clearing The first step in the charging process is to clear or neutralize the existing energy in the deck. If the deck was purchased used, this is a step you will ...

By Kisma K. Stepanich When summer's end draws near, and the doorway between this world and the Otherworld is revealed, the celebration of Samhain takes place. In many traditions, this is the time when we commune with the ancestors and if we dare, the faeries. On this night (October 31) the voice of the Otherworld is heard through acts of divination and, if the tool is interpreted properly, it will guide us through the next wheel of our life. To perform a Samhain tarot reading ritual, create a sacred circle by acknowledging the Otherworld faery cities: Falias in the Ulster North, Gorias in the Leinster East, Findias in the Munster, South, Murias in the Connaught West, Powers of the Otherworld cities, Protect me now. Stand in the center of the circle, aligning with the Crann na Beatha or the Tree of Trees, by saying: Heavenly realm and the starlight above, Realm of the plains and the starlight within, Underworld realm and the starlight below, I am one with...

Preparing For A Reading Author Unknown First, try to find someplace that is quiet and free from distractions and interruptions. This makes it easier to relax, and concentrate on the reading. Second, I think it is absolutely essential that you ground and center. This helps to protect you, and ensures that the energy that you use in a reading comes from the earth and the universe, and not from your own body, or that of the person you are reading for. That will keep you from feeling drained and depleted following a reading, and will also make the reading more accurate. I can't stress the importance of this enough. Third, figure out the question you want to ask. This is often the hardest part. I think there are basically three kinds of questions. "What do I need to know about this?" question is the simplest and most straightforward, and can be asked just like that. "Should I do A or B?" questions need to be phrased carefully. In fact, if that is...

Incense for Suits Cups relates to the Element of water, emotions, feelings, intuition, and psychic skills.  To attune, use an incense of myrrh, jasmine oil, willow bark, rowan berries, and chamomile flowers. Discs relates to the Element of earth, the body and the material plane, money, and possessions.  To attune, blend an incense from pine resin, patchouli oil, pine wood, sage, honeysuckle flowers, and cypress needles. Swords relates to the Element of air, mental activity, and communication.  To attune, blend an incense of benzoin, acacia, lavender oil and flowers, ceder wood, and mint leaves. Wands relates to the Element of fire, creativity, life enegry, and the spirit.  Make an incense from frankicense, rosemary oil, oak bark, crushed juniper berries, and marigold petals. Incense for the Major Arcana You can also use incense to attune to cards of the Major Arcana.  The following are some examples: The Fool:  Frankicense, oak bark...

Herbs and Tarot Herbs can be used to gain a greater depth of understanding of  any tarot pack. Herb spirits are great teachers: they can subtly alter the  consciousness of the user to become aware of a greater magical reality. To  connect with plant familiars, attune to their vibrations, and absorb their  lessons, try burning incense when you use your cards.Incense are made from  dried leaves, petals, berries, woods, resigns and essential oils. They are  burned on small charcoal blocks, which are readily available from occult  suppliers. As you mix an incense, ask the plant spirits to share their  knowledge with you. Begin by blending the resin with a few drops of oil, then  add any woods or crushed berries. Add lesser quantities of leaves and flower  petals. An incense might not contain all of these types of ingredients: it  can consist of just one substance, so use your common sense. Experiment with  ...

History Of The Tarot Cards Sooner or later most Witches  (not all)  look into divination using a deck of Tarot cards. I would like to mention however that in by gone days, a lot of Witches and Gypsies use to use a plain set of average everyday run of the mill type playing cards for divination purposes, and it may be something for you to look into before out laying a lot of money on a Tarot deck. Below is a basic list as to what the cards represent: The four suits represent the four seasons - the four elements - the four winds - the four directions - the four phases of the Moon. The two colours represent day and night - male and female - positive and negative. 52 cards represent the 52 weeks in a year. 13 cards in each suit represent each quarter of the year each having  13 weeks. Or can represent the 13 Full Moons of a year. The 12 court cards represent the 12 months. Or the 12 hours between noon and midnight. The ace to 10 add up to 55 + jack 11 +...

Keep in mind that in certain decks, fire & air are reversed (Nigel Jackson is one of them - where wands = air & swords = fire). Here's how I learned it (using most decks, especially those based on Rider-Waite), you use the elemental correspondence to find the sign. Cups = Water = Pisces, Cancer & Scorpio Wands = Fire = Aries, Leo & Sagittarius Swords = Air = Gemini, Libra & Aquarius Pentacles = Earth = Taurus, Virgo & Capricorn You can also use the elemental associations to come up with a time frame: Pentacles/Earth: slowest moving, a year or more Cups/Water: slow moving, months Wands/Fire: fast moving, weeks Swords/Air: fastes moving, days ******************** Crystals and Tarot Cards Peggy Jentoft Many people have personal associations between specific Tarot cards and crystals, and several books and tarot traditions also have lists of correspondences. Some people use Crystals in a form of divination with or like Tarot cards....

Contemplative Meditation for Tarot Rather than write a separate meditation for each tarot card and number, I decided it might be simpler to discuss a contemplative manner in which to approach a method for meditating on each of the tarot cards we will be studying.  Remember to do your meditation in a way that feels comfortable for you.  Feel free to use this simply as a guide to help you to discover a way to access your inner knowing.  You can refer to this meditation format for each individual tarot card as we encounter it.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Choose a moment when you can devote the energy and awareness and decide your intent.  Decide what will help you focus on the card -- should you light a candle, will music help (or hinder), do you need to establish a protective space?  Next, get the tarot card being studied and have it in hand. Ease yourself into a comfortable position either seated in a chair or on the floor. ...

Choosing A Tarot Deck There are many factors that go into choosing a Tarot Deck to work with. Ask yourself these simple questions: How does it make you feel when you look at, or handle it? You want a deck that feels good to you, one you think you might enjoy working with. A lot of Tarot reading is interpreting your visceral reactions to the cards. If you don't like the deck when you aren't even asking a question, it's probably not the deck for you. Do the symbols and pictures on it correlate to your own symbol set? If numerology is very important to you, you may want a deck that has more of the numerological symbols. If you are a student of Cabbala, then you may find that you are more comfortable with a deck that was drawn from that viewpoint, and so on. Do you like the style of the artwork? If you don’t care for the way it looks then you might find yourself not using it. Do the Minor Arcana cards have pictures, or only the Majors? Some decks do, and...

The Cleansing and Charging of a New Tarot Deck Often, with ritual, you 'feel' your way through it; following the paths that seem most correct. For me, magick is rarely done the same way twice; improvisation seems necessary. This in mind, feel free to modify this incantation to fit your own beliefs and path. For visualization, gather a black votive candle and a white votive candle, and cast the spell sometime in the days following the full moon. Gather a green taper candle as well. A bit of gingerroot (for potency/power) can be chewed during this ritual and peppermint leaves may also be helpful. If you have any incense (stick incense is easiest and cheapest to come by), use a stick during the ritual. While your favorite incense (or one with which you identify with cleansing) is always a good idea; incense! s with such properties to me seem to be pine or frankincense. Get a piece of silk to set your deck upon and wrap it with when you are done. A pocket watc...