When I wrote Why Readers Seek the Advice of Other Tarot Readers, a blog post about tarot readers needing to seek out the aid and advice of other tarot readers at times, I received a lot of feedback and questions as to whether or not tarot readers can read for themselves at all. 
From what I understand of these questions and opinions, the idea isn't that a tarot reader cannot pull a daily card reading for themselves and read it but as to whether or not they could read for themselves objectively when the reading is in-depth or dealing with emotional matters in their lives. 

Reading for yourself is a way to create a close, personal relationship with the cards. If you've just started reading or have a new deck, then Yes, Please read for yourself! Figure out your own intuitive meanings for the cards. See how you feel about the imagery on each card face. Tell your own stories with the deck. No one else can do that for you, not really.

Here is some advice on reading for yourself that will clarify the advice of the cards and help you to avoid the pitfalls of biased tarot readings. (Hint: these same tips can be used when dealing with the bias involved with reading for friends, partners, and loved ones.) 

Take a breath. 
Reading when you're emotional is one of the biggest problems when reading for yourself. My advice for this is to step back from the situation, breathe, and obtain a measure of calm. 

Process the reading
Like a large, heavy meal, sometimes deep readings on difficult or emotional matters need time to digest. 
A great way to process your thoughts, feelings, disagreements or synchronicities in and around a reading is through a tarot journal.
Instead of pulling "clarifiers" or dealing new spreads to seek out a different outcome to the situation, another way to learn more from a reading is to take a good hard look at the initial reading and what it is about the cards that you are uncomfortable with or disprove of. Write it down if you like and process the emotions you are feeling on paper. Sometimes the written word is a better clarifier than pulling a new card. 

Use a simple spread. 
The more cards you pull and more positions you have, the more chances you have to create bias or disagreements with the tarot. 

Understand that the cards only tell you what you need to hear. 
You can't always get what you want. Pulling multiple cards, dealing multiple spreads, or looking up different card meanings until you get the reading you want doesn't change the situation in the reality. 
If you do want to clarify the reading, try a layout expansion. I discuss a Celtic Cross Expansion in this month's Tea&Tarot. Here, we take a card from our initial reading and build another layout around it to clarify the time, action, or reason for everything happening. 
Another option is the rearrange the reading. If you are pulling cards and the reading is a negative or uncomfortable one, consider what cards and positions are the culprits. Then make a conscious decision to move these cards or turn them around if they are reversed. As you do this, think about what actions you can take in your life to make this change or transition happen. The act of moving the card around is a symbolic representation of the act you intend to make to change your life. You are the creator of your reality and life so it is up to you to change things that make you unhappy. You can do this. 

My first book for the challenge is American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I chose this book as I had read it before and enjoyed it, which, for me, was the whole point of participating in this challenge - to do some self-care reading, reading for fun. I also chose this book because it came up in conversation about the same time as this challenge was introduced to me. Someone I know kept using the term low-key in a discussion and the more he said it the more I thought of Low Key Lyesmith, one of our tale's catalysts. 
The more I thought about Low Key, the funnier the discussion got for me until I had to giggle and then explain why what my friend was saying was so funny. No one else had read American Gods so that lead to me telling them why the book was so awesome and recommending it. I don't know about you, reader, but when I am reminded of really good books in this way, I grow nostalgic for them - like remembering a place you used to live or a friend you used to talk to. You long to go back and visit them and that is just what I did. 

In American Gods, Neil Gaiman answers the question - what happens to the old gods when their people evolve, migrate, and move on? 
The story follows Shadow, an ex-con who has just been released from prison and finds himself without a job or a home or a woman to return to. He is pulled into the world of modernized gods and myth by Mr. Wednesday who hires Shadow to be a sort of body guard, assistant, transporter, etc (anyone watch mob movies? Who is the guy that does everything but has no authority?). During the course of this job, Shadow meets leprechauns bigger than life, funeral directors who are more than what they seem, people who ought to remain dead, and horrific sacrifices. 
War is coming among the gods. The gamble is crooked, the game is rigged, the stakes are high...but its the only game in town. 

I love that the main character isn't the usual, likable hero. Shadow is a guy who epitomizes the strong, silent type and he starts out in the story in prison. I have to admit, when I first began reading this book, I was apprehensive as to whether or not I was going to be able to relate enough to the protagonist to really get into the story. Gaiman doesn't let me down. Shadow isn't just some brute, he is "Everyman" who deals with real world problems as well as surreal, fantastical conflict. I grew to love him. 

One of my favorite things about American Gods, and Neil Gaiman's writing in general, is the way that characters that many of us know from mythology, legend, and history are twisted into a modern world view. As someone who practices a sort of modernized form of witchery and embraces current witchy archetypes, it is always refreshing to see how others view the world around them and how the gods and spirits will evolve with the times. I do this myself at times, wondering how forest fairies might have transformed to accommodate cities and parks or how gods might embrace the current age like Anubis and Bilquis (see: Mercury - God of Commerce and Tarot).

There are many themes in the book - it would take a thesis to discuss them all I think. One of my favorite themes is the two ways America is seen in the book. America is a character by itself in Gaiman's writing. We see America in Shadow's travels to diners, grubby apartments, woods, highways, and roadside attractions. We visit America through the eyes and ideas of not only a citizen (Shadow) but also through immigrants. 
Wednesday describes America through the Statue of Liberty - saying she is a whore with cold jizm running down her leg. This idea of America being harsh and filthy is reiterated with chapter segments of prostitution and hardship of the working class. However, when Shadow dreams, it is usually of a buffalo god and the ancient gods of the Americas including the energy of fire under the earth and these gods describe America briefly as being a land of fire and dreams and no place for gods because of that. We see these dreams and the fire within in our Everyman, Shadow - in how he was able to get out of jail through good behavior, in his love for his wife, and in his desire to learn what this world is all about. We also in side characters like Sam who is going to school and finding love, in Salim who finds freedom through the tricks of an ifrit.
I think its beautiful how Gaiman describes America in both of these ways because I think we as Americans embody both of these concepts - the dirty and the dream, the fire and filth. We have riots in the streets but we also have people doing amazing things every day and are capable of that because of where we live...but I digress. 

One of the biggest things that I am always effected by when reading American Gods is the part where Wednesday and Shadow meet with Easter. Here is a goddess who's feast day is celebrated everywhere and by more and more people every year - and yet she is still starving from lack of acknowledgement and worship. To prove this, Wednesday asks a waitress, who claims to be a pagan, what the word Easter means and where it comes from. In the book, the pagan believes Easter to be purely Christian and says she worships the nameless, divine feminine within. She doesn't understand when Wednesday asks about sacrifices, bacchanals, etc and is offended. This is something that I think any pagan reading American Gods should consider...

5 stars. Probably my favorite book by Gaiman. 

5 Years Ago Today...
Damon and I were legally married in the magickal city of New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Then again...some things were quite traditional. 

We were married in front of St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square. 
The original plan was to be married here, at Pirate Alley, but there were complications with the Catholic church not wanting us there. That's ok, we got Jackson Square with all of its musicians and crowd for free - the entire square was silent for the ceremony (which is really something to see so many strangers holding space for us and then celebrating with us!) and it was perfect. 

Of course, us being who we are, and New Orleans being what it is...we couldn't just have a normal wedding and honeymoon. We had to fit in trips to voodoo queen tombs, famous cemeteries, pirate bars, and homes of horror authors. 

I'd do it all again.
xoxo
December

I'm a little late in the game for the challenge as it spans out the entire year, however there are no deadlines to signing up. This is the 4th year the challenge has run and there is reason enough in that to believe it will also be available next year for those that want to wait to participate in the whole year (or add it to their new year's resolutions). 

This challenge also rounds up the book reviews monthly. Bloggers who participate in the challenge review the books they've read and link them back to Melissa's blog for the round up. This is not only a great way for like-minded bloggers to find each other, in my opinion, but also a way for me to find other book options from the reviews given. I'm all for finding new, witchy book options. 

The timing of this challenge coming up for me now is serendipitous in that I recently resolved to read 30-60 minutes a day as part of my self-care. I got away from reading for fun or reading anything not business related for a while. The same went with writing. While I was reading and writing every day, none of it was to relax or to get my creative juices flowing like I used to. So I set the challenge for myself to read 30-60 minutes every day and to do at least 500 words of creative writing daily. (I keep up with these goals as best I can on my Coach.me account where I can check in daily on what goals I've completed). 

The Witches & Witchcraft Reading Challenge allows readers to choose books of all sorts, fiction or non-fiction, so long as there are heavy elements of witchcraft or witches in them. Reference books, specifically those that are not read from cover to cover, are not permitted. This encourages me to choose fun reading for the challenge, meeting both this goal and my self-care reading goal. 
As part of the challenge, participants declare how many books they plan to read. There are 4 different levels:

• Initiate: Read 1 – 5 Witchy Books
  
• Maiden: Read 6 – 10 Witchy Books
  
• Mother: Read 11 – 15 Witchy Books
  
• Crone: Read 16 – 20 Witchy Books
  

Participants can go up a level but they cannot drop into a lower one - for example, I can choose to participate at the Initiate level and go up to Maiden if I decide to read more than # books. However, I cannot start out at the Mother level and drop down to Maiden if I feel that I cannot complete the # of books. 
I will be participating at the Initiate level since I am starting late and have quite the busy schedule for the rest of the year, including handling a newborn. We will see how I do come the end of the year. 

This book is HUGE. I mean that literally. This is one of the biggest books in my library and not one that I would want to carry around with me very much. If it weren't for the modern cover and paper, the brightness of the art, and the slick design, this could easily resemble one of those ancient tomes in movies that the wizard drops down on the table before his apprentice (usually coughing from the cloud of dust lifted) and the table creaks under the weight of it. 

Illustrations in the book are sparse however, spattered across almost every page are stars, pentacles, and little wands in place of bullet points.This smattering of images is wonderfully whimsical, witchy, and much appreciated.

I've run into a lot of people who sneer at spell books sold at book stores and claiming that the readers and practitioners that buy these books fall into that derogatory category of "Fluffy Bunny." I encountered that harsh judgement in my own home with regards to this very book. Its a rather large book, as I said, and its colors, size, and title are very evident on my book shelf no matter where I've lived. A friend came over with an acquaintance of hers that is an IT expert, a practicing witch, and says he is a descendant of the Romany people. He saw my book shelf as he was working on my computer (I'm hopeless when it comes to tech stuff it seems) and pointed out that I had a spell book. His tone was derisive and he looked me over saying "You know those books don't work. They don't explain why magick actually works." 
I only smiled and asked how the computer work was going, unwilling to go into this conversation with a stranger that had a hold of my most expensive piece of property at the time. 

The thing is, I sort of agree with him...sort of. 
I don't usually buy spell books. Its not because I don't see their value but its like he said, they don't explain why this or that spell actually works (if it works at all). These are like books of recipes. Spell books tell you the tools you need (kitchen tools and ingredients), the words to say (turn you oven on 450), how to use the tools and dispose of the spell after (mixing, baking, how long, and clean up). They don't usually explain that the reason you are using citrine and cinnamon in your better business spell is because citrine is a strong manifestation stone and cinnamon draws in clients and money just like a recipe won't go into detail about why baking powder helps your cakes become fluffy and that the reason to use butter instead of margarine is flavor as well as moistness. 

Simply reading the first part of the book, with its essays on using magickal tools to key concepts of how spells work, shows that this is not a recipe book. The jist of this whole matter can be summed up in the opening of the second chapter - Key Concepts for Casting Magic Spells:

Judika does an excellent job at giving us those key concepts. 
Even though every spell might not go in depth as to the why-fores and where-bys, there is an explanation to be found for the reason the author recommends goats milk for beauty and Galangal root for gambling spells. If the current spell you are reading doesn't have the explanation, a quick check in the index and the other spells or listings in that category will quickly point you to an explanation. 

My favorite thing about this book isn't necessarily the spells however, its the recipes to make your own magickal ingredients. In the back of the book is a Formulary that has recipes for such spell ingredients as Florida Water, Crown of Success Oil, Dragons Blood Ink, and Kyphi. I love having recipes for these ingredients at hand with simple explanations of how to create it so that I don't have to rely solely on ordering off the internet for those items that I can't usually find around where I live. I also think its good practice for people to make their own magickal ingredients just as it is good for them to make their own magickal tools - not only does this add their own energies to the mix but it connects them to their spiritual heritage. 

Her recommendations for psychic enhancement such as the Oya Courage Spell, her dreama nd psychic vision incense recipes, and pretty much her whole chapter on the Evil Eye I love! Lately I've also been digging on her protection spells recorded for protecting children. Also, her recipe for Kyphi is one of the easier processes and certainly one of the best ones I've found so far when it comes to results. 

A little warning for those of you who practice a form of magickal craft and belief system that shuns any spell work that 1) controls the free will of others or 2) has a negative effect on another person - you stand a chance at being offended by some of the spells in this book. Judika has proven herself to be well-versed in Hoodoo and folk magick as well as having knowledge of modern Western magickal practices of Wiccans and newer faiths. She doesn't skimp on spells from one system or another in this book and magick of all sorts can be found here. 

I give Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells 5 stars!

Today's Magickal Question is from Gem: 
Is it possible for someone, a spirit, deity, someone to communicate through the smoke of incense? Is that possible?

Yes, it is certainly possible. Some might even say that spirits or deities will use any means to get their message across so anything is possible. Incense smoke, however, is a highly possible medium through which the divine would communicate because it is often used for that very purpose by magickal practitioners. People of many faiths use incense to send prayers, requests, thanks, and messages to the spirit world. This is often done because of the aetheric nature of both fire (the burning of the herbs and resins) and air. Neither can be held in our hands and both have a shifting nature, making them fantastic conduits for spirit. 
2 forms of using smoke for this form of spirit communication are called Libanomancy and Capnomancy. 

Capnomancy differs from Libanomancy in that it is divination of smoke after a fire has been made - not necessarily smoke just from incense. Readings can be done with any smoke-causing fire but were traditionally done over the fires were sacrifices were made to see if the sacrifice was pleasing to the gods. 
Like Libanomancy, reading the smoke is often a matter of deciding the meaning behind which direction it is going, if there are any breaks or clusters in the plume, etc.
Yet another form of smoke divination that falls under the umbrella of Capnomancy is Dendromancy which is a Druidic practic using specifically oak wood and mistletoe. 

I recommend capnomancy after any spell or ritual that involves fire, especially when a spell is burned or disposed of in the flames. This can give signs as to how long and how well the spell or ritual will turn out in the days or weeks to come. 

You can also practice capnomancy when smudging a home. Rather than guiding the smoke with a fan, allow the smoke to guide you to where it is most needed and use it to see where in the home needs focused cleansing or banishing. 

After she abdicated her “throne” as Voodoo Queen in 1875, she dedicated herself to such philanthropic endeavors as feeding and comforting condemned prisoners who were headed for the gallows.
When she died on June 16th, 1881, the Times-Picayune editorialized saying "Much evil dies with her, but should we not add, a great deal of poetry too."

Marie Laveau Water (aka Holy Water or Blessing Water) 
Used for psychic enhancement, protection, aura cleansing, and cleansing spells. 
Blend the following:
1 cup rain water
1 cup Holy Water
1 cup spring water
1 cup rose water/hydrosol
1 cup lavender water/hydrosol or 20 drops lavender essential oil
Store in a glass jar or bottle and keep in a cool, dark, dry place.

Before we get into this recipe, i want to say that, yes, I am aware this is not a "real" latte because I didn't heat the milk and create foam as a latte demands. You can heat the milk on the stove or in the microwave but I am not sure how to make the foam without special equipment so...those of you who are barista purists, I hope you will forgive me. 

For this recipe you will need

• Chai
  
• Hot water (of course)
  
• Milk (your choice of type)
  
• Pumpkin Spice Syrup
  
• Cinnamon (optional)
  

Brew your chai tea as you would normally. If you like it strong, add an extra bag to your mug or pot. 
Add a tablespoon of Pumpkin Spice Syrup to your mug. You can make it more or less depending on how sweet or strong you want the flavor to be. 
Add milk. 

Super simple, I know but can you imagine how much money you're saving by not spending $5 a pop on one of these at the local coffee spot? If you wanna feel fancy shmancy, add a dash of cinnamon to the top and put your chai in a branded to-go cup before you leave the house or settle in at your desk. Be sure to take a selfie and share it with me @SeerandSundry on Twitter!

The tarot spread for today's Tea&Tarot is an expansion on the traditional Celtic Cross spread created by Eileen Connolly. Most tarot readers know the Celtic Cross spread as it is the MOST used spread for tarot readings. It is a 10 card spread and, Eileen Connolly reads the positions as

I want to make it clear that this is Eileen's way of reading the Celtic Cross because many tarot readers have different meanings for some of the positions, myself included. 

For the expansion, for each position of the Celtic Cross you will have 3 cards instead of 1 for a total of 30 cards. The cards will, for the main body of the cross, be placed in a triangular formation, while for the side bar will be laid out horizontally. 

Eileen, in Tarot - The Handbook for the Journeyman, says that the Triadic Celtic Spread can "open the Pandora's Box of what's really going on deep inside you." She goes on to make clear that this is not a forecast or fortune-telling spread; "it is to allow you to understand how and why events occur." 
Pictured is my spread created regarding a business question I had:

This is, obviously, not a spread I recommend for daily reading or a quick and simple question. My recommendation is to use this spread for times when your question has a lot of facets to consider and is effecting your life in more than just one area. Have your notebook or tarot journal handy for copious notes. Having this many cards going at once can make it difficult to see and make connections from one card to another. I personally filled up 7 pages in my own tarot journal just from this one reading with notes on location, timing cards, how one card not only effects the triad that it is in but cards on the other side of the reading, and more. 
I also recommend you do this spread in an area where you have ample space...my normal tarot altar could not contain 30 cards splayed at once so I had to move to my desk. Remember, sacred space can be created anywhere - even the floor of your living room or bedroom if necessary. 

Don't be afraid of do-it-yourself recipes or large readings. Both can be super beneficial to your life and magickal practice. 

You have probably seen books, videos, podcasts, and blogs with a very strange spelling for the word magic. One of the biggest and boldest examples is Joanna Devoe's Kick Ass Witch slogan - Putting the K in Magick! Some of you are asking, What K? There is no K in magic? Can't these people spell?!?

I've been asked this question quite a bit lately. One friend even thought I was simply making a spelling error or type-o and kindly tried to correct the issue. I appreciate the inquiries and efforts and I thought I would go ahead and explain myself. 

Magick began to be spelled with a K by those witches, Wiccans, pagans, etc who wanted to differentiate their spiritual work from the illusionary stage magic of David Copperfield, Chris Angel, etc. The spells, poppets, potions, and more created by modern witches are not meant to be created as an entertainment and nor are they simple parlor games. Most witches take their work very seriously as part of their religious practice and to suppose that their work was akin to sawing a girl in half for the applause of a crowd would be a very offensive mistake. 

I will say that not every witch does this just as not every magickal practitioner calls themselves a witch. It all comes down to a matter of preference. Some say magic is spelled m-a-g-i-c and people should know better by context what sort of magic the speaker or writer is talking about - whether practical witchcraft magic or illusion or fictional. I respect that and agree, people SHOULD be able to tell by the context what sort of magic the writer is talking about but, sadly, assuming that people will know the difference usually, like the saying goes, makes an ass out of someone. I've learned this the hard way with a lot of terminology I use - and still have some people thinking that by saying I practice magick or calling myself a witch that really I'm just obsessed with Harry Potter or play games like Magic the Gathering or D&D (note- there is nothing wrong with any of these things...I really like Harry Potter). I've learned to be choosy with my words because of this. 

I adopted this method of spelling magick when I began my professional career as a witch and tarot reader. As part of my profession, I read tarot at events and am usually not the only reader available. Sadly, there are times when another reader in attendance is there only as a form of amusement - they have no idea how to read the cards and don't really claim to. Their fortunes are jokes the go along with giggles behind cheap gypsy costumes in exchange for token fees. It is part of my job to ensure that Seer & Sundry, as a brand, is not confused with the cheap, false entertainment. So, I made a conscious decision to do what I can to separate myself from the farse, and spelling magick the way that I do is part of that decision. 

That being said, it is still very annoying that my writing platforms don't acknowledge magick as a word properly spelled so I tend to spend most hours writing ignoring red squiggly lines as best I can. 
Blessings,
December

Recently, my witchy sister Lady Aconita asked me to test out a tarot spread that she created. You can see her spread, notes, and thoughts on her blog here. 
I of course jumped on it because I love testing new spreads AND love sharing my tarot love with friends. 

The topic of the spread was rather prompt for me. The purpose is to analyze your emotions and figure out what is effecting them and, if they are particularly non-beneficial, how to escape their hold on you. 
Being pregnant, I have mood swings, however, in the last week or so, I've experienced some depression due to stress caused by my letting people around me effect how I see myself, my world, etc. This spread was just perfect timing for that and, since I don't believe in coincidences, I knew this was a sign from spirit to get my tail into gear and use my tools to figure a way up and out of the funk I was in. 

I did tweak some of Aconita's working for the spread I laid out. 
I changed #3, Who is not helping you? to Who or What is not helping your situation? 
The wording helped me because, as you might see here, I could read the 5 of pentacles as either someone being uncharitable or the problem could be my own unwillingness to ask for aid that is close at hand. 
Also, rather than Clarification, I chose to lay an Outcome card. 
For me, clarification cards are cards drawn after a reading is laid out and they are placed over the area that needs clarification. Say I wasn't understanding card 3 and wanted some deeper insight, that is when I would draw a clarification card, lay it over or next to card 3, and read it from there. 
By making the 5th card space "Outcome" I could also see if I how I can use the lesson learned in the reading to bring myself towards an outcome I wanted and if the outcome in the layout was not what I wanted, then I'd have a heads up to change my direction. (I will be talking more about this in a future blog post on how to implement advice from tarot readings into your life.) 

In all, I really like this spread. I would recommend it for people who are feeling the blues or are unsure if people around them or their own actions or a combination of both are what is effecting the mood they are in. I also recommend trying this lay out with the Osho Zen Tarot as I find that deck to be great for doing readings based on emotions, shadow work, and depression (I didn't here because I like to try out new spreads with the Rider-Waite first). 
Thank you Lady Aconita for giving us such an awesome spread!