Winter Solstice Tarot Spread

Blessed Yule!

My created winter solstice spread is brought to you by the Deck of 1000 Spreads. I know - there are a zillion spreads out there and it's nothing wrong with using them. However, when you create your own spread, a little something of your essence is added.

Start by placing the solstice card in the middle. This is the significator. I used the Ace of Pentacles from the Universal Goddess deck. According to my research of tarot and astrology, this card represents the 1st day of Capricorn. Feel free to use whatever card you wish. I've read that some will place the Sun card here.

The object was to use 8 places to signify the Wheel of the Year; Yule marks the beginning of the solar year for me. I ended up using 9 with 2 cards at the beginning. Starting directly above the center and going clockwise, the places for the spread are

1. Message from Spirit AND Message from friends and family
2. Positive influences
3. Hopes and fears
4. What is hidden (what should you be on the lookout for)
5. Immediate future
6. What to use in the future
7. Goal (for this year)
8. Outcome

This is a beginning of the year spread so you can use it for your birthday, whenever you start the magical year, Gregorian New Year, etc.

I used the Sun and Moon Tarot to read. While I won't tell you all the cards I drew, I did pull the Sun card from 2 different decks. How's that! Also the significator is Fortuna, the Roman goddess of luck, good or bad. This reminds us that nothing is written in stone and the cards serve to give us a possible outcome.

Deck Review - Spirit de la Lune

This deck arrived yesterday. After pondering over whether I should get it or not, I went ahead and ordered it. Definitely worthwhile. The site listed 2-4 weeks as processing time; I got my deck in about 2 weeks. Well packaged. Padded envelope contained Easter basket grass and silver stars for decoration; what a nice touch!

The box: I have the 2nd edition so the box is completely square. The 1st edition cards came in a round tin. Around the box in silver are the phases of the moon. Opening the box was just a tad difficult. The width of it is just a little too big for my hand span. The lid is a snug fit so I had to shake the box a bit to it off. The guide book is perfectly square; 1st edition book was rectangular.

The deck: My first round deck! How fitting that it is a moon oracle. 56 (+ 2 reference) cards which contain 28 moon phases (as viewed from the Northern Hemisphere), 12 zodiac cards, 12 full moon cards, and 4 special moons. The artists call them moondalas (moon + mandalas). Cute! I haven't worked with the deck yet but as soon as I opened the pack just to scan them, I felt calmness. Maybe it's the roundness or the muted colors or the abstract art. I knew I'd made a wise choice. In fact, it has inspired me to make my own moon oracle but I'll tell you about it some other time.

Oracle decks are different from tarot decks. Oracles can be any amount of cards and the creators will need to provide a guidebook. Tarot is (usually) 78 cards with a major and minor arcana; the meanings are pretty much universal. The artists of Spirit de la Lune make comparisons of their oracle to tarot - full moon cards are major arcana, moon phases are minor arcana, and zodiacs are the courts.

The deck is packaged with the full moon and special moon cards first. Next come the phases/zodiacs broken up by suits. The guidebook explains each cards and includes spreads for each full moon. I love the little mantra / poem for each phase card! Cursive on the intro pages is a little hard to read but that just means you have to take your time to read it.

I rate this oracle 4.75 / 5 moons. Since the synodic month is 29.5 days, I wish 2 or more space or void cards was included so that we could follow the moonth with a phase card a day. I'll probably just make some placeholders out of black construction paper. The borders that indicate the elements could stand to be more different. I'm having a hard time telling the purples, blues, and greens apart.

Deck website: http://www.spiritdelalune.com/

Durin's Day 2016

I've set the sun/moon angle on Durin's Day to be 22.5 deg because it seems most likely this is when the crescent moon will be visible right before the setting sun. Due to the brightness of the sun and the tiny sliver of moon, you should be able to see the moon after civil twilight. Times are EDT.

Winter (Samhain) - Nov 6 6:47p

New Moon (sun/moon angle 0 deg) - Oct 30 1:38p
New Crescent (sun/moon angle 22.5 deg) - Nov 1
Waxing Crescent (sun / moon angle 45 deg) - Nov 3 4:50p

Sunset - 6:05p
Civil Twilight ends - 6:33p
Moonset - 7:38p

Sadly it was cloudy so I didn't see the doorway open. Bummer.

My first post on how I figured this out is here.

Squee!

Finished reading the intro to The Book of Doors. Very excited to start working with this deck.

Guess what Hedwig brought me!

The Book of Doors Oracle deck that I ordered came in. I recently ordered quite a few decks but this one was the first one to arrive. Can't wait to work with it. Meanwhile, here is a video review from Slavi.

UU Lent - Possibility

There was the possibility of me actually going outside and enjoying daylight and warm weather but unfortunaly I'm sick. I do have my bedroom window open though to air out the place.

UU Lent - Hospitality

First thing that comes to mind is part of the intro statement of my congregation - "wherever you are from, whomever you love, you are welcome here."

UU Lent - Heal

Part of my healing as an exjw involves doing things that I was forbidden to do. Next on that list is to give blood. One pint of blood can help heal up to 3 people.

UU Lent - Prayer

Ah, this will be interesting. See, UUs have a very broad view of Deity. Some of us believe, some don't. And those of us who believe, some of us pray and some don't. Me? Well I don't pray like I used to when I was Christian. There is no male God in the sky that I beseech. I do not end my requests with "in Jesus' name"; there is no need for a mediator on my path. I feel prayer is more of a reflection or meditation. Deity is within us so praying is accessing that energy. So no, I will not type Amen on your Facebook post and I will not pray for you unless I can follow up that prayer with action. I may give you a spell / ritual to follow to further your goals if you ask for it.

I have a few sets of Buddhist chanting (prayer) beads which have sadly been unused for quite some time. Some Pagans have their own meditation beads (check out etsy) and I think you can make some UU prayer beads. This site right here has some awesome info for making a variety of prayer beads. Of course, if you pray, you don't really need anything but yourself. Extra items and rituals help to focus the intent.

UU Lent - Suffering

On this day in 1942, then President Roosevelt signed an order imprisoning US citizens of Japanese descent. Camp conditions were horrible. Did I mention they were US citizens?

UU Lent - Fear

I fear being alone. I'm halfway there with no immediate family and no childhood friends due to the shunning practice of my former cult.

UU Lent - Curiosity

So cliché!  I have no idea what they are looking at.

UU Lent - Difference

I informed my boyfriend today that he is an earth sign (Taurus) like me (Virgo). No, he says, I'm an air sign (Gemini). I briefly try to explain the difference between the sidereal and tropical zodiacs. And it's not small. It's about a -25 day change, that is, your actual sign may be the one before it..

My husband is a fire sign (Sagittarius). I didn't need astrology to tell me that I'm dealing with 2 different personalities. Hubs is more practical and plans things out and bf kind of takes things as they happen. Hubs is quiet and bf is boisterous. Me? I find I adapt to whoever I'm with. Seems that they each bring out a different part of me.

UU Lent - Quiet

SSL day 28


I work nights so most of the time it's quiet. Unless of course we have some interesting topic to talk about. We keep our part of the office batcave-dark with only the lights from our computers - and the hallway. Anyway, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the dark parking lot with just a dusting of snow on the cars so here is a song instead.

The song is Sweet Lullabye (ambient mix) by Deep Forest. Very calming.


And because this is the weekend for Baby Love Sniper, here is a more sensual song. Love's Taken Over (quiet storm mix) by Chante Moore.

UU Lent - Devotion

Devotion - 1. love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause.

Samus in a pretty dress

I see why a lot of us are posting pictures of our pets. Samus, my toy poodle mix, was my very first pet. She's too smart for her own good but I can tell that she loves me unconditionally. Some trainers say to have your doggies greet you calmly. I prefer the enthusiastic jumping, tail wagging, happy barking greeting. Samus won't let me even go to the bathroom until I give her "high five".


Devotion - 2. religious worship or observance

Are there any Pagan daily devotionals? Probably none that are centralized. I've been trying to craft my daily practice. The JWs have their version of Our Daily Bread called Examining the Scriptures Daily aka the daily text. So the desire to do something spiritual is kind of hardwired in me. I've been drawing a tarot card from the Liber T deck before going to sleep. This makes for some interesting dreams when I can remember them.

The closest thing to a UU daily devotional is the online Daily Compass. Check it out.

UU Lent 2016 - Intro

This is year 3 of the unofficial* UU Lent online practice founded by Barb Greve and Karen Bellevance-Grace. I attempted to do this last year but didn't quite make it through. So I'm trying again.

Lent is a Christian holiday starting on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter Sunday. This period of time is fairly close to the Pagan Imbolc (Feb 3/4) through Ostara (March 20/21). Practitioners usually give up some "vice" (smoking, drinking, eating meat, sex) as some kind of penance. Although the Unitarian Universalist religion has its roots in Christianity (Unitarians and Universalists merged in 1965), most UUs do not consider themselves Christian; we modify our UUness with Pagan, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, agnostic, Jewish, etc. What makes the UU Lent different from traditional Lent is that we're not asked to give up anything. Instead, we are to reflect on the keyword of the day in anyway we see fit. So no matter what flavor of UU your are, you can participate. Here is the original Facebook link for this year.

Take a picture about what the keyword means to you, write something about it, and use #UULent on social media so that we can find each other.

I may do some retroactive posts to make a "Pagan Lent" season. As such, my posts for this practice will end on Ostara / Spring Equinox.

*I compare this practice to Chalica, another unofficial UU holiday, in that UUs are not required to observe. Actually UUs aren't required to observe any holidays. We're not going to suffer eternal damnation if we don't or get more heaven points if we do.

Coming out poly

by Patrick Kelly

My husband is okay with me marrying my boyfriend.

What? you say. Don't worry, I'm not breaking any laws. All 3 of us are well aware that polygamy (marrying more than one spouse) is illegal in the US. As far as biblical laws, well, none of us are Christian so there's that. As you may know I'm Buddhist Pagan Unitarian Universalist and my men have no particular religious affiliation. My political affiliation is Libertarian. I'm all about personal freedom and choice as long as it doesn't infringe on anyone else's freedom and choice.

I identify as polyamorous (literally: many loves). The opposite is monogamous. If you are content with having an intimate relationship with one person at a time- gender irrelevant - then you are monogamous. If, like me, you desire you have a relationship with several people at one time with their consent then you are polyamorous.

So yeah, although the union between boyfriend and I will not be recognized by the government, it will be recognized by us and anyone else who matters.


And now I will take questions:


How does it work?
Well, for me, my husband knew I was polyamorous when we met. He still married me knowing that this would not change. The most important rule was honesty. If I was going on a date, I told him. Unfortunately, my dates didn't quite know what poly was even though it was spelled out in my dating profile. Once I told them that my husband was well aware that I was on a date, they lost interest.

And your boyfriend?
He knows how to read and he understood my profile. Win win.

How's the sex?
How's the sex in your relationship? Just because I'm not in a traditional relationship that doesn't mean I want to talk about sexual specifics. But since you asked, none of us are complaining.

Isn't polyamory the same as swinging?
No, although there can be some overlap. Swinging implies more of a sex-only relationship between 2 or more couples. Polyamory is more of an emotional relationship between several people which can include sex.

Why have a ceremony when it's not legal?
Because my boyfriend is important to me and because why not?

You sinner! You will burn in Hell!
I don't believe in hell so....

Do you have any questions for me? I'm not an expert and I will try to point you to other resources if I don't know the answer.

Updated Tarot Astrology Correspondences

As part of refreshing my practice, I took a look at the major arcana of Tarot. Seems like everyone is using the Golden Dawn version. Some of the connections didn't make sense to me, probably because I don't study Hebrew nor do I have an interest in it. So with some minor tweaks, here is the version that I will use in my studies.

Fool - Uranus
Magician - Mercury
High Priestess - Moon
Empress - Venus
Emperor - Aries
Hierophant - Taurus
Lovers - Gemini
Chariot - Pisces
Strength - Sun
Hermit - Virgo
Wheel of Fortune - Jupiter
Justice - Libra
Hanged Man - Neptune
Death - Scorpio
Temperance - Sagittarius
Devil - Capricorn
Tower - Mars
Star - Aquarius
Moon - Cancer
Sun - Leo
Judgement - Pluto
World - Saturn