Book Of Shadows Ideas That Aren’t Basic

Daily Magick

Today we will be looking at Obsidian

Obsidian Associations

Chakras - Base Chakra

Zodiac - Scorpio, Sagittarius

Element - Earth/Fire

Typical colours - Black, silvery or brown

Meanings - Purification, transformation, fulfillment, metamorphoses, manifestation, practicality, psychic ability

Obsidian is truth-enhancing. A strongly protective stone, it forms a shield against negativity. It blocks psychic attack and absorbs negative energies from the environment. Obsidian draws out mental stress and tension. It stimulates growth on all levels, urging exploration of the unknown and opening new horizons. Brings clarity to the mind and clears confusion. Helps you to know who you truly are. Obsidian dissolves emotional blockages and ancient traumas. Promotes qualities of compassion and strength.

Obsidian aids the digestion and detoxifies. It reduces arthritis pain, joint problems and cramps. Warms the extremities.

Different Types

Black Obsidian. Base Chakra. Black Obsidian is a very powerful and creative stone. It increases self-control. It forces facing up to one’s true self. Releases imbalances and negative energies. Black Obsidian is protective and provides support during change. It repels negativity and disperses unloving thoughts.

Golden Obsidian. Sagittarius. Golden Obsidian, also known as Gold Sheen Obsidian, is a strongly protective stone. It is particularly effective for scrying, and balancing energy fields.

Mahogany Obsidian. Libra. Mahogany Obsidian has a gentle energy, resonating with the earth it grounds and protects. It is a stabilizing stone that strengthens a weak aura.

(Note: This being said, if you are suffering from a condition or are in pain please consult a doctor or mental health professional.)

Here is my full collection of PDFs I currently own and I’m still looking to expand this list. On this google drive you find a vary of tabs of subjects. 

Some tabs are empty as I am still looking for PDFs for them!

If you would like to submit a PDF please do so in my Submission link! Please read the guidelines and make sure the PDF isn’t in there already. 

Reader Beware! I have not read all of these books/pdfs (I don’t have enough time too) so I cannot guarantee the quality of each one. If you feel like one of the PDFs may be problematic for a number of reasons though, please send your concerns to my ask box. 

WITCH TIPS: GOOD BOOKS

I linked all of these books from Amazon so you could all see the covers, authors, and prices!! As i’m looking up books i’ve bought in shops, i’m shocked at how overpriced they were :(

The Green Witch

A Witches’ Bible: The Complete Witches’ Handbook

A History of Witchcraft

Everyday Witchcraft

Grimoire for the Green Witch

The Witch’s Book of Shadows

Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft

Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs

Quantum Sorcery Basics

Earth, Air, Fire & Water

Earth Power

Magical Herbalism: The Secret Craft of the Wise

The Crystal Bible

Crystal Grids Power

Moon Magic

Moonology

Raise Your Vibration

Astrology: A Guide to Understanding your birth chart

Woman Most Wild (submitted by anon)

Mrs. B’s guide to Household Witchery  (submitted by anon)

i’ll continue to edit this post as i come across new books!

feel free to pop in my asks with your favorite witchy books here

- @lapiscat 

| 100+ Grimoire Prompts/Ideas |

To see any updates to this post, click [here]. I’ll likely update it. 

Disclaimer No single witch knows about all these things or has answers to all these prompts. This is just a reference list. Don’t get overwhelmed and focus on what interests you and relates to your path when making a grimoire or book of shadows. 

The Essentials:

Does your grimoire have an index for organization? Make one! 

Write about the history of witches, the occult, Paganism, ect. 

What is witchcraft?

What is intent? What is your will? How do they work? 

What types of spells are there?

What are some methods for spells? 

What types of witches are there? 

What is cleansing? Why is it important? How is it done? 

What is charging? Why is it important? How is it done? 

What is grounding? Why is it important? How is it done? 

What is shielding & warding? Why is it important? How is it done? 

What are circles? Why are they important? How is it done? 

What is visualization? Why is it important? How is it done? 

What methods are there for divination? How can it be used?

What is consecration? How do you consecrate tools? 

Write about energy, energy work basics, how is energy used? 

What methods of meditation are there? Have any favorites?  

Write about any tips for meditation you know of! 

Other Useful Stuff:

Make a list of terms commonly used in reference to witchcraft

How to write your own spells 

How to make moon water

How to make sigils 

How to dress candles

The wheel of the year. What is it? How do you celebrate it? 

Make a pendulum board

Write the entire Theban Alphabet 

Taglocks. What are they? How do you use them?

The Correspondences of:

The Elements 

The directions - North, South, East, & West 

Moon phases 

Zodiac signs 

Planets 

Days 

Times of day 

Numbers 

Colors

Tarot cards 

Runes 

Herbs & Spices 

Flowers 

Trees/Wood 

Other plants 

Essential Oils 

Incense 

Teas 

Seashells & other things from the sea 

Crystals & Metals 

Gods & goddesses 

Spirits 

Angels 

Fae

Entities:

List pantheons/deities 

Basic spirit work 

How to protect yourself from spirits

How to bind and banish spirits if something goes wrong 

Fae etiquette 

Types of Fae

List ways to communicate with deities/spirits/Fae 

Information on constructs, servitors, tulpas, ect.

Your Path:

Page of tips/reminders

List practices, topics, deities/spirits of interest

How did you discover witchcraft?

What kind of witch are you, if any labels apply besides witch? 

Why do you do witchcraft?

What inspires your practice?

Is your practice based on any certain culture, religion, ect?

Is witchcraft spiritual for you? How so? Are you Pagan, Wiccan, ect? 

What is special about your practice? Do you have any unique methods, ideas, systems? 

How do you believe magic works?

What has being a witch taught you? 

Do you have any rules for your path? What are they? Why do you have them? 

Write about your goals relating to witchcraft. 

Do you have any familiars, deities or spirits you work with? Write about them. 

Are there many witches, occultists, Pagans, ect that inspire you? Who? What about them is inspiring? 

Make a correspondence page for you. Your natal chart, birth tarot card, numerology, elements or signature ingredients you connect to, ect. 

Draw a chart of symbols you use in your practice. This could be alchemical symbols, sigils, runes, ect. 

Offering ideas for your deities/spirits

Plants you have and how to care for them 

Do you have any witchy drawings or doodles? Add them! Make some! 

Write about folklore, especially personally significant or local folklore

Write about any myths or folk tales you like 

Write about local animals, plants, in your area

Make lists of:

Witchy recipes, crafts, projects, ect that you wanna do

Tarot spreads you like

Other spreads you like, oracle, runes, ect

A section or separate book for readings/spells/rituals you do

Witchy places you like, that be it woods, cemeteries, shops, ect

A witchy wishlist, tools, ingredients, ect that you want

Witchy books you have and witchy books you want 

Random topics:

Astrology

Astral projection

Auras

Crystal grids

Dream interpretation

Familiars

Herbalism 

Lenormand 

Runes 

Sacred geometry

Scrying 

Symbols 

Tarot cards

Oracle cards 

Palmistry

Pendulums

Spirit Work: Beginners

Working with spirits is a fun experience in my opinion, but definitely comes with a risk. You’re meeting someone new, and there are “good” entities and “bad” entities and entities in between, just like with anything. Working with spirits requires some preparation, and may be easier for some and very difficult for others. I personally had to train quite a long time to get to where I am and I am still learning a lot even today.

Preparation Stage

1. Warding

Knowing how to ward is so important in witchcraft in general, and this is definitely no exception. Please make sure to have strong wards around yourself and your mind. A spirit with bad intentions can definitely hurt you or possess you against your will if you are not careful.

Note: Ward against all spirits, even the ones you trust. You deserve your own space and there are going to be times when you want to be alone. This is so important.

2. Learn about yourself

This may sound strange but you need to know who you are before working with spirits. This way, you can tell the difference between when you feel them around or your own energy, and the same with trying to hear/see them vs. your own thoughts.

To do this, meditate as much as possible. If you can end up meditating at least a few minutes every single day, that’s awesome. Focus your meditations at first on quieting your mind and focusing on a single random object in your mind. Visualize it and observe the details. How it smells, feels, tastes, sounds. Usually I do this with an apple. Something simple. Once you feel like you can do this comfortably, then begin exploring your current emotions. Identify as many as you can. You can dig deeper if you would like, trying to see what underlying emotions you carry that can cloud your readings, both telepathy and divination. Explore your energy- what color does it look like to YOU, not what others have told you? Everyone sees things differently, so you need to see how you see.

I could go into more detail about this but that will have to be a whole other post. This is such a big part of spirit work and your own journey that I cannot stress it enough. The more you know yourself, the easier it will be in a lot of your workings in witchcraft.

3. Trust yourself, be confident

Doubts and fears cloud readings, both physical and mental. Your intuition will become clouded if you do not trust yourself. It is good in my opinion to have a little doubt and to not be too confident, but it is a delicate balance. It’s hard to explain how much is too much, so the one way I can put it is allowing the first thought be your instinct. The thoughts that come automatically tend to be the instinctive ones.

4. Learn what is instinct, and what is yours

This is important as well. I briefly mentioned it in the previous point. A good idea to practice this is begin with divination- for example, tarot cards have basic meanings, but also should be interpreted with intuition as well. Learn to listen to that intuition in your divination and not only will it help you with listening and identifying spirits, but also will help you with your divination techniques. Definitely an awesome double whammy! Don’t forget, tarot is NOT the only way to talk with spirits!

5. Learn how to banish

Just in case you come across a spirit who wants to hurt you or will not leave you alone even if you ask it to, you need to learn how to banish it. There are many ways you can perform a banishing- it highly depends on your own abilities and what is easiest for you. Some people have a lot more power in words, while others need to make a spray with herbs and oils. I highly suggest doing some research on banishing and find what works best for you.

6. Find a communication method

Once again, everyone is different. Some work better with pendulums (I personally don’t like using them), while others use tarot or another method. Getting to the point of seeing and hearing a spirit takes a while for some people, and that’s ok. It took me almost four years to get to the point where I can comfortably see and hear spirits with my third eye.

For anyone, I highly suggest using some sort of divination method to read what spirits are telling you. Pendulum, runes, and tarot are most common. Keep in mind, when you use these for spirit communication, you will need to avoid putting your own energy into them so the reading doesn’t get mixed up or end up reading you instead. Practice reading other people first to help with this.

Spirit Stage

So now about spirits. Once again, remember, spirits have their souls. They have emotions. They make choices. They have personalities. This means they are capable of both helping and harming you. I don’t really believe in “good” and “evil” since it is relative to everyone’s beliefs. Instead, I believe that every spirit is capable of positive and malicious intent. Please remember this: Spirits can hurt you. But also, don’t judge a book by its cover. Just be cautious.

How do I get in contact with a spirit?

I would suggest starting with a deity you trust and feel close to. Deities have an energy that can be easier to read, and you may already have a relationship with this deity. You can also reach out to spirits in an area that you feel is safe.

First of all, with any entity, you should remain respectful and treat them like you would any person you meet for the first time. Introduce yourself (out loud or projecting gently through your mind is fine) and ask if they would like to introduce themselves. Use your divination method to help receive answers.

Trust your intuition. If you feel unsafe, say goodbye and ward up more. Banish them if they won’t leave you alone.  Give yourself a good cleanse as soon as you can.

But also, trust your intuition in how the spirit feels as well. If you sense they are uncomfortable, apologize and back off. Some spirits are shyer than others- others may not feel like interacting.

Don’t feel frustrated if your first few tries are unsuccessful, it happens! This is one of the most difficult skills to get in my opinion, and can take a while to master.

I also highly suggest having a look at this pretty good thoughtform post

Good luck and I hope this helps!

The Wiccans Glossary

Lunar Phases

🌑🌘🌗🌖🌕🌔🌓🌒

🌑New moon:

New beginnings

Cleansing

Creation

Resetting

🌒Waxing crescent:

Strength

Fertility

Healing

Creativity

Manifestation

🌓First quarter:

Attraction

Bonding

Taking action

🌔Waxing gibbous:

Energy

Strength

Renewal

Determination

🌕Full moon:

Power

Psychic ability

Celebration

Rejuvenation

Divination

🌖Waning gibbous:

Cleansing

Protection

Gratitude

Closure

Repelling

🌗 Third quarter:

Transition

Balance

Calming

Release

🌘 Waning crescent:

Banishing

Removing negativity

Rest

Surrender

Making an Altar Master Post

Considering making an altar but don’t know where to start? This long-ass post should cover all the bases of altar building for those of you who are interested but stuck. This post is pretty vague on purpose, altars are an interesting grey area of this practice. When you build an altar you can’t really go wrong, it’s something for you to take control of and decide for yourself.

📖This is all taken from my grimoire so feel free to add any info of your own in a rb or in the comments.📖

🌻What is an altar?🌻

Altars are a magical work space for any witch/pagan/wiccan/other. 

Historically altars and shrines were built all over the world in different cultures to house offerings and worship the gods/spirits/ancestors.

The difference between an altar and shrine can depend on the culture you’re looking at but generally an altar is both a work space and a place of worship and a shrine is solely a place of worship (the Theatron of Athens was an altar as it served as a place to house offerings and a communal performance space).

Modern day altars however are more private and unique to the practitioner/s. Altars and shrines can now be created using anything and include many different types.

There are many ways to think outside the box with altar building but don’t think you have to make one just because every other witch does.

🌻Types of altars🌻 (not an inclusive list)

- Home/family altar🏠: This serves as the energy centre of the home that is shared by the entire family. It can be simplistic, change with the seasons, and feature something representing each family member. (this is one that my dad built that lives in our kitchen). 

- Personal altar: This altar is usually only connected to 1 or 2 people and kept separate from the rest of the family in a bedroom/box/draw. It can be put anywhere and be of any size (mine used to be on a shelf in my wardrobe and now it sits on the window) This altar is very personal to the practitioner often representing their passions and/or their patron. (this is my own to Dionysus and Apollo but it also includes my desk and bookshelf next to it since the window is so small).

- Working Altar: This altar is very practical. It’s only taken out when it’s needed for spells/rituals and is unique to the spell and it’s intention. If you want this type of altar then when you build it think carefully of what corresponds to the outcome you wish for.

- Shrine: (a form of altar to some, completely separate to other but I’m including it just in case). Created to honour a specific deity/creature/spirit. This is used to house offerings and pray.

-Travel/mini altar: Often stored away in a box/tin. Travel/mini altars can consist of small trinkets to carry around when you’re away from your larger altar or have to conceal your magic (it’s great for witches in the broom closet but depending on the size it could go missing).

- Image altar📷: Less traditional but very creative. An image altar could be a collection of images on Photoshop (for techies), a collage of pictures on a wall or board, or even a drawing of an altar (It’s personal, inconspicuous and it doesn’t matter if you can draw or not). I made this one in my sketchbook using pencil, ink and watercolour.

- Love/self care altar❤: This altar is fully dedicated to self care, loving yourself, or introspection. It includes things that have a lot of meaning to you and make you happy when you’re down (I have one by my bedside and use it when I feel shitty, I also use this space to contact my spirit guide).

🌻Supplies🌻 (again not an inclusive list)

These are some general supplies to have for an altar but this doesn’t mean that anything is 100% necessary.

- A flat surface: This can be anywhere with enough space to display everything.

- A cloth: Not just to protect the surface or fragile objects, it can be a sign of respect to your patron.

- Incense/oil diffuser: To smell nice and can be used to cleanse the space.

- Candles: Decoration, to represent fire or your patron, for candle magic, and meditation.

- Bowl/dish: To hold any offerings.

- Cup/chalice/bottles: For drink offerings, to represent water, to hold water for a spell.

- Matches/lighters: If you include candles.

- Crystals/stones: Decoration, could also be elemental/seasonal/represent the chakra.

- Wand/athame: Can be used to direct energy in a spell.

- Bell: To represent air, to call spirits/your patron.

- Mortar & Pestle: To grind up any ingredients in a spell.

🌻Building an Altar🌻

This is part is going to be a simple guide to building a personal altar (I will be using my own preference for deities as an example but you don’t have to).

1- Find a space: Think about where you want to work and consider the energy you get from different spaces (also consider any pets and fragile objects).

2- Find a surface: This can be as big as you like. I’ll be using my art desk as an example, I took everything off it and cleaned it before I did anything else.

3- Get a cloth: Fabric from a craft shop or an old scarf/veil are perfect and come in any available colour and size. In terms of colour you can chose one of your favourites, something seasonal or something to represent your patron. 

4- Set your intention: Now this is the time to decide what your altar is going to be used for. You can pick a centre piece that reflects this. 

I wanted to connect with the gods so I made the centre of the altar about myself and my deities go on either side. The centre piece I chose is a picture of a fairy scene I’ve had for a very long time.

5- Candles: The next thing to put down are candles (or any source of light). The light acts as the switch to turn on your altar and give light to any patron for when you want to communicate.

6- Tools: If you want to include any tools from the previous list then now is the time to chose where you want to put them (I included a cup of water, an incense holder, a bell, and a wand).

7- Decoration: Next is to add any personal decoration that can go wherever you like. I put mine in the centre piece.

8- (OPTIONAL) Representing patrons: This step is optional because it isn’t necessary to have a patron in your practice.

Because of the intention I decided on in step 4, I places the decoration representing my patrons on either side of my altar (btw these photos were before I switched from Aphrodite to Apollo so I apologies for the inconsistency).

I left a large space empty to use for when i’m writing in my grimoire, performing a spell or doing a tarot reading. I didn’t include this in my real altar because it’s a decorative section.

🌻Tips🌻 

- There are templates that you can follow if you really want to. They’re usually for a large traditional elemental altar though (I personally don’t recommend them because it’s boring and not very creative).

- An altar can be as big or as small as you like and you have no rules or expectations and it doesn’t have to be just one surface.

- If you want an altar for a spirit/deity/fae as well as their respective candle, you could include a candle for yourself to represent your own spirit to stay connected with them.

- An altar is a very subjective thing, if it’s personal it should change with your interests (like from light and fire the first year to sea and sand the next year).

-There are hundreds of videos on altars here’s a few I recommend you look at: 

The Witch Of Wonderlust- All About Altars:  https://youtu.be/p3ysPbvQa7c

Molly Roberts- Sacred Spaces and Kick Ass Altar Crafts: https://youtu.be/_kcki25BY6o

Harmony Nice- My Wiccan Altar II And how to set up yours: https://youtu.be/tGWkNeoE6RY

Green Witch Glamour- How to Build an Altar: https://youtu.be/v3s_etlsUE0

Tarot A History and Brief Overview of Spreads

A History

The tarot, first known as trionfi and later as tarocchi or tarock is a pack of playing cards, used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play games such as Italian tarocchini, French tarot and Austrian Königrufen, many of which are still played today. In the late 18th century, some tarot decks began to be used for divination via tarot card reading and cartomancy leading to custom decks developed for such occult purposes. The word Tarot and German Tarock derive from the Italian Tarocchi, the origin of which is uncertain but taroch was used as a synonym for foolishness in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.

Playing cards first entered Europe in the late 14th century, most likely from Mamluk, Egypt, with suits of Batons or Polo sticks which are commonly known as Wands by those practicing occult or divinatory tarot, Coins which are commonly known as disks, or pentacles in occult or divinatory tarot, Swords, and Cups. These suits were very similar to modern tarot divination decks and are still used in traditional Italian, Spanish and Portuguese playing card decks. 

The first documented tarot packs were recorded between 1440 and 1450 in Milan, Ferrara, Florence and Bologna when additional trump cards with allegorical illustrations were added to the common four-suit pack. These new decks were called carte da trionfi, triumph cards, and the additional cards known simply as trionfi, which became “trumps” in English. The earliest documentation of trionfi is found in a written statement in the court records of Florence, in 1440, regarding the transfer of two decks to Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta.

The original purpose of tarot cards was to play games. A very cursory explanation of rules for a tarot-like deck is given in a manuscript by Martiano da Tortona before 1425. Vague descriptions of game play or game terminology follow for the next two centuries until the earliest known complete description of rules for a French variant in 1637. The 18th century saw tarot’s greatest revival, during which it became one of the most popular card games in Europe, played everywhere except Ireland and Britain, the Iberian peninsula, and the Ottoman Balkans. French tarot experienced a revival beginning in the 1970s and France has the strongest tarot gaming community.

Italian-suited tarot decks

These were the oldest form of tarot deck to be made, being first devised in the 15th century in northern Italy. The so-called occult tarot decks are based on decks of this type. Three decks of this category are still used to play certain games:

The Tarocco Piemontese consists of the four suits of swords, batons, cups and coins, each headed by a king, queen, cavalier and jack, followed by the pip cards for a total of 78 cards. Trump 20 outranks 21 in most games and the Fool is numbered 0 despite not being a trump.

The Swiss 1JJ Tarot is similar, but replaces the Pope with Jupiter, the Popess with Juno, and the Angel with the Judgement. The trumps rank in numerical order and the Tower is known as the House of God. The cards are not reversible like the Tarocco Piemontese.

The Tarocco Bolognese omits numeral cards two to five in plain suits, leaving it with 62 cards, and has somewhat different trumps, not all of which are numbered and four of which are equal in rank. It has a different graphical design than the two above as it was not derived from the Tarot of Marseilles.

Italo-Portuguese-suited tarot deck

The Tarocco Siciliano is the only deck to use the so-called Portuguese suit system which uses Spanish pips but intersects them like Italian pips. Some of the trumps are different such as the lowest trump, Miseria (destitution). It omits the Two and Three of coins, and numerals one to four in clubs, swords and cups: it thus has 64 cards but the ace of coins is not used, being the bearer of the former stamp tax. The cards are quite small and not reversible.

French-suited tarot decks

The illustrations of French-suited tarot trumps depart considerably from the older Italian-suited design, abandoning the Renaissance allegorical motifs. With the exception of novelty decks, French-suited tarot cards are almost exclusively used for card games. The first generation of French-suited tarots depicted scenes of animals on the trumps and were thus called “Tiertarock” (‘Tier’ being German for 'animal’) appeared around 1740. Around 1800, a greater variety of decks were produced, mostly with genre art or veduta. Current French-suited tarot decks come in these patterns:

The Industrie und Glück (Industry and Luck) genre art tarock deck of Central Europe uses Roman numerals for the trumps. It is sold with 54 cards; the 5 to 10 of the red suits and the 1 to 6 of the black suits are removed.

The Adler-Cego animal tarot is used in the Upper Rhine valley and its neighbouring hills such as the Black Forest or the Vosges, and has 54 cards organized in the same fashion as the Industrie und Glück. Its trumps use Arabic numerals but within centred indices.

The Tarot Nouveau has 78 cards, and is commonly played in France and is somtimes used to play Cego. Its genre art trumps use Arabic numerals in corner indices.

German-suited tarot decks

German-suited decks for Bauerntarock, Württemberg Tarock and Bavarian Tarock are different. They are not true tarot packs, but a Bavarian or Württemberg pattern of the standard German-suited decks with only 36 cards; the pip cards ranging from 6 to 10, Under Knave (Unter), Over Knave (Ober), King, and Ace. These use Ace-Ten ranking, like Klaverjas, where Ace is the highest followed by 10, King, Ober, Unter, then 9 to 6. The heart suit is the default trump suit. The Bavarian deck is also used to play Schafkopf by excluding the Sixes.

Tarot Card Readings

The earliest evidence of a tarot deck used for cartomancy comes from an anonymous manuscript from around 1750 which documents rudimentary divinatory meanings for the cards of the Tarocco Bolognese. The popularization of esoteric tarot started with Antoine Court and Jean-Baptiste Alliette (Etteilla) in Paris during the 1780s, using the Tarot of Marseilles. French tarot players abandoned the Marseilles tarot in favour of the Tarot Nouveau around 1900, with the result that the Marseilles pattern is now used mostly by cartomancers.

Etteilla was the first to issue a tarot deck specifically designed for occult purposes around 1789. In keeping with the misplaced belief that such cards were derived from the Book of Thoth, Etteilla’s tarot contained themes related to ancient Egypt.

The 78-card tarot deck used by esotericists has two distinct parts:

The Major Arcana (greater secrets), or trump cards, consists of 22 cards without suits:

The Minor Arcana (lesser secrets) consists of 56 cards, divided into four suits of 14 cards each;

The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Hierophant, The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, The Hermit, Wheel of Fortune, Justice, The Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Moon, The Sun, Judgement, The World, and The Fool. Cards from The Magician to The World are numbered in Roman numerals from I to XXI, while The Fool is the only unnumbered card, sometimes placed at the beginning of the deck as 0, or at the end as XXII.

Ten numbered cards and four court cards. The court cards are the King, Queen, Knight and Page/Jack, in each of the four tarot suits. The traditional Italian tarot suits are swords, batons, coins and cups; in modern occult tarot decks, however, the batons suit is often called wands, rods or staves, while the coins suit is often called pentacles or disks.

The terms “Major Arcana” and “Minor Arcana” were first used by Jean-Baptiste Pitois (also known as Paul Christian) and are never used in relation to tarot card games. Some decks exist primarily as artwork, and such art decks sometimes contain only the 22 major arcana.

The three most common decks used in esoteric tarot are the Tarot of Marseilles, the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck, and the Thoth tarot deck. 

The six most common Tarot Spreads are the;

Love Spread

Here is a little you should know about the ‘love’ spread. This type of reading evaluates the relationships relevance, how strong and happy they are. Every relationship has its ups and downs and with this six-card spread you will be able to evaluate your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual connections with your partner. The ‘love’ spread has its own 6 cards which represent the following:

#1-The first card signifies what you currently feel about your relationship, your approach, and your outlook.

#2-The second card represents your partners current emotions towards you, his attitude, and expectations about your relationship.

#3- The third card is a connection card. For example; common characteristics of both of you

#4– The fourth card indicates the strength of your relationship.

#5– The fifth card shows the weaknesses in your relationship.

#6– This final card is your true love card. It interprets if the relationship is going to be successful or not.

Success Spread

Briefly about the ‘Success’ spread; it is a remarkably situational spread.  It’s often used when a person is facing an obstacle or hardship. It can also be helpful if you don’t know how to face or overcome a problem as it will point you in the right direction.

#1- it helps you to find out about the true colours of the challenge in front of you. It will help you to identify what sort of skill set and resources you will need in order to not just solve but also overcome the challenge.

#2- this further clarifies on your current problems and challenges.

#3- The third card reveals the hidden factors affecting your current situation. You need to have knowledge about what these factors are to really overcome the obstacle you’re facing.

#4- The fourth card represents new plans, people, or objects that can help you grow further. By adapting yourself to these new aspects, your vision of the situation will change, leaving you with better solutions to your problems.

#5- The final card shows what requirements you need to fulfill in order to be proven successful and things you should avoid as they will lead you to failure. It will point you towards success if proven to be a positive card but in other cases it could be a negative card and will warn you about an upcoming disaster in your life.

Celtic Cross Spread

Despite its complications the ‘Celtic Cross’ Spread has stood popular for many years. This is most likely due to the fact that its importance lies in its difficulty. Each result of the Celtic Cross can be illustrated in a variety of ways depending on the direction of the of the fallen cards. Though not recommended for beginners, once anyone understands it, he or she can use this spread to find out the full depth of the situation. With enough practice it can it can be taken in use to find the answer to any problem. Celtic Cross deals with intricate situations.

#1– presents the current situation the person finds themselves in the and the reading is about the question they are facing.

#2– is placed over the first card, pointing to the left and is always read in an upright position. It shows what the basic challenge is that needs to be solved or the mental or physical object holding them back.

#3– The third spread reveals the subconscious influences. These strange influences have an extremely strong and powerful effect on one’s everyday life, especially in scenes relating to the question.

#4 – The fourth card shows what resources one has and the things they can use to face and solve the problem shown by the second card and in the process reach their ultimate goal, shown by the third card.

#5 – The fifth card shows the prologue of the scene. A negatively influenced past may have an effect that prevents their success on their current situation and they will need to let the memory go in order to stop it from negatively influencing their current situation so they can face and eventually overcome the problem at hand as shown by the second card. A positive past should be can simply be called inspiration. Even though the person may be facing a challenge in their current part of life, the problem

They are up against is natural growth of the positive past they had the benefit of experiencing and after they have overcome all their challenges, things will look even brighter than they were in the past.

#6 – The sixth card is the headlight. If the card states there is some form of negative energy on the way the five previous cards should give a good reasoning of why this is taking place and what we could do to prevent it.

#7 – The seventh card represents the person’s attitude. It illustrates your physical actions, thinking and ideals regarding the current problem. This will give you more to work with into whether the person’s attitude is conducive to a likable outcome or whether it’s time to retrack the way the person perceives the information.

#8 – The eighth card is an energy card. It talks about the energy surrounding them and the energy other people and the environment is letting off and if these energies are helping in any shape or form.

#9 – The ninth card tells us about what the person’s desires and fears. This is a revelation card. It gives importance to the things a person should be aware of in their current situation and might change the way a person acts which should not be neglected by them.

#10 – This is the final outcome and emphasizes on the energies, if they are complementing or conflicting. It also tells the person about the future that will take place immediately and if it is necessary or not to face the future.

Spiritual Spread

Similar to the Success Spread, the Spiritual Guidance spread is used when faced with problems that are of a spiritual nature. These sorts of challenges are usually related to spirituality in a person.

#1 – The first card represents your main concerns. You may think you know about the problem but this spread goes more in depth with it.

#2 – The second card looks into your motivation for looking for guidance.

#3 – The third card looks into the things about your life you are insecure or worried about.

#4 – The fourth card emphasizes on the parts of your life that you are not aware of.

#5 – The fifth card is your advice card as it will guide you to the steps to face your fears. It ties in with the previous cards.

#6 –The sixth card guides us to a life with no worries so that we could move forward on our spiritual journey.

#7 – The seventh card teaches you to deal with the situation with the resources you have at hand.

#8 – Finally, the eighth card finishes the Spiritual Guidance Spread by telling us that the result of the tarot cards all depends on our reaction to it whether we focus on the positive or negative.

Career Path Spread

This spread is for times where we feel left out on our career. We work hard hoping for a promotion but to no benefit. It helps us with these kind of challenges that we face in our professional life.

#1 – The first card basically asks us if our job that we have right now is indeed our ideal job

#2 – The second card emphasizes on the actions we must take to further boost our career. A positive card means we should stay at the same position we are in right now whereas a negative one means we should make some changes.

#3 – The third card tells us about certain things about our job that we can no longer alter. The card may tell you to look for a job in the same category we are working in right now.

#4 – The fourth card refers to our skills on our job to see if they’re enough to get us a promotion or if we are behind everyone else.

#5 – The fifth card tells us about the things we can do in our career to improve and start a new one or just small things we can do in our current career to at least get noticed.

#6 – The sixth card gives us the answer to the question that if our past mistakes are influencing our career now.

#7 – The final card tells you that if the card is negative it might lead to a bad outcome as it might result in you making other bad career choices.

However, if you aren’t sure of the outcome, use the card again after a few days or weeks to see if the reading changes as your attitude changes.

Three-Card Spread

The simplest and the most useful spread, ‘The Three Card Spread’ only uses three cards. This is what makes it the most popular. This is one of the most powerful spreads and can find answers for you really quickly for almost anything, let it be overcoming a problem or an obstacle or if you are simply just feeling lost or left behind.

Linear 3 Card Tarot Spreads

As you can imagine, this layout is good at suggesting some sort of linear path, sequence of events, cause and effect, or a way of getting from point a to point b.

Past, Present, Future

You, Your Path, Your Potential

You, Relationship, Partner

Situation, Action, Outcome

Idea, Process, Aspiration

Balanced 3 Card Tarot Spreads

In this layout, each card of the spread has a common intersection. They are all equally important, like three sides of a pyramid. Without any of these, the whole structure collapses.

Mind, Body, Spirit

Physical State, Emotional State, Spiritual State

Subconscious, Conscious, Super Conscious

Option 1, Option 2, Option 3

What I think, What I feel, What I do

Foundational 3 Card Tarot Spreads

I think think one is a little harder to explain, but I like thinking of these spreads being communicators of advice in a way such that “given X and Y, the result is Z”. X and Y attempt to give you a clearer understanding of options, and Z is a summary, a crux, a way to move forward given the information that is there. In fact, even when phrasing these spreads, I like saying them in a way that follows this formula to make the point clearer. The bolded items represent the actual card positions.

Given your strengths and weaknesses, this is my advice.

Given what worked well, and what didn’t work well, this is the key lesson.

Given that this brings you together, and that this pulls you apart, you must focus on this.

Given that you want this from the relationship, and your partner wants this, your relationship is heading towards this.

Given Option 1 and Option 2, This is what you need to know to make a decision.

Crossed 3 Card Tarot Spreads

As the layout would imply, this is about understanding conflicts and obstacles. The card that crosses over is something that stands in the way and that needs to be overcome, something that blocks you from attaining your ultimate goal, while the third card acts as a sort of advice card, looking at the situation from a more distant viewpoint. These can also be used as simpler 2 card spreads if you want to use only the crossing cards.

Situation, Obstacle, Advice

Aspiration, Obstacle, How to Overcome

Opportunities, Challenges, Outcome

Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis

I will be doing card meanings on a later date :)

Do you have any posts on Shadow People? I have heard different things about them and the internet doesn’t help since each site I visit tells something different about them

This is gonna get me into some controversy and I don’t care.

Shadowpeople are dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.

Now, there are a lot of shadow-type CREATURES that aren’t dangerous, but are oftenmistaken as shadowpeople. I have friends who haveshadow-based familiars, various shadow spirit friends, and I’ve met severalshadow type fae, elementals, and other things. They were quite pleasant. Theyjust happened to be in the shape of a shadow.

Those are not Shadowpeople™.

You can argue all you want that you’ve met kind shadowpeople. Iwill remain firm in my belief that those are not actual shadowpeople. I’ve hadpeople try and introduce me to their “nice shadowperson friend” andit’s not a shadowperson at all. Just a spirit that happens to be in the shapeof a shadow.

Actual Shadowpeople:

are attracted to toxic environments

have a heavy (negative) effect on theemotions of everyone in the vicinity

feed on your aura/energy until you’re exhausted

are capable of very physicalpoltergeist activity

can make people physically and spiritually ill

in extreme cases can physically harm humans (scratches, bruises, etc.)

Every shadowperson I’ve encountered has been outright malicious and showed up to feed on toxic situations and make things worse. This holds true with the rest of my coven and other witchy/psychic circles I’m in.

Do what you want in your practice, but I won’t help anyone work with shadowpeople because they’re dangerous entities that I don’t want to get tangled up with.