Book Haul

Over the weekend I went to a new generic bookshop that had popped up in my area to buy a gift for a friend, and of course I had to check out the metaphysical books. The section was small but stocked with a surprising variety of choices. I couldn't help myself, and came away with a couple of things. The Element Encyclopaedia of 5,000 Spells by Judika Iles is a huge tome; a recipe book of spells of all different kinds. The Voodoo Doll Spellbook by Denise Alvarado was a huge surprise. Its particular brand of spellwork isn't very well known in Australia -- I haven't seen any other books on Hoodoo even in dedicated metaphysical shops.

I have to admit that I haven't yet read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. This beautiful boxed edition was less than half price, so I really have no excuse not to read it soon.

My final find is The Urban Primitive: Paganism in the Concrete Jungle by Raven Kaldera and Tannin Schwartzstein. It was recommended to me on the Grey School forums after I expressed my interest in urban animism. It's out of print, but I managed to find it online from a book trade website. It cost a little more than I would have liked, but it was worth it to satisfy my curiosity. I'm sure there will be a review soon.

Surprise Parcel from Uncle Fester's Magickal Alternatives

This month I decided to sign up to Uncle Fester's Magick by the Month Surprise Parcel. Uncle Fester's Magickal Alternatives is an online metaphysical shop that's been running for over 20 years. The proprietor, Margaret Copland, is based in Geelong (a regional city not far from me) and I've been enjoying her products and newsletters for about a year now. (She is also the inventor of Astrolenergies, which I wrote about in this post.)

There are several different themed parcels, but I decided to subscribe to the most general one: Magick by the Month. Here is what it contained:

✷ a binder with laminated information cards
✷ a Bronzite crystal with info card
✷ a large packet of Witches Brew incense (sandalwood, frankincense and hops)
✷ a silver bracelet with a kangaroo charm
✷ a white sage cleansing stick
✷ Midnight Bloom premium incense
✷ a mini Tarot card reading
✷ a leather journal keychain

The binder has an image of Australian bushland on it, and a pentacle charm. Five seasonal information cards for the month of August are included. More information cards are included with every month's parcel, so by the end of a year I will have a complete seasonal library.

I was happy to receive the Bronzite crystal. I have a special fondness for crystals and I've never seen a Bronzite before. The packet of incense was impressively large. I have been meaning to work with incense more so I'm sure it will come in handy. I will probably transfer it to one of the many jars I've collected. The mini leather journal is lovely but I will probably take it off the keychain. I wouldn't want it to be damaged. The white sage stick should come in handy as I've been getting an urge to do Spring cleaning lately. The only thing I wasn't that pleased with was the bracelet. I don't normally wear bracelets are they're too fiddly to do up, but I'll keep the kangaroo charm and perhaps use it in some spellwork or add it to my clue-hunting kit.

My mini tarot card reading is STRENGTH. Whether it means I am strong or I need strength, I'm not sure!

(Apologies, I meant to take more photos of the individual items, but the light was fading.)

The cost of the Magick by the Month parcel was $45 ($30 for the parcel and $15 postage). Postage in Australia is expensive, unfortunately. There isn't much you can do about that. I thought the price was very reasonable.

Overall, I was very happy with my parcel. One of my friends runs a monthly subscription box service, which I've helped with a couple of times, so I know how much work they are to put together. Margaret offers six different varieties -- that's impressive! I'm looking forward to seeing what's in the next box, and completing the information cards in my binder.

Altar Refresh

One of my recent assignments for the Grey School was to create an altar and write about my experience with it. I already had an altar, and I was thinking about pulling it apart and refreshing it -- this was the perfect opportunity.

I should say, though, that I don't really think of my space as an altar. I don't do magickal workings with it, or leave offerings on it. It doesn't really fit the definition of a shrine, either. I tend to think of it as my "Special Space". I put special things on it, and when I put things on it, they become special. But for the purposes of this blog post, I'll continue calling it an altar.

Here is what my altar looked like pre-refresh:

It's gotten a bit cluttered and dusty since I set it up just over a year ago. The fabric flower had fallen apart when it got too hot from the candle underneath. (Don't ever do that, by the way!) I put some pyrite crystals on there intending to use them in a work and haven't gotten around to it yet. Looking at them always reminded me of that.

In the spirit of the assignment, I tried to make sure I chose every item with thought -- from the statuettes to the cloth. Here is what it looks like now:

I replaced the Tao Te Ching cards with a statue of Lao Tzu. I placed it on an upturned cup which symbolises a mountain. When I first set up the altar, I would take a card and read it every morning. Now I have an app on my phone though, I'd stopped doing that. I prefer this reminder in the form of the statuette instead. The other major change is that I made a small shelf out of a box wrapped in fabric, to put the smaller items on. The feathers are all gathered together in a goblet, and most of the nature things are collected together on the right. I collected the pinecone when I visited Buda House, and the shells when I went on a trip to the beach. They both remind me of how I overcame my anxiety to go on these little adventures on my own.


Refreshing my altar was a really lovely experience. It was great to get rid of the dust and re-think the design. In a way, it was almost like re-thinking what's important to me. Ideally, I'd like to do it at the start of every season, and decorate it with different themes every time.

What is Astrolenergies? and My Astrolenergies Chart

Astrolenergies is an idea devised by Margaret Copland of Australia. It combines two traditional concepts -- Astrology and the Four Elements -- into one system. Five aspects from Astrology are each assigned an Element, and the combination of the five determines the energies for each day. Like Astrology, the Astrolenergies combination on the day of a person's birth can determine their personality and life path, but because of the five factors involved, there are more variables.

To give an example, I had my Astrolenergies chart done, and I came out as a Triple Fire sign with Earth and Water influences. The five factors on the day I was born are associated with the elements like this:

Day = Saturday = Earth
Sun Sign = Aries = Fire
Moon Sign = Sagittarius = Fire
Moon Phase = Full = Fire
Season = Autumn = Water

My Astrolenergies combination consists of three Fires, one Earth and one Water. This means that I have the personality attributes of a Fire sign, but tempered with Earth and Water attributes. There is no Air in my sign, meaning I don't often show the attributes of an Air sign.

With five different aspects taken into account, there are a large number of signs possible, so Margaret devised a simple set of symbols to represent each sign. Mine is represented as a triangle with two dots. The red triangle represents the 3 Fires in my sign (as a triangle has three sides), while the blue and green dots represent the one Earth and one Water.

According to the system, if the energies for any particular day match your personal Astrolenergies sign, then this is a Personal Power Day for you. Any activity you undertake on that day is more likely to succeed. There are also Strong Element days, where one element is represented four or five times in the sign. These are days to concentrate on activities that relate to the element in question.

My Astrolenergies chart included not only my personal sign, but a list of Personal Power Days and Strong Element Days for the next year. It also details the personality traits for each of the four Elements, and suggested activities (both magical and mundane) that relate to each of the Elements, plus Mixed Days and Balanced Days. There was also a section with suggestions on how to plan your year around the Astrolenergies system. All up, there was 20 pages of information -- I was quite impressed. I'm also a subscriber to the mailing list, and each morning I receive a chart with the day's Astrolenergy and suggested activities for that day. On days when I feel scattered, the chart gives me a potential area to focus on.

I find the Astrolenergies system a very intriguing one: it takes traditional ideas and melds them into a system both broader and more specific than the originals. I'm looking forward to working with it and seeing if I notice any changes or improvements in my life.

Notes:
* I purchased the birth chart reviewed in this post, this review was not commissioned, and my own personal opinion is represented.
* The drawings are my own. I used my Hobonichi daily diary. I went over the lines a little bit, and I'm putting that down to the fact that I have a cold at the moment!

Urban Divination Oracle Reading

I did this Oracle card reading for the Grey School Divination Club's July challenge. Now that the challenge is over, I'm posting it for my readers.

I am using Professor Pam Wishbow’s Urban Divination Oracle, which is a new deck that I am using for the first time. Here is my oracle reading:

1. My question is: “Should I open an online shop within the next 6 months?” This is something that I’m planning to do in the future, but I have a lot of commitments at the moment and am wondering if I should delay this particular project. I made sure to choose a specific time period.

2. The spread I chose is one I found on Pinterest. I thought it would be an appropriate spread for a decision regarding a project. In my case, the project is a business one, but also has an emotional component. The five cards from left to right are: 1. Past; 2. Present; 3. Hidden Factors; 4. Advice; 5. Outcome if Advice is Followed.

3. As mentioned previously, I am using Professor Pam Wishbow’s Urban Divination Oracle. The cards I drew are as follows. Please note that the guide only lists 3-4 general keywords for each card, and exhorts the reader to apply their own interpretation to the cards.

1. (Past) THE CROW – intelligent ; grudge ; opinionated
2. (Present) THE SPENT CONDOM – abandon ; wisdom ; desire
3. (Hidden Factors) THE BIN – order ; humility ; structure
4. (Advice) THE RAT – depenance (sic) ; pest (Assuming “depenance” means dependence?)
5. (Outcome if Advice Followed) THE UNOPENED CANDY – temptation ; fascination ; seduction


4. Here are my thoughts on the cards I drew:
1. (Past) THE CROW – I ran an online shop selling zines in the past, and one of the reasons I ended up closing it was because I was anxious of what people would think of the content of my zines. While my writing was intelligent and thoughtfully constructed, I was worried people would think I was opinionated. As well, I may have held a grudge because others were more successful than me.
2. (Present) THE SPENT CONDOM – I have the desire to go ahead with this project, whether it’s wise or not. My logical side says that I already have enough on my plate, but part of me wants to throw caution to the wind. I want to act with abandon.
3. (Hidden Factors) THE BIN – While I tend to think of myself as a disorganised person by default, I’ve run an online shop before, and also currently run my friend’s shop when he is sick or on holidays. I’ve been successful with both, and have been able to keep order and follow structure. This is a capability I don’t always acknowledge. “Order” could also refer to purchase orders! (I have a feeling this deck has a sense of humour…)
4. (Advice) THE RAT – The most obvious meaning to this card is that if I open the shop too soon, with too many other commitments, it will become a pest. Wild rats are something that most people don’t like to have around, and perhaps the shop will become like that if I open it too soon and without enough thought put into it.
5. (Outcome if Advice Followed) THE UNOPENED CANDY – I believe that temptation and fascination refer to a desire for buyers to purchase my art and craft items. Assuming that the advice is to wait until more than 6 months has passed to open the shop, this time might allow fascination with my art and craft to build up.

5. It took me a little longer than normal to find the meaning of this reading. I’m not used to working with this Oracle deck – or with cartomancy in general – so I needed to think over the card meanings more carefully to come to a conclusion. I do think this reading answered my question. It indicates that I should wait at least 6 months before opening an online shop. This will give me time to explore my ideas and build up a stock of products that potential buyers will find tempting. However, I should have confidence that when I do open a shop, I will have the organisational skills to be able to run it successfully.

Sources:
Professor Pam Wishbow’s Urban Divination Oracle.
Pinterest: “Five Card Spread.”