Tuesday 6 November 2018

Fake Oracle Decks and a Message from Beyond!

I recently bought two oracle decks, and when they arrived, I realised they were fake. I bought them from Wish for about half the price I would normally expect to pay for an oracle deck. I should have known there wasn't something right about it, but I bought them anyway. It's something I'm not proud of, but I want to share my experience and hopefully it won't happen to others.


When the decks arrived, the first thing that alerted me that something was wrong was their size. They seemed to be no bigger than normal playing cards. While this isn't particularly unusual for oracle cards, I wanted to investigate.

According to Aeclectic Tarot, the goddess cards should be 12.7cm (5in) tall, but as you can see from the photo, they are only slightly larger than the standard playing card which I've used for comparison, which is 8.9cm (3.5 in) tall.



They should also be edged in gold, which they are not. The box was very plain with no images and only generic text. I couldn't help noticing too, that the images on the cards weren't as sharp as I felt they should be. Not only that, but the guidebook wasn't included.



The other deck had similar issues: small size, fuzzy images, box plain on the back, and missing guidebook.



Also, why would there be a $1 coupon offered on the box at such a random site? The QR Code supposedly leads to an electronic version of the guidebook, but I wouldn't trust it. The caption says 'tarot', not 'oracle'.



And as for the message from beyond?

When doing my research on the goddess cards, I read that the creator of the cards, who has created many decks, has recently changed her spiritual beliefs and has disavowed everything she created before. I won't mention any names, but the information is readily available online with a little searching. I have to admit, I thought to myself: knowing that the creator doesn't even want the profits from the cards, maybe it would be all right to use them after all?

I put them with my other oracle cards, which I keep in a box on a high shelf in my bedroom.


As you can see, the box isn't very deep, but the sides are high enough to stop anything from falling out. A few weeks after putting the cards in the box, however, I heard a crashing noise from the bedroom and went to investigate. I found the deck of cards on the floor!

I don't have any rational explanation of how the cards would have fallen to the floor. I concluded that it must be a sign. I mustn't use the cards. From now on, I'll be more wary, buy quality products, and if something seems too cheap to be true, it probably is!

Thursday 1 November 2018

Grey School Summary :: October 2018

I renewed my tuition with the Grey School of Wizardry on the 9th of October, so technically this wasn't a full month. I was pleasantly surprised however, to find that I was closer to finishing off some assignments than I'd remembered. I had the satisfaction of completing a whole class as well! This brought my credit count to 8. I need 24 to finish Level 1, so I have quite a long way to go, but I'm not feeling discouraged.

The next thing I want to focus on is finishing the meditation assignment for Core Energy Practices 102. I've read the lesson and it involves trying several forms of meditation over a number of weeks. I'm looking forward to trying different types in a more formal way, but also a bit nervous as I still have that little voice inside me that tells me I'm 'no good' at meditation. But I'm willing to give it a try.


Classes In Progress:
✷ Core Energy Practices 102
✷ Basic Divination
✷ Wizards Don't Whine

Assignments in Progress:
✷ Meditation (Core Energy Practices 102)
✷ Exploring Basic Oracles (Basic Divination)


Classes Completed:
✷ Online Communication


Assignments Completed:
✷ The Power of Thought (Wizards Don't Whine)
✷ Communications Essay Questions (Online Communication)
✷ Exam (Online Communication)
✷ Shielding (Core Energy Practices 102)


Credits:
✷ This month: 1 Total: 8



T.O.R.C.H. Award Progress:
✷ Classes completed: 1 of 4
✷ Forum Monthly Check-Ins: 1 of 2
✷ Forum Conversations Participated in: 0 of 1 (not for a couple of months but I hope to change that)
✷ Take initiation oath -- NOT YET

Tuesday 23 October 2018

Spring/Summer Altar Refresh

I like to change my altar according to the seasons, changing it every 6 months (at minimum!). It's spiritually refreshing to change the way it looks to align better with the seasons, and on a practical level, it's good to clean off the dust and remove anything that's gone off. To start with, here's a photo of my Autumn/Winter altar ... the 'before' photo:

(Apologies for the poor photography -- I don't seem to have a photo of the full altar!)


And here is the 'after' photo:


I removed the fuzzy winter cloth and replaced it with a placemat that I bought at an Op Shop. Even though it's a darker colour, the florals remind me of Spring. Unfortunately it wasn't quite wide enough to cover the entire shelf, but it's not too bad. I swapped some of the crystals, stones and natural things for ones that felt more 'right' for the season.


I recently found some things that I'd had/made since I was a teenager, and I decided to add them. There's a painted stone with a happy face, and some candles I made. Yes, I made my own hand-dipped candles when I was 15! I chose a group of three. Unfortunately I couldn't get the two taller ones to light no matter what I tried, but I don't mind too much.


And here are a couple of shots with the fairy lights on:



I think it looks lovely!

I've started creating altars in other parts of my house too, for specific purposes. I'll share them in a future post soon.

Tuesday 9 October 2018

Grey School of Wizardry Hiatus (It's Over!)

Hello! It's been a while since I last posted, so you may have guessed that I've taken a break from Grey School of Wizardry.

It was a mostly accidental hiatus. At the end of June my first year of tuition ran out, and I decided to take a break before re-enrolling. It was partly because I had so many other sources of learning that I'd just discovered which were taking up my time, and partly to align with the school year. The Grey School semesters run from equinox to equinox, and I felt like I preferred my tuition to begin and end with the seasons, too. I've recently decided to base my goals and plans around the seasons rather than the calendar year, so I decided to wait until Spring to re-enrol.

So, I re-enrolled today. Technically, it's now 3 weeks past the equinox, I know! I deliberately waited a bit longer because I thought that at the end of the year, it would be nice to have some extra time after the end of the semester to tie things up, just in case I can't re-enrol for my third year straight away.

I've started working on my assignments again, specifically the shielding assignment for Core Energy Practices 201. It's the last compulsory class for Level 1, and it will be a milestone when I finish it.

In other news, I've bought a few new books, been learning about hoodoo and done a big spell. I've also planted some plants in my garden and I'm looking forward to sharing it all!

Saturday 30 June 2018

Grey School Summary :: June 2018

My last 'monthly' update was in March, so I guess this is really an April/May/June update!

I took an unintentional break from my studies for a few months. Grey School is self-paced, which is great for people with busy lives, but on the other hand with no deadlines it can be hard to find motivation to complete assignments. Work has been very busy and I've had other personal projects that I've been working on. Some of them have been spiritual, some related to art and craft. I've studied most days -- mainly watching speakers YouTube -- but not had the capacity to write much.

The last few weeks I've been feeling very motivated again. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because it's Winter here and I want to stay indoors and read/write more. Perhaps because I've had some physical injuries which have confined me to my house and desk. Perhaps because the end of my first year at Grey School of Wizardry is looming, and I'm very aware of being nowhere near finishing Level 1 yet!

In fact, today marks one year at GSW for me. I have to admit, for a while I was considering taking a break and not renewing my membership until I was feeling more motivated again. But motivation appeared just at the right time and I want to continue straight away. Here is where I'm at right now:


Classes In Progress:
✷ Core Energy Practices 102
✷ Basic Divination
✷ Wizards Don't Whine
✷ Colours of Magick

Assignments in Progress:
✷ Shielding (Core Energy Practices 102)
✷ Exploring Basic Oracles (Basic Divination)
✷ The Power of Thought (Wizards Don't Whine)

Classes Completed:
[None.]

Assignments Completed:
✷ Believing Equals Receiving (Wizards Don't Whine)
✷ Other Oracles (Basic Divination)

Credits:
✷ This month: 0 Total: 7


T.O.R.C.H. Award Progress:
✷ Classes completed: 0 of 4
✷ Forum Monthly Check-Ins: 1 of 2
✷ Forum Conversations Participated in: 1 of 1 (not for a couple of months but I hope to change that)
✷ Take initiation oath -- NOT YET

Saturday 16 June 2018

Spiritual Goals

Recently on my other blog, I wrote about having a list of 101 Things to do in 1,001 Days. (That's two-and-and-three-quarter years, to give it some perspective!) I've just finished my first 1,001 days and am starting my second one. I wrote about why I enjoyed it so much and how I felt about only having achieved one-third of the goals. (Honesty, always!) The post is here if you'd like to read about that. The list has all sorts of different things on it, from art and craft to fixing up the house. In this post however, I'm going to focus on the spiritual goals only.


In the last list, I kept most of my spiritual goals private, and for that reason I won't go over them. (Aside from that, I didn't finish most of them!) I want to be more open this time though, so I've decided to share all of them. The whole purpose of this blog is to share my spiritual experiences, and if doing that helps anyone else out there in the blogosphere, then I will have achieved one of my aims.


Without further ado, here is my list of spiritual goals for the next nearly-three-years:

✦ continue my Rune studies
✦ do Violet's Witchcraft 30-day challenge & blog it
✦ write a suburban wheel of the year
✦ celebrate my traditions properly
✦ learn more about crystals
✦ do 20 divinations
✦ experiment with working with the moon
✦ read the Tao Te Ching completely at least once a year
✦ create an oracle deck
✦ do Gordon White's sigils course

If some of the goals seem quite vague at the moment, don't worry! I am planning on mapping them out when the right time comes. I will endeavour to do my best to share my journey with you here!

Friday 6 April 2018

Uncle Fester's Magick by the Month Parcel : March

I'm a little late on posting this, but I wanted to anyway for the sake of completion. As March is already over and we're into April, I'll just make it a quick post.

All the items in the March Magick by the Month parcel were water-themed. I received:

✨ a lava stone bracelet with crystal beads in rainbow colours. The lava stones can be anointed with essential oils.
✨ "Cupido Novus" oil from Charme et Sortilege. It helps to stimulate new love, friendships or creative projects.
✨ Gyrasol (aka Moon Quartz) crystal. A water energy stone, good for promoting inner peace.
✨ an echidna charm. To represent emotional water energy.
✨ Nag Champa soap. For cleansing.
✨ Divine Soul incense.
✨ a herb mix with Herb Robert, Jasmine flower, Job's Tears and White Willowbark.




Sunday 1 April 2018

Grey School Summary :: March 2018

March a slower month for me. With the heat of Summer winding down into the hazy days of Autumn, I found myself with more free time to concentrate on my studies. I managed to complete two assignments and start two new ones. The dice divination oracle came up with some interesting results, and I learned some new things through researching cleansing techniques.

Meanwhile, I earned 8 merits for my Lodge by answering questions about my star sign, my favourite oracle deck and my daily rituals/habits, among other things.

I wrote a few months ago about completing the T.O.R.C.H. Award (Level 1). Ideally it should be completed over the course of once semester (semesters are 6 months running from equinox to equinox at Grey School). I thought about whether to rush and try to complete it by the Autumn equinox. I still had to complete one class -- consisting of 3 assignments -- to be eligible for the award. I didn't think it was feasible to do that in three weeks, and give it the proper attention it deserved, so I decided to let it go and re-try for the award next semester. To that end, the goals at the bottom of this post have been re-set.


Classes In Progress:
✷ Core Energy Practices 102
✷ Basic Divination

Assignments in Progress:
✷ Shielding (Core Energy Practices 102)
✷ Exploring Other Basic Oracles (Basic Divination)

Classes Completed:
[None.]

Assignments Completed:
✷ Cleansing Self and Space (Core Energy Practices 102)
✷ Daily Oracle of Choice (Basic Divination)

Credits:
✷ This month: 0 Total: 7


T.O.R.C.H. Award Progress:
✷ Classes completed: 0 of 4
✷ Forum Monthly Check-Ins: 0 of 2
✷ Forum Conversations Participated in: 1 of 1 (several, actually!)
✷ Take initiation oath -- NOT YET

Wednesday 7 March 2018

Collective Book Haul

Books I've acquired recently, in chronological order, oldest to newest:

I purchased Australian Druidry not so much to find out more about Druidry per se, but for its Southern Hemisphere take on a nature tradition. I haven't started it yet.
The Magical Battle of Britain is a collection of letters written by well-known British magickal practitioner Dion Fortune to her followers during World War II. I ordered it after seeing it referred to at least four times in different parts of the internet in less than a week. It seemed to be a sign. I've started it but I have to confess I'm finding it rather hard-going.

Of course I had to purchase Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology when it came out. The book itself is stunning -- photos don't do justice to the golden glow of Mjollnir on the cover. I didn't expect it to be hard cover either, which was a pleasant surprise. I'm about half-way through it so far and it's very readable, with simple but elegant language.


These two books are the catalogues for the Harry Potter: A History of Magic exhibition at the British Museum. What I wouldn't have given to visit the exhibition in person! A Journey Through the History of Magic (on the left) is designed for children, and A History of Magic for adults. I've flicked through them both and they're simply breathtaking in their own ways. Acquiring these books was a saga in itself -- the first set never arrived, though I courteously waited 3 months, and Bloomsbury very kindly sent me a replacement set. One edge of A History of Magic is a little battered unfortunately, but I don't want to push my luck. I'm just glad to have them at all.


Finally are two books by Dr. Rupert Sheldrake: The Science Delusion and Science and Spiritual Practices. I decided to purchase them after hearing Dr. Sheldrake interviewed on Rune Soup podcast. I decided to start the older book first (The Science Delusion) and am enjoying it very much so far. I've already written some notes on it which will hopefully become a blog post at some point.

Friday 2 March 2018

Grey School Summary :: February 2018

Things were 'back to normal' this month, in that I barely had any time to work on my studies! In fact, I did work diligently on them, but I have very little to show for it so far. I started the class Eternity's Gamble: Basic Divination and am working on the first assignment, which is to keep a daily oracle of my choice for a week and document the results. Perhaps I'll write a blog post about it if it turns out to be interesting enough.

On the other hand, I did quite well in the monthly challenges, earning 10 merits towards the semi-annual House Cup awards.


Classes Completed:
[None.]

Assignments Completed:
[None.]


Classes In Progress:
✷ Core Energy Practices 102
✷ Basic Divination

Credits:
✷ This month: 0 Total: 7


T.O.R.C.H. Award Progress:
✷ Classes completed: 3 of 4
✷ Forum Monthly Check-Ins: 1 of 2
✷ Forum Conversations Participated in: 1 of 1 (several, actually!)

Wednesday 21 February 2018

Progress with Meditation

A few months ago, I wrote about my troubles with meditation. After convincing myself that I was 'no good at meditation' many years ago, I'd found myself having to do it for class assignments. I'm happy to report that after some practice, my attitude is changing and I'm improving. I've really started to notice the benefits, too.


I set a goal for myself this year to meditate 3 times a week. Whether I stick to that or not really depends on whether I need to meditate. When I was on holidays from work, I didn't meditate at all. If I'm having a stressful time, I tend to meditate more often. On some days, I even think to myself: "I can't wait until lunchtime so I can go to the library and meditate!"

Since I started meditating again, I've noticed that I'm less anxious and react in a calmer way to stressful situations. People around me have commented on the difference as well.



The meditation resource I use the most is an app called Insight Timer. It has both a timer with background noise, and many guided meditations to choose from. It's been fun finding the guided tracks that work best for me. Not all of them do. One that I tried sounded good: lying in a field and looking at the stars. However, the visualisation began while it was still light and described the sun setting. I've always found dusk to be a very depressing time of day (I don't know why, it just is) so I didn't enjoy that one very much.

Two of my favourites from the app so far are Mountain Meditation by Andy Hobson and Melting Stress and Anxiety Away by Lisa Abramson. After listening to Lisa's track for the first time during my lunchbreak, when I went back to work I was so relaxed that I kept dropping things and people remarked on how my mood had drastically changed!

I still don't think I'm very 'good' at meditation. I can only clear my mind for a few seconds at a time before I start thinking about things again. Sometimes I'll be thinking through things for a few minutes before I even realise I'm doing it. This doesn't worry me as much as it used to though. Every day and every session is different. As much as it's a cliche to say it, meditation is a practice. You will never be perfect, you just need to keep trying. Now that I'm starting to accept that, meditation is much more pleasant and I look forward to my sessions every week.

Saturday 17 February 2018

Uncle Fester's Magick by the Month Parcel : February

February heralds the end of Summer in Southern Australia. It's still hot, but there's an end in sight. Air and Fire energies mix, creating an atmosphere of excitement and creativity.



This month's parcel came with the usual information sheets for my binder, crystal, charm, herb mix and some other things. The information this month speaks of the Indigenous Australian view of the seasons, a concept I find very interesting and would like to learn more about.

There were two small sample packs of incense. This month's herb mix isn't labelled, so I wouldn't drink it as a tea, but it smells lovely and I will probably use it as a potpourri.


There were four fridge magnets with inspirational quotes. Word magick and inspiration seem to fall under the Air element.


This month's crystal (5 actually!) is red carnelian, and the charm is a bat, an Australian native Air symbol. Finally there was a candle in a jar in one of six scents, with artwork by Lisa Parker. Mine was Empowerment, with a sandalwood scent. This is something I could always do of more with in my life, and I liked the scent, so I was happy with it.


Wednesday 31 January 2018

Grey School Summary :: December 2017 - January 2018

I had 3 weeks of holidays over Summer, but strangely didn't do any study during that time. I had plenty of time, but just couldn't get into the right mindset for it. It wasn't until I went back to work in the new year that I've been enthusiastic about studying again. I guess that's just the way my brain works!

I finished off my final essay for Core Energy Practices 101, discussing my experiences with the class. I'm amazed to find that I've gone from being someone who "just can't meditate", to looking forward to meditating every week!

I enrolled in Core Energy Practices 102, which covers cleansing and shielding. I've started the written component of the first assignment, but, being very busy right now, I won't be able to do the practical activity for a few weeks. I'd like to get further into this class before I enrol in any more, but that doesn't stop me from perusing the class list, trying to decide which one to do next. There are so many!


Classes Completed:
✷ Core Energy Practices 101
✷ Magickal Ettiquette

Assignments Completed:
✷ Final Essay: Your Experiences (Core Energy Practices 101)


Classes In Progress:
✷ Core Energy Practices 102

Credits:
✷ This month: 3 Total: 7


T.O.R.C.H. Award Progress:
✷ Classes completed: 3 of 4
✷ Forum Monthly Check-Ins: 1 of 2
✷ Forum Conversations Participated in: 1 of 1 (more than 1!)

Tuesday 23 January 2018

The Grey School of Wizardry T.O.R.C.H. Award

As one of my goals for 2018, I've committed myself to earning the T.O.R.C.H. Award (Level 1). Each of the four houses in the Grey School has its own award. As a member of the Flames Lodge, I'm eligible to earn the TORCH award. I really think that this will help kickstart my studies which, I have to admit, have been languishing for a while.


So what do I have to do? Here's the list of tasks from the Grey School of Wizardry forums:


1. Completion of the class "Writing and Citing: How to Not Plagiarise".
2. Completion of at least one Level One required class.
3. Check in to the monthly Flames Lodge roll call for at least two months in a row (within the last six months)
4. Complete 4 classes within one semester and report on the appropriate forum thread.
5. Participate in at least one forum conversation within the past 3 months.
6. Take the initiation Oath for the Order of the Dancing Flames

And here's my progress on each of these requirements:

1. Completion of "Writing and Citing" class -- DONE!
2. Completion of at least one Level One required class -- DONE!
3. Check in to the monthly roll call -- I don't think I checked in for December, but I checked in for January, so half done!
4. Complete 4 classes within one semester -- I've completed 1 class this semester.
5. Participate in at least one forum conversation within the past 3 months -- not in any significant way.
6. Take the initiation Oath for the Order of the Dancing Flames -- not yet!


The most challenging requirement is completing 4 classes within one semester. Classes vary on the amount of work -- from reading the material and doing a multiple-choice test, to three or more essays and practical activities. This semester, I've completed one class, with a second almost finished, and a third just started. Semesters run from equinox to equinox, so that means I would have until 21st March if I wanted to fulfill the requirement this semester. That's just under two months away, but it doesn't seem very long to me!

At the moment, all my efforts are focussed on the annual Zine Fair, which is on the 11th February. I was unexpectedly offered a stall in the fair, and I want to take advantage of the opportunity. I also work 6 days a week, so I don't have as much time for my studies as as I'd like. Nevertheless I want to try!

Even if I'm not able to finish four classes this semester, at least I will have made some progress on them, and then I'll have 6 months once next semester rolls around to finish them. I will still have completed my goal of earning the award by the end of 2018.

At least, that's the plan!

Saturday 20 January 2018

Uncle Fester's Magick by the Month Parcel : January

Here in Australia, Summer has hit with full force, so this month's surprise parcel is all about the Fire element.


The charm for this month is a snake (though its head looks a little like a dragon!). The crystal is a mahogany obsidian. Its red and black colouring is reminiscent of fire. There are also some beautiful tealight candles in the shape of flowers. They're just too beautiful to burn, so I'll use them as decorations.


The herbal pack contains Andrographis, Gypsy Wort, Mistletoe, Passionflower and red Rose petals. The information doesn't say what the herbs should be used for, but they smell wonderful, so I would use them as a potpourri or incense. Certainly an incense would suit the fiery season!

The biggest and best gift this month was a Zen garden. I've been wanting a tabletop Zen garden for years, and suddenly one landed on my doorstep! Right now I don't have anywhere to put it, but one of my goals for this year is to create my own home working space, with a desk and places to store my stationery, etc. This surprise seems to strongly say: yes, do it!

Saturday 13 January 2018

What is Geomancy?

I thought I knew quite a bit about the different forms of divination, but until a few months ago, I'd never heard of Geomancy. It's not surprising, as this method of divination is associated with Renaissance-era astrology and Hermeticism, and those are things I don't know much about yet. All forms of divination pique my interest though, so I decided to find out more about it.

Picture Source.

First of all, to give credit where it's due, I heard about Geomancy on the Rune Soup podcast: episode 94. The episode gives a very good description of what it is and how it works, but I'm more of a visual person, so it didn't really click for me until I read the Wikipedia page and saw the images.

To learn more about Geomancy, I purchased this book: The Art and Practice of Geomancy: Divination, Magic, and Earth Wisdom of the Renaissance by John Michael Greer. Several sources I read said that this book was one of the best, and I do think it gives a comprehensive and clear explanation of the system.


But let's start at the beginning. Geomancy is unfortunately a bit of a misnomer. The name implies divination using earth, and can sometimes be confused with dowsing or with fung shui. It is thought that it originated in either Africa or India, then spread to the Arabic world, and on to Europe during the Renaissance. Originally, it was performed by making marks in the sand or dirt, hence why it became associated with the earth. However, as I will explain, it can be done in many ways that don't involve earth at all.

There are 16 figures in the Geomantic system:

Picture Source.

The figures have Latin names and complex meanings which I won't go into right now -- the Geomantic Figures Wikipedia page explains each figure in detail. During divination, the figures are generated randomly line by line. Each figure has four lines, and each line has either one dot or two. This is a binary system (odds and evens). They can be generated in many ways: by making random marks in sand, flipping coins, rolling dice, using marked sticks, a random number generator, etc. In Mediaeval and Renaissance times there were even specialised tools and machines which generated the figures. So the system is more about randomness than about anything from the natural world.


Four figures are generated in this way and are entered into a Shield Chart (so called because in the traditional shape it resembles a shield as in the first picture above). These four figures are known as the Mothers. The lines from the Mothers are then re-arranged to form four Daughters. The Daughters are combined to create Nieces, the Nieces combined to make Witnesses and finally a single Judge. By the time this process is finished, there are 15 figures in total. This is called a recursive process, as the original figures are re-combined and whittled down to create a single final figure. For a simple reading, the Judge is taken as the final result. For a complex reading, all of the figures in the chart (plus sometimes an extra sixteenth figure) are read. An extra-quick reading would be to generate just one figure, but that really isn't in the spirit of Geomancy, and I think might be frowned upon!

Picture Source.

When Geomancy was taken up in Europe during the Renaissance, astrological principles were applied to it to create a very complex system. As well as the shield chart, the figures were inserted into a chart representing the twelve astrological houses, and additional interpretation was made according to the qualities of each house. A geomantic reading could only be done by a professional geomancer, and the rich and powerful would often consult with them. While this historical detail is interesting, I haven't researched too much into this yet because, as I mentioned before, astrology doesn't fit very well with my worldview. Plus, I have to admit, it makes the system so complicated that my intuition just seems to switch off. However, there's a thorough explanation of this, with examples, in the book in case I want to delve deeper into it in future.


Of course I wanted to try Geomancy for myself, and decided on dice as a good way to generate the figures, because I love dice! Another layer applied to the system during the Renaissance was the four elements. Each line of the figure was assigned to one of the four classical elements (top: fire, second: air, third: water, bottom: earth). I thought it would be interesting to have dice in four different colours corresponding to the elements. Having all the dice the same colour would mean that it would be my responsibility to decide which die should correspond to which line of the figure, and that would take some of the randomness out of it.


It was actually surprisingly difficult to find dice in the primary colours! All of the usual dice shops that Husband gets his dice from (he's a huge gamer) were either sold out or didn't have all four colours. In the end, he had to buy a set of 10 gamer sets in order to get the right ones. A gamer set has 7 dice in it, so that's 70 dice just so I can have 4! The rest weren't wasted though -- Husband just added them to his extensive collection.



I found a box lid to roll the dice in, and the book also fits perfectly into the lid for ease of storage. I love these kinds of little coincidences -- it makes it seem like it was meant to be. I've rolled the dice a few times now, but I haven't generated a full shield chart yet. I will be sure to post about it as soon as I do, though. There are so many other aspects of Geomancy to explore, such as the role of the four elements, stronger or weaker lines, or adding up the number of points in the figures to divine additional meaning.

Monday 1 January 2018

New Year Divination: My First Rune Cast

I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year and you are looking forward to what 2018 holds. I know I am!

Every year at this time, I sit down and plan out my goals for the coming year. For the last 3 years, I've planned my goals around what I call my Life Square. This helps me to think about all the areas of my life and how I want to change or improve them:


This year, I decided to use divination to help me decide on my goals for the year. It struck me that the grid layout of the Life Square would be perfect for casting onto, so I decided to do a Rune cast, even though I've never done one before. I didn't have time to make up a proper surface with a lined grid large enough to do the cast, so I laid out a blanket on my bed (it has a board underneath for stability). I had a vague idea of where the grid lines were in my head, and hoped it would be enough to figure out which part of the grid the Runes corresponded to when they fell. I had already removed any Runes that landed upside down before I took the below photo.


Well, as you can see, most of them landed in the middle! They just fell straight down and didn't bounce at all. That was something I wasn't expecting. I wasn't sure what to expect, to be honest. Some were obviously meant to be in certain sections, but most of the others were clumped together. I separated them out a little bit and the grid formation became clearer. I decided to read all runes upright no matter what orientation they were in when they landed. Here is the casting after I clarified it:



As you can see, some of the sections have no Runes in them, which again was something I didn't anticipate. However, it makes sense as they fall randomly. The rest of the sections have between one and three Runes in them. My initial interpretations are as follows (I did take the time to think about them more deeply later):

CREATIVITY -- No message. Do whatever you like.

MENTAL HEALTH & WELLBEING -- Things will be out of your control, but there will be an unexpected gain or win.

RECREATION -- Do new things.

RELATIONSHIP -- Things will change, but in a good way: your relationship will be stronger.

SPIRITUALITY -- Be patient, develop your intuition, you will travel steadily.

FRIENDS, FAMILY & COMMUNITY -- You will be protected in your time of need ... or you will be called on to protect others.

HOME -- No message. You are on the right track already.

HEALTH -- There will be delays at times but you will win in the end.

JOB, FINANCIAL & ART BUSINESS -- You will be amazing at everything you do.

The most relevant goals for this blog are, of course, the spiritual ones. These are the three goals I chose for 2018:
✧ earn the Grey School of Wizardry Torch Award, Level 1 (I'll write a separate post explaining what this is later!)
✧ learn Rune casting
✧ meditate 3 times a week

It's exciting that I've already started on my goals by doing this Rune casting reading! If you'd like to see the goals I chose for the rest of the sections, check out my other blog here.