Llewellyn Publications's Blog, page 13

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Lesley A. Morrison, author of The Healing Wisdom of Birds and the new In the Spirit of Home.

Many of us are still quite cozy working from home in our pajamas as the pandemic ebbs and flows, so most of us have become strangely intimate with our home offices since 2020. Those who work from home on a usual basis will also note the delicate nature of the home office and the weight it has to carry as we fulfill our dreams, clock our hours, and trade our time for money more often than we are willing to admit.

If you find yourself still in your pajamas wondering how you can make your office work better for you and help you attract more business, clients, and financial wonders, here are a few tried and tested methods that seem to work for many people just like you.

Move your desk!
If you are guilty of squireling your desk away in the corner, it might be time to give it shuffle. According to many designers, and even Feng Shui practitioners, your work center should be facing the door to assume the command position. Seeing the door means you are in control of your environment and can, in turn, help you manage anything that comes your way by being prepared. If your office has an awesome view, try and find a location that allows you to see your horizons but still keep an eye out for those potential intruders (especially the ones who should be taking their nap).Clean it up!
I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but yes—clean your home office often, especially your desk. Clutter leads to stress, stress leads to frustration and lack of productivity, and lack of productivity leads to afternoon naps and spontaneous games of mini golf. Make sure you keep notes, files, and office supplies organized as well so you’re not scrambling to find information (or your lucky pen) at the last minute.Be Comfy!
As tempting as it is to grab the laptop and “work” on the couch or from bed, having a proper desk and ergonomically friendly chair can work wonders for how you approach your work. Discomfort will affect your ability to focus more than you might realize, and lead to chronic pain and a desire to quit your job. But seriously, invest in a good desk and chair and your future you will thank you for it.

Some other tips for a manifesting office environment:

Get some plants to help keep air clean and refresh your mind during the day.Add some crystals! Not only are they pretty to look at, but crystals like clear quartz, amethyst, rose quartz, and pyrite are great allies when trying to stay focused.Open the window throughout the day for some continual air flow. Fresh air is invigorating and will give you the boost you need to finish your busy day in between breaks.

This may not seem like magic, but it really is, and even small adjustments to your work environment can help you attract even more wonderful things.

Our thanks to Lesley for her guest post! For more from Lesley Morrison, read her article, “The Magic of Change: How Refreshing Your Home Can Alter Your World.”

Llewellyn’s 2023 Tarot Calendar: Insights, Spreads, and Tips by Barbara Moore

Do you want a peek into the future? Here is what you can expect in about a year…the August 2023 page from our next tarot calendar.

 

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Deborah Castellano, author of Glamour Magic and the new Magic for Troubled times.

When writing my new book during the height of pandemic, I over-optimistically thought that when it actually came out in August 2022, I would need to shift my focus away from world events and focus more on personal disasters—job loss, divorce, death, health problems, and so on. The book is meant to help navigate both global disaster and personal disaster, so I thought it would be a matter of focusing on personal devastation. The Universe definitely loves to prove me wrong at every opportunity she gets! The war in Ukraine, inflation costs, Roe v. Wade. And whatever fresh personal hell you have going on in your life that is stressing you all the way out. You know, the little things.

So, let’s talk magical strategy to cope with this boring dystopia with which we’ve been saddled.

Do something kind for your meat suit/body when you first wake up. Whether it’s drinking enough water, whether it’s doing some kind of movement, whether it’s brushing your teeth and taking your meds, you need to ground yourself into your own body. Mantra while completing this action: My body deserves kindness.Work on this step in the morning. What is one thing you want to transform? Whether it’s transforming your career or the Supreme Court, distill it down to one sentence and write it down. What do you need to release to make this transformation? Distill it down to one sentence one, turn your paper upside down, write it down. Put it under your favorite mug. Boil some water. Steep 3 tablespoons of dried butterfly pea flowers for five minutes. Don’t have butterfly pea flowers? That’s okay; use a sprig of fresh rosemary instead. Squeeze a wedge of fresh lemon in it. Focus on your intention and drink it.In the evening, take your intention paper from Step Two and put it under a white tealight. Sprinkle a little cinnamon onto the tealight to bring speed to your intention. Put a clear quartz point next to your tealight to magnify your intention. Concentrate on your intention again and light the tealight. If you need to go to bed before it goes out, use a candle snuffer to extinguish it and do the practice again every night until it burns out.

Our thanks to Deborah for her guest post! For more from Deborah Castellano, read her article, “Motivation Magic for Troubled Times.”

The Llewellyn Virtual Author Forum is our bi-monthly series of free online roundtable events will feature your favorite Llewellyn authors discussing topics important to you and answering your questions.

Our latest in the series, on Working with the Five Elements, featured Energy to Heal Author author Lauren Walker; In Our Element author Lindsay Fauntleroy; Missing Element, Hidden Strength author Tisha Morris; and Self-Love Superpower author Tess Whitehurst.

Did you miss the live event? Watch it on-demand now!

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Masuda Mohamadi, author of the new Unlock the Power of Your Chakras.

Chakras are spinning wheels of energy, located vertically along the spine from the base to the crown of the head. Each of the seven chakras relates to aspects of your physical and emotional well-being and may be balanced, deficient, or excessive in energy.

The navel chakra, located at the solar plexus, is a powerful chakra that can help us feel strong, confident, and resilient. These are qualities that help us face the challenges in our lives. The navel chakra is associated with the fire element, representing warmth, energy, luminosity, radiance, and the power of transformation. Within the body, the fire element provides the heat required for healthy digestion. On a subtle level, this element helps us digest life experiences, absorbing the lessons we need to learn and letting go of old emotions and memories that no longer serve us.

How can you tell if your navel chakra is out of balance? Take a look at these descriptors and write down the ones you are currently experiencing. Approach this exercise with curiosity and compassion rather than with any criticism or judgment.

Balanced EnergyDeficient EnergyExcessive EnergyProactivePassiveDominatingReliable & ResponsibleBlamingControllingResilientLow energyHyperactiveHealthy self-esteemLow self-esteemDriven compulsivelyAble to achieve goalsTendency to be coldTendency to be hotConfidentAttracted to stimulantsAttracted to sedativesSpontaneousLacking self-disciplineArrogantGood sense of humorPoor digestionStubborn

If your navel chakra is deficient, practice building up your ego and self-esteem with the following exercise.

Inner Strength Exercise to Balance Deficient Energy
Research shows that we are born with one third of our strengths and the rest we learn over our lifetime. This is good news because we can leverage the strengths we are born with and cultivate new strengths to help us become stronger, more confident, and resilient. Take a moment and write down a list of your top three inner strengths. Visualize all the ways that these strengths have helped you overcome adversity in the past and visualize how these strengths can help you move forward in life to once again experience success and victory.

If your navel chakra is excessive in energy, then invite more relaxation into your life with the following exercise.

Relaxation Practice to Balance Excessive Energy
If you are an overachiever in constant doing mode, then it’s time to pause, take a deep breath, and put down the to-do list. Take a moment to acknowledge your inner strengths, hard work, and accomplishments. Know that your ego’s desire for achievement and success is insatiable and it’ll never be satisfied. To avoid burnout, make a list of three activities that are relaxing, fun, and non-goal oriented. If you are resisting this exercise, think about a friend or family member who is fairly relaxed and knows how to enjoy life. Enlist their help in inspiring you to bring more joy into your life.

If you find that you have both excessive and deficient qualities, then practice both exercises to come into balance.

For more tips on balancing your chakras, check out my new book, Unlock the Power of Your Chakras: An Immersive Experience through Exercises, Yoga Sets & Meditations.

Our thanks to Masuda for her guest post! For more from Masuda Mohamadi, read her article, “7 Practices to Access the Gifts of Your Chakras .”

Will You Give Me a Reading? What You Need to Read Tarot with Confidence by Jenna Matlin

 

All new tarot readers will face that question someday: Will you give me a reading? No need to panic, Jenna Matlin has you covered. This incredible book guides you through the process, including how to handle common challenges. You learn to both connect more deeply with the cards as well as to wield them with grace and efficiency.

Based on her years of experience, Matlin explores three important skills of a good reader: handling criticism, engaging empathetically, and having healthy boundaries. I found what she wrote about empathy very interesting. Maybe you will to (from the book):

First, let me lay out this important distinction. Empathy is a skill distinct from being an empath. (Confusing, I know, as the words are so closely linked.) An empath is someone who can feel the emotions of another person, that ability can take on an extra-sensory type of sensitivity wherein an empath absorbs and feels the feeling of another person.

Empaths typically struggle to learn how to create distance between other people’s emotions and their own. As a tarot reader, being an empath makes your work harder. This is because as a reader, taking on their emotions could actively influence the reading. In my experience (that I later discuss in the book,) strong emotions hinder the clarity of a reading. People who are empaths need a lot of grounding, shielding, and training to contain their natural talent when it comes to reading tarot for others. I offer resources later in the book to help you if this is something you struggle with, too.

Empathy, however, is the trait where someone is able to put themselves in the shoes of another. Empathy is a cognitive skill that is partly inherited but can be trained, too. Empathy allows us to imagine what someone else is going through. Empathy allows us to feel for someone but not take on their feelings, per se. With empathy, you feel for someone. As an empath you feel as someone. It seems so similar, but the difference is huge.

But “empathy” and “empath” are not interchangeable terms. In fact, being an empath does not guarantee having empathy. Here is an example that illustrates my point: I’ve seen tarot readers say things like, “When she came for a reading, I was overcome with a dread and deep depression. I felt suicidal, and it was so intense. I just couldn’t take her energy.” This tarot reader is an empath, no doubt. But the focus turned toward how she now felt as a result of interacting with the querent. It stopped being about the querent and became about the reader.

If that same querent came to a reader who was practicing empathy, she might have said instead, “My querent’s head was hanging low, and her feet shuffled as she walked in. It is obvious that she is in a place of deep pain. She told me about her economic troubles, and I can just imagine how hard it has been for her and her family. My stomach is tight just thinking about her situation.”

Practicing empathy is a skill set a good tarot reader needs. In fact, it is empathy that can fundamentally make or break a session. Even if you are not so good with your cards just yet, the practice of empathy with querents will make up for that. Everyone wants to be seen and understood. One of your roles as a reader is to show them, by your presence and your actions, that they are seen and understood.

To prove my point, I recently pulled my reviews from querents over the years to see what they said about me and if there were any commonalities in their experience with me. I was surprised to discover that they actually rarely talked about the reading: how skillful it was, how accurate, or even how helpful. What my querents mostly talked about was how they felt as a result of spending time with me. This was a huge revelation.

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Lindsay Fauntleroy, author of the new In Our Element.

These crazy times call for the ones I’ve been affectionately calling Neo-Ancients. As confusion, worry, and fear run rampant, Neo-Ancients can be found gathering our inner resources as we prepare for assertive, clear, and directed action. Here are five clues you just might be part of this tribe:

1. Your schedule is cosmic
You don’t just set your intentions and goals on a monthly basis, but you pay attention to the fluctuations between Yin and Yang as you plan your year. You know active force, Yang, is at its height in summer, as well as during full moons. You know that stillness and reflection, the Yin, are amplified in the winter and during new moons. The Summer and Winter solstices and the Autumn and Spring equinoxes hold special meaning for you. Maybe you go all out with fasting, cleansing, meditating and aligning with your intentions at the change of each season. Or maybe your body takes care of it for you, by giving you a seasonal cold at these cross points. The shenanigans of Mercury Retrograde fill your social media feeds, and have on more than one occasion affected your plans. If your schedule is cosmic, you might be Neo-Ancient.

2. You use Soul Medicine
Neo-Ancients understand that health is not just physical—it’s emotional, mental, and spiritual as well. While conventional medicine is about 500 years old, it’s really a baby when compared to indigenous healing systems that considered the physical, etheric, astral, and spiritual planes. This means not only attending to the physical body, but also attending to heartache, lack of inspiration, confusion, anxiety, depression, and any of the myriad ways we might be out of alignment. Soul medicine includes using flower essences, essential oils, gemstones, herbs, yoga, meditation, and even music to facilitate inner and outer shifts. If you believe that health is about more than being “free from disease,” you might be Neo-Ancient.

3. You’re etherically sensitive
The etheric body is the first layer of the subtle body, and is like an electromagnetic envelope of energy surrounding our physical form. It’s the aspect of the subtle body that gets charged when you “feel” someone staring at you, your back aches because it’s cold outside, or your knee acts up every time it rains. Our electromagnetic bodies are in close synergy with the electromagnetic poles of the earth, and etherically sensitive folks are often affected by lunar cycles, changes of seasons, and chaotic weather. Because our emotions live mostly in our etheric body, etherically sensitive folks also tend to be very empathic—and can often sense when someone is feeling angry or sad even if they insist otherwise. Being in crowds can upset the nervous system of etherically sensitive folks, who might need to spend some time decompressing alone after lots of interaction with others. If any of this sounds like you, you might be Neo-Ancient.

4. Synchronicity has meaning
Neo-Ancients know that there is no such thing as a coincidence. Every moment has the potential to answer a question that was posed with intention (or subconsciously) to the Universe. These answers can emerge in so many unexpected ways: a random song stuck in our head that carries a potent message; being in the right place at exactly the right time; the friend you were thinking of that happens to call at that moment; the person on the train that catches your eye; the billboard you never noticed before that carries a special message just today, just for you. Neo-Ancients find a way to live in the meaning and magic of it all. If you have ever experienced the magic of synchronicity, you might be Neo-Ancient.

5. You believe in it all
You consider yourself “spiritual” instead of “religious.” You can drop Proverbs wisdom at a moment’s notice, and also know all 12 archetypal patterns of the zodiac. You can recite the original, modified, or personalized declarations of Ma’at.You have gained insight from the I Ching, the Tarot, Yogic philosophy, the Secret, the Buddha, Earthseed scripture, Nature, and your Highest Self in meditation. You light candles for your ancestors and pour libation. An Ifa reading once transformed—or saved—your life. Quantum physics has your mind blown.You believe in it all, because all is one. If your heart can hold yes/and instead of either/or in your spiritual practice, you are definitely Neo-Ancient.

Our thanks to Lindsay for her guest post! For more from Lindsay Fauntleroy, read her article, “Music Is Medicine: Exploring the Sounds of the Five Elements.”

The Tarot Apothecary: Shifting Personal Energies Using Tarot, Aromatherapy, and Simple Everyday Rituals by Ailynne E. Halvorson

Halvorson’s wonderful book blends together not only awesome and powerfully magic essential oil scents but also some of our favorite things: tarot, aromatherapy, guided journeys, and rituals. Let’s hear Halvorson tell us about her book and then learn what essential oil helps us tap into the energy of the Magician. Enjoy these excerpts from the book:

 

The Tarot Apothecary lays out a magical approach to the tarot that calls in the four wisdoms of tarot, aromatherapy, imaginative journey (the state of allowing your mind and imagination to journey outside of yourself with a pre-determined intention), and simple everyday ritual. This creates a container of magical energies that allow for desired shifts in personal energy. This approach allows you to create your own personal cauldron of magic for movement forward.

This book is designed to be a companion to your personal tarot deck. As we travel through life and through the energies of the cards it is important to learn how to work with, and walk through, the energy of each card. This allows oneself to experience and learn from the message of the card. Sometimes an energy needs to be embraced and worked with. Other times we need to release the overbearing and difficult energy so we can walk through to the other side. In these circumstances, one can ask for support through embracing the energy of a chosen tarot card and working with plant allies to assist on the journey.

 

The Magician’s Essential Oil

Name: Cedarwood Virginian (Juniperus virginiana)

Elements: Earth, Fire, Water, Air

Planetary Influences: Jupiter, Mercury

Please see precautions for Cedarwood Virginian in Appendix A

Scent Description: Woody, Sweet, Mellow, Deep, and Earthy

Cedarwood oil is extracted by steam distillation from the wood of the tree. Cedarwood Virginia (Juniperus virginiana) is the oil I recommend because Cedarwood Atlas is on the endangered species list. I find Cedarwood Virginia has a soft woody scent and is a wonderful addition to a blend or used as inhalant all by itself.

I chose Cedarwood to embrace the energy of The Magician for several reasons. In my opinion, Cedarwood relates to all four of the four elemental energies. Perfect for our Magician. Cedarwood’s purifying quality is often used to purify and cleanse. It is also beneficial when working with elemental magic. Cedarwood relates to the Water element in its ability to increase intuition—opening the upper energy channels for vision, dream work, and calling in one’s psychic abilities.

Cedar carries an earthy, beautiful scent. When I smell Cedarwood, I am immediately taken to a forest where I’m supported, grounded, and nurtured. Since Cedarwood is distilled from the wood of the tree, this adds to the solidity and grounding energies of this oil as well as providing a balanced energy for The Magician. Cedarwood is also associated with money and abundance. Hence, it contains the element of Earth. Cedarwood embraces the Fire element with its powerful energies for creating magic and for its purification qualities. Cedarwood is often burned for purification purposes. It brings the energy of courage and strength. Cedar is great for banishing. Think of how we often use cedar beds for its banishing power to keep away fleas and insects in pet beds. We also place important treasures in cedar chests as Cedarwood keeps these treasures safe from pests and the outside environment, therefore calling in the energy of protection. The Air element comes in because Cedar again has been burned, just like Sage, for centuries. North American Indians used cedar to help enhance communication with their ancestors and guides, as well as for purification and sending spells or prayers up to the heavens.

Cedarwood blends well with citrus oils, other woody oils, floral, spicy, and/or herbaceous oils. I suggest you create a blend that carries Earth and Air element qualities for The Magician. It depends on how you want to use the blend. Add a Fire oil to the blend, if you want The Magician’s power of magic. Use an Air element blend for communication. Think of which characteristics of The Magician you need right now and amp up that element in your blend.

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Laurel Woodward, author of Kitchen Witchery and the new Backyard Garden Witchery.

Nature is the great restorer. We go to nature to escape the chaos of the world. By submerging ourselves in the green sights and natural sounds, our minds clear and our spirits quiet. A trip to the beach, a walk through the woods, a hike through a natural area stirs our senses and brings us back to a place where we are able shed worry and experience a sense of wonder. Grand vistas like the sight of the sea stretching endlessly away under the setting sun or a majestic mountain view hold the power to take our breath away. To experience the surprise sighting of a hawk circling in the sky, catch the scent of rain just before the storm, or feel the pleasant sensation of sunlight warm on our skin elicits a response deep within us. It is in nature we come to sense the webs of power thumbing around us. It is in nature we are able to find our place in the world.

Nature is the keeper of mysteries that, when noticed, inspires curiosity and gratitude. But you don’t have to go on a pilgrimage to find nature. The land right outside your window can become a place of spiritual inspiration, a place where you work with plant allies and devic energies, a place where you encounter a presence that stirs your soul. It is waiting just outside your door. Simply leave your electronic distraction inside and step outdoors awake and aware.

Meditation to Connect with Nature of Your Space
You will need: You and nothing else

Go outside and settle in a comfortable position. State your intention for the exercise and then say something like:

I enter this place of beauty with a heart filled with gratitude. I am thankful for the experience and happy to be here.

Close your eyes and draw your attention in. Allow your thoughts to empty before moving your attention to your body. How do you feel? Is the sun warming your skin or is the wind cooling it? Open your eyes and look around you. Focus on what you can see. Notice the natural beauty all around. Be aware of your reactions. Does the sight of anything fill you with surprise or wonder? If anything draws your attention take a moment to notice it in detail.

After a few moments, move your attention to the natural sounds. Can you identify who is making them? Can you identify the birds and animal you see and hear? Do you know who is sharing the space with you? Sit quietly for as long as you are able with your attention focused on what you can see, hear, feel, and smell. Let your muscles relax. Smile as your heart swells with gratitude for the beauty you are witnessing.

Repeat this immersion exercise to strengthen your connection to the space, nurture your relationship with the natural world, and empower your sense of well-being.

Our thanks to Laurel for her guest post! For more from Laurel Woodward, read her article, “The Garden as Sacred Space.”

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Jane Meredith, author of Rituals of Celebration and the new Falling Through the Tree of Life.

The Kabbalah‘s Tree of Life is a complex symbol with many layered meanings. A cosmologist, an occultist, a poet, and a musician might all have different explanations of these ten circles arranged in strict relationship to each other, but in essence they would boil down to the same thing. This is how a glyph becomes effective—we all understand it in different ways, but those ways are doorways to a shared understanding. As a Pagan and a feminist, my understanding of the Tree of Life is to regard it as a living thing—evident in each actual tree, breathing with us and through us. This is an embodied Kabbalah.

Trees and humans have a long relationship. Weve always known trees, lived with trees, nurtured and exploited trees. We’ve planted and cultivated them, cut them down, created whole tree monocultures, worshipped them, celebrated them for their beauty, been sheltered and fed by them—the human-and-tree story is long and complex. Without trees, there probably wouldn’t be humans. This is not as true in the other direction, and currently we are even endangering these essential allies.

Although humans have lived alongside trees forever, and are interdependent with trees for so many things, including exchange of the very air we breathe, we know comparatively little about them. Each new discovery—trees share information and nutrients underground via the mycelial network! Trees can change their own chemistry in response to external threats to their health and well being! Trees have an intimate relationship not just to biodiversity, soil stability and nutrients but also to rainfall patterns and locations!—falls like a revelation into our human-centric world. We’d have to imagine that people who lived more simply and closer to trees understood most of this by observation, lore, and lived relationship.

I experience the Tree of Life as earthly and embodied. To me it is both a sacred symbol and a political one, existing in relationship to my own body. The body is sacred, it is only through and in this human body that we experience the divine (or anything else). The body is political, in its gender, race, privilege, age, history, and circumstance. Our bodies are composed of atoms that have been here, in changing forms, since the Big Bang began this comet’s tail of moments, leading all the way up to this time and beyond. As for trees—trees are sacred: the Druids’ groves, the Norse Yggdrasil, all the trees of myth and legend. Trees are political: think climate change, forestry versus national parks, imported species versus natives. And trees are comprised of these exact same atoms that we are. Bodies and trees breathe together, inhabit this beautiful world together, and share in our exaltation of the divine.

These are the flavors of my interpretation, but this is not the truth of the Tree of Life. The Tree is equally at home with cosmology, poetry, the occult, string theory and tonal resonance, religion, history, horticulture, and ecstatic worship. But for me, my body walks through the forest in wonder and awe, alive within, and as part of, the deep mysteries of the Tree.

Our thanks to Jane for her guest post! For more from Jane Meredith, read her article “10 Lessons on How to Fall Through the Tree of Life.”