Witch's Market

Last night we went to the Witch's Market. I had my fortune told. Normally, I don't go to professional readers as I can do it myself for free, but this reader had such a warm and friendly aura that I decided to give it a try.

 Attika K. Bast, tarot reader

She used a Thoth deck to do a past, present and future reading, as well as a pendulum forecast as part of the bargain. The cards are the kind I've been drawing in my own readings, though being Thoth, having somewhat more intensity.

The card representing the past was balance - meaning, she said, that a situation that had long been unbalanced had recently come into balance, allowing me to move forward. (True). Present was Lust, the Thoth's version of Strength - though connoting more of an energy and passion. She interpreted this as currently trying to find the thing I was passionate about, a purpose in life. (Also true - I've mentioned this a few times recently on this very blog.) And then there's the future card - Indolence, reversed. Uh-oh.

Indolence is the 8 of cups, though of course much more grim. An almost fatal laziness leading to hopeless disappointment. My card was reversed, though, so she said it was a toss-up whether I would give in to the hopelessness and fatigue or fight against it despite the enormity of the struggle.

Being that depression, anxiety, fatigue and lack of confidence are profound influences in my life, this was also a likely truth. Not one I'm proud of, but one I have to face all the same.

We used the pendulum part of the reading to expand upon this question posed by the final card. Despite the tricky bits of the reading, we ended on a good note.*

Afterward we talked a little shop - always nice (and a relief, really) to do with another experienced tarot reader - and then I went on my way.

My family did a bit of shopping among the vendors, as well. Beeswax candles for protection and to invoke the Green Man, fancy handmade soaps with herbs and spices. Not pictured are my husband's "sexy man" scent blend and teen son's magical lip balm. We all smelled AMAZING on the way home, let me tell you.

Also I bought a corset. No, there is nothing particularly magical about a corset, but it was there and I've been wanting one. For my posture, you understand.

It was a fun night with a good atmosphere and we hope to return soon.

*I know very well this is a classic part of the fortune teller's game - you never  never, never let a client leave a reading with a bad taste in their mouths. You never let them leave without some sort of hope - to do so is irresponsible. We both knew that was a crappy card, and she helped me find solutions around it like a good reader should. 

The Mysteries Of Fate, Part 2

Back in January, I posted about the twelvetide fortune-telling method in which a person writes down their dreams during the twelve days of Christmas. Some of the dreams were so wacky that it seemed impossible to make any (sane) prediction from them, but...I may have got another hit.

On December 28th, I dreamed:

"my son and I are walking down the road when we meet our new mail carrier, James "Bobo" Faye from Finding Bigfoot. He greets us very cheerfully and hands us each a copy of Reader's Digest."

This was a fun dream, but I was stymied as to any sort of meaning it might have. However, on February 11, a notice was posted that a hoard of old Fate magazines was for sale on eBay. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Fate magazine, especially the old ones which were digest-sized. As a gift, my son bid on them and won.

I wasn't thinking at all about the Bobo dream at the time, but then suddenly it struck me: in the dream, Bobo Faye, a Bigfoot hunter, delivers to my son and me copies of a digest-sized magazine. In reality, my son buys me a load of digest-sized magazines about such things as Bigfoot, to be delivered by mail. And the name "Faye" has only one letter different from '"Fate."

It might seem silly, but it really does seem to combine the elements of what was basically a nonsensical dream.

The one problem, as far as the twelvetide fortune-telling method goes, is that this should have happened in April, not February.

Oh well, I'm not complaining. I'll be off to read my magazines now.

Lunar New Year

It's been a day of messages, strange luck and unexpected meetings; one of those mysterious days that come in early February, when communication seems to flow along with the breeze.

At midnight comes the Lunar New Year. The pig is a symbol of carefree fun, good fortune and wealth. May the Year Of The Pig be good you.

Eclipse of The Wolf Moon

The 20th of January. The fabled super blood wolf moon was rising in the east. Meanwhile, the western sky was demanding its share of the attention. "Beat this, moon" it said.

After nightfall, we lay in the grass, shivering. The kids squabbled, the cats pounced. Finally, deprived of its reflected light, the moon revealed its true nature, that of an exquisitely round rock spinning in the sky.

The year has been good to us so far. Knock on wood and fingers crossed that things continue to get better.