Wiccan Witch

I just wanted to share a little blip about Wicca.  You don't have to be out there casting spells on people, or building candlelit shrines to Celtic deities, partaking in covens or witch gatherings (although some gatherings can be quite fun).  Basically, to be Wiccan is to understand that there is life force in things that perhaps you did not consider to be of equal living value with yourself as a human being.  So in Wicca, we believe that all living creatures have an equal right to live, to have homes, communities, families.  What you wouldn't do to your friend Marybeth's four year old son, you wouldn't do to a baby seal, baby bear, baby moose, etc.

Now, I love my cat and she eats mice and birds and I have no problem with that.  I have no problem with humans that hunt for food either.  Some people are inclined to be hunters.  It's just senseless destruction of territories, murdering animals for pleasure, polluting the environment out of laziness, and teaching those bad habits to the next generation that drives me mad.

What I wanted people to know, is how positive being a Wiccan can be.  First of all, your whole philosophy of life changes. (Was raised a Christian, but never got confirmed because my mother and grandmother couldn't understand why people were worshipping a god that would throw a child in a lake of fire for not swearing allegiance to them.  They were Celts.  I am so glad they were Celts).
My place is special in this world as a human, not because I am the master of every other creature, but because I have enough intelligence to act as a positive catalyst.

I can cut fruit in half and take the seeds or pits out and plant them so that more fruit trees grow more quickly.  I can gather grass plants and spread them out where the ground has been trampled down, so livestock can graze.  I can plant flowers for my own enjoyment that benefit bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, bluejays.  If my vegetables are being eaten by insects, I can introduce some ladybugs to the crop to eat them.  I can build barns to shield my sheep, horses, cows and goats from the harsh winter winds.  I can share my food with pets and wild animals alike.

I can use my intelligence to create ways to harness the wind and sun for energy.  I can choose what I have and what I save and use it to make things more productive.  I can be unbiased and kind when others have been brainwashed by their religions to make them hate one another. I can act, not out of fear of "Sin" (who was actually the son of a King way back when, the Jews and Romans didn't like) or "Hell" (who spells her name with only one l)

My god is the Allfather, Odin.  My people were created from trees, not clay. My duty is to learn as much as I can about as much as I can; to strive to be the absolute best I can be both physically and mentally; to create and share what I have created; and to write, so others can reflect on things I have done, pondered or said.

Gipsie's Tarot Deck Review - Playing Cards

Can you do impromptu card readings with regular playing cards? Yes! The following is an example of a past, present, future layout using the Molson Canadian Light players deck. Remember that the hearts equal Cups, diamonds equal Swords, spades equal Pentacles and clubs equal Wands (in some regular Tarot decks the clubs are often somewhere on the Wands cards). So this layout reveals :

Past-  a kind hearted, generous soul who loves company, merged with thieving, conniving cheat, but the truth of her deceit and treachery were revealed and a new source of comfort and hope emerged.
Present - wealth is on the horizon from intelligent planning, advice from a mentor/motivator is offered freely, the kind hearted soul has become more guarded, less trusting but still wise and prudent, and a stalemate has occurred about an important matter that's being dealt with emotionally rather than logically.
Future- one gifted with a natural ability to organize and inspire others is warned of a trap that could have brought physical harm. Someone must travel very far. A decision is made. Sides are drawn and as a result of those sides chosen no more will the generous soul help those who ask him for it.

Gypsie's Tarot Card Review: Vibrational Energy Oracle Cards

Vibrational Energy Oracle Cards come to us from Debbie A. Anderson, with artwork by Heather Brewster. I must say, the art is phenomena; the cards have really dramatic, eye catching imagery. The messages are very positive and uplifting; people usually come to us mediums when in turmoil or doubt.

There is only one card layout presented in the accompanying manual, which looks fine on paper but is quite physically expansive on an actual table. I broke this down into three separate layouts for practical purposes:, "Past, Present, Future" top three cards; "Five Dimensions" middle 5 vertical cards; and "Mind, You/Body, Soul" lower three cards.

 If you are used to Tarot decks, these are going to be quite the change for you. Aside from the fact that there are no divisions of suits or numerical importance, there is also a lack of reverse meaning. I realize it is intended to focus on only positivity. But give them a whirl. They are very interesting.

Gipsie's Tarot Card Deck Review:The Tarot Cards I Destroyed

I've been reviewing Tarot decks lately, so before I go on to describe my newest pack I will show you three extremely accurate, albeit terrifyingly so, decks I destroyed in the past. Regrettably, I buried my Italian tarrochi after my mother died. It was under the influence of several friends who believed such things were "the Devils work". The cards foretold of several relatives dying, impending relationship drama, travelling to places, losing wealth and emotional posessions - it all came true, no matter that I'd ruined the cards.

Two years later I came into the posession of the Marseilles Deck of Tarot. My friends and I had gone to a Medium, who asked why I parted with my cards. When I said I simply didn't do fortune telling, she responded "Because you need some cards!" and gave them to me. They were very blunt, the Marseilles cards; they knew they didn't have much time. My already grieving mind was bombarded with images of more death, and even more negative downturns in my life. I set them afire to prove them wrong. Five funerals later they proved I had been disrespectful of the spirits.

The Rider- Waite Deck  I purchased many years later, for I refused to delve into divining for a long time. These I had a hard time with. I struggled to get a sense of what was trying to be conveyed. It wasn't until my grandson found them and asked me what they meant, four years later, that I sensed any magic in the deck. He quickly disposed of the death card in my mop bucket.
I found this amusing and liberating...I was now free to do Tarot without Death. But these cards met with a different sort of ending...they burned because they were still unpacked in the trunk of my Cavalier when it burned.

Care to Decipher?

I found this rock while roaming the beach that surrounds The Pond, in Trout River, Newfoundland.  It is quite large.  The writing below, on the left is an Irish version of runic and on the right of that is your Futhark version of runic. Time has done some gouging on the stone as well, but I believe this is proof of Vikings exploring Trout River.  (In the journals I have read by Eric the Red, it was common for Norsemen to stop in Ireland for pretty girls who had the inclination for adventure)

So which do you think it holds?

aicme b (first aicme) aicme h (second aicme)
ᚁ ᚂ ᚃ ᚄ ᚅ ᚆ ᚇ ᚈ ᚉ ᚊ
ᚁ ᚂ ᚃ ᚄ ᚅ ᚆ ᚇ ᚈ ᚉ ᚊ
beith luis fern sail nion uath dair tinne coll ceirt
(birch) (rowan) (alder) (willow) (ash) (hawthorn) (oak) (holly) (hazel) (apple)
b l f s n h d t c q
[b] [l] [w] [s] [n] [y] [d] [t] [k] [kʷ]

aicme m (third aicme) aicme a (forth aicme)
ᚋ ᚌ ᚍ ᚎ ᚏ ᚐ ᚑ ᚒ ᚓ ᚔ
ᚋ ᚌ ᚍ ᚎ ᚏ ᚐ ᚑ ᚒ ᚓ ᚔ
muin gort ngéadal straif ruis ailm onn úr eadhadh iodhadh
(vine) (ivy) (reed) (blackthorn) (elder) (white fir) (gorse) (heather) (poplar) (yew)
m g ng z r a o u e i
[m] [g] [gʷ] [sw/ts] [r] [a] [o] [u] [e] [i]

fifth aicme Other symbols
ᚕ ᚖ ᚗ ᚘ ᚙ ᚚ ᚛   ᚜
ᚕ ᚖ ᚗ ᚘ ᚙ ᚚ ᚛   ᚜
éabhadh ór uilleann ifín eamhanchooll peith start of Spás end of
(gold) (elbow) (pine) (double c) (soft birch) texts (space) texts
ea oi ui ia ae p

ᚁ ᚂ ᚃ ᚄ ᚅ ᚆ ᚇ ᚈ ᚉ ᚊ
b l f s n h d t c q
ᚋ ᚌ ᚍ ᚎ ᚏ ᚐ ᚑ ᚒ ᚓ ᚔ
m g ng z r a o u e i
ᚕ ᚖ ᚗ ᚘ ᚙ ᚚ ᚛   ᚜
ea oi ui ia ae p start of texts space end of texts


'

Gipsie's Tarot Card Deck Review: The Dreamer's Tarot

My deck used most often (and one I had to buy twice because my grandson tore up the Death Card) in Fortune Telling is the The Dreamer's Tarot by Heidi Darras and Barbara Moore. The have a wonderful assortment of interesting card layouts that prove highly sensitive and yet totally objective. (They do seem to allow the spirits to convey their frustration with folks who look down on the mystic arts, I warn you) Pictured here is the "What to Do Spread" which gives a an artistic past, present, future scenario to your actions. Also pictured is a spread that is great for couples because it reveals their true take on problems and offers bridging communication tips: "Working It Out Spread". The accompanying book "The Dreamer's Journal" encourages fortune tellers and their clients to keep track of their dreams. I just would add a further note to that: always describe your dreams aloud because, like Tarot Cards, they are often metaphors.

Gipsie's Tarot Deck Review - The Shakespeare Oracle

Hi folks and fellow fortune tellers. One of my favourite Tarot decks is the Shakespeare Oracle by A. Bronwyn Llewellyn (paintings by Cynthia Von Buhler). The pen is mighty than the sword, so Quills replace the swords Arcana; Sceptres are equivalent to Wands; Coins represent Pentacles; and Chalices take the place of Cups. The Major Arcana are represented by major characters in Shakespeare's plays.

From the interesting card layouts, to the clever interpretations, and unique hand painted cards that feel like thin chalkboard instead of paper, this literary deck will entertain and evoke a desire to read more into Shakespeare's dramas. So, "Let the Bard Predict Your Future". Thanks Fair Winds Publishing for this one.

Necessary Items against the Unnecessary Evil

I realized that after finishing my last blog post, I needed to help those out there with "softer, kinder" energies to protect themselves against emotional energy bullies.  It isn't just fortune tellers who end up with migraines from dealing with these types of people, if they aren't properly handled.  So, I have a list of items for you to pick up.  These don't have to cost a cent - don't you love Wicca!

Stones
Branches
Old glass
Candles
Sage
Sweet grass
Quack grass
Thistle root
Flowers
Catnip
Pearly Everlasting
Playing Cards
Ribbon


Images of: yellow, pink, peach flowers (if live ones not available); water in all its forms; ravens or other majestic birds; trees, alive and healthy; cats in historical art form, wildcats or domestic varieties; and stones, particularly those with runic inscriptions upon them, but photos or paintings of interesting stones will do as well.

So go on your treasure hunt first, and then I will instruct you how to use these items.  Happy hunting!

When the Bitter Come A Knocking

     Fire.  It is hypnotically beautiful.  It illuminates, provides heat, creates life. In the form of our great ball of fire, The Sun, it has a magical energy that heals depression and internal cancers. When dealing with certain types of people, however, using even a tiny amount of fire energy via candles during a session can actually cause energy overload.
     The flickering of the candles, though, can provide a warning for the fortune teller.  They will be more active than normal, twist and bend away from the person who has this extra charge of negative energy about them.  At this point, the medium should snuff out the candles, place a glass of water before the negative persons place at the table and smudge the room.

     I have dealt with these people, several times; they carry a lot of anger, have ill intentions, avoid self blame and bounce negativity towards those in their immediate surroundings.  When you have, say, three people at your table and even one is casting their energy off, it will exaggerate whatever emotions the other two individuals are dealing with at the time. 
    The medium should be very careful how they explain what the cards are trying to say, in this case, because the reaction to any advice is now "charged".  Be prepared to have an "unimpressed" attitude cast at you, the fortune teller, from the negative "fire" energy people.

     

Ulcers, mosquitoes and idiots

Burrs. They stick on your clothing, they grip hair, they hide by steps and attack furry dogs...so when trying to use a bit of witchcraft to rid myself of an irritating human burr I believed burning the little spiky seed pods, together with other selected herbs and ingredients would work.

Ha! He became more obsessed with my daughter than ever. So I looked the plant up in my Edible Medicinal Plants of Canada book; it's full of healing properties for skin disorders and the Japanese have been purported to use it for sexual medicine. Another book, claimed certain aboriginal tribes in Canada used it's juice as a love tonic. This was not a break up plant! (It seemed so counter intuitive!)

There were other species that offered hope, so I prepared dishes of crushed herbs in tiny candle holders wherever we didn't want him to linger. He started to get the hint- but his reaction was to knock them over with a poker and run (obviously he gave me far too much credit ).

Then I started placing natural insect repellents under my daughter's mattress. I had no Spicebush so I substituted lavender, wintergreen oil and allspice. Dried sage I mixed with the heart shaped leaves of Shepherd's-Purse. He found the little herb bags because of their aroma and accused me of trying to hex him.

They began arguing more...it was working!

But ironically enough, it was when the creepy fellow mistook my jar of dried catnip for weed, that he left for good - with ALL of the catnip.

Steaming Tea

When learning to read tea leaves, I really was unsure about whether or not I was correctly deciphering what was in the leaf shapes.  The steam, however, for some reason, seemed to work more closely to the way the coins did in relation to images and what not.  Upon holding my palm across the billowing wave of steam from my own teacup, I felt a sharp pain in my right eye.

 I jumped back.
"What did you see?" My son asked.
"Nothing," I said, "but I smell apples and my eye hurts." I couldn't make any sense out of the shape of the leaves that rounded the edge of the cup and made a puddle on the saucer.
"Better stick with coins and cards," my boy advised.

About an hour later, we headed out for our daily walk along the trail.  I could smell apples suddenly, as we approached the fishing pond.  There, sure enough, a few yards ahead, we found a tree with apples still clinging to the branches. Reaching to grab one, I nearly stepped into the large puddle beneath it. Trying to avoid the puddle, I swung around just as my son let go of the branch he was holding and whammo! - branch to the eye.

"You did it!" he exclaimed.
"Thanks," I said. "Nothing like blaming the victim."
"No," he laughed. "Your tea leaves - it worked!"

Waiting for the boat for sale

Many years ago, two friends of mine invited me to tag along with them to see a psychic in Reserve Mines, Cape Breton.  We drove for over an hour, got lost and finally found the unassuming home of a frail old man, who had two stout sons for bodyguards.  They showed us to the kitchen. I believed he was a Tarot cards reader, like myself. He seemed put off by my presence and asked me why I was there.

The bolder of my friends asked him if he could tell I had the gift too.  He made a hmmmnn sound.  Then he offered us a cup of tea, which is a Cape Breton custom when someone comes to your home for a visit. When I asked if he had cocoa because I didn't fancy tea, he said I was testing him and trying to be difficult, but nonetheless he instructed his older son to fetch me some hot chocolate instead of tea.

The old fellow didn't need Tarot Cards.  He seemed to be able to look my friends in the eye and see exactly what was in their minds. After a very interesting chat,with each of us, he told us to flip our teacups down onto the saucers and proceeded to decipher the images of the leaves (in my cup, the shape of the remaining cocoa mass).

This man was incredibly gifted. He knew Mormons had left me a pamphlet in my light hoop (who leaves pamphlets in empty light hoops?) instead of the door handle like they normally did.  This was happening while we were at the table, over an hour's drive away. He knew I had left a Chatelaine magazine on my kitchen table. He described word for word, arguments I would have with someone regarding a question I asked him about. He also said he knew he would end up in a wheelchair because of his chronic health problems and asked me to phone him when a certain boat went up for sale.

"How will I know which boat?" I asked the man.

"You will just know."

Then with a spur of energy and a dead serious gaze he stared into my eyes. "You will call me? My son is into things like that."

His words have stayed with me because I fear I have not sensed the right boat, or called at the right time. The Yoda-like wisdom he seemed to possess intrigued and frightened me, and yet the old man was so frail physically I fear now he may have passed on. And so I am haunted with doubt over a boat, a boy and a telephone call.

Pennies For Your Thoughts

     I very briefly explained the role of pennies before. For me they serve as a ground wire. (I don't end up with a migraine from reading your coins if you throw in a few pennies).
     For people having their coins read, pennies usually represent the dead. Now, that being said, sometimes it isn't people who have died or who are about to die - dreams, ideas, romance, infatuation, business ventures, gardens, housing projects, plans...these things can die too.
     So pennies can give you clues, warn you or scare you. They also send warm thoughts from beyond the grave. I love souls who realize that just because they are "dead" can't stop them from being "alive". These are stubborn, wonderful people - the majority are Celts (lol), perhaps because of the copper color, like so many redheads.
     Copper coins of other nations' change currency will work the same way. You can use change from any country......I just tend to speak in terms of Canadian coins where I am Canadian. I myself keep a variety of multinational coins for my own readings, just because I love the different shapes and images.
     So hang on to those coppers!

Ghost writer vs Ghost reader

I was working on a novel about vampires and had changed the title several times on the manuscript. Blood Red Sun, Blood Moon, Under a Red Moon...and it just wasn't clicking. So I put Name and saved it as that. The computer had been acting funny all day, I had a plot issue, and my daughter was on her way home from school; time to get away from the story for awhile I figured.

 After supper dishes were done and my two year old fast asleep, I went back to the computer. It was open to the unfinished chapter. I asked Victoria if she had been reading my story; she hadn't. Then I noticed my work now had a title: Bloody Mary. I raised an eyebrow at my teen, but before I could ask her again, the screen changed. My book was writing itself. Beyond the fallen trees that formed an x, there was a rock filled grave. Do you remember falling in it? Mary. Hello? Mary?

We all slept in the baby's room that night - with our two dogs. The next day I went to the trail along Pottle's Lake where I had based my story. I found two dead trees which had fallen over towards each other and formed an eerie x. My older dog seemed to read my mind. The young pup we'd adopted had wandered towards the spot, but Princess howled at her to get back. My eyes scanned the area for piles of rock. They were there but not exactly where I expected them to be, and they didn't look grave like at all, more like a landscaping tool.

When we got back to the trailer, the furnace had decided to quit pumping heat, despite a full tank of oil.  My children and I had horrible nightmares.  Someone tried to break into our home while we were asleep and attacked our older husky dog, cutting her legs, one in particular very badly that had to be put back together at the animal hospital. Needless to say, we moved as soon as I found another place to live.

Second Chance!!!

Being a fortune teller doesn't make you all knowing. I have unfortunately foreseen death and illness amongst relatives, friends, acquaintenances...and sometimes I put my Tarot cards away for awhile because of they tell me. I've buried an Italian deck. I burned a Spanish deck. I threw a Waite deck into a bucket of salt water when it began to smoke (that one actually burned in a car fire a bit later). I believe the reason Allfather, Odin's runes ended up buried beneath a tree for the same reasons.

But, sometimes hope is on the horizon. New pets, new babies, new business ventures...these jump out with brimful goodwill. Then there are the spirits who have been aching to communicate with their friends and family. They really make a person appreciate all that they have in this moment. Being invisible to those you care about is no walk in the park; I feel very honoured to act as a liaison.

I offer you a chance to experience some free coin reading, right from the comfort of your home. It cannot be as accurate, of course as if you were here in person, since in person I can sense hot, cold, sparks, magnetivity, as well as a reel of visual images that stem from touching the coins themselves.  But, that being said, I have a feeling the patterns will tell you important things  on their own.  Looking forward to deciphering your coins!

So take some change, shake it up and let it fall onto a flat surface and take a picture of them. Indicate whether you want your photo/fortune answered as a blog post with other submitters with your name included or anonymously. If you would like an e-mail reminder when it is published, I can do that too. Looking forward to reading your coins!

Haunted House on Legatto Street

     My daughter, son and I lived in a haunted house in Sydney Mines, Cape Breton Island many years ago. I do believe the ghost was a child. It moved the Lego blocks around, made a toy plane fly across the room without batteries (we took them out just to test things), and would hide in the closet when anyone entered the room quickly.  
     We told the little spirit it was welcome to come with us when we packed up to leave, but the plane never did anything out of the ordinary at the new place and my sons other toys failed to roll about.
     Years later, driving through Sydney Mines, I noticed the house was gone. I felt this horrible ache.  The house next to it was also boarded up.  Perhaps the elderly folk,who were so kind to us, had also left the neighborhood. It made me sad. It made me wonder where souls go after the places they are attached to get destroyed...

Windy Tree continued Analysis

Auden

Know how to cut them, know how to read them,

Know how to stain them, know how to prove them,

Know how to evoke them, know how to score them,

Know how to send them, know how to destroy them, Better not to ask than to over-pledge As a gift that demands a gift" Better not to send than to slay too many, [...] Thund, before man was made, scratched them, Who rose first, fell thereafter I love these two stanzas because they bring the power of Odin to the forefront.  Yes, know how to cut the runes and how to read them; know how to stain them and try them to see how they work; know how to tap into the unseen forces for guidance and translate what they say into symbols...and then he cannot help but put a little fear into his listeners' (and readers') hearts with the gravity of the runes power - they must be safely transferred and possibly, in order from them falling into the wrong hands, destroyed. This very last stanza is about Odin's creations, living included.  It tints of war and also warns of alliances, both physical and spiritual.  It also reveals a secret...that he made the runes before he made his human creations and used them to foil his enemies that had been in power before he was.  It is interesting that a god would share this with his human audience.

Deathly Chill

Like a snake, or a cold river

It slithers across my hand.

Like the frost, it makes me quiver

But I beckon it back again.

For such secrets, does death linger

Bold like none and brave as Hel.

Wanting all the while to whisper

Things nobody else can tell.

Take me forward, slide me backward

Through the time of no between.

I am mortal, yet a vessel 

Of the shadows unforseen.

Gipsie Lee

Poetic Wisdom: translating Odin's Runatals (continued)

Auden's translation of Odin's (pronounced the same) poem most known as "The Windy Tree"

Learned I grew then, lore-wise,
Waxed and throve well:
Word from word gave words to me,
Deed from deed gave deeds to me

Odin is here taking the circumstances he has just encountered and using them to produce wisdom.  What he has gone through has not been in vain; it is a story he can now tell.  It is a lesson he can now teach.  And then there are the runes themselves...and his attentive worshippers.
Auden's translation of Odin's work in italics, mine below.

Runes you will find, and readable staves,

Very strong staves,

Very stout staves,

Staves that Bolthor stained,

Made by mighty powers,

Graven by the prophetic god. Odin is credited with creating the runic language.  As his avid captors listen, he shows them the significance of the wood, rocks and symbols upon them that he was so vexed with finding. For the gods, by Odhinn, for the Elves by Dain, By Dvalin, too, for the dwarves, By Asvid for the hateful giants, And some I carved myself. Now in this stanza Odin admits he hasn't been the sole creator of these divining tools.  He also relates the existence of other powerful beings who use them as well and know how to make them.  Note the use of the Odhinn - which is a Scotch Gaelic variant of Odin, given as a clue to who his worshipers were. Some runes he ordered carved, and some he carved himself.

Deciphering the Words of The Allfather, Odin

Auden's translation of Odin's Havamal (often known as the Windy Tree Poem) into English, which is then translated for meaning by me.

They gave me no bread,

They gave me no mead,

I looked down;

with a loud cry

I took up runes;

from that tree I fell. I translate this to mean, his captors do not offer him anything to eat or drink.  He looks down at them in frustration and lets out a loud cry.  Then the runes themselves lift up from the ground, causing the earth and the tree to tremble, thus loosing the god from his noose and down he falls. Nine lays of power I learned from the famous Bolthor, Bestla' s father: He poured me a draught of precious mead, Mixed with magic Odrerir. I take this stanza to mean Odin learned nine methods of warfare from Bestla's father Bolthor.  The next lines infer the mutual respect they have for one another, in that Bolthor pours Odin a drink of very special mead, made by Odrerir. He is now attempting to calm down those that have captured him, that left him to die (as most living folks do after nine days and nine nights gravely injured without food or drink, hung upside down). They have just realized the man they captured is none other than the very god they worship. But instead of yelling at them or attacking them, he tells them a story.

Living with ghosts

Ghost stories I have many! I was fortunate to have lived in several haunted houses. One in Ashby was haunted by my next door neighbor's grandparents. The lights in the kitchen and living room would shut off around 9 pm each night and the television would turn itself on. My dog Dylan would freak out. He almost clawed down a window one night trying to get out. I would take my baby daughter and go sit out on the front step. I had nowhere else to live and nobody's place to go to so eventually we would go back inside. The dog would wait until sunrise.

One night though, my baby tried to climb out of bed and tripped herself on the blankets. As I rushed to grab her, someone else didj they caught her midair and set her right side up so that her little feet gently touched the floor first. Then I wasn't afraid anymore. The dog remained terrified of the invisible ones, however.

The Windy Tree

Wounded I hung on a wind-swept gallows

For nine long nights,

Pierced by a spear, pledged to Odhinn,

Offered, myself to myself

The wisest know not from whence spring

The roots of that ancient rood (translation of Odin's Havamal by Auden) I wanted to explain something about this poem by the Allfather, Odin - co-creator of the Northern Peoples.  Odin had gone looking for the runes he buried beneath a sacred tree, a tree his followers had vowed to protect in honor of him. (I have buried my Tarot cards more than once, when they told me disturbing things, so I can relate.) Now, I believe this tree is the Golden Apple Tree of Iddun, the one that ended up with mistletoe feasting upon it  (mistletoe mingles with other plant hosts and taps into their root systems).  The runes he buried so long ago that generations of his creations have passed and these new protectors of his tree do not recognize the man to be their god.  He is caught up in a noose meant to snare anyone who gets too close to the sacred tree.  They pierce him with a spear and leave him there to die, as an offering to their god, Odin, which they have begun to pronounce differently than he is used to.  He finds this amusing, that he is being offered to himself.  It is not an intentional sacrifice; he just came to get the runes, but he does find it ironic.  He does not die, of course, or else we wouldn't have the poem - which continues, but for tonight I shall end here.  Till tomorrow!

Odd Encounters

The strangest encounter I have ever had, dealing with spirits?  Wow!  That's difficult, because there have been soooo many strange encounters.  Dad and Yvette, can you remember this one?

  My friends and I decided to play OUIJA in our house on Stacey Avenue, in North Sydney.  This was just after my mother had died, so we asked the OUIJA if Mom had anything to tell us.  The board responded with directions to a four leaf clover placed in one of Yvette's books (I think it may have been one of those new testaments the Gideon Society handed out at Seton). 

 At the time I used to draw vampires, and the OUIJA board, rather than answer certain questions, began asking me questions about my art. We found it odd that the board was doing the asking, and not the players.  It completely took over our game.  Then it told us to look outside.  We let go of the board and went to the window.  There was nobody outside. 


Dad came home, my friends began to leave, and then someone noticed our car in the driveway.  THE WINDOWS WERE ALL SHIFTED SIDEWAYS SO THAT THEY POINTED UP AS FOUR TRIANGLES. 

 My father blamed Joe Bailey, although he had been in the house the entire time and couldn't possibly have done it.  We couldn't figure out how to fix it, or how anyone would have done it.  Dad had to take the car to the garage.  He was not happy.  (oh and I think we accidentally let the spirit loose)

Soul

Loonies are what I use to designate the soul of the person who is having their coins read.  If you use other coins, perhaps from another country or even a different combination of coins, the person will show up as having the strongest energy source through them.  Sometimes, a loonie will land upside down, spin, or completely on the flip side of the gender of the person asking questions.  This does not mean the person is in gender conflict.  It does, most times, indicate that the person they are in love with and consider a partner, wants to be in control of their lives, or has taken control.  The coin will give off heat, cold or electrical charge, depending on whether or not you have a protective person in your life, or a dictator.  The charge comes from sensitive issues.  

For someone who accidentally drops a loonie coin they've been carrying, I recommend feeling the coin before putting it back.  If it lands in a spin, take caution.  Your life is changing with everything you are doing at the moment.  Make sure at this moment you are being true to who you really are, not what someone else wants you to be.  Make choices that are good for you.  Treat yourself with utmost respect.  This is a perfect time to readdress your goals in life that you may have put on hold. Make sure your physical world reflects what your innermost soul is craving, even if its only photos or tokens, and make sure you let your soul express itself in your surroundings.  Unhappy souls are not to be trifled with.

 

Remembering

I have read several theories about the Romnichel, Roma, Rominic, Gitane, Gitanos, Tzigane, Czigane - Gypsy peoples of the world.  Ask a gypsy and they will tell you they are the descendants of Cleopatra.  I believe them.  My proof , I offer is the nomadic tribes of Egypt called the Bedouin, who I believe, were Cleopatra's mother's clan.  From their physical similarities to their clothes, culture, coins, dance, gifts with animals and nature, and the geographical region to which they belong - the similarities are too close to be coincidence (no pun intended). Sought out by people from all over the globe from time immemorial for their exceptional abilities to train wild horses, Bedouins possess a vast inheritance of world knowledge and trade routes. 

 There are certain genetic markers that show up in Gypsy males and Jewish males from the Palestinian region. Biblical accounts show that several prominent Jewish leaders married into both Egyptian and Bedouin cultures. I have read theories that the gypsies must therefore have descended from a strictly Jewish tribe, because of their cleanliness habits.  However, one must put oneself into perspective before making such a jump; the desert races of the Alexandrian region have existed long before Europeans wandered across the seas to what we now call North and South America - that only Jews follow structured cleanliness routines is biased against their neighbouring nations and tribes. 

 Odin spoke of a desert people he wished to breed with the humans he and his brothers created.  Forty years before Jesus was supposed to have been crucified, Odin arrived in the desert to consult with the desert gods.  Forty years before Jesus was supposed to have been crucified, Cleopatra and Marc Antony died.  Who better to protect the body of the Queen of Egypt and her surviving children than her own family members, who had secret tunnels out to the desert, underneath the castle walls?  But the Romans would have found her eventually had she remained in the desert. So they left with the horned god from afar, took their royal family and fled, and branched off in different directions to throw off any Roman followers.  That is how I believe, they became the various gypsy tribes that exist today all over the world (and why every now and then, a very pale, red haired child will be born).

ON BEHALF OF THE INVISIBLE ONES

 Some spirits have very strong opinions of people in your life - your medium may not understand the depth of this emotion, or where it stems from because of personal boundaries I discussed before - but the spirits will try to reach past me to their loved one, one way or another.  If they've wanted to express something to you for some time you may get inundated with information, like a storm of emotion.
       Some clues might be about the past; perhaps you didn't realize you weren't truly left out of your grandfather's will.  Maybe a great aunt left you a gift that was never delivered. Perhaps you are not biologically related to the people you grew up with and one of your blood relatives would like you to know.
      Some clues tend to be for events set to take place very far into your future, sometimes years down the road; but I find people who repeatedly get readings done will have predictions that are closer to their current time frame. 
      My theory is that a spirit who has never had an opportunity to "speak" to you may fear this is a one time thing and try to cram everything they "see" ahead of you in, just in case they never have an interpreter again.  Once they know you can contact them, that you accept they are really there and are open to communication, they are more at ease and so the messages are less of an emotional bombardment.
     

Not exactly what I was searching for but interesting nonetheless!

Coins

This is a very different way of reading coins than I follow (which I discovered courtesy of Wikipedia). I found it quite interesting though and wanted to share.

Three-coin method

Two heads and one tail of the original I-Ching Divination Coins.

The three coin method came into currency over a thousand years later. The quickest, easiest, and most popular method by far, it has largely supplanted the yarrow stalks, but produces outcomes with different likelihoods. Three coins are tossed at once. Each coin is given a value of 2 or 3 depending upon whether it is tails or heads respectively. Six such tosses make the hexagram.

Two-coin method

Some purists contend that there is a problem with the three-coin method because its probabilities differ from the more ancient yarrow-stalk method. In fact, over the centuries there have even been other methods used for consulting the oracle.

The two-coin method involves tossing one pair of coins twice: on the first toss, two heads give a value of 2 and anything else is 3; on the second toss, each coin is valued separately, to give a sum from 6 to 9, as above. This results in the same distribution of probabilities as for the yarrow-stalk method

Four coins

With tails assigned the value 0 and heads the value 1, four coins tossed at once can be used to generate a four-bit binary number, the right-most coin indicating the first bit, the next coin indicating the next bit, etc. The number 0000 is called old yin; the next three numbers—0001, 0010, and 0011 (the binary numbers whose decimal equivalents are 1, 2, and 3, respectively)—are called old yang, with a similar principle applied to the remaining twelve outcomes. This gives identical results to the yarrow-stalk method.

Coins Binary Decimal Line T T T T 0000 0 ---x--- T T T H 0001 1 ---o--- T T H T 0010 2 ---o--- T T H H 0011 3 ---o---

Decimal Coins Line 4 T H T T ------- 5 T H T H ------- 6 T H H T ------- 7 T H H H -------

Decimal Coins Line 8 H T T T ------- 9 H T T H --- --- 10 H T H T --- --- 11 H T H H --- ---

Decimal Coins Line 12 H H T T --- --- 13 H H T H --- --- 14 H H H T --- --- 15 H H H H --- ---

The two-coin method described above can be performed with four coins, simply by having one pair of coins be alike—of the same size or denomination—while the other two are of a different size or denomination; the larger coins can then be counted as the first toss, while the two smaller coins constitute the second toss (or vice versa).

Six coins

Six coins—five identical coins and one different—can be thrown at once. The coin that lands closest to a line drawn on the table will make the first line of the hexagram and so on, heads for yang, tails for yin. The distinct coin is a moving line. This has the dual failings that it forces every hexagram to be a changing hexagram, and it only ever allows exactly one line to be changing.

Eight coins on Ba Qian

Eight coins, one marked, are tossed at once. They are picked up in order and placed onto a Bagua diagram; the marked coin rests on the lower trigram. The eight process is repeated for the upper trigram. After a third toss the first six coins are placed on the hexagram to mark a moving line. This has the deficiency or allowing at most one moving line whereas all six lines could be moving in traditional methods.

taken from Wikipedia

Warrior, Poet, God

Even the Allfather isn't all knowing. So I do not get discouraged when people expect me to know everything that's about to happen in my own life, or theirs. 

Odin's written works are of continuous journeys to discover wisdom.  He visits with other gods.  He visits with humans - the descendants of those he created and those his fellow gods created.  He seeks wisdom from his enemies.  He seeks wisdom from the elements. When perplexed about something he consults the runes. 

Wanting to know is truly in our genetic structure as well.  Odin, Vili and Ve made us from a tree to not merely be statues, but to be thinking, feeling, knowing creatures. We are no longer bound, but free to roam, no longer silent, but free to give our thoughts voice, no longer neutral but free to act as catalysts for good or bad. Curiosity didn't really kill the cat; it gave it nine lives. (I think this is a Wiccan inside joke, in reference to the nine realms.) 

Fix 'Em Good!

     Have you ever had days where you almost feel as if every movement you make is through water, that you have to struggle to even get a grip on your money when you go to buy something?  No matter how fast you try to be, you end up late? No matter how excited you are, you look dead tired?
     Not to frighten you, but this indicates you have a fixator in your life. Somebody in your circle of peeps is putting all of their focus on you, all of their pent up emotions and negative energy...and they don't want you to get ahead.
     You need some protective herbs for this one. Buy a cactus (put it where it will get lots of sun, in a room you spend time). Carry some catnip in your purse or better yet, drink a cup of catnip tea before you head out. And don't forget to place your pearly everlasting pillows to block any bad energies from interrupting your sleep.

Babies in your coins...

    Baby coins are truly the neatest  spiritual trick in coin reading. 

Dimes are normally the coin that represents infants and pregnancy.

 Baby coins actually feel heavy. Plus, they don't feel like coins at all, but rather like pint sized jellyfish without the stinging tentacles.


     They show up BEFORE a baby is born. Sometimes, even before the woman or her partner realize she's pregnant. 

They can reveal stages of pregnancy indicated by where the baby coin lands in relation to the mother's coin in the coin throw. When the pregnancy should be kept a secret, the dime will hide directly beneath the loonie or quarter coin representing its mother or under two coins. Keep this in mind when feeling the need to blurt out "babies are on the way!"

     You can search for upcoming babies in your friend circle by handing out a fistful of dimes and having your friends weigh them with their open palms. Or, by paying attention to any baby dimes in your own coin pattern that are not linked to your own coin.  You won't be able to hold someone else's coin and tell it is a baby, but you can notice which friend coins have dimes beneath their coins and follow the clues.

Sometimes ancestors like to provide family related items you should choose for baby shower gifts.  These are always an emotional hit.  Take their advice! Posies are nice for pregnant moms, also, since they have healing qualities in their aroma. And little dragon ornaments bring luck.

When Death Comes A Knocking

     Bad news.  We all dread it.  We all want to know what's going to happen, but do we really want to know what bad things are heading our way? 

 I tell people to jot things down as they are revealed in their readings.  The spirits leave clues for you.  If something is life changing important, you will have a sense of deja-vu before it occurs.  This is because its already been seen in your mind's eye and you are now recognizing it, if only subconsciously.  The key is to be alert when this happens.

  Where is your train of thought?  What are your actions doing that may be in contradiction to your life goals.  Are you feeling like yourself today, or are you being manipulated by others?  Are you in a strange mood?
    

Colour coded happiness

     Did you know that different colours give off different energy signatures?  I'm sure most people are familiar with the term "aura".  We don't all have the same aura signature so we have varying colour needs.  What's your favourite color?  If you've been feeling inexplicably out of sorts it could be merely a lack of it in your wardrobe or constant surroundings, or worse, an over abundance of your favourite colour's opposite.  Yellow and purple are opposites; blue and orange are opposites; red and green are opposites.  If you don't feel like "yourself" you probably aren't showing people your true colours. 
    Bright yellow is associated with sunny dispositions, cheerfulness,happiness and friendship; but be careful of pale yellows, which draw in fatigue, disinterest, boredom and melancholy. Purple is a comfort colour for dramatic souls; it also ignites mystery, intrigue, and curiosity.  Blue is very strong but in a non-disruptive way; true bonds of loyalty, intelligence, virtue, and kindness feed on the colour blue. It does demand respect and keep people at a distance though. Orange is overabundance of warmth, strength, excitement and heat; it is wonderful in bursts where energy is constantly being used, otherwise it might agitate or cause burnout.  Red is the colour of boldness,romance, love,and passion; but it is also rage, hatred, obnoxiousness, and pain.  Green can be a healing colour, it calms and drains away negative energy, promotes alertness, uplifts the spirits, generates wealth;  overuse of green can be nauseating, exhausting, boring, but it is easily fixed with dashes of other colours.
         So like Tarot cards that flip one way or the other to denote two sides to situations and personalities, or coins that show either heads or tails, colours must be observed and reflected upon.  You will instinctively know if you are lacking in certain colour energies when you come across the shades, tints or hues that "feel" refreshing, comforting, uplifting, energizing.  Fill up on those colours.  You are limited only by your imagination as to how.  Just remember, art is life, nature is living art and life is a stage.