1/31/2023 Tuesday Day of The Moon
12:15am Hour of Mars cusping towards Hour of TheSun
Waxing Gibbous Moon

Friends,

After a warm day the night air is still and just beginning to cool. The clouds in the sky are moving either to the West or the North depending on how high they are, pushed and pulled by unseen forces of Water and Wind. After a long day at work I have indulged myself and thanks to a delivery App I will have a late meal of Pad Thai and Gyoza and Kani Rolls. I have also discovered that rarest of all creatures an Asian restaurant that is open all night! This is a particularly valuable discovery here in Orlando, which in some ways is still the collision of the sleepy Southern towns that dotted the area in the era Before Walt.

Early last week I had a quiet moment and felt the urge to do a Tarot card draw. I ended up pulling the 8 of Cups. Appropriately enough as, after 13 years with one Motel company and 14 years with the same Motel brand, I have accepted a new Hospitality job with a new company and turned in my two weeks notice with the motel I’ve been at the last few years. The overall vibe I got from the card pull and my various readings on the card meanings, was a fairly literal “set aside shiny shit for now to focus on this new thing”

So instead of beginning an intensive period of writing, reading, Witchcraft, and Social Media content creation; I mostly went back to lurking. I took a breath and accepted that I needed to lean into a transitional phase, to ground myself in my new reality and to chill for a bit. I have been alternating between working my final two weeks at the old motel, with a meeting and training at the new motel, and even have squeezed in a day off.

*Rereads the above paragraph* Apparently chilling is a relative term?! I suppose its that I am feeling incredibly reenergized and deeply hopeful about the future? Whatever it is… this seeming flurry of activity had felt vaguely like a vacation. I’ve focused on things that serve my goals moving forward. Including not only having a job that lets me grow and learn and develop in new ways, and both pays the bills and effectively reduces them by returning to employer based insurance rather that the expense involved in the Health Insurance Marketplace.

I got myself a new Journal, a leather cover and a snap closure and a trade paperback size all marks in its favor as I wished to begin this new year with a new focus on discernment, and introspection, and daily…. somethings… involving my writing and inner work and my Craft. Now, I do not have a lot of confidence in my ability to draw. Since I am working on my sigil game, I am beginning to work on that but it is early days yet on my drawing skills and sigil Witchery. So when I decided to begin a new diary and journal and wished to incorporate Laura Tempest Zackroff’s 2023 Sigil for the Year I was at a bit of a loss until I decided that Office Supply Magick is, after all, still Magick!

So blending together some computer printouts of Ms Zakroff’s 2023 Sigil and some of her process notes, scotch tape, some whispered blessings and prayers, and boatloads of hope and intent and will, I am beginning both metaphorical and literally new chapters in 2023!

Speaking of my sigil game, and also feeling like a victory… In late November I had crafted an Employment related sigil around the simple phrase “I am Employed”, with a bunch of intent and thought about what I wanted out of being employed. I had it in mind to do some spellwork around my job hunt, but between the Holidays and New Years and some personal financial business things got a little hectic. I hadn’t done anything formal around it other that figure out my process for it and move forward with it, and craft a sigil I was happy with and ready to add to a Sigil vocabulary I am trying to build.

About a week later I got a call from a manager I had not worked with in about 5 years, inviting me to join the team at their, and now my, new motel. Needless to say this has also boosted my confidence, and I already have a few phrases outlined to do some more sigil work around!

So, New Year, New Job, and New Journal. All in time for Imbolc. With everything else that has been happening I haven’t had a lot of time to think about what to do for Imbolc. Truth be told, it’s rarely if ever been a Sabbat I had a strong relationship with, beginning my craft in the subarctic and now continuing it in the subtropics, neither climate really vibes with the first stirrings of spring and life spiel that one finds in most Wheel of The Year related materials… I’ve always had more of a relationship with it as a Return of The Light… although it’s associations with New Beginnings and First Stirrings ….actually that may be on the right track. I may have to do some reading up on Brigid and Imbolc…

Whatever I decide, it is now around 2 something am and I need to get some sleep. I will see you all on the flip side!

Bliss & Blessed Be,
Pax / Geoffrey

PS- once I have actually had some sleep, I will be adding some Sigil Magick resources below…

Dear Reader, after a delightful night of deep Asian food binge induced slumber, I have decided to write out the Sigil resources and some notes and thoughts on Sigil work as a separate post, here…. (pending link as your author falls down a bit of a research rabbit hole)

(or A Witching Hour Misadventure)

Friends,

I have come up with a new, or at least new to me, Tarot card spread that I think I will be keeping in my repertoire going forward. Here’s how it happened, now if you want to skip ahead to the spread I’ve centered an underlined the name below with the technique following, if you want the background info and my usual musings read on…

So, in part because I have a natural tendency towards insomnia and in part because I work an odd Hospitality industry schedule where sometimes I am overnight and sometimes afternoon, my sleep schedule is a creature of chaos. The other morning I was off for the day after an overnight shift. I stayed up late doing some chores, feeling a bit like a vampire on a day pass, and went to bed around 1 or 2pm. I was expecting to be up around 6 or 7 as getting 6 hours at best has been my pattern lately. I woke up a couple of times for stumbles to the bathroom or kitchen in the night only to tumble back into bed rather eagerly. The heavy and fuzzy bedspreads are my people now, they understand and accept me as on of their own!

I finally awoke around 2 something a.m. and was sipping some coffee and scrolling my socials when I felt the urge to pick up my Tarot cards. I haven’t been pulling cards or doing any spreads regularly for a while now, and after recent efforts to rebuild that practice ended up resulting in repeated reversed card draws and readings, and perhaps a bit of Tarot induced trauma, that’s natural enough.

As I shuffled the deck I tried to let go of any hang ups or fears about drawing a reversed cards and approached the process with a focus on the questions and an air of ‘it is what it is’ as possible. I pulled a card, then after spending some time with interpretation and meditating upon the card and what it could be referring too, I pulled 4 more. I contemplated their meanings, consulted some of my reference materials, and wrote some notes. I also thought for a bit about the process itself and wrote a few notes about that as well.

It was as I was writing my notes that I realized I had done most of this work around 3am, often cited in folklore as The Witching Hour, during the Hour of the Moon on the Day of Saturn. This felt worthy of noting and doing a little reference work review seemed in order so I did that as well.

After that, I did a very early morning run to one of the corner store for snacks and nicotine and went back to bed for a couple more hours around 6am or so…

The Crossroads Spread

A Tarot Card layout/experimentation.

A 5 card pull to use when you feel the need for direction or advice but are not sure what is bothering you, or why you are feeling adrift.

Shuffle the deck as you will.  As you are shuffling focus on the questions of what do I need to know, what do I need to focus on, what do I need to be more aware of. These and similar general and topic unspecific questions need to be the focus of your thoughts as you shuffle. Introspection, Learning, and growth are the goals of this exercise; especially of what we do not know we know or what we need to know.

When you are ready, pull the first card and set it down.

1st Card: is the basic answer or issue.  Spend some time with this card in contemplation of its meanings and what in your life it could be referring to.  Pay attention not only to the meanings that seem clear to you in the moment, but also spend a bit of time exploring the full set of possible meanings for any that you shy away from at first. Is there anything there that you may be deceiving yourself on or pushing away on some level as something you do not want to deal with? Once you feel comfortable that you have identified the key answer to the first card you can begin the next step.

Cards 2 thru 5 are pulled and layed down, one on each side and one above and below the 1st card, in whatever order as makes sense to you either in the moment or based on the lore and symbolism you work with. It is important to remember that unlike some reading layouts the position of the cards these cards around the first do not have a specific meaning or relationship to the first card.  This layout is one for contemplation and introspection whenever you find yourself at a metaphorical crossroads.

Cards 2 thru 5 can represent a few different things.  They could represent factors contributing to or complicating the current question or issue.  They could provide deeper background on the issues you are wrestling with at the moment.  They could present possible pathways or approaches you could choose from to deal with the current situation. This is an exercise in discernment and self-discovery so feel free to spend some time with the reading and any note taking you do related to the reading.

crafted at the witching hour during the hour of the moon and the day of Saturn January 15th 2023

If you decide to try this variation let me know how it works for you? Are there any spreads or techniques you’ve developed in your own practice seeking similar information? If Tarot is not your thing do you use any other oracular techniques in your practice? Let me know in the comments!

Bliss and Blessed Be,
Pax / Geoffrey

1/11/2023 Wednesday the day of the Mercury
10:06 am Hour of Jupiter
Waning Gibbous Moon

Friends,

After a few days of very disrupted sleep patterns I had slept for several hours yesterday, to awaken around 11pm, I was up for a couple of hours and indulged myself with some delightfully spicy Penang Curry delivery and then listened to my body and went back to bed for a few more hours before awakening in the predawn hours. I’ve sipped a great deal of coffee, watched some youtube, injected some social into my social media over on Mastodon with a couple of brief conversations, skimmed current events thanks to NPR and Reuters, and struggled to write something until it occurred to me to take a few moments to focus on my breath, ground and center, switch to drinking water and to eat something.

It may be time to add a few notes to my Notes To Self notebook about self-care? One must remember to balance the feeding of body and mind and spirit after all. I started this notebook in the aftermath of my hospitalization back in 2020 as a way of working through some mental fog and depression, sort of an amateurs’ version of Cognitive Behavior Therapy I suppose.

Some of my early morning readings today included a timely article on 6 Herbs for Lung Support, a bit on social media about how the Queens NY Public Library now allows anyone anywhere to become e-card holder and gain access to their entire digital collection, and a gofundme fundraiser for a Pagan and Witch Elder needing a little assistance. NPR served up a piece on how one can reduce food waste, this article left me with a lot to think about … for me also highlighted the importance of charities like Feeding America, and I hadn’t even heard about the Nationwide Flight Shut down in the U.S. until Reuters mentioned it!

I’ve also been able to give some thought to my writings and workings for the coming year with a view towards of trying to carry forward the theme of Light persisting.

For the moment though, I need to go get cleaned up and take care of a few things around the house.

What new projects or ideas or influences have you found for yourself at the dawning of a New Year?

Bliss and Blessed Be,
Pax / Geoffrey

Friends,

Happy New Years and hello again!

Lately I’ve been lurking in my socials, reading posts and various shared articles, bookmarking interesting things I might like to share or write about, giving myself some time to rest and renew at the closing of one year and the dawning of the next. I’ve also been trying to contemplate or discern the deeper meaning of the phrase “The Light Persists”, which as you may remember came to me in a period of dark despair and doom-filled thinking when I was profoundly moved by this news item about the lighting of the Posner family menorah in the window of the home of the President of Germany.

I’ve also spent some time processing and engaging in some discernment around my most recent bought of Depression. Engaging in the same work around the many personal, and professional, and cultural and societal and emotional ups and downs in my life in 2022, and over the last few years.

The seemingly massive and widespread resurgence of outright racism, homophobia, anti-science, anti-vax, conspiracy cults, and fascism. The Pandemic and lockdowns, deaths on a massive scale, and that in so many cases they seem to be waved off as unimportant or unworthy of note. The continuing nature of the Coronavirus Pandemic, and the natural uptick in viruses and illnesses floating about as large portions of society have reopened within the last couple of years after masking and social distancing have prematurely ended. Fear and anger, grief and shock.

We find ourselves in a time of trials. A time where the forces of hatred and intolerance and tyranny seem to have conspired with the forces of a changing climate and nature itself in an ongoing onslaught against all hope and stability and decency. A time of individual and communal and collective trauma. Tower Time as writer, Witch, and Pagan Elder Byron Ballard has been calling it for years in her writings and work. Among other things Ms. Ballard is a Tarot card reader, and in calling the times of change and upheaval we are going through right now Tower Times she is referencing the 16th Card of the Major Arcana of a standard Tarot deck, which like a lot of the cards with intense and intimidating imagery is not as doom filled an omen as it might first appear.

Ms Ballard works extensively with the Tarot. As a writer here, I work regularly with the metaphors of the transformational process and of the journey. Increasingly in my process as both a Witch and writer I have been working more and more with the metaphor and powers of The Crossroads. I have long been a proponent of the idea that part of taking up the mantle and practice of Witchcraft is to accept responsibility for one choices. A Witch chooses their actions, and reactions. Ideally this is done carefully and with a willingness to own ones actions and accept ones consequences, to pay the coin as some traditional Crafters will say.

I have also worked with and written, imperfectly, about the concept of the Acrostic Eye. The phenomena where as one learns and develops as a Witch, learning the lore and techniques and symbolisms of Magick and engaging in the practice of it, one begins to view the world around oneself and its events differently.

The lessons of The Crossroads and The Acrostic Eye are that there are seldom if ever simple truths or easy answers. Truth is complex and honest answers are complicated.

I believe that this year, and over the next few that follow we are all standing at a crossroads, the intersection of the times and tides of History and Culture and Technology. The choices we make and the actions we take, individually and collectively, in the next few years will help determine the survival and potential for humanity going forward. I have been reminded, indeed to one degree or another all who observe and celebrate the Solstice-tide and Yule have been reminded, that even in the longest nights and in times of turmoil filled with all the evils that humanity can perform, the light persists!

At this Crossroads with these Tower Times let us choose to join together. Let each of us rekindle the fires of Will and hope and hospitality and compassion and community and justice within ourselves and within this still Holy World. Let us serve as beacons for others who are lost and fearful and believing themselves alone and without hope. Let all of us living through such times, the people of conscience and courage and many faiths, come together to bend the moral arc of the universe towards justice once more. We have done so before and we can do so again.

May each of us be a part of the light that persists.

Bliss and Blessed Be,
So Mote it Be,
Pax / Geoffrey