WHR: To every thing there is a season

Today I did a reading using my new The Tree Spread with the Wisdom of the Hidden Realms oracle regarding my situation at the moment. Of all "fluffy" Hay House decks, the WHR still strikes me as one of the most profound, precisely because it allows every card to play either as an Ally or a Challenger, encompassing both the light and the shadowy aspects of a situation.

Just to give the reading a context, I confess that I have been feeling very stagnant over the last few months. Of course, 2020 has been a shitty year, to put it lightly, for most people. But I'm not talking only about the pandemic-induced doldrums. On a personal level I feel like I have reached a moment in my personal projects have died and try as I might I have no motivation to resuscitate any of them. Outwardly my life is moving – I continue to study, I am in a good relationship, I am about to actually move to my new place (finally!). But inside? I feel shrivelled up. 

It also appears as a sort of spiritual crisis for me. The recent explosion of people obsessed with esoteric and mystical things... this hazardous mix of social media, attention-seeking and spiritual hubris... it has suddenly made the whole realm of spirituality look like a desert to me. One day I will dedicate a more thorough post about this, but for now let's say that when a friend comes and says that I am "witchy", I am the first one to deny the title because it has lost all meaning to me.

So, amidst this drought of the spirit, this hambre del alma as Clarissa Pínkola Estés calls it, I did this reading to get a better view of what is the issue at hand and how can I improve it.

1. The current situation/issue – The Spiral Dancer

The Spiral Dancer shows up in the upright position, as an ally, to say that my problem is one of perception. Life moves like a spiral, in an apparent circular motion but always heading a little further... so even we when think we have gone backwards, we are not actually at that same place. This card reassures me that I am on the right path, even if right now it feels like I'm stumbling. "Destiny's true path is seldom straight" – that is the Dancer's message.

The Tree Spread

I'm a sucker for short card spreads.

In my many years of practice, I have found that oracle spreads between 3 and 5 cards tend to yield the best results. They are not only more objective and less confusing, but they are also condensed enough so that it becomes easier to feel the "atmosphere" of a reading. The more cards you have, the more diluted this impression becomes.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the general crisis it has unleashed, I have been hearing many people say they feel as if they are not getting anywhere. To be honest, I often feel that way too, like all my struggle is for nothing because I cannot yet envision the results. But I also know that it is very hard to perceive a situation accurately in the midst of living it…. Only in hindsight we can have a proper idea of how much we have grown during a certain amount of time.

So I have created The Tree Spread as a way to help us understand our current situation more clearly and to discover how we can positively and actively grow from it. I was inspired by the trees that are constantly growing even though it is often imperceptible at a first glance.

My intention was to create a more optimistic spread, one that also gives us some agency over our own processes. We cannot always avoid the crisis, but we can attempt to put it within a perspective of evolution. And this is what The Tree Spread is for.

The cards are laid in a single column to represent a Tree in an upwards movement. The positions are as follows:

1. The current situation/issue
2. The origin of the situation/issue
3. How to grow from or to overcome the situation
4. The outcome or future developments

Soon I will post some readings done using it, to illustrate.

I hope this spread may prove useful to others as well! Feel free to try it, share it and let me know the results if you feel like it!

Weekly Reading: Pick your distraction

Water and Earth usually make a good pair in a reading. Water softens Earth, and Earth stabilises Water. In this reading, Nichomiah's festive presence surely eases a bit the impact of the dreadful 8 of Spades.

But you know, when the 8♠ shows up is because we need to stop. Look. Listen. Something's not quite right. The 8♠ is known as the unluckiest card in the pack (as opposed to the 8♦, which is the luckiest), so even though it has a water companion to dilute its effects, it still demands our attention.

Sometimes, we prefer to dawdle through shallow pleasures to keep our minds distracted, than to tackle what is actually bothering us. We know something is not right, but we focus on something else, kinda hoping that it will go away on its own. And this is what this reading reveals to me: there might be a feeling of unease this week, but we will be reluctant to look at it, to give it voice inside us. Like Nichomiah, we will pick our poison – whether it be work, sex, alcohol, Netflix, empty spiritual rituals, self-pity – and look the other way.

Now, I'm not saying that we have to focus on the problems all the time. Everything is about balance. Pleasures and distraction are healthy too, in the right dose. There are days in which we just cannot afford to look into the abyss of ourselves, it's not the right time. However, something darker is asking for attention. And as the Moon begins to wane, it may be the time for us to consider facing what we have been trying to avoid.

The Playing Card Oracles © Ana Cortez & C.J. Freeman

A Full Moon Birthday

I turn 33 years old today. A good decade older than when I first started writing here.

It is funny though… I have moved a lot and have changed a lot in this last decade. I am not where I would like to be yet, but I like to think that I am going somewhere. Forwards, not backwards. 

And yet... there are many times in which it seems that no matter how much I struggle to progress, I am stuck. I look around and despite all the hullabaloos I am back to the same place, and things have shifted so slightly I cannot really call it an evolution. I try to stay positive and to count my blessings, as a good Sagittarian is wont to do... but despair is a siren song, one I feel undeserving of, considering there are so many others who are much worse off than I am.

Nature gave me the most beautiful birthday gift last night, a perfect Full Moon. So bright and magical, hanging high up like a pearl against the dark velvet of the sky. A jewel amongst the clouds. I was alone watching it. All was quiet... so quiet, it was as if the world had stopped so that I could breathe at last. 

For a moment, things seemed simple enough. Everything was as it should be and I wish I could stay in the hazy embrace of the moonlight forever. Forever lost in this sweet nothingness, never having to endure the glaring light of the Sun – of reality – ever again.

Nature is peaceful not because it does not know violence. It is peaceful because it knows how to be by itself. To simply exist.

It’s we, humans, who have forgotten it.

Weekly Reading: Dancing with the warm wind

Last month was so intense I barely had free time to think, let alone to read the cards for myself and post anything. My mother's surgery went well and, aside from one cut that isn't scarring very well, she's recovering without major issues. Of course, now there are the next steps of the treatment to consider but... we are taking that one step at a time.

Anyway, I was feeling rather low-spirited and tired today, so I reached for my PCO and decided to do a weekly reading. Fortuna (10♣) and the South Wind (4♦) – now, that is one unpredictable combo, if I ever saw one! Indeed, this week starts with a Full Moon in Gemini, filling the air with lively, changeable energy. Both 10♣ and 4♦ represent nicely this amplification of the restless Gemini vibe: one that sweeps you off your feet with new ideas, opportunities and events, but may also leave you a bit stranded once it's gone.

So these cards say that this week we should expect the unexpected and be ready to dance with whatever the wind brings. Now it is time to be adaptable and to take it as it comes. We must only keep in mind that Fire and Air together are not known for their, erm, firmness of purpose, so while you should enjoy the stimulating atmosphere, you should not make important plans or decisions based on it. Focus on the short term!

The Playing Card Oracles © Ana Cortez & C.J. Freeman

Weekly Reading: Take a deep breath...

...and don't get carried away by the emotional tides!

Heart and Clubs together speak of time of acute sensibility, in which it might be hard to focus on practical things. The East Wind (4♣) is a card of slow developments and deliberate action... It tells me the rhythm of this week will feel slower than usual. Practical tasks will probably require more time and patience to get done. 

The 3♥ tends to be a more charged card, but being a low number and paired with the 4♣, I see it more inclined to mean that I can expect some small emotional drama and conflict, and that I will have to be patient when navigating through them. People and situations can rile us up, easily turning small ripples into a Tsunami... So, it's important to take a deep breath and not react immediately to every provocation. 

The Playing Card Oracles © Ana Cortez & C.J. Freeman

PCO: A thief in the night (and in daylight)

If you ask me about health readings, I will be the first one to dissuade any inexperienced reader (and even experienced ones with no medical background) to do them. It's not that I believe the cards cannot read about health matters - oracles are not that selective -, but rather because it is a sensitive topic in which badly-interpreted information can have dire, even fatal, consequences. Also, any misstep can cause the unheeding reader to teeter on the edge of unlicensed medical practice, which is bad.

That said, nothing precludes us from doing personal health reading (as long as we don't go around advising people based on that) or from trying to gain more clarity about a health situation using the cards. That's what I did a couple of months ago when my mother came back from a routine exam with a suspected breast cancer.

As always, looking at the cards in hindsight is hardly fair. Nevertheless, I would like to share here the reading and the original interpretation I did back then (before the diagnosis was confirmed). My question was: what do I need to know about my mother's health condition right now?

The first cards to get my my attention were the 11♥ in the Foot position and the 9♠ in the Throat one. They are not side by side, which lessens a bit their effect as a pair; nevertheless, together they did give me the impression of unexpected thief that was stealing from the body (11♥, LaHire), sucking away one's health (9♠, Dracula). I confess that, even back then, I felt this was a confirmation for the cancer suspicion.

But let's look at the other cards. The 3♣ in the Head position speaks of a need for greater clarity, and for me in indicated that more exams would be needed, and that no conclusions should be taken before seeing the right doctors. Usually, the 3♣ also means that whatever is being formulated in the mind can become true. Of course, here I would not say my mother had secretly wished she would have a cancer or anything; rather, it seems to confirm that what is in the mind (the cancer suspicion) was real.

Lastly, the 9♣, Galahad. This card proved to be a bit more difficult and even today, looking back, I'm not sure I get its role there - specially in the Torso position, which is an important place in a reading about a possible breast cancer (it's where the breasts are, after all). Galahad is a card of ideals, that challenges us to remain grounded while pursuing lofty goals. He's upside down here... definitely not grounded! Looking now, there is a sense of lack of control about him... mind filled with ideals and visions, feet up in the air... Galahad looks like he could easily be carried away by the two much slyer characters flanking him.

So, I got the general picture of a body that has gone out of control, and whose living force is being sucked away by a thief. Aligns pretty much with the idea of a cancerous tumour. And the Geomancy also points to it: Via + Cauda Draconis = Tristitia. A difficult path that will bring sadness...

One last note about my mother: the diagnosis was confirmed a few days after the reading and she has, indeed, breast cancer. But we found out that it is not an aggressive tumour, and that it has a very low probability of spreading. She will probably not need chemotherapy, "just" surgery and radiation therapy. As of now, we are waiting for the situation of the pandemics in the hospitals to stabilise a bit before she undergoes the operation to remove the tumour.

The Playing Card Oracles Alchemy Edition © Ana Cortez & C.J. Freeman

Deck Review: The Triple Goddess Tarot by Isha Lerner and Mara Friedman

Oh, The Triple Goddess Tarot... this deck and I have a long story. It was one of my first oracles ever, purchased back when I was getting my BA in Journalism, circa 2005. I bought the brazilian edition of this oracle from a local shop that doesn’t even exist anymore, and I remember being awestruck by the sheer gorgeousness of the cards.

Back then, goddess-themed oracles were not as abundant as they are today, and much less so here in Brazil. The most popular one was (and I think still is) the famous The Goddess Oracle by Amy Sophia Marashinsky and Hrana Janto. Also, paganism and the sacred feminine were incipient at best.

Although my first contact with this deck was through the brazilian edition, I eventually got the original one published by Bear & Co, and this is the edition I am going to review here as I it is the one most widely available. 

The Triple Goddess Tarot was created by Isha Lerner and illustrated by Mara Friedman. The deck consists of 25 Alchemy Cards and 7 Chakra Cards, sized 9,5 cm x 13,5 cm. The cardstock is flexible but not flimsy, and the finish is matte. The colours are very vivid. Despite its size, the deck is easy to shuffle even for small hands (such as mine), because it’s not too thick. The Alchemy and Chakra cards have differently coloured backs. The book has 232 pages and dives extensively into the traditions and myths of the Triple Goddess.

Now, I cannot say I consider The Triple Goddess Tarot to be an actual tarot deck. Let me explain why. Although the first 22 cards do follow some of the Major Arcana logic, the symbolism has been vastly altered to make it a female-centred deck. The names of nearly all cards have been changed (check the list at the end of this post). Also, this deck has four extra cards in its Majors/Alchemy Cards, plus the seven Chakra cards… all these changes, for me, deprive it from truly having a “tarot” status. I consider it more a tarot-inspired oracle.

Full Moon Project!

Full Moon in Aries and time for a rather impromptu project... yes, I have made my own Witch's Runes. Yay!

If you look back through my posts here, you will see that this is an oracle I have liked and used for years. But I had never made my own set of runes before. I always used ones made by artists who I deemed more "handicrafty" than me.

Because I absolutely have no idea how to cut wood myself - and I really don't feel comfortable to cutting a tree's healthy branch just to experiment -, I bought myself a pack of 3cm wooden circles for craft. They have the advantage of being flat and porous, which makes it easy to draw on them... Not to mention they are resistant and light to carry around, two important qualities in a rune set in my opinion.

So today, with a mighty sharpie, I drew the symbols. They did not come out perfect, but I suppose the rough look adds to the magic. Annnd… there is the fact they are undisputedly mine. I have even added an extra rune – the crossed spears – because I have always missed a symbol to speak of open conflicts and energies that don't go well together. I am not sure if I will use it in readings, but it's there and I now can try it and see if it makes a worthy addition to the 13 Witch's Runes. I might make a post in the future to explain better my idea behind this rune, but I feel I need to use it first before drawing any conclusions!

So, tonight we have a Full Moon in Aries. A full moon in fire speaks of creative projects that reach their finest points or that get completed. In Aries, specifically, we get that warrior-like vibe that, after a cycle of fighting to get things done, you can now lean back and rest a bit, while contemplating your accomplishment.

I still have tons of things to do, both related to my job and to my studies, but for tonight… yeah, I guess I will do just that. Sit, take a deep breath and enjoy the fact I have finally made my very own runes, under the blessing of the full moon.

Weekly Reading: How long can you keep that fire burning?

This will be a week of getting things done. This sequence of a 9 followed by an Ace tells me I am reaching the end of a process, but there are still a few responsibilities to fulfil and projects to wrap up.

The A♦ assures me that I have plenty of energy and focus to see it all through to the end. But the 9♦ is a card that tells of a peak of energy followed by a decrease, like the midday Sun, that reaches its highest point right before it begins its journey down...

Thus, this reading asks me: yes, you have all you need to fulfil your responsibilities and keep your promises, like a good hero. But how long can you keep this fire burning at this intensity, until it burns you out?



The Playing Card Oracles © Ana Cortez & C.J. Freeman

PCO: A very heavy mind

This reading was done for myself a few days ago, as I have been experiencing a lot of stress related not only the social isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but also due to the the constant juggling of my work and student responsibilities. 

I have been getting little creative satisfaction from what I do, and that makes me feel blocked. My attempts at keeping up with the social media as a way to advertise my work as an oracle reader and crystal healer have been more of a chore than anything else. I feel often uninspired and am constantly comparing myself with others, which make me wonder why do I even bother when there are already so many readers and healers out there. 

So, I did a spread asking what I needed to know about this blockage, so that I may find a different, more fulfilling path.

Two earth cards on the top -the K♠ (Mardoc) and the 5♠ (Impotent King) – immediately made me think of a heavy mind. A mind that is impoverished because it has reached the end of its rope. And it ringed true – my projects, at least as I was handling them, felt dead to me. The old way of doing things had to end, so that new possibilities could be born. 

Mardoc never really struck me as aggressive, but with all that fire and earth in the reading and no water whatsoever to dilute the intensity, I understood that my own rigid thinking was responsible for making me both tired and angry. And indeed, when attempting to be creative these last few months I often felt bitter and annoyed instead. Not a good place to be.

Back to my saturnian roots

A good six years have passed since my last post here.

Since then, a lot of things have changed, both in my life and in the internet "divination community" as a whole. The Aeclectic Tarot Forum, in which I used to participate a lot, has ceased to exist and became only an archive. A lot of people have migrated to Facebook and to Instagram and, it seems to me, fewer and fewer people write blogs these days. Oracles and witchy stuff are more popular than ever nowadays (at least on Instagram).

As for me, I have changed a lot too. I am (obviously) older – I will turn 33 years old in December. I have more tattoos. I am now an undergraduate student of Psychology, hoping to become a psychotherapist one day. I am about to move to a new place (a flat of my own, finally!). The only things that remain the same are my job at a local book publisher and my love for the art of divination.

Of all aspects of my ever-changing spirituality, this is the one that has always remained with me: my love for the oracles. And that’s what urged me to come back to my roots, to reclaim a very important part of my story – this blog.

Saturness was a work of love. Unlike my attempts at keeping an Instagram account about divination, which always end up feeling like a chore, this blog has always been powered by love. By thoughts. By emotions. By changes. It is perhaps the closest thing I ever had to a journal, a place in which I mulled over my life through oracle-shaped glasses.

Writing in this blog often helped me give new, broader meanings to many important events in my life. Looking back at some posts I can see how juvenile they were, but they are also part of the very process which made me who I am now.

I am no longer quite the same oracle reader and student I was back in 2014. I have sold and given away most of my tarot & oracle collection, keeping only my favourite ones. I have become a bit more cynic in my beliefs, which has given my reading style sharper edges. Doing therapy and studying Psychology has helped me to understand how the oracles can be a tool that, through words and images, gives our innermost and often denied issues a voice.

And through words and images, here in this blog, I too gave voice to myself.

I am proud of this blog. I am happy to rediscover it and glad that I never deleted it, even though I actually considered doing so a couple of times. Because now I plan on making Saturness a living part of my journey once more.

IMPORTANT: In June 2021, the name of this blog was changed from "Saturness" to "Soror Serpentis". The feeling described in this post remains the same though!

Enchanted Blossoms © Carla Marrow & Blue Angel Publishing