Magical Times Empowerment Cards: Deck Review

On August 31, 2015October 14, 2015 By benebellIn deck review, oracle deck2 Comments

The Magical Times Empowerment Cards by fantasy illustrator and writer Jody Bergsma, who is just a master at watercolor, which you’ll see throughout the images of this deck. Part art deck and part channeling tool, these cards will have you believing in magic again.

The card dimensions are standard size for an oracle deck, 3.375″ x 5.125″ on sturdy cardstock that has just a subtle sheen to it, but not glossy. It’s a really great finish for an oracle deck. Unlike most oracle decks these days, which are accompanied by perfect-bound little companion books with full color covers, this deck comes with a little white booklet (LWB) as you’d find with most tarot decks. The deck is published by U.S. Games Systems, but interestingly enough, it was sent to me by Llewellyn for review, so there seems to be some interesting publisher collaborations going on behind the scenes. (Not that I have any firsthand knowledge; all pure speculation on my part.)

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Journey of Love Oracle Deck Review

On August 24, 2015June 16, 2015 By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, divination, oracle deck10 Comments

The Journey of Love oracle deck by Alana Fairchild and illustrated by two artists, Rassouli and Richard Cohn, was published by Llewellyn (Blue Angel Publishing) in 2014. It’s printed in the same style common among modern oracle decks right now, with the larger dimensions, sticky high-gloss finishes, and vibrant contemporary art.

There are 70 cards in total, along with a sizable perfect-bound guidebook. Alana Fairchild has rapidly ascended to the top of the New Age Movement. She is based out of Australia and is the bestselling author/creator of guided meditation CDs, books on angels and crystals, etc., and exquisite oracle decks that tend to be inspired by the divine feminine. There’s the Kuan Yin Oracle deck, the Isis Oracle, Mother Mary Oracle, and Sacred Rebels, among others. I have the Kuan Yin deck (my review posted here), this one, and the Sacred Rebels (review forthcoming). I love the Sacred Rebels deck, like, a lot, but I might actually love this one, the Journey of Love oracle more.

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My First Tea Leaf Reading Experience

On August 17, 2015October 14, 2015 By benebellIn divination, personal10 Comments

Tarot and Tea Leaf Readings by Tabitha Dial

Prior to getting a tea leaf reading from Tabitha Dial over at Tarot and Tea Leaf Readings, I didn’t know much about the practice. Okay, I still don’t know much about the practice, but my perspective has definitely shifted. Tea leaf reading, or tasseography, is a cross-cultural divinatory practice that I’d seen done before, heard about through my childhood, but never delved into. So I had no idea what to expect from Tabitha.

I asked her about the trajectory of my book writing and publishing endeavors, but also kept open to any related messages that might come through. For my reading, she sent over a five-page single-spaced write-up accompanied by four large, full-color photographs. Tabitha used loose leaf black tea and as the leaves were steeping in the water, a strawberry symbol formed at the bottom of the cup. You can see it quite clearly here:

2015.08.09 Tabitha Dial Tea Leaf Reading 1 (Strawberry)

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Intermediate Publicity Tips for the Tarot Professional: Your Platform

On August 12, 2015August 12, 2015 By benebellIn professional tarot, tarot4 Comments

Yeah, I don't know. I needed a picture to go with this post. I didn't have one. So here is what I came up with. Don't judge me. — Yeah, I don’t know. I needed a picture to go with this post. I didn’t have one. So here is what I came up with. Don’t judge me.

I posted an article a while back, “9 Easy Ways to Increase Publicity for Your Professional Tarot Services” here on this blog. That was for budding or startup tarot professionals. Let’s talk about taking that up a notch and going over some intermediate publicity tips. These tips are going to be most helpful if you’ve been actively pursuing a tarot reading business service for at least 3 years and have been a tarot practitioner for much, much longer than that. If that description applies to you, then read on.

Let’s talk about your professional platform.

Why You Need a Platform

For starters, if you have any aspirations for publishing a book on tarot someday, you’re going to want an established professional platform before querying agents or editors. Even if you have no book aspirations, if you’re in the tarot business to succeed (and I have to presume you are), then having an established platform will enable you to set higher fees. And people will actually pay those fees because they trust your expert experience.

If you’ve ever wondered why another fellow tarot reader seems to be a ton more successful than you and begin to wonder if maybe that reader is better than you as a reader, then stop right there. No, fool! That reader isn’t better than you in any way except maybe better at marketing and self promotion. Marketing and self promotion, at its most effective, is related to your platform.

So. Okay. Now you’re interested in hearing me out on this point. How do you establish your professional platform?

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Guardians of Wisdom Universal Power Cards: A Review

On August 10, 2015October 14, 2015 By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, divination, tarot19 Comments

The Guardians of Wisdom Universal Power Cards is a 78-card tarot-inspired oracle and insights deck, or universal power cards, that was self-published back in 2000 by Todd Hershey and illustrated by Emy Ledbetter. I contend that this deck came out way ahead of its time, and had it been released today, 15 years later, rather than back in 2000, it would have become an instant bestseller and generated a great deal of buzz.

The vibes of this deck are the same vibes as today’s most popular oracle decks and resonate with why we reach for oracle decks, only the Guardians of Wisdom cards do it better. Like, way better.

It’s not light and sugarcoated. Many of the messages can be bitter pills to swallow about yourself. As either tarot or oracle decks go, this one is way up there in terms of how well it achieves equal competency between both upright and reversed readings with the deck. In fact, you’ll want to read with reversals when you use the Guardians of Wisdom power cards and you’re not going to want to overlook that very important component. In fact, it’s half the deck. Literally.

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Edible Rune Divination: Black Sesame Shortbread Rune Cookies

On August 3, 2015October 14, 2015 By benebellIn book review, divination, holistic food, personal14 Comments

These black sesame shortbread rune cookies look like beautiful stone runes but are also absolutely delicious to eat. I am so excited to be sharing this recipe, which comes from a book I’ve been loving, Kyotofu: Uniquely Delicious Japanese Desserts by Nicole Bermensolo and Elizabeth Gunnison Dunn. It’s published by Running Press.

The recipe in Kyotofu is just for straightforward black sesame shortbread cookies, a fantastic recipe, and then I took it a step further and turned these cookies into runes. Now, I don’t know much about runes or rune divination, so bear with me here and I welcome any corrections in the comments section.

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Month: August 2015