Month: July 2017

Closed Circuit: Why Some Posts Going Forward are Password Protected

On By benebellIn Closed Circuit, personal58 Comments

Like so many of my colleagues, I come from an earnest place and share what I believe will be valuable resources, for free, and just like so many of my colleagues, we experience this: those you’ve fed come back to bite you in the hand. Each one of us deal with that in our own ways. For me, this will be my approach.

Here’s why certain posts are under lockdown going forward. People readily acknowledge that they’ve been enriched by the content I provide, take from it freely, exploit it, but then–forget “thank you” that’s just asking too much–they can’t even restrain themselves from hurling ad hominem attacks at me in public forums. How do you acknowledge you’ve benefited greatly from someone’s work and then in the same breath, say that you actually hate that person? It’s okay to hate my personality, but then you should avert your eyes and not keep coming back for second, third, and fourth helpings of my content.

It’s as if you’re standing out in the town square cheerily handing out free cookies and on an ongoing basis, certain folks keep coming back for the free cookies but immediately after enjoying the cookie, punch you in the shoulder. Or, as they walk away with your free cookie, smirk and say to anyone within earshot, “Man, isn’t she such a horrible human being? The rest of you don’t seriously like her, do you? I mean… look at her. Horrors. Plus, her cookies are shit. Munch, munch, munch…” What do you do? Most people call it quits and just stop handing out the free cookies. I didn’t want to go that route, since I enjoy baking, but I was also getting fed up.

Continue reading “Closed Circuit: Why Some Posts Going Forward are Password Protected” →

Taoist Mystic Dreamwork and Oneiromancy

On By benebellIn Closed Circuit, divination, personal, personal spirituality, Taoism14 Comments
Psst…these are not pics of the underworld. These photos are from Lava Beds National Park in California. You need to visit there sometime.

Someone in my “I Ching and the Practitioner” course asked about Chinese dreamworking. Though delving into the subject fell a bit outside the scope of the I Ching, I thought it’d make an interesting closed-circuit blog entry.

My mother’s specialty is dreamworking and oneiromancy. She works primarily through the realm of dreams. Allegedly. The lawyer in me, I think, or maybe it’s just the enduring skeptic, feels compelled to add “allegedly.” This rambling does not come from a place of personal expertise, because I’ve always been the opposite of my mother. I am not a dreamworker. I would say I don’t dream at all, or at least I rarely remember my dreams. I don’t receive prophecies, divination, or forecasts of any kind through my dreams. No–that’s not entirely true, but it’s true enough for me to assure you that I am no expert. So I’m speaking from a point of neutral, outsider observation, as the daughter of a shamanic dreamworker.

By the way, she would never identify herself as a shaman. She doesn’t use anything to identify herself. Others, however, when she isn’t around, or when describing my mother, may use certain terminology. But she would never call herself anything other than “wife, mother, daughter” those kinds of titles. I’m the one taking the initiative to say “shaman” because it’s descriptive of what she does. You’ll see what I mean.

Continue reading “Taoist Mystic Dreamwork and Oneiromancy” →

Llewellyn’s 2018 Tarot Calendar

On By benebellIn book review, deck review, tarot10 Comments

Llewellyn has just come out with its Tarot Calendar for 2018 and it is a thing of majesty. Tarot nerds, enthusiasts, and aficionados: rejoice! This is your monthly calendar that you’re going to want hung up on your wall at home or in your reading space. It’s simply marvelous.

The calendar features cards from so many tempting decks that just gives the calendar such magic. It’s vibrant, well-produced, and after 2018 has gone and passed, you’ll want to hold on to your calendar for memory’s sake.

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On Tarot Reading Ethics, Part III: Addressing Curses

On By benebellIn Closed Circuit, personal spirituality, professional tarot, tarot, tarot community14 Comments

This is the final installment of a post series on tarot reading ethics. As you can see, I’ve decided to set this post to password-protected. This final installment comes after Part I: Readings on Medical, Legal, and Financial Concerns and Part II: Third Party Readings & Reading for an Onerous Client.

In Part III, I’ll be tackling the issue of curses and hexes. First, a note for clarification: I’m going to separate out the distinction between practitioner and reader for the purpose of this post.

A practitioner is someone who works proactively with unseen energy and spirit influences, who, for lack of better terminology, can and will cast spells for hire.

A reader is someone who reads energy for hire, such as someone who does divinatory work, like a tarot reader or psychic.

I think you’ll see why we need the separation.

Continue reading “On Tarot Reading Ethics, Part III: Addressing Curses” →

The Mystical Tarot by Giuliano Costa

On By benebellIn deck review8 Comments

I am absolutely charmed and captivated by the Mystical Tarot, a deck by Giuliana Costa and published by Lo Scarabeo in 2017. The artwork is going to be reminiscent of the art style in the classic Sola Busca Tarot, timeless, painstakingly detailed for maximum sign and symbolism intuitive work, and just all around an incredible deck to work with. It lends itself perfectly to a professional tarot reader’s go-to “workhorse deck,” and essentially reads like a Rider-Waite-Smith.

The artwork is magnificent to behold. At the bottom of the Majors, as you can see in the photograph above, are glyph references for the astrological correspondences. The world that these characters in the cards inhabit is both familiar as our world but…also not. It seems to be an other-world as well. The above glimpse of Key IX starts to give a hint as to what I’m talking about (look up in the sky), but as we progress along, you’ll see exactly what I mean.

Continue reading “The Mystical Tarot by Giuliano Costa” →

I Ching and the Practitioner: A Course on the Book of Changes

On By benebellIn cartomancy, divination, Fu talismans, I Ching, oracle deck, personal spirituality, promotional, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism29 Comments

Apologies! The I Ching and the Practitioner online course is no longer available.

However, if you’re interested in studying the I Ching through the lens of Taoist mysticism, my third book with North Atlantic Books, I Ching, The Oracle: A Practical Guide to the Book of Changes is forthcoming in the summer of 2023.

The text will be an updated translation of the Oracle, with a full roster of practicum that will introduce you to East Asian occultism and ritual magic.

Stay tuned!

On Tarot Reading Ethics, Part II: Third Party Readings and Onerous Clients

On By benebellIn professional tarot, tarot community10 Comments
Deck Pictured: Russian Tarot of St. Petersburg (US Games)

I started a post series on tarot reading ethics last week and if you missed it, here is Part I on health, legal, and financial readings. I’ll be subdividing the discussion of tarot reading ethics into three parts. These posts will explore some of my personal thoughts and also professional opinions on certain oft-adopted ethical rules.

This is Part II of III, in which I’ll be tackling third party readings and reading for an onerous client.

Continue reading “On Tarot Reading Ethics, Part II: Third Party Readings and Onerous Clients” →

On Tarot Reading Ethics, Part I: Health, Legal, and Financial Readings

On By benebellIn personal, personal spirituality, professional tarot, tarot, tarot community11 Comments
Deck Pictured: The Awakened Soul Oracle by Ethony

Not one to miss a tarot bandwagon, I figured I’d work in my own thoughts, or at least a few of them, on tarot reading ethics. If you’ve been out of it all month and would now like to catch up on what the heck I’m talking about, check out this recording of a live episode of Spread This, Witches (STW), “The Ethical Tarot Reader,” featuring Allorah Rayne, Chase from Two of Owls, Nico of Scarlet Moon, Ethony, and hosted by Avalon. Ethony then put out this educational video, “Is Your Tarot Reader Scamming You?” to continue the conversation on tarot ethics. Chase also talked independently about the topic, starting a discussion vlog here, “Discussion: Tarot Ethics.” Allorah Rayne added more from her perspective here, on “Red Flags of Unethical Spiritual Practitioners.”

Here’s a Model Code of Ethical Conduct you can download and use in any way you like. A text version for you to edit and revise, and yes you are free to use, copy, or modify in any way whatsoever for your own personal or commercial uses is here, on my Holistic Tarot Study Guides page, under “Advanced.”

I’ll be subdividing this topic into three parts. These posts will explore some of my personal thoughts and also professional opinions on certain oft-adopted ethical rules.

This is Part I of III, in which I’ll be tackling the question of reading for medical, legal, and financial concerns.

7/11/2017 Update: This is Part I of II only. I’ve decided against publishing Part III. Explained at the close of Part II.

7/18/17 Update: I’ve decided to proceed with sharing Part III, but it is a password-protected post. Please do not ping me with requests for the password. It is made available in closed circuits to those who have access to those circuits.

You often hear readers say that it’s against tarot ethics to do readings on health or legal questions. But why? Why are tarot readers discouraged from reading on health and legal issues?

It’s for legal reasons and, as far as I understand it, that’s pretty much the only reason. In most jurisdictions, there are codified laws against the “Unauthorized Practice of Medicine” and the “Unauthorized Practice of Law.” At best, it’s a misdemeanor and a fine of thousands of dollars. At worst, either one could be charged as a felony and carry several years of jail time. To get charged with such an offense would be the worst day of your tarot reading life.

Continue reading “On Tarot Reading Ethics, Part I: Health, Legal, and Financial Readings” →

General Readings and Specific Readings

On By benebellIn astrology, divination, I Ching, personal spirituality, professional tarot, tarot, tarot community15 Comments
Deck Pictured: The Dark Tarot

The issue of general readings versus specific readings is pertinent to most divinatory forms, whether we’re talking tarot, astrology, the I Ching, or even in terms of configurations for feng shui analysis. Rather than frame this post as general commentary, I want to talk about my personal approach, and since most of the divinatory work I do for people are in the modes of tarot and astrology, that’s what I’ll focus on.

Let’s start with my definitions.

A general reading is when a seeker doesn’t have a cogent, cohesive question to present for divination, but just wants insight for moving forward at the particular juncture point the seeker is at. For example, a seeker sits down in front of a tarot reader and the reader simply begins casting cards and reporting back what the reader interprets from the cards. Another example is a solar returns or birthday chart reading in astrology. A reading service such as a twelve-month forecast is also considered a general reading. In theory for a general reading, any subject matter that comes up in the reading is game.

A specific reading is when a seeker has a question in mind that is narrowly tailored and will require a direct, responsive answer. For example, the seeker wants to know about romantic prospects up ahead, or which career path to take, or which of three possible office site locations would be optimal for setting up a business. Here, even a broadly-cast inquiry such as “just whatever comes up that’s money related in my life” is an inquiry I’ll tuck under the category of a specific reading.

One more point before we proceed. To debate which is better, general reading or specific reading methods, is absurd. Readers also come with different strengths. No reader is all-powerful. Some excel at the general reading. Others excel at the specific reading. Play to your own strengths. That’s all there is to it.

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Promotional Tactics That Worked and the Ones That Didn’t (For Me)

On By benebellIn professional tarot, tarot community10 Comments

When you’re running a personal venture that’s heavily reliant on e-commerce, and you’re a small potato like me operating said venture out of your home in your pajamas, with a full face of makeup and nice shirt on only when you’re making a video, choosing which promotional tactics to work on can be hard and–for my fellow professional tarot readers–a very Seven of Cups sort of inquiry. You can’t do it all, because it’s just you. So how do you channel your marketing energies in the most productive way? I can’t answer that question for you, but I’ll share with you my experiences on what worked and what didn’t.

This post will address sponsored ads on Facebook, advertising via your own social media platforms and social media in general, blogging or vlogging content, newsletters or direct mailings, local bulletin boards, and giving away free stuff.

Continue reading “Promotional Tactics That Worked and the Ones That Didn’t (For Me)” →