Author: benebell

The Esoteric Buddhism of Japan Oracle Cards (Yuzui Kotaki and Miki Okuda)

On By benebellIn deck review, personal spirituality6 Comments

The Esoteric Buddhism of Japan Oracle Cards is so beautiful, so awe-inspiring that I treat it as I would a sutra — all the Buddhist etiquette applied to sacred texts I apply to how I handle this deck.

Acharya Yuzui Kotaki is a Shingon Buddhist teacher and a vice-chief priest of the Maginosan Ren-join Temple in Kanagawa, Japan. Miki Okuda is a painter, both in traditional and digital media who specializes in Buddhist religious art. The deck was first released in 2021, and I don’t know how it flew so under the radar in the tarot community.

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Home is Here: Practicing Antiracism with the Engaged Eightfold Path by Rev. Liên Shutt

On By benebellIn book review2 Comments

Rev. Liên Shutt is a Sōtō Zen Buddhist priest, educator, and licensed social worker who was born into the Pure Land traditions in Vietnam, then did their meditation training in North American Zen and Insight (Vipassana) Buddhism.

A co-founder of Buddhists of Color and Access to Zen, Rev. Shutt facilitates the Engaged Four Noble Truths program, a restorative framework for meeting any given critical need, especially when applied to oppressive forces and systems. In 2020, that program was called upon to help meet critical needs emerging as a result of the pandemic, and after the murder of George Floyd, to help facilitate ways Buddhist practice can address racial justice.

“This book is for all who have been hurt and harmed by the system of white supremacy and other systemic wrongs,” writes Shutt, “and for those seeking restoration and healing.”

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Nine Years on TarotTube/Pagan YouTube

On By benebellIn opinion, personal, tarot community22 Comments
Fun fact: That blue-toned banner of mountains was taken in Miaoli, Taiwan, from my ancestral lands. ❤

The very first video I posted to YouTube was in October, 2014. It’s been 9 years. And I thought I’d take a pause from regularly scheduled programming to reflect on those 9 years.

To do so, I’m combining several TarotTube or Pagan Youtube (Occult Tube?) community tags on the subject. If you loiter in any of those networks then you may have seen some. I’m going to do my response as a blog post. And I think that in and of itself probably says something.

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Descent into the Underworld: Guan Luo Yin, a Wu shamanistic practice

On By benebellIn Fu talismans, Magical in the Mundane, personal spirituality, Tao of Craft (book), Taoism, traditional witchcraft1 Comment

Guan Luo Yin 觀落陰 is a practice of wu shamanism 巫術 found primarily in the South Pacific. While methodologies will differ, one approach is as an astral journey to the underworld to see the spirits of those who have passed on; another is as a method of “remote viewing.”

Some traditions conceptualize the descent as beginning from the entrance to a cave at the base of a mountain (associated with the Kunlun Mountain). Others conceptualize it as a palace with many floors descending (as opposed to ascending the way floors of a building are constructed in the physical earthly world).

This video serves as an introduction to the practice.

See also:

Refuge in the Storm: Buddhist Voices in Crisis Care (ed. Nathan Jishin Michon)

On By benebellIn book review6 Comments

Refuge in the Storm is a collection of 24 essays by Buddhist chaplains, spiritual leaders, psychotherapists, medical providers, and scholars who share their perspectives on crisis counseling, be that personal or global crisis.

We begin with a poem by Mushim Ikeda, “Five Irises for Mary Oliver.” One line in particular might resonate with you:

We aren’t always reduced to our entangled thoughts, our anguish.

Praying with my friend this morning, he said Thank you, he asked Help– we bow down and rise up.

Crisis is a disruptive event or relationship. A disaster, per the definition published by the American Red Cross, is “an event of such destructive magnitude and force as to dislocate, injure, or kill people, separate family members, and damage or destroy homes.” Disasters produce a ripple effect– the numbers of people affected on a fundamentally spiritual level is far greater than the number of people killed or injured.

When faced with crisis or disaster, how do we lean in to Buddhist tenets to help us emerge from it?

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The Little Sister Tarot by Ginny Thonson

On By benebellIn deck review7 Comments

The Little Sister Tarot is a tribute to the cycle of life, what we gain from that cycle, and the heartbreak of loss. It is a deck about rebirth, illustrated by an artist who descends from a legacy of artists and art professors, and paints from the rugged north coast of California.

Ginny Thonson is a little sister. She lost her big brother to leukemia and later, her big sister to a tragic accident. Their spirits accompany her always, though, and so she perpetually embodies that role of the little sister.

The RWS-based deck follows the narrative of Eden Gray’s The Fool’s Journey, though here The Fool is represented by the little sister. We follow her journey, documented through encounters with wise spirit guides and vignettes of her life experiences.

The Fool here is naive yet fearless in the face of the challenges that lie ahead in her journey. She is not motivated by materialism, but rather, is lifted by her innocence and playful nature.

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Lark and Legend’s Black Salt Lenormand and Pink Sugar Lenormand

On By benebellIn cartomancy, deck reviewLeave a comment

These are snapshots of two sibling Lenormand decks by Logan Townsend of Lark and Legend, who also has a fantastic TarotTube channel.

If you’d like to see a video walk-through of both decks side by side, check out this video by the creator.

The Black Salt Lenormand has the emblems printed in metallic silver while the Pink Sugar Lenormand has the emblems printed in metallic gold, though both have that rainbow holographic effect. Both come with a fold-out pamphlet of keywords for card meanings and a beautiful magnetic clasp keepsake box.

There is a nostalgia to this deck for 90s kids. I love that the first card is Skater instead of Rider, reminiscent of the skating rinks we’d hang out at in junior high and high school.

Now let’s take a look at each deck.

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I Ching Divination with Moon Blocks

On By benebellIn divination, I Ching, I Ching The Oracle (book), Taoism8 Comments

I’ve covered moon block (Jiao Bei, 筊杯) divination before here in a past Tinkering Bell video. And this downloadable PDF linked here is a quick reference sheet for using moon blocks.

When you walk into a Buddhist or Taoist temple anywhere in the southern regions of the Mainland, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, heck– just in general the East Asian cultural sphere– you are going to see moon blocks. Baskets full of moon blocks. It’s so you can ask your question of the patron divinity or spirit, then toss the moon blocks and receive an answer from beyond.

Moon blocks can also be used for divination with the Zhouyi (I Ching).

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#54321Tarot

On By benebellIn book review, cartomancy, deck review, divination, personal, personal spirituality, promotional, tarot, tarot community7 Comments
The selfie function is hard. I never know where to look…

This is a TarotTube tag started by @Kelly Bear but I’ll be participating via blog post. =) I was tagged by the lovely and precocious @JessReadsCards. The prompt is to share 5 tarot decks, 4 tarot books, 3 tarot spreads, 2 tarot reader habits or tarot reading paraphernalia, and 1 piece of advice (or alternatively, 1 tarot card you’d like to embody).

Ack. You can see my Invisalign attachments in the above photo. And of course now that I called it out, it went from 50% chance you’d see it to 100% chance you’ll see it. Also, shameless off-topic plug for my new book, I Ching, The Oracle. The first few months after an author has released a book, you’re just gonna have to brace yourself for a lot of promo. =D

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Great Lakes Oracle: Freshwater Energy Cards

On By benebellIn deck review2 Comments

This is a quick look-see and walk-through of a beautiful ink and watercolor oracle deck I received. The Great Lakes Oracle: Freshwater Energy (Everyday Treasures Edition) is illustrated by Sarah Palmer and comes with a guidebook written by Colleen Footit.

The Great Lakes reminds me of childhood summer vacations. Having grown up in upstate New York, I’m most familiar with Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. This deck is personal to me. It is nostalgia. Palmer’s art style is very much emblematic of Americana and the Naturalism Movement.

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