The Intuitive Tag | Part 2

On April 13, 2015 By benebellIn personal3 Comments

intuitivetag

It took me a lot of words to answer Question 1 of the Intuitive Tag that’s been going around. Read Part 1 here. Here in Part 2 I finish off the Tag. This was fun.

2. Have you ever had a premonition?

I’m not sure I know how to answer this. Yes, sure. I have.

3. When did you get your first Tarot or Oracle deck? What deck was it?

When I was 9, I was using a regular playing card deck for cartomancy, where all the pips were illustrated with characters from Journey to the West, a classical Chinese novel, and there were also captions that summed up that character. I’d say that was my first oracle deck. Tarot came a bit later for me.

I’ve written about it on this blog before, “My Earliest Foray in Cartomancy.”

4. What element do you connect with the most?

Air. Well, Air and Metal. Air per Western metaphysics; Metal per Wu Xing.

5. Do you believe in Faeries?

It’s not a matter of me believing or not believing. I’ve never personally witnessed faeries and have not come across any hard evidence supporting their existence. That, however, certainly does not mean they don’t exist. It just means that at this moment, I have insufficient knowledge and experiences to formulate a belief one way or the other.

6. Do you prefer the Moon or the Sun?

I don’t have a preference. I’m quite fond of both.

7. What is your favorite Crystal or Stone?

Lapis lazuli or selenite.

8. Can you see spirits/spiritual beings?

No. If I have, I was not able to, with unequivocal certainty, identify what I saw as “spirits/spiritual beings.”

candle

9. Would you rather be able to fly on a broomstick, breathe under water, make things grow fast, or control fire?

Control fire. It’s funny, given that list–those options–it’s not even up for debate to me. Of course: control fire.

10. What is the animal totem that you feel most connected too?

Owl and swan, equally.

11. What is your first animal/spirit totem?

Swan.

I should also mention I have no idea what this whole animal/spirit totem thing is, but as I developed in my own practices over the decades, there were certainly two animals I identified very closely with, surrounding myself with their images or likeness, and even picking up traits from them. The first was the swan, and later I also came to be connected to the owl.

12. Tell us about your first spirit guide?

Huh?

13. Do you feel more connected to the stars or the Earth?

I don’t have a preference. I’m quite fond of both.

14. What is your preferred method of blessing/cleansing?

Blessing and cleansing are two separate functions, per my practice. What I do for blessing is very different from what I do for cleansing. Even when we say “blessing,” that’s vague. A blessing for what purpose?

Also, my approach to these functions are rather personal.

15. What color do you feel most spiritually connected too?

I don’t have a preference. If I thought about it, though, I tend to work predominantly with white, black, and/or blue.

* * *

If you decide to answer these questions on your own blog, please link me below so I can read. I know this is a Tag and that means you’re supposed to get “tagged” to participate but screw that. I didn’t get tagged. I just saw it and went, “Oh, yah, that looks fun.” And went for it. Please feel free to do the same.

The Kuan Yin Oracle Deck: A Review

On April 13, 2015August 22, 2019 By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, oracle deck34 Comments

Kuan Yin Oracle Deck - 01 Box Cover

The Kuan Yin oracle deck by Alana Fairchild with art by Chinese painter Zeng Hao caught my attention as soon as it came out on the market. It’s published by Blue Angel, an affiliate partner with Llewellyn. I wanted the deck for Zeng Hao’s breathtaking artwork and also because it’s Kuan Yin.

Both my paternal and maternal grandmothers venerated Kuan Yin and so did my husband’s maternal grandmother. My mother has an altar in our home for Kuan Yin. When I was little and afraid of the dark, not wanting to go to sleep, crying out for mommy, my mother would come in to my room and tell me to recite this mantra that included Kuan Yin’s name, which would keep me protected. Kuan Yin is the energy I invoke any time I seek protection or personal fearlessness. I never really thought of her as the “Divine Feminine,” but okay I can work with that interpretation.

(As a practicing Buddhist who has studied at monasteries since the age of ten, I’ve literally never heard Kuan Yin associated with the “Divine Feminine” until white people got involved. Just saying.)

Kuan Yin Oracle Deck - 06 Pick a Card

To kick off this review, let’s start with a divination for you. Look at the three cards above and choose one, left, center, or right. Be receptive to what message most needs to be conveyed to you right now. Hold that thought. Continue reading “The Kuan Yin Oracle Deck: A Review” →

Golden Tarot of Klimt: Deck Review

On April 5, 2015April 5, 2015 By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, tarot, tarot symbolism27 Comments

One year in high school I had a spiral bound day planner I bought at a museum gift shop that featured Klimt’s artwork. I carried Klimt around with me everywhere that year and afterward, cut out the full-color prints that appeared in the day planner, framed and placed them around my room. An art poster print of “The Kiss” was hung up in my bedroom through my adolescence and young adulthood. Currently in the halls of my day job office hangs a really nice framed print of “Adele Bloch-Bauer I.” [Also, tell me it isn’t just me– is there or isn’t there something very Nine of Pentacles about that painting.]

Like many artists of his time (Pamela Colman Smith included), Klimt was influenced by Japanese block art. Klimt’s art is bold, sensual, deeply ornate yet symbolic, and iconic of the Art Nouveau and Symbolist Art movements, with mystical tendencies. His art was controversial for its time. Klimt would have been about 50 years old around the time Waite and Smith created their tarot deck.

The Klimt Tarot or Golden Tarot of Klimt by Lo Scarabeo and Llewellyn is one of the most well-done collector’s art deck I’ve seen. There on the box cover you see one of Klimt’s iconic paintings, “Judith I.” The cards are 2.5″ x 4.6″, which fits comfortably in my hands and the smooth texture on the cardstock renders the deck very easy to shuffle and fan for reading purposes. There isn’t much to the Little White Booklet (LWB), as the text in there is short and sweet, and in those few pages, is packed with 6 language translations.

On the side of the box pictured above, the top image is from one of my favorite paintings by Klimt, “Medicine (Hygieia),” which so perfectly appears on The Magician card in the deck. While more and more decks are moving to China for printing and manufacturing, these decks are still made in Italy. The box and packaging is finished beautifully and is part of what renders this deck such a rewarding collector’s item. It was first published in 2005 and the brainchild of the Bulgarian-born Atanas Antchev Atanassov. Continue reading “Golden Tarot of Klimt: Deck Review” →

“A Sea of Calm” Mandala Oracle Deck

On March 31, 2015March 24, 2015 By benebellIn cartomancy, deck review, oracle deck8 Comments

A Sea of Calm is a self-published 52-card mandala oracle deck by Fiona Stolze. I got a deck from the second printing and just love the artwork. In true contemporary oracle deck form, each card features a keyword or phrase, which can be applied to the divinatory exercise at hand. The deck has a calming, soft energy with exquisite mandala art by Stolze. These are paintings on silk printed onto borderless cards with captions like “Embracing the Divine Feminine,” “Thy Will Be Done,” or “Synthesis.”

The cards are a good fit in my hands, at 2.75″ x 4.75″ and altogether make for a rather slim deck, so it transports easily alongside a tarot deck. The deck description on Stolze’s website notes that the deck is ideal for meditation and contemplation.

Mandalas are, in a nutshell, an art form intended to express the artist’s perspective of the universe, or a certain part of the universe. Religiously, they’re used to help establish sacred space. Thus, an oracle deck of mandala art would be ideal for practitioners who use tarot or oracle decks in meditation. I’d imagine they’d work pretty well, too, for work on the astral plane.

Continue reading ““A Sea of Calm” Mandala Oracle Deck” →

The Intuitive Tag | Part 1

On March 26, 2015April 29, 2015 By benebellIn cartomancy, divination, personal, tarot13 Comments

intuitivetag

This one seems interesting. It’s a tag that’s been circulating video blogs, but since I don’t do those, I’ll write out my responses instead. Please also consider participating and, in the comments section, link me to your responses. Also, be sure to share with the blogosphere using the #IntuitiveTag.

I’ll be completing the intuitive tag in various parts. Here’s Part 1.

Share your first paranormal experience that comes to mind.

The first one that comes to mind happened about five years ago, no, maybe even more years ago than that. Know that I have a strange affinity with “11.” It recurs throughout my life and I, like a handful of others, always seem to glance over at the clock when it’s 11:11 exactly.

At the time of this occurrence, the address number of the condo that Hubby and I lived in was 109. The condo next door was 111. We had just moved into this condo, so I was not yet familiar with the neighborhood. In other words, hadn’t one clue where the nearest hospital was.

It was evening, a weeknight. Hubby was still at work and I had just gotten home to start preparing dinner. I had oil heating up in a wok and was chopping up the eggplant to be fired up in that wok. Meanwhile I was yapping away on the phone with my sister.

I lost track of the stove and FOOM! I turned around to see where the sound was coming from and oh my @#$%ing the wok was on fire. The flames were 3 feet high and melting the microwave that was situated above the stove.

“Gotta call you back,” I muttered to my sister on the other line. Then I dropped the phone and panicked.

In a state of panic, I couldn’t think straight. In that moment, it made more sense to me to try to run the flaming wok out of the house into the parking lot than it did to simply try to get it in the sink. I think it’s because I recalled watching something about putting water on a fire and the fire getting bigger, I don’t know, I’m just making excuses now. Anyway, in the moment, I grabbed the handle on the wok and dashed for the front door.

Continue reading “The Intuitive Tag | Part 1” →

Jujubes: Traditional Chinese Medicine That Tastes Good

On March 24, 2015February 3, 2015 By benebellIn holistic food6 Comments

Jujubes 5

I’ve been told that jujubes have been used as part of traditional Chinese medicine for at least 2,500 years, and that they’re great for those with weaker constitutions or frailer health. Drinking jujube tea regularly is supposed to be a great health tonic, and can improve your blood circulation and immune system. Even jujube pits are made into a medicine to heal wounds and treat abdominal pain; the leaves are supposed to help with fevers; and the fruit great for overall physical well-being. Jujube wood is also made into mala prayer beads for meditation, and the metaphysical properties for jujube wood is believed to facilitate spiritual healing.

For women who care about beauty, jujube juice helps improve skintone and complexion, and is supposed to help with beauty. Hey. I’m sold. Pour me some of that jujube juice! It’s also my understanding that they’re “warm,” and so great for those with “cooler” constitutions, like me. So I’ve been trying to improve my health (and hey, I’ll admit it, beauty) with regular dosages of jujube tea. Fortunately, we have a jujube tree in our front yard.

In the spring and early summer, the jujube tree blooms these delicate white and fragrant blossoms. In the above photo, they haven’t reached their full whiteness yet. I took this pic last spring. Jujube blossoms symbolize love and romance in Eastern cultures, an association likely to have come from the fragrant scent of these flowers.

Continue reading “Jujubes: Traditional Chinese Medicine That Tastes Good” →

Review of Tarot of the Holy Light

On March 20, 2015May 8, 2023 By benebellIn astrology, cartomancy, deck review, divination, tarot, tarot symbolism25 Comments

Bones For Your Health: Metaphysical Energy Work with Bone

On March 17, 2015December 8, 2023 By benebellIn holistic food, Magical in the Mundane, personal, traditional witchcraft6 Comments

Shank Bone 1

I love bone soup. Beef shank (that is mostly bone), a lineup of dried Chinese medicinal herbs, shallots, and carrots go into a big pot with water and is simmered for a whole weekend. The broth that results is magical. Serious! With the end result, we used everything but the bone. The fat skimmed off would be saved in the fridge and over the course of the week, used for stir-frying vegetable dishes. All the goopy herby junk would go to compost. And, well of course, the broth would be used for the most amazing soups and noodle soups you’ve ever had.

But those bones. What to do with the bones? Finally found a use.

In the past month, I opted to time my broth making to the lunar phases, once over the first quarter, a waxing moon, again through the full moon, and a final time through the waning moon, for a total of three cleaned shank bones. I noted how after the long, arduous cooking time for the broth, the shank bones pretty much could be pulled out of the pot clean, just as you see it above. I then rinsed them in rain water (the rainfall being perfectly timed where I live, if I might add, so that I could do that) and then buried the bones in sandalwood and sage ash, which I’ve collected over who knows how many times of burning sandalwood or sage here around the house, plus a quartz crystal for good amplifying measure.

The bones will then go through a few more processes this Friday through the new moon, which coincides with the first day of spring. So not only is the bone broth that I’ve made good for my health, but I’ll be able to put these bones to use, too.

Continue reading “Bones For Your Health: Metaphysical Energy Work with Bone” →

Candied Kumquats for Soothing Sore Throats and Coughs

On March 10, 2015March 31, 2015 By benebellIn holistic food, personal11 Comments

Kumquat tea is the best for sore throats and coughs. You make that by first drying out fresh kumquats in the sun for a few days, then storing in an air-tight glass jar filled with sea salt. Let that sit in your basement for at least a month. When you want to make the tea, you remove a couple of the dried, preserved kumquats from the jar (that has been sitting in your basement for a month), steep it with boiling water, and add a few spoonfuls of honey for a great home remedy to cure sore throats and coughs. I’m not a big fan of kumquat tea or jars of salted fruit that’s been sitting in my basement. So I present to you candied kumquats, a great alternative. It still works and in fact helped soothe my sore throat and dry cough that I came down with over the weekend.

The fruits from our kumquat tree are pretty small, so I halved them only. If your kumquats are larger or like the store-bought ones, then you may want to quarter them. I pulled out all of the interior, which can be reserved for making tea or tossing with dark green leafy salads (either kale or baby spinach salads). The skin is the sweetest part, so I only make this candy with the skins. Continue reading “Candied Kumquats for Soothing Sore Throats and Coughs” →

Blue and black, white and gold? The parable of the elephant, witness testimony, and the relationship of artist and critic.

On March 5, 2015May 3, 2016 By benebellIn Holistic Tarot (book), personal, tarot, tarot community3 Comments

Jardim Zoológico de Brasília, Brasília, Brazil. Source: Daderot via Wikimedia Commons

One summer in my childhood I was forced to attend a Buddhist camp at a monastery where we woke up at the crack of dawn to do shaolin and meditate, ate vegetarian, prayed our gratitude to everyone we knew and ever met before we could eat said vegetarian food, and had to sit in uncomfortable cross-legged positions while listening to lectures.

There was one lecture I remember when a monk told us the parable of four blind men who came upon an elephant, felt it, and were describing the elephant based on what they were perceiving. I’m totally paraphrasing the details here, based on memory, but the point remains the same. One blind man came upon the elephant’s trunk, another the belly, another the leg, and another the tail, and each one concluded matter-of-factly about the whole character of the elephant based on that one part they were feeling. The elephant is long and cylindrical… No, are you crazy? The elephant is flat and wide… No, no, the elephant is like a column or pillar…

Continue reading “Blue and black, white and gold? The parable of the elephant, witness testimony, and the relationship of artist and critic.” →

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Author: benebell