Category: personal

Dying My Grays and the Mallen Streak

On By benebellIn personal23 Comments

I have had a straggly streak of white hair at the crown of my head since adolescence. I believe it’s known colloquially as a Mallen streak, and medically as poliosis circumscripta, when a patch of hair at the front or crown of your head goes white due to hypopigmentation, i.e., low melanin.

It’s often associated with autoimmune conditions, which funny enough, is itself associated with the hyper-sensitivity that results in psychic and mediumship abilities. The Mallen streak condition is also linked to seriously bad eyesight or hearing, meaning if you have one, you’re more likely to have the other, which is funnier yet, because that’s associated with amplified clairvoyance and clairaudience.

Aligned with all that, since medieval times a Mallen streak has been considered a marker of divergent, anomalous, or maligned personalities, a birthmark that points to witchcraft and transgression. In Chinese folk tradition, a woman’s hair turning white or getting streaks of white in an untimely way is a sign of supernatural influence.

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The Etteilla Five of Swords

On By benebellIn cartomancy, Etteilla Tarot, personal, tarot, tarot card meanings8 Comments

Lord have mercy that the tarot card you were drawing on your birthday isn’t an omen of what’s to come for the year. Because I was “called” to work on the Five of Swords. Or I was “pulled” to, I dunno, I find all that New Agey jargon a bit fluffy but there it is. “I was called to” just means I don’t have a logical explanation for why I did what I did.

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Trad Wives vs. Girl Bosses; Etteilla Art on the Nine and Eight of Swords

On By benebellIn Etteilla Tarot, opinion, personal16 Comments

Anyone else notice the intensity of recent conversations swirling around so-called girl bosses and trad wives?

Funny enough, as I nosily listen in on video essays, podcasts, and commentaries, I’ve been sketching the Eight and Nine of Swords from my Etteilla deck.

Now you’re like, wait what does the Eight and Nine of Swords in the tarot have to do with girl bosses and trad wives?

I thought nothing. But the illustrations I seem to have subconsciously done at this time sure are amusing.

Chronologically I worked on Card 56, the Eight of Swords first, which appears to give off girl boss energy, then moved on to Card 55, the Nine of Swords, which one might identify with trad wife.

This blog post is another installment of my Etteilla Tarot art project status updates.

At the same time I thought it’d be fun to pepper in some rambling on this whole trad wives, girl bosses conversation du jour.

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Who’s Afraid of Big Bad Generative AI?

On By benebellIn Bell Chimes In, opinion, personal, tarot community22 Comments

I kind of feel bleh for talking about AI so much, but everyone in every nook and corner of my life, personal and professional, is talking about it, so it’s hard to avoid wanting to chime in.

When you’ve got multiple thumbs in varying (and very different) pies, you’re exposed to a diversity of opinions, and wow is it diverse. If you’re only mingling in liberal arts circles, then you’re not hearing, truly hearing, the discussions about AI happening in the scientific circles, and if you’re only mingling in scientific circles, then you’re not hearing, truly hearing, the discussions about AI happening in the liberal arts circles. And so it’s been interesting hopping from one camp over to the other and back to witness the contrast.

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When the Middle Path Means You Belong Nowhere

On By benebellIn opinion, personal30 Comments
Just thought it’d be fun to share some snapshots of how I mark up my copy of I Ching, The Oracle with notes.

Every facet of my disposition – even fate, the cards I’ve been dealt in life – seems to be on a cusp. Astrologically by both Eastern and Western charts I’m a cusp baby. Cultural identity wise, mine is the hyphenated experience. I’m agnostic when it comes to party lines, but you’ll certainly hear the far right calling me too woke, and the far left calling me too trad.

I’m often too structured and austere for the creative arts community and too sensitive, too mystical-leaning for the corporate world. I like agendas, strategic plans, and realistic goal-setting; I value efficiency, utility, and productivity, all attributes that do not go over well with the creative arts community. I also account for unseen influences, trust my psychic impulses, and value empathy, compassion, mercy, softness, vulnerability, and kindness, attributes heavily frowned upon in the corporate world.

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Seven Get-To-Know-You-Better Questions

On By benebellIn personal35 Comments
Photo of us from 2011.

I came upon a TikTok video presenting these seven questions for getting to know someone better and it inspired me to answer these questions in a blog post myself, to share with you a little more about me.

I hope likewise you’ll choose one of the seven questions to answer in the comments section or treat it as a tag and answer all seven on your platform.

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Personal Energy Audit: Spiritual, Emotional, Mental, Physical

On By benebellIn free download, personal, personal spirituality24 Comments

This was something I found helpful from a leadership workshop I participated in, and so I would like to share it with you. I believe the original source or credit goes to Tony Schwartz in The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working (2011).

It’s a personal energy audit worksheet, and then based on your self-assessed scores, set goals and commit to practices that will raise your energy levels in these four fields: spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical.

Download the Worksheet

PDF  |  DOCX

We often talk about productivity and time management, when really perhaps the conversation should be focused on productivity and energy levels. If you don’t have sufficient energy to invest in your endeavors, then it’s harder to be productive. So you want to make sure you have sufficient energy, at all times.

This worksheet helps you to audit and assess your energy levels, and thus immediately implement changes as needed to raise your energy levels in the areas where they are low.

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Wills & Trusts: Estate Planning Kit (Free Download)

On By benebellIn free download, personal19 Comments

If a digital file of templates for a living trust, last will and testament, and other common features of an estate planning kit would be of interest to you, then you can download one for free. See below.

ESTATE PLANNING KIT

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD ZIP FILE
Last Updated 2024 March 8

THE DISCLAIMERS:

  • This is not legal advice.
  • I am not your attorney.
  • These documents are provided for general educational purposes only.
  • All documents are keyed to the State of California (I’m a California and New York licensed attorney.)
  • Laws change frequently and so the laws applicable at the time these documents were drafted may be outdated by the time you see these documents.
  • You should not be using these documents as-is.
  • You should retain legal counsel in your jurisdiction to give you detailed and specific legal advice custom-tailored to your estate planning needs.
  • These documents bear significant legal implications, so if you do not fully understand what you are reading in the documents, then do not use them. Seek qualified legal counsel to assist you.
  • Always consult the legal professionals in your region to ensure that your estate plan is aligned with local laws and regulations.

THEN WHY PROVIDE THESE?

Times are tough and not everyone can afford an attorney. If you weren’t going to do anything at all and were going to die intestate (i.e., die without a will, trust, or any estate planning in place), then this is better than nothing.

SO… if you were planning on doing nothing, then this last will and testament template plus funeral instructions codicil, even the power of attorney and medical directive would be a step up from nothing.

My family has had to learn firsthand that there is a big difference at probate court between someone dying without a will in place vs. someone with a valid will. Do your loved ones who survive you a huge favor by getting a last will and testament in place.

But if you were planning on hiring an attorney to do your estate planning, then IGNORE THIS POST and do not use these documents. Rely on your attorney’s counsel.

Even if you don’t (and shouldn’t!) use these documents as provided, they’re a good starting point of reference for you to consider how you want to approach your own estate plan and what you would need to gather for safekeeping within that plan.

Also, if you are a licensed attorney yourself but aren’t a wills and trusts attorney, then you may find these starter templates useful.

I dare say this though– if you’re the detail-oriented, research-loving Type A personality who can capably do your own complex tax returns and you negotiate your own contracts, with a spirit of diligence and precision toward all things DIY, then it’s not terribly hard to start with these templates and create your own estate plan. Just sayin’. =P

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Social Media Witchcraft: Grifters, Aesthetics, Consumerism, Gatekeeping | #Occultea

On By benebellIn opinion, personal, personal spirituality, tarot community, traditional witchcraft5 Comments
Random photo inserted here because pretty. Don’t hate the player hate the game.

I’m looking forward to many and different voices adding to the discussion “Social Media Witchcraft: A Community Conversation About the Things That Divide Us” via the hashtag #OcculTea. The hosts are kickstarting the conversation off with these videos from Ella Harrison, Polish Folk Witch, and The Redheaded Witch.

“All members of the occult & witchcraft community – not just content creators or big names, but everybody” is invited to participate in this discussion, with the hope that the hosts might later facilitate a live community panel.

It’s a bit of an unanticipated synchronism that just yesterday I posted my commentary on personal branding pressures on authors and social media, and then today I am posting this. Collective thoughts around the same theme often surface at the same time within a community, and I think that’s what’s happening here. Ivy The Occultist had posted “Are Modern Witchcraft Books Failing Modern Witches?” on Feb. 12 and this #Occultea open invite on Social Media Witchcraft went out on Feb. 21. I thought that was kind of cool timing.

Introduce Yourself

If you’re reading my blog in the year 2024, then you probably already know a thing or two about me. But in case you’re new here by way of the hashtag, hi! I’m the author of three books: I Ching, The Oracle; The Tao of Craft; and Holistic Tarot. You’ll often find me as a keynote at various tarot and witchy conferences.

By day I am a practicing attorney and my career obligations occupy most of my time. Writing and creating educational videos on topics I’m passionate about and reviewing books and decks to help promote artists and creatives are my hobbies.

I was born and raised in the cultural traditions of both Buddhism and Taoism. I trained in Buddhism, spent nearly every summer month from early childhood until young adulthood at monasteries sweeping floors, doing shaolin (badly), and meditating. There’s this joke among us Asians that you know an Asian kid grew up in Buddhism when they don’t know any of their masters’ names. Because they were all just shi fu to us. =)

Now let’s get started on the prompts.

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