Magickal Wreaths

Wreaths are like rings. They represent Universal Circle ("Let circle be unbroken …" as song lyric goes) and also idea of circulating love, wealth and prosperity for yourself and neighbours. Usually they are hung on front door, over fire place or over dining room table to commemorate special occasions or changing of seasons. To make frame for your wreath you will need strong thread, glue and branches from appropriate tree. Try to make your wreath from branches you find on ground, however if you can't, be sure to thank tree if you end up breaking off any its limbs. However, probably easiest way is to buy a pre-fabricated frame for it at Walmart or a local craft store. Most craft stores sell very nice circular frames made from varnished grape vines that look very natural and authentic. A wreath can be complicated and hung with a cornucopia of herbs, fruits and flowers or it can be as simple as a bunch of pussy willows braided together and formed into a circle. Below I have made a few suggestions for different wreaths you can make to suit different purposes.

LOVE DRAWING WREATH For this you all you need is some kind of circular armature, or above mentioned grape vine wreath. However if you want to make your own circle, branches from any fruit tree (apple, cherry, or orange) are perfect. Leave as many leaves on branches you can and make sure they are thin and pliable enough so you twist them into a circle. Once you have constructed circle decorate it with dried roses. Pink and red are best colours. The darker red, more sexy wreathe. You can dry your own roses in advance. However, if you have no dried roses available, fabric flowers will work just as well. Tie buds of roses into wreathe and then decorate it with pink, red and white ribbons, Although kind of lush and girly, it is designed to bring love into your life. PROSPERITY DRAWING WREATH This little wreath is beautiful, simple, classy and it smells great. Use a grapevine armature and intertwine sprigs of basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage, and bay leaves. All of these herbs draw wealth to home. You may attach small oranges or kumquats. For an added dash of spice to your life, stick each orange with pins which have been threaded with cloves - an orange stuck with cloves is an ancient way of drawing money to you fast. CHINESE PROSPERITY DRAWING WREATH Use dried or fresh red, orange and yellow chrysanthemums, which symbolize autumn, protection and money. With this one you can use a Styrofoam board backing to affix flowers to backing. Or you can tie them to a grapevine armature. Decorate with red ribbons. PROTECTION WREATH Take long thin branches of holly that still have berries on vine and braid and twist them into a circle. Holly is known to protect from evil spirits and bring blessings to home. Decorate with a white ribbon.

A Crash Course in Tarot for Newbies #3

Most Tarot decks consist of 78 cards: 22 Major Arcana, and 56 Minor Arcana cards. The Minor Arcana consist of four "suits”, just like a deck of regular playing cards. The four suits are, Pentacles or Coins, which deal with work/money/success issues, Wands, or Staffs, which deal with more spiritual issues, Cups, which deal with emotional issues, and Swords, which some see as representing negative experiences and loss. If you want more of an explanation of these cards, then check out a Crash Course in Tarot #1. When starting out, I highly recommend making your life easy, and getting person to ask you a question out loud. Both parties should focus on question while you shuffle cards. As you get more experienced or confident with cards, you won't care if they ask a question, but repeating questioner's question out loud yourself does seem to assist divination process. Shuffle cards until person you are reading for feels it is "right" to stop or until you feel it is right to "stop". After you are done cutting, you need to cut deck. Most readers divide deck into three piles. At this point you can either have person you are reading for pick which pile to pick up as top of deck, or you can pick them up in an order that feels right to you. Another option is to fan cards out face down, and have person you are reading for pick out cards they want you to read. Then lay them out in order they are suppose to appear for spread. The One Card Spread The One Card spread is most concise of all spreads, intended to provide a quick take on a situation, or to reduce it to a single issue that you can meditate on. . Simply ask a question and then draw a card to divine answer to your question. It is surprising to what extent these types of one-card readings can be exact, or even solve your problem for you. The Three-Card Spread This spread is good for yes or no questions. After you are done cutting deck lay cards out from left to right. 1 2 3 The first card to left represents past/issues affecting problem. The second card in center represents present/problem. The third card to right represents future/outcome. A variation of this is to read three cards as Mind, Body and Spirit. This is more like a "personality read" and can give you a good indication of where "someone is at." The Celtic Cross Spread Lay out cards on table in following order 10 4 9 5 1 /2 6 8 3 7 The first card is placed face up it represents person asking question and foundation of matter.