Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

Tag: Witchy Haul

  • Tarot Impulse Purchases

    Tarot Impulse Purchases

    I have mentioned before that I am slightly obsessed with/addicted to Tarot and Oracle decks. I have many. I want many more. In the last week I got two Tarot decks and one Oracle deck in the mail. The tarot decks I recently impulse bought from Zulily (they had a collection all about witchy stuff). Seth kickstarted the oracle deck for me pre-pandemic, but then pandemic, so they just finally arrived stateside and were shippable. I am going to make a separate post for the oracle.

    So, Tarot Decks: I picked up the Modern Witch Tarot Deck by Lisa Sterle and the Tarot of the Divine by Yoshi Yoshitani.

    The Tarot of the Divine I was familiar with because a friend, lady gang member, wench Mary bought it and I was enamored, but hadn’t picked up a copy yet. It is “Inspired by deities, folklore, & fairy tales from around the world.” The deck itself has matte, textured cards that are pretty thick but feel nice in the hand. The box is really nice and I think I will use it to store the deck. The book has color photos of each card and explanations of the inspiration behind each card. I haven’t tried reading with it yet, but I really like the vivid imagery and the folklore backgrounds.

    I was not super familiar with the Modern Witch Tarot, but I liked the imagery a lot and decided I would pick it up too. I am not sad that I did. It is a deck based on the Smith-Waite deck, but with a wonderfully diverse imagery. The box is really nice for this deck as well. The cards are thick and very glossy which makes them easy to shuffle. This is another deck with vivid colors. And the book is super cute. Again, I haven’t read with it yet, but I am excited to do so.

  • Day 9 of the Hostage Situation: Divination

    I love tarot and oracle decks. I have been reading since I was 16 and I have loved them ever since. I think they are a divination tool of such beauty, and each deck is unique with new insights to share. I am a bit of a collector when it comes to decks and I have well 6 right here beside me and an additional 8-10 more. I may be underestimating that amount as well. I might have a problem (nah!). In the last month I received a new oracle deck as a gift and I received a tarot deck my husband kickstarted for me as well. I am awash in new divinatory tools and I love it. I thought I would share my first impressions of both decks in case you were looking at them, or so you might want to.

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    Deck 1: The Literary Witches Oracle written by Taisia Kitaiskaia and illustrated by Katy Horan – The artwork for this oracle is lovely. The cards are divided into two types: The Witches and The Witches’ Materials. There are 30 witch cards with portraits of famous literary women and 40 material cards which are common images found in literary work like wolf, cauldron, white dress, etc. The deck comes in a sturdy box and has a guidebook that has basic meanings for each card as well as sample spreads. Here is a quick look through the guidebook.

    The cards are well made and solid, but a little large for my hands when it comes to shuffling. The imagery on the cards is gorgeous and lush for the Witches and beautiful but simple for the Materials. I love the idea of working with imagery as a divination tool and I look forward to using this deck. Here are some examples of my personal favorite Witches and some of the Materials I liked a lot.

    Deck 2: The Oriens Tarot by Ambi Sun – The imagery for this deck drew me right in when Seth showed it to me on Kickstarter and I knew I needed it. The artwork is stunning and comprised of animals and insects. The colors are lush. I have been waiting for this for a while. The deck came in a beautiful sturdy box, and I also got a reading cloth in the design from the back of the cards. The deck does not come with a physical book, but I was able to download a copy onto my computer and phone, and you can look at the meanings of the cards on the website.

    The sides of the cards are gilded in an amazing holographic silver that catches the light beautifully. The cards are of a nice thickness and fit really well in my hands. I could shuffle them all day if given half the chance. (I find shuffling super meditative and relaxing.) I am massively in love with the animal imagery and the beautiful colors. I am so excited to get into using this gorgeous deck. Here are some of my immediate favorite cards.

    Do you read tarot? Or do you collect them like me? What do you think makes a great deck? Do you enjoy oracle decks as well?

     

  • Magickal Monday – Witchy Haul!

    Magickal Monday – Witchy Haul!

    Happy 4th of July Eve to my American Friends! To everyone else Happy Magickal Monday!!

    I have done some witchy shopping in the last couple of weeks, so I thought I would share some of my recent purchases.

    From a little shop in Yellow Springs, Ohio called House of Ravenwood I bought a piece of statuary that is a Merlin/Wotan – Odin. The workers and I thought it to be Odin. The box called him Merlin, but to me he is an Odin as the wanderer piece.

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    From my friend Seamus’ shop The Magical Druid I picked up a beautiful copper bracelet with pentacles on it. I also picked up a gorgeous piece of peacock ore, and a nice chunk of Black Tourmaline.

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    And a new oracle deck called The Halloween Oracle. The imagery on this deck is beautiful. I love Halloween, so this deck is right up my alley.

     

    I shuffled until a card popped out as a simple one card spread and I got the card:

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    Nightsong – Hidden Talents:  Should this beautiful but shy bird sing to you by appearing during your divination, know that you must unwrap the present of yourself. Look! Some of the gifts within you remain unopened! The time has come to step into your true potential and claim all possibilities for yourself. There is no more time to waste. No more excuses! – Stacey Demarco

    I am so excited to continue working with this deck. I think it is quickly going to become a favorite.

    My younger sister has gifted me with a beautiful picture which I am planning to frame to add to my altar space. I have no idea where it is from, or who the artist is, so if you know them please let me know.

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    I also made a trip last Thursday to my friend Heather’s shop Violet Flame Gifts in Newark. I was picking up the gorgeous drinking horn she made that was just begging to be owned by my husband. While I was there I found a gorgeous wand that I could not resist. Labradorite and Turquoise are two of my favorite stones. I am thinking of this as my Pisces wand, because of the shells and starfish motifs on it. I am so in love.

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    That is all, and enough, lol. Expect to see more of the oracle deck, and of that wand.

    Bright Blessings!