Counting Crows

The Significance of Rings

Rings add weight to the area of life that the finger represents, or could reveal imbalances. A ring placed with intent can enhance areas of your life. This can be strengthened by rings with corresponding crystals. When a ring is worn unconsciously, it more likely refers to the negative trait or imbalance that corresponds with that finger. Left hand: Corresponds to your personal and private life. Connected to family and personal identity or internal issues. Your left hand reflects the energy you take in. Right hand: Relates to your public life. Connected to work and your relation to society. Your right hand reflects the energy you give out. Middle Finger Element: Earth Considered the finger of cultural identity. It reflects how you related to justice, law, order, and responsibility. Can also signify inner security or materialism. Consciously placed ring: Reduce anxiety, improve stability, desire for self-development. Unconsciously placed ring: domestic unhappiness, insecurities, judgmental, lack of security. Crystals: garnet, onyx, agate, topaz, tiger’s eye, jade.

Index Finger Element: Water Considered the finger of personal identity, how you relate to and see yourself. Associated with leadership, ambition, and self-confidence. Consciously placed ring: Boost self-esteem, increase authority, improve confidence. Unconsciously placed ring: Damaged self-esteem, feeling not good enough, feeling better than others, controlling personality. Crystals: tourmaline, lapis lazuli, peridot, opal, emerald. Ring Finger Element: Fire Represents your extra-personal identity and self-expression. It represents creativity and love of beauty. If it’s a wedding ring or engagement ring, it represents success in finding a mate. But if bought by the wearer it can represent self-love. Consciously placed ring: Strengthen creativity, express friendliness, improve aesthetic awareness. Unconsciously placed ring: Creative frustration, concern with image, desire to be liked. Crystals: garnet, ruby, pink tourmaline, diamond. Little Finger Element: Air Considered the finger of impersonal identity. It reflects communication and sexuality. Also represents confidence in relationships and strength. Consciously placed ring: Improve communication, express sexuality/sexual identity, gain confidence in regards to relationships. Unconsciously placed ring: Poor communication, lies, difficulty with sexuality/sexual identity Crystals: blue topaz, sapphire, aquamarine. Thumb Element: Ether Your thumb symbolizes your spiritual identity. It relates to your will power, determination, and application of personal energy. It also reflects your ability to reason and apply logic. As the thumb is separate from the rest of the fingers, and a very useful finger, it also represents strength, independent thought, and freedom. Consciously placed ring: Boost energy level, increase will power/motivation, provide comfort, increase reasoning, increase personal strength and independence. Unconsciously placed ring: lack of energy, feeling powerless, lack of control, poor reasoning, feeling trapped, stubborn/stuck in own way, need for control, aggressive/forceful Crystals: moonstone, diamond, amethyst. Rings on all/many fingers This can indicate a negative circumstance that you are being faced with. It shows a likely lack of feeling safe or secure in your world, and that your putting on a front. It can also signify avoidance to deal with issues affecting your life.

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Morning star

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Actually useful shit to have as a witch

You really don't need all the fancy bullshit every tumblr influencer will ever tell you to use. Here's my countdown ofaxtually useful shit.

A pocket knife, preferably with a wood handle. Use that bitch for everything, enchant it, carve symbols in it. It will absolutely be your best friend.

A good bag or backpack with a couple of plastic or ziploc bags in it. If you ever run off into the woods to find minerals, bones, plants, etc. A set aside bag and some things to store your treasures in becomes a necessity.

Basic divinatory sets. You don't have to buy fancy shit, learn to divine with playing cards and dice, or learn geomancy, lithomancy, or rune casting with homemade sets. A tarot deck is nice, but it isn't necessary when you've got so many other divinatory aids available.

A nice sized chunk of scrap cloth. When you process dried plants or sort new ones, that shit can and will get everywhere. A scrap piece of muslin or linen can help contain all of that mess and make clean up way easier.

A stash of good rocks. Draw sigils or symbols on those babies and leave them in the garden, the windowsill,property boundaries, under the stoop, etc. You can never have too many good rocks.

A pendulum, for fucks sake. The cards are going to be vague as hell when you're trying to figure out yes or no questions, and using a candle to communicate with spirits is really fucking hard outside. If you can't afford one, find a nice chunk of pointy quartz and learn to macrame.

A workspace. Everyone talks about having big fancy altars, but no one mentions that you need a good surface to do all your work on.

Storage, so much storage. I'm not talking about mason jars and pill bottles, I'm talking about where you put all the things you put in those jars. Having a workspace with drawers is immeasurably helpful.

A broom and water source. You're going to be cleaning up after yourself a lot, it's helpful to have a jug of water and a broom that stays by your workspace.

A mode of cleansing. I make a salt concoction to scatter around my workspace on short notice and store it close by.

On that note: SOMETHING TO CANCEL SPELLS WITH. Eventually, something will go wrong. You'll want to end that spell immediately. Have something to do it with.

A strainer. If you don't have a blender, rub dried plants across it to get a powder. If you do have a blender, you can strain that powder with it. Either way, if you intend to powder shit, get a strainer.

Small trays. It makes drying flowers so much easier if you have a small metal surface to contain them with- then just stick those suckers in a southern window and let em go.

Yarn/string scraps. Having a box or drawer of scraps makes trying this up to dry easier and a bit less wasteful.

A stash of offerings for whatever you work with. Honey for fae, coins for graveyard gatekeepers, alcohol for ancestors, etc.

Protective talismans or charms. Once you're into all of this stuff, you'll likely stick your nose in something you shouldn't. Having basic protection with you or in your workspace is incredibly important. A key and hagstone with red string is simple and effective.

A lighter- so many people forget the most basic shit. You're going to want to light shit on fire if you're a witch.

And a last tip- if something is too hard for a mortar and pestle, a plastic bag and hammer works too.

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How to Study Resources

Many people in the modern day pagan/polytheist communities are young. As such, a majority of them are neurodivergent, like I am. For me, that means a majority of the language used in resources is difficult to understand. This was originally going to be a post about that, but the more I wrote, the more I realised that many people, neurodivergent or not, just... don't know how to study resources. So, if you are someone that also struggles, I now present to you... my full guide on how to study resources.

Little disclaimer: I myself am a hellenic polytheist, but this guide is for anyone that struggles with understanding information from resources, whether you are a hellenic polytheist, norse polytheist, kemetic polytheist, etc. Though do understand that I am writing from the perspective of a hellenic polytheist, so I am bound to make mistakes when it comes to religions I am less educated on. You are always welcome to adjust anything I say here to fit your own religion accordingly.

Let's get started.

Firstly, you have to find resources. Many people happen to get stuck here, unfortunately.

How do I know what to research to begin with? When starting out, the general consensus among the polytheist/pagan communities is to research the related historical practice. How the deities were worshipped, what contexts they were worshipped in, the history of the deities, etc etc... all of these are very important factors to consider as a beginner. Only by knowing the history can you then delve deeper into specific terms and specific paths that may be right for you!

How do I find resources? Unfortunately, a lot of resources are behind paywalls or just plain hard to find. Here is a list of websites that I personally use and recommend:

scholar.google.com

academia.edu

pdfdrive.com

library.memoryoftheworld.org

libcom.org

libretexts.org

standardebooks.org

By the way, just a reminder that if you find a resource but there is a pesky paywall in your way, you can probably find it on archive.org for free!

How do I choose a resource though? If you are part of hellenic polytheism, then theoi.com is a great resource, but I always like to add primary sources into my research + not everyone reading this will be part of helpol. Try to find primary sources, first and foremost. Then read historical accounts. Then read secondary sources. Also, make sure your author is reliable! (that link is only for hellenic polytheism though, apologies. If you are not part of hellenic polytheism, then looking into who the author is/was as a person and what sort of contributions they made and beliefs they held never failed me personally!)

Found your resource? Made sure the author is reliable? Wonderful! Now what?

This is usually where the procrastination hits for me. Either that, or I get hyperfocused for a while but never complete it and then lose interest.

To avoid that, break things down and establish a routine. You do not have to finish a book in a day, or understand everything you read straight away. Setting those kinds of expectations for yourself will only make things so much more difficult.

Instead, make a routine for yourself. Outlined below is my routine:

Getting into the mindset. I always like to get myself into the mindset of studying by praying, whether this is studying for school or studying a resource. Since my entire life is devoted to lord Apollon, I pray to Him for it. However, if I am researching a specific god, I will typically pray to them instead. However, sometimes I do not have the spoons to write out a prayer, so I typically just adjust my surroundings instead. Turning my LED lights to a warmer colour and putting on some lofi music usually helps me! The studyblr community has great tips for this part! I also recommend I Miss My Cafe.

Reading. First, I try to read without annotating or taking notes. This is the time to take in the information, to try and grasp what I am reading. This is usually the most difficult part for me, because a lot of academic sources tend to use advanced language and sentence structures that are difficult for me to understand. Unfortunately, the only tip I have for this part is to read as slowly as you need. Do not be ashamed for taking your time. Typically, I only like to read one paragraph before I move onto the next step.

Annotation. This is where I re-read the paragraph I just read. Typically, I like to re-word the paragraph in a simpler way for me to understand. Sometimes I notice little patterns that may connect back to something I've read prior, whether in another book or earlier in the same book. When that happens, that is something I add too! Remember, you do not have to annotate. If it makes it easier, then perfect! If it does not, discard it.

Consult study tools. This is where I cross-reference with other resources. This is how the entire process repeats again. Though, you do not just have to use books for this part! YouTube videos, podcasts, online resources, etc etc...these always help too!

Application. After vetting the information, consider how it would apply to your life, if at all.

Of course, that's just my routine. You are always welcome to use it, but I also greatly encourage you to create your own routine so that you can cater it to your learning style!

I also recommend setting a time limit for yourself. If you have not completed a chapter within the time limit, that is okay! The most important thing about researching is making sure you are not guilting yourself into biting off more than you can chew. Take your time, you have a lot of it.

Research is vital to religions like ours, and research should be something everyone can do! Just because you may need some accommodations does not make you any less intelligent. We all learn differently. That is okay.

I hope this post can serve as something helpful for those who struggle in this area, and as a reminder that you are not alone in your struggles. If you have any questions or would like further clarification on some points, feel free to reach out!

Xaire ♡

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Tutorials with Pokemancy: Making Your Own TCG Oracle Deck

One of my favorite ways to practice Pokemancy is by using Pokemon cards! In this tutorial, I am going to teach you how to create your OWN oracle deck using cards from the Pokemon Trading Card Game.

Before we get started, let’s go over some definitions and recommended reading:

Pokemancy: the practice of using Pokemon in ANY form to produce messages, advice, and possible divine future events.

Pokemon TCG Cartomancy: Probably the most widespread type of Pokemancy; it is the use of Pokemon TCG cards in order to divine messages. This is comparable to tarot, oracle and lenormand. Like a tarot reading, the person interprets the cards that are pulled for the reading in order to deliver the message to the querent (person receiving the reading). TCG Cartomancy decks can be put together using any of the thousands of Pokemon cards in circulation, the sky is the limit with what you put into your deck. Energy cards, trainer cards and stadium cards can also be used!

An argument for Pokemancy & why it makes sense in the modern occult community

Introduction

Divination is most effective when you are using a tool that is comfortable for you. This is why personalized tools are become more and more popular. I have seen a rising interest for personalized divination tools such as tarot decks, oracle decks, rune sets, bone throwing sets and many, many more. 

With that in mind, Pokemon cards can create a HUGE amount of variety and customization for a deck of cards used for divination! As of May 2020, there are:

Over unique 9000 cards in the English release

Over 20 billion cards in circulation

86 card set

That’s a lotta cards! 

But admin! Where do I start? How do I pick my cards?! Which Pokemon do I use? Can I use energy cards? What about the trainers? Which of the 168 Pikachu cards should I pick?!

Not to worry! We are going to cover all of this in this tutorial.

The purpose of this tutorial is to show you that there is no limitation to creating a divination tool that suits you. While I will be offering some basic guidelines and structures, this tutorial is not meant to place limits onto what you can make! Some people may not resonate with my suggestions, and that’s entirely okay.

Deck Theme & Purpose

Many people who read tarot and oracle are familiar with the following phrases:

“This deck is amazing to use for love readings!”

“I’m not sure about you guys, but the imagery on these cards just BEG for shadow work readings.”

“The thing I like about this deck is that it can be used for just about anything.”

Often times, when an artist is creating a tarot or oracle deck, they are designing it around a certain theme or purpose. For example, a deck full of dark, gloomy imagery was probably made for people who want to get readings about death, shadow work or heavier topics. A deck full of inspiring, softer art probably works great for self-empowerment readings and spiritual guidance. And a deck full of couples, cutesy pictures and love symbols will probably strike the right cords with people who want relationship readings. The same goes for TCG oracle decks.

Here are some very basic ideas for some of the most popular deck themes. Remember, you can use your own meanings too:

Relationships/Love

Fairy-type Pokemon

Water-type Pokemon

Pokemon that you consider to represent love

Pokemon that know the moves ‘Attract’ or ‘Covet’

Cards with pink, red or white colors

Business/Finances/Money

Grass-type Pokemon

Ground-type Pokemon

Meowth & Persian

Trainer/Support cards that ask you to draw more cards

Trainer/Support cards that may be associated with money or business in the games, anime and manga.

Spirituality/PokePaganism/Past Life Regression

Psychic-type Pokemon

Legendary Pokemon

Pokemon that are important to you

Energy cards to represent the elements

Stadium cards to represent locations that you may want to focus on during meditation

Healing

Chansey or Audino

Pokemon Center Cards

Pokemon/Support/Stadium cards that inspire you and make you feel good

Energy cards that you associate with healing

Shadow Work

Dark-type Pokemon

Psychic-type Pokemon

Trainer/Support cards associated with villains

Legendary Pokemon associated with the dark

The lists and ideas can go on for as long as you’d like! If you want a more general deck that you can use for every day, go ahead and add in a mix of everything! You can even use the Major Arcana and the Minor Arcana of the tarot as inspiration.

Balancing Your Deck

My personal Pokemancy deck takes a few things into consideration, and these things may be important to you too:

Representation of the elements. I have one of each energy card in my deck, it gives me deck a sense of balance and allows me to use the deck in many different ways. The energy cards can help clarify readings, or really REALLY bring up the energy that is surrounding my life at the moment. This also plays into the type of Pokemon I choose; I make sure to have a few of each type in my deck.

Visual aesthetics. As a professional tarot reader, I take a card’s artwork into consideration any time I am reading. The art helps me connect with the card, and really get to know it. Often times, I find more and more meaning in cards with complex art. Some readers prefer a more minimalist approach so that they do not get distracted. But, with that being said, I pick cards that appeal to me!

Pokemon that are important to me. If I have a connection with a Pokemon already, it makes it easier for me to read it from a divinatory standpoint. 

Pokemon that I want to understand better. On the flip side, sometimes I add in Pokemon that I would make to make a better connection with– Pokemon that are currently “challenging me” in terms of grasping their meanings.

A good balance of “common” Pokemon and legendary Pokemon. My personal practice puts legendary Pokemon in the same seat as gods and goddesses. Common Pokemon give off more of a standard spirit energy for me. So, I have a mix of both in my deck so that I can have a good idea of whether or not this reading involves a connection to the lower realms, the middle realms or the higher realms.

A variety of trainer cards and stadium cards. I’ve got a few trainer cards in my deck in order to represent archetypes, and I have stadium cards that relate to different realms, locations or places that may be relevant during readings. For example, if I pull the Guzma trainer card, it means that I need to be strong and relentless in the face of an adversary, but I should be careful not to let my power get to my head. However, if I pull the Sabrina trainer card, I need to stop and allow myself to look at things logically and calmly.

The size of the deck. I like an average size deck, so my current Pokemancy deck is 40 cards. You, however, can choose as many as you want! As long as you aren’t overwhelmed and you feel that you can make a connection with your cards, and provide readings that make sense, then have at it.

When you put your Pokemancy deck together, you are going to want to try a few practice readings. If you find that your readings aren’t making a whole lot of sense, or if every reading is exactly the same despite changing the question, you may want to add a few cards, remove a few cards, or consider mixing up the variety of your cards. (Maybe all of your cards are TOO positive, and aren’t allowing you to see potential conflicts. Or maybe your cards are TOO negative, and you aren’t able to see the good in your situation!)

Storing Your Deck

                  ✨Deck storage is very important!✨

                      ❤️  Please protect your cards! ❤️

Yes. PLEASE treat your Pokemon cards kindly, ESPECIALLY since you are now using them as a tool for divination! If you ask me, you should have already been protecting those cards already, but now it is even more important to do so. Now that you are using these cards for readings, they are going to get shuffled a lot more! If you were only holding these Pokemon cards in binders and boxes, and not using them to actually play the TCG, then you may not be familiar with how much the cards can wear out and be torn up. 

There are plenty of things that can damage your cards:

Rain

Humidity

Heavy shuffling

Improper storage (can cause warping and bending

Unwashed hands (and I’m not just talking COVID-19, I’ve ruined cards with sticky hands before.)

Protecting your cards from damage not only increases the lifespan and quality of them, but it also makes the deck feel better all around. Tarot readers put their decks in pouches, leather deck holds, deck wraps and so many other lovely things. We as Pokemancers have our own storage methods as well.

I recommend getting a TCG deck box and card sleeves from one of these places:

Your local game shop

The Pokemon Center Website

Walmart, Target, Amazon, Ebay, etc.

You can also get some beautiful custom boxes from Etsy.

If you want, you can then put that deck box full of your cards into a tarot/oracle pouch, tuck it away in a wrap, or place it on your shelf.

Another way that you can protect your cards is by performing your readings on a reading mat or cloth. These mats and cloths can be found on Etsy, anywhere that you can purchase witchcraft materials, or you can make your own with some fabric!

Or, if you want to stick with the spirit of Pokemancy, buy yourself a Pokemon TCG playing card mat.

Bonding with your deck

So now you’ve got your deck, what’s next? Now, you want to take some time to get to know your deck. The more you know your deck, the better your readings will be. Think of your deck as a friend. The better the connection, the easier it will be to get along.

The most practical way to understanding your deck is by reading with it. For today’s tutorial, I threw a quick deck together in order to show you guys some examples on how to read with your new divination tool. Ignore the fact that the cards are naked, I ran out of card sleeves.

Let’s break down a simple reading together:

I asked this deck: what can I do to set myself up for success? 

Next, I shuffled the deck and pulled five cards. The top three cards are a classic past, present and future layout, while the bottom two give me some advice for the present.

When reading individual cards, I use everything on the card. But, let’s start simple and only focus on the three main points: the flavor text, the attacks and the card art.

Past: Duskull

The flavor text of this card reads: It doggedly pursues its prey wherever it goes. However, the chase is abandoned at sunrise.

The Pokemon has two attacks: Dark Guidance and Spooky Shot

The card art has a picture of Duskull weaving through a room, possibly abandoned due to the graffiti on the walls.

What does all of this suggest? In the past, I worked myself way too hard, often through the night until the sun rose. My form of guidance was putting me in a dark space, and it was pushing me to a point where I was abandoning a lot of things that were important to me.

Present: Morelull

The flavor text of this card reads: It scatters spores that flicker and glow. Anyone seeing these lights falls into a deep slumber.

The Pokemon has one attack: Ram

The card art has a picture of Morelull standing in the woods, illuminating the dark.

What does all of this suggest? Right now, I am pretty worn out from working too hard, to the point where all I want to do is sleep. However, I’m starting to see what I did wrong with my routine in the past, illuminating some possibilities for improvement.

Future: Noctowl

The flavor text of this card reads: Its eyes are specially adapted. They concentrate even faint light and enable it to see in the dark.

The Pokemon has two attacks: Hypnoblast and Night Raid

The card art shows Noctowl perched on a tree branch against a clear sky, head tilting like it knows something.

What does all of this suggest? In the future, I will be able to focus on the light side of things, or the good parts of life, even when I am surrounded by a lot of darkness (stress, bad mental health, etc.) Even if I am in a tough place right now, my future is bright.

Advice Card #1: Timer Ball

Trainer cards do not have any attacks or basic flavor text, it only has the card’s description. This is also an item card, which limits my ability to find meaning in the card art. However, I can relate this card back to the Timer Ball’s use in the Pokemon games.

The Timer Ball’s catch rate increases the longer you are in battle with a wild Pokemon.

What does all of this suggest? The more I work on myself now, the better my outcome will be in the future. I should not rush for my final outcome.

Advice Card #2: Pokemon Fan Club

Again, this is a trainer card, with no attacks or flavor text. Unlike the Timer Ball though, the Pokemon Fan Club has some more depth. 

The Pokemon Fan Club is an organization spread throughout the Pokémon world, with at least one club house in nearly every region. The club is considered a place for people to meet and chat about their favorite Pokémon and to show off their collections to each other.

What does all of this suggest? I should look to friends and groups of like-minded people (such as my classmates or people in my different communities) for support and drive right now.

Once you finish the reading, you can shuffle the cards back into the deck, thank it for its message, and then put it into storage.

And there you have it! See how simple that was? As you get to understand your cards more, you can use the numerology of the Pokemon’s height, weight and Pokedex number, the Pokemon’s typing, whether or not it is a basic Pokemon or stage 1 or 2 Pokemon, and so on. Don’t overwhelm yourself though! Start with a few factors of the card, and then add on more once you’re confident.

Just about every tarot spread can be adapted for your Pokemancy deck. Try out a few and see how your cards respond to them!

Conclusion

Making a Pokemon TCG oracle deck can be a lot of fun! It’s accessible for those who are still in the closet with their witchcraft/paganism (you can just tell people that you’re collecting Pokemon cards), it has a nostalgic factor, and it’s exciting when you learn about the depth of these cards. There are so many combinations that you can come up with, so go out there and make the deck of your dreams.

Please share this tutorial if you found it interesting! 

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✨wax seals never go out of style✨

Casual ways to connect with your deities

-Pray to them or just just talk with them and tell them about your day

-Light a candle and say your thanks

-Offer your meal/snack to them or bake/cook with them or for them

-Watch a movie in their honor

-Offer your morning drink to them or make a cup for them

-Assign them a plant and take care of it as a devotion to them

-Listen to music that reminds you of them

-Say good morning/good night

-Thank them for the things you see that you consider beautiful

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no sorry i dont really use instagram, i can contact you via ouija board, spirit box, fluctuations in temperature, flickering lights, and certain rituals. i am also on tumblr.

Your gods are listening to you. Yes, even when your tears are falling and you think you are alone. You are not.

being obsessed with your god’s domain before you started worshipping is so reassuring…

like what do you mean you’ve been here the whole time? that you’ve always been a part of me lying in wait? that you, the divine, has innervated & enriched my life long before i acknowledged you were divine? SICK!!!