The following spell counters gossip, slander, and testimony against you. It is most powerful if performed standing at the center of a crossroad, however it may also be accomplished standing at a window. A sudden gust of wind is an extremely auspicious omen.
Blend a pinch of white sugar, a pinch of flour, and a pinch of fine ground salt.
Hold the powder in the palm of your hand while visualizing your desired outcome. Direct your petition to the deity of your choice, if necessary. (If you’d like spiritual assistance but are unsure who to beseech, the archangel Michael and the orisha Ogun, warriors who despise lies, are recommended, as is Ma’at, Egyptian dispenser of ultimate justice.)
Chant: I am innocent of the accusations! [Deity’s name] protect me!
Allow the powders to fly out of your hand.
(from The Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells by Judika Illes)
You've been using your cards a lot lately and you are feeling as though your deck might be losing some connection...
You are wondering why readings might not seem as accurate or maybe your deck is not giving you as full of a picture as it previously has...
It might be time to cleanse your deck!
Reasons to cleanse your deck:
You are feeling a little less of a connection
Your deck is being very vague consistently
You don't feel the same power coming from your deck
You just feel like it
You've been doing a lot of readings
There are many reasons you might want to cleanse your deck, those are just a couple of them.
How do you go about doing that?
My favorite method is using dried rosemary and waving it over my deck, then using selenite or clear quartz to charge it.
Other methods:
Placing in a bowl of salt overnight
Use stones you associate with the cleansing energy and place them with it
Doing a full cleansing ritual complete with incantation (this will vary depending on the practitioner)
Simply sitting with your deck and visualizing the old energy leaving the deck
"You can sort the cards into order (Major Arcana 0-21, then the four colors each Ace-King) as a form of resetting the deck. Shuffle it well before you use it again." - via @rosehiphobbit
This can work for any deck you have even if they aren't traditional tarot cards. The idea is to place them back in their original order.
Something I like to do when I am finished with a reading and before I start a reading is something a basic as waving my hand over the deck I am using and stating that I am clearing the energy from the previous reading from the deck.
If you forget to charge your deck when you are done, you can concentrate on the energy you need when you do your next reading with the energy you feel (love, protection, wisdom, strength etc). If you do tend to forget and leave it uncharged, consider setting up a protection so that unwanted energies don't try to settle in. I like to charge the deck after I am done with selenite or clear quartz.
Do you have any favorite ways to cleanse your deck?
The Mountain’s Sanctuary is a 16+ magico-religious server focused on centring Goddesses & FLINTA* (frau/woman, lesbian, intersex, non-binary, transgender, agender) divinities. We are beginner/seeker friendly with a hefty library, regular events, & a fibre crafts club.
↝ A wide range of channels for the various polytheisms, as well as channels specifically for thealogy & local cultus. ↝ A completely free to access library & resource section that’s added too by our members regularly. ↝ Weekly questions, a goddess of the moon-th event, & a section for posting profiles on entities. ↝ A zero tolerance policy for transphobes, transmisogynists, racists, fascists, and their friends.
↝ FLINTA centered. ↝ Open to all non-appropriative paths & practices. ↝ Jewish & BIPOC inclusive, we endeavour to make our server a welcoming and comfortable place for marginalised members. ↝ LGBTQ inclusive & run. ↝ Disability & MMIND inclusive & run. ↝ Godspouse & alterhuman inclusive. ↝ Plural inclusive with PK available.
(painting: ”The Shower of Gold”, by Edward Francis Wells, 1910)
devotional acts for Lord Apollon if you can’t have an altar or want to feel closer to Him:
listen to music!
sit out in the sun
write poetry
draw Him! you may not be the best at drawing but i’m sure He’d like to know how you depict Him
dance to music
create a playlist for Him (songs that remind you of Him or ones that you think he would enjoy)
sing along to music (you may not like your singing as the god of music, He would appreciate it)
if you take any medication, take it if you haven’t already!
being kind to people
celebrating pride
reading poetry if you don’t know how to write (or are too lazy to learn. it’s okay.)
listening to lyre music
maybe learn the lyre if you have the time (and money)
eating citrus fruits
painting
taking care of yourself. He is the god of healing, He would want you to be healthy
every 7th of the month, celebrate Him!
if you have money, donate to LGBTQ+ people in need
This particular pose, where a feminine deity lifts up their skirt or dress to reveal a phallus, is called the Anasyrma or Anasyromenos and was widely regarded as an apotropaic gesture, averting evil influences and bringing forth good fortune.
"There's also a statue of Venus on Cyprus, that's bearded, shaped and dressed like a woman, with scepter and male genitals, and they conceive her as both male and female. Aristophanes calls her Aphroditus, and Laevius says: Worshiping, then, the nurturing god Venus, whether she is male or female, just as the Moon is a nurturing goddess. In his Atthis Philochorus, too, states that she is the Moon and that men sacrifice to her in women's dress, women in men's, because she is held to be both male and female."
-Macrobius, Saturnalia (C. 431 BCE)
This combination of masculinity and femininity in the same Deity and their assocition with the moon, both of which were considered to have fertilizing powers, was regarded as having an influence over the entire animal and vegetable creation.
They were often identified with Ermaphroditos (Hermaphroditus), the intersex child of Aphrodite and Hermes
Sources:
Koloski-Ostrow, Ann Olga; Lyons, Claire L. (2000), Naked truths: women, sexuality, and gender in classical art and archaeology, Routledge; pp. 230-231.
^ Freese, John Henry (1911). "Aphrodite" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 166.
Macrobius; Kaster, Robert A. (2011), Saturnalia, Volume 2, Harvard University Press; p. 58
Blessed Samhain 🍁
Today I honour the past so tomorrow I may embrace the future.