PRIVACY MATTERS

Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 04, 2020

This Privacy Policy describes Our policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of Your information when You use the Service and tells You about Your privacy rights and how the law protects You.

We use Your Personal data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, You agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Interpretation and Definitions

Interpretation

The words of which the initial letter is capitalized have meanings defined under the following conditions.

The following definitions shall have the same meaning regardless of whether they appear in singular or in plural.

Definitions

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy:

  • You means the individual accessing or using the Service, or the company, or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or using the Service, as applicable.
  • Company (referred to as either “the Company”, “We”, “Us” or “Our” in this Agreement) refers to Tarot By Arwen.
  • Affiliate means an entity that controls, is controlled by or is under common control with a party, where “control” means ownership of 50% or more of the shares, equity interest or other securities entitled to vote for election of directors or other managing authority.
  • Account means a unique account created for You to access our Service or parts of our Service.
  • Website refers to Tarot By Arwen, accessible from http://www.tarotbyarwen.com
  • Service refers to the Website.
  • Country refers to: New Mexico, United States
  • Service Provider means any natural or legal person who processes the data on behalf of the Company. It refers to third-party companies or individuals employed by the Company to facilitate the Service, to provide the Service on behalf of the Company, to perform services related to the Service or to assist the Company in analyzing how the Service is used.
  • Third-party Social Media Service refers to any website or any social network website through which a User can log in or create an account to use the Service.
  • Personal Data is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual.
  • Cookies are small files that are placed on Your computer, mobile device or any other device by a website, containing the details of Your browsing history on that website among its many uses.
  • Device means any device that can access the Service such as a computer, a cellphone or a digital tablet.
  • Usage Data refers to data collected automatically, either generated by the use of the Service or from the Service infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit).

Collecting and Using Your Personal Data

Types of Data Collected

Personal Data

While using Our Service, We may ask You to provide Us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify You. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

  • Email address
  • First name and last name
  • Usage Data

Usage Data

Usage Data is collected automatically when using the Service.

Usage Data may include information such as Your Device’s Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that You visit, the time and date of Your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

When You access the Service by or through a mobile device, We may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile device You use, Your mobile device unique ID, the IP address of Your mobile device, Your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browser You use, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

We may also collect information that Your browser sends whenever You visit our Service or when You access the Service by or through a mobile device.

Information from Third-Party Social Media Services

The Company allows You to create an account and log in to use the Service through the following Third-party Social Media Services:

  • Google
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

If You decide to register through or otherwise grant us access to a Third-Party Social Media Service, We may collect Personal data that is already associated with Your Third-Party Social Media Service’s account, such as Your name, Your email address, Your activities or Your contact list associated with that account.

You may also have the option of sharing additional information with the Company through Your Third-Party Social Media Service’s account. If You choose to provide such information and Personal Data, during registration or otherwise, You are giving the Company permission to use, share, and store it in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy.

Tracking Technologies and Cookies

We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on Our Service and store certain information. Tracking technologies used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze Our Service.

You can instruct Your browser to refuse all Cookies or to indicate when a Cookie is being sent. However, if You do not accept Cookies, You may not be able to use some parts of our Service.

Cookies can be “Persistent” or “Session” Cookies. Persistent Cookies remain on your personal computer or mobile device when You go offline, while Session Cookies are deleted as soon as You close your web browser. Learn more about cookies in the “What Are Cookies” article.

We use both session and persistent Cookies for the purposes set out below:

  • Necessary / Essential Cookies Type: Session Cookies Administered by: Us Purpose: These Cookies are essential to provide You with services available through the Website and to enable You to use some of its features. They help to authenticate users and prevent fraudulent use of user accounts. Without these Cookies, the services that You have asked for cannot be provided, and We only use these Cookies to provide You with those services.
  • Cookies Policy / Notice Acceptance Cookies Type: Persistent Cookies Administered by: Us Purpose: These Cookies identify if users have accepted the use of cookies on the Website.
  • Functionality Cookies Type: Persistent Cookies Administered by: Us Purpose: These Cookies allow us to remember choices You make when You use the Website, such as remembering your login details or language preference. The purpose of these Cookies is to provide You with a more personal experience and to avoid You having to re-enter your preferences every time You use the Website.
  • Tracking and Performance Cookies Type: Persistent Cookies Administered by: Third-Parties Purpose: These Cookies are used to track information about traffic to the Website and how users use the Website. The information gathered via these Cookies may directly or indirectly identify you as an individual visitor. This is because the information collected is typically linked to a pseudonymous identifier associated with the device you use to access the Website. We may also use these Cookies to test new pages, features or new functionality of the Website to see how our users react to them.

For more information about the cookies we use and your choices regarding cookies, please visit our Cookies Policy.

Use of Your Personal Data

The Company may use Personal Data for the following purposes:

  • To provide and maintain our Service, including to monitor the usage of our Service.
  • To manage Your Account: to manage Your registration as a user of the Service. The Personal Data You provide can give You access to different functionalities of the Service that are available to You as a registered user.
  • For the performance of a contract: the development, compliance and undertaking of the purchase contract for the products, items or services You have purchased or of any other contract with Us through the Service.
  • To contact You: To contact You by email, telephone calls, SMS, or other equivalent forms of electronic communication, such as a mobile application’s push notifications regarding updates or informative communications related to the functionalities, products or contracted services, including the security updates, when necessary or reasonable for their implementation.
  • To provide You with news, special offers and general information about other goods, services and events which we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless You have opted not to receive such information.
  • To manage Your requests: To attend and manage Your requests to Us.

We may share your personal information in the following situations:

  • With Service Providers: We may share Your personal information with Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service, for payment processing, to contact You.
  • For Business transfers: We may share or transfer Your personal information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of Company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.
  • With Affiliates: We may share Your information with Our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy. Affiliates include Our parent company and any other subsidiaries, joint venture partners or other companies that We control or that are under common control with Us.
  • With Business partners: We may share Your information with Our business partners to offer You certain products, services or promotions.
  • With other users: when You share personal information or otherwise interact in the public areas with other users, such information may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside. If You interact with other users or register through a Third-Party Social Media Service, Your contacts on the Third-Party Social Media Service may see Your name, profile, pictures and description of Your activity. Similarly, other users will be able to view descriptions of Your activity, communicate with You and view Your profile.

Retention of Your Personal Data

The Company will retain Your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use Your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

The Company will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of Our Service, or We are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.

Transfer of Your Personal Data

Your information, including Personal Data, is processed at the Company’s operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. It means that this information may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of Your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from Your jurisdiction.

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by Your submission of such information represents Your agreement to that transfer.

The Company will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that Your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of Your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of Your data and other personal information.

Disclosure of Your Personal Data

Business Transactions

If the Company is involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, Your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before Your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.

Law enforcement

Under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to disclose Your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency).

Other legal requirements

The Company may disclose Your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

  • Comply with a legal obligation
  • Protect and defend the rights or property of the Company
  • Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service
  • Protect the personal safety of Users of the Service or the public
  • Protect against legal liability

Security of Your Personal Data

The security of Your Personal Data is important to Us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While We strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect Your Personal Data, We cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Detailed Information on the Processing of Your Personal Data

Service Providers have access to Your Personal Data only to perform their tasks on Our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.

Analytics

We may use third-party Service providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service.

  • Google Analytics Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of our Service. This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualise and personalise the ads of its own advertising network. You can opt-out of having made your activity on the Service available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The add-on prevents the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js, analytics.js and dc.js) from sharing information with Google Analytics about visits activity. For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy & Terms web page: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

Payments

We may provide paid products and/or services within the Service. In that case, we may use third-party services for payment processing (e.g. payment processors).

We will not store or collect Your payment card details. That information is provided directly to Our third-party payment processors whose use of Your personal information is governed by their Privacy Policy. These payment processors adhere to the standards set by PCI-DSS as managed by the PCI Security Standards Council, which is a joint effort of brands like Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. PCI-DSS requirements help ensure the secure handling of payment information.

Children’s Privacy

Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13. If You are a parent or guardian and You are aware that Your child has provided Us with Personal Data, please contact Us. If We become aware that We have collected Personal Data from anyone under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, We take steps to remove that information from Our servers.

Your California Privacy Rights (California’s Shine the Light law)

Under California Civil Code Section 1798 (California’s Shine the Light law), California residents with an established business relationship with us can request information once a year about sharing their Personal Data with third parties for the third parties’ direct marketing purposes.

If you’d like to request more information under the California Shine the Light law, You can contact Us using the contact information provided below.

California Privacy Rights for Minor Users (California Business and Professions Code Section 22581)

California Business and Professions Code section 22581 allow California residents under the age of 18 who are registered users of online sites, services or applications to request and obtain removal of content or information they have publicly posted.

To request removal of such data, and if you are a California resident, You can contact Us using the contact information provided below, and include the email address associated with Your account.

Be aware that Your request does not guarantee complete or comprehensive removal of content or information posted online and that the law may not permit or require removal in certain circumstances.

Links to Other Websites

Our Service may contain links to other websites that are not operated by Us. If You click on a third party link, You will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise You to review the Privacy Policy of every site You visit.

We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify You of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

We will let You know via email and/or a prominent notice on Our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the “Last updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, You can contact us:

  • By email: readings@tarotbyarwen.com
  • By visiting this page on our website: http://www.tarotbyarwen.com/privacy

The Gifts of Yule: A Tarot Blog Hop

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Welcome to the 2019 Yule Tarot Blog Hop. It is my pleasure to be the wrangler for this one with special kudos going to Jay Cassells for helping me out. You are a STAR, Jay. Thank you!

For this hop, I set this as our topic.

Gifts

We all love to talk about gifts. Do we have them? Do we not? Do we need them? Etc. What are your thoughts on your own gifts as a reader? What do you bring to the table?

To answer my own questions, I do think we all have gifts. I think some of us are better at some things while others complement us by being better where we are lacking. My husband unit is a madman when it comes to organizing. I am … not. Yeah. LOLOL. Just not. He loves putting things where they go. I like putting things…down.

Some of my gifts are compassion, empathy, and love. I am able to love easily. I can tell you I love you even if I don’t know you. I think everyone deserves love. I don’t like everyone, but I do love.

When I sit down to do a reading for or with a client, the first thing I do is check-in with myself. Am I in a good place? If I am not, often I will delay the reading. What good is it to try to do a compassionate, loving reading for someone if I am in a bitchy mood? Or worse, a depressed one.

Side note: While I am the Goddess of Joy and I do want everyone to Seek Joy, Y’all, I am also an individual who has depression. Sometimes it gets out of hand. This past year it’s been out of hand a lot. Too much. But I am here. I have an amazing support system that includes a provider, a therapist, and some of the staunchest allies I could hope. Just keeping it real, y’all.

Back to gifts! I gave everyone a spread to do as a leaping off point for their blog.

Gifts

  • Card One: What gift am I ignoring in myself?
  • Card Two: How can I bring that gift forward more?
  • Card Three: What gift am I over-relying on?
  • Card Four: How can I ease up on that gift?
  • Card Five: What gift can I expect to develop next year?

Using the Light Seer’s Tarot (limited edition), here is the reading I did for myself

  1. What Gift Am I Ignoring In Myself?

Hello handsome. It’s the Knight of Cups come to call. He’s got his hat in his hand with roses in the other. His steed behind him has a very suspicious ray of light emanating from his forehead…or is that just the sun in my eyes? A picnic awaits in the bottom right with a letter sealed in red wax. And look at my Knight’s shoes…are those wings I spy? Hermes? Is that you?

I see this as me ignoring my own gift of self. Not doing the things I need to do to survive. Well, no. I am surviving. I mean to thrive. In order for me to thrive, there are things I must do. I have not been doing them. One of those is focusing on my heart and my gift of loving. I shut down when my depression brain hijacks my heart. Time to ‘cowgirl, up’ and do what I need to get back in the saddle.

2. How Can I Bring That Gift Forward In Myself More?

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, really Universe? The Three of Swords is the answer? Goddess bless, this card sucks. Sorry, but it does. In order to bring forward my gift of self, of the loving, caring, compassionate Knight of Swords, I need to do the effing work. And then let it go. The Three of Swords, to me, is about THINKING about pain–particularly emotional pain. It is about staying in that moment or moving on. My choice. Which will I choose?

The problem here is that in order to move on, I have to move through. I don’t want to. I want to avoid that like the plague. Heck, I HAVE been avoiding that like the plague. Okay, Universe. Challenge accepted. It’s not like I haven’t been here before.

3. What Gift Am I Over-relying On?

So help me, Peter, if you say writing… But no, it is the 10 of Swords. This is a very controversial card for many. I choose to use it here because this is a lesson for me of being too strong. Here I see a woman who shows the healing scars. She’s taken care of herself. She relies on no one in this moment. Her healing is her strength. She brings no one into the process because she trusts no one because of her past.

Man, oh man, does this hit home. And, to be frank, I nearly didn’t use this deck because I was so sure this card would show up. But I am staying true to the deck at this moment. I do rely too much on myself. Like that defiant five-year-old, I stand with my hands on my hips declaring, “I do it my own self!”

But how smart is that? What if what I need requires the help of others? What if my gift of self-reliance really is fear-based? Fear that if I reveal things, no one will love me. No one will like me. No one will even feed me worms! So that’s a lesson I must take to heart. Because part of me screams that I shouldn’t write this no matter how true it is. It sounds like a pity party. As if I need others to tell me I’m loved and to praise me.

Truth is? I do.

4. How Can I Ease Up On That Gift?

You know, as I’m doing these questions, I’m asking myself what the heck was I thinking? Why did I think this would be an easy-peasy spread? Just a bit of a jumping-off point for the blog round. SHEESH!

And, hahahahahahaha, I get the Page of Swords in answer to the 10 of Swords. We go to a woman who is reading as she navigates across a tightrope. Of course, the space isn’t that wide. Silly girl, you could have just as easily jumped over. But she’s got light bulbs that are balloons. Get it? They really are light…bulbs.

So how I ease up on the feeling of needing to take care of myself (ummmm, did that just reach right back to that first card, or what?)? By trusting. By reading more. By letting my friends be with me. Our Page of Swords is the eternal student. I can LEARN to let go more. I must.

5. What Gift Can I Expect To Develop Next Year?

I’m not laugh-crying! You’re laugh-crying. Again, REALLY UNIVERSE? This is a public freaking reading! Sigh. The Eight of Cups shows someone walking away from a burning bowl. This is the last of the bowls to sink. You can see where the others have dropped beneath the water. Each one contained an offering or a release or both. Each one was set on fire then left to be submerged by nature and time.

She walks away. She leaves it behind. She doesn’t look back. She understands that there is a true strength in trusting that old things can be let go of. This is her Elsa moment so she is letting it go. The sun rises to greet her. She points her heart towards the new day.

Well, hell. This reading went a very different way than I expected it to go. Happy Yule, y’all!

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Lammas Tarot Blog Hop: What’s Your Name?

How DARE they change the name? I was in an uproar about it.

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Our topic is :

“Within the realms of Numerology, when a name is changed it alters the vibration, so a name that resonated at the vibration of 2, suddenly resonates at 9 because letters are either added or indeed dropped. It got me wondering about Tarot, in the sense of Card Names, does a change of name alter the vibration of a card and its meaning, what could that mean for a client, who comes in and asks will changing my name make a difference? etc… “

This made me think of many ideas but the one that comes up is how I first met a differently named card. Let me set the stage. I am a baby witch. It is 1983 maybe? I’ve just really taken up the cards for use as a tool. Before this, I had been studying but never really clicking with the cards. I had the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot that I was using along with the Herbal Tarot. I loved it. Loved it so much that I wanted another deck to work with. Just to test my theory that the Herbal Tarot would be the only deck I ever truly jived with. (I’ll wait while you finish laughing.)

So I picked up the Tarot of the Old Path. Remember, baby witch? Anything that had anything witchy like in the name was going to be sought out by me. Hey! Don’t judge. At least I did avoid the huge pentagram-around-my-neck stage.

When I was going through my new deck (my precioussss), I discovered a few things. The biggest one was that they had screwed up the names. Add to that it wasn’t even the right image. I mean, Death, that jolly, bony knight on a white horse, was not a knight. There was no horse. And this guy wasn’t jolly at all. He, or she, was Transformation. At least the Herbal Tarot, just a ghostly figure in front of flowers, was still Death, right?

How DARE they change the name? I was in an uproar about it. I mean…they didn’t even add up the same numerologically. In my baby witch dogma I felt all name changes had to resonate with the original name number. HEY! It’s what my teacher said. (Heard that one before? Better yet, said it?) But then I asked my teacher. <insert very wry look here> Lady Lhianna looked at me for a bit. She had a way of really piercing you with her look even if she was (is still) a petite brunette beauty.

Then she asked me, “What’s in a name, Arwen?” Knowing I needed to think about it, I pondered that. Of course, I realized that my Christianized way of looking at death was still death=done. There was no next time. There was no “one more ride” in the way I was taught. You died. You went to heaven or hell. Hell wasn’t a flaming pit of doom in my church. It was the absence of God’s presence in your life. Scary, right?

But Death in the pagan way I follow IS a transition. It is moving from this world to the one beyond with a very real possibility of returning. Then there is the concept of how death changes not only those who die, but also those left behind. I know I have been hanged by every death in my life.

What about you? What do you think is in a name? Leave your comment then hop on to the next blog in this Tarot Blog Hop from Jay Cassells.

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TarotBlogHop: Timing. Is it everything?

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Welcome to the Summer Tarot Blog Hop 2019. Today is the Summer Solstice. Happy longest day of the year to those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Happy shortest day to those of you down under! I wonder if we are up yonder if y’all are down under. But I digress.

I gave the bloggers this challenge. ” Timing is a big thing in divination. There are many thoughts around how to do it as well as opinions on whether or not to do timing. So this solstice, I am challenging you to tackle timing. “

I am going to offer you a spread called But When. Typically I read for folks who understand that I don’t do timing very much. Even so, there are those who need to know the timing for things. If I’m looking to see when I need to launch something or what’s an auspicious time for a thing I want to do, I turn to astrology. By that I mean I ask my astrologer! One of my favorite business tools is the AstroBiz Digest by Theresa Reed. For personal astrology I go to Julia Waters. And for day-to-day, I use my Metaphysician’s Day Planner. But I don’t use it much in the way of my Tarot readings.

The one thing I do use as timing is the seasons. They are a broad enough category that I feel comfortable using them. This spread drills my season timing (which is very fast and loose) down to something more useful for specific timing.

Drill down is the key here. This spread asks a When question, then drills down.

I am going to ask about a specific thing that I want to know WHEN on. It’s a very mundane thing, but pricey. I want to know when the best time to will be to switch over to central a/c with a humidifier and furnace.

BUT WHEN Timing Spread

The first thing I do is ask the question while shuffling. I focus on the idea of timing. I am using the Herbcrafters Tarot for this.

When is the best time FINANCIALLY (that’s an important qualifier) to make the move to the whole house enviromental system?

The World (Pachamama) is the card I drew. For me, this makes me think of the fullness of the year, of fall. When abundance is proven in the harvests we bring in.

So with Fall as my answer, I ask which month is best? September, October, November, or December? Fall is from 21 Sept to 21 December so I will lay four cards from the deck I just shuffled. I am looking first for Earth cards as they are the money suit. If there are no Earth, then I will look for other messages.

September is the 7 of Earth. I don’t see this as a great month because this is a card of pause and reflection.

October is the 2 of Earth. Here is a choice card so I might want to get some bids now.

November is the 10 of Fire. That’s a no for me as this is about taking on too much.

December is the Madre (Queen) of Earth. I would say that’s a good month to look into getting the system.

If I wanted to get more specific, I would choose four more cards for each week of December (or five if there are five weeks.)

I am not that concerned today June 20 about December 2019 so I won’t drill down more.

But for timing, this is one way you might want to tackle the issue.

Please remember to leave a comment on each of the blogs as you hop through.

Oh, the winner of the deck giveaway from the last hop is Sheila Englehart. Please use the Contact Me button to send me your address so I can get your deck out to you.

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TarotBlogHop: What I Learned On My Not-Summer Vacation

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Altar in progress featuring a bit of my Readers Studio swag.
Altar in progress featuring a bit of my Readers Studio swag.

Joy has asked us to discuss our thoughts on education and beyond. So I went to the Readers Studio in NYC to get something to write about. Okay, not really, but the timing was excellent.

First, let me preface this with a caveat. No teacher knows it all. No student can learn it all. But all knowledge must be absorbed. Cool? It’s a koan by Arwen. And I am sure it is not a new one in this universe.

I recently read a post by someone who had paid a significant sum of money to a teacher he found on YouTube. Then he discovered that this teacher had one small problem.

HE KNEW ALL THE ANSWERS TO EVERYTHING.

Doesn’t seem like a problem, right? Student wanted to learn. Teacher wanted to teach. Well, unless you are a tabula rasa, you already have some knowledge. Some of that is going to bump up against what someone else says. You have to learn what is yours to absorb and what is theirs to keep. However, this teacher told the student that everything they knew was pretty much wrong because it didn’t agree with his list of what’s right in the world of Tarot. This, people, is NOT a teacher. Run from those. Do not give them your money. Tell us who they are!

Back to Readers Studio. We were treated to a Divination Day (I chat about that on my other post in this hop–keep hopping to find it.) Then we got two days of main stage presentations, study groups, rituals, incubators, and breakfast talks. Please understand that there is utterly no way to do it all. I did less this year than I did last year. I did NO study groups. I went to bed or chatted with friends. And there were some amazing study groups this year.

So what did I do? I absorbed the mainstage presenters brains. Muahahahah. Ethony Dawn kicked us off on Friday with her Tarot Muses (book coming but don’t rush her. I’m doing that. 😀 ) I went so deep with this presentation. She gave us a spread to work with each of her Muses. I also got a copy of her book Your Tarot Court: Read Any Deck With Confidence . This book is a good one. I love her work with the courts as noble allies. I also had the chance to spend time with The Cartomancer’s design goddess and assistant editor, Bean! BONUS.

Then Saturday hit. Remember that there were study groups Friday night so here we all are a bit bleary-eyed (study groups, talking, or otherwise sleep-compromised.) George Koury is as funny as he is spiritual–and he is deeply spiritual. He gave us a handout on his Peter Pan spread that opened me up on deep levels. It is a deceivingly simple three-card (but four-question) spread. It is one I will be using with clients (book a reading) because of the depth it created. It is on a simple, easy subject–life’s purpose.

Last, but not least, was Sasha Graham. Her body of work speaks for itself. Cartomancer readers were treated to an article by her recently. Her light and breezy topic was about the seven cornerstones as evidenced in the 7 of Cups. That pretty much blew my danged mind. We did writing prompts while creating a mandala. You know, the light kind of thing you want to do. LOL.

Each presentation contained such juicy nuggets of wisdom I will spend weeks if not months processing. I stopped taking notes after a bit just to absorb the lessons.

The learning didn’t stop there. It continued at breakfast with friends I’ve known and friends who were new this year. It went on in the hallways and elevators. I got so much from just hanging out with my colleagues (all those who attend are my colleagues) and close friends. Getting time to do a download with Ethony and Benebell was a highlight. I never get time with these two so it was a treat to steal off for a gabfest.

So to answer Joy’s questions…

What classes are you taking/recommending?

What are you doing to advance your knowledge/experience/abilities with tarot?

Joy Vernon

I went to Readers Studio 2019. I absorbed as much as I could. I carried home handouts. I walked out with books (gifts, people, gifts!). I enriched my world by opening up to other people’s gifts of knowledge. If you are curious about my download of RS 2018, here’s that blog. As you go hopping through this Beltaine/Beltane 2019 Tarot Blog Hop, please remember to leave a comment so we know you were there.

I am recommending Readers Studio and classes by any of the above teachers. Oh, by the way, if you leave me a comment here and/or on my other post in this hop, you will be in a drawing to win this deck. It’s part of my swag from Readers Studio that I want to share with you.

Here’s a picture of that swag. You will see art from Joanna Powell Colbert along with her Herbcrafters Tarot (pre-order on this link for a cool gift!), art from Monica Bodirsky, my amazing hamsa mandala from Heidi Strachan via the Boston Tea Room. Speaking of Heatherleigh Navarre, she suckered me into getting that darling crystal ball! I got books from Ethony Dawn and Theresa Reed as well as snagging a copy of the Alice Grist book from the swap table. My gorgeous hamsa piece and Ganesh bracelet are from Soultopia (owned by Michelle and Roger Welch who are HIGH up on my people I adore list.) And more! I know I’m leaving things out! Oh! Tori Hartman handed out cute little bags. And I got Gina Thies’ Tarot of the Moors (so excited about that!) The “I’m bossy” bag came from…c’mon Arwen, you know this… and the Vegemite was from Karin Dalton-Smith, the teacup lady.

Readers Studio 2019 Swag
Readers Studio 2019 Swag

In conclusion, don’t be that aforementioned teacher. Okay, now go hop!

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TarotBlogHop: Ostara 2019

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NEWS FLASH! The lasted 78 Tarot deck just launched its Kickstarter. It’s already over 60% funded! Are you in?

Hey, y’all! Welcome to the Ostara Tarot Blog Hop. We had two themes. For this blog I chose Theme 2. Our wranglers, Sharron and Jay, asked us, “Shuffle and randomly choose a card out of a deck that you feel is connected to the Spring Equinox. Please briefly mention in your blog what deck you used and why you feel it conjures up feelings of Spring for you. Now, imagine cracking an egg open and you find the card that you randomly choose inside of it. The card is your secret ingredient. Your source of inspiration. The challenge is to create a recipe that describes the energy of the card.”

My deck of choice was the Merryday Tarot. I have to confess I have not worked with this deck until recently. It was just one among many in my collection. By the way, I am releasing a large portion of my deck collection. I will be updating this link with more decks so do check back.

The Merryday Tarot appeals to me as a spring deck because it is very bright in color. The suits are the elements and seasons with Swords being Air/Spring. The card I drew was the Elemental of Pentacles aka the Page of Pentacles. In this deck, it bears the name of Centaur/Satyr along with these keywords: Instinctive, Common Sense.

And I realized I had to share a recipe from October 2008. I deemed this a Page of Pentacles recipe because it is a cheap meal. The Page is often my young job seeker just on the market. He or she is rarely “deep in the pockets” so the next meal may be at the all-you-can-eat beer bust. Spend a buck on a beer and stock up on the nibbles.

Well, that’s how it used to be. I think they shut those down as they encouraged folks to drink. Not me. I would buy my one beer (okay maybe two) and fill my plate. Twice. Not shy about taking home leftovers either.

Now there is a secret ingredient in this dish so you can turn it into a spell. Here’s the recipe. I’ll give you the secret at the end.

Page of Pentacles Chips Are Down Pork Chops

  • 2 pork chops, thawed, bone in (If they are thick, extend the cooking time accordingly)
  • 1/2 C Miracle Whip
  • 1/2 C Parmesan
  • 2-3 dashes Tabasco
  • Pepper
  • 1 & 1/2 C Crushed Potato Chips
  • 1 TB olive oil

Preheat oven to 350.

Coat non-stick baking pan (I used a pie dish) with olive oil.

Mix Miracle Whip, Parmesan, Tabasco and pepper in a bowl. Coat pork with mixture. Press into potato chips on both sides. Place in the pie pan.

Bake for 50 minutes. NOTE: Check on chops at 30 minutes. And no need to add salt. Those potato chips are salty enough.

What’s the secret ingredient? The potato chips, of course. When you put this together, see the potato chips as the pentacles/coins coming into your life. Let the pepper be your passion and the pork chops your own stability. As you make this dish, envision eating it at a fine restaurant as you treat all of your supportive friends and family.

Let’s eat, y’all! Now hop on using the links below. Thanks for visiting me. I’m Arwen, the professional Joy Seeker. Seek joy, y’all. Pass it on.

Please do leave a comment. Thanks.

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Really Odd Shit aka TarotBlogHop: Imbolg 2019

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Hey, y’all! Arwen, Professional Joy Seeker here. It’s Tarot Blog Hop time again. Did you know that I started this Imbolg 2012? I’m so proud of how it’s continued. That’s because of dedicated individuals! This hop is brought to us by seasoned wrangler Jay Cassels and new wrangler Sharron Bassanti. Is it me or were double letters required to wrangle this ODD ASSOCIATIONS hop? Hmmmm?

Um, it’s just me. The seasoned wrangler is actually Morgan Drake who has no double letters. Still, I’m leaving in my double letters because it makes me grin!

Yeah, it’s probably just me. But what our wrranglerrs asked of us was, ”
Share your Oddest, Most Interesting, Most Educational associations that you have adapted in your divination practice. Have you discovered yourself reading for circus clowns, disgruntled teenagers, aliens from outer space, or a herd of cats? “

Really? They want me, queen of the weird shit, to answer that? Twice? (You will also see me on my WitchesandPagan.com blog if you do the whole hop. I hope you will. And please? Leave comments? That’s all we ask of you. Even if it is just “Arwen is making me leave a comment.” Thanks!

I have a metric shit ton of weird stories. True weird stories. Stories you just can’t make up. Let’s start with the missing baby one, shall we?

Psycho? Did someone say Psycho? Mother? Mother?

First, I worked on a 1-900-Psycho line. Sorry, Psychic. My mother and sister loved calling it a psycho line. And I loved them for it. They have my humor. Not everyone does.

Back to the missing baby. I took a call from a woman who was worried about getting pregnant. She talked about her two miscarriages. I did a reading. We discovered that guilt was blocking her. I told her she might want to do a grief ritual. When she said she wanted to know more, I gave her instructions that involved three candles, three stones, three offerings. (ASIDE: That ritual was shared with a friend who asked if she could use it in her book as a pet death/euthanasia ceremony. Of course I agreed! She even mentioned me in her forward.)

Right…back to the missing baby. The woman stayed silent while I proscribed the ritual to her. I assumed she was writing everything down. Well, she was, but she had a huge question for me at the end.

“Why did you say three of everything? I told you I’d had two miscarriages.”

I was stunned into silence (which is also an oddity in the life of this Aquarius rising.) “Ummmm, I guess I heard you wrong?” I answered even though I knew I hadn’t.

That’s when she said, “No, I don’t think you did. I didn’t tell you about the first baby I lost. I had an abortion…”

WHAT?

THUD. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I was young. I had been reading on the line for about a month. This was one of my first instances of learning to trust what falls out of my mouth. Somehow I knew three was the number. That had come through me without me filtering it.

I never heard back from her. I can only hope that she now has the children I saw for her. They would be in college by now or graduated.

That’s my first odd story, but not my last. Keep on hopping to read everyone else’s odd associations.

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Please remember to leave a comment on each blog. And share some as well so your friends can come hop along. Seek joy, y’all. #seekjoyyall

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