July 19, 2018August 11, 2018 - Serena Leave a comment

diy intention-infused ink for spellcraft

Hi friends! Lammas is almost upon us, so you know what that means: the Lavender + Lupine School of Magick has released our Lammas course! For just $15, you’ll get lessons about how to celebrate this first harvest Sabbat, including working with your grimoire, making barley soup, learning the correspondences, and the astrology of the day. You can buy it here if you’re interested!

Today I’m sharing one of the lessons from the course – how to make your own ink for spellcraft or working in your grimoire!

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Making your own intention-infused ink is a great way to connect with your practice and add an extra dimension to your magickal workings. You can use this ink in your grimoire, in spells or rituals, or even just for day-to-day activities.

Note: This is a super thin ink that works more like a watercolor paint, so I recommend using a paintbrush to write or draw with it! I’ve never tried using a quill pen but I think that would work well, too. If you find the ink is too thin for your liking, you can add raw, unfiltered honey to thicken it up. You might need to do this when the liquid is hot so the honey combines easier.

You will need:

Forged flowers, berries, and herbs
Strongly-brewed tea, enough to cover your plants
A large pot
1 tbsp vinegar
Cheesecloth or colander, for straining
Container to keep the ink in
Optional: ashes from magickal herbs that have been burned in ritual
Optional: essential oils (to cut the vinegar smell!)

Place the plants in your pot and cover with the tea.
Bring the entire mixture to a boil, then immediately reduce to a simmer. It’s best to let it simmer for about an hour, but a half hour is fine if you’re short on time.
Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool. Strain it into another container like a mixing bowl. Discard the plants in a respectful manner, such as composting.
Stir in the vinegar, then the essential oils if needed. I like using strong but fresh scents such as spruce or peppermint to mask the smell.
If you have any leftover ashes from herbs that you’ve burned in relevant rituals, this is a great use for them. I like to save the ash from incense during certain rituals, as well. Stir the ashes into your mixture at this stage.
You’re all set! This ink might stain surfaces so I wouldn’t recommend using it on furniture (like for drawing symbols on your floor, for example), but it should show up well on paper. If the color isn’t to your liking, you can add food coloring or natural dyes so that it looks a little prettier, but I prefer it natural myself!

If you liked this little DIY, you’ll love The Modern Witch’s Guide to Lammas! I hope we’ll be seeing you in our exclusive Facebook group! <3

July 4, 2018 - Serena 2 Comments

how to tell if your spiritual experience is real

Today’s post is a topic I’ve thought long and hard about over the years, ever since I began this spiritual path. How can you tell if your spiritual experience is real, or if it’s all in your head? (And does it even matter? Dun dun dun…)

As a former Christian, I’ve had a lot of time to think about spiritual experiences I had once perceived as being the Christian God communicating to me versus experiences I’ve had since then that do not carry such an attachment. If I no longer follow a Christian path, does that render those previous experiences meaningless? Was I just making things up when I thought Jesus was communicating with me? And how can I trust the experiences I have now, if I no longer believe in those older ones?

To start, my definition of a spiritual experience here is any sign, dream, vision, or other experience that we percieve as being of the Universe or the Divine. That could include asking your spirit guides for advice and receiving a sign, communicating with your deities through a tarot reading, receiving an answer to a prayer, sensing a message from a loved one on the other side, seeing a repeated number or pattern multiple times in your life, or experiencing a type of spiritual presence. Basically, anything you might perceive as an encounter or an experience that feels like more than just a coincidence and might provide you with an answer of some kind. The heart of the issue is, how can you know when to TRUST those answers?

I think at the end of the day, you’re going to be the best judge of whether an experience is genuine or not. Many times the experience is obvious and our intuition tells us without a doubt what we’re meant to take away from it. But sometimes we just don’t know!

To be honest, none of the following questions are going to apply to every situation. It’s perfectly possible to have a genuine spiritual experience despite having one or more of these criteria be true. However, I do think these are good questions to ask yourself in order to get at the heart of the issue. If you’re doubting an experience you may have had or need some help interpreting it, here are a few things to think about.

how to tell if your spiritual experience is real

1. Is experience this playing on any deep-seated fears I might have?

As a person with anxiety, this is something I contend with a lot. If I ask the tarot for guidance about an upcoming trip and draw the Death card, I might be so blinded by my fear of dying in a plane crash that I completely miss the true message of this card – transformation and the shedding of old beliefs. The message could very easily be that my upcoming trip will challenge long-held viewpoints and ignite the spark of a new beginning, which would be a very cool experience to have. But because one of my deeply-held fears is at play, I can only see the card as a bad omen.

If you have a spiritual experience that leaves you terrified or seems to confirm your worst fears, take a few deep breaths and step away from the situation. Try to think about the experience objectively. What else could it have meant? Sometimes an experience really is meant as a warning, but panic is hardly ever a helpful reaction and it can blind us to many things. If you have a knee-jerk freakout to a particular experience, ask yourself why. It could also be the case that your mind is seeking to confirm your fears, so it latches on to patterns or signs that might not be a spiritual communication at all.

2. Is this something that’s been constantly on my mind?

If you’ve been thinking about your deceased grandmother nonstop, it’s easy to see why you might have a dream about her. It’s certainly possible that this dream is her way of communicating with you from beyond, but if she tells you to sell all your stuff and move to Alaska, maybe pause and think about whether this dream could be just a dream brought on by your consistent thoughts.

how to tell if your spiritual experience is real

3. Am I reading too much into things?

If we are focused on a particular outcome or desire, we tend to look for any excuse to confirm that desire. If you desperately want to quit your job, for example, you might notice every song on the radio seems to be about people being unhappy at work, or people wanting to quit their jobs. Is that a sign that you should leave and never come back? Maybe, but let’s slow down for a second.

If you ask for a sign, try to keep an open mind about what the outcome might be. Don’t just jump on the first hint of confirmation that you see. Give yourself time to receive any and all messages and process them before you make a decision.

4. What associations am I assigning to this experience?

Growing up Catholic, I assumed every spiritual experience that I had as a child was God or Jesus because that was all I knew. I didn’t understand that there were other spiritual paths aside from the one I was walking, so I automatically forced my known associations of Jesus on any spiritual experience I might have had. Does this mean that the experiences weren’t real? Of course not, but it’s certainly possible that I was misunderstanding what was happening because I had my own preconceived notions about what a spiritual experience was supposed to be.

I’m not really sure where I was going with this one, but I guess it’s important to just not assume that every sign you receive is from just one entity, deity, spirit, or whatever. Something else might be trying to contact you if you keep an open mind.

how to tell if your spiritual experience is real

5. Have I been programmed to think this way?

One experience I had that scarred me for life: when I first began exploring witchcraft, I had a dream that I was, for lack of a better word, gettin’ it on with the Devil. In this dream, the voice of Jesus came to me and said that the only way I could make things right and stop the Devil’s influence was to find a ring I’d been given by my aunt for my First Communion. Now, this ring really exists and obviously had a very strong spiritual meaning to me at one time. I woke up in a cold sweat, because as far as dreams go, the meaning of this one couldn’t have been more clear – stop what you’re doing and return to the religion of your childhood, or else.

But the more I thought about it, the less sure I was. After all, I didn’t feel like I was doing anything wrong – what, learning about herbs is going to bring about demonic destruction? Jokes aside, I was feeling more fulfilled in my spirituality than ever. I could actually feel myself becoming a better person, with more respect for life, deeper insight into my own issues, and a desire to help others heal. That didn’t match what I had been told the Devil was like, and what’s more, I wasn’t sure I believed in the Devil at all. My dream had given me a message, but my intuition – which I was just beginning to learn to trust – told me that I was on the right path after all.

What this dream did bring up, though, was how I had been programmed from childhood that witchcraft was bad. Looking back at it now, I can completely see how my initial uncertainty and feeling that this path was forbidden would have triggered a subconscious response from my mind, parroting back at me everything that had been hammered into me at a tender and vulnerable age.

(I mean, maybe this one was real and I’m super going to hell. But I’ll be in good company, because the witches I’ve met in this community are some of the best people I know.)

If you’re healing from spiritual trauma, be gentle with yourself. Consider the ways in which your previous programming might influence the way you perceive a sign or spiritual experience.

6. When in doubt, ask for confirmation.

Sometimes we just don’t have enough information to go on. Maybe the experience was too abstract or we’re caught up in conflicting feelings over the matter. In that case, if it’s something important to you, ask for another sign to confirm what you saw! This could mean asking your deity or spirit guides for help or consulting a tarot reader/psychic/etc that you trust to help you commune with the other side. There’s no shame in needing confirmation if a particular experience’s meaning is unclear.

Now, these have been a few ways to help you verify the legitimacy of your spiritual experience. At the end of the day, though, does it really matter if an experience is “all in our head” if it’s something that helps us along our journey? Isn’t the human brain conjuring images to guide our waking mind a kind of magic in and of itself?

If you’re seriously thinking about quitting your job, and you notice that all of the songs on the radio seem to be about quitting your job… maybe you’ve always known deep down what the right answer would be. Whether you interpret that as a legitimate spiritual experience or not doesn’t really matter. At least, that’s my two cents.

Now, I am certainly not an expert on this. If you have any other suggestions or disagree with my points, please let me know in the comments! It would be great to hear some peoples’ personal experiences or added tips to make this a really comprehensive guide. Let me know your thoughts, I’d love to hear them!

June 26, 2018June 26, 2018 - Serena 2 Comments

journaling through the tarot

Hi there, friends! Whew, has June ever been a doozy. And where did it even go? I swear just last week I was lamenting how far my Fourth of July vacation seemed to be, and now it’s next week. Ahh!!

As many of you know, I moved to Nashville in February and ever since then, to be honest, my spiritual practice has been completely out of whack. I went from having a job to not having a job to finding a new job, and my routine has changed dramatically with each new shift. I’ve been super ungrounded with no personal space of my own, sacred or otherwise (living with family will do that to you) and have just felt completely untethered to any kind of spiritual routine. It’s hard to get your spellcraft on when the TV is blasting downstairs and three other people are having a conversation in the next room, you know? I don’t know how other witches do it, but I was definitely spoiled by having my very own office space all of last year.

I desperately want to fix this, because I know I feel more stable and fulfilled when I’m regularly making space for my spiritual practice. To ease my way back into daily time for witchcraft, I decided to embark on a journaling exercise.

The tarot was my gateway into witchcraft, and so I decided to go back to my roots and begin a daily journaling practice, writing about one card each day and eventually going through all 78 cards. (I’m not going to lie, this was partly inspired by how obsessed I am with that visual novel app The Arcana – anyone else??? HELP I can’t stop.) I’ve attempted this many times in the past and never made it through all 78, so who knows what will happen, but this time I know I can use my lunch break as writing time which helps a lot!

I wanted to keep the prompts really simple so I could extrapolate on them as much or as little as I wanted, so feel free to add or remove prompts to fit your own journaling style. This is just what I’m doing and I thought I’d share! You could easily make this into part of your grimoire or add it to your tarot journal – I think it helps to keep a record of personal associations you have for each card in addition to their “traditional” meanings. Tradition isn’t always best, you know!

Without further ado, here are the journaling prompts I’m writing about, starting today with The Fool.

journaling through the tarot

1. Name

Pretty straightforward – what is the name of the card? You can also include other names you’ve seen it have, such as “The World” as “Awakening” in the Victorian Fairy Tarot. The Slow Holler tarot did some cool things with the court cards and gave them gender-neutral titles which I like a lot.

2. Key Words/Traditional Meaning

What is this card “supposed” to mean? What are some of the traditional meanings, key words, and archetypes associated with this card? This can be a list of key words or a more prose-like description. It doesn’t matter – it’s all for you anyway! I’m just doing a looooong list of keywords.

3. Correspondences

Does this card have any planetary, herbal, or numerical correspondences? Are any deities associated with this card? Write all of this down.

4. What is your relationship with this card?

Does this card appear for you often? Is it one you’re not very familiar with? Is it something that appeared frequently during a particular time of your life? Do you freaking hate it? For example, the Three of Swords appeared for me many times when, unsurprisingly, I was caught in a cycle of bad relationships. Seeing it now reminds me of that time, even when I’ve drawn it for someone else. Write down what your history is with this particular card – this will affect your feelings about it, good or bad.

5. What does it mean to you?

What are your personal associations with this card? It’s okay if they vary wildly from the traditional meanings. For example, an introvery might feel comforted by the Hermit card, but for someone who is terrified of being alone it might dredge up some shadow feeiings. Death is another card that people tend to be very mixed about – in some it inspires dread, while others revel in transformation. This part can be as long as you want, can take whatever form you want, and can even conflict with itself. You just want to express your feelings here so you can return to them in the future and see what’s changed.

6. Artistic interpretation

Okay, I’m not gonna lie, I’m not doing this step for my current rendition of this exercise. But I included it because I like the idea and I have a vision that someday I’ll do this for at least the Major Arcana. I really love the idea of capturing your feelings, traditional meanings, correspondences, and whatever else pertains to this card in some artistic form. You can draw a picture, make a collage, paint some abstract colors, write a poem… whatever you’d like!

I don’t know what order I’ll do the suits in – I think I’ll probably go with whichever one I feel LEAST like writing about, as there’s bound to be a lesson to be learned in there somewhere! I’m hoping that this exercise will bring me back in touch with the cards and make them a regular part of my life again.

Have you ever journaled your way through the tarot? Were your prompts different than these? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to get some inspiration from your experience! <3

June 17, 2018August 11, 2018 - Serena Leave a comment

a litha change-making ritual

Hi friends! Litha is this week, hooray! This Sabbat is one of my favorites, because it seems like everything is lighthearted and happy and celebratory.

Of course, the Lavender + Lupine School of Magick has come out with a course all about Litha to help you celebrate it right! It’s only $15, so click here to check it out!

Below is an excerpt of what you’ll find in the course – a little Litha ritual to help prepare you for the darker months ahead.

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Midsummer marks the longest day of sunlight before the slow advance of winter. It’s a great time for many kinds of rituals: love, manifestation, abundance, protection. This ritual will focus on stoking your inner fire and finding your strength for the dark months ahead.

You will need:

A mirror (preferably one that can stand on its own, if not you’ll have to prop it up or hold it)
Paper
A pen
A match or lighter
A candle
A flameproof dish

Do any pre-ritual cleansing that appeals to you (or none at all if that’s your thing.) Sit down in a dark, quiet area. It shouldn’t be pitch black, but there should be no lights on except the candle you’re about to light. If you’d like, meditate for a few moments to prepare yourself.
Light your candle and place it and your mirror in front of you. Stare deeply into your own eyes. Think about the qualities about yourself you’d like to change – not physical qualities, but things like bad habits or behaviors you know are problematic and you’re ready for them to stop. Some examples: negative self-talk, selfishness in your relationship, distancing yourself from loved ones, biting your nails… the list goes on.
Take a moment to write these things down on your paper. Get messy with this – channel all of your feelings about these behaviors into your piece of paper. Scribble, rip, smear, do whatever you need to do in order to let it all out.
Tear the paper up and put the pieces into your flameproof bowl.
Pick up your match or lighter and light the paper pieces on fire. As you do so, say aloud, “A change begins now and it begins with me.”
As the paper burns, stare deeply into your mirror once more. This time, you’re going to make a promise to yourself. Making eye contact with your reflection, think about what you wrote on the paper and tell yourself how it will be different. For example, “Where I have been cruel, I will be kind. Where I have been weak, I will be strong. Where I have been careless, I will be thorough.” Repeat these words over and over again until the flames have burned out.
If you’d like, you can close your ritual with a statement like “As I will, so mote it be” or an equivalent. Extinguish your candle and dispose of the ashes as you see fit.

If you like this little ritual, you’ll love our Litha course, where you’ll learn how to make an outdoor offering bowl, a Litha diffuser blend, some delicious summer recipes, and the history behind Midsummer itself! Click here to check it out! <3

May 8, 2018 - Serena Leave a comment

interview with Jennifer Dranttel, creator of the Nomad Tarot

Hi friends! Today I have the absolute privilege of sharing an interview with Jennifer Dranttel, the creator of the Nomad Tarot. I’m sure you’ve seen this deck on Instagram – it’s beautiful, both simple and complex in its imagery. Jennifer is currently running a Kickstarter for the second edition of this deck just in time for its 5th anniversary, so if you’ve seen these cards and loved them, now is the time to hop on the train! Back the Kickstarter, then head back here and read this interview. (It’s okay, I’ll wait!)

☾ — ✨ january | ace of earth ✨ . . . #witchywoman #witchesofinstagram #witchy #witchlife #witchythings #witchaesthetic #witchery #modernwitch #eclecticwitch #greenwitch #alifeofintention #sacredspace #magictribe #divinefeminine #shadowwork #lightisthenewblack #radicalselflove #sacredfeminine #radicalselflovecoven #pagansofinstagram #paganlife #paganwitch #paganism #everydaymagic #witchvibes #witchesofig #justwitchythings #spiritjunkie #magiceverydamnday #nomadtarot

A post shared by ☾⋆ 𝚏 𝚎 𝚛 𝚗 (@sheofthewildsparrows) on Jan 1, 2018 at 12:08am PST

(Photo used with permission from @sheofthewildsparrows on Instagram!)

1. What was your inspiration for the Nomad Tarot?

I was inspired by the natural world around me (at the time I began the project I was living in a small town north of Seattle between the Salish Sea and the Cascade mountains), so I wanted to use those elements as visual cues, and basically began by just creating the deck I wanted to use. I wanted something that felt clean and graphic, with a modern interpretation of the imagery and the ideas behind the Tarot traditions. I tried to keep it simple and crisp, and mostly positive, in terms of the ways I hoped the cards would be interpreted. When I illustrated the deck I was still fairly new to Tarot, which I think actually helped me to create a deck that feels like looking at the Tarot with new eyes. It feels very fresh to me, very optimistic.

2. What drew you to tarot as an artistic medium?

Like you, I grew up very Catholic, so I’ve always been very attracted to religious iconography and imagery- layered and lush compositions where every element is highly symbolic. This is what first led me to research the Tarot, and what compelled me to begin illustrating the Major Arcana. I’d planned to exhibit them for an art show I was hanging in 2014- but once I finished those I couldn’t help myself and became obsessed with having the entire deck in my hands, and illustrated the Minor Arcana using “pip” cards in about three sleepless nights. I was drawn in by the many ways Tarot can be read and interpreted- and how the visual style of the illustrations, the imagery, the colour palette, and every tiny decision impacts the way a reader will feel about a card or a deck.

3. You say in your artist’s statement that your work is inspired by “traditions of healing, superstition and witchcraft, and their intersection with women’s history.” (I LOVE that.) How can we see this vision come to life in the Nomad Tarot?

Well, this research interest is incredibly personal, and it’s what first led me in the direction of the Tarot. As I began to finally embrace my reputation as a “difficult woman” (ie: someone with ideas, passion, and a stubborn refusal to be silent), I began to research stories of such women throughout history. And this led me to the interesting paradox of women’s connection with witchcraft. Those denied traditional routes to social, political, and financial power are often drawn to witchcraft and magic as a means of trying to level the playing field. But the other side of the coin is that accusations of witchcraft have also been weaponized throughout history to silence and punish headstrong, vocal, and powerful women. So I began to be really interested in the ground between these two ideas, in the way women can own their strength, can connect to the energy around them, and that’s when I started to be very interested in Tarot. For me, this deck nods to that, by using images of confident women, but also by connecting that power to the natural world. By connecting with the earth, women have been able to feel a mastery over their own bodies, which mirrors so many natural processes of change, growth, and rebirth. Men’s fear of women, of the mysteries of their bodies and the unknowable elements that come into play during menstruation, childbearing, and birth, has also always equated them with the mysteries of the earth, and he has tried to assert control over both. So for me the Nomad Tarot reflects that connection to the spiritual and physical aspects of nature.

4. What does your own spiritual practice look like?

My own practice at the moment I’d define as spiritual but not religious. I borrow bits from many traditions that I like, and leave the rest. My overarching philosophy is that I believe in a universal energy, being a good and kind person, respecting the sanctity and knowledge of the natural world, and trying to live my life to the fullest in every way. I use Tarot, I read horoscopes, I make wishes on birthday candles, I say Hail Marys when on turbulent airplane flights, and I believe in the swift retribution of Karma. I’m a bit of a mixed bag. I think Tarot is a great tool for self-reflection, kind of a framework that allows you to explore issues and questions that you are struggling with, or a way to look a little deeper at the world around you. I think people use lots of strategies and religious traditions to reach those same means, but Tarot has worked well for me.

5. What would you love for people to know about this deck?

I’d like people to know that I intentionally created the deck to feel simple, quiet, and if this makes any sense, gentle. I wanted the energy to feel very positive and introspective- I have interpreted every card as a positive opportunity for reflection and growth, and really think there are no “negative” cards- just different aspects to life that we need to address, explore, and ruminate on. And I have tried to reflect every Major Arcana as that aspect of our lives or our personality that we all have- so for me The Lovers isn’t about a literal lover, it’s about balancing male, female, and every other type of energy within ourselves. Every card is intended to facilitate looking within, and knowing yourself better.

6. Other than updates to the guidebook and artwork, are there any major differences between the two editions?

No, the artwork will be slightly altered and improved to reflect some changes I want to make- after working with the deck for nearly five years I do want to improve some small details that will make it easier to read and clearer in some of the intended meanings. But these changes will all be fairly minor. The biggest improvement will be in the guidebook, which will have beautiful full-colour pictures, more ideas for spreads, details about both the Nomad Tarot deck, but also more insights from professional Tarot reader Sara Galactica (https://www.saragalactica.com/) about how to use Tarot as a tool in your life for self- actualization and a deeper connection to the world around you.

You can find the Nomad Tarot on Kickstarter here! Thank you so much to Jennifer for taking the time to chat with me about this beautiful deck! Do you have the Nomad Tarot? Got any thoughts? Drop me a comment down below, I’d love to hear them!

April 23, 2018 - Serena 4 Comments

tips for taking pictures of your tarot cards

Hey friends! Happy Earth Day! It’s pouring rain here today so my plans to get outside have been thwarted, but I’m enjoying nature from a distance by looking out the window.

Today I thought I’d share some of my tips for taking pictures of tarot cards, whether it’s for Instagram, your blog, or just for your own personal reference! I was thinking about it when taking some Instagram pictures the other day and about how much I’ve improved since I first started blogging.

I just want to clarify that I’m not in any way a photography expert – just someone who’s had a lot of trial and error since I first started! This article is certainly not meant to be “learn how to take FABULOUS AND INCREDIBLE photos just like ME, THE EXPERT.” They’re just some tips I picked up along the way, and I hope they can help you too! (Some of them are weirdly specific so bear with me.)

I also realize that some of you might really hate the way my photos look and that’s okay!! I love the really washed-out foggy look, so that’s how I like to edit them. But you can edit your pics however you want: this is more about dealing with the struggles of trying to photograph your tiny cardboard loves! Without further ado, here are my best tips:

tips for taking pictures of your tarot cards

1. avoid direct lighting if possible

This is especially important for shiny decks – try not to have your lighting source shine directly on the cards when you’re taking pictures. There’s often a glare, and even with mostly-matte cards you can sometimes see the light reflecting weirdly off the cards. I try to take my pictures in a sunny space so there’s natural light, but I take the pictures themselves in the shade, if that makes sense.

Natural light is my favorite kind of lighting for photos, but if you’re inside and your lighting ends up being too yellow-looking, don’t worry: you can adjust the warmth of your photos in Instagram! I like cooler-toned, almost gloomy pictures, so I end up doing that a lot.

2. for card back pictures, don’t use the whole deck

Have you ever wanted to take a picture of a card next to the rest of the deck so people can see the pretty backs, or maybe the edging on the sides of the cards? If you have, you’ve probably found it’s really hard to keep the deck in a neat stack. Mine always slip all over the place and look really messy.

My solution? Only use part of the deck for pictures like these! You really can’t tell from pictures how many cards are present, so if you just want a neat little stack next to your daily draw, using half or 3/4 of the deck makes it much more manageable to work with. As long as you angle the camera/your phone so you aren’t showing the full side of the deck, no one will notice it’s a little shorter than usual.

tips for taking pictures of your tarot cards

3. be really careful with outside pictures

A lot can go wrong with an outdoor photoshoot: your cards could get wet, get muddy, get bent, or blow away. I would recommend keeping as much of the deck in the box as possible so you don’t end up losing anything important. If you have a glass plate or tray, you can lay that down first so you’ll still be able to see the grass/whatever through it without your cards actually touching any outside surfaces.

4. accessorize!

I feel like my Instagram feed looks really boring if all I do is take pictures of the cards on their own. One way I mix it up is by playing with props! Sometimes I’ll include the deck’s guidebook in the picture, sometimes I’ll lay the cards on top of my tarot journal, sometimes I’ll include crystals or candles or other witchy tools, or sometimes the cards themselves are a prop in a picture of a book I’m reading. I feel like this is a really easy way to give your photos a little more visual interest (but then again, I like the slightly-cluttered look.)

tips for taking pictures of your tarot cards

5. play with angles

This is more for if you have an Instagram account, but honestly sometimes I feel like my feed gets really boring if I’m just posting pictures of my cards all the time. One way I change it up is to play with taking the pictures from different angles – some slanted one way, some slanted another, some dead on, and stuff like that. This way even if I have two pictures of the same deck next to each other, there will be some contrast going on and it won’t all look the same! (Unless uniformity is your thing, in which case heck yeah, you do you!)

6. background matters

Since your tarot cards are going to be the focus of your picture, I’ve found it’s usually best to find a simple background to photograph them on. In the past, I’ve used hardwood floors, marble countertops, and even a white poster board as a background (I seriously just bought one from the store and pulled it out for pictures.) I’ve used my comforter before as well, but the wrinkles stand out too much for my liking – just something to consider if you’re going to be using a cloth of some kind as your background.

Try to clear away any dust or clutter that might be in the pic before taking it. I can’t even tell you how many times I thought I had a great picture only to notice that I accidentally got part of something else like a book or paper in the photo, as well, or that there was a spill or mark on the background that ended up being distracting. Always look at your picture after you take it to make sure it looks the way you want it to!

7. don’t worry about being perfect

Taking pictures is something you get better at with time, but there’s no pressure to be perfect – just be yourself! This should be something you do because it’s fun and you enjoy sharing about your tarot journey in a visual way, not something you feel like you have to do in order to build an Instagram following or anything like that. Don’t stress about having un-straight lines or dust on your floor or not getting it just right. You’re your own harshest critic, and taking pictures you don’t like will help you grow and learn how to take pictures you DO like.

So those are my tips! Do you have any special techniques you use when you take pictures of your cards for Instagram? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear all about it!

April 17, 2018August 11, 2018 - Serena Leave a comment

diy crepe paper flowers for beltane

Hi friends! I hope you’re finally getting a little hint of spring, wherever you are. The weather has been pretty nice in Nashville for the most part, but it did snow a little yesterday… yuck! Today we’re back in the 70s and life is pretty good, so I definitely can’t complain too much. If it’s still a frozen wasteland where you are – hang in there! It’ll warm up soon!

Today I’m sharing a tutorial from the Lavender + Lupine School of Magick’s newest course, The Modern Witch’s Guide to Beltane! In case you didn’t know, the L+L school is a joint effort by myself and The Witch of Lupine Hollow. We’ve created a bunch of courses designed to help you either get started on your path or breathe new life into your practice, and this year we’re making one for each Sabbat! If you’d like to enroll in the course, it’s just $15 – and here’s a little taste of what you’ll find there…

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I love decorating with flowers for Beltane, but I hardly ever have real flowers in the house – they can be pricey, I’m not good at caring for them, and they die so quickly (and then the water gets gross if you leave it for too long!) So instead, I like to make paper flowers to decorate with!

This tutorial will show you how to make watercolor flowers that look pretty realistic (at least, they CAN, if you’re better at crafts than me. But I still think mine turned out okay.) You can use them to decorate your altar, put a few in a vase, or make a pretty floral garland with them to hang in your home. These take some time to make, but the finished result is perfect for this time of year!