Last night I changed our home altar from spring/summer to autumn/Samhain. Our home spirits have been calling for gold, so we place gold-foil wrapped chocolate coins in the center and sprinkled some gold leafing around.

Abundance. Having enough food, light, money, and love in our home and in our lives is what I am grateful for this autumn. I am called to take time out of my busy schedule and just be thankful in front of this altar/shrine. I have placed offerings of incense, whiskey, and flowers to the spirits of hearth and home. I have given a place of importance to family and close friends (you may notice the pomegrante and wooden bunny spoon!).

May your harvest be bountiful and may your family of the blood and of the spirit give you sustenance this dark time of the year.

Technorati Tags: altar, pagan, hearth, home, ancestors

I just switched graphics for this blog. A new banner graphic and new colors. I haven’t changed the text colors yet, and I might not for a while.

The photo of a raven looking out to sea is not mine. A woman who goes by Twitchietaitai took the excellent photo, which I cropped and altered a bit to lengthen the image to fit. You can see the original here.

Anyway, please let me know what you think.

Joanna Powell Colbert, creator of the Gaian Tarot, has a wonderful post about a New Moon tarot spread. I really like the introspection this process fosters as she describes it.

I also have a favorite spread to share with you. Although mine is not as elegant as Joanna’s, I find it gives me a straight-up answer when I am mired in the muck of life. I call it, aptly enough, the sh*t spread.

Here’s my latest reading for myself. I used the World Spirit deck for this one.

How did I get into this sh*t? Seven of Cups

I have been indulging in fantasies and dreams, and not wanting to choose because that would put a limit or boundary on me. Daydreaming may provide inspiration for moving along the path, but I have not chosen a direction, so I are still at the crossroads. I feel stagnant because me fantasies cannot feed me.

What is this sh*t all about? Ten of Cups

This is about my desire for a fulfilling and happy home life and family. What does that mean to me? What expectations do I have of others I consider my family? What expectations do they have of me? Who is included and how do we treat each other?

I have been feeling alienated and alone even when with my family — my husband and the core folks of Becoming. I am still hurting in grief from my father’s abandonment and death. There are core issues surrounding home and family that I need to deal with in order to have the fulfillment I seek.

How do I get out of this sh*t? Seven of Wands

I need to gather my courage to draw boundaries and state my position. I need to make choices about what is needed and desirable and what is not. I have to stand for what I want, and I have to own my own issues. I need to suck it up and defend what is important.

What do I need to learn to not get in this sh*t again? Sage (King) of Pentacles

The Sage of Pentacles embodies abundance and stability. I need to find my own stable center and embody that. I need to integrate a perspective of abundance rather than lack.

Technorati Tags: tarot, tarot spread