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The Journey of Self-Discovery Through Tarot and Spirituality
247 Plays11 days ago
Episode 41
Welcome to The Bell Witch Podcast. Witching in the 21st Century.
Proudly part of the Darkcast Network family
Please rate and share this podcast, them starts really do help the podcast to shine!
To celebrate Spooky Season and Samhain, TBWP is having a Moot Loot bonanza! One episode a week for the month of October... This witch is on it! (Goddess help me)
In this episode, the host Swailes the Friendly Green Witch reconnects with Lucinda of The Libraintuitive, and her lovely dog Regie. Lucy is a crystal witch and pro tarot reader who shares her transformative journey into tarot and oracle reading, sparked by the challenges of 2020. Initially apprehensive about tarot, Lucinda's perspective shifted after meeting a fellow reader on a dog walk and getting a profound personal reading. This experience led her to embrace tarot for self-healing, eventually evolving into a business. The discussion highlights themes of personal growth, spirituality, and resilience, with Lucinda also expanding into spell jars and a crystal business. The episode underscores the importance of community and the transformative power of tarot during difficult times.
Follow Lucy on Lucy 🔮🫖 (@thelibraintuitive) • Instagram photos and videos
Podcast Pals shout out to the fabulous podcast- Tarot is F*cking Cool https://open.spotify.com/show/0lNxanzP6RZs0aXL4CrBJf?si=e10f0db1caea4fce Please give them a listen.
Produced with love and magic by Swailes the Friendly Green Witch friendlygreenwitch | Twitter, Instagram, Facebook | Linktree
Official podcast sponsor Whimsy Goth Market London- thewhimsygothmarket.uk
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#tarot #crystal #oracle #magic #stories #interview #holistic #healing #wellness #reiki #crystalhealing #3ofswards #podcastpal #witchcraft #wicca #spiritualism
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
Have you heard about the Whimsy Gough Market in London? A brand spanking new market for the weird and magical. Held at Cecile Sharp House in Camden. A space created where individuality is celebrated and small businesses are supported. Where all subcultures can come together, feel safe, welcome and included.
00:00:22
Speaker
For more information on this magical event, visit
00:01:04
Speaker
Now then, witches and beautiful souls! You are listening to the bell witch podcast of me, swales and friendly green witch. This is episode 41 and we are halfway in into spooky season. How are you doing? Have you got your halloween costume ready? Your sowing plans in place?
00:01:30
Speaker
Do let me know on Instagram, show me a Samhain altar, I'd love to see it. This is another Mootloot episode with Lucy the Crystal Witch. It's a brilliant episode and I say this every time because I just love this gig.
00:01:45
Speaker
But there's something quite lovely about interviewing a guest who I know of and also have observed them growing and flourishing and thriving in their witch biz since I first virtually met them online. In lockdown I started selling stuff around my house as we all did on Depop and Vintered.
00:02:08
Speaker
and I happened to have a lot of unused tarot decks and oracle decks and I started selling them and I could guarantee they were authentic decks and I think that helped me get quite popular in them two, three years because I promised on the listing, you know, it was guaranteed and there's ways you can tell that they're authentic or not as the case may be many a time for unsuspecting buyers which we talk about in this Mootloot episode Little signs, you know, like lack of barcode, lack of licensing and dates. And then there's QR codes. It's always a massive giveaway. If you look at the cards, the flimsy, the small, the off-centre, usually there's a little number in the corner from the person who took the picture of the original card, which is the authentic card.
00:03:00
Speaker
They just use their digital camera to take a picture and then they forget to take off, you know, like the number of the picture and stuff. So when you look into it, there's actually loads and loads of little signs, but they're the major ones that give the game away. So this episode is very tarot heavy because we're both quite fanatically into tarot cards.
00:03:24
Speaker
I don't read for other people. I tend to just collect them, enjoy them myself, do my own readings and maybe do readings for friends. I don't do professional readings. There's many reasons. Mostly it's because there's just so many amazing tarot readers already out there. I feel I'm not that good, in all honesty. And also I like doing other things more in terms of witchcraft and custom magic.
00:03:50
Speaker
but if somebody comes to me and says swales we give me a reading I absolutely would and I'm really good at buying and selling tarot as well because I grew up with it and my mum had masses of decks all over the house so I've got a bit of an eye for what sells and what's what's a thing and what isn't a thing if you'd like to check out my vintered and depop shops please do I shall drop a handy link within the synopsis of this show in the description and also there in my link tree linktree dot.com forward slash friendly green witch so do feel free to go and have a snoop see what I've got and of course my stock is also available at the crystal booth in Leeds right what else ooh I might put a cheeky podcast pal in if you like tarot and oracle let me tell you about an awesome podcast
00:04:45
Speaker
One of the first podcasts I started to listen to actually, years ago when I started breaking into podcast land. Tarot is fucking cool. It is an amazing podcast. And the hosts, there's two hosts and they have a really good chemistry. Ruby, Wednesday and Carnelian. Carnelian Keep Tarot. I'm terrible at this, reading Malaki.
00:05:10
Speaker
I suggest go have a look at them, I'll also link them. I don't know them personally, we're not in the same communities but that doesn't matter because they are blooming brilliant and quite fun to listen to as well. Before I leave you to enjoy the Mootloo Just a little favour really. I'm still here. I'm working really hard this October trying to get one out once a week. I could really use some ratings and some reviews. They make such a big difference to algorithms and how people find the podcast shows and the charts and all that jazz. It really, really does make a difference to us little poders trying to get his little names out there. So if you've got a moment,
00:05:55
Speaker
Please, please, could you slap a few stars down there, leave a review wherever you listen. Check out my Patreon, patreon.com, The Bellwetch Podcast and tell all your friends.
00:06:12
Speaker
Hello, Lucy and welcome to The Bellwetch Podcast again, because this is our second recording. It is. Technical difficulty already, my dog's knocking the tripod over. Hopefully, I mean, second time lucky. I mean, I joined at 11.11, so hopefully it's gonna be a good one. Sorry, you've got Reggie's bum in your face now.
00:06:30
Speaker
You're so cute. I'm looking forward to this. It's going to be good. I remember back in 2020 when you messaged me saying, oh, can you tell me about Tarot and Oracle and what the difference is? And we had a great good chat about it. Little did we know that was at the beginning of the witch business of both of us, which is a really lovely connection to have with a guest. If you want to tell us about your journey,
00:06:54
Speaker
Yeah, of course. So as you just said, it was like kind of end of 2020. That year, I think it was rough for everyone with like, I guess the world shutting down. But for me, that was definitely like dark night of the soul because I was doing like small business coaching, but then obviously no one was opening in the small business. So I just didn't have a business anymore. New money wasn't coming in, you know, working through my savings.
00:07:19
Speaker
so I just went into this really deep spiral and I've met this woman walking the dogs and I'd always been into like the moon like ever since I was little and astrology you know as a teenager reading like your mum's magazines and stuff but then that year like lockdown allowed me to start doing some yoga meditation you know start going more internal and kind of looking after the internal me which I'd never really done and yeah we just got talking she taught me more about the moon the moon phases was like oh there's an upcoming full moon this weekend like this is some things you can do we'd see each other every day on the dog walk and she became that part of my day because I was in a really dark place and now looking back I know it was a dark night of the soul so that like dog walk I just looked so forward to and then one day she said oh have you ever been interested in tarot do you have an interest in tarot have you ever had a reading I said honestly it scares me a bit
00:08:11
Speaker
but that's because I didn't know. what it was and I'd just seen the portrayal as it is in the mainstream media, which I'm sure you will have seen. It's been portrayed again in a film that's come out, which I'm sure we will maybe talk about that, which, you know, I'm a bit... Yeah, me too. on you yeah That negative stigma. And i I had that view. And not as extreme as this film, but, you know, I just had that. I didn't really know. So she said, I've read Tarot for about 40 years. and She said, I've got
00:08:42
Speaker
youtube channel so they don't do personal readings really but i just post for general signs so i was like okay i'll check it out checked out a couple was like okay then kind of fell away from it and a few weeks passed and her videos popped up again you know how like the algorithm works doesn't like show you everything it just popped up and I'd had a really rough week so I thought okay I'll watch it and it was like it was meant just for me this reading not like the general like Libra and then the next week the same thing happened again so that made me think there's definitely something in this so I reached out to her said could I have a personal reading I said yes of course so I had like a two-hour reading with her and in that two hours it was like this blanket was just like lifted and I understood
00:09:26
Speaker
why my life had led me up to where I was why things had happened and I really felt that that was kind of like a glimmer of light and I knew that moving forward into 2021 that was where I would be moving into and it came to me and I was ready because I i did ask I was at a point you know where I didn't want to be around on earth anymore. And I'd ask like, I'd just ask like, please help me. Like, please give me a reason. And ah but that's when I met this lady and that happened. So then after that reading, I was like, I want to learn tarot at that point, just for myself to continue with self healing. Yeah. And at that point I went home and I ordered like, well, I was looking into tarot, kind of what decks were appealing.
00:10:08
Speaker
to me, and then that's when I reached out to you, which I think, like you said, it's so lovely. I feel this is very full circle now, you know, on your podcast, me coming to speak to you, because you really were the Kickstarter to, like, that, yes, okay, I want to do this after speaking to you, because I just feel your depop, I don't know, I just felt like this, I just felt this edgy, and I was like, I'm going to message this lady, and then, yeah, that was the start of your stuff, and the start of my journey.
00:10:36
Speaker
and then my deck arrived and as soon as it came through the letterbox it was just like my whole body like this neon sign coming on it i just like fizzed and tingled and i've never felt that energy like ever and i knew when that was deck arrived and it was in my hands i was like yeah this is this is it and then started reading for myself putting it on my instagram people were like can you read for me then i was reading for like people that i knew and my partner at the time, his mum, she was a massive sceptic but I said I really want to practice more face to face and she's like okay do a reading for me and that night she posted it on like a local for sale group and had about 35 messages that evening of people wanting a reading and that was it and that was the start of my tarot reading business and I'm still doing that now. It's progressed, it's changed, it's had dips as I've needed to focus on my energy at the moment I've stepped back because I'm
00:11:28
Speaker
In a Tower moment, that's the only way I can describe life at the moment. Although I think I've always been in a Tower state throughout stages of my life. If I feel I'm very strong for that and the Tower speaks of resilience, a lot of people don't like that card, but it's one of my favourites and it's one of my birth cards and I'm more going through life, especially what I'm going through now, I understand why that is. So I step back from that, but I also read on a Tower line, you know, like the really retro, like,
00:11:56
Speaker
ring up and get a reading with people. So I do that, so I speak to people in the UK, in Canada, from all over the world, and i love I love doing that. And then from that, I've grown into, like I'll make hurt like spell jars and little cleansing wands, but I also have like my crystal business that I do.
00:12:15
Speaker
as well so yeah that's a bit about me and that was my journey I guess like a little in a long nutshell because that wasn't very direct but yeah you were definitely like yeah do it and that was like okay yeah I'm gonna do it so yeah I just it's really lovely that you've kind of always been there and why I've been on on my journey like watching you grow like I know you already like on your witchcraft craft path and this spiritual path for many years but then seeing you, you know, the business stepping into that and now like you're full time witch and now like you've got the, well should I say professional witch, sorry not full time witch because I think it's on the path we always are even if we're actively in ritual mode doing full out or just setting intentions for the day, you know, it's all part of
00:13:04
Speaker
the practice, which is something I've struggled with, and you know thinking that what I'm not doing isn't enough, but then to i have your podcast as well. like It's really lovely to see your evolution, so it's really cool that you know you've asked me on how we can reflect, I guess, a bit together. What was your first deck that you got? The Lightseas Tarot, so that was the deck I'd seen in that the videos that the lady had been posting when I went for my read and I said, oh, you know the deck you've been using? And I'd taken some screenshots and said, oh, would you use that today? And she's like, yes, of course. So that was the that was like the deck for me. That was like my Rider-Waite Smith. I'm not a fan of the Rider-Waite Smith. I feel it's too medieval in its artwork. It just doesn't resonate with me. I i like quite like the whimsical, the bright, like the quite like fairy tale-esque.
00:13:56
Speaker
decks that's like really what speaks to my soul and it brings me you know more to my readings the lightseers and it wasn't authentic which like you said you'll know all your decks are authentic but it is incredible how many an authentic decks exist and I wasn't really like aware of it so it didn't come with a guidebook it was just in the you know the cardboard tab boxes which I know some decks do come in like all those scarab aodex are produced in that way but in a way I feel it was a good thing that it didn't come with a guy but like it was wasn't meant to because I taught myself completely intuitively and that really kick started my intuition up again so I'm glad because I learnt how in a very
00:14:45
Speaker
different way because I just kind of from that first day tapped into my intuition and trusted what it was telling me. Since then I've bought the full size version and I've got the mini tin version with me so they do have guide books so when I did get them I looked at the guide books. I don't really use guide books. I like to read them to see what the creator's intention was but I feel it's very much there as a guide so not to like chain as to that's the meaning of of this card and I also do mentoring so I do mentor people and I'm teaching them intuitively like some students they said I want to learn.
00:15:24
Speaker
to read exactly like you, so I've taught them exactly how I read. Another student wanted to use tarot to look into like past life because I've done past life spreads, I do past life reading for readings to people, so we've been delving down that route. Another lady who's now my best friend, one of my closest friends, and she was a complete novice, like never had a debt before, started with Oracle and I'm moving into tarot now for her. But to see like her grow and watch like she's now, how free she is, what she's healing is just so really lovely that I'm able to open that up in people. It's one of my major bugbears is the copied decks and they're all over the shop at the moment and they do my absolute heading. So intense and they're really easy to spot I think. I mean if you don't know you don't know but the QR code is the massive giveaway.
00:16:13
Speaker
ah but like you say people are unaware and what bugs me with it is some people are selling them like the same price like the actual legit copy would cost you like 25 pounds because that's about average price i would say for a tarot deck but then other people like say they don't know or if some people are selling it cheaper then i understand why let's say the lights use for example if like you were selling it and then someone was selling a fake copy and it's like 10 pounds cheaper. If that person was like, I can't afford 25 pound, then obviously they'll go for that option. And I know they're missing out on the full deck so I can understand why it appeals. And I think those people know it appeals because it costs probably pennies.
00:16:57
Speaker
but I have a couple of times since fallen for the fake deck, the inauthentic whatever you want to call them, because I don't know if you remember, I think it's still going, the Total Tower magazines. Every couple of weeks you'd get a magazine and cards, so you'd get building up the golden Art Nouveau but you also get a low scarabéu deck every week so I thought at this time I was doing YouTube which I've not done, I don't have time for that anymore but I was like oh really good idea will be comparing the low scarabéu deck you get with the magazine to it like a low scarabéu deck you just buy online. I saw the Gregory Scott tarot which had been on my list a while because it's very renaissance, very fairy tale which I do like.
00:17:42
Speaker
and it was the fakest fake I've ever seen. The box came, but like the lady, like the photos, it didn't look fake and it was like properly wrapped, so it was like, you know, wrapped really nicely. And she was like, oh, I never opened it. and But I've sold decks before and she had, she had other decks that she'd sold in the past that were legit decks. So I thought, okay, yeah, I'll buy it from her. It was like holographic box. It came, it wasn't even in order. Half the pictures are missing.
00:18:08
Speaker
Like, it's like so wonky on the smell. Oh, it's... Oh, did it stink? Stank. I was like, what? In Earth, it's this. I was like, bleh. It was literally making me gag. It was the worst, like, chemical smell I'd ever smelled. So my video that I was going to do changed, and I made a video on how to spot fake.
00:18:26
Speaker
tarot deck because I was like I spent like 15 pounds on this and I was like gutted and I messaged her because I got it off minted and she's like I'm so sorry she was like I didn't realise and then she's like oh I must have some fake decks in my own collection then which I didn't realise because she said again I've bought them from sellers and they also are selling legitimate decks so it is they are sneaky and then recently I've bought I think it's called When Two Hearts Meet because on the tarot lines I'd say about 90% of the readings I get are love readings and I've never had like like a love specific deck
00:19:06
Speaker
So I was like, I want a love deck that I can use, you know. And I hadn't found anything I was looking for when this one popped up. I was like, oh, I'll get that. And it's got words on it, like universe, soulmate, there's like 11-11. And just like, I was like, this is perfect. This is exactly what I'm looking for. And it was a fake deck. So I was like really frustrated, but I have been using it because it was what I was looking for. But ah I don't know if it's a deck you can't get in the UK.
00:19:33
Speaker
because I've like never heard of it but I am now on the lookout for the real version but I just kind of kicked myself because we're pros and we still fall for it. like and that's I am annoyed because the creators you know so much goes into that like the white peony bison who I mentioned who's done a portrait of Red for me a painting she has just her kickstarter's just finished for her indie produced deck and I know how much has gone into it because I was invited to help her with the campaign and that's been amazing to be a part of so it's just like you know you see how much goes into these creations and they're just getting ripped off and that is what annoys me the most especially on these decks they don't even credit the creator. They just literally take pictures of them don't they? Yeah and then they're photocopied but like you say even sometimes as
00:20:28
Speaker
pros, people who've got many decks, sometimes we do steal four for it. We do, yeah. And I've bought off people second hand thinking I'll be safe here because they legit think it's a real deck. I think I bought four last year from another witch, a really good price, and when they came, every single one was fake and I was livid, I was absolutely livid. So I messaged her and she didn't believe that they were fake.
00:20:54
Speaker
So I had to you know physically go through it and show pictures of the little numbers in the corner from the digital cameras and how they're not central and how they're really floppy and little bits of text is close to the bottom. and And then she was just like, oh my God, I had no idea. I'm really sorry. I'll refund you. know She felt bad. was I was like, don't feel bad. It's because she didn't know. Now you know.
00:21:15
Speaker
And this is the thing, like you say there's ah like you've bought from a fellow witch and she still wasn't aware but you know it's just one of them things I guess that will always be there as annoying as it is but it's important to buy from a legit source like yourself or an actual publishing house like Hay House or Liminal 11. There's many small businesses out there that do buy decks in but make sure they are the real ones and you can always ask people like I don't think if someone asked you like oh is this real you would never be offended because you'd rather that person wound up with the legit deck than just some shoddy not very good quality fate.
00:21:57
Speaker
But going back to my first deck being the light series, that deck is still very special to me because I wouldn't be where I am without it. And that is a deck I do use just for myself because it's special to me. The counterfeit one you still got, you still use. Yeah. Because it's like your first deck. Yeah. And I wouldn't be where I am without that deck. So I was like, I can't ah can't part with it, even though I've got two of the copies and they are the real copies. And like, it means a lot.
00:22:27
Speaker
Yeah and when you do get them it's you know it's like you can't sell them on because then you're as bad so you yeah end up just I journal with them or use them as bookmarks or send one in a parcel with the Depop stuff.
00:22:41
Speaker
or make like a collage. I mean I did buy, there was one time I did know I was buying a fake deck and it was the Star Spinner Tarot and I was really like on the fence whether I wanted this deck. So someone, I think someone knew it was a fake and they were selling it for like £1.50 on Bintid. So I was like okay I'll buy it, go through the cards, see if I like them, so then I'm not spending like £50 on a deck and then it's like heartbroken that I don't like it. And it just, it's just 75% of the deck I loved, but like 25% of the artwork, the cards, I was just like, I just can't get, it just really like vibe killer. What if I just killed her? And then see, I was like, you're a vibe killer, you've got to go. So I gave it to my friend and because she really likes it. So I said, well, you have it, like,
00:23:27
Speaker
I can't resell it, I'm not going to use it, so I'd rather that I give it to you and you get some use out of it than me just ends up somewhere in the house and then find it like 10 years later like, what's this?
00:23:41
Speaker
upstairs again I love Liminal 11. They do really good stuff, don't they? Yeah, and the two of their decks are my current in my current favourite rotation. Well, one always is, and which is the Modern Witch. That's probably the most famous one, I would say. I would say, yeah. And that is Rider Waite adjacent, but because it is modern, I don't see that Rider Waite imagery. And I also find it's got like a 70s retro vibe and I really love
00:24:12
Speaker
the whole retro 70s vibe but I've just got the This Might Hurt tarot that was the newest deck I've bought myself and I'm really enjoying that as well so I love their decks but I need to replace my white Newman tarot because with everything that's been going on recently in my life I've lost some decks and I don't think I'm ever going to get them back so I will be replacing but it's not been in my life for a while and I feel like at the minute it doesn't need to come back into my life but when that time comes I will be purchasing it because that was really, like I loved that deck a lot, this is one of my favourites. Might come back to you yeah, might come back. Exactly it could so I hope it does because one of the decks was the Northern Animal Tarot version 2 which was a kickstart I backed and so I am hoping my decks do get returned to me because I will be.
00:25:03
Speaker
really upset if I don't get that back. But things come and go out of your lives and they're there when you need them and then they're there when they're not. So I'm not getting too attached on that because I've had them, they've obviously served their purpose if they don't come back. Kickstart is another thing now I need to wean myself off Kickstarter because it is just so addictive. There's so much beautiful stuff on there. It's like, nope, nope, don't do it.
00:25:27
Speaker
And then I get adverts from Kickstarter because I come looking. So I'll be scrolling and it's like this one, I'm like, no. How many dicks is too many? Well, how long is a piece of string, I say. How many dicks have you got? I counted of the other day and in the what I currently have with me, I've got 45. Wow. And then in the ones that I lost, there's probably about 30. So quite a fast.
00:25:56
Speaker
collection but I do have a new edition. I found these and one po in a chat shop and I think they're like from, they're called Heart and Soul Virtue Cards but they're proper like 80s. I mean you'll be able to see everyone else's eyes but this is definitely like from the 80s got like little quotes on them and I saw it I was like I'm having them.
00:26:18
Speaker
Oh, you lucky thing. I love a Chazza shop deck, me. Oh, me too. like ah Some people are very funny, like they would never buy secondhand decks, but I love it. because I love it, yeah. Deck has a story, you know, in the next part of its journey. And I found a couple of decks where people have put like boxes out where it's like, you know,
00:26:37
Speaker
please help yourself. And I found decks in those boxes so I love it. I'm like brilliant. Oh wow that is lucky. Yeah I'm like yeah I'm having them obviously meant to find them but yeah charity shop deck is something that I love. And they're not very common right I don't find lords. No so when I saw these I was like yeah they're coming back with me.
00:26:58
Speaker
Yeah, I couldn't find a publication date but I don't know just it's very like 80s that neon speckled kind of design so um I need to google them to see if it does bring up a date because I'll be very interested to see when they are from but I am feeling like 80s. Google that ISBN number and that tells you what they're worth and stuff.
00:27:24
Speaker
I didn't think to do that that then. That's what I do for all my second hand stock. And that's another giveaway as well of a counterfeit deck is there's never a barcode or ISBN code or when it were printed or anything. It's just nothing. Like you say, that is another giveaway. Sorry, I'm just looking for the publisher, which is Brahma Camaris, which I've never heard of. Sounds like a footballer.
00:27:50
Speaker
yeah So what's your favourite tower card or cards and why? So I mentioned the tower and people kind of look at me like I'm a bit demented in the head because but the tower gets a really bad rep. I think I really like the tower one of my birth cards and my other birth card is the chariot which I understand that because I've gone through many tower moments so like probably for the last two years I've been living really in free-forward tower energy But the chariot, you know, it's about that resilience and pushing forward. Also, I feel now I'm actually emerging away from the tower and truly into the chariot, which I've never really felt on my life path. But like now I'm making decisions for me. I'm doing what I want to do. I'm being my actual
00:28:35
Speaker
real authentic self without feeling like I may get judgement from the people that are around me so those two are some of my favourites and then Queen of Wands because when I first started she would come out like every day so I just love the energy of the Queen of Wands and the Wands suit is the suit I connect with the most and then also the Empress and the death card death card gets a bad rep as well but it's a beautiful card isn't it i love the death card me too and when i get when i look into getting a deck i will always look at the empress the queen of wands the death card the tower and the chariot and if they are like
00:29:12
Speaker
tick in all the boxes and I will go for that deck. But I feel like the death card ultimately brings peace because there's peace in death and peace in endings, even though there's grief. So I do, I really like the death card. And in the lights is, it's called Death Rebirth. So I think as a first deck, that was really comforting because when I do first-hand readings for people, I say, is there anything you're nervous about? And a lot of people will say the death card because it gets that bad rep from how it's shown in pop culture. And just the title Deaf. You know, Deaf is a bit confronting, I guess, sometimes. And to be avoided at all costs. Yeah. So that's why people apply that to the card, but it's obviously not the same. And like the Tower, people think, oh my God, my life's going to be a shit show. Which sometimes, yes, but I always say like, well, the princess isn't in the Tower because she's chosen to be there for a good time. She's there because she's trapped. So this is her.
00:30:08
Speaker
escape and she can set new foundations for herself and out of the rubble of the tower. build a witchy cottage in the middle of the woods. I love it. I love how the readers create a story associated with the card to help you remember the meanings. I just really love the stories that people add in there because the tower is destruction. There's no getting away from it. It's like foundational destruction, not necessarily negative, although it'll feel negative as it falls, but it's all about changing it, destructive change for the better to rebuild. Yeah.
00:30:41
Speaker
And I think change scares people, but change is the always is the one constant in life. So really, the Tower is always there for all of us, and we all make subtle changes throughout the year, throughout like three years. That's like a roof tile falling off, you know? So when you have a proper Tower moment of, it's all gone, you think, oh my God, but really, I feel there's always some element of the Tower in our lives, like from changes we're making, whether that be our hair, our clothes, our diet, those smaller things. So the tower is always there and it's always happening.
00:31:13
Speaker
is how I feel with that. Just to different degrees. Yeah. It's the three of sores I can't stand. That is the bullshit cat. I don't like that one. It's always, that wicks me out. I'm a bit like, m I don't really like that one. And then also the Hierophant is one that I'm just a bit like, I don't know. That's just a funny one, isn't it? That's like, what does it mean again? What does it mean again? I've forgotten.
00:31:38
Speaker
And I'm like that with some decks, the star is one, every time I'm like, who are you? What do you mean? And I'm just, every time I'm like, that's a card when I get a new deck, I really have to like jog my memory. But yeah, the three of swords, I feel that is, I don't know, it's just... Very sneaky, very deceptive, causes a lot of unnecessary pain. The whole sword suit I don't really like. They're just shit, they're the swords of the shit suit. God, here we go. And as a Libra, obviously swords is my suit and I'm putting that in air quotes as an air sign. But I've always connected more with the wands but that makes sense as I'm a Sagittarius moon. So the moon is our emotions and the tarot really does tap into our inner
00:32:23
Speaker
world in our emotions so i feel that's why i have a stronger connection with the wands because that resonates more with me but yeah the swords is the shitsuit and you go i mean the courts i don't mind yeah the courts are fine the and obviously the ace is probably the most positive sword in there but then the rest like the two to ten you're a bit like oh god here we go and i always feel the three of swords is always represented and drawn the same Come on, like you've, these creators like creating whole decks, but the three of swords is always very back to the Rider Waite Smith, I feel. I feel that only two decks that I have that really differentiate from that are the Lightseers, because it's like a woman, like, and it's all like grayscale, kind of like, you know, head back in distress. And then there's like a heart, but it's like being like unthreaded. The foundation of it still remains there. So I like that depiction.
00:33:21
Speaker
and I feel it's really strong by imagery. And then in the Unfolding Path tarot, I feel that feminine rage depicted in that deck, which I love. Time to recall it. What does it look like? Let me get it. Let me just dig through my hundred deck. It was at the top because Reggie ate the box.
00:33:42
Speaker
good old Reggie. I came back and there was so but none of the cards he touched. I was like having heart palpitations. My dog's ate in my shower deck he just ate the box. so I just have it in a bag. right It's going to be the last card. The shadow card.
00:33:58
Speaker
yes that's the tower card oh yeah yeah but yeah it definitely is shadow card and i feel like the five of cups is also shadow a card as well but we need we need that because life isn't all love and light which is something that annoys me in the spiritual community online i call it toxic spirituality and it just does my nut in but you know people have very different depictions but it annoys me like the trend of spirituality which I think is dying down now but it was kind of a bit I would say rife. Over the last 18 months people have been like you need more to fight because it was like the cool crystal or malachite or carnelian and I'm like...
00:34:40
Speaker
it isn't just like a fashion thing like this is my aesthetic it's like no it's people's life spirituality and healing is hard but healing is called healing for a reason is what i feel and i'm like people just depict like oh i meditate every day or i do this every day which yes i meditate every day i'll do yoga not every day i try to But there's those darker moments and people don't share them as much. And one thing I really struggled with, which is kind of what I mentioned a little moment it ago, was struggling with feeling like I'm a valid witch or valid practitioner, because you know, people all share like their bath with like a thousand pet, and all these candles, or they're alter. And it's like for like Beltane or you know, one of this, I may not have had time or,
00:35:30
Speaker
in recent in the last year not had the space to do that so I was like oh look at all these people sharing it oh I'm rubbish because for this I've just put a couple of crystals somewhere and you know people don't have time especially we have our normal lives to contend with as well and you different emotions you're in different energies So it would annoy me, I'd annoy myself because I'd be like I'm not doing a full ritual like every night in my practice so I i must not be invalid. So I very much find that even in the spiritual community sometimes you go.
00:36:04
Speaker
I'm not doing enough here and it makes you feel pressured or even running and owning a crystal business. I don't know every single crystal in the world but that's okay. or For the full moon I might only put my tarot cards out and crystals out and that's okay. The next full moon I might not do anything. I just feel in spring, summer I do more because I feel more alive with and in tune with the world.
00:36:26
Speaker
And then autumn winter I do hibernate and my practice becomes less external and more internal. And some days it might just be during my tea in the morning, you know, I'll draw a pentacle and save my intentions and like draw that in, or it might just be blowing cinnamon through the front door, but intention is where it starts.
00:36:46
Speaker
And that is as powerful as putting flowers and herbs and candles out. I mean, that's exciting and beautiful. And it does make you feel like, it makes you feel like magical doing it. But you can also feel magical in dressing intentionally and wearing the colours to match what you want to bring in. Like witchcraft can be weaved into the mundane, I guess you would call it. And I think that's where the real power lies. And now I've come to terms with that and understand that.
00:37:14
Speaker
I do find ways to feel magical every day, even if the outside world, I don't look like a witch. That's what all my podcast is about really putting witchcraft into everyday living. There's a lot of different topics in that whole little sentence there because a lot of it is comparing, despairing it from online Instagram and stuff. Not everything is Instagram worthy and I think a lot of people know this now. I mean, I am also a half-assed witch a lot of the time because I've got two kids and everything else and it is hard to get it in there and
00:37:48
Speaker
keep up but I think people know here and they like it and they know that not everything is Instagram worthy and that people who do stuff constantly and really well probably i have like a whole team of people behind them that are really good at social media organisation and management and stuff and that's okay too but you must remember it's not just them and I think people forget that really easily don't they?
00:38:11
Speaker
And you just see it and you go, oh, this person's done this, so I've done this, so MI is valid. You shouldn't do that, but it's very hard. We know when it's in front of you and we are on our phones a lot now as human beings, it just becomes part of that's what you're seeing. ah But now I'm like, no, I don't need to compare myself. Definitely, I'm okay with what I do or what I don't do. More often than not, it's what I don't do because I don't have the time. I'm not in the right headspace or energy, but like you say, you know,
00:38:39
Speaker
You've got your kids, so you've got your own mum as well, so it's fitting the witchcraft in your workings around around that. But even just like a sigil.
00:38:50
Speaker
the jolt into my tea in the morning and sometimes that's all I do but that's okay. The other side of it is I feel people pushing, yes shadow work and the healing is obviously crucial but I feel people pushing, oh if you're only doing this and you're not doing all this healing work every day then you're never going to grow and I feel for me I don't do shadow work every day even every week, I have to be ready to heal and work on that shadow and that darkness because sometimes I've tried to do it prematurely and it's had a worse effect on me because I'm bringing up that trauma and then I actually suffer worse from it so I wait until I'm completely ready and then that's when I'll do my healing work on whatever it is that I need to work through but I use my period but that week of bleeding is when I do my shadow work and my healing because
00:39:48
Speaker
it's very powerful and our body is naturally releasing and like releasing from the root of those like back into the external so I'm like okay what do I need to release this this bleed and that's where I'll do my healing and releasing work. Oh that's cool I've never made that connection I guess yeah because you're letting go of like your body's physically letting go of something it stored for a month so that's quite a nice idea doing shadow work while you're bleeding.
00:40:17
Speaker
As i I'm bleeding and I can consciously connect, I do say like, okay, I'll release this, whatever it is that I'm working through that week. And I've found it very powerful and very healing because my body's naturally letting go of what it doesn't need. So yeah, that's when I do my Sorry if you could hear the the pant in the soundtrack. Is that the soundtrack this week? But he's always around when my cards come out or my crystals come out. He definitely is a familiar, but he's always loved like Amethyst. He's very connected and selenite he loves as well. So he's always, Reg is always around when I've got the crystals out.
00:40:58
Speaker
and doing my tarot, like he's always there, the energy I think. But it was the last card, the back of the deck. So this is the Three of Swords from me and Foldy and Path Tarot. Oh yeah. You know she's got the three swords on her t-shirt but you know she's got the red eyes, the hands through, the greasy hair, you know which we've all looked like this, you know really that letting go and I feel this resort is that permission to scream, to cry, to swear, to shout, to kick the pillow on on your bed if you need to. Really just that unfiltered feminine rage I feel with this and I know feminine rage isn't always screaming it can sometimes be silent but however that is
00:41:40
Speaker
to you whether this is her crying silently or her out in the middle of the street screaming you're a piece of shit. You know if she's gone for a break up this is that card say it's okay to have that messy moment because we need it as humans and last Monday, last Monday morning I felt amazing. On my Instagram story I did a card for the day and it was the Queen of Wands but then later that day I was hit with an uncontrollable wave of anger in the space of like three hours after posting that and I just had the urge to scream I just felt it bubbling like this so I did and then I just was like had a half hour I just felt so angry and I just cried and wrote in my journal like you know ripped then ripped that page up and then I was just saying crying for the rest of the evening and then I shared it on my Instagram to be like even though this is where I was this morning
00:42:31
Speaker
the healing journey is really that unexplainable or unpredictable is a better word, wave and it's okay because I used to judge if I cried or got angry I'd judge myself but now I don't because I understand I need that to happen because release doesn't always happen in a positive way it can be done in not that crying and getting angry is negative because it isn't but people see it as Oh, I got upset over that while I'm so stupid for doing that, so I don't apologise now for my feelings and my emotions responding to a situation whether that's internal or low external. Just seem dog-like. I know, sorry. It's like really hard to have like a... But he just wants to be in on it. don't you you need You want your own podcast.
00:43:19
Speaker
I quite like as well when you do readings, you read the bottom of the deck, don't you? And that's the shadow card. So is that a card of shadow work, would you say? Sometimes, definitely it is so if I'm doing shadow work. But for me, I call it the top of the umbrella. It's almost like it's the bow that ties everything together. So I will you know let's say we're doing past present future so the cards are on the table but then i'll always turn the deck over at the moment the two of cups is hit now here at the bottom of the deck so i'll be like okay and i'll use that as like the overriding energy message for the reading and i always find that the energy of whatever card it is like weaves its way through the reading so it all connects back to this is i guess the root
00:44:04
Speaker
in what is ah overshadowing everything else. And it's always been there through those energies that we look at in the spread. And do you look at that before you start the reading? Yeah. Sometimes for me, or if I'm reading for a client, sometimes I will leave it and take that as the final message. But nine times out of 10, that is the card I'll start with. I feel themes and energies of that card always weave its way into the rest of the reading. Do you use um crystals with your tarot?
00:44:33
Speaker
Yeah, I do. It's kind of something I've started because I'll always use an oracle. So in a reading I'll do Taracle. Taracle? How about that? My Taracle text coming soon. I'll do the Tarot and then at the end I'll pull a final message with the oracle and I find that it brings just another layer, especially if it's like a oracle that just has keywords. Sometimes it'll be a word that has come up frequently or energy so I feel it's always that because sometimes a lot of information comes out it's almost like that final sticking in the brain if that's all they remember in a way it comes back to the rest of the reading but I'm teaching myself and I don't know if this exists but I'm teaching myself crystal reading so I've got a pouch with like different crystals that represent different things and I like
00:45:19
Speaker
shake it and i'll throw crystals and then i'm working like a timing system like if it's in the past if it's in the future so i'm teaching myself i guess that form of divination at the moment so i hope to be offering it very soon oh like bone readings yeah crystals yeah so i've never really seen anyone else do that i mean i'm sure it does exist but yeah that's kind of what i'm teaching myself at the moment to be bringing to my services in the future or as an addition with my readings. Oh I love that idea, it's so cool. Thanks! I've stepped away from it but I don't know, I feel like the podcast today I'm feeling more ready to kind of get back into my practice, my reading for myself. Yeah I guess essentially like bone reading but with
00:46:07
Speaker
crystals so. Divination is amazing you can use anything to divine can't you and I really love that I mean my mum used to use bones but she also used ribbons as well she did ribbon reading and she used to do tea leaf reading I mean it's everywhere isn't it you can use all you can even use coffee beans if you wanted. I've seen someone do it with milk when they add milk into their tea or coffee like the patterns and they will get stuff from they you know if they see like a certain shape so it really is everywhere and I saw one I think this is the most out there one as a fellow female you know when you're in the shower like the amount of hair that comes out and this person was like putting it on the wall of the shower and then they were reading it oh what
00:46:54
Speaker
Yeah, I was like, this is the most out there one. Throwing it against the wall like spaghetti. Yeah, and basically like, kind of like tea leaf reading, seeing what shapes are. And then I was like, you know what, power to you. like that For me, that's a bit like, I don't think I'm doing that with my hair. But I was just like, I love it. Because it is, it's like unique to that person. But then what they were saying, people were like, yeah, that's what's going on with me at the minute. So, you know. So it's their hair, isn't it? And they they read for other people from their hair.
00:47:23
Speaker
Yeah. Is it any different from putting ink in water and reading the ink? Do you know what I mean? It's not really. But I mean, I don't know if you've heard this. I can't remember where I read it. I don't know if it's like Scandinavian or Norwegian or goes back to Celtic, but like the long hair, your hair is connected to your ground chakra. So, you know, your hair is very I guess it's sacred and spiritual. It makes sense in a way, but also like like my brain is just like, sorry, what, buffering, like and he's a buffering. I mean, I'll use braids and plaques as form of like protection or weaving in intention as well. Like glamour magic when you weave in. Yeah.
00:48:02
Speaker
But I'll do it with plats, like if I feel I want protection, I'll do a plat on the underneath, on my right side to bring me protection. I suck. You see, I don't do any of that. I don't do any of it. I need to. Well, that's what they say, isn't it? That I guess going back in which law, they wouldn't cut their hair or nails in case someone used it against them.
00:48:23
Speaker
in spellwork yeah burn it but then that feels wrong as well i also the stench of burning hair is not that proper stinks yeah which problems i found out malachite's fireproof why is it yeah i didn't know that well i didn't know that No, I was doing um like a ritual and ah the bowl wasn't big enough and then um well the flame came up and I had my malachite bracelet on but I was fine. The malachite's completely fireproof if anyone wanted to know. Didn't know that. I've got a friend and I remember she said, oh I bought some malachite and she has like a wooden bowl with salt in.
00:49:00
Speaker
and she keeps her lid on because she's like scared of it because she's like people say it like brings that really powerful change and if you're not ready i'm like i love malachite um i've just found positive things but again they're like they don't want to work with moonstone because they don't want to get pregnant and it's like well that's not his only but i think if you to consciously or have that intentional fear, even like fear in our thoughts, everything. Now, if you put rubbish out from your thoughts, you're going to get rubbish back. Yeah. So I think, you know, it comes with the thoughts, the intention, if that's the energy you're putting into it, then that might be what you get. But I found a crystal pendant necklace the other day in a charity shop for a pound. I think it's either Crazy Lace or Money Agate. So I'm going to be working with that. I love when you find crystals in charity shops because I'm like, you need to come home with me.
00:49:48
Speaker
So have you got a box of crystals there you want to talk to us about? ah Well, maybe I do, yes. Yes. So 2020 was when I came on to at my spiritual path, I started collecting crystals and now, you know, I work with them every day. I guess I would call myself a crystal witch because I do actively work with crystals, you know, they're around the home, I put my intentions into them, I use them in my workings. But when I was little, I remember, so I used to go to ballet class every Saturday and then after my class every Saturday, go to a market store and there'd be a crystal store so I'd spend my pocket money on crystals and then
00:50:27
Speaker
I don't know maybe when I was like eight nine kind of stepped away from that stopped collecting them and they just kind of sat in this box and I've always like remembered that and recently I've moved back home connected with but my family after a very long absence and I was talking to my mum and she has the box and she remember she was like I remember it was like a leather box and it is full with the crystals I collected when I was about six so it's really like amazing that she kept them all these years even when I've not shown an interest in them for so many years not been connected so I guess I've always been a little crystal witch but there's also ones in here that my granddad tumbled because he used to have a rock tumbler
00:51:15
Speaker
so and he gave them to me like this tiger's eyes one that he tumbled. Nice. And they're so powerful because they've grown through your family. Yeah which is amazing but to like have the box back and I just I remember all of them like this pink agate slice is one I've always remembered like this dyed pink agate and then this little amethyst, these little geodes and then where's it gone? Oh this black tourmaline as well was ones like I always remembered but recently I've gone back into the town and it's the same lady she's like oh I've had this store for about 30 years so I said oh well I would have bought my crystals from you
00:51:54
Speaker
when I was six and then from her I bought myself and a new pendulum because I've lost my other ones. So yeah that is also feeling very full circle and so it's nice to kind of be reunited with them. Yeah it just feels really cool but I guess it was always meant to be the path I ended up on.
00:52:14
Speaker
which I should have known from like the books I read as a child and like the TV programs I watched, I've always been, it's always been parallel to me. Timely, it's very timely that it's come about now and it's all, everything happens in a timely manner. Yes, even though you may not understand it, everything happens for you and not to you, which is something in the moment you go, why the hell?
00:52:38
Speaker
but it is always for a reason and everything leads you on the path where you're meant to be eventually. Do you want to give yourself a little plug? Where can we find you and what do you offer? Yeah, so you can find me, I mean, I've got a couple of different Instagrams, which I might emerge them, ah but for my tarot, if you're interested in all things tarot, I post like daily readings, meditations, on Instagram and Etsy and Facebook, you can find me.
00:53:05
Speaker
which is the Libra intuitive so you know if you want some mentoring want to learn just interested want to see all the decks if you just like looking at them then that's where you can find me oh Reggie's come back for the outro that's where you can find me and for all things crystals you can find me on instagram at groovy girl crystals and i also have a website which is www.groovygirlcrystals.com. And you can get discounts, can't you? Because you are an affiliate of a few companies. Yeah, oh, of course. For Wonder Symporium, which is a UK small business, and which sells like tarot decks, books, crystals, if there's not a deck or book or anything that is on there, um Cheryl, the owner of the company will find that for you and order it in, which I really
00:53:55
Speaker
like that she does that and this might hurt she ordered in for me but if you use Libra 10 you get 10% off. Oh nice I like a discount. Thank you for coming on to the Bill Witch podcast. You're very welcome thank you for having me I have very much enjoyed myself like I said it feels very full circle yeah thank you so much for having me and Reggie as she's decided to give me an extra guest star. It's like a VIP. A package deal.
00:54:28
Speaker
Thank you so much for listening to the Belle Witch Podcast, Witching in the 21st Century, it made with love and magic by me, Swales, the friendly green witch. If you'd like to get in contact with me, you can email me on thebellewitchpodcast at yahoo.
00:54:46
Speaker
I love to support other podcasts if you have a pagan, spiritual, witchy, spooky, scary podcast. Send me a trailer, I'll absolutely play it because there is magic in sharing the audience. Music by Jeff Harvey of Pixabay, official photographer is Beverly Thornton and I hope you've enjoyed this episode. Until next time, stay magical witches.