Tarot

First off, let me just state that I'm now officially a member of ADF and am extremely excited about this. I'm currently awaiting the "package" that they send out to new members so I can read up and get started with the Dedicant Path study program. I am very determined to eventually become ADF clergy after I go through all of the proper training. This is my ultimate goal, send some good luck energy my way!

Now on to what I wanted to talk to about today after some serious thought. I want to talk about Tarot.
I love tarot cards, I love doing readings, and I love receiving readings. I honestly believe that tarot cards work and can be accurate. I believe how accurate the cards are depends on the person they're attached to and the person receiving the reading. Not only does the person receiving the reading have to be very open minded, but, the person doing the reading has to fully believe in their ability to use the cards.
I fully believe myself to be extremely accurate at using tarot cards, whether for myself or my friends, anyone whom I've read for has claimed that I'm very accurate. Why is this? Because not only do I believe in my abilities with using my tarot cards but I fill my cards with my energy. While doing a reading I also pull in the energy from the person receiving the reading so the cards will be specifically for the person the reading is being done for. I'm not going to explain my technique any further because I believe everyone should have their own technique. I'm sure many tarot books would advise against or be completely opposite of the way I read cards but it feels right to me and it's what gives me the best results.
I will explain how I become so connected to my tarot cards though so maybe you, my readers, can become just as connected with your own cards.
When I get a new deck, the first thing I do is cleanse them in either sage smoke or incense smoke, the incense being what I normally leave as an offering for Cernunnos. I say something along the lines of "cleanse this deck of any previous energy" as I hold the deck in the smoke, I'll turn the deck over and make sure every part of the deck is touched by the smoke. I'll even fan out the deck and make sure every card is touched by the smoke.
After this I asked Cernunnos for help in making this deck purely my own. This is part is up to your own interpretation, if you feel comfortable asking your deity for help with this, then do so. Only do it if your deity won't become offended, etc. I knew Cernunnos wouldn't be offended by me asking him to do this for me so I asked for his help.
For reference, I did these steps with my newest deck the Druidcraft Tarot by Philip Carr-Gomm, I did similar steps with my other two tarot decks and my one oracle deck. However I feel this time, because I had added some new steps, the end result is much stronger and the cards are even more attuned to me than previous decks.
After asking for help from Cernunnos I could "hear" this male voice in my head giving me commands, so to speak, and telling me what to do. At one point it said "leave cards outside in the sun." Of course I did this and waited for another cue to take the cards back inside. Sure enough, after about an hour, I "heard" the same male voice tell me to take the cards inside now. I then had an image pop into my head that I should simply hold the deck for a while. After another extended period of time, I received an image of putting the cards under my pillow and leaving them there until I had slept on them for at least a full night.
After all of this, I finally did my first reading, for myself. I chose the Awen spread that's listed in the book and received incredible results. I wrote down the spread and the cards that were in each position so I plan on setting it back up and taking pictures of it, which I really should have done in the first place, so I can share with you via my blog.
This was the reading I spoke of in my previous entry, I asked for guidance about Druidry and found that it is the right path for me. I also found that Cernunnos is in my future, he will always be with me and having the "Cernunnos" card show up in one of my future spots made me incredibly happy. This is how I know I'm right in what I'm doing, it was a really beautiful sign from him.

As you can see, tarot cards can be a very beautiful thing and they can be incredibly accurate. There are many people out there who do great readings but do keep in mind that while they are and can be accurate, keep a sound mind with the results. As many tarot card readers state, they are not a substitution for a doctor, a lawyer, or any other legal or medical practitioner. Both parties need to be protected and I just want to make sure people realize this.

I want to take this moment to spotlight a friend of mine who does readings and has extremely reasonable rates. She's a great person and I fully believe in her skills and abilities as an intuitive reader. She has a great site set up (which I will of course link to) and it gives information on how she does readings, how you can receive the best reading, etc. Please heed her disclaimers of course, they're there so she is protected and so the person receiving the reading is protected.
Her name is Jessica and you can find her site here.

Druidry; ADF Dedicant Path

I have today off so I was going to try and at least do a short blog today but I can't seem to pick out any particular topic so I have a feeling this post will end up being a little random but we'll see where it goes.

First I wanted to talk about Druidry. I have been interested in Druidry for quite some time but was turned off by getting into after an encounter at work a few years back.
I was working the cash register at a grocery store, it was a pretty slow day at this point and I hadn't been able to talk to too many customers at this point. This guy came through my line, I'll skip the description of him, wearing a green shirt that had stonehenge on it and had some witty comment next to the picture. It basically implied that he was a Druid. So I said (in a nice way, promise) "Are you wearing that shirt because you like it or does it mean something to you?" and the guy, very snobby and stuck up expression, said "No! I'm wearing it because I'm a DRUID." This flipped my bitch switch on immediately and I responded with "Yeah? Well I'm a PAGAN so calm down! I was just asking." His facial expression changed instantly and he said "Oh! Well...blah blah blah." I honestly don't remember what he tried talking to me about at this point because I was irritated like you would not believe. I looked him in the eye and said "No, don't try to have a conversation with me now." He left with a pouty look on his face.
Let this be a reminder to people, don't flip out on someone for asking you about such things. I have met a lot of people who wear typically Pagan things (such as jewelry, etc.) who really only wear it because they thought it looked neat, out of those people I have met a few who are actually Pagans. Asking about such things is only a way of testing the waters. Unless you live in a community with a large Pagan community (which I don't) you can't just come out and say "I'm a Pagan! Are you one too!?"
That incident really turned me off to Druidry. I know it's extremely horrible of me to let one experience bring me down, I did the same thing with Cernunnos and Celtic Paganism. One person doesn't speak for the rest of the group and it only takes one person to make an entire group look bad. Please don't follow in my footsteps. If I hadn't let that incident affect me, I'd be much further along on my path now.

That being said I'd like to state that within the next few days I'm going to become a member of the ADF (Ár nDraíocht Féin or A Druid Fellowship.) I'm extremely excited about this. I was debating between a few Druid Orders and finally chose ADF. I'm going to go through their dedicant path (DP) and then make my way through a few of their guilds. I have my eye on four different ones and have requested help in choosing which one would best fit me. Although, I would love to move through and receive training from all four of them. But if I'm advised against that then I may just select two of them. I will talk more about that when I actually do become a member and I have to make that decision.

I'm very interested in becoming clergy in this group but I know that will take a lot of study and time, which I'm perfectly fine with and I know I can do it. I think it's something I really, really want to be able to do. Even if I don't end up actually using the information, I would love to have that knowledge and the ability to use it if the time comes. My ultimate goal was to become clergy and start my own grove, but I don't know if I would ever get to that point. I think it would be the first ADF grove in Iowa. I wanted someone to do that with me though and I just don't have anyone that I could ask to do that with me. I asked a friend of mine who is also on the Druid path but solitary. She respectfully declined and I respect her decision fully. But it doesn't stop me from wanting someone to go through this with me. So it seems I will be doing this alone.

Cernunnos guide me on this path, I will need it. I've already asked him to guide me on this and he has already given me guidance. When I first thought about this path I did a tarot card reading with my Druidcraft Tarot deck by Philip Carr-Gomm. I asked Cernunnos to guide my hand in this reading so I could get his input on the subject. Funnily enough he showed up in my reading, he was my future. The simplicity of that statement and imagery made me want to cry. It was beautiful. Cernunnos is part of my future.
While Cernunnos does take the place of the Devil in this tarot deck, the meaning of that is not the same at all. I just wanted to point this out in case anyone was trying to figure out why this excited me so much.
I know this is the path that I'm supposed to be on. It feels right to me and I'm not scared at all, I just want help from Cernunnos, I wanted to know if this is what he wants me to do. I wanted to know if this would make him happy and I think the main thought is "it makes me happy, do it."

Well this entry wasn't random at all! I'm surprised! I also hope everyone enjoyed it :) Thank you so much for reading!