Shadowscapes Tarot

I have fallen in LOVE...with the Shadowscapes tarot.

I have worked for a long time with my Thoth tarot cards.  I have purchased and looked at and dabble with other decks over the years but nothing ever worked for me like the Thoth deck...until now...

I found the Shadowscapes deck by accident whilst browsing on Amazon and ordered them on a whim.  I was not disappointed, they are breathtakingly beautiful and the detail in the artwork is amazing.

Each card is wonderful descriptive in artwork detail, each and every one - even the suits cards are all beautifully created with individual designs.

This deck is created by artist Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, she has a wonderful website detailing all the tarot cards in the set along with prints and figurines she also sells.

http://www.shadowscapes.com

Where are you going...and how much will it cost?

Where am I going on my spiritual journey?  Where do I want it to take me?

Well...I do have some ideas, I do have some goals but the rest...I will just see what the Universe and the Goddess puts in my pathway and directs me towards.   I like to learn, I like to dip my toe into new areas and follow where it takes me.  Quite often I don't know where the new adventures will lead me or what purpose they have...I just have to trust that they are all part of the big plan.

I don't have magical lineage (that I know of), I do have heritage, but I also know that it is best to follow my instinct, for instance I have studied and worked with Hoodoo for some years now, am I a born and bred New Orleans Hoodoo Priestess?  Of course not!  But once I started researching Hoodoo I discovered (not unsurprisingly) that it has a huge European folk magic influence, no wonder I felt so drawn to it, as I was working with a lot of the methods already.

But where do I learn things from and how expensive is it all?

I have learnt from many, many different areas and in many, many different formats.  I read a lot of books, I do a lot of  internet research, those books will range from free ebook downloads to £10 paperbacks.

I have learnt HUGE amounts from our lovely students at the Kitchen Witch online school :-)

I have learnt HUGE amounts from being outside in nature, from taking walks, from sitting in my garden at no monetary cost.

I have learnt HUGE amounts from being a part of the Dorset Grove and immersing myself in the energy of ritual, again at no monetary cost.

I have learnt HUGE amounts from writing and co-leading the Kitchen Witch Coven rituals, again from working with that group energy, again at no monetary cost.

I have learnt HUGE amounts from all the other pagans, witches, druids and spiritual people that I have had the honour and pleasure to come in contact with, whether it is at rituals or sitting having cups of coffee and chatting.

Yes I have paid and attended workshops, online courses and correspondences courses.  Some of them have been free, some have cost a lot of money and others have been very reasonably priced.  Did the higher price mean a better course? NO most definitely not.  It is a shame that society seems to now attach the idea that because something costs enormous amounts of money that it is therefore better than something that is reasonably priced or even free.

In my personal experience I have done some excellent free courses, been on some brilliant reasonably priced workshops and also paid a lot of money for seriously disappointing courses.

You don't always get what you pay for!

I will continue to talk with and learn from my peers, my colleagues, my friends, acquaintances and anyone else that I meet that has interesting things to say, learning as I go - for free - and hopefully exchanging information that they might learn a little from too.

I will also continue to seek out books, internet research, courses and workshops whether they are free or cost money - if I am interested in the subject, if it seems well organised and not a total rip off then I will sign up, but I won't part with my hard earnt cash just because it has a high price tag!

Just a simple half hour in my garden connecting with nature and the Divine has taught me more than some of the courses I have paid good money for.

There are a lot of extremely talented people out there that are sharing their time, effort, knowledge and experience, how do you know whether they are honest and worthwhile or  not?  Go with your instinct, go with your gut feeling, go with recommendations from friends if you can.

I have a lot of certificates to my name (I am honestly and openly a total certificate tart!) but it doesn't make me any better than some of the witches I know that have learnt from years of experience and have never been on a course in their lives.  I also know those that have been on loads of courses, spent large amounts of money, have truckloads of certificates - it doesn't mean they are any good and it certainly doesn't make them better than you, or me.

It can be a bit of a minefield...

Trust in your own guidance when seeking out a teacher, course or pathway...you will be guided to the one you need at that time.

Beautiful Reiki energy and experience

Yesterday I had the absolute honour of working with Reiki Master Arthur Foster :-)

I was with two of my lovely friends to be attuned to Reiki Master Teacher level, and what an experience it was.

The energy that was created, the professional manner that the attunement was carried out in and the overall experience was one to remember.

Arthur has a unique way of teaching traditional Usui Reiki with added Tibetan energies, clear and concise instructions, easy to understand directions and practical exercises.

The visions and images that presented themselves whilst we were experiencing the attunement were quite literally breathtaking.

I cannot recommend Arthur highly enough for anyone wishing to take the beautiful natural healing Reiki journey...

If you are looking to start with Reiki I Arthur is running a workshop at Chi Coffee on Sunday 13th October, full details on the Chi facebook page and event page:

https://www.facebook.com/events/459703440794346/

Moon meditations and posh Surrey voices...

Hours...and hours spent in the recording studio - which my husband enjoyed immensely (it must be a bloke thing!)...for me?  I liked doing the reading, even though I had to wear headphones and stand in a black box the size of a cupboard...but all the faffing, tweaking and messing about with levels and graphic equalisers or whatever it is they do?  nah...

Anyway...sometime later...

I have in my grubby little paws a big box of Moon Meditation CD's.

Nine meditations, taken mainly from the Pagan Portals Moon Magic book (due for publication January 2014) and a couple taken from the Pagan Portals Kitchen Witchcraft.  Each meditation is around 5 minutes long, I don't 'do' long meditations...a. because life is busy and what mother/wife/business woman/witch/father/dad can find an hour each day to meditate?  and b. because my attention span won't let me focus for long periods of time ;-)

My hubby played some melodic and hopefully relaxing music in the background...the only downside is that you have to listen to my voice LOL  but apparently I was using my 'posh Surrey' voice on the recordings so that will at least be entertaining for you ;-)

Available to purchase from my website:

www.rachelpatterson.co.uk

£5 each plus postage & packaging

Those local to Portsmouth can purchase them from the Chi Coffee shop, 146 London Road, North End, Hants, UK.

I will also have some with me on the various talks and workshops I am booked to do this year.

Thank you!

A warm, wet and laughter filled ritual

Yesterday was the Kitchen Witch Hazel Moon ritual (with a bit of Lughnasadh thrown in for good measure)...we arrived and it was warm and dry...we set up...all warm and dry...people started to arrive...all warm and dry...once everyone was there and ready...RAIN! and lots of it!

We hastily moved the altar under the trees and all formed a kind of squished up oval rather than a circle so that the trees would shield us from as much rain as possible.  Some very organised people had brought umbrellas so they went up too.

There followed the quickest circle casting (poor Tracey had to run around the outside in the rain, but thank you to Adam for following her with an umbrella, what a gentleman!), a ritual that we shortened and the soggiest shamanic drumming ever!  Speaking invocations with huge drips of water running down my face and talking about the real meaning of Lughnasadh with rivers of water streaming down my back was interesting to say the least! Coupled with the now torrential rain we were also invaded by several dogs who proceeded to eat the bread offerings...

But...and here is the important thing...everyone still smiled, in fact everyone laughed and joined in with the spirit of the occasion :-)

We at Kitchen Witch are feeling all kinds of humbled and blessed today that so many lovely people turned up, regulars and new faces, and that everyone stayed despite the weather and they participated in good spirits, we are very honoured.

It was VERY soggy...but lots of fun...

Inner Realms Tarot

I was sent a set of the Inner Realms Tarot by Saleire to review (many thanks, I LOVE receiving things to review!).

The box that they come in is very impressive, beautiful artwork on the lid, very sturdy and holds the cards and a small book to accompany them.

On my initial flick through I found that I was drawn to a lot of the major arcane with some lovely artwork.  The artwork on all the cards has a very digital look and feel but with a mystical twist.

I was however a bit disappointed with the suits cards as they are quite repetitive but that's not always a bad thing (it's a personal choice thing, I like lots of imagery).  Each card also has keywords printed around and in the image which would be helpful to those learning the tarot.

I am part of a tarot share group at my local spiritual coffee shop Chi Coffee on a Friday morning so I took them with me to see what others thought as the group is a mixture of novice readers through to professional tarot readers.  Here are some of the thoughts and comments:

The accompanying book is easy to read, although there isn't a huge amount of detail for each card it does have some really good tarot spread ideas as well.

The words on the cards are helpful, especially if you are learning to read the cards intuitively.

It isn't a 'spiritual' set as such but the major arcane images are lovely.

Definitely a set for intuitive readings and the cards would make good meditation prompts.

The descriptions in the book aren't long but are well worded and simple to connect with.

It is at the higher end of the price range for tarot cards (retail £37.50) but the quality of the card stock and the box that it comes in are a reflection of that.

I will continue to use it as the readings that came out have been good and one of the tarot share group (a professional tarot reader) purchased a set, so that's a good recommendation!


More details on http://www.saleire.com

Available to order from Amazon or www.bushwoodbooks.co.uk (Bushwood is currently offering free p&p within the UK)

Here I am... but please don't shoot...

This year for me has been a lot about putting my head above the parapet, especially with regard to the book writing and the workshops and talks.

It is easy to be comfortable with yourself and believe that what you are doing is right when it is just you ...on your own...not sharing your thoughts and opinions.

But once you start 'getting out there', writing books that people read (a huge thank you to those that have, the book sales have been amazing!), doing talks in front of very knowledgeable pagan groups (eeep) and running workshops - you do put yourself somewhat in the firing line.

Thankfully...so far...it has been a fabulous year, the book sales really have been amazing, I am truly humbled but...with all the five and four star reviews there will be one or two peeps that don't find it as good.

Pagan Portals Kitchen Witchcraft has an astounding (and incredibly humbling) twenty eight 5* and six 4* reviews...totally overwhelmed...

Grimoire (as of today's date) has seven 5* reviews and one 4* review but it does have one 3*

I have to admit to my heart sinking when I saw the 3 star review (hey it could have been a one star, three stars ain't bad!!) because of all the other positive reviews it kind of stood out from the crowd.  Oh come on you dozy tart I can hear you all saying - one 3* within all the other four and five star ones - stop whinging!!

And you would be right...putting myself out in the public eye has been immensely rewarding, I have met some amazing people and had some wonderful experiences and learnt a huge amount, what I need to remember, in fact what we all need to remember is that we are all awesome in our on unique and individual way but at the end of the day not everyone is going to like everything that we do or say (or wear) - don't take it personally.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, everyone has their own minds, thoughts and views and they aren't always going to be the same as yours - that's life - it is a wonderful mix of interesting people, it would be boring if we were all the same wouldn't it?

I am sharing my knowledge and experience not because I think I know it all (really I don't...not by a long shot) but because I love to share it, to engage with other like minded people and hopefully learn from each other...it's just a case of remembering that not everyone has the same views and neither should they!

Seize the day...do your own thing...make it yours ♥

A Dangerous Place

A Dangerous Place by Robin Herne

What a fabulous book! A collection of short stories, all with a pagan theme, each one with mystery woven in and all based around the same spot in Suffolk but spread out over the span of two and a half millennia, it's as if you were stood in the same spot and history rolls past you like a fast forward film. At the end of each story are the author's notes giving the reasons, explanations, whys and wherefores behind it. Absolutely fascinating and well worth reading whether you are a pagan, an historian or otherwise.

The official blurb:

Magic and murder meet in Suffolk, with short stories exploring the spirit of place, and the dark side of belief. A Dangerous Place is an anthology of crime stories all set in the same place, but spread out over the course of two thousand years. Each crime is set against the backdrop of changing religious and magical/mystical beliefs, such as Iron-Age Druidry, Anglo-Saxon Heathenry, Victorian Spiritualism, & modern neo-paganism, and interweaves old-fashioned detection with mysticism and criminal psychology.

community, kindness, love and respect ♥

We had an amazing Crystal Workshop (we as in the Kitchen Witch team) at Chi Coffee on Sunday, it was lovely to see so many 'regulars' along with one or two new faces as well.

We had a lot of wonderful feedback and the core of all the feedback was about community, about finding a group of people that all have similar interests and all treat each other with kindness and respect (and laughter...and cake)...which is wonderful to hear, because that is what we strive to do.

As a team, Kitchen Witch share our knowledge and experience because we love to do so, it's not about money for us (yes sometimes we do have to charge because we do have costs to cover, especially for the workshops as we provide drinks, lunch, cake and goody bags for everyone) but we don't make huge profits (have you seen us riding around on flashy Nimbus 2000s?).

What we have found 'forming around us' is a community and that also extends to Chi Coffee who are doing the same thing and there is a cross over - a nice bit of team work!

I was watching a Midsomer Murder episode on Sunday evening after the workshop and it was centred around a small village and a church - a community (albeit obviously there were a few dead bodies...it is a murder mystery after all).  And it made me think about our modern lives and how most people barely know the names of their neighbours let alone think about helping and supporting each other.  There was a time when everyone knew everyone else and children couldn't get into trouble without someone spotting them and reporting back to their parents LOL

But then the messages started coming in from the workshop group and it made my heart glow - beautiful words from beautiful people.  We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.

I am honoured, proud and blessed to be a part of such a wonderful community ♥