New Project! DIY/Collaged Tarot Deck
Over the past few weeks, I have been pulling together a group of local witches in my area to form a very casual coven! We all ended up revealing that we are very crafty, so naturally, one of the first projects we wanted to take on as a group was to make our own tarot decks! Right now we are scheduled to make around 8 cards a month, which means we should be finishing the project by the end of the year!
Materials used:
Double-sided tape
Playing card (for the base)
Matte mod podge (for the top coat)
Magazine clippings
To start off with, obviously, we have The Fool. In researching for this card, the main keywords that stood out to me was "new beginnings" and the start of a "journey". When paging through my magazines, one of the first photographs I came across was this beautiful, snowy mountain range with skiers dotting along the bottom of a slope. This image seemed perfect to me and really conveys the image of a new journey and optimism.
Next, I reviewed the Rider-Waite deck for more inspiration - I saw lots of yellows, and of course, the iconic sun. I decided to add a sun shining in the corner of this card as an ode to the original Rider-Waite deck; also representing bright optimism as the Fool begins his journey.
If you want to follow along this crafting journey with me to learn more about tarot (and probably a LOT about collaging/DIY), be sure to subscribe to my Patreon for only $2/month!
I'll probably be posting updates on Patreon weekly, and updates on Tumblr around once every other month.
Please let me know if y'all give this a try! I find that this is a great way for me to connect with tarot and learn more about the cards. I've always struggled with memorizing them/reading cards without a guide, so I'm hoping that this project will help!
115 notes
·
View notes
~ zine culture and handmade art are more important than ever ~
"Zines are handmade, self published booklets and — unlike magazines and books — can be made by anyone with a message, a bit of artistic vision, and access to a printer. Zines also have the benefit of being as short or as long as the creator wishes and can cover any subject matter and be of any style, much unlike traditional publishing."
•• to delve more deeply into the importance of zines & DIY publishing check out my recent article on these topics >>
•• find my collection of zines & sewing kits on Etsy ••
22 notes
·
View notes
City Magic: Painted Rock Wards
This post was released a week early over on my Patreon! You can subscribe for free to be notified of important projects announcements, or subscribe for as little as $2 a month to gain early access to my content, exclusive access to research/reading notes, and free digital goodies! Your support means the world to me and helps me to continue doing what I love.
We’ve all seen those pretty painted rocks over on Pinterest, right? These bad boys? Or perhaps you’ve even seen them around your neighborhood/public parks.
Traditionally, these are meant to be painted (sometimes with words of encouragement) and left in public spaces for people to take home, as an act of kindness. Some others paint them for their garden, either to deter pests with vibrant colors, or they’re used to label whatever’s in their garden.
Now, if you live in a big city, you probably have felt a disconnect from your craft or your practice. It’s difficult to connect with a nature-oriented spirituality, such as witchcraft, when you live in a concrete jungle! But there are many, many ways to feel connected to your craft, even if you don’t live in the middle of the woods or have a lot of nature around you. One of these ways is to connect with your neighborhood.
Your neighborhood has mass significance to your life, whether you realize it or not: this is where you live, where you work, where you breathe, where you practice your craft – you must make yourself known, and make the neighborhood known to yourself as well. One of the best ways to do this is to take walks!
Whenever you’re ready, take a walk through your neighborhood and bring a map, notebook, and a pen. As you walk, observe the behaviors of the residents around you. Do they seem to be struggling with anything? What kind of people are they like? Write these characteristics down. If you notice any parts of your neighborhood that evoke any specific emotions (such as unease, happiness, peace, or anxiety), mark them on your map. You might also notice some “problem areas” – perhaps some patches of the road or sidewalk are horribly paved and need to be repaired, or there’s a lot of loud dogs constantly barking at the end of your block. Mark these areas on your map as well, and report back to your home when you are ready.
Picking Your Purpose
Now that we’ve identified a few “problems” and made observations within your neighborhood, we can decide what we want to do. Do you want to protect against thieves? Ward against illness for one of your elderly neighbors? This is the time to select the primary purpose for your ward.
Picking The Area
Take the map that you marked up during your walk. Connect any common points you see (for example, connect up the "peaceful" areas you marked on your map, or connect any points that have a common theme). What kind of shape does it have? Does it remind you of any popular symbols? Can you use the general shape of the area to generate a sigil or symbol that represents the area? What area(s) would most benefit from your rock wards?
Here is an example of how I created a sigil from a fictional city map I found! Obviously, play around with this idea until it makes sense to you. You can connect up different routes, or perhaps create a border around the areas that feel safest to you.
Now is the time you also want to pick where you want to place your wards - you can use your neighborhood sigil to influence where you place them, or, place them based on intuition or based on need. For example, placing a rock ward at the end of the noisiest block, or in the middle of the block that has the most number of children in the area.
Creating and Using Your Sigils/Symbols
Now, you want to develop symbols or sigils for your purpose. You can use any method you’d like! You may wish to incorporate your neighborhood sigil into each one you create, but ultimately the design is up to you. This is also the point where you would “charge” your sigil, with whatever method you see fit - as long as the design, intention, and charging method makes sense to you, that’s all that matters!
Painting Your Rocks
Finally, onto the fun part!
Now, you could simply paint your sigils on your rock and call it a day. Or, you could paint your sigil, and layer a more “mundane” piece of artwork on top of the sigil, leaving the sigil hidden underneath. This technique works best if the “mundane” artwork connects with the ward’s purpose in some way (for example, if your ward is for protection against nosy neighbors, you could paint eyes; or if your ward is for health, you could paint green colors, or even a red cross). I definitely recommend this “layering” method of painting your rocks so no one in your neighborhood ends up reporting any “suspicious looking rocks” with “satanic symbols” on them to your local Facebook groups!
Materials
acrylic paint
rocks
paint brushes
toothpicks (optional)
paint markers
outdoor/water-proof sealant such as Mod Podge: Outdoor
Instructions
Lay out your rocks and other materials
Seal your rocks with a coat or two of your sealant before you begin painting. This is an important step, since rocks are porous and will suck up any paint you try to apply!
Paint your rocks to your heart's content! If you are layering paint on your rocks, please make sure each layer is dry before painting the next.
Once your rocks are completely dry, seal them up with your outdoor/water-proof sealant so they don't get damaged in the elements.
Lastly, take another trip through your neighborhood to place your rocks. Converse with the neighbors if you feel inclined, and make double-sure of the locations you chose for your wards. I recommend taking regular walks throughout your neighborhood to check on these wards, and make sure they’re doing their job. You may wish to refresh the wards with a new coat of paint, or replace them with something new if the situations within the neighborhood change.
Ultimately, magic is what you make it, especially when you live in a big city. Warding your neighborhood and showing care for the people that live there is one of the many ways you can connect to your neighborhood on a deeper level and feel more connected to your practice locally.
Recommended further reading: Urban Magick by Diana Rajchel
36 notes
·
View notes