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Thursday 11 May 2017

Deck Creation - Mother's Wisdom (for Jennifer Hodgson)

Mothers Wisdom
Here we are with my fourth personalised oracle deck as I present to you ‘Mother’s Wisdom’; these cards have been created for the wonderful, unique and incandescent Jennifer Hodgson. I am still fascinated by how my consciousness forms the words to use and why I choose certain images for these cards, I get perplexed by how themes emerge and how concepts for combining all that reach fruition and become a deck of cards by which someone can use them as a mirror to reflect something can’t see.

Seasonal Wisdom
This deck starts with a love of cemeteries; I tied that love into seasons because it was so easy to imagine walking through a cemetery at any time of year. I imagined blossom floating in the breeze and landing on the headstone of a woman called Annabelle Foster who died 1896; I thought about sitting at my grandparents graves in the heat of summer and planting roses around the crosses with tiny gold plaques that mark who they were; now, autumn… autumn is a graveyard… isn’t that the most delicious expression of devotion to something ethereal? I appreciate this card so much and it’s wording, despite being one of my favourite lyrics from an Adele song, felt so natural; the winter card played into a few themes and the decision to centre it on illusion came from the other side of walking through a cemetery… the feeling when you imagine bones beneath your feet and see the leafless trees and it appears so consumed by death… but the thing is, it’s not. The beauty of a spiritual belief system like witchcraft is having the knowledge that bones under foot are remnants of lives lived and bare trees are resting before that big power surge for next spring. These cards, as much as they are designed and created for Jen, they reminded me that everything has seasons and that no matter what gets lost or what gets found, no matter where we find light or shadow through life, the seasons will always change, the people we love are always with us and that death truly is an illusion.
Elemental Wisdom
Elements seemed like a natural choice as I moved away from seasons and with Jen’s love of castles being possibly equal to her love of cemeteries, that is what I focused on for these cards. The elements are the foundation of magick, they are what we trust in to empower and carry our spells, to protect our circles and to give a spiritual structure to the divide that exists between the physical and astral plains. Fire probably isn’t where I would usually start but for some reason, it’s what came first; I thought about what fire represents… passion is what stood out and it certainly applies to Jen; I can imagine spontaneous flames erupting when she expresses emotions… anger, lust, fear, excitement; even without knowing Jen amazingly well, I can sense that about her. It’s a strange knowledge to have, sensing the passion of another person which it what led me to the earth card and the realisation that earth carries all mortal burden. I thought about hardships and burdens, I thought about how many people were living their lives in between where I sat, so excited about creating these cards for Jen and where she sat, excited about seeing them; I thought about all of those lives, how many tears were being shed, how many arguments were happening, how many people were disliking themselves or blaming themselves for something that wasn’t their fault and then I thought about how all of those people are being supported by the earth; maybe just physically for most people but for witches… it grounds us and it facilitates spells, it’s strength and fortification gives us stability. This writing is getting longer than I planned but here we go with my thoughts on the Air card… I took some time with this and considered all the things that make this element magickal because this is my element and every thought, feeling and emotion that we all have is air based, every scent and every sound, everything that triggers memory and imagination… those things are found in this element and are represented by it. The infinity of imagination is definitely what I thought when I saw the image of castles in the sky but it’s everything else that completes the thought that freedom of the mind. And, as for water, it was all about reflection and depth for me… I knew that right away: self-reflection, depth of emotion and how finding time to be still and find your centre is a catalyst to amazing insight. I’ve been a practicing witch for twenty years and nothing has ever made me reflect more deeply than this element and so the naming of this card was an easy process.
Wisdom of the Moon
Our Lady Luna has appeared and her phases are reflected in these cards as beacons of inspiration, devotion and energy. Many of us consider the moon a compass for our magick and so I went with that thought in creating these cards… I considered the moon’s journey in naming the cards and how it is imagined when choosing the images; I thought of how it illuminates our skies and lifts our hearts to create the Divine Emerge of Light as we see it reappear from its rest in the dark, when it’s new and it waxes for the renewal of cycles or starting new ones. I thought of how much energy goes into the full moon; how it’s beauty resonates within the minds of everyone, not just the witches and the power it inspires within us to be brave and to trust our hears; for we are the Sovereign of our own destiny when we experience the awe and splendour of seeing the ripe energy of her majesty. No sight is more humbling than the waning crescent and as the moon reaches her cronehood, we embrace her as a symbol of endings or fruition. I chose the more positive imagery of immortality because no ending is truly an ending… it is the beginning of something else and so as the crescent arcs to the left, we see the road to eternity open to us, in one form or another. I think the dark moon is my favourite time of the lunar cycle, the darkness is only obscuring her light and yet she appears completely absent; Imitation of Absence is such a powerful card because it is a reminder that not everything is as it seems and just because something is not seen, that does not mean it does not exist; something that we, as witches, are all too well aware of.

Aspected Wisdom
It seems immortality is a common theme within this deck and though that was unintentional, I think it is apt to bring it up with this set. As a Triple Goddess, Morrigan embodies the cycle of life, death and rebirth and so it felt more than natural to incorporate those aspects of her power into the deck and butterflies seemed like the ideal choice to depict these powerhouse archetypes; though not associated with Morrigan, they are the face of transitional phasing in the animal/insect kingdom and I chose them also because Jen has mentioned them to me in notes on her life when we were discussing the deck. Individually the cards are: Impressions of Immortality (for Maiden) – that feeling in your youth that you will live forever and in Morrigan’s case, she does; Ever Watchful, Ever Mindful (for Mother) – I personally struggle to pick out Mother-type traits for Morrigan but in conversations I have had with her daughters I consider this card to be encompassing of her Mother aspect; Unsurpassed Understanding (for Crone) – there is something to be said for the wisdom age, for humans and for deities, it felt necessary with this card to highlight that and show that when the colour and ‘zing’ of youth fades, you are left with understanding of more than you could have imagined in your youth. Finally, to the Triple Goddess card itself and the empowering words: No Power Greater than a Woman; I struggled with the name of this card and wondered if it seemed sexist but those who follow Morrigan and witchcraft in general, though accepting and understanding the importance, influence and power of men and masculinity for balance and fertility, have a predisposition to preferring a female at the highest power. I do not wish this as a sexist comment on witchcraft or the community and I am not against men or masculinity in anyway but for me, witchcraft takes the lead in matriarchal religions.

Wisdom of the Wheel
Oh, sweet wheel of the year… always turning, always changing, ever the source of comfort, wisdom and balance. These cards were a challenge to harmonise and yet I felt each one vibrate with contentment when they were finished, a reaction which I partook of too. They do tell somewhat of a story but the individuality of each card makes each sabbat stand proud without its neighbours. Believing was the perfect accent to Imbolc because at Imbolc we are starting to see the light and it feels like the start of seeing what has been missing. The initial choice for Ostara was ‘mirth’ but ‘happiness’ seemed much more synonymous with Spring. Power made sense for Beltane because the power of the earth and the sun and the Goddess is rising. Balance for Litha was the personal choice of Jen and I could synchronise with that thought as Litha is the midway point between Ostara and Mabon and the image for it is one my favourites… makes me think of drinking iced mint tea on midsummer night’s eve with candles all around.

Strength was a natural choice for Lammas because though days are getting shorter, August is one of the hottest months and we feel the strength of the sun’ the harvest is also strengthening and ripening. Mabon, oh Mabon… my favourite of all the Sabbats; I personally refer to it as ‘the dying of the light’ but light at Mabon is fighting a losing battle to the shadows and that is why I considered it a courageous element. At Samhain we change feeling completely, the darkness thickens and the veil thins; is it any wonder this is where the deepest connections to self, to spirit, to the earth are at their most potent. And Yule, time to sit by the fire or walk through the frosty woods and enjoy the quiet and the calm of hibernation, seemingly barren branches and hardened ground.

Chakra Wisdom
It’s interesting to contemplate all the chakras at once and I won’t lie, it was an issue because I knew exactly what to do for the root chakra, it was an instead concept that hit me like a ton of brick (or a ton of drums in this case). Though outside of the notes Jen gave me, I decided the whole chakra set should be instrument based and I almost pulled it off… Sacral went slightly awry on that concept but the colour blended so well and chakras are a part of Buddhist traditions and with the Buddhist views on all life being sacred and mortality being something to be revered and pleasurable, to me that speaks highly to the pleasure of mortality being a focus of the sacral chakra. The Solar Plexus card was another that came to me almost instantly and the harp seemed like an amazingly fitting choice; the harp resonates with my solar plexus with such synchronicity that nothing else would have fit into this card. When it looked how it does now, I showed Jen to see if she agreed with me and thankfully she did. I began with this image for the heart card but decided it wasn’t right and so went through several versions before returning back to the beginning and something about the idea of heart strings was what pulled it back into the centre spot of the chakras.

This beautiful flute was one of the incarnations of the heart card but it fell into place as the throat chakra and emerged to look rather magickal and delicate although with a wonderful message of being heard. For the third eye, I moved away from the instruments because it is the silence of the astral gateway that caught my imagination and the bridge is that journey to find it. I did return to those instruments, sort of, in the form of wind chimes…divinely tinkling and vibrating in the unseen element of air,  how else could I have so beautifully depicted the portal to the gods. So, there we have the seven main chakras but I included the aura here too because it is also of energy and in the same vein of perception as chakras and I returned to the instruments to express it with cymbals – bright with energy and resonant with the vibration of its surroundings, I feel my aura crackle with the sound of the cymbals.

Mother’s Wisdom
There is no part of this deck that is more expressive or inspired than these eight cards which I have named ‘Gifts of Morrigan’. I felt called to these cards and have even added them to my Book of Shadows. I questioned, astrally and during a personal reading, what gifts were imparted by Morrigan to her daughters and these are the answers that blessed my consciousness. Eye of the Corvid is in high contention for my favourite card of the deck, indicating the gift of Prophecy and shimmering with insight and wisdom. The Magick Within is the galloping force of Enchantment, Sorcery and Magick which emanate from the Celtic powerhouse with gusto. Change is Inevitable beautifully addresses the subtle song of transformation as Morrigan bestows her ability to shape shift. Won Before it’s Fought is a contraction of what the card is actually called… ‘The Battle is Won Before it’s Fought’; as a war Goddess, Morrigan is most definitely blessed with the gift of strategy. The Veil Descendeth; I don’t even think ‘descendeth’ is a word but as a Goddess of Death, Morrigan is entitled to a new word and the descending veil is the gift of death. I knew Sovereignty would make an appearance somewhere within the deck but I didn’t realise it would be this powerful – wolf for the Alpha-mentality and majesty for a royal vibration but with a Latin-style twist. Staple of my Morrigan decks has become a card named ‘Of Blood and Bone’; this particular card is the other in high contention for my favourite card of the deck; raven skull fading into or emerging from a bloody background seemed incredibly poignant and desperately fitting. Finally, to Gilding the Soul… this card required an act of meditation and a little thinking outside the box to reach fruition but I was gifted with this dark and shining flower during meditation as I was given the spirituality of this Queen.

Reiki Wisdom


Almost before I started this deck, the idea for these cards was apparent; I am not a Reiki practitioner but I have studied its philosophies and energies and I knew they would give a very calming and sturdy presence to the oracle as a whole. The Cho-Ku-Rei is the Power symbol; it emits power like the atom bomb of the astral plane and so to concentrate that power is a blessing worthy of my dear friend Jen and that is why it is in this deck. The Sei-He-Ki symbol is the union of divinity and mortality; the connection, the common ground, the mirroring between the two and so to have this card here in the deck charges it with divinity. I do hope I spell this next symbol correctly – Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen; damn, I’m good – lol! This symbol is an incredible tool for those who send healing, though I am not attuned, I add it to my healing spells for a major energy charge because this is the distance healing symbol and it doesn’t just heal over the distance of space but also time. The Dai-Ko-Myo is the symbol of understanding; it translates to ‘Great Enlightenment’ or ‘Bright Shining Light’ and so what better card to use for the lovely Jen… a lady whose soul is Pure Transcendence.

Wisdom of Goodbye
It was a strange feeling to conclude this deck; I had enjoyed creating so much that I almost felt lost when I reached this last card. That’s why it felt necessary to mark that this was the last card in some way. Jen had mentioned she loved owls and I had failed to capture them in another part of the deck so this was my chance… ‘Time to Fly’ felt appropriate as a last card with a second meaning of spreading the wings to take off toward something rather than away from something. A very special card which I hope has touched Jen’s heart like it has mine.  

Jen has made a video for her youTube channel when she opened the cards and had a look for the first time at the finished product. See her video at the following link: