Holiday Post 2019: Tarot, Cartomancy, and other Miscellany

Fool - 0. From Legacy of the Divine Tarot deck.

 

Welcome to the fourth installment in my holiday posts series. This one is a new post for this year where I am looking at Tarot, cartomancy, and some other miscellaneous related topics. If I keep finding enough good content to note and share, I will likely keep doing it in the years ahead. I wanted to get this out a bit sooner, but I went on vacation, and it sort of fell back a bit. However, since I am Puerto Rican, the holidays are still on for me, Three Kings Day (January 6), then the octavitas, so we are good.

A bit about Winter Solstice and the Holidays

Some food for thought and to learn a bit more about these holidays

• Via John Beckett's Under the Ancient Oaks, a look at "Winter Solstice and the Pagan Restoration." He writes, "Whatever else the Winter Solstice may teach, it teaches us hope and persistence. And you don’t have to be a Pagan to see and feel that." Do read the rest. 

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

• Benebell Wen looks at the "Tarot World 2010-2019." It is mainly a retrospective of Tarot in the last decade (or at least until 2019) looking at decks, the culture in Tarot, and even how technology has changed in relation to Tarot and the community in that time. 
• John Beckett of Under the Ancient Oaks meanwhile takes a look ahead at "Paganism in the 2020s- What to Expect in the Next Decade." There will be some good things, but sadly he still sees plenty of not so good things and reasons not to be optimistic when it comes to paganism. This is worth a read.

Some lists of items

For gifts for others. . . or to treat yourself

• Via Jason Mankey's Raise the Horns blog, a gift guide of Pagan Things by Pagans for Pagans. There is a bit of everything here, including some artisanal/local artists items. 
• The Wild Hunt also has their 2019 Winter Solstice Gifts Ideas post.
• The Tarot Lady has a 2019 Tarot, Astrology, and Mystical Holiday Shopping Guide. Her list includes some card decks, some books, and a few other things. From her list of books, I read and reviewed Pathworking the Tarot by Leeza Robertson, which I can recommend.
• Via Little Red Tarot, some ideas for the astrologer in your life.
• Via Little Red Tarot, some witchy self-care gift ideas that are NOT Tarot decks. 

Tarot and card decks

• Via TarotWise.com, a list of decks of interest for 2019. List features Tarot as well as oracle decks. 
• Little Red Tarot also has a list of favorite Tarot decks. She also has a small list of decks to anticipate for 2020.

Rituals and Spreads

• Brigid's Cove offers some resources for a winter ritual. There is an audio component and then various resource sheets and materials (some in PDF). A hat tip to Witches and Pagans blog.
• Ethony Dawn is doing the "31 Days of Tarot" Challenge in January 2020 once more. I have done this before, and I will be doing it again this year. It is designed for YouTubers mainly, but I do the prompts in my blog over at Alchemical Thoughts. This year, I am also crossposting them at Alchemical Annex on NewTumbl. Feel free to go on over and check out the series. 
• Daily Tarot Girl offered a Christmasy Spread you can do with Tarot and/or oracle cards. She also has a New Year's Tarot Spread. If you wish to see the New Year's Spread in action, I did do it this month using my Santa Muerte Tarot deck. You can see it here.
• Via the TABI blog, a midwinter card spread. 
• Via Kiki's Cauldron, a New Year's Prediction Spread.
• On a side note, if you are looking for card spread ideas, places like Instagram and Pinterest (which I use) are good places to find spreads shared by other folks.