As part of my ongoing efforts at productive procrastination (I’m going to get some writing done soon, I swear), I did a little shopping at The Aquarian Bookshop and Secret Roots.

I’m reading a lot of YA, fantasy, contemporary fiction, and witchy nonfiction.

I’ve also been listening to some podcasts (This one, and this one have been great. This one and this one are next).

I signed up for a course through the Herbal Academy, and then promptly forgot about it.

We have reached the point where I have probably collected significantly more research materials than I reasonably have time for, but I haven’t actually done much with it.

Enter the NEW PLAN:

I’m building my own course: Witchery 101.

I always learn more if I’m planning to teach it.

So, I have this beautiful leather journal that I bought several years ago with no idea what I would ever use it for. I’m setting it up kind of pseudo-bullet-journal style to organize resources and info about some of the Things I Need to Understand to Make a Magic System That Works for My Book (basically anything practical and craft-related).

I’m also going to take notes on the history of witchcraft and other witchy culture stuff, but that feels like a separate course to me, so it’s going in a regular notebook. I’ve gathered a bunch of info in Google Docs, but collecting things in Docs is better for having access to knowledge than for actually retaining knowledge. If I want the knowledge in my head instead of just in the computer, I’m going to have to use my hands and write it down.

Here we go.

It’s also Tarot Tuesday, so I’m going to use today’s spread to get started on the tarot section of the journal.

I asked the cards how I could best support my son in developing perseverance and self-confidence.

The whole spread is wands. Wands are associated with creativity and motivation. Fours indicate stability and order. Fives bring change and conflict. Twos are all about balance and partnership.

I’m going to read this as reflecting some changes we’ve recently made, to start moving back into the world. Now that our whole family is vaccinated, we’ve started to explore some options for new activities. This has been exciting, and has definitely felt like an achievement. But it’s also a pretty big change in our lifestyle after two years of pandemic caution. We’ll need to listen to each other more as we navigate this shift and adapt to new schedules. We’ve made some choices, and it’s time to step outside our comfort zones and move forward optimistically. These cards indicate a positive outcome based on the plans that we’ve already put in place, but it may take some time and effort.

This is where I take a minute and laugh about the fact that the cards basically just told me to persevere at teaching my son perseverance. Funny, funny cards.

That’s it for today’s practice.

Tomorrow, I’m going to take a closer look at those stones that came home with me.