Musing Mystical

✨ A Gathering Place for Magical Readers and Writers ✨

The Chinese Five Elements Oracle, by Vicki Iskandar

The Chinese Five Elements Oracle: A 60-Card Deck and Guidebook, by Vicki Iskandar and illustrated by Candice Soon
Hay House LLC, 140197063X, 192 pages, 60 cards, October 2023

In Taoism, the five elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water are the building blocks of the universe. The elements present at birth shape our personalities and desires. Through Chinese astrology, we can attune to our own personal elemental compositions, promoting deeper self-awareness, growth, and healing. 

The Chinese Five Elements Oracle combines the five elements with the twelve zodiac animals to create all sixty possible pairings. This deck was created by Indonesian-born Chinese Feng Shui consultant and astrologer Vicki Iskandar, and illustrated by Candice Soon, a self-taught artist from Singapore. It consists of sixty cards and a 185-page guidebook, representing Iskandar’s unique vision of the sixty Pillars, brought to life through Soon’s gorgeous illustrations. In her personal practice, Iskandar blends Chinese and Western astrology. Since 2012, she has shared daily astrological guidance on Twitter under the handle @5elementsoracle.

This deck is beginner-friendly, with the accompanying guidebook offering a comprehensive introduction to Chinese metaphysics, Taoism, and astrology. According to Chinese mythology, the ordering of the animal signs was established based on the outcome of a Great Race. The Rat hitched a ride on the Ox and leaped across the finish line first, winning the race and being awarded the position of first sign in the Chinese zodiac by the Jade Emperor, the Taoist ruler of the Universe. 

The sixty cards, or Pillars, are divided into six cycles of ten Heavenly Stems, and the opening cycle explores the themes of Wisdom and Communication, beginning with the Wood Rat, the deck’s inaugural card and leader of the first cycle. I was born in the year of the Wood Rat, so I was thrilled to discover it was the first card in the deck when I opened the box. 

Iskandar explains that the sixty cards are organized into a cyclical pattern known as the “great sexagenary cycle.”1 Each ten-card cycle begins with Yang Wood and concludes with Yin Water, while the twelve animal signs follow their traditional order: “The Rat, the Ox, the Tiger, the Rabbit, the Dragon, the Snake, the Horse, the Sheep (also called Goat or Ram), the Monkey, the Bird (or Rooster), the Dog, and the Pig (or Boar).”2

Iskandar substitutes the more familiar Rooster with the Bird, often depicted as a phoenix, due to the sign’s Yin Metal elemental energy. The Rooster, with its masculine connotations, doesn’t accurately reflect the sign’s feminine nature. Iskandar emphasizes the importance of understanding the elemental composition of each animal sign rather than relying on superficial characteristics. 

Intrigued by the potential insights offered by this oracle, I immediately began exploring the Pillars associated with my family, friends, and pets. I wanted to familiarize myself with the individual qualities of each sign before delving into divinatory use of the cards. 

2024 is the year of the Wood Dragon, and I examined the corresponding card in this deck to contemplate how this energy might be influencing the collective. The wise Wood Dragon is the first of the “Power and Authority Cards,” and according to Iskandar, it “represents tremendous strength and faith in a positive outcome, even in the midst of adversity.”3 This card advises us to lead authentic lives, act with integrity, and use our personal power and influence for the greater good. 

Feeling prepared to delve into the oracle’s divinatory potential, I turned my attention to the suggested practices outlined in the guidebook. Iskandar emphasizes the importance of a clear and receptive mindset, recommending a brief meditation before each reading. She also advises against using the cards during the energetically potent periods of the New and Full Moons, which are either too Yin or too Yang, as well as during stormy weather. 

Iskandar offers a variety of oracle spreads, and I decided to start with the one card draw, which is called “One with the Tao.”4

“Taoism is about simplicity, and the simplest way to ask for guidance is to draw a card from the deck, especially when you’re seeking a quick answer, an insight into a specific matter, or an affirmation from your guides,” Iskandar says. “If a card jumps out before you pick one, it’s the Tao picking a card for you.”5

Turning the cards facedown to shuffle, I was dazzled by the beauty of the card backs, which depict the yin-yang dalliance of a phoenix and a dragon, the ultimate power couple in Feng Shui. They swirl in a galaxy of color, before a backdrop of stars. The phoenix has a rainbow of tail feathers with peacock eyes, while the dragon coils around her with sea green hair and a blur of pastel scales. 

I didn’t have a specific question in mind, so I just asked for general guidance from the Tao. While I was shuffling, I saw a dragon’s head appear before my mind’s eye, signifying Yang energy. After I spent some time thoroughly shuffling the deck, the Tao flipped over a card for me: “Wood Horse: Live and Love Joyfully,” which depicts a horse galloping through a forest with sunlight streaming down through the canopy of branches and leaves.

This energetic card carries the elemental energy of Yang Wood, symbolizing expansion and growth, and the Horse is a harbinger of “unbridled joy.”

“Heaven is there to guide you to a bright future, while Earth stands ready to bring you opportunities,”6 Iskandar says.

What a beautiful and reassuring message!

This versatile deck is a wonderful tool for exploring Chinese astrology, delving into natal charts, and seeking oracular wisdom from the Tao. For those eager to dive deeper into Chinese astrology beyond their year Pillar, Iskandar’s website offers a BaZi chart calculator to reveal your Four Pillars of Destiny and more.

The Chinese Five Elements Oracle is a treasure trove of wisdom and beauty. This is the first deck of its kind that I’ve seen, and it will be a valuable tool for both beginners and experienced practitioners of Chinese astrology.

The Secret Life of Mother Mary, by Marguerite Mary Rigoglioso, Ph.D.

The Secret Life of Mother Mary: Divine Feminine Power for Personal Healing and Planetary Awakening, by Marguerite Mary Rigoglioso, Ph.D.
Bear & Company, 1591435242, 176 pages, July 2024

Mother Mary, whose divine conception led to the birth of Jesus Christ, is one of the most revered women to have ever lived. However, her real identity has been buried under years of patriarchal narratives that have hidden her true essence. In The Secret Life of Mother Mary: Divine Feminine Power for Personal Healing and Planetary Awakening, Marguerite Mary Rigoglioso, Ph.D. brings new insight about the role Mary played in not only Jesus’s birth, but also his resurrection, introducing to readers the truth of her divinity.

In this book, Rigoglioso teaches readers how Mother Mary was more than a docile, subservient woman chosen by God to birth the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She was actually highly skilled priestesses who had been trained since her own parthenogenetic conception in the spiritual arts. Not only did she achieve this feat, but at the end of her life, Mother Mary was able to fully ascend into divinity using a specific ritual “to help her complete her spiritual ascension and apotheosize–that is, fully merge with the Universal Divine Mother.”2

The humility of Mother Mary along with the level of her spiritual advancement make her a powerful spiritual healing force for us to call upon today in order to restore our connection to the Divine Mother, heal mother wounds, and usher in the wisdom of Mother Mary to our world through our own spiritual growth and revelation.

Drawing on the work of Sri Kaleshwar, in particular his book The Real Life and Teaching of Jesus Christ, which is based on Palm Leaf Manuscripts, Rigoglioso teaches readers about the Holy Womb Chakra. Rigoglioso identifies the womb chakra as physically “extending from the navel to the vulva and including all aspects of the uterus in between.”7 However, she also notes that men too have a womb chakra that can be activated.

“Kaleshwar teaches us that the energy he calls “Mother Divine” is the supreme Creator, though she does not create through what I call the “erector set” model of creation that has been handed down to us through the Hebrew Bible. Rather she has created her own womb chaka, or energy center.”8

Another interesting facet of the book is the exploration of the nature of relationships between Jesus and Mother Mary, Jesus and Mary Magdalene, and Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene. Rigoglioso also explores the role Mother Mary had in Jesus’s ministry, as demonstrated by the high reverence the apostles showed her, and Mother Mary’s relationship with Joseph and his family. All of this combines to paint a new picture of who these people were, showing their personal and spiritual lives that differs from the roles they’ve been cast in by Christianity.

The book is not merely a historical analysis; it is a spiritual journey that invites readers to connect with their own inner strength and healing potential. Rigoglioso shares plenty of her own experiences. And her writing is both scholarly and accessible, making complex ideas about spirituality and the divine feminine understandable to a broad audience. She blends thorough research with personal insights, creating a narrative that is both factually informative and deeply emotionally moving.

Readers are encouraged to embrace the divine feminine within themselves, which Rigoglioso asserts is essential for personal and planetary healing. At the end of each chapter, there are questions for reflection to help readers tap into their own perceptions, feelings, and beliefs about Mother Mary. Taking the time to journal one’s thoughts helps to initiate the process of opening to this information. Additionally, Rigoglioso provides free meditation on her website that can be used to further connect with Mother Mary.

Reading this book was a HUGE shift in perception for me. Admittedly, I was already a fan of Marguerite Mary Rigoglioso after reading her book The Mystery Tradition of Miraculous Conception. Prior to that book, I had taken a while to warm up to Mother Mary. She felt very virginal; her chastity and meekness was not something I was seeking in my teens and twenties. My spiritual growth came through working with Mary Magdalene, rewriting the historical narratives of who she was and the role she played in Jesus’s ministry and early Christianity.

However, once I understood the concept of parthenogenesis and the role that highly skilled priestesses had in the process through years of training, I saw a much fuller picture emerge. I was eager to see what new information Rigoglioso had to reveal in this book, which supplements her previous work beautifully. I might even suggest starting with this book if you’re new to Rigoglioso’s work as an introduction to the concept of parthenogenesis, or divine conception.

Rigoglioso challenges conventional religious narratives and encourages a more inclusive understanding of spirituality. Her work is a call to awaken to the interconnectedness of all beings and the importance of nurturing the feminine aspects of divinity. She urges us to remember the importance of these sacred lineages and that Mother Mary is always present for us, writing:

“Because what I have come to understand is that Mary is available. Due to her own tremendous spiritual achievements, she has become a resource on the inner planes that anyone (whatever your identity, religious affiliation, or level of spiritual interest) may draw upon to re-conceive, re-gestate, re-mother, and heal themselves.”9

Overall, The Secret Life of Mother Mary is a profound exploration into the life of one of history’s most enigmatic figures. Rigoglioso delves deeply into the hidden aspects of Mother Mary’s existence, painting a picture of a woman whose influence extends far beyond her traditional portrayal, which in turn offers new ways for people to understand and connect with her on a spiritual level. By examining ancient texts, spiritual teachings, and contemporary interpretations, Rigoglioso presents Mary as a goddess whose influence today is vital to healing the world, elevating her status beyond the confines of Christian narratives.

I absolutely loved this book, and I truly recommend it to everyone, as it offers a much-needed perspective about the sacred birth priestesses and their role in awakening planetary consciousness through their service of divine birth. Her book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in spirituality, personal growth, and the transformative power of the divine feminine. It serves as a compelling reminder that healing and awakening begin within, and that figures like Mother Mary can inspire us to reach our highest potential.

The Occult Sylvia Plath, by Julia Gordon-Bramer

The Occult Sylvia Plath: The Hidden Spiritual Life of the Visionary Poet, by Julia Gordon-Bramer
Destiny Books, 1644118629, 416 pages, May 2024

Poetry is a form of spellcasting, and Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) continues to captivate readers as her following grows through BookTok. Plath was best known for her confessional poetry and her semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, which she published just before her suicide under the pen name Victoria Lucas. Beyond her iconic status as a tragic heroine, Plath was fascinated with the occult. Biographers have often overlooked this aspect, but Plath scholar Julia Gordon-Bramer delves into this profound influence in her book The Occult Sylvia Plath: The Hidden Spiritual Life of the Visionary Poet. A poet and tarot reader herself, Gordon-Bramer unveils Plath’s fascination with Qabalah, Jungian alchemy, astrology, tarot, and even the Ouija board, revealing the sorcery woven into her writing. 

I first encountered Sylvia Plath in an undergrad poetry class. The lecture focused on lurid biographical details, reducing her to a tortured poet with daddy issues, who was driven to suicide by her husband’s infidelity. Dissecting poems like “Daddy” and “Lady Lazarus,” which were laced with disturbing holocaust symbolism, made my skin crawl. Reading her poetry was like eating wild honey straight from a swarming hive. The honeycomb was blackened with dust and mold spores, and dead bees were trapped in dark, viscous amber. There was a vague sense of danger, as if internalizing her words might infect me with the same madness that drove her to end her own life.

She instantly became one of my favorite poets. Plath gave me permission to harvest radioactive material from the dregs of my soul, to be raw and unfiltered in my writing. Nothing was off limits. While this provocative introduction to her poetry inspired me and granted me greater creative freedom, I now realize that I was so spellbound by her mythical image that I lost sight of the transcendent nature of her work. 

In The Occult Sylvia Plath, Plath scholar Julia Gordon-Bramer dismantles the oversimplification of Plath’s poetry as confessional, arguing that previous biographers have overlooked the influence of world events, Plath’s social circle, and most importantly, her fascination with the occult. Informed by over fifteen years of research, Gordon-Bramer deep dives into letters, journals, and even marginalia in Plath’s personal library, weaving together a web of occult connections that resonated throughout Plath’s oeuvre. Gordon-Bramer’s compelling insights have enriched my own appreciation of Plath’s poetry, as viewed through the kaleidoscopic lens of her spiritual journey. 

“For over fifty years, Sylvia Plath’s story was controlled and severely restricted by the estates of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes,” says Gordon-Bramer. “Until recently, editors of Plath’s and Hughes’s published letters downplayed their interests in the occult.”10 It turns out that the tortured poet facade I had idolized as an undergrad creative writing student was carefully curated for mass appeal. “Even many of Plath’s better photos were not published, possibly in an effort to cast her as a dowdier, more depressive poet,”11 Gordon-Bramer says. In this book, she hopes “to break the world from the habit of reading Plath’s work solely through the lens of autobiography.”12

Each chapter is named after the title of a Plath poem. In “April Aubade,” Gordon-Bramer humanizes Sylvia’s father, Otto Plath, a German immigrant who, during World War I, was flagged by the FBI as “an ‘alien enemy’ for having pro-German sympathies and expressing a desire to return to his homeland one day.”13 Otto was in fact a pacifist and a victim of the persecution that many German Americans faced during those troubled times. “Becoming a young man, alone with no family and few friends in a foreign country, Otto Plath endured it all, probably not without significant emotional damage,”14 Gordon-Bramer says.

Knowing these details about Otto Plath casts “Daddy” in a new light. The poem feels both intensely personal and transcendent. As Plath exorcizes the ghost of her German father and identifies with the Jews, she also seems to be grappling with a shared sense of horror for the atrocities of the Holocaust. The pain in this poem is visceral, and with the added context of her father’s struggles as an immigrant, the final stanza stings with deeper resonance:

“There’s a stake in your fat black heart/And the villagers never liked you./They are dancing and stamping on you./They always knew it was you./Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through.”15

Plath’s rage transcends the personal, becoming a powerful voice for collective trauma.

Bees are prevalent in Sylvia Plath’s poetry, and she inherited her fascination with them from her father, who earned the childhood nickname “Bee King” because he had a talent for “charming bees to steal their honey.”16 This passion continued into adulthood, as he studied and cared for bee colonies at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts from 1922 to 1928. Gordon-Bramer highlights the occult significance of bees, revealing that Otto was initiated into Freemasonry in 1928 and bees are a potent Freemason symbol, representing the alchemical transformation of pollen into honey through the hive’s collective efforts. Gordon-Bramer also notes that Sylvia’s mother, whose name, Aurelia, means “golden”17 in Latin, wrote her master’s thesis on the famed alchemist Paracelsus, which Otto read and admired.

Sylvia Plath was a Scorpio, born on October 27, 1932, under the looming shadow of the Great Depression. Gordon-Bramer explores how Sylvia’s early life was shaped by both environmental influences and her parents’ personalities. Her father Otto, an authoritarian Aries, exhibited a demanding and emotionally distant parenting style, while her mother Aurelia, a possessive Taurus, could be both smothering and invasive. The cross-pollination of Sylvia’s parents produced a precocious child who sought love and approval through academic achievement and perfectionism.  

“Because of his ill health, Otto never hugged or kissed his family for fear that he might spread disease,” Gordon-Bramer says. “Perhaps, for reasons he thought were kind and sensible in those times before antibiotics, he kept his distance, rarely talked to or played with his children, and quietly stayed in his room, already existing like a ghost.”18

Otto’s death could have been averted if he had sought medical treatment sooner. In a vain desire to preserve an image of masculine strength and independence, he stubbornly soldiered through the pain, refusing to see a doctor until it was too late. He was suffering from pneumonia and advanced diabetes, and his left leg had to be amputated due to a gruesome gangrene infection that horrified his daughter, plaguing her with nightmares even towards the end of her own life. Otto died of a lung embolism on November 5th, 1940, during World War II. Sylvia was only eight years old.

The name Otto means “wealthy,” but he failed to leave behind an inheritance that would sustain his family after his premature death.19] However, he bequeathed a Plutonian wealth of emotions to Sylvia, which she excavated at great length to fuel her artistic creativity. She mined a wide variety of emotional ores, from gilded veins of pride in his accomplishments as a “self-made man,” to the ancestral iron of blood and war she so eloquently smelted into poetry.20

In the summer following Otto’s death, the precocious eight-year-old Sylvia published her first poem in the Boston Traveler. Her father’s passing was a catalyst for her pursuit of literary fame, and the lingering influence of his high standards had conditioned her to seek external validation through artistic achievement and academic excellence. 

Otto’s death also initiated a profound spiritual crisis for Sylvia. Feeling abandoned by her father and resentful towards God, she declared, “I’ll never speak to God again.”21 Despite flirting with atheism, Sylvia was fascinated with religion and spirituality, and her personal beliefs were influenced by a blend of Unitarianism and paganism, leading her to identify as a “pagan sunworshiper”22 in her college years.

In 1953, after a month in New York City working as a guest editor at the magazine Mademoiselle, Plath had a “nervous breakdown” and attempted suicide with sleeping pills. Plath was institutionalized afterwards, and her doctor used tarot as part of her therapy. After her release, Plath continued reading tarot “for creative and personal growth”23 rather than fortune-telling. The arrangement of poems in her manuscript Ariel was based on tarot, and her nervous breakdown inspired her novel The Bell Jar.

After delving into Plath’s life story, The Occult Sylvia Plath offers an intriguing exploration of her complicated relationship with her husband, the British poet laureate Ted Hughes, through the lens of the occult. Gordon-Bramer weaves in vignettes of the couple using a homemade Ouija board to commune with a spirit named Pan, giving an intimate glimpse of how their shared creative process was influenced by the supernatural. Plath modeled her first poetry collection, The Colossus, after Hughes’s Qabalistic structure, which he used in his own poetry. “The title, The Colossus, and the inspiration for the title poem, probably should have been credited to Pan, the Ouija board spirit,”24 Gordon-Bramer says.

While it’s tempting to demonize Hughes as a monster who drove Plath to suicide with his philandering and alleged abuse, Gordon-Bramer paints a more nuanced picture, depicting him as a flawed but remorseful man. The pain and guilt he must have felt are palpable in Gordon-Bramer’s portrayal, and I was surprised to find myself moved to tears by the end of the book. Gordon-Bramer describes the lengths to which he went to preserve Plath’s legacy, leading one to believe he “had fallen more in love and under Plath’s spell than he ever had in her lifetime.”25 Thanks to his diligent work, so have we.  

The Occult Sylvia Plath is a spellbinding biography documenting the volatile alchemical marriage of two literary titans. By the end of the book, I felt a sense of catharsis, as if I had vicariously experienced Plath’s struggles and emerged with a deeper understanding. This is a must-read for fans of both Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.

From Elder to Ancestor, by S. Kelley Harrell

From Elder to Ancestor: Nature Kinship for All Seasons of Life, by S. Kelley Harrell
Destiny Books, 978-644116623, 192 pages, June 2024

“Animism is the experience that everything has consciousness, that the world is made up of persons, some human, and some not. In that awareness that everything is in relationship, communicating, impacting, and interacting on various levels of agency. There is no individual; thus the emphasis is on right relationship, community. Within that interaction lies the responsibility for how we affect where we literally stand and the greater relationship to All Things.”21

The extract above is fittingly the first paragraph of the Introduction from From Elder to Ancestor: Nature Kinship for All Seasons of Life, by S. Kelley Harrell sets the tone for the energy of this title and the call for a way of engaging with our surroundings in a holistic and inclusive way that affirms life as a collective journey. As the readers continues through the writings of the introduction, very specific ideologies about animism, our interconnectedness, the semantics of elderhood, and our history as a culture of colonization and disregard  for those already inhabiting the land are laid out for consideration to enhance the concepts to be explored in following chapters. 

From Elder to Ancestor is organized into eight sections, each building upon the other and bringing into the space of awareness the work required in remaining part of the whole. This is the work of those who want to proactively grow into becoming the elders for whom wisdom, experience, and knowledge of our deeper connections to all things is how they go about their life’s journey.

“When we speak of elders and elderhood, it isn’t a matter of age. Rather, we are referring to those people in our communities who are trusted and respected for the knowledge and wisdom they have gained through their lived experience and their ability to apply that understanding to educate, support and sustain the community. Once upon a time that understanding included animistic wisdom. Sadly, it is in short supply today.26

The reader is guided in a weaving of personal work to community, back to work of the higher self and out again to a broader and now more understandably inclusive community. It is a lovely reminder of the ebb and flow of how relationships, if allowed to grow and connect more deeply, will offer the reciprocity of give and receipt. 

Additionally, each section has its concluding pages devoted to an opportunity for introspection. These provide the reader with a summary of what was discussed and deep questions to journal and contemplate around that specific topic as it relates to you. These are followed by practical action and recommendations of ways to take the information, emotions, and newly formed intellect gained out into the world and explore. 

The introduction covers all that is needed to move through the subsequent chapters familiar with the semantics used and the author’s reason for using some words in a specific way. The use of the word “Broken Path” is one such semantic and Harrell uses this as what historically and culturally we have done to divorce ourselves from our natural kinship to all life and, most specifically, Nature. This style immediately draws the reader in to feeling comfortable with the complexity and deep dive of topic and practice that lay ahead. The Introspection content of the introduction prepares the reader for the challenges of the journey ahead and emphasizes the need for community that becomes your “Dream Team”:

“The topics covered in this book will bring up big feelings. To give them the healthy expression they require, it will be helpful to identify and engage your support community-those human persons you can call on for help in all areas of your life.”27

Harrell then asks the reader to “consider which spirit or earthly beings you would go to for support” in a broad selection of categories that will be covered in future chapters such as emotional, medical, identity, accountability, reparation and several more. Now, the reader is ready to apply more scrutiny to their relationship with societal and communal distortions of connection and their impact in creating an environment that fosters separatism from Nature as well as others.

This book asks the hard questions of its reader and encourages a practice of responsible action and consideration of all the actions taken and their broader impacts beyond self. “Section 1: Our Cultural Relationship to Animistic Elderhood-Owning Our Personal Role in the Broken Path” calls out the semantics of “adulting” and the privilege that carries:

“A word I see coming up often in social contexts is adulting, as in “I washed laundry and voted today. I adulted.” As if the step from child to adult and all it entails is extra.  As if only certain people are expected to mature. . .Instead of furthering those projections, I go with a verb I feel encompasses the experience better – humaning – as it reflects the range of responsibility, growth, and maturity demanded by life through all stages of development.”28

I love this concept that Harrell offers and its deeper meaning is reflected throughout the book. After all, we are only as useful as support to creating a new system of interaction and understanding of our place in the bigger picture, as we are willing to take responsibility for in a way that is meaningful and truly reflects change.

The next step in the process is discussed in “Section 2: Repairing the Human-Nature Relationship-Engaging the Resources to Reconcile Our Separation From Nature”. The concepts of the individual as a lone survivor, achiever, and actor in the cycles of the world and nature are sorted through and then removed, teaching that we are inherently not alone in any of our actions. Harrell reminds us that the denigration of community and the need to draw on those resources as being a flaw of character is one that has been unnaturally ingrained in our mental/emotional states. 

Harrell takes the reader through the various ways in which we are able to frame our connections to community using the concept of the old Norse concept of frith:

“Frith, meaning community balance, safety, peace and protection. Frith entailed working together as a community, at the level each member was able. . .Frithgard was a designated Nature space devoted to tranquility and peaceful resolution of conflict.”29

She expands this out to encompass our inner cosmology and planetary frithgard as every action and relationship established on this planet is interconnected to the greater cosmos. 

“Sections 3: Allowing the Emergence of Sacred Self-Processing the Shadow and Allowing the Rite of Heartbreak”  and “Section 4: Prioritizing Embodiment and Grounding-Learning to Embody and Ground Our Sacredness” require the reader to be fully open to the experience of recognizing self, its shadow, and cultivating the Sacred Self as an ally in the process of claiming an authentic purpose of being that readily connects to all it encounters. 

“Section 5: Engaging Rituals for Caring and Accountability-Tracing and Reconciling Our Life Patterns” provides the reader with a process of returning to a path of reconnecting with Nature through ritual:

“In the early chapters of this book we talked about how the loss of access to ancient sacred lands also meant the loss of traditional rituals. That threading of Naturekin into the human person’s day-to-day not only kept humanity in close awareness of the health of their region and gave them instruction on how to tend to it, it also kept them in reciprocity with those Naturekin. Their own health and well-being was reflected in those relationships.”30

Harrell provides the reader with ways to hold space so that our intentions and awareness return to a place of honoring and ritualizing to maintain a state of being with and in Nature. And, having come this far in the process this book has reawakened within you, the introspection portion of this section returns with a “Reassessing Your Place-Space Kin and Dream Team”. The further work is exploring how you prepare for ritual using a series of prompting questions to encourage deeper thought.

“Sections 6: Honoring Our Calling to Tend Community-Discovering Our Personal Relationship to All Things” and “Section 7: Passing On Our Lore with Compassion-Valuing Our Unique Gift Enough to Give It”  bring the reader to the space of being an “active” participant in their individual, yet collective journey. If the work of the previous sections has been given adequate time and thought to integrate and effectively create a different dynamic of being in the world, the wealth of information in these sections is the point of resonance and tipping point for a new paradigm. The quote below aptly summarizes the intention of From Elder to Ancestor:

“ A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in .” – Greek Proverb

The final part, “Section 8: Standing in Harm’s Danger-Engaging the Relationship Between Agency and Impact” returns full circle to the space of questioning the meaning of living in relationship to all things. Readers have now gained the wisdom of experiences knowing when the action taken is encroaching upon and supporting a path of disconnect or when the impact is appropriately directed. The reader is reminded that this is the space in which how we have chosen our path as elders will directly affect the ancestor we will become and the legacy left behind.

Would I Recommend?

From Elder to Ancestor is a complex and thought provoking read. And, the choice of title is one that is subtly deceptive in what information  and wisdom lay between its pages, as it truly appeals to a wide audience of varying beliefs and histories–and I LOVE that about this book.  

I always appreciate an Index to quickly return to things of interest or to cross reference, and there are also Suggested Resources which include online spaces and Podcasts as well as books. The Notes section provides additional book choices that were used as Harrell’s resource materials.  

From Elder to Ancestor is an important read if we wish to enter into the years ahead knowing who we are and how each of us is an important piece of a much larger puzzle. This is a book that can easily be used by those  seeking self-improvement, those who are environmentalists, those who are scientists, those of all faith and spiritual practice, and any who wish to  be more informed in their choices  in the entirety of this lifetime’s experience. In short, this book should be a required manual for every human who has made an agreement to come into this realm of existence. 

About the Author: S. Kelley Harrell

S. Kelley Harrell is an animist, deathwalker, and death doula. Through her Nature-based soul-tending practice and Soul Intent Arts, she helps others ethically build thriving spiritual paths. Her special areas of knowledge are runes, animism, ancestral tending, and deathwork. Prior publications include Runic Book of Days, iPagan, Real Wyrd, and Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism. Harrell currently lives in North Carolina.

Energy Magick, by Mark NeCamp Jr.

Energy Magick: A Basic and Advanced Guide for Witches & Pagans, by Mark NeCamp Jr.
Moon Books, 978- 1803414546, 264 pages, April 2024

“Energy magick is a way of practicing magick without physical tools by directly manipulating the energy that connects all things, and it is the basis for reality. The aim of this book is to work directly with the sources of magickal and psychic energy with our hands, minds, and will to affect reality directly.”1

Energy Magick: A Basic and Advanced Guide for Witches & Pagans, by Mark NeCamp Jr.  is a book that lives up to its title of being both a primer for the novice as well as having enough meat for the more advanced practitioner. It is also specific to witches and pagan semantics and fundamental uses without having to interpret and adapt the more traditional uses in an Eastern practice. The book  is organized into three parts and thirteen chapters, plus a “Final Note” and who’s who in the bibliography. 

The introduction gives an overview of sourcing used for the contents and the fusion and adapting of Western, New Age, Tibetan, and Mexican Folk Sorcery to name a few. Additionally, NeCamp advises the reader that the only tool of use for these practices is you. The intention is one of the reader recognizing the innate magickal power contained within self. Description of the contents of the organizational style used and a note to the reader of the way in which NeCamp is hoping to connect with readers, making the book feel more like a conversation than lecture. 

“Part 1 – Chapter 1: Basic Energy Work” is replete with the core practices that every magickal worker should be familiar with or have mastered. These begin appropriately with grounding, centering, and cycling practices. Each topic has a specific exercise related to its mastery and a variety of cross references and connecting pieces to make it usable at first try. I especially enjoyed the pages in this chapter about cycling your energy:

“Most writings on centering and rounding end there and only refer to the relationship between the practitioner and the Earth. My training in energy healing has taught me that  cycling your personal energy is just as important…. When we cycle energy, we are merely paying attention to the dynamic process that is happening all the time. The only difference is that we do it consciously.31

“Chapter 2: Aura and Energetic Bodies” takes the reader through the “tools” of the energetic self that support energetic workings. This chapter gives a thorough overview of the energetic anatomy, common connections, and uses  and the traditional as well as hermetic assignments of chakras, subtle bodies, and more. “Chapter 3: Fundamentals of Energy Work” incorporate the basics of the five alchemical elements and their relationship to energy magick. A nice addition to this chapter was an explanation of the four stages of alchemy and their application to manipulating and creating from your energetic magick. 

“Chapter 4: Meditation and Trance States” reminds the reader that control over one’s self begins with a calm and well-disciplined space of mind and capacity to focus and pay attention. The contemplative nature of energy work is easily grasped as the reader progresses through exercises of breath, hand positions (mudras) and more. This awakening of a new point of focus flows nicely into the work of “Chapters 5: Sigils” and “Chapter 6: Sacred and Ceremonial Space”. Each of these chapters draws the reader into a space of the visual and its impact as we create sacred symbols and do the work of celebrating our magick. Exercises to practice Banishment by Word or Tone (#41), Energetic Waste Disposal (#44), and energetically Creating the Zodiac Wheel (#46) provide the reader with active tools of self-creation to bolster and enhance the potency of the desired energetic outcome. 

“Part 2- Chapter 7: Advanced Energy Healing” provides the reader with lots of food for thought around the practice of energy healing, the ethics of energy work, and the amount of self-knowledge and expertise is required. 

“I view energy healing very seriously. Manipulating your own energy is one thing but working with someone else’s energy is a different matter. I think the best metaphor for energy work on another person is to think of it like going into an operating room. Everything needs to be sterile energetically-everything from the space you are in, to your personal energy, to the energy of any tools you may use.”32

I appreciated that NeCamp begins with this admonition that serves as a reminder that although the energy work may be well-intended, care, caution, and ethics are foremost in the equation of energy healing. He offers examples of the steps/protocols he engages to prepare his personal energy and the why’s behind:


“1. Meditation
2. Purification
3. Condense  aura
4. Put on an energetic suit of armor to protect”33

All sound and necessary strategies and none of which should be skipped. Several energetic healing modalities are addressed in this chapter including chakra healing, sound healing, psychic surgery, distance healing, boosting the energetic immune system, and physical healing. 

“Chapters 8: Cord Cutting” and “Chapter 9: Advanced Protection Magick” expand on the foundations of energy healing and offer the specifics of some of the more challenging forms of energetic dis-ease. This emphasizes the need for regular maintenance of self and energetic streams and what can encroach upon them and cause damage throughout the subtle as well as physical bodies. “Chapter 9: Advanced Protection Magick” builds on previous practices offered in creating shields and expands the basics to more complex constructs of shielding practice. Advanced warding constructs, portals, banishings, and thoughtforms are woven into the pages of training, their uses, and the how-to.

I particularly enjoyed “Chapter 10: Trance Journeying”. This section was filled with practical ways to move beyond meditation/contemplation and arrive in a more active state of engagement of time, place, and intention. A discussion of consciousness and its development and the application of awareness of where the journeying is intended to have a destination serves as fertile ground for experimentation and exploration. 

“One should have a purpose to their journeying, even if that purpose is exploration.”34

A caveat being the reminder given that even if journeying for the purpose of exploring, safety measures should be set in place such as purification and protection, and having set in place a “map”, which NeCamp describes as “a means to travel and a purpose”35. Exercise #71 is focused on finding “guides” to aid as protectors as you journey and perhaps open doorways that you would not otherwise have access to. Having been appropriately prepared, the remainder of this chapter offers exercises and explanation of journeying to the underworld, the astral realm, using the root chakra as destination and an interesting end practice of shape shifting. 

“Chapters 11: Evocation  and Invocation”  and “Chapter 12: Spellwork and Ritual” bring all that has been considered previously into practical application and enhancements that may be used to deepen the energetic experience. Methods of attracting and bringing the energetic signatures of Deity and other magickal forms are suggested as well as the purposes and uses of each. Differentiation between how much of that Deity may be called or embodies are shown in examples, along with the energetic requirements of the individual serving as a conduit. Then NeCamp breaks down how power-filled spellwork can become when infused with the equation of energetic magick that is applied and directed appropriately and effectively. Additionally, the Anatomy of a Ritual drives home the need for intention and planning as well as skill and adeptness in energetic flow.

NeCamp integrates everything provided from the basics to the more advanced uses in “Part III: The Energy Magick Grimoire”. Although it may seem to occupy only a small portion of the book, readers will take from it the degree of understanding that has been carefully tried and tested that is only accomplished in the disciplined approach of allowing new (or old) information to settle in with an approach of patience. This may not have been the intent of NeCamp, but I feel it is a key take-away from this title, and something that is often overlooked in our “hurry to get there” approach to the study of magick.

These pages are filled with ways to use your new found skills. Healing, love, self-empowerment, shadow work, and spiritual evolution are just a few of the topics with accompanying exercises and magickal workings to employ. Each of these draw from some specific component within the book–sigils, cord cutting, warding, and more–and in many cases represent a layered approach since no action/energy is enacted alone. 

Would I Recommend?

Energy Magick: A Basic and Advanced Guide for Witches & Pagans is a timely read in providing information that is relevant to every magickal practitioner as we expose ourselves more and more to the chaos of the world. Relying on our innate tools to manage our energetic state of being as well as being able to effectively harness and direct that flow towards the desired goal, is paramount to maintaining healthy boundaries, protection and awareness of our impact on our surroundings, and its impact on us. To this end, there are several very user-friendly styles employed throughout the book. One of these is a summary header for each chapter and its contents. This is a very nice touch in organizing the flow and mental patterns created in doing energy work. Additionally there are 81+ exercises and multiple suggestions of experimentation throughout the chapters, allowing for an active participation in the teachings and opportunities to experience firsthand.

Although the tendency for those readers more familiar with the basics of energy may be to skip ahead to “Part 2: Advanced Energy Work”, I would advise not to. Going back to and strengthening your foundational knowledge is never wasted. Moreover, what often comes to light is that you may not know everything there is to know, or your general understanding of that topic has evolved and changed in scope. I heeded this wisdom long ago, when as a professional ballet dancer, I was eager to go to the more basic classes and refine what I was already adept at. This paid off so that when I stepped onto the stage, heard the first notes of music, and took a breath, movement, energy, and time flowed into one seamless expression  of what those notes were expressing. I will be keeping this on my bookshelf as both a resource and reminder that we have all that we need to work powerful magick and change the course of our evolution.

About the Author: Mark NeCamp, Jr.

Mark NeCamp, Jr. is a tarot reader, healer, writer, teacher, spiritual alchemist, modern day practitioner, and forever student of the Art. He teaches classes using magic as a tool for personal growth. He is passionate about how, through the alchemical process, we can turn our spiritual lead into gold as individuals and as a global tribe. He has led many community groups in the Midwest and taught at major Pagan events and festivals around the US and Canada. He lives in Muskegon, MI. Soul School, an online educational community offering classes in personal empowerment, ancestral connection, self-initiation, and ritual practice.

The Jolanda Witch Tarot, by Rosie Bjorkman

The Jolanda Witch Tarot: The Healing Art of Magic, by Rosie Bjorkman and illustrated by Hans Arnold
Findhorn Press, 979888500668, 78 cards, 400 pages, July 2024

I really enjoyed getting to know and working with The Jolanda Witch Tarot by Rosie Bjorkman and Hans Arnold. The symbolism is like the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, although the illustrations are charged with whimsy and fantasy. The guidebook is full of great wisdom, spiritual healing tips, and information on reversals, as well. 

Rosie Bjorkman is a Swedish woman who originally published this deck in Swedish  in 1997. Later, she began to translate the cards and text into English and worked with two different editors to perfect the language. Bjorkman is very well known in Sweden as “Jolanda the Witch” and loves to give tarot readings, workshops, and lectures. She has studied with several Native American tribes in America and a shaman in Siberia. She has also written a book on Shamanism, which is currently only available in Swedish. As a leading expert in “occultism and spirituality,” Bjorkman has also been a kundalini yoga practitioner for over 30 years. She currently lives in Solna, Sweden. You can learn more about Bjorkman on her website.

Hans Arnold (1925-2010) was a gifted artist and illustrator who is well known for his art that blends horror with fantasy and bright colors. Arnold was born in Sursee, Switzerland and moved to Sweden in the 1940’s. He illustrated fairy tales and articles, becoming a favorite in the science fiction community. I was interested to learn the source of this fantastical art that often depicts monsters and found this explanation on a website about Arnold:

“The horror illustrations are said to come from his way of conjuring his own fears. For God, the confinement and childhood in Sursee. It all started when Hans Arnold was a little schoolboy. He then met his first monsters in the form of his teachers at a very strict school. These memories were therefore carried with them later in life.”33

You may be interested to learn that Arnold also illustrated the Greatest Hits album for the Swedish Group ABBA.  For more information and to see examples of his art, visit his website.

The Jolanda Witch Tarot is a standard tarot deck of 78 cards with Major Arcana and Minor Arcana cards. However, there is nothing standard about this deck. By working with Bjorkman, Arnold has created quirky, colorful illustrations of archetypal characters, animal guides, and other symbols from witchcraft and shamanic traditions.

Animal guides is a very general term that encompasses sea creatures, insects, dragons, reptiles, birds, and some mythical creatures from Arnold’s own imagination! For example, the 8 of Swords features eight hornets bearing down on a small family and it is a truly frightening image! The rest of the Swords illustrations feature real swords on each card.

The Wands appear as tree branches, carved totem poles, candles, columns, and other images.  The cups are the same across all cards, while the coins feature many different images or symbols on the coin faces. Minor Arcana cards feature the standard card line-up, except that Page is replaced by Princess and Knight is replaced by Prince.

Within the guidebook, Bjorkman includes astrological signs and/or planets that correspond to each Major Arcana card, as well as a Goddess for most of these cards. Key words are shown for every card in the deck. She includes what she calls “four subsections with the following titles: Herstory, The Art of Magic, Medicine for the Soul and Imagination … In Magic Nation.”36 Bjorkman also weaves in a personal story for some of the Major Arcana cards. For the Minor Arcana, the wisdom is similar, although the sections are shorter. Most of the pip cards include a focal word printed on the card.

I took the deck to my Friday Coffee & Cards group and the ladies loved it!  Several remarked about how the fun and whimsical illustrations softened the blow of the often hard-hitting guidance. One friend wrote to me during the next week and shared how the Sun and Moon Meditation for the 9 of Wands really helped her to “lie low for a while”37 and await a solution to a current situation in her life.  Another friend loved the detailed guidebook and took photos of several card entries.

I utilized the deck for a three-card reading for myself and drew these cards:

  • 9 Wands – Reversed
  • 8 Swords
  • Princess Coins – Reversed

Using Bjorkman’s beautiful guidance as a framework, I created the following journal prompts and affirmations for my personal reading:

How am I NOT using my strengths nor acting on ideas for my business? How am I distracting myself? 

I am relaxing into my success by changing distracting thoughts and focusing on my strengths. I am in the perfect position for this next chapter of my life!

This deck is an average size and is just a little larger than I like for shuffling with my small hands.  The cards are printed on nice cardstock that will stand up to repeated use. The cards and guidebook come inside a heavy-duty box with a fold over, magnetic flap. Bjorkman includes a table of contents with page numbers for each card, an introduction to the cards, a note about her own magical practices and information on how the book is structured. She also includes a Bibliography of books and online references.

My favorite card in the deck is the 9 of Wands. It features a female archer on the back of a horse who is jumping over nine animal totems. She is poised ready to shoot one arrow, while her quiver holds an arrow of the sun and one of the moon. I love her confidence and the keyword: Strength. 

Anyone with a basic knowledge of tarot and Rider-Waite-Smith symbolism will enjoy The Jolanda Witch Tarot.  The guidebook is so large and comprehensive that a novice reader may be put off by the sheer amount of information. On the other hand, a new reader could easily use this as a type of “tarot bible” for studying the myth and lore of the symbols, as well as the stories of the goddesses Bjorkman includes. Anyone interested in Shamanism will also enjoy this deck.  The “medicine,” tips and tools that the creator shares are so helpful to anyone wanting to establish a daily spiritual practice.  Bjorkman leaves us with this affirmation at the end of the guidebook:

“I love and respect myself in all my aspects. Others love me just the way I am, and those who do not love me do not know me!”38

The Herbcrafter’s Tarot, by Latisha Guthrie

The Herbcrafter’s Tarot, by Latisha Guthrie with artwork by Joanna Powell Colbert
U.S. Games System Inc., 1572819723, 124 pages, 78 cards, May 2019

The traditional tarot images often grow stale for me. In delving into why this happens, I reached the conclusion it was because they aren’t always relatable. Symbolic? Sure. But sometimes I just want to see images from daily life; I want to see scenes of my day to day. It was my quest for this domestic, homey feeling I was seeking in my readings that led me to The Herbcrafter’s Tarot by Latisha Guthrie.

The Herbcrafter’s Tarot by Latisha Guthrie is a beautifully crafted deck that intertwines the wisdom of the natural world with the mystical art of tarot reading. This 78-card deck, created in collaboration with illustrator Joanna Powell Colbert, is a celebration of the healing power of herbs and plants. Each card is thoughtfully designed to depict a specific plant, along with its symbolic meanings and practical applications, making it a unique blend of botanical knowledge and spiritual insight. And the imagery was spot-on for what I was seeking!

The cards are from the point of view of the reader. The Major Arcana cards depict a natural altar to the herb and its corresponding energy. They represent the gratitude the herbcrafter feels “for the gifts and insights the plants give her.”39 Some of the altars looked planned out, such as the ones in the shape of the mandala, while others are simply the altars that arise during herbcrafting as one is actively engaged in their process.

The Court Cards, which in this deck are called People Cards, all feature hands of the herbcrafter. They show hands doing all sorts of mundane tasks: picking plants, drawing a bath, pouring a tea kettle. She writes:

“Our intention is to highlight the plant as well as to celebrate the slow intentional ritual of handcrafting. With every berry gathered and tincture mixed we enflesh the sacred, making prayer visible.”40

In this deck, the Court Cards are Hijas (Daughters, traditionally Pages), Adelitas (Warriors, Traditionally Knights), Madres (Mothers, traditionally Queens), and Curanderas (Healers, traditionally Kings). Characterizing the Court Cards in this way made me feel extra connected to this deck too because these are the types of people that show up in my life; it’s easier for me to identify a motherly figure than it is a queen.

Other cards in the deck depict momentary scenes of what it looks like in the midst of gardening, having a cup of tea in bed with the moon shining above, or simply gazing at nature scenes of gardens, rivers, and trees exuding their beauty. As I browse the cards, I instantly feel at peace, grounded, and connected to the natural world. Yet the imagery takes on a whole additional layer of meaning after reading the guidebook.

Guthrie explains how instead of traditional tarot suits (swords, wands, cups, and pentacles), their corresponding elements are used for the Minor Arcana (air, fire, water, and earth). And the cards for each element have a theme: air shows the observation of nature, fire the transformation of the herbs, water focuses on baths and teas, and earth showcases “baskets and fiber arts”, which are considered “legacy tools.”41

Furthermore, the herbs were chosen for each number within the elemental Minor Arcana based on “how they contribute to an ecosystem”.42 Guthrie provides a list for numbers 1-10 to explain the roles of one. The guidebook also groups the cards by number, so rather than looking through a section on a specific element, one looks to section on that number and then finds their element within.

One of my favorite cards in the deck visually is Strength, which is the Garlic card. This is a Major Arcana card, so I knew it was depicting an altar of sorts, but it is certainly one of those altars that arises naturally from being in the moment. While I could describe it for you myself, a real bonus of the guidebook for this deck is that each entry features a description of the card. This is what the guidebook says about this card:

“A braided cluster of purple garlic rests on a cloth made of natural fibers. Roses from a nearby vase begin to dry, and petals have fallen on the table. Golden liquid seeps from a heart-shaped honeycomb onto a wooden board. Green scrapes fold into their lemniscate shape surrounding a pot of garlic cloves submerged in honey.”43

Guthrie perfectly captures the scene in each card with her vivid descriptions of the imagery. Even though I’m gazing at the card, her words bring the setting to life; I can feel it with my senses, further opening my intuitive understanding of the card.

The guidebook also features the Latin name, three imperative sentences for insight, a paragraph of wise words that speak to the spiritual meaning of the card, and three ways to craft with the energy of the card using the plant. For instance, the Strength card offers wearing a garlic amulet over the heart as a reminder to be bold, cook with garlic to fortify the body, and make “immune-boosting garlic honey”44 to soften intensity or conflict.

One of the standout features of this deck is its ability to connect the reader with the herbs, forming relationships “for medicine, creativity, ritual, and spiritual guidance.”45 The cards are not just tools for divination; they serve as a bridge to deepen one’s understanding and relationship with plants too. Guthrie’s guidebook provides detailed descriptions of each herb, including its traditional uses, folklore, and ways to integrate it into daily life. This makes the deck an educational resource as well as a spiritual tool, ideal for those who have an interest in herbalism or wish to incorporate nature into their spiritual practice.

In terms of usability, this deck is accessible for both beginners and experienced tarot readers. The imagery is rich and cozy, allowing for intuitive readings based on the set scene, while the guidebook is comprehensive yet easy to follow. The deck encourages a hands-on approach, inviting users to engage with the herbs mentioned, whether through gardening, cooking, or crafting.

Overall, The Herbcrafter’s Tarot is a harmonious blend of art, nature, and spirituality, offering a unique and enriching experience for anyone interested in tarot and herbal wisdom. It has become my go-to tarot deck recently. I absolutely love getting to learn more about the plants themselves, from the practical uses to the spiritual messages they have to share. Guthrie and Colbert have done a wonderful job distilling the essence of each plant into the cards both in the imagery and guidebook for readers to truly connect with their natural powers.

The Writer Who Inhabits Your Body, by Renée Gregorio

The Writer Who Inhabits Your Body: Somatic Practices to Enhance Creativity and Inspiration, by Renée Gregorio
Park Street Press, 1644119234, 192 pages, March 2024

I was unexpectedly surprised by how much I enjoyed moving through Renée Gregorio’s new book, The Writer Who Inhabits Your Body: Somatic Practices to Enhance Creativity and Inspiration. Although I can heap many praises on this book: remarking on its clean and direct writing or its superb organization and flow, what stuck out to me most was Gregorio’s stunning variety of helpful exercises. Whether you are a writer seeking to engage ever more deeply with your craft or someone simply wishing to explore your inner landscape and enrich your experience as an embodied being, you’ll find plenty of juicy content to engage with!

The text is clear and easy to digest, as one would expect from an award-winning poet. And while poetic writers can sometimes lean into style and expression a bit too heavily, potentially obscuring informative content, Gregorio demonstrates her supreme skill at communicating and evoking feelings from the reader without sacrificing the clarity of content. I believe her ability to walk this line with such grace comes from the very subject of the book–tapping into the somatic dimensions of your lived experience.

“I literally feel the words as they move through my body.It’s as if language fully occupies me, from the inside out, so that language is then born out of the body. It’s as if language and the body are really one.”1

Gregorio invites us into this exploration through her prolific use of exercises, which range from breath work and meditations to a variety of movement practices. Many of these exercises are deeply informed by Gregorio’s decades of practicing aikido, drawing upon her somatic (embodied) experience of this martial art to discover the powerful language hidden in the depths of one’s own body. Although one might think that martial arts and writing have little to do with one another, aikido has been an invaluable teacher for Gregorio because of how it relies on the interplay of energy between practitioners. By learning how to recognize, channel, and redirect the energies between herself and a partner on the sparring mat, Gregorio transmuted these insights to the dynamic between a writer and their own unique language that lies buried in their blood and bones.

At times, the amount of exercises Gregorio shares with us–usually two, if not three, per chapter!–can feel a bit overwhelming, especially if you’re the sort of person who likes to try each and every one before moving on to the next section. But not to worry, Gregorio advises the reader to pick and choose from among the exercises in each of the four main Parts of her book. As with any embodied practice, each person will have a unique experience and must experiment to discover which practices speak to them most powerfully. Thus, Gregorio’s plethora of exercises works perfectly for this method. In finding a couple exercises in each part which suit you and your writing needs, you establish a core set of practices which you can change or expand upon in the future.

As I moved further into the text, I found great appreciation for the overall organization and structure of The Writer Who Inhabits Your Body. Each of the four main Parts of the book contains seven or eight chapters which support the theme of each Part: Center is Everything, Opening the Body to Language, Turning Obstacles into Doorways, and The Roar of Your Writing. Part One begins with the most general discussion and exercises about tuning in to one’s somatic experience. Each subsequent Part then turns more directly toward the act of writing and bringing one’s embodied language out into the world.

I found this progression to be extremely helpful and well-designed to facilitate the reader’s gradual immersion into their somatic depths before trying to actively apply this to writing. As much as this book is about discovering one’s most authentic voice as a writer, it is also about unfolding one’s embodied soul through the medium of writing. Even though the practices in Part One are fairly universal–developing somatic sensitivity regardless of whether I wish to empower my writing–each contains a journal prompt that works toward integrating somatic experience and language. This led into Part Two, which focuses on creating space for your embodied writer to emerge, and deepening your relationship with that writer and the practice of your writing.

Part Three is my personal favorite, as it addresses common ways that we can get in our own way as writers. Whether fear is holding your words back, or difficult emotions and memories block you from your truest expression, Gregorio provides the means to transform each type of creative dam into a roaring river of expression. Finally, Part Four centers around harnessing the latent power of your somatic writer to bring forth the fullest and most authentic voice to your writing. This means not only discovering what you–and only you–have to write about, but also how to let your words roar off the page that can shake your audience to their core.

Sharing an insight from one of her students, Gregorio writes “at first roaring was about ‘standing up, being seen, being heard, making a difference,’ but that her definition of roaring evolved into also ‘knowing and accepting yourself so much that it is not you that roars but the words.’ Roaring is the ability to feel confident and sense your competency.”41

One of the reasons why I think this book is so effective is that many of her practices mirror those in various forms of psychological therapy. For example, exercises such as “Identifying Your Historic Patterns” and “The Mask of Self Doubt” function similarly to methods used in Internal Family Systems theory, used to help recognize and prevent one’s subpersonalities from detrimentally interfering with one another. Likewise, “Giving Shape to the Unseen” and “Accepting What’s Behind You” are reminiscent of Jungian-style shadow work. Although the practices may be similar, Gregorio’s somatic focus adds dimensions of our embodied experience that can often be overlooked in therapeutic settings.

Overall, The Writer Who Inhabits Your Body is one of the most helpful books about improving your writing that I’ve ever encountered. Even without a current writing project in my life, the range and depth of exercises are already yielding fruit. Exploring my somatic experience and journaling about my findings is certainly valuable, and has also helped in delving the depths of my soul. I definitely plan on returning to this text (over and over) to try out the different exercises, and hopefully loose my own roaring words upon the world. I don’t think it too bold to say that The Writer Who Inhabits Your Body is so approachable and applicable that it would find a home on anyone’s book shelf, regardless of their creative pursuits.

Shamanic Teachings of the Condor, by Martha Winona Travers, Ph.D.

Shamanic Teachings of the Condor: Encounters with the Mystical Traditions of the Andes, by Martha Winona Travers, Ph.D.
Bear & Company, 1591435064, 192 pages, April 2024

In Shamanic Teachings of the Condor: Encounters with the Mystical Traditions of the Andes, Michigan-based author Martha Winona Travers, Ph.D., who holds a doctorate in English literature, writes about her twenty-two year apprenticeship to the Ecuadorian Kichwa healer Taita Alberto Taxo, who passed away in February 2022. This spiritual memoir is both a glowing eulogy honoring Taita Alberto’s life work and a guide to reconnecting with nature that shares his legacy with the world. Taita Alberto comes alive in these pages, imparting gentle, heart-centered wisdom. Through Travers’s recollections, we too can receive his teachings.

Taita Alberto (1954-2022) authored several books, including Friendship with the Elements: Opening the Channels of Communication (2010). Travers is also the creator of The Waycard Oracle: A Guide to the Inner Journey (2016), which includes 33 oracle cards and a guidebook.

Taita Alberto was a iachak, which is the Kichwa word for shaman. (The i in iachak is pronounced like a y.) Taita is an honorific title meaning “father,” indicating his role as a spiritual leader and teacher in his community.1 In 2007, he gave Travers the title of Mama Iachak, giving her the authority to carry on his tradition and transmit his teachings.

Iachaks, also known as “bird people,”42 identify with Condors. The Condor represents the Andean way of life, of “living from the heart,”44 in harmony with nature. The Eagle, the national bird of the United States, symbolizes “the people of the North,”45 who value technology and rationality, and live from the mind. “The Condor’s gift—the power of the heart—and the Eagle’s gift—the power of the mind—are two halves of a whole,”46 Travers says, and Taita Alberto taught that the time has come for the two to work together in harmony.

The iachak must bridge the cultural gap between the traditional way of life and the colonial one, retaining the native language while speaking the colonial tongue, and preserving the ancestral customs when most people in their community have converted to the colonial religion and adopted modern values. The power of flight enables the iachak to move freely between these cultural realms without being trapped in either one. 

While many natives felt threatened by outsiders visiting Ecuador to study with the iachak due to the harm caused by colonialism, Taita Alberto claimed that it had been prophesied that the forces of mind and heart, the rational Eagle and the intuitive Condor, were now destined to unite.

“The Condor needs help with technology and science,” Taita Alberto said. “The Eagle needs help listening to the heart. We need both gifts—both the mind and the heart—for balance.”47

Travers met Taita Alberto (also known as Taita Haskusht, his Kichwa name) in 1999. In “Part One: The Eagle Visits the Condor,” Travers recounts her first journey to Quito, Ecuador, a part of the Andes Mountain range that includes multiple active volcanoes. She and a group of visitors were welcomed into the ancestral home of Taita Haskusht, near the base of the volcano Cotopaxi, which is itself a powerful spiritual guide. With vivid and immersive prose, this beautiful memoir floods the mind’s eye with the sights and sensations of her pilgrimage along the serpentine paths circling Cotopaxi.

Each chapter in this section revolves around communion with one of the five elements. In the iachak worldview, the physical realm is made up of the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, plus the fifth element of Spirit, which is called Ushai in Kichwa. “The Ushai is the animating force of the universe; it is the energy that moves Earth, Air, Water, and Fire,”48 says Travers.“We experience the Ushai when we have the awareness that we are not separate from the elements.”49 All of the elements have feminine names in Kichwa: Fire is Nina, Water is Yaku, Air is Waira, Earth is Ashpamama, and Pachamama is the all-encompassing Great Cosmic Mother.

Chapter Three, “The Loving Earth,” is a moving account of a healing ritual in which the author recalls the experience of giving her pain to Mother Earth so it could be transformed by her. Prior to the ritual, Taita Haskusht encouraged the group to pick plants they felt drawn to for healing, following the wisdom of the heart to select the right one. When Travers attempted to ask Taita Haskusht to identify the plant she had chosen, he covered her mouth and turned away, triggering a deep wound within her. This was her first time attempting to speak to him, and she was hurt that he had silenced her.

Travers saw a migraine aura and feared a headache coming on, but she felt guided by an inner voice to follow the light instead of resisting it. While Taita Haskusht chanted, tears watered the earth as Travers and a grieving woman beside her relinquished their pain to the Mother. After the ritual, Taita Haskusht revealed to Travers that the plant she had selected “heals the voice.”50 I was dewy-eyed while reading this chapter, as I could feel the healing power of the Earth Mother through Travers’s vivid description of her experience.

In Chapter Four, “The Sacred River,” Travers describes the group’s experience of being purified in a volcanic hot spring, then dipping in a cold shallow stream, and the remainder of the day was spent resting and fasting. In the middle of the night, Travers woke several times, feeling afraid, and she glimpsed a ghostlike presence in the room. The next day, Taita Haskusht revealed that there had been “a great battle”51 during the night, as the impurities the group had released the previous day were manifesting as they were leaving. He blessed everyone by smudging them with the sweet-smelling woodsmoke of palo santo, a plant he said “loves us very much.”52

While reading, it felt beneficial to follow along by mimicking some of the actions described or by visualizing myself performing them with the narrator. For example, after reading about the smoke cleansing with palo santo, I burned some myself, asking the plant’s spirit to purify me. 

Chapter Five, “The Speaking Wind,” invigorates readers with the breath of Andean air as Travers communes with the volcano Cotopaxi. When Travers first beheld the face of Cotopaxi, peeking through a veil of clouds, she thought it seemed sinister, and the words “grim” and “cruel” came to mind, but she realized this was how she was “dreaming up” the volcano, and she proceeded to listen with her heart instead.53 I found her commentary on humanity’s tendency to project their personal experiences onto the world to be very insightful. 

“Listening is an open condition devoid of human projection,” Travers writes. “The iachak learns to separate from human fear and desire—those aspects of ego that create projection—and, instead, enters into a condition of receptivity to the many voices, the many languages of the many beings who share our world.”54

As Travers and her group embraced the presence of Cotopaxi, listening with their hearts and absorbing the mountain’s powerful essence, “Madre Waira,” or “Mother Wind,”55 lifted their spirits, cleansing them of negativity.

Part Two is titled “Becoming a Runa: Purification and Sacred Communion.” “In Kichwa, the word runa describes a person who is walking the path of life in a sacred way,”56 Travers writes. A runa lives in intimate harmony with the natural world, as our ancestors once did. Taita Alberto taught that we can reestablish this ancient connection with nature through communion with the elements. 

In the second part of this book, Travers provides exercises for revitalizing our relationship with the elemental powers. By recognizing the elements within and honoring the sacredness of our bodies, we become more conscious of what we consume, and are reminded not to pollute our inner rivers. According to Taita Alberto, “everything is food,”57 from the air we breathe to the books and other forms of media we ingest, which is important to keep in mind, especially for those of us living in the Eagle’s consumer culture. Regardless of what we are eating, whether it is healthy or not, we express gratitude to Mother Earth when we savor and enjoy our food.

In the section on working with the Earth element, I found the dietary advice to be insightful. Travers suggests eating foods individually to gauge how they make us feel, allowing enough time to digest in between meals so the foods don’t mix. She provides general guidelines for how long to wait, such as half an hour for fruits, which digest quickly, and four hours for meat.

Taita Alberto did not eat meat and neither did his apprentice iachaks. As part of his own iachak training, he was instructed to consume a small portion of animal flesh, and was distressed to discover that it cut off his intuition for six months. “A person who eats animals is eating the animal’s fear,”58 he said. He saw animals as his “helpers” and did not want to harm them.

To eat or not eat meat has been a lifelong moral quandary for me. I went through a vegetarian phase as a teenager, which frustrated some members of my family, who treated me like I was just being a difficult child and a picky eater rather than recognizing it was a choice based on my personal morals and spirituality (I was strongly influenced by Buddhism at the time and didn’t want to hurt animals). It angered my dad so much he stopped cooking for me altogether, claiming he didn’t know what to make since I wouldn’t eat meat, so I had to fend for myself. I started eating meat again in my early 20s when I was pregnant with my second child. I decided that since I was craving meat, the baby needed it. I received positive feedback when I started eating meat again, as people would tell me I looked healthier and had more color in my cheeks. Whether or not this was true, I don’t know, but I was verbally rewarded for conforming to my culture’s dietary preferences. To this day, I’m still troubled by factory farming, even though I eat meat purchased from the grocery store. I currently get my eggs from my own flock of hens, so those are at least guilt-free and not tainted with sadness because I know my girls are treated well.

Reflecting on the negativity I experienced when I chose to be a vegetarian as a teenager reminds me that our Eagle culture conditions us to consume meat without question. Those who deviate from this cultural norm are perceived as picky eaters who inconvenience others, and perhaps even troublemakers if they speak out against cruelty to animals. I think part of the problem is the fact that we get our meat pre-packaged in grocery stores and we are completely disconnected from the source of these products, which cuts off any empathy we might otherwise feel for the animals being slaughtered in factory farms. In contrast, Taita Alberto was raised as a vegetarian in the iachak tradition, and since he had a heart-based connection with the animal realm and saw animals as his helpers, eating meat was taboo for him, and doing so disconnected him from his spiritual Source.

Taita Alberto did not pass judgement on those who eat meat and his guidelines are not meant to be strictly followed as rigid rules. The ultimate teacher is experience, and he encouraged his pupils to see for themselves how following his suggestions makes them feel and shifts their perceptions.

Taita Alberto did not teach his students to ingest psychoactive plants because “all of nature is entheogenic,”59 or “god-filled,”60 including ourselves. We do not need mind-altering substances to experience the awe of “sacred communion with nature.”61 Instead, he taught simple daily practices that “initiate us into primal identification with all of Nature.”62 Many of these exercises focus on simply being present in the physical body and communing with nature through mindful sensory experience.

For example, when you feel the wind whispering on your skin, recognize it as a salutation from the Air element. Allow it to cleanse you of your anxieties and negative thoughts. This type of feeling is intuitive, not emotional, as our emotions are generated in response to our thoughts. Instead, it involves putting “emotion aside in order to enter an expansive condition of full, sensory awareness, present-moment consciousness, and intuitive sensing of energy beyond the material.”63 

Taita Alberto’s teachings can be put into practice through three simple steps: “greeting, feeling, and expressing gratitude.”64 Taita Alberto began his mornings by greeting the newborn day and the shining sun that brightens our lives. “Greet everything that appears before your eyes,”65 he said. Greet the six directions, north, south, east, west, sky above, and earth below.

These teachings may seem too simple for those craving a powerful transcendent experience, but Travers says that “true power is a quiet, internal state,” not “a dominating energy,”66 as our industrialized culture has programmed us to believe. The potency of these practices lies in their simplicity, for they are about creating inner transformation through how we perceive and engage with nature. 

Shamanic Teachings of the Condor offers a heart-centered approach to communing with the four elements of nature and the fifth element of Spirit that unites them. Rather than just being mindful, the Shamanic Teachings of the Condor encourage readers to cultivate heart-centered awareness. This book has reminded me to drop my Eagle consciousness down into my Condor heart space, to be present with my intuitive feelings while deepening my communion with the natural world. By attuning with the wisdom of the heart, we can all reconcile with nature.

Wild Lands Tarot, by Leah Shoman

Wild Lands Tarot, by Leah Shoman
Sacred Scribe Publishing, 9798987986608, 78 cards and 96 page guidebook, 2024

Wild Lands Tarot initially caught my attention because of the design. I’ve been fascinated by pictorial decks lately and the polaroid aesthetic of this deck especially appealed to me as a lover of all things vintage, so I knew I would have to give Leah Shoman’s creation a try.

Honestly, I wasn’t disappointed.

The pictorial base of the deck was beautiful, and the silver-foil embellishments were an unexpected addition that served to enhance the connections between the photographs and the specific card that they represented. However, the images selected for the deck seemed to be a little eclectic rather than revolving around a specific theme; the majority were either Japanese or Egyptian in nature, though occasionally there were some based on landscape photography as well.

I would have appreciated a section of the guidebook dedicated to the selection of the images. Why did Leah choose a particular image for one card over another? Why did she blend the images together or choose to overlay them like she did? Some explanation around those topics would have given the deck even more depth that I personally would have enjoyed.

The guidebook that came with this deck contained a dedicated page for each card, as well as two different spreads, and some information for a one-card draw. The interpretations follow what has become standard for Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) based decks.

However, the Wild Lands Tarot did rename two of the suits. The deck has the traditional Wands and Cups, but has replaced Swords with Ankhs and has renamed Pentacles to Coins. As you can imagine, most of the Egyptian themed images belonged to the suit of Ankhs, while Coins and Cups were primarily landscape and nature-based photography, and the suit of Wands contained primarily Japanese imagery.

The Major Arcana is where all three of these themes collided; some were Egyptian coded, others Japanese, and still others landscapes. The thing that most seemed to anchor the images to the cards they represented was the silver-foil overlays, which really helped to bridge the gap between the image and the traditional RWS majors. Without the foil images, I don’t necessarily think that I would have connected a lot of the photographs to their corresponding archetype.

The cards of the Wild Lands Tarot, in keeping with the vintage polaroid aesthetic, were shaped like the film that you would have to shake until they developed. (Yes, I know you remember those!) While that shape is not at all common in the world of tarot, I feel like it added to the appeal of the deck and the sense of nostalgia and hiraeth that permeates it. It is, however, an odd shape to shuffle and the cards weren’t the most comfortable to handle. They also have pointed corners, which isn’t something particularly prevalent in tarot, which tends to favor the rounded corners for comfortability and/or ease of use.

As far as handling goes, though, I absolutely loved the thickness and feeling of the cardstock. It’s definitely on the thicker side, which is my personal preference (I feel like it will last longer); coupled with the smooth yet still tactile matte finish, I was almost in cardstock heaven. Shoman got that aspect of her deck, in my opinion, just right.

When I pulled the deck out to give some friends readings, they all agreed that they loved the back of the cards. The light blue color gives a hint of the whimsy of the deck while keeping true to a more natural color palette. The silver foil is also present on the back, where it outlines a triple moon surrounded by the signs of the zodiac.

When it came down to it, though, I had a bit of difficulty actually reading with the Wild Lands Tarot. Shoman’s photography, as I’ve mentioned throughout this review, was stunning; however, I really struggled to visually connect the cards, possibly due to the lack of cohesion among images.

Overall, I feel that Wild Lands Tarot is best suited for people who prefer to use cards with surreal and whimsical imagery in their readings. Despite its lack of a single, cohesive theme, this deck brings a sense of beauty and nostalgia for all that once was, and all that could be. I, for one, am glad to have it in my collection to fulfill my longing for far-off places that I may never truly come to know.