In this essay I go into as much depth as I can about this elemental working as I learned it from Taylor Ellwood and what I hope to accomplish.

Preparation
Entering a year long study with anything takes a bit of prep work. This elemental working takes quite a bit of preparation before you decided to jump right into doing it. At minimum, you need to know three things:

• The element you what to work with. I keep a running list of “elements” in one of my books of magical stuff and when it gets close to the next year I look over the list and select one, or add a new one to it. You will want to create a virtual meeting space to work with the deity and have that deity give you a symbol (or agree on one that you have found) so that you can invoke that deity at any time.
  
• The deity exemplar you want to work with. This can be a real deity from a standard pantheon, a person you know or admire, an animal totem or spirit guide, or a fictional character. Sometimes it’s good to research a few candidates, and interview each, for this experience to find the one that suits you best. Once you have your deity, you need to research everything you can find on that entity. The more of a complete image of the deity you have, the better the experience becomes.

• The change, or desired outcome, you want this element to help you achieve. Why is this working important now? What do you hope to achieve by mastering this element? These are good questions to keep in mind as you prep for a year long adventure.

To put this into practice, I’ll use myself as an example:

Obviously I picked “alchemy” as my element. This term came out of having several discussions with my friends Anna, Ember, and Taylor, as well as my husband Kender, about what I wanted to do with my tarot life. Ever since I got home from the Readers Studio, it’s been clear that I want to make tarot a central figure in both my working life and spiritual life. Everything I want to do moving forward joins hand in hand with tarot. The below is how I defined my intent for this alchemical working:

transformation of myself and synthesis of all the knowledge I have learned throughout the years of studying and playing with tarot.

I have a picture in my head of where I want to be in a year or so: published tarot author; successful tarot reader/coach to clients in helping transform their life and giving them a clear set of bullet points to attain their goals and dreams; and a budding tarot coaching practice where I teach others what I know and how to read the cards from no knowledge at all.

With all this in mind, the idea of alchemy… turning lead into gold, pushing myself beyond my limits to become something new… seemed to fit rather well.

The second thing I did was list a few possible deities: Nicholas Flammel, Kelsier, and Vin. The first one is the only “real” alchemist I’ve heard of, while the other two were characters from the fictional world of the Mistborn series. That series uses a creative magical system where the characters imbibe metals to have effects on the world. It’s a form of alchemy and seemed to fit well with my intents. I then interviewed each person to see what they said and how they felt teaching me the principles of alchemy according to the desired transformations. The only one who wholeheartedly wanted to work with me was Kelsier. So I had my deity.

Finally, I took to the interwebs to re-remind me of the metals Kelsier and Vin used in the Mistborn series; I also reread the info about my deity. Since I’m no alchemist, I also thought it important to have a background idea of what this magical process was and where it came from. With Taylor’s help I gathered a list of book titles and purchased a few of them to help give me the basics I needed that were specific to this working’s needs. I also found two symbols to work with Keliser. One is a hand motion that I can use at any time to invoke him to help me with my working. The other is a meditation focus that I’ll use to set my transformation intent.

Dedication Ritual Outline
This is where we fast forward to today. This morning I went into my ritual room and held my dedication ritual. I’ve written a new script to use and share so that I can help others learn this process. Despite this being my 4th year doing the process, I still feel like I am an initiate at it. Another goal of this year’s working is to integrate tarot a bit more strongly into the working from previous years, so I’ve added more tarot bits and integration.

Bring a tarot deck, or two, into your sacred space. If you like candles, incense, or any other implements, gather those too. Prepare yourself however you normally do before performing spells or rituals. Then you can follow this script.

Set up circle.

Bring in elements to preside over the working. Light candles, incense, or whatever helps you focus.

Ground and meditate.

Say: Today I dedicate myself to the element of . I call upon my mentor exemplar who will guide me through the next 12 months of learning about the element and how I can effectively use it in my life.

Say: Welcome deity. I call upon you today to dedicate myself to you and your teachings of . Please guide me through the process of working with this element that will bring me clarity and insight into my life during the next 12 months. I promise to listen to you and do the internal work necessary to improve my life.

Meditate and see if the deity has insight to offer. Pull first tarot card and ask the question, “What aspect of should I focus on this month?”

When finished thank the deity and elements by putting out candles and focus.

Write down experiences and thoughts gleaned from the working and then begin to do any activities that you or your deity feel useful to learning about this element.

This outline is flexible enough that it doesn’t take a whole lot of time. It also allows you to perform other workings that you may want your deity and the elements to oversee. The next section gives you what I did at my ritual.

Alchemical Dedication
I lit a yellow candle for air, then lit a dragon’s blood incense stick. Using the incense stick I proceeded to light a red candle for fire, and a blue candle for water. I don’t light candles for earth, preferring to use that time to ground myself and open a connection to earth.

When I felt stable and grounded, I then began the above script, dedicating myself to alchemy and Kelsier. I spent some time talking to him in the space I created for him. I was looking for his approval as well as any words he wanted to tell me. His first request of me was to “know my metals.” Before you can work to combine any two metals together, or in his terms, burn a metal effectively, you need to know each individual item by heart and what it does to you. Therefore, I will be taking a 78 day, one card a day, study of my “metals” or my tarot cards. I will try to fully imbibe each essence and craft my own LWB of meanings for each one. At the end, I hope that I have a good base foundation for which to burn and combine these elements.

I then deviated from the script for a bit. I had two side workings:

• Perform a new moon/eclipse ritual reading for today.
• Cleansed and initiate 4 new tarot decks into my service. One of the decks was my new Gaian Tarot and I wanted Kelsier watching over this process since I’m using this deck in this working.
  

So I performed these workings and then refocused my attention to the script. The final thing I did was to pull a single card from the deck to focus my energies for the next 30 days. The card I drew was “20-Awakening.” While I have not read the information Joanna added to her book, I can already tell you that I feel like this is an auspicious start to this year’s working. I am awakening from an old perspective, an old way of doing things, and magics and working on the wonder that is transformational alchemy and the serious study of tarot and integration of it into my life as a whole.

I set this card on my altar where I will visit it daily and meditate on the concepts of awakening and “knowing my metals” for the next 30 days.

I closed the down my ritual and then wrote down notes of the experience in my book of shadows stuff.

Conclusion
This post contains a heck of a lot to digest, I know this. Unfortunately, there’s no real short cut way to explain the transformation and processes that go into a year long working. That would take a whole book or more to elaborate on. It is my hope that you all have gotten an idea of this year long element working can go. The effects of working with an element in this way are powerful. Three years later I am still working with, and honing my power, with the element of movement. The weight I’ve lost under that element’s guide and help makes me proud.

What’s Next?
Now I start my year long journey with alchemy. I’ll start working on my card a day experience tomorrow. I plan to focus on just the Shadowscapes deck as that’s my go-to deck. And I’ll also do any other assignments or workings as Kelsier, or I, deem worthy of fully integrating the processes of alchemy into my life.

I won’t be posting experiences every day. However, I will be posting a 30-day summary of my experiences, which should give you a idea of what it’s like to undertake this experience. You can also visit Taylor’s blog, Magical Experiments, to get his perspective of how he uses his own technique in his life.

I hope you have questions. Really, I do. So please, feel free to contact me in any way, here, Facebook, email and I will do my best to help you understand what this is and what I get out of doing it every year? Yes, there have been “failures” but even then I have learned a lot from those experiences.

Check out the Magical Experiments page at Blog Talk Radio here and I look forward to everyone tuning in.

I purchased The Tarot Game right before going to The Readers Studio and since returning home, I haven’t had much time to read the rules or play. Much to my surprise, Jude was offering two person games via Skpye. So I jumped on the chance to play and learn from the creator herself.

The following game notes are one sided only. While Jude graciously gave me permission to write about our session, I felt uncomfortable posting the details of her side of the game. However, my side should give readers an idea of the variety of gameplay offered by The Tarot Game.

The goal of the game is to fill in the reading sheets to receive wisdom and knowledge about your question or theme. Since we were playing a “short” game (we were on Skype for an hour), we used the Beginner sheet which had us go until we both filled in 4 cards. Alternatively, you can use a tarot journal and go until you’re satisfied with the cards and answers you’ve got.

We started out the game by swapping questions or themes we were exploring in the game. I choose the theme of alchemy because I am preparing to work with this element for a whole year next Wednesday. I told Jude that my definition of alchemy was, “transformation and synthesis of my life and tarot knowledge to get me to the next (or higher) stage in my life.”

Then we picked out blessing coins. Usually this is done by each person playing the game but as Jude was the “game keeper” she randomly picked three coins for me. These were: vision, charity, hope. Blessing coins are fun items that players get to keep or swap and give to other players as the game progresses.

We then rolled the dice. I asked her to roll a single dice (the game comes with me) and we got a two. This put me on the Spiral spot. Jude drew a card from the Spiral Deck and told me to tell her a story about a time where I had to compromise–focusing on the benefits of doing so. So I pulled my 4 of Swords out from the deck and told Jude about a time where compromise helped me out in my marriage. I then jotted down notes and she took her turn.

On my next turn, Jude rolled two dice and I got to move forward 7 spaces. This put me on an infinity symbol which gave me “free will.” I was free to stretch or do anything I wanted. So I decided to grab my own set of 6-sided dice from my bookcase and stretch.

Then I rolled three dice for a total of 18. I landed on the “tell the player to my left something nice about them.” And so I gushed a bit about Jude. Based on my response, she gave me her passion blessing token.

Then I rolled two dice and got a total of 8, which put me on a roll again spot. So I rolled one dice and landed on The Hanged Man Spot. This gave me my second (of four) card for this reading. Jude then asked me a question from the Major Arcana sheet, “Tell me about a turning point in your life.” And I told her about the time I had mono and what I learned from it. These were how to take care of myself, focus on one thing, that it’s okay to say no, and how to ask for help.”

Once more, my response solicited Jude to give me a blessing token. This time, it was balance. Little did she know that balance is something I try to strive for throughout my life. Thanks Jude!

I rolled two more dice and moved 7 spaces more. I landed on a star card. This is not The Star card from a tarot deck but another one of the special spots from The Tarot Game. Jude pulled a card from the star deck and asked me to take a full deck and grab a card from it. I was then to create an affirmation from this card, based on what I saw. I grabbed my Pocket Universal Waite and the 4 of Cups jumped right out at me.

Now I’m not good at crafting affirmations so my first attempt was “I push through to succeed.” Jude helped me refine and hone the affirmation, so that we came out with, “When I am feeling myself unfocused, I push through to succeed.” I’m also supposed to find time to integrate this affirmation into my life for a week.

We then had a small discussion on productivity techniques and she gave me some good advice on some new techniques I can use to integrate into my self-employment practice.

By this time, Jude already filled out her reading sheet. Apparently, in the game, it is okay if players finish before one another. The rest can either keep on going or end the game there to go onto the Completion phase. Wanting to get the full benefit of playing, I opted to move on.

I rolled the two more dice and got a total of 9. This put me on the Sun card. She asked me, “How do I express myself?” And I answered by talking, writing, making collage and doodle arts, graphic design and crochet.

That last roll completed my reading so we moved onto the last phase of the game. This is where each player takes time to look at their cards and create an integrated affirmation or action plan that will help them answer their question or address their theme.

I spent time looking at my cards. In order I drew: the 4 of Swords, The Hanged Man, the 4 of Cups, and The Sun. Using what I knew about these cards I came up with the following affirmation:

Rest, perspective, reach out to accept help, do the work, and enjoy the fruits of my labor/success.

When I told Jude this, she said that it was fine but not exactly what she was hoping for. The hardest thing for tarot readers to do in the game is to create affirmations based on the card meanings themselves. Instead, Jude says that the affirmations work best when they integrate aspects of what was said in the game.

Together we created the new and improved affirmation:

I accept the support of my husband while I rest and push through to do the work to express myself and make art.

She then recommends that you work with this spread and affirmation by journalling about it and meditating on what was said for awhile.

I plan on using both affirmations that I created to help bring forth the transformation and success that I want for myself and my tarot business.

It’s my hope that this review/reading of The Tarot Game fuels your desire to give it a try for yourself. I’m already chomping at the bit to try this game out with my husband and all my friends. If you’ve already played it, feel free to leave some comments about your experience in the comment box below!

I arrived just after 2:30 and before the pacNW storms could get any wetter. Ember had lovingly set up a spot in her living room for our activities, complete with a red parlor theme. The tea was already stepping and cups of honey and lemon sat ready to sweeten the deal. After greeting the kitties, I set about to ploofing out my gear and setup a small nook for me to call my own. I brought The Herbal Tarot, the Shadowscapes Tarot, and the Tarot of the Divine Legacy to play and share. We love to have a “show and tell” with our new decks and I got to experience the pretties that is the Wizards Tarot and the Mona Lisa Tarot while she looked over my offerings.

Once we stopped oohing and aaahing over the decks, we set down to “serious” play. We decided to use the handbook that comes with the Wizards tarot to base our day around. We spent time looking through the book until we settled on three spreads. Our first spread was the Strength’s Familiars Spread, which was a fun and unique look at “selecting” a familiar to use. Ember drew The Lovers Card, while later on, I drew the Chariot. Surprising (or not) our readings were rather spot on and we both agreed that we’d do further investigations with our familiars.

We scanned the book again, this time selecting two more spreads. Ember decided that Transfiguration’s (aka Death) Past Life Spread looked interesting; while I wanted to play with Alchemy’s (aka Temperance) Spread. I won’t write about the Past Life experience but it was rather insightful and I can’t wait to see what insights Ember receives when she meditates on the lessons and “anvils” the cards gave her.

I chose the Alchemy Spread because this year I plan on working with the “element” of Alchemy to focus my energies and transform and manifest myself and my magical practice into the image I have inside my head. I’ll be writing more about this process and the elemental working later. I used my Shadowscapes deck with the Alchemist’s Spread and was NOT disappointed. This three card spread helped me to understand what energies I have in carrying out “creative” projects from idea to draft to completion (or publication).

The first card I drew was the Two of Wands. I see this card as the brainstorm generator card. In the Sulphur spot, this card defines and shows exactly how I work to start new projects. I don’t think I could’ve picked a better card. The figure in the card is myself, sitting with my cat (one of my kitties loves to snuggle as I write) looking off into the swirling yellow and orange “creation mists” waiting for inspiration.

The second card I drew was The Chariot. Which was funny and fitting since I received it in Strength’s Familiar Spread. This “Mercury” position shows my ability to nurture and develop new projects as they bloom in the early stages. There’s no doubt about it, when my ideas fully form, I go go go with them until they’re done. I set my mind to it and do whatever it takes to finalize it.

The third, and final, card I drew was the 3 of Cups in the “Salt” position. This card displays the ways in which I take ideas and move it from start to finish, transforming the vision into a manifested product. The 3 of cups, at first glance, seems a bit odd here but for me it makes perfect sense. I rely a lot on my editors, friends and colleagues to help me solidify my ideas, generate missing bits, and hone my writing via editing to present it to the world. The power of community helps me publish my book and as I have an extensive network of professionals, I’m at no loss for publishing my work into the world.

All in all, I was impressed by this little reading and can’t wait to find a copy of the Wizards Tarot for my own study. We finished our spreads and then headed to dinner where we had a lovely steak dinner. As Ember works really early in the morning, I collected my gear, towel, and decks; scritched the kitties; and headed home.

World Tarot Day was a success this year. I had such a great (and long) day of participating: chatting with my mentor Wald, networking with my community on Twitter, winning a copy of Tarot for Manifestation by James Wells, and sharing tarot love with one of my closest friends. As we draw World Tarot Day 2011 to a close, I want to thank everyone who’s had a reading from me, or attended my class, or spoke with me about tarot. You all inspire me and help keep the fuel for my tarot obsession burning.

A few moments ago I pulled out my trusty Shadowscapes tarot and asked the cards: What is the spirit of Tarot for the next year? In return, I received the King of Cups.

King of Cups- Shadowscapes Deck (copyright by Llewellyn Books)

As an answer to the question for this year, the King of Cups suggests that we combine both knowledge and heart (passion) together to form a solid and long lasting formation with Tarot. This year will be the year that, if you study hard, and really take the time to integrate the cards’ wisdom, that you go deep and learn to become the mirror that Tarot is.

And on a personal note, the King of Cups is one of the cards that is focused on in the current Lesson (number 6—almost halfway there!) that I’m working on for my Tarot School Correspondence Degree study.

What card did you draw today? How does that perspective reflect the upcoming year’s worth of Tarot spirit for you and the rest of the world? Have more insight into the King of Cups? Please post a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Go download and print it out. Then look at it as you read through the process we used to create it. Please leave your thoughts or comments if you need clarification.

Step One: Determine Focus
Barbara’s first step in spread creation had us either choosing a situation to focus our spread on, or drawing a random card as inspiration for brainstorm. We chose the random card draw method.

The 3 of cups imagery from the Hanson Roberts and the Sun and Moon tarot fueled our creative brainstorming. We decided that the card had elements of : play, moon, 3 women in ritual, happiness and that it invoked a sense of “what habits or rituals do I incorporate into my daily life to manifest abundance?” This was the initial basis that a formed our spread.

Step Two: Create Positions
Here we learned about single and multiple cards and what they mean to a spread. We also learned about the variances of patterns (triangle, square, circle, etc) and what those lent to a spread as well.

As Barbara went on to discuss how positions and the amount of cards in a spread work to guide a reading, we jotted down notes on what would work best for our Spread/Ritual. We settled on 5 cards: center the first card, for it acts a a focus. We labeled that the manifest desire position but as my friends pointed out, this first card can also be a significator card.

I don’t like to set anything in “stone” and this spread and the positions can be played with to accommodate your need (as you’ll see later). The rest of the positions “circle” around this first card and they act as energies that draw towards or away from the manifestation process. We decided to use the 3-dimensional idea of “up and down” to act as our north and south and labeled those as air and ground; going against a more traditional Pagan circle approach where the north position is Earth and South represents fire. Again, you are free to play around with your own designations based off where you live or what you believe in.

We also figured that we could add cards that crossed others, to add depth and clarity to the reading. I recall lifting up two cards so they hovered above another card, giving this spread a more 3-dimensional quality to it. Imagine reading the “what grounds you card” with 3 cards that divide body as the table level, mind, hovering a bit over that table card, and then a spirit card hovering higher over the mind card. Changes the game of what tarot spreads can do, doesn’t it? I think we’ll need a bigger spread cloth and a clear plastic setup for this design, as well.

We also figured that you could combine the outer circle cards by sliding them around to create even more meaning, or change the meaning of the readings, if you read them as a 3 card reading either left to right horizontally or up to down vertically (or vice versa). I loved the idea of reading these three cards as stepping stones to build energies or see patterns of influence.

Step Three: Accessorize
Here we learned some fun ways to add even more depth and personalization to the cards.

Barbara gave us ideas on dividing the deck out into parts so that a position of the spread could have aspects of only one of the suits, or court sets, or majors. Our Manifestation Spread is build that you could do this if you want to; but we wanted to keep the core idea simple where you just use the whole deck. You could also add in a second deck and work the first position as one deck and then use the second deck for the outer circle. We toyed with the idea that the majors could be position one, then pentacles as south, swords as north, wands as west, and cups as east. Then you can add court cards in to help focus energies or lend personality traits to the mix. Still with me on this? I hope so.

We also worked more with the idea of location where we could slide cards around, to move various energies to where “they need to be”. Or that you can strengthen various elemental cards by moving them to a more stronger location. I also told Theresa how you could turn the cards “on or off” to stall certain energies if you want. To do this, you just turn the card so it doesn’t flow with the others in the position. Of course, this is better explained in video than in writing, but perhaps I’ll do that in another day.

Final Thoughts
It occurred to me as we were making this spread that one could build more into it as they needed. Therefore, we ended up just posting a very simplistic version and hoped that the spirit of play would allow people who used it to mix and match and build off it as they wished. I felt power in this spread, so much that I think I may use this spread and focus as the capstone for what I am aiming my tarot practice (both in service to others as well as in spirituality) to become. Now if you excuse me, I think I’ll step away from the system to go play with this creation and see just how well it works in reality.

1. If you could tell us how you feel, what would you say?
The Hierophant— I am the teacher, rooted in the soil, the air, and the water. I tell stories to those who listen and provide a perch to the weary. Come to me and I will teach you about the world. I am older than anything and am feeling it in my bones.

2. What can we do to honor you?
The Sun— Enjoy my gifts and bounty. Revel in the warmth of the sun, the force that sustains us and brings us life. Dance on the soil that grounds you and keeps you connected to me. Celebrate me by treating me how you would want others to treat your self.

3. Which ways can we best help to heal the damage we’ve done?
Six of Pentacles— Bring back the balance. Use the talents of creativity and intellect to promote new growth to the parts that are dying. Take civilization to the next level by promoting a sense of interdependence and sharing of the wealth, rather than keeping it to yourself.

4. If we follow your advice, what is the likely outcome?
Queen of Pentacles— Ah, the Earth Mother card itself. The Queen of Pentacles is the living spirit of Earth. She gives voice to the things that have no voice. She is nurturing, loving and generous with her gifts. If we can bring balance back to the Earth, then we, too, can bind ourselves back down to the ground. Our eyes will awaken and we’ll really see the world we live in and the gifts of plants, trees, animals and live that we have been given. The Earth is home; and as such, we are bound by duty to care for it as we would treat the dwellings we make on her surface.

I find it both comforting and odd, that the only suits represented in this spread were the Major Arcana and the Pentacles, which connects to the element of Earth/ground and deals with “earthly matters”.

In addition to this spread, readers of my Tarot Tidbits eNewsletter received some crafty advice on how to repurpose damaged tarot decks. If you’re not on the list yet, read the issue in the archives. If you enjoyed what I said, please feel free to subscribe to it. Until next time, may the tarot provide you inspiration.

They gave me a great opportunity to read for others at a great location. I enjoyed being able to give something back to the area that I called home.

With Mantra closed, I am now seeking new venues and opportunities to do tarot readings at places in Vancouver, Washington and Portland, Oregon. If you have a bar, club, or gallery and would love to try something new… please give me a buzz. I’d love to show you what tarot and I can do for you.

As part of the official World Tarot Day fun, I participated in the one-card draw that answered the question, “What is the message of Tarot to us worldwide at this time?” I drew the Eight of Swords from the Shadowscapes Tarot. I interpreted this card as, “The Spirit of Tarot says that we should stop relying on one sense (our eyes) and use the rest of our senses when dealing with the world around us. In doing so, we shall be free from the prison that we’ve made for ourselves.” To continue reading about my adventures in the World Tarot Towel Tea Party, click the read more link.

The WTTTP kicked off around noon with hugs (meeting the hug your favorite Tarot Reader quota). We immediately loaded into the car to eat a good lunch, capped with shakes from Cold Stone. We rushed home and settled in to figure out what tarot-y things to do. We started by exchanging readings using our favorite decks. I spent the day focusing on the Shadowscapes Tarot and she used the Fantastical Tarot deck.

After taking turns reading, we spent a bit of time journalling about the reading and meanings and questions posed to each other. We then talked a bit about our decks and which, if any, we’d cull. I slid over the Shadowscapes book and my friend started leafing through it. She stopped on the section that contained some tarot spreads and said, “Huh… that one looks interesting. We should try it.” The spread in question was the A Journey and man were the results interesting and accurate. We decided to just use the meanings from the book on this one as we read the cards and pulled what grabbed our inner intuitions as we read.

I was very impressed with the A Journey Spread. We gained a lot of insight as to why we were feeling stifled and got a greater idea of where the big picture was going. A lot of psychic anvils were dropped on the both of us. There were times when we both were all, “DOY…DUH” when the cards reminded us of things that we knew but hadn’t started yet. And to honor the Wear Lilac Day, one of the cards even had pictures of gorgeous lilacs on it. In the end, we felt armed with more ideas on how we can get back on our path and refocus our energies.

All in all I had a blast with our WTTTP Day and hope to participate again next year. The official site posted a page of 40+ tarot readers and the cards they choose for the Voice of the Tarot for 2010. I highly recommend you go check it out.