In Modern Magick, I tried to stress that although there are traditional tools of the magician (and that you should use them all or none of them to keep the energy balanced), you don't have to use the traditional tools. For example, I point out that the traditional tool for water, a glass chalice, can be very fragile, and it might be better to use one made out of metal or some other material—ceramic, stone, even a paper cup. Unfortunately, I didn't mention a tin cup and I once received a question asking if that was acceptable because I didn't mention it specifically. Sigh. (And if you're wondering, yes, use it!) It's nice to be linked to out magickal past by using traditional

My  local Tarot Meet Up group convenes tonight. In the spirit of the season, we are going to talk about the abundance cards in tarot. Our faithful organizer, Corrine Kenner, gave us a few suggestions to think about ahead of time. Some abundance-themed cards are: all of the aces, 3 and 9 of Cups, and 6 and 10 of Pentacles. I always thought of the aces as the promise or possibility of abundance but not as abundance itself and as spring rather than fall, as I wrote in this article, Seasons of Tarot: Spring. So how do aces fit with the idea of abundance and/or giving thanks? I can think of at least two ways. First, aces are usually viewed as gifts from the universe (or god or goddess or