Anthony Louis’ Tarot Beyond the Basics is filled with really fascinating ideas, techniques, and practices. His application of drive theory to the four suits was particularly intriguing. Here’s what he says: Psychologists love to invent theories about what motivates people. For Empedocles, the two basic drives existence are Love and Strife, which in astrology are embodied by the planets Venus and Mars respectively. Freud expressed a similar idea when he reduced human motivation to the two basic urges: libido (sex) and thanatos (the death instinct). Jung became fascinated with the four humors, based on the four elements, and came up with four fundamental personality types. Each

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Emily A. Francis, co-author of Witchy Mama and author of the new Body Heals Itself. We don’t just wear our heart on our sleeves; we wear our heart on our sleeves, in our energy field, and in the belly of our muscles. The magic in this information is that by accessing where those thoughts, feelings, and experiences have burrowed down we can connect, communicate ,and release those emotions by releasing the various muscles that guard against that emotional baggage. For example: we know that when we use the saying, "they broke my heart," we know that our pericardium has not been torn or damaged. We know that in this statement we are referring

In Bringing the Tarot to Life, Scott Martin adapts activities that actors use to prepare for performing to tarot. Because tarot is often used for advice, I thought this example might be a good one to peak your interest in this really fun and useful book. A Piece of Advice In this exercise you are writing a letter requesting advice about a personal matter. Before you write the letter, make the following decisions: What is the specific nature of the issue about which you are seeing advice? Select a card that represents the person you think is in the best position to give you advice, and explain why. Give this person a real name, other than its tarot name. What is your

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Stephanie Woodfield, author of Celtic Lore & Spellcraft of the Dark Goddess, Drawing Down the Sun, and the new Dark Goddess Craft. For those seeking to build a relationship or devotional practice with dark gods, offerings can often be a stumbling block. What do I give as an offering? How should it be given? And how does one dispose of it from their altar? Some people approach offerings simply as presents. What do I get for the war goddess who has everything? But it's not quite a present exchange involving gods. When we think of offerings in this way it comes with some of our preconceptions connected to other types of gift giving.