Dandelyon's Worlds

Happy Solstice to you all, and also Happy Rose Moon*. May the turn of the seasons and the days (or nights) bring you the blessings you need and want.

*There are different traditions for naming the full moons, but since I still have hundreds of roses blooming in my yard, I'm sticking with Rose Moon. My yard still smells marvelous!

On to the card event:

I am still enjoying doing readings with ellenmillion 's beautiful Unicorn Key cards, so the free one card readings will be from that deck.  I have an actual, properly printed prototype deck, complete with gilded edges, in a lovely magnetic box (which she hopes she can offer as a stretch goal), and, to celebrate, you are welcome to ask for a free one card reading, or a paid reading using one of her layouts.

I have permission to post pictures of the Unicorn Key readings, so in addition to my reading of the card, you'll get to see a photo of your card, posed next to one or more of my roses, weather permitting. (If you ask for a multi-card reading, you'll get a picture of the reading with Ellen's art as backdrop instead.)

(If you might want your own copy  of this deck, go here: www.backerkit.com/c/projects/ellen-million-graphics/a-unicorn-key-oracle-and-guide-deck )

If you tip, you can also ask for a card from any of my decks, but I'll have the following handy: The Dream-Weaver's Oracle (a very new-to-me deck), The Oracle of the Dragonfae (which I've used to prompt songs during FAWM), The Fantasy Showcase Tarot (the first deck I ever saw or heard of where the art for each card was created by a different artist), The Shapeshifter's Tarot (still one of my favorites) or the combined Goddesses and Animal Spirits art cards by Susan Seddon Boulet (particularly good if you want a Guide).

As always, New friends and old are very welcome.


Status: Closed to free cards.



About the readings,

You can simply ask for a single card with no obligation to tip (though tips are very much appreciated, and tipping allows you to ask for one clarifying card if the initial reading is not clear to you).  You can also ask for a clarification card if you boost the signal, and help other people find this event.  Just mention where you posted!

I am offering Unicorn Key readings for $20. I can choose a random layout from the ones Ellen designed, or if you share your question, I'll pick a layout that suits. Most of these readings are 3-6 cards. If you want a different deck, Three-card readings are $25, or five card for $40. Again, some vague idea of what type of thing you're asking about will help me pick a suitable layout, though you don't need to share your question unless you want to.

Regardless of the length of the reading, you may ask about real life or a creative project, or even for a character you play in a game. I can draw a card for you to meditate on, to represent the Guide you need right now, or to get you unstuck. I can draw a card for your protagonist or villain, or can draw a card or cards for you to use as writing or art prompts.

Tip are always appreciated, however, I understand all too well that when people don't have cash or spoons that is generally when they most need inspiration. Don't be afraid to ask for a card if you can't tip.

When you tip, it's helpful to me for you to mention it here so I can connect your Paypal information with your request. Tips should be at least $2 (Paypal charges fees). If Paypal doesn't work for you, drop me a message and we'll work something out. The guitar case below is my personal PayPal link, featuring my own artwork, which does inspire me even though it isn't Tarot- or Oracle-related. Or you can use paypal.me/DeirdreMMurphy

I will reply to all requests. If I start to feel overwhelmed, I will close to free readings; in that very unlikely event, that will be in nice bold letters after the word Status above. I plan to stay open at least through Monday for free readings. After that, you can certainly ask for a paid reading, if you want one. (Yes, I still have the stupid long covid, though it's getting (oh so slowly) better, so if I'm too tired or can't focus at any particular moment, I'll rest and return later. I appreciate your patience when that happens.)

As always, while I work hard to offer insight and inspiration, all I can legally promise is entertainment. See my "Dandelyon's Readings" page for a little more about my readings.

Yesterday it was pleasant outside. We got the wood chopping area cleaned up, all the tiny saplings there dug out and several of the the big logs from the mulberry tree that used to rain mulberries on the neighbor's driveway set up into a kind of table and chairs setup. Then I did some weeding and spotted (finally) pea sprouts. I got some Ausilio Italian Pepper seedlings in the ground, after moving some of the wood violets to the base of the new "table" to get them out of the way. The table was planned to be a chopping block for branches, but I think we'll use a different one for a year or two, and use this as a place to relax in the shade for a while, since I expect it will be pretty all summer and well into the fall.

I am still open for One Card readings and longer readings over here: https://wyld-dandelyon.dreamwidth.org/475541.html. I would love to have more people stop by, and also to be able to show off the Unicorn Key cards, which are lovely.

The tomato plants are all doing well, getting darker leaves and looking stronger since they have been out in the sun (or rain) all day and exposed to wind and the other normal stresses of living outdoors. The garden store still does not have any Cherokee Purple plants, which they always have had in the past, even when I show up in mid-June to buy them.  At least I have been calling them instead of driving out there multiple times, so I'm not wasting hours finding out.  (I've been calling the location where the volunteered the information that one of their employees is looking for them, so I don't have to wait while someone walks all the way back to the back of the lot where the vegetable seedlings are housed).  I hope they didn't have a disaster wherever they create those seedlings! 

I would love it if I could get some Northern Lights seedlings somewhere.  But it's hard to even find the seeds.  Those tomatoes are one of my favorites, good flavor, yellow flesh, and pretty skins.  I was very happy the year I had a few of those plants and they were very productive that year too. I'll have to look for more seeds, I guess, since I have no more of them.

Well, it's stopped raining outside; it's probably too wet to do more planting right now, but there are always weed tree seedlings to pull, and they often come right out when the ground is saturated.

Wow, it's autumn already. Well, the weather is more like August--yesterday I carried water out to the tomato plants because the pipes leading to my exterior water faucet have developed a leak and so that pipe has been turned off until I can afford to get it fixed. But it's getting dark earlier and earlier, and leaves are starting to change colors and drift gently off the trees, so I can't deny it isn't really summer any more.

The change of seasons, and the approach of the fiscal end-of-year has gotten me considering whether it's worth doing these readings so often. Am I sending enough good out into the world? Am I bringing in enough money to make up for my income being reduced by the policies of this administration, and the expected humongous increase in my Obamacare plan because the GOP is making the insurance companies nervous about whether the G-D government will follow the law and pay them? That makes me worry about what else can I do to bring in income. Should I start a Patreon? Do I need to reduce costs somehow Should I make plans to do even fewer cons next year, or cut costs some other way? It's not like I live a lavish life, and have lots of corners I can still cut--and I can't cut out stuff like the asthma meds or the food that doesn't make me sick (the food allergies mean I can't eat most cheap food).

So many practical questions that cannot really be answered ahead of time. All I can do is make some guesses and some commitments, do what I can, and see what happens. Like everybody else, of course. We're all in that boat, one way or another.

But feel free to weigh in, at least about the things you care about. Do you want to see me continue to offer readings so often? Do you want me to do more fiction or art in these pages? Would you consider following me to a Patreon, and if so, what would you most want to bribe me to do?

I love to hear from you.

And of course, whether or not you want to kibitz on my decisions, I'm here to do readings.

New friends and old are welcome.

I am continuing to offer a five-card reading for $25, or if you want a larger reading we can discuss costs. As always, a signal boost will allow you to ask for a clarification card on some part of this reading, if you wish. Alternatively, you can ask for a Torn World reading and get an in-character reading in Affamarg or the Breidalam Mountains using that world's standard layout for the divination disks.

Or, of course, you can simply ask for a single card (with the usual clarifying card for people who tip). The guitar case below is my personal PayPal link, featuring my own artwork, which still inspires me even though it isn't Tarot-related. I'm (still) thinking about doing an appropriate self-portrait. Not today--but should it be realistic or abstract? Me as I am, or me as I might be portrayed in a deck? But back to readings!

You may ask about real life or a creative project, even for a character you play in a game. I can draw a card for you to meditate on, to represent the Guide you need right now, or to get you unstuck. I can draw a card for a character or can draw a card or cards for you to use as writing or art prompts, and I can modify a more-traditional five-card spread into a prompt for a story focusing on plot or characters or a little of both.

For free one card readings, you can pick from the Brian Froud's Faeries Oracle, the Daughters of the Moon Tarot (one of the round decks), or the Shapeshifter Tarot. You can ask a question, ask for a Guide or for inspiration, or you can just ask for a card. I don't need to know what your question is, but you are welcome to share it with me if you like.

The first card is free (though tips are always appreciated). Paid readings, short or long, also let you ask me to use any of my other decks, including but not limited to my combined Susan Seddon Boulet Animal Spirits and Goddesses cards and my Fantasy Showcase Tarot deck where each card was done by a different science fiction/fantasy artist.

Tipping can also be used to request a private reading, or to draw a clarifying card if the initial card (or paid multi-card reading) leaves you with questions. If you want a longer reading, send a direct message so we can agree on the type of reading and rate.

Signal boosts are very much appreciated, and also earn you the right to ask for a clarifying card. (If you only signal boost, please do not ask for two cards to start with. A clarifying card, if the reading is unclear to you, is fine.)

I understand all too well that when people don't have cash or spoons that is generally when they most need inspiration. Don't be afraid to ask for a card if you can't tip.

When you tip, it's helpful to me for you to mention it here so I can connect your Paypal information with your request. Tips should be at least $2 (Paypal charges fees). If Paypal doesn't work for you, drop me a message and we'll work something out.

I've written before about why I do readings and about some of the decks I use here, feel free to hop over and check me out. I'll wait.

I will reply to all requests. In the highly unlikely event that the number of requests nears my limits, I'll close this card draw by changing the status line below rather than risk leaving anyone without a response.

Thank you, and Blessed Be!

Status: Open to free one-card readings until I go to sleep Sunday night (which will doubtless be well after midnight) and open to tipped readings until this status message is changed.

As always, these readings are for entertainment and inspiration only. See my "Dandelyon's Readings" page if you have questions.

Or some other period, or for a creative project.  I've even done readings for characters!  I'm hoping to spread a little hope and good energy in this scary time.

You can ask here or over on LJ:

on DW: My mirrored post

on LJ:  My Original Post

All friends, new (even as-yet unknown) and old, are welcome!

I have stories to write, and art to do, and a house to clean, and job applications to send out...and I've spent most of my not-at-work time the last couple of days reading a book. Not even reading other Torn World stuff for critique and canon evaluation, just reading something I don't even have to review.

Sometimes it's good to take a break, at least for a few hours a day.

A friend noted that my reading (divination) for her in these virtual pages was helpful, so she wasn’t surprised that my in-person (authorial) reading of two poems and a story at a convention went over well.

This led to a moment of cognitive dissonance for me, since (in my own wetware, at least) divinatory/inspirational readings are filed in some very different category than authorial readings.

I suppose you could call them both a form of performance art, and not totally unrelated, especially if you look at the immersive story readings I’ve been doing here. But the back of my brain keeps going “but—but—but!”

So, what do you folks think? Are readings and readings related? How? Why? Should they be?



Here there be critters!

You should watch this!

Sometimes the best focus for writing is to not write. Take your mind completely off your stories, and read someone else's.

One of the crowdfunded things I've been greatly enjoying (though I keep putting reading the new episodes off while my own stories are flowing) is Shadow Unit. It's at shadowunit.org

If you haven't checked it out, you should!

There's something out there, something that turns people into monsters with unexplained powers. And there's a small group of FBI profilers who hunt them, trying to figure out what the anomaly is, and to catch the "gammas".

The conceit is that it's a tv series, kind of a cross between Criminal Minds and the X-files. Except the writers have creative control, so the episodes don't have to be able to be read out of order. Except there's more--there's stuff that happens between episodes. And there's stuff I haven't checked out (some of the characters have their own LJ accounts, and fans can read their blogs and even comment to them).

It's complex and riveting.

If you do check it out, don't start with this season, unless you like starting books in the middle. This season definitely has spoilers for previous seasons!

Start at the beginning.