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.

I wrote a bit for patreon, released first to my patrons, but set to become public after a while. Now I'm putting it here because I'd love some conversation about the things I was musing about.

If you want to see things like this or excerpts from works in progress, you could follow (or even properly join) my patreon.

:)

I’ve been reading Tarot cards for a very long time, but the Tarot is still mysterious to me. It seems to work—but how? I’ve done readings for so many people who say the reading was spot-on, people I know, people I don’t, people online and far away. But it’s more than that. I’ve done readings in LARPs and role-playing games too, in character, and the reading proved accurate for the character (and not the player).

A character has no physical presence in the world, except insofar as it is embodied by the player or writer. If one follows the theory that someone’s aura, their physical or mystical presence, somehow interacts with the world, that would imply that characters, even casually created characters that have only been imagined for hours or days, still have a mystical presence that is strong enough to interact with the cards’ mystical presence.

It seems even more mysterious to me when I’m drawing cards for a story, where all the characters are only in my head (or some other writer's head) until words flow through fingertips onto the screen or page. I mean, if even their creator doesn’t know what the plot is or who these imaginary people are, how can the cards possibly interact with their mystical presence?

Yet I get good readings when I use the cards as prompts for stories, or for plot points in a story that’s stuck, and I've also had other people tell me they found readings I gave them were helpful

Doing readings over the internet also means the people I’m interacting with aren’t there to physically interact with the cards. How does this mystical presence thing work when there are hundreds or thousands of miles between the cards and the querant? If it’s a mystical presence thing at all.

Another theory, of course, is that the cards are truly random, and any meaning is created by the human mind. With that theory, it’s easy to explain why the cards work for writing: I’m using the cards to get me thinking, like any other set of prompts. Which doesn’t explain why the cards work better for me than a random plot or random character generator. I suppose that could just be that I’m more inspired by pretty pictures, or that the symbolism on the cards I use works for me.

That theory might explain how I can do accurate (or at least accurate-seeming) readings in person for people I know. My mind can, in theory, create meaning because I know the querant or because I can read their reactions as I talk.

It’s not a convincing explanation for how I personally do readings in person for strangers, especially since I’m not particularly good at picking up on body language, and when I started doing readings (and having them pronounced accurate) I was pretty abysmal at it. Not the cards, I was abysmal at reading people. That theory also doesn’t explain how I can do accurate readings for strangers over the internet.

Like I said, it’s mysterious.

The scientist in me is frustrated by the lack of explanations. The mystic in me, however, finds the lack of explanation, the fundamental mystery of it, quite satisfying. It says to the rest of me that we are finite beings in an infinite world. There should be things we don’t understand.

My approach to fantasy is like that too. The scientist in me wants to understand how magic works, and why, and for it to be predictable. But still, when reading or writing, I’m more drawn to the mysterious, the unexplained, sometimes even the unexplainable. Maybe especially the unexplainable. I find magic in stories most satisfying when there’s a lot of wonder, and very little “game mechanics.” Or to put it another way, when it feels magical.

And never mind that that other side of me never stops trying to find the explanations. Or maybe that’s a part of the attraction? Here’s a thing I don’t know yet. How can I not want to get to know it better, to find it in the wild (even if just in the wilds of my own imagination) and try to tame it?

Is it a kitten or a lion cub or something totally unexpected? With time, persistence, and patience, perhaps I’ll find out.

These cards are beautiful!  And, like all the cards I like best, the minor arcana is just as full of pictorial imagery as the majors. 

Look at the King of Wands.  and Judgment (oooh, butterflies), and the Nine of Swords, and...well, go look at all of them!

I don't even know which ones would be my favorites, if I spent some time with this deck.  But I don't need to hold a deck in my hand to know this deck would speak clearly to me in readings.

There's even a "happy squirrel" bonus card--a silliness that makes me smile, cold house or no. 

Did I tell you how much my niece, Spooky, liked borrowing my MTG squirrels deck and defeating a deadly dragons deck?  I would SO definitely use that squirrel card as a squirrel token, if I didn't just shuffle it into the deck to do readings. 

ETA:  Thanks to miintikwa for linking me to these.

There's a time limit; I believe as I write this there's about an hour and a half left.

Her words of wisdom for me:

miintikwa on January 8th, 2010 12:35 pm (local)
Thank *you!* :)

For you, the World! A project coming to completion, something you've put a lot of effort into, and you'll get appropriate recognition for this! You may also be coming into a teaching position thanks to something you've been working on, due to the recognition I see here. Much good is coming your way!

She also does longer drawings for individuals.

I hope this bodes well in the search for the lost kitten, as well as writing endeavors and finding a day job or other reliable source of income.