Paying Bills during the Apocalypse

Paying Bills during the Apocalypse

Dystopia, Sanity, Wholeness,
Peace, and my Goddess

September 12, 2020

Meme: The contrast between our dystopia and the continuance of my daily routine leaves me cleaved senseless between two worlds. I wonder if that is a form of insanity. ... No, it is an appropriate human response. But I don’t have to remain stuck in emotional devastation.—Francesca De Grandis

Back home, in California, some of my friends evacuated, fleeing primeval flames that roar across millions of acres. It’s like the moment of creation as scientists describe it, except my heart rails against humans and forests being included in the picture now—this is not science’s creation story, this is wrong.

The breadth of the blaze evokes the hell that brutalized my childhood: cartoon flames on tv accompanied by televised screams, supposedly from souls tortured forever by the devil.

It’s like the movies. Except Apocalypse is no longer a metaphor or threat. Our lands worldwide are so devastated that they can no longer hold illness in check and, instead, foster malaria and otherwise destroy health and happiness. The bad guys are in the service of a dictator, profit from the plague, thwart cures, and cheer cruelty on. Mother Earth is ill, with a temperature that is wildly ever-shifting. Desert-like heat is followed moments later by snow. Father Sky is red—not blue photographed through a scarlet lens.

But yesterday I counseled a client suffering from trauma that pre-dates Covid, Trump, and the rest of it. I helped my beloved client heal.

Then I created a recipe for chicken with rice, seasoned with jalapeños. I ignored dishes that need washing. I fed the cat. I remembered I need to make an appointment with the vet. I did The New York Times crossword puzzle.

Right now, I’m okay financially. But how long will I have employment? Will the money run out? Will I be without food? In a month, when I look outside my window, what is the world I will see? What will come pounding on my door? Today, I will pay bills. The pump on my well broke months back. I’ve been paying for the new pump on a payment plan. I wondered momentarily whether I should continue to pay these big sums of money for the pump, since I do not know how long money will continue to come in. I believe in being responsible and decided to continue to pay, the same way I have been able to for decades.

This morning, as I’ve done almost every morning for forty years, I asked my Goddess to guide and protect me through the day, and to help me be of service. And then, as I’ve also done near every morning, I sat with Her as we planned my day.

The contrast between our dystopia and the continuance of my daily routine leaves me torn in two yet numb. I am cleaved senseless between two worlds. I wondered if that is a form of insanity. No, it is an appropriate human response.

Last night I dreamt I was back in London with my dear Fred, who is like a brother to me. In the dream, he was ill, and I said I’d stay to take care of him.

In waking life, I’m disabled so need care myself. But dreamtime me was able-bodied.

Oh, there I was, back with Fred and in his beautiful home. With me was a childhood friend—in waking life, we’re estranged—who has had a hard life, and now I was able to house her in one of London’s posh neighborhoods.

In waking life, Fred is in a nursing home in Austria.

Before sleep last night, I’d psychically sent him a message. “Would you do prosperity magic for me?” I live a charmed life, which helps my money spells work great, but Fred has the best money mojo I know, and he’s done prosperity spells for me in the past.

Upon waking, I pulled the feeling of the dream into my belly, doing so as an enchantment to maintain—and help me embody—the prosperity energy the dream created.

Last week, I dreamt I still lived in California, before it was a child’s vision of hell. In the dream, my friends Kathleen and Qin still lived there too. I was visiting them for Thanksgiving dinner. Usually my dreams are anxious or bizarre—good bizarre or bad bizarre. But this dream was ordinary. It was just nice. And boring, as Thanksgiving sometimes is. Then they courteously saw me to the door, and I said goodbye, annoyed at the prospect of the long exhausting train ride to San Francisco, because I knew a car ride to the city would’ve been quick.

Two dreams now, that were neither peculiar nor distressing, just simple, happy, precious time with dear friends.

The visits also symbolized a deep peace I have found, a greater calm than I’ve ever had. Odd as it may sound, I am happier than I’ve ever been. I’ve had to work so hard to fend off misery that the mega-efforts resulted in happiness. Some details about that:

Terrible depression, desperation, and hopelessness were threatening me constantly because there is so much horror in the world, and serious things hanging over my head in my specific life—no need to list them here, but they’re bad. So I’ve been spending as much time in ritual as possible to continually renew and center myself, and let the Goddess keep empowering, calming, and guiding me. This is keeping me overall sane, productive, and happy.

Mind you, I bounce from happiness to misery a few days later, and then back to happy again. It’s sane to feel awful when situations are awful. But I’d remain stuck in emotional devastation, permanently immobilized, if I wasn’t spending so much time in ceremony. Doing a lot of ritual is keeping me on an even keel and happy, overall. Life is good and bountiful.

And the abundance of rites keeps me clearheaded and capable when it comes to warding off the possible problems hanging over me. And if they do come down on me, I’ll be at my best to face them down.

I also focus as much as possible on serving others. That automatically opens me in a way that gives the Goddess a chance to bless me with peace, wholeness, abundance, and safety.

I believe Her love for me exists in every atom. Every atom is magic. Magic is the living presence of the Goddess’ love.

If I serve others, am honest about my moral shortcomings, and maintain some other spiritual and magical disciplines, that ever-present magic can bless me and carry me toward my dearest goals.

That does not mean that life, with all its terrors, stops.

Speaking only for myself, I must accept life as it is, if I am to have peace and power. With all the spiritual work I’ve been doing lately, I reached a new level of acceptance that’s so beautiful and that I’ve wanted for decades. And then, the past few days, I have been sulking instead of accepting, feeling everything is futile. Such is the spiritual path: the ridiculous shift from transcendence to pouting, to despondency to on-top-of-the-world.

Today, I do not feel good. I do not feel happy. But last night I was near immobilized, and today I can write.

Only a few nights ago, I prepared a late dinner with fried green tomatoes from my garden. I meditated on serving community in ways that honor the child-me who wanted to be sprinkled with starlight. Brewed up a concoction of marshmallow root and Lungs of the Forest to strengthen my lungs should I get Covid. (Isn’t Lungs of the Forest a beautiful name for an herb?) Right this minute, I drink in the energy of that evening, put it into my belly and chest and all my cells, and sit here happy, at least for the moment.

I commit to keep on living my life full tilt, whether with battle cry, tears, laughter, serenity, misery, silliness, or joyous song. So mote it be!

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The Muse Is Kind

The Muse Is Not a Harsh Mistress.  She’s a Supportive Goddess. Authors Rebecca Buchanan and Francesca De Grandis discuss the Muse, inspiration, and creativity as part of the everyday.

The Muse Is Not a Harsh Mistress. She’s a Supportive Goddess.

The Muse, Inspiration, and Creativity as Part of the Everyday

There’s a common sentiment that creativity is something foreign to all but a few individuals and has very little to do with daily life. It is also a common idea that creativity must always be a grueling process.

I’ll admit, sometimes it is grueling, but that doesn’t mean it’s grueling per se. Anything in life can get tough.

I asked Rebecca Buchanan to chat with me about all this and other topics dear to me.

Rebecca’s poems and short stories have been published in a wide variety of venues. She is also editor of the Pagan literary ezine, Eternal Haunted Summer and editor-in-chief of Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Here’s our conversation:

Francesca De Grandis: The well-known phrase “The muse is a harsh mistress” is not part of my belief system. The Goddess is a kind Muse. She is creator and creation, and loving Mother to us all. I find Her gentle, loving, and supportive.

The Goddess in Her guise as Muse guides everyone in the way that best suits them. For example, in my case, She guides both the left and right brain parts of my writing. If I’m channeling words and ideas, She’s guiding, and if I’m editing the material I channeled, She’s still guiding.

Tell me a bit about your relationship with the Muse, Rebecca.

Rebecca Buchanan

Rebecca Buchanan: The Muse never comes to me the same way twice. She comes as Story/Stories. Sometimes the story is complete, beginning to end, with the characters and world fully developed. Other times, I only get a single scene or character, and I have to work the rest of it out from there. Sometimes the Muse—as Story—is content to wait. I jot down a few notes and a rough sketch, and I can let it sit for a while. Other times, she is very impatient; the story has to be written *right now*.

I have never found her to be harsh. Demanding, yes, in a way that encourages me to stretch and grow as a writer; but never harsh.

FDG: I believe the Goddess as Muse wants everyone to find inspiration in their own way. For example, I don’t wait to be inspired before writing. If I did that, I might never write. If I sit down to write, the inspiration comes.

Sure, at first I might write something I don’t like, but the sheer act of writing opens my heart, so the Muse can connect with me, and then something worthwhile can get written. Then I throw out the material I don’t like.

Or perhaps I just need to get something off my chest, so I write it down, and never show it to anyone. But having written it, my heart is open to the Muse so I can then write something to share.

Or the material I don’t like is the beginning of something yummy; perhaps there was something I want to express, and I could only do a bad job of it. But once it’s written, then I can do an edit to express it well. 

How do you find inspiration? How do inspiration and your writing practices interact?

RB: I write both by inspiration and against deadlines; both have their advantages and drawbacks. And sometimes the same story is a bit of both.

When I write by inspiration, I feel like the story is coming from someplace else. Those are often the easiest write, as long as I stay out of the way. I just sit and type and let the story come. If I try to force the story in a direction it doesn’t want to go, it all comes to a screeching halt. I have to go back and delete everything that shouldn’t be there, and pick up the thread of inspiration again. I’ve noticed that my inspired stories are most often faerie tales and creation myths.

I also write against deadlines. This can be fun, but also stressful. If I find an interesting call for submissions, I start thinking about the kind of story that might fit those guidelines. I let the ideas stew for a bit, and finally sit down to write just before the deadline (usually a week, sometimes two, depending on the word count). I’ve written stories I never otherwise would have come up with on my own thanks to various calls for submissions, so I think inspiration works its way in here, too.

And while I would like to say that I do all of my writing in a quiet, beautifully-maintained study or home library, such is not the case. I have a lot of books, but they are scattered through every room in the house. I do most of my writing on the living room couch, with any books I need stacked on a tv tray next to me. There is a very obvious butt-shaped dent in the couch and, I’m sure, there are more than a few M&Ms lost between the cushions.

FDG: Heh, snacking and writing go hand-in-hand for me, too. And I wonder if a writer exists who writes only in one place. Heck, I’m often writing in my head when I go for walks.

About creativity as part of everyday life:

Everyone has their own perspective on creativity. I strongly believe creativity is part of life. The act of writing isn’t for an elite. Writing can’t just be trapped in books. Whether someone writes in a journal that no one ever reads, or publishes bestsellers, or improvises silly songs to sing to their children, or carefully crafts sentences of loving concern to speak to a spouse who’s lost their job, it’s all vital and beloved by the Muse.

I’m very driven creatively: I’ll spend eleven years writing a book. And have been blessed with a few best sellers. But I’ll spend twelve years writing a curriculum that only ten people will ever learn from me. And they may never actually read the curriculum. Most curriculums I teach outside of my books are taught orally. The Muse is part of my everyday life.

Devotion to wordsmithing opens up my overall creative power, so I’m more able to create a better life for myself and help others do the same. It’s as if striving toward high ideals as a writer is an alchemical act that makes me a better creator of my own destiny and of a better world for everyone.

Link to newsletter subscription formDevoting myself to wordsmithing in oral material allows spontaneity in my classes. It might seem to some people that wordsmithing and spontaneity cannot go hand-in-hand, but at least in my practice they come together to create the sacred joyous moment. (Dear reader, for more about my classes, subscribe to my free newsletter. Click the box to the right.)

However, my creative approach isn’t right for everyone. Everyone has their own creative path. The different paths might be completely tangential to each other. Yet they all result in contributions to the universe, and they are all sacred.

Tell me something about your creative path.
I strongly believe creativity is part of life. The act of writing isn’t for an elite. Writing can’t just be trapped in books. Whether someone writes in a journal that no one ever reads, or publishes bestsellers, or improvises silly songs to sing to their children, or carefully crafts sentences of loving concern to speak to a spouse who’s lost their job, it’s all vital and beloved by the Muse.—Francesca De Grandis

RB: “Alchemical act” is a very good way of phrasing it. I have definitely found that creativity in one aspect of my life bleeds over into other areas, though there is an ebb and flow to it.

My primary creative outlet is writing, mostly short stories and poems, but I also garden and bake. Creating fictional worlds has, in a twisty round-about way, made me more invested in and aware of the physical world. My fictional worlds are places where justice wins the day, beauty and truth overcome ugliness and lies, and love leads to healing and acceptance. If my fictional worlds can be like that, why can’t the real world? Why can’t I create a yard filled with bright blooms and nourishing fruits and vegetables? Why can’t I sit on my front porch and watch the butterflies and hummingbirds feast on the flowers I planted? Why can’t I bake good things for my friends and family to feed their bodies and souls? Why can’t everyone enjoy that kind of peace and beauty? Why can’t everyone have the opportunity to live in a better world?
Creativity in one aspect of my life bleeds over into other areas. My primary creative outlet is writing, but I also garden and bake. Creating fictional worlds has made me more invested in the physical world. My fictional worlds are places where justice wins the day, beauty and truth overcome ugliness and lies, and love leads to healing and acceptance. If my fictional worlds can be like that, why can’t the real world? Why can’t I sit on my front porch and watch the butterflies and hummingbirds feast on the flowers I planted? Why can’t everyone enjoy that kind of peace and beauty? Why can’t everyone have the opportunity to live in a better world?—Rebecca Buchanan

FDG: Yes yes yes! You so get what I’m talking about. Whether it’s a Pagan liturgy or short story, writing it makes me more able to implement the vision I express in that piece of writing. As I write it, the Muse blesses me so that I can be a force for good.

Mind you, the writing alone is not enough. I also have to look inside myself and, for example, see what inside me is blocking that blessing, or blocking my ability to be a positive force.

So, what’s your latest creative project?

RB: So many creative projects! I have two novels in the works, but they are going slowly as I am focused on my short stories and poems right now. The short stories that currently demand my attention include an alternate version of World War II featuring a priestess of Oceanus and Tethys who repeatedly finds herself up against nasty fascists trying to conquer the world; an urban fantasy set in an alternate present where the Veil Between the Worlds has been ripped to shreds; and a science fiction story in which the Roman Republic never fell and went on to colonize the rest of the solar system.

Plus lots and lots of poems.

FDG: Anything else you want to add?

RB: I am also an editor and contributing writer for ev0ke: witchcraft*paganism*lifestyle. For the past year, the zine has been hosted by Medium. Unfortunately, their terms and conditions have changed, giving Medium rights to everything that appears through that service. The bad news is that we have to take the site down and relocate it to WordPress. The good news is that allows us to change our format. We’ll be relaunching on 1 October 2020 as a monthly zine with brand new short stories, poems, essays, pop culture commentary, reviews, and interviews. Some of the content will be free (such as the reviews and interviews), and some of it will be subscription only. We’re hoping to attract a small stable of contributors through a share of the subscription fees (and profits from our shop) — so if there are any witchy, Pagan, or polytheist writers out there who are interested in a supportive, friendly venue in which to feature their work, don’t hesitate to email me at lyradora@yahoo.com.

FDG: It’s been wonderful talking with you. I feel we have so much in common. Thanks for doing this with me, especially when you’re uber-busy getting your new zine going.

RB: Thank you very much for having me!

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Join me in Powerful Fun Ritual

Join me in Powerful Fun Ritual: The Alphabet Oracle Deck Shamanic Journey—Seven Weeks of Fairy Magic for Anything in Your Life

The Alphabet Oracle Deck Shamanic Journey

Fairy Magic for Your Whole Self

Begins Sunday August 30.

Enrollment ends August 26.

To celebrate the release of my new deck, I’m offering a special event.

Magic for Anything in Your Life

For seven weeks, we’ll meet once a week for a magic adventure—a journey into Faerie realms for the change, power, luck, inspiration, and guidance you need right now.

Each week, when we meet, I’ll use the Alphabet Oracle Deck to divine what ritual will best serve us. (If you don’t know about my Alphabet Oracle Deck, click here: https://outlawbunny.com/2020/08/13/the-alphabet-oracle-deck/)

For example, I might use cards from the deck as prompts to spin an impromptu fairy tale—a myth we enter into with the Magna Mater, Great Mother of All Things, that She may grant our wishes, bless us, and guide us about worldly and spiritual matters.

As a bard and fairy witch, I love to channel on-the-spot rituals for a group. Many participants can testify how powerfully relevant and useful these rituals are for them.

Many Magics to Support Material Success and Spiritual Strength:

1) The aspects of the weekly ritual I already described. Plus:

2) Spiritual transmissions, in every meeting.

Spiritual transmissions are an ancient Faery Faith method I use to bless you. The blessings tailor themselves to what you need each week, e.g., hope or confidence. Transmissions also add good luck to your life overall, increase the serenity, strength, and safety of your shamanic journey, increase the power of our magic, and deepen personal growth.

The rituals—including the transmissions—the Goddess channels through me meet you where you are and support whatever spiritual and material goals you’re working toward.

3) One or more mini-readings. At least once during our seven weeks, you receive a one-on-one reading during circle, to support and streamline your journey to power.

4) Your own copy of The Alphabet Oracle Deck, should you want to use it during or between meetings, and after our seven weeks end. You receive a PDF to print and cut up to make your own Alphabet Oracle Deck. You also receive the six page PDF booklet that accompanies the deck.

I won’t teach how to use the deck. This is not a class. And, while using the deck to guide our journey, I won’t spell out the steps of my process. That’d require years to convey.

However, if you learn by watching, you’ll probably find substantial lessons about how to use the deck. In fact, the deck’s booklet doesn’t explain how to use the deck as prompts to channel rituals, but you might learn a bit about that by watching me.

5) One-on-one support by phone, should you want to privately discuss a problem, have a concern that’d take too long to discuss in a group meeting, or years later have questions about our seven weeks. I commit to my students.

Note: I reduced photos to make this page load quickly, which blurs photos’ details. The oracle deck has crisp, clear detail.

A Mystical Connection with the Cosmos in All Its Power

We are part of a larger whole: everything in existence is woven together. Our seven weeks of ritual’ll weave with the greater whole wonderfully—all parts of the dance of life empowering the rest of the dance, including our efforts toward our personal goals. 

E.g., our journey will weave with everything you ever achieved before you met me, what you currently do on your own outside of your work with me, and with the world’s many individuals serving good, plus the weave of all things, which is the manifestation of the Goddess in all Her love. Every part of the weave feeds every other part, making it more powerful—including the work we will do in The Alphabet Oracle Deck Shamanic Journey—and any work we do feeds the beauty of all the cosmos. 

Every week, we will feel this weave experientially, our spirits joining in the cosmic dance of life. 

Can’t wait to see where we go and what we accomplish.

The Great Mother Goddess Is the Weaver and the Weave

Here’s more about the weave of all things being the manifestation of the Goddess in all Her love. It’s another way of looking at the weave of all things:

The Great Mother Goddess has everything in Her. And Her living presence is in everything and is pure magic. So enchantment flows through all existence. In our weekly visits, we’ll settle us into that immense, everpresent flow of magical Goodness, whereby She can take wonderful care of us, addressing our practical and spiritual needs.

Examples:

* She grants luck, magical power, and pivotal insights about our mundane affairs.

* She gives both mystical and practical guidance that helps us fulfill our dreams, find joy, and serve others well.

* She holds us safe in our sacred journey.

Fun Is Sacred and Empowering

With the release of the Alphabet Oracle Deck, I wanted to have fun with it, while also making substantial spiritual and practical headway in my life. The idea of a seven-week Alphabet Oracle Deck shamanic journey came to me.

Fun is not mere frippery. Call it fun, call it ecstatic spirituality, but it is a mystic journey with down-to-earth results.

Our cells will dance. You might find yourself laughing from sheer joy.

The fun will help us each be renewed by starlight, filled with sunshine and clarity of purpose, and able to focus on pursuing our happy hearts’ desires, less distracted by naysayers, haters, worry, resentment, or other impediments. The fun will also help us each settle ourselves into the Divine synchronicity—or call it magic—that opens the doors we need opened.

The group meets by phone. Just dial your phone to participate.

We meet seven consecutive Sundays, 3:00 to 4:00 pm EST, starting August 30. Reserve Sunday Oct 18, same time, for a makeup session in case I’m unavailable for one of the planned sessions.

Total cost for everything— everything–I’ve described is $400. Your service provider might charge you for the call. If you’ve already purchased the deck, I cannot refund that portion of the event cost.

Pay securely with PayPal. Choose one of two options:

1) Use the Pay Now button below to send me $400, and you’re taken care of!

Ignore the drop-down menu option for “half-price if you participated in this event before.” This event is brand new.


Options




2) Or use the Subscribe button to make two equal payments of $200, one now and a second one automatically a month later. Easy!





Upon payment, your place is reserved. A few days before the first meeting, you receive event phone number and other details by email. No refunds. To discuss payment plan, trade, reduced tuition, or scholarship, or if you have other concerns, call me.

Diana is the manifestation of the Magna Mater Who wants to join in our meetings.

Diana,
Magna Mater,
Creator of all,
Patron Goddess of Italian witches,
and Queen of the Fey folk,
may Your beauty and kindness
create paths to this event,
so individuals whom it’ll serve well
might come upon it.
All Gods I hold dear,
please help make these paths.
Thank you.

Francesca De Grandis is the best selling author of “Be a Goddess!” Her work couples Goddess mysticism with practical magic and a down-to-earth philosophy. Raised in a traditional Strega family tradition that has Celtic shamanism in its heritage—the family is originally from France—she practices an ancient European witchcraft that is a form of Fairy shamanism.

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The Alphabet Oracle Deck

The Alphabet Oracle Deck

I’m excited to announce The Alphabet Oracle Deck is available for purchase.

What Is The Alphabet Oracle Deck

Best way to start explaining the deck is to tell you how it came about.

For a couple of years, I worked on calligraphing a pen and ink alphabet—capital letters only. I added watercolor to some of the last letters I penned.

When wanting to do divination, I look to whatever is at hand, whether it’s a tarot deck, pack of playing cards, bunch of safety pins that happen to be next to me for a sewing project, a gum wrapper fallen on the road, or the license plate of a passing car. The Goddess speaks through everything.

So it was inevitable I’d realize I could turn my pen and ink letters into alphabet oracle cards for myself.

No, there is no such thing as alphabet oracle cards or alphabet divination, that I know of. Until now. I made them up.

I actually researched for similar things online and found nothing. That’s kind of exciting for me.

It’s doubly exciting for me because I love using the Ogham alphabet for divination, so much so that I made two Ogham alphabet card sets. And now I’m getting to use another alphabet to receive Divine guidance.

The years of making the alphabet bit by bit were followed by the goodly amount of effort it took to scan the letters and digitally arrange the scans together just so, so I could print the whole deck on my home printer on only three 8&1/2” X 11” sheets of card stock. Quality card stock is pricey so I wanted to use only a few sheets. Then came a lot more work because it took a ridiculously long time to create a digital file that’d print with sharp detail instead of blurring. But I finally made a PDF of the scanned letters that prints beautifully. Whew! All the work was worth it because when I divine with the cards, they make me smile.

How to Make Your Alphabet Oracle Deck

Like many artists who find pleasure in a project they did, I want to share that pleasure. I decided to sell a PDF of my Alphabet Oracle Deck so someone could print and hand cut it, for a deck for themself.

You need only three 8&1/2” X 11” sheets of paper or, ideally, card stock. I used a pricey matte finish card stock. Printing on regular paper won’t result in the best reproduction, but if plain paper is all you have for now, go for it! Maybe make another deck with card stock later.

Don’t have access to a color printer? Heck, print black-and-white. This is a very go-with-the-flow deck.

Instead of making a PDF with the letters in precise rows, I had the idea to arrange them organically. Therefore, cards aren’t made by cutting in straight lines to make rectangles. The cutting has to be organic. I wanted that natural look, and took care to arrange the letters so there is enough white space between every letter for curved cutting. Hearth art is heart art!

The cards are intentionally different shapes and sizes.

To make my deck, I hand cut lines around each letter, and it was satisfying to try to curve the lines in whatever ways most suited my eyes.

You get to go with the flow by hand cutting as suits you, and by not worrying about cutting perfectly. It’s all good.

I sized the PDF’s letters to make a mini-deck, so it’s easily at
hand. A while back, I made two different mini-decks for
Ogham divination, which students of my Ogham divination
course receive. My friend and student, Jenelle Campion, told
me she keeps one of the Ogham decks “in my wallet in case I
need a reading on-the-go.” That made me feel so good, and
affirmed my belief in the practicality of mini decks.

How to Use the Alphabet Oracle Deck

This is a good set of cards for someone who reads cards intuitively instead of by following a book. Your deck comes with instructions that don’t include a meaning for each card. Instead, there are simple brief explanations of how to use the deck for:
* intuitive readings to gain guidance you need
* contemplations to center and empower you
* writing prompts
* creative prompts for other art projects

Purchase Information

List price: $20
Price: $13.99

You receive an email with the links to download the deck and its companion guide, usually within 24 hours of purchase. Download links remain good for two weeks.

Links are for two PDFs that have gorgeous detail and clarity in their art, far superior to the examples on this site, which blurs graphics.

1) One PFD is the three pages you print to make your deck.

2) The other PDF is the deck’s six-page companion guide. It contains a lot of the information that’s in this post, as well as two pages of simple instructions for using your deck. The pages are beautifully ornamented by some of the deck’s letters.

Please note before purchase, if you live outside the U. S: I sized the PDF images to make printing on 8&1/2” x 11” sheets provide nice visual results. I don’t know how to print the PDFs prettily on other paper sizes. If you live where 8&1/2” x 11” sheets or the printers for them are uncommon, I leave it to you to know whether you can print the PDFs in a way that pleases you, and will not refund you if you aren’t pleased with your decision.

Pay securely with PayPal. I request your phone number in case there’s a problem emailing you the download links:


Please enter your phone number



The deck and its guide are Copyright 2020 Francesca De Grandis. Author/artist retains copyright of the deck and accompanying literature, all rights reserved.

Purchase grants buyer permission to make a few decks they themselves will use for readings.

Resale, altering for resale, or giving someone the deck—whole or in part, in any form, including digitally or without monetary gain—without prior written permission of the author/artist is illegal and bad mojo.

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A Seven-Week Fairy Witch Ritual

Magic For Business Success

Spells & Wisdoms for Career, Money, & Self-fulfillment

Join in this very witchy seven-week ritual. I mean witchy in the sense of nitty-gritty, practical magic combined with starlit Goddess mysticism. Apply shamanism to business so you profit and serve in your dream career.

Begins Thursday August 20.

Enrollment ends August 12.

Here are lies I’ve been told to keep me from succeeding:
* You have to put your vision of your ideal career aside. It is impractical.
* Your work is too innovative and ahead of the curve to succeed. Products or services that come from the heart won’t sell.
* To be a successful professional artist (or healer, etc), you have to sell out.
* A zillion people promote their work online. You can’t compete with that.
* Promoting your work will be impossible for you because you’re an introvert.
* You can’t start a business unless you have a lot of money to invest in it.
* Your dreamer visions of service will keep you from succeeding in business.
* You can’t serve your community by expressing yourself through doing what you love for a living.
* Choosing joy and expressing yourself are selfish.

And those are the tip of the iceberg.

Don’t let naysayers and marketing “experts” make you doubt yourself.

If you want to earn a good living doing what you love, while making a positive difference in your professional capacity, this event is tailored for you.

For example, if you want to sell art, spiritual classes, or vintage jewelry, or be a professional psychic, coach, or doula, or be innovative in the way you offer more typical services or goods, Magic For Business Success has the shamanic rituals and wisdoms to succeed.

Our seven-week shamanic journey helps your unique nature, your commitment to serve in an ethical business, and your desire to enjoy life combine with financial success doing what you love for a living.

As a Fairy witch, I believe happiness, service, and self-care (self-care includes abundance and enjoying my workday) are not opposed to each other but are all part of a beautiful dance. I believe our work day can be mega fun, and there is no authentic spiritual dictate that our work lives must be constant pain.

Whether you’re wondering whether to start a business, already have one that’s struggling, or run a successful one you want to take a step further, Magic For Business Success is perfect. Faerie magic to create profit and peace for free-thinking, heart-centered you.

You needn’t procrastinate or give up just because it is easy to be confused about:
* how to implement your vision
* what to charge
* how to promote your work
* whether your work is good enough
* how to run an ethical business when you only see unethical promotion work
* how to be of service while also taking care of yourself

The seven week event helps you push through—or even circumnavigate—such confusion and doubt. Inner power!

You can cleave to your vision of creating a product or service that you believe is valuable, and get it out in the world, with financial success.

If I sound too foo-foo to be practical, I can assure you that using magic, running an ethical business, and following my dream career helped my book Be a Goddess! become a longtime bestseller and has allowed me to pay my bills by being a professional shaman for decades. Magical spells can be practical. Ethics don’t leave me lagging behind the competition.

You’ll learn magic rooted in the mystical, ethical business perspective that has centered me into self-confidence, Divinity guiding my work, monetary success, and joy.

Shamanic ritual empowered me to serve community in the profession of my choice, even though I am an introvert, painfully shy, had paralyzing fears and self-doubt, and faced immense economic challenges, competitors who played soooo nasty, and other major road blocks. Magic for success!

The Magna Mater, Great Mother Goddess Who created all, gives me the strength to do it my way. She’ll hold us safe, empower us, and give us good luck in this seven-week sacred circle.

Her living presence is in everything and is pure magic. That enchantment flows through all existence. Magic For Business Success helps settle us into that immense, everpresent flow of Goodness, whereby She can take wonderful care of us.

We will also work with another of the Old Gods: the ancient Celtic Goddess of commerce and marketing.

Ancient shamanic business models will guide us. Way back, studying urban anthropology, I became fascinated by the ancient MetzoAmerican concept of marketplace, because it was integrated with city temples as well as with sacred goods.

Our seven-week circle is based in those sacred commerce models so their powerful ancient forces can empower you today.

We’ll be rooted in our ancestors’ lore and magic in our every step. Faerie magic! Goddess witch spells!

During every meeting, I also give a spiritual transmission. Spiritual transmissions are an old Faery Faith method I use to bless you. The blessings tailor themselves to what you need each week, e.g., regaining hope and confidence. Transmissions also increase the power of our magic and the experiential depth of lessons.

My transmissions also increase the serenity, strength, and safety of your shamanic journey, further personal growth, and add luck to your process.

I’m also available for one-on-one support by phone, should you want to privately discuss a problem, or you have a concern that’d take too long to discuss in a group meeting.

The group meets by phone. Just dial your phone.

We meet seven consecutive Thursdays, 3:00 to 4:00 pm EST, starting Thursday August 20. Reserve Thursday Oct 8, same time, for a makeup session in case I’m unavailable for one of the planned sessions.

Tuition is $400. Your service provider might charge you for the call.

Pay securely with PayPal. Which of the following options work for you?

1) Use the Pay Now button below to send me $400, and you’re taken care of!

The drop-down menu lets you pay half-price if you participated in this event before. I radically changed its title and description because they didn’t represent the event as well as I’d like. It used to be called Shamanism of the Marketplace: A Seven-Week Ritual Empowerment that Helps Healers and Other Entrepreneurs Promote, Profit, and Serve.


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2) Or use the Subscribe button to make two equal payments of $200, one now and a second one automatically a month later. Easy!





Upon payment, your place is reserved. A few days before the first meeting, you receive event phone number and other details by email. No refunds. To discuss payment plan, trade, reduced tuition, or scholarship, or if you have other concerns, call me.

A personal aside: I had decided not to offer more business empowerment events because not many people sign up for mine. Most people think of me exclusively in terms of the Goddess, not in terms of business. But the Goddess has everything in Her. And She is in everything. The mysticism in Goddess witch spells is down-to-earth.

Luckily, when I lead my regular events, they help participants in every aspect of life.

But that’s not the same as magically focusing on business. I changed my mind and decided to offer Magic For Business Success at least this one more time because it feels more important than ever to support folks who cleave to moral practices in the marketplace. If there’s only a handful of us, we’ll be one powerful, special handful.

I believe in greatness. I want to support yours. Did you tell yourself “I’ll put this off until I’m ready?” This is how you get ready. And I may not lead this rite again.

Did you think, “I’ll wait till I have a business”? Or “I’ll wait till I know what business I want“? Enroll. Now. The ritual can help get your special business going.

Magna Mater, may Your beauty create a path whereby the individuals who will benefit immensely from this event can find it. Thank you.

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Career Success for Introverts

Magic Spells: Career Success for Introverts

Shamanism for the Introvert Entrepreneur

Note: As a person who is both introverted and shy, I do not consider shyness synonymous with being introverted. However, much, if not all of, this article can be applied quite effectively by folks who are shy.

I asked friends, “Would you like a blog about how shamanic ritual empowered me to serve community in the profession of my choice, despite my being both an introvert and painfully shy?

I was met by a resounding Yes. So here’s how introverts can use shamanic rituals and wisdoms to succeed in business.

Some individuals want to make a positive difference, in a professional capacity. For example, they want to sell art, or be a professional psychic, coach, or doula, or be innovative in the way they offer more typical services or goods. Such folks are often introverts. That can cause processional challenges. I’ve learned that, if I can overcome those problems, anyone can.

I spent my last lifetime as a monk who never left the library, never put my energy out into the world. This lifetime, one of my major life lessons has been to really become a part of and serve the larger community. That includes mundane chores, like learning how to sell online.

It has been a long process for me to integrate my quiet magical nature and commitment to run an ethical business with things like marketing my services, being interviewed in major media, and otherwise really putting myself out there.

I had to grow so much as a person, because I am very shy, a major introvert, and had paralyzing fears and self-doubt.

Below are four pivotal realizations I had in that journey. They help me serve others well in a professional capacity while also taking good care of myself.

Each realization is part of my shamanic philosophy as it applies to the marketplace. Please note: I often convey my philosophy through inference, instead of spelling it out.

Each realization is followed by a related magical spell.

About the combination of realizations (philosophy) and magic: I usually teach rituals in the context of a way of life. As I’ve carefully channeled rituals over the years, I’ve also carefully channeled a shamanic philosophy, which is tantamount to my sense of shamanic culture, because for me philosophy is live and embodied, not an abstract intellectual concept. I believe a spiritual and magical context is a foundation that empowers a magical spell. A success spell is a lot more powerful if rooted in the Tree of Life.

Shamanic Wisdom for an Introvert Entrepreneur. # 1:

An Introvert Can Run a Successful Business Their Own Way

Many introverts, when considering the best approaches to business, leave behind the ways they’ve managed to serve community and family quite well. How do you go about taking care of family, planning a party, choosing gifts for friends, or otherwise making your way through life? If it’s a successful approach, you might apply it to business.

How ever you manage life, don’t assume it won’t work when it comes to business. Do business your own way.

If you align yourself to methods and approaches that bend you out of shape, you’re in no shape to serve well and earn well. Your services, goods, and marketing won’t be your best.

I speak from experience. I’ll always be grateful that Be a Goddess! and some of my other books were best-sellers, since they were able to help a lot of people and give me name recognition that boosts my career today. However, dealing with corporate media burned me out badly. This significantly contributed to illness that left me with only months to live. I managed to recover (I now have a good 20 years left in me; more about that below) but serious health problems remain. E.g., I use a wheelchair.

Corporate media doesn’t fit my particular shy, reclusive nature so tended to exhaust and terrify me most of the time. I prefer fun. I was put on this planet to have fun and be of service.

Before I entered corporate media, I earned my living teaching Goddess Spirituality in my living room. It suited me beautifully.

After my media success, a marketing consultant advised me, “International authors do not teach small groups.” Instead, I was supposed to tour, lecturing.

But my heart is in working with small groups, in which I can really connect with wonderful individuals and do old-fashioned magic. So I continue to quietly teach small groups, in my living room, sitting in my rocking chair, earning my bread-and-butter, except now lessons are long distance. I’m really happy. I didn’t need corporate media before I entered it, and I don’t need it now.

Some creative folks, even if they succeed in media like I did, are better off arranging their lives so they have plenty of time for vitally important activities like playing with beads or wandering around in the forest looking for pretty pieces of wood. Moving to live with trees and making other significant changes to my lifestyle saved my life. Almost 70 years old, I get healthier every year.

Ritual #1: Magic to Run a Successful Business Your Own Way

The Goddess gives me the strength to do it my way. She is pure magic and utter love, so when I pray to Her, things change for the better. Often, it’s miraculous. Click this link for a liturgy to ask for Her help: https://outlawbunny.com/2019/07/29/the-tree-of-life-bestows-power-joy-and-wholeness/

Shamanic Wisdom for an Introvert Entrepreneur. # 2:

An Introvert Can Trust Their Business Ideas to Succeed

In other words, trust yourself. Don’t discount your own ideas out of hand. And let your intuition guide you.

An introverted child is often met by mockery and even hatred. They might be called a dreamer and told their thoughtful nature is unrealistic and absurd. Thoroughly discounted, they can internalize that by ignoring their creative impulses, ideas for marketing, dreamer view of what’s possible career wise, and dreamer view of how to market.

Not every idea is good, but if you squelch ideas automatically, you’re losing out on two of your greatest assets: your own fine mind and hunches.

The Muse and common sense will let me know what I’m meant to do. Part of trusting your fine mind is trusting your common sense.

Let yourself dream. Trust your dreams. And use your common sense.

Most introverts have an immense inner life and very thoughtfully perceive their circumstances and life as a whole. If that describes you, take advantage of it. If that doesn’t describe you, this shamanic wisdom and its related ritual work for almost anyone.

All the tips in this essay support you to do things your own way. So when the tips overlap, that’s good. They weave together.

Ritual #2: Magic to Trust Your Business Sense

Recite this affirmation. It is magic for success:

I trust my ideas and intuition.
I trust myself and the Muse.
I let myself dream.
I trust my dreams.
I trust my common sense.

Then pray:

Please transform my inner blocks that stand between You and me. Please guide my every step.

Inner blocks between self and Divinity includes blocks to trusting yourself. The Goddess’ living presence on earth is in everything, including self-trust. The prayer will help you with any problems discussed in this essay, as well as with any other part of your life.

If, like me, you constantly forget to trust yourself or otherwise stay on course, the above quick, effective prayer—done on its own without the affirmation—is a nice way to get the help needed.

Shamanic Wisdom for an Introvert Entrepreneur. # 3:

You Don’t Need to Be Everything to Everybody to Succeed in Business

You don’t have to please everyone, serve everyone, be everything to everyone.

Develop the products or services that come from your heart, not from the dictate that you have to suit everyone. Market your own way, coming from your heart, not from the dictate that you have to reach everyone, convince everyone, sell to everyone.

Many marketing “gurus” tell you that the more social media followers you have the better. But large numbers are not the end all be all. They don’t spell success.

I instead want the right clients. And they find me.

Trying to please everyone can have you scrambling and frantic. That can fry the nerves.

Be you. The right people will find you.

When I first started teaching, Goddess witch spells was an utterly obscure topic, and Faerie magic was an even rarer topic. Academics were teaching a more theoretical aspect of Goddess spirituality, but I was offering a traditional perspective on Her, which included combining the spiritual witch path with down-to-earth practical spells.

Today, a zillion people teach some form of Paganism online. But I managed to earn my living teaching Goddess spirituality way back when, sitting in my living room. Plenty of people must’ve thought I was crazy for talking about fairies and the Old Gods (and have you heard my song about being a changeling?), but plenty of other people signed up for my courses. My tribe found me.

Ritual #3: Draw Your Ideal Clients—Find Your Tribe

Supplies: three flowers or three separate photographs, each of a flower.

Step 1. Put one of the flowers or photographs in front of you.

Step 2. Recite aloud or in the quiet of your heart:

I am a beautiful flower.
I need my own style of growing and thriving.

Step 3. On each side of the flower or photograph in front of you, place one of other two flowers or photographs.

Step 4. Recite:

My beauty and uniqueness
attract other beautiful unique individuals.

My style of growing and thriving
makes my part of Gaia’s garden special,
attracting special people.
Thus I can serve them.
Our corner of the garden is beautiful,
happy with our shared activity
and our shared blossoming.

So mote it be!

Shamanic Wisdom for an Introvert Entrepreneur. # 4:

Stick to Your Guns, Keep Marketing, Keep Growing Spiritually

In other words, if you’re an independent thinker whose products or services meet immense resistance, stick to your guns by continuing to produce products or services you think are valuable, work at getting your work out into the world, and grow spiritually so you have the inner strength needed to remain true to yourself and keep at your business.

Mind you, sometimes resistance means you need to tweak something you’re offering. Sometimes, resistance can mean your offering is not needed by many people, or that the world is not ready for what you have to offer yet. But, too often, resistance simply indicates the status quo is fighting healthier alternatives that many individuals would embrace.

Here’s a personal story about that. It took about eight years before a publisher bought my book Share My Insanity because it goes against the hipper constructs of Western consciousness. I refer not just to the book’s ideas but also to the way the book is written. For one thing, every publisher said they didn’t have the faintest idea of what I was trying to pull off.  

It was awful to write from the heart and be told over and over that no one understood what I was doing. Eight years of rejections had me thinking that maybe I’d climbed into an ivory tower and could no longer write anything that had to do with actual reality. 

Finally, a publisher said, “ Share My Insanity is so accessible, yet so deep.” My gratitude to her is enormous.
I’m not telling you the story in order to complain. Getting published is a privilege. My point is: I choose to fight the good fight. Here’s a ritual to help with that.

Ritual #4: Business Success for an Introvert Entrepreneur

This spell can help you with almost any business challenge an introvert might have. You’ll see, in step one, how to apply the spell when your products or services meet resistance.

Step 1. Select a business challenge you want to address—specifically a problem related to being an introvert. The problem you choose can be your products or services meeting resistance.

If you haven’t started a business yet, this ritual is still relevant. Select a problem that’s keeping you from starting your business.

Even if you run a successful business, this ritual can be great. For example, perhaps you have challenges that you haven’t addressed. Or you mitigated a obstacle but want to stop it completely. Or you want to take your business a step further while taking good care of yourself.

Select only one problem. You can do the ritual again later for another challenge.

Step 2. Write the problem on a tiny scrap of paper. No need to word it perfectly. A rough idea written in a few words will do.

Step 3. Flush the paper down the toilet. If you’re concerned about clogging the pipes, cut the paper into tiny pieces. If you prefer, bring the paper outside, rip it up, and throw it in the air.

Step 4. Recite the following:
I let go of the paper.
I let go of the problem,
giving it to the magic that flows
through all of creation.

Step 5. Though the ritual ends with step 4, follow-through is needed: try to let go of the problem, to give the magic that abides in all of creation a chance to solve your dilemma.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take mundane actions to solve your problem. Just try not to obsess about it, worry yourself sick about it, or otherwise hold onto it so tightly that magic doesn’t get a chance to sweep it up and carry it away or otherwise fix it.

Successful business is usually portrayed as a matter of dominating a situation and always maintaining control of it. Some introverts find that exhausting because they often need to deal with life differently, and they understand that they’re part of a larger flow. This ritual has an additional benefit for them. It helps them all the more be part of a larger goodness that takes care of them.

This essay covered a few crucial aspects of how an introvert entrepreneur can use shamanism to succeed in their dream career. That’s a good beginning, but it’s a journey. Keep going, keep growing spiritually, and keep serving community while you also take good care of yourself.

You don’t have to go it alone. Purchase my book A Sacred Marketplace: Sell without Selling Out or Burning Out. It’s not just about marketing; it shares a life philosophy that helps with business as a whole. It can even help get a business going in the first place. If you’re not ready to start marking yet, the book can also get you ready, emotionally and practically.

The book is not for the introverted per se, but it works for shy introverted moi, so it might work for you. It works for a lot of different types of people.

Onward!

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Strega Solstice Ritual, 2020: The Tarantella

Summer Solstice, Strega style: come dance a tarantella. Goddess Diana—Faerie Queen—will bless our magic.

Summer Solstice, Strega style: come dance a tarantella.

We’ll do the tarantella to ward off and cure disease.

We’ll dance to ward off and cure spiritual plague.

Our taranta will reclaim our power and our ancestors’ wisdoms.

Goddess Diana, Faerie Queen, will bless our magic and merriment. (Traditional Italian witchcraft is a form of Faerie shamanism. There are many Faerie shamanic paths, historically speaking.)

The taranta is also known as tarantella.

We’ll meet June 18, 3:00 to 3:45 pm EST, for a Faerie midsummer dance ritual on Zoom. Isn’t midsummer festival a perfect time to dance unto joy and freedom?

If you’re shy or have disabilities: during the ceremony, dance variations are welcome. Heck, if you just want to sit and visualize yourself doing the dance, that’s powerful.

Zoom link and other information about joining in this free event will be in my next newsletter. Subscribe here: https://outlawbunny.com/newsletter/

You don’t need the following information in order to attend the rite, but here’s background for the magical spell we’ll do:

My mother, like many Fey-touched souls, was stalked at every turn by a society that hates magic. I see her story every day, around me and in myself.

But, this solstice, we’ll dance to shake off the psychic diseases with which society attempts to smother us like a blanket smothers a fire. Our fires will burn bright.

The sun will be at its highest—a perfect time to honor our inner fires and dance in the glow of the sun’s ascendancy to fuel our own.

My friend Jenn Campus (https://jenncampusauthor.com) posted a Youtube video on her Facebook account. Here’s the vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDzPQuTRnVk

I almost cried. Happy tears. Was blown away. My reaction to the dancing was subconscious and physical, beyond my mental grasp at first.

Something ancient, primal, and inherent in my atoms came forward. My conscious mind couldn’t comprehend it. My cells and subconscious alone recognized what was going on. Only in a while would I understand it on a cognitive level.

I longed to do the dance in the video. It was tarantella. My grandparents on my mother’s side used to do that dance at weddings. We’d all join in.

Piled on top of the video came the experience of reading the lyrics for the song the dancer had performed to. Geez.

Jenn gave me the lyrics. Halfway through reading them, I almost couldn’t breathe. I finally understand the expression It took my breath away. Those lyrics took my breath away. I couldn’t breathe for a moment.

Reading them, my experience was similar to how I’d been watching the dance. There was subconscious and physical impact, beyond my mental grasp. My cells and unspeaking self drank in what was utterly between the lines of the lyrics. I was still having trouble breathing after I finished reading. Click here for a translation. The one Jenn showed me moved me much more. To respect copyright, I’m not posting it here.

I love magic so much. … and watching the dancing and hearing/reading the song gave me back some big piece of my magic.

I decided to dance a tarantella for the first time in possibly decades. It wouldn’t feel right to do it alone. So I decided to invite you to a Zoom meeting. We can dance as fairy tribe.

Shortly after I first saw the dance video, my conscious mind started understanding. I thought of all my mother passed on to me, struggling to do so—and managing to do so—under the weight of oppression that she eventually succumbed to, with her cancer. I love my mom so much.

Some might find it a contradiction that she was an indomitable spirit who died of cancer at an early age. I don’t see it that way. Her immense spirit kept her alive that long. I love her so much for the fights she did win, and the fights she chose, including her finding ways. despite all, to pass on her unassailable spirit to me; without her, I would’ve been nothing, given what society and the rest of the family did to me when I was a child, But Toni (Mom) held my spirit.

The tarantella and song hold the energy that Mom was striving toward, often embodied, but too often had to let trickle through her fingers because she had to instead raise a fist to ward off constant assaults on her dignity, soul, and body.

And despite her struggles, you should’ve heard her laugh—it is one of the things I love most about my mother. She was an elegant, dignified lady … with a raucous laugh.

Goddess, I miss Toni. RIP Mom.

When my conscious mind even more completely understood, I found words for what my body and subconscious had realized:

The tarantella is a traditional Italian witchcraft dance, performed by Stregas for the reasons given above and more: to stop physical and spiritual plague, and to reclaim power, magic, sexuality, ancestors, their wisdoms, and their ways. The taranta creates wholeness. Utter wholeness.

That’s my belief. I don’t know if it’s been documented or not. I haven’t researched it, except on the otherworldly plane. Oppressors bury proof of empowering information.

I dislike that the dancer who performed extraordinarily in the video has not been named yet, at least not anywhere I searched online. If you find her name for me, please let me know. The difficulty of finding this dancer’s name speaks volumes to me about our modern world’s attitude toward the body and magic. Namelessness can be erasure, part of burying magical facts and joy.

But I did find this second video. It shows the woman’s face, which means the world to me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3e5IcAjrdA&feature=youtu.be

It might be surprise you that I hadn’t realized the full ritual nature of the dance until now, though I was raised in a Strega family tradition. I was an imperfect student. At times in my childhood, I rejected much of what Mom conveyed. In retrospect, I realize my subconscious embraced the tarantella as ritual, but that’s as far as it went.

An aside: here’s a story about visiting my deceased mother in an ancestral ritual. The post also discusses 1) a mother’s nurturing of her children despite they and she struggling under the weight of an oppressive society 2) why oppressors try to alienate us from the power of our mothers’ love. https://stardrenched.com/2017/09/18/ancestor-magic-mothers/

A ritual dance that can help manifest everything I listed above is no small thing. I felt nonetheless something larger, a reclamation of such enormity that my heart and cells could not stay still. A sacred frenzy is upon me.

Supposedly, the dance is named after the tarantula spider, whose bite makes people move bizarrely. But it must be the other way around; that’s what my body and spirit tell me. The sacred mandate to own one’s power is so powerfully physical that it looks like someone driven to wild movement by a tarantula. A holy fevered agitation has taken hold and will abate only if I dance until I release all bondage and more fully than ever become a glorious witch, holy woman, sexual Goddess, and delighted human. I’ll dance tarantella until I’m completely whole.

Everything in me longs to dance a taranta again. Everything.

Join me.

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A sacred frenzy is upon me, the mandate to own my power. This fevered agitation will abate only if I dance until I release all bondage and more fully than ever become a glorious witch, holy woman, sexual Goddess, and delighted human. I’ll dance tarantella until I’m completely whole.

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Breath Work and Sound Healing Classes

Lately, more people are talking to me about speaking—and living—their truths:
“I want to say what I really think.”
“I want the confidence to be me.”
“I want to express my creativity.”
“I want to be of service.”
“I want to live my truths more than ever.”
“I make a positive difference for people but want to do more.”
“I don’t know what I believe in anymore.”
“Everything feels so uncertain.”
“I’m not sure who I am anymore.”
“I’m a pretty together person, but I feel powerless today.”
“ Everyone tells me thinking big is stupid. But I believe in a world where I can do something huge.”

Two upcoming courses help with all those concerns:

Learn Shamanic Breath Work and Sound Healing

These Techniques Help You Live Your Truths, Express Your Beauty, & Own Your Power

The above painting represents a sacred circle of individuals who are speaking and living their truths of morality, compassion, joy, service, and more.

As a shamanic guide and ritualist, I want my work to support and strengthen such individuals and those struggling to become one. So mote it be!

Please join me in one or both of the upcoming courses if you want to embody your beliefs and wisdoms.

In these upcoming courses, you’ll learn to apply Sacred Breath and Sound techniques to find and stand on the solid ground innate in you—including the beliefs that make you unstoppable and confident, keep you going despite challenges, and affirm your magical and mundane ability to manifest what you want.

And you’ll receive many other benefits, described below in pink text and the boxed class outlines.

Perhaps you lose sight of your truths, were never sure of them, or have another problem with them. If you’re like me, you can forget the magnificent powerful competent person you are. You can forget what you trust in.

Some days, I constantly move into that uncertainty. If fear, other inner blocks, or circumstances distract me from the wonderful things I deep down know to be true about myself and life, I use practices that I’ll teach you. They settle me back into the reality that I believe in deep down. These methods also return me to my most effective, happy, giving self.

Holy Mother, Holy Father, Your breath moves upon the atoms of our being. Help us not resist.  May our cells dance to the rhythm of Your heartbeat. Francesca De Grandis

Our exhalations, inhalations, and the sound of our heartbeats can weave with the exhalations, inhalations, and heartbeats of Gods. Then we can saturate our beings with joyful health and join in Gaia’s dance of abundance, strength, and kindness.

What is breath work?

Breathwork is the use of breathing exercises to transform yourself and the world. In the particular methodology I created, we also honor our natural, innate breathing patterns and, in the process, learn self acceptance and more, which I’ll discuss below.

Course One: Breathing Your Truths. Learn shamanic breath techniques that empower you to * Convey your truths—from standing up for yourself and others, to telling a friend they’re wonderful, to selling your paintings. * Be your most powerful self consistently. * Express yourself as a free spirit, artist, innovator, or otherwise. * Love and honor yourself exactly as you are.

We’ll also learn how breath work supports sacred sound techniques, but the course emphasis is the breath.

Historically, breath work has been overly complex to the point of being intimidating. It’s also been foreign to our physical makeup, thus systematically—and thoroughly—alienates practitioners from their bodies, spirits, and the immense, easily accessed shamanic potency in their innate breathing patterns.

My breathwork is atypical. I believe our natural breath is sacred just as it is. You’ll learn to unlock and support that most natural breathing, and use my simple, transformative methods that rely on natural breaths.

I also believe that whatever one’s breathing is like, it is sacred. We’ll work with that in the course.

I combine simple methods with more technical and complex ones. More about that below.

What is sound healing?

Sound healing is using vocalization and other noises to create positive shifts in yourself and your environment. Sound rituals can be loud or subtle. Ancestors hear the echo of my quietest breath and respond by blessing me. My heart’s a drum calling tribe, “Come! Come!” Sound is magic.

Course Two: Heart Drum. Learn shamanic sound techniques to: * Journey within, where the entire cosmos resides, that all powers may be yours. * Drench body and spirit with health and delight. * Center into your core wisdoms. * Return to that sure knowledge when distracted by hurtful messages oppressors prefer you believe. * Align your cells with your truths so you can embody them. * Follow through on visions of serving others. * Live in the real, where Gods take care of you.

We’ll do some breath work that supports our sound healing, but this course’s emphasis is on sound.

Additional benefits from both courses:

The Old Gods’ love for us manifests as a flow of blessings throughout creation. My sound and breath rituals weave us into that flow, so prosperity and all other blessings can more easily come to us.

This is gentle work with tremendous results. E.g., certain breath exercises and resonances open our atoms—on all planes—to seeing our truths and embodying them with our individually unique paths to prosperity, love, peace, and more.

The classes also help us leave the past behind, enjoy the present, and move forward.

The system I developed for these courses isn’t available elsewhere. That might be obvious from reading this page, if you’re familiar with breath and sound work. If not, let’s look at two of many differences from typical approaches:

1) We’ll use shamanic rites I developed that support our breath and sound work, so they’re remarkably effective and happy-making.

2) I mentioned embracing the natural breath, the techniques I have built on that, and the benefits thereof. Here’s more about that: I sang professionally sans voice lessons. Then I received the vocal training for opera. The earlier experience revealed a need to create simple, natural breath and sound methodologies. The later experience taught me singers’ highly technical breath and sound techniques that inspire my more complex rites. So you’ll learn methods that range from the easy, powerfully effective to the more detailed polishing.

Before 2020 started, I made a commitment it’d be the year of speaking and living my truths more than ever. Then the pandemic hit.

I decided my commitment was all the more important if I was to survive, be happy, and be of service.

Journal Entry: Affirming Life and Eternal Truths, 2020-4-13

A supposed reality has been thrust upon me—a fabrication in which I am powerless and uncertain. My fears believe that lie is true.

But it is not real.

I refuse to live in a world defined by fear.

Today, I will live fully, in freedom, by living in the eternal and living in the moment.

I embrace eternity, by acknowledging that losses and joys
inevitably come.

I live in the moment, by accepting its losses and joys.

I find and honor the magic in the moment. I use it to make a better world, both for myself and others.

When my fear and selfishness distract me from what I hold dear, I will turn my attention to my truths:

I was put on this planet to serve the earth and all its children.

I was put on this planet to savor the earth and all its children.

My Gods want me to learn from my sorrows and my joys.

My Gods help me to live in freedom.

My Gods help me find certainty.

Goddess, today, please help me remember what eternal truths I need cleave to.

Both courses have three dynamic parts:

1) Experiential hands-on lessons, one per week, for three weeks. Lessons are via group phone calls. To participate, just dial your phone.

Enrollment limited to 16 people so participants who want individualized attention can receive it.

2) I’m available for one-on-one support by phone, should you want to privately discuss a problem, or you have a concern that’d take too long to discuss in class.

3) Direct spiritual transmissions for three weeks, five days a week.

“Spiritual transmission” can mean different things. I don’t do anything to you; I don’t inject you with energy, rearrange your energy, or even dust off your aura. I simply give off a blessing energy during a transmission, much like burning incense gives off specific magical energies in a room.

One of each week’s transmissions is during the group lessons, deepening experiential learning.

Between meetings, transmissions settle you further into your truths, ideals, powers, and beauty.

My transmissions also increase the serenity, strength, and safety of your shamanic process, further personal growth, and add luck when you do anything to improve your life.

Enroll in either or both courses. The first course, Breathing Your Truths, meets Thursdays, 3:00 to 4:00 pm EST, three consecutive weeks, starting June 25. Reserve Thursday July 16, same time, for a makeup meeting, in case I’m unexpectedly unavailable for one of the planned sessions. The second  course, Heart Drum, meets Sundays, 3:00 to 4:00 pm EST, three consecutive weeks, starting July 19. Reserve Sunday August 9, same time, in case I need a makeup meeting.

Full cost for one course—that’s three ceremonies, three weeks of spiritual transmissions, and one-on-one private support—is $250. Your carrier might charge you for phone calls into the group meetings.

Save $100: Enroll early in both groups by midnight June 3. Total cost: $400.

Use the drop-down menu to select one of four enrollment options. Then pay securely with PayPal:


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Upon payment, your place is reserved. You receive course details—e.g., the phone number to dial to participate in meetings—by email. No refunds. To discuss payment plan, trade, scholarship, or semi-scholarship, or if you have other concerns, call me.

Every inhalation and exhalation can open wondrous possibilities.

My every atom is ready to sing me happy and free me to act as I want.

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Ganesh Painting

I just finished this picture of the elephant-headed God Ganesh, with some of His symbols.

… Well, I think it’s finished. I might go back and tweak it. If I spend a long time on a painting, I still might realize, days after I thought I’d finished it, there’s more work to be done. Taking a break from a picture lets me see it in a new light.

Ganesh gives you abundance and success, but He’s also a God of chaos and a Trickster. That is not a contradiction.

To learn more about that, here’s a story about my feline familiars showing me the beneficence of life’s jumble, tumble, and bumble. Cats can reveal chaos to be the Pagan Gods’ kind, mischievous lessons: https://outlawbunny.com/2011/02/16/listen-to-wind/

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Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

About this guest blog by C. M. Wild:

Even when it is not Beltane season, Wild’s following poesy is a worthy read because of its timeless themes: struggle, tragedy, hope, freedom, urgent needs, frustration, lack of confidence, and the spirit to win and grow despite all.

Beltane, also known as May Day, is a Pagan holiday that falls on May 1. Beltane is a celebration of spring time, vitality, and passion for life. And with that:

Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!

We’re going down!

The aviator in the clouds
The captain at sea
The hotshots overtaken by flames
The ER team

And still the two fools in the invisible boat row on.

It’s May! It’s May!
The lusty month of May!
That lovely month when ev’ryone goes
Blissfully astray!

May Day.
Workers of the world unite.
You have nothing to lose but your chains.

May I? May we? Might you?

Mighty oak. Little acorn.

Little acorn, dear one,
You do not need permission to sprout.

You are not waiting for someone to bless your dreams of being an oak tree.

You lie in wait only for the alignment of your life force with the force of all life.

When it is time, you will sprout and you will not be an oak tree yet, no not really and not by far.

You will be two small leaves and one deep questing root.

You will go, here I am!

Here I am! What now!
You and life will answer together.

C. M. Wild is the pseudonym of a biophiliac who lives near a western coast and once said, “I forget at my peril that my soul lives outside.”

The poem is a brilliant juxtaposition of Wild’s original writing with that of others. The result is a trickster weave, creating a fast paced sense of passion and urgency that carried me along joyfully, so I really wanted to publish it. Here are Wild’s attributions:

Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!
Mayday, the international audio distress call, originated in the 1920s with English aviators searching for a signal as clear and unique as the dot-dot-dot-dash-dash-dash-dot-dot-dot of SOS, and who liked that it sounded a bit like the French “M’aidez” – “Help me!”
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/mayday-meaning-origin

It’s May! It’s May! The lusty month of May!
Opening verse from “Lusty Month of May,” in the 1960 Broadway musical Camelot.  Queen Guenevere leads her court into the spring fields to celebrate the pagan holiday. https://www.allmusicals.com/lyrics/camelot/lustymonthofmay.htm

the two fools in the invisible boat
From a story by Clancy Imislund, which Francesca De Grandis told me with Clancy’s permission.

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