The New Moon in Leo - and what the Emperor might say about it.

With a majestic staff in hand, the Emperor gazes out with a relaxed strength and focus. Two children are seen in the background, and their stance gives us a sense that they're exploring and happy.

Now, what the heck does this have to do with the upcoming New Moon in Leo? And Mercury finally getting out of its nasty retrograde (which caused much disruption and gnashing of teeth)?

Well, plenty.

To begin, the Emperor is ruled by Aries, which is a Fire sign - so the card's element is Fire. Leo is also a Fire sign. With Mercury finally going direct and the New Moon in Leo, we are entering a period of super turbo-charged energy. You will feel invincible! You will want to clean the house, write the novel, move to the new home, start a new career, run for office, shift your paradigm; in essence you will want to BURN THE OLD DOWN.

Yippee!  Yahoo! Screaming yellow ZONKERS you are unstoppable, you little Heat Miser of activity and motion!! Yessiree! You are taking on the world like the entire familial unit of The Incredibles!!! With or without capes!

But guess what? The Emperor, in the same way he watches over the children pictured in this version of the Emperor card from The Witches tarot by Ellen Dugan, urges us to chilleth thyself out. Sure, we may feel wound up and ready to zip into action, and we should, but it's smart to plan, to strategize, to definitely aim for greatness, but to also watch ourselves so that our enthusiasm, our inner spark, doesn't burn us out before we get to ignite our hopes and desires. A more structured approach to our creative urges will help them play out in a more step-by-step way, rather than leaving us to flail about in our exuberance.

So trust the Emperor energy. A controlled fire will serve you best at this time.

New Moon in Leo: 7/31/19 at 10:12 PM Central time.

"Bell, Book, and Candle" on Mid-Mod Magic Monday!

A mid mod goddess

Greetings, fellow mystics, witches, and generally magical peoples. Today is a bit of a fresh beginning for my little blog - and a new focus for The Mid-Century Mystic, most particularly on Facebook (and sometimes Instagram). And it's been a long time coming.

See, before I came out of the broom closet, in the infancy days of The Mid-Century Mystic, I met with a great social media creatrix who I enlisted to help me put together a structured media campaign for all my disparate avenues of employ (voice-over, MCM, writing, etc.). And lots of it fell to the wayside (I hate Twitter and shall never Tweet and closed my account and basically spat at the screen as I closed it - PuhTOY!  good riddance to time-wastey rubbish). The one thing that she said when working with me was, "Why are you afraid of the Mystic webpage? It seems to be the one that lights you up the most?" Welp, I was afraid because, at the time, I wasn't confident with my magic and, more succinctly, I was afraid of what others would think. But as times are changing, and more magickal practices are being embraced rather than feared, I feel it's time, FINALLY, to bring back the focus to my social media plan with more blogging, more posts with purpose, heck - MORE MAGIC.

Yumminess on a plate. With bongos.

And so today, I begin bringing you more engaging content and (although I've avoided it for a myriad of reasons) specific types of posts for specific days. Blah, blah, blah - enough of the warm-up! Welcome to ...

#MidModMagicMonday !!!

And what better way to kick it off that with a little bit of trivia concerning "Bell, Book, and Candle", the quintessential Mid Mod witchy gem of a film from 1958, starring Kim Novak (yummy in each and every slick ensemble,every glint of her eyes, every silky move of her body), James Stewart (just yummy because James Stewart) and one of my favorite Mid-century actors, Jack Lemmon (playing bongos, stealing every scene, AND portraying a slightly sinister witch to boot. Be still my heart because the yumminess is heavy with this one!). Watch the splendor of his performance at the witchy Zodiac Club here .

But you're wanting your trivia, so here you go: apparently the phrase "bell, book, and candle"  "refers to a Latin Christian method of excommunication by anathema, imposed on a person who had committed an exceptionally grievous sin. Evidently introduced by Pope Zachary around the middle of the 8th century, the rite was once used by the Roman Catholic Church" according to Wikipedia.  It is opened with "Ring the bell, open the book, light the candle" and closed with "Ring the bell, close the book, quench the candle". I read the actual Latin translation and it's fire and brimstone ugly stuff here. But I find it interesting that the phrase and ritual are quite reminiscent of opening and closing the circle in many types of witchcraft rituals.


Spoiler alert (if you haven't seen the film): when Gillian, Kim Novak's character, loses her powers because she falls in love, shows emotion, cries (something witches apparently can't do - well, I'm here to tell you otherwise), I wonder if that's why this particular phrase was chosen for the play and film, She essentially excommunicates herself from her powers, she loses them because the pull of mortal love is stronger than her magic. And that element of the film always made me sad, In my belief system and my use of magic, love and magic are part and parcel of the same.
Perhaps I'll get a chance to direct the play at some point. Or, better yet, be cast in it (Sadly, I'm beyond my Gillian years, but there are other juicy, witchy roles within it). And I'll remind the cast and crew that to truly bring the play alive, love AND magic must marry to create the most potent potion of them all.

Love and Magic

How to use the tarot for things other than those considered "ookie, kooky, or spooky"

What a fascinating article in Teen Vogue (a magazine which keeps surprisingd me and raising the bar on what teen journalism can be: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-tarot-cards-are-used-to-help-mental-health

I've been saying this for years now - and utilizing it in coaching as well. The beautiful imagery of the tarot (especially the work of Pamela Colman Smith) is universal and evocative. The images resonate with us all, no matter our belief system.

Of course, they're used in divination, and I find them a gateway into the deeper messages I'm receiving from my guides as I read. But they can be used as, to put it in simpler terms, "imagery flash cards". And, when used in that vein, they act as a key into the psyche, sometimes hitting upon triggering imagery, other times reminding us of messages from our past that are comforting, inspiring.

Some nifty ways I use them without the proverbial "crystal ball":

The Four-Card "Story" for the Month: I especially like pulling a variety of cards from several decks and looking for a connection between them. I place them on my altar and meditate on them, seeing how the imagery "hits", how the cards relate to one another. I find it especially helpful to do this at the beginning of the month. This series of cards acts as touchstones for the next four weeks.

It's Elemental: Another thing that's really inspiring is to pick from four different decks (sometimes I even use oracle decks in this mix, not just tarot) and pull a card for each of the four elements. I place these on my altar by the corresponding elemental direction. Then I ask what I should be aware of in the upcoming month regarding the element, under the lens of the card.

Une Carte: And let us not forget the one-card daily pull. Confession time: I often do this using my tarot phone app, but nothing beats the tactile act of pulling from an actual, physical deck. And then I ask myself, "What is this card nudging me to focus on for the day?" Hm. Today's card was the 4 of Cups, reminding me to keep myself open to the possibility of a gift coming from a surprising place.

Huh.

This time, it wasn't necessarily something to focus on; it was prophetic. I got a free cookie at the coffeehouse I'm writing at, and a friend offered me a very generous gift for free.  Whoa.

Okay, folks. Here I am writing about the non-divinatory aspects of the tarot, and whomp! the tarot keeps reminding me that magic is real - and part and parcel of my path. Which, actually, brings me back to the 4 of Cups' imagery, featuring this dude almost sleeping through the offering of a gift from the universe. The gift, for me, is the reminder that magic IS real - and it's what I DO. I can't afford to be asleep, to take it for granted. And it's important for me to remember that, even through the day-to-day stuff, the schedules and plans and ups and downs and memories and new things set in motion.

Lesson learned, cards. Lesson learned.