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It's good to know when all your training comes into play. The years of hard work you have put in. All the practice that I have done in Zen Buddhism, Druidry and other aspects of Western Paganism has greatly helped me during a very difficult week.

Breathing. It's amazing how much just focusing on the breath can calm the mind and the body. For the mind and body are one. What affects one, affects the other. Five focused breaths, in and out, feeling the air move through your nose, down your throat and into your lungs, expanding, and then back out in reverse. Concentration on this small action. The heartbeat slows, the mind has a pause to reset. And perspective floods in.

The cycles of life and death are one. It is ouroboros, the snake eating its tail, no beginning, no ending, only being. There is only energy, in different forms and degrees of manifestation.

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So the wrangler for this hop was me.  Here's what I asked.

Since Beltaine is a holiday of coming together, I thought it would be fun to answer this question: "Do you combine Tarot with any other divination system? Why or why not?" That's it. Short and sweet. Simple. You can answer it however you like.

Yes, I absolutely do combine Tarot with other divination systems. Tarot already has an association with astrology and numerology. That, for me, is a given. I do a weekly Tarotscopes offering on YouTube so that's a done deal for me. :D I interpret a weekly Tarot reading as well as Oracle reading for all twelve signs. Please subscribe if you enjoy so you can be notified each week.

For many years I didn't do anything other than a straightforward Tarot reading. I used one deck and only one deck. Then I had an opportunity to read for two people. They wanted a relationship reading. I decided to use not one, not two but three decks. I used one deck for person A, one for person B while the third deck was used for the relationship. It took a few hours to do. :D Yeah, I might have bit off more than I could chew at that time.

March is the month of the spring equinox.  Day and night will be equal and spring is in the air, except in Wisconsin where we just got six plus inches of snow.  In Wisconsin, March is a turbulent month filled with any kind of weather from mild to blizzards. 

Spring is supposed to be about new beginnings, renewal of life.  It’s all about change which can come about easily or be tumultuous.  Winter has weeded out what we no longer need and hopefully prepared us for the changes we need to make.  The chaff is gone, has been discarded and recycled in order to make way for what will come.

One November 2, the Day of the Dead, I went to the Taos Inn to hear a talk by local Taos artist, writer, and all around remarkable woman, Anita Rodriguez. It was fascinating and I asked whether I could reproduce it here at Witches and Pagans, She graciously agreed, and asked whether I could also share her website, where people can see and perhaps purchase her work. (I love her work- she did two paintings for me a while ago.)

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Taos, where I recently moved, is famous for its celebration of Day of the Dead.  Not surprisingly Day of the Dead themes have been integrated in to Halloween celebrations here.  Day of the Dead also shares many points of overlap with Samhain.   For the previous two years I worked with Mexican friends to organize a joint celebration of Samhain and Day of the Dead in Sebastopol, California. We had side by side altars and people were encouraged to light votives honoring their deceased loved one, and to place them on the altars of their choice.  My Wiccan altar had marigolds on it, and the skull was a colorful one in keeping with Day of the Dead symbolism. Otherwise it was very traditional.

On July 7th, at around 3:30pm, a dear friend passed the veil.  After over a year of alternative therapies, the cancer in her would not relent.  She chose death with dignity.

Jane and I met when my best friend brought me to Jane's home for a shamanic study group.  She practiced shamanism, read tarot, and had converted to Judaism as an adult. 

I am not just a Pagan author and Druid, my life has a extraordinary tripartite pattern to it, yes, I am an author, and I am a Druid, but I also work as a member of a Mortuary and Bereavement Services team. In a manner I am an ordinary person who has an extraordinary job. When I say Mortuary, to those in the USA, what I am referring to is a Morgue or a Medical Examiners facility as opposed to a Funeral Home, which you would commonly refer to as a Mortuary. 

This week it is Dying Matters Awareness Week, a 7 day nationwide event facilitated by the National Council for Palliative and End of Life Care and the Dying Matters Coalition. The movement is dedicated to raising awareness about and discussing our wishes and preferences around care and treatment at the end of life. Hospitals, Mortuaries, hospices, community centers and all manners of other venues are hosting events all week to talk about death and dying.