The season of the Fire Festival of Beltane is upon us, and this episode is pulling together some of my big dreams and sharing them with you all. I lay it all out: the history of Beltane, a modern expression of the celebration in Edinburgh, Scotland, our place on this land and in history, and a prophecy about how we can choose to live.

The universe waylaid me  (quite dramatically— listen in and I'll tell you all about it) and so here I am sharing this all with you. I believe there is much conversation and collaboration yet to be had; if this sparks something in you, reach out!!

Ritual is how we shift who we are!

To do your own research, because as always there is much, much more that I didn't talk about than I did, click the links below:
Edinburgh Fire Festival
Edinburg Fire Society
Duluth Homegrown Music Festival
Seven Fires Prophecy and this too

especially this part:
"The Seventh Prophet was younger than the others who had come and there was a glowing light from his eyes. He said that there would come a time when the waters had been so poisoned that the animals and plants that lived there would fall sick and begin to die. Much of the forests and prairies would be gone so the air would begin to lose the power of life. The way of the mind brought to the red, black, and yellow nation by the white nation would bring danger to the whole earth. In this time there will be a new people who will emerge from the clouds of illusion. They will retrace their steps to find the treasures that had been left by the trail. The stories that had been lost will be returned to them. They will remember the Original Instructions and find strength in the way of the circle. Their search will take them to the elders and the new people will ask for guidance. But many of the elders will have walked the Path of the Souls to the Star Web. Many elders will have forgotten their wisdom and they will not be able to help. Some of the elders will point in the wrong direction and others will remain silent because of their fear. Some of the elders will be silent because no one has asked them for their wisdom.

If the New People will find trust in the way of all things, in the circle, they will no longer need the selfish voice of the ego and they can begin to trust their inner voice. Wisdom will be once again be found in dreams of the night and of the day. The sacred fire will once again be lit. The Light-skinned People will be given a choice between two paths. If they choose the right path the Seventh Fire will light the Eighth Fire and final fire of brotherhood and sisterhood. If they choose the wrong path, remaining on the path of the mind, then the destruction they brought with them will come back to destroy them. The people of the earth will experience much suffering and death.”

Thank you so much for reading and listening. May the fires of the season ignite within you as well!

A brief history of Tarot! From origins, to dispelled myths, come check out where Tarot comes from! Follow the links and resources below to get started on your own deeper history of Tarot journey.

EDIT: I no longer podcast, so I am not recording new information, but as my learning has grown regarding the History of Tarot I want to share that on to you.

"Tarot’s cultural roots are centered in Romani history and practices in Cartomancy which was and is a survival based trade for many vitsas. Cartomancy is the interpretation of playing cards through divination. Playing cards are the origin of the tarot, as we see in the minor arcana in the playing cards we know today. The Major Arcana came later through tarot’s journey into mainstream culture and integration into mystical and magical practices through colonialism, appropriation, and forced assimilation. We encourage folks who are creating businesses, events, and practices centered in the tarot to acknowledge the history of this practice."

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uodWydDaEpc_YJ2F7sikk0ChT2R8Vbg4ucBvpM5wf7Q/edit


Webpages

Mary K Greer “Origins of Cartomancy”, “Pamela Coleman Smith”

Tom Waters The TarotL Information Sheet, The Evolution of the Tarot

Simon Wintle The History of Playing Cards

Robert Chambers “The Folklore of Playing Cards”

trionfi.com “The Oldest Tarot Cards”

Aeclectic Tarot Forum

Books
(Full disclosure, I did not read these- but they came recommended or cited from multiple sources I did read, so I'm passing them along to you. A couple are clearly out of print and very expensive; but that's interesting too! )

Greer, Mary K.
Pamela Coleman Smith: The Untold Story
2018
ISBN 157281912X

Place, Robert
Tarot: History, Symbolism, and Divination
2005 
ISBN 1585423491

Huson, Paul
Mystical Origins of the Tarot
2004 
ISBN 0892811900

Decker, Ronald, Thierry Depaulis, & Michael Dummett
Wicked Pack of Cards
1996 
ISBN 0715627139 or ISBN 0312162944

Bob O'Neill
Tarot Symbolism
1986
ISBN 0895369362

Dummett, Micheal
The Game of Tarot
1980
ISBN 0715610147

This moment calls for community to gather in and seek our way forward together, aligned with our highest values. This prayer is from my very real daily life to you: we are not alone. 
************************************************
"The Charge of the Star Goddess” has relatively long lineage in Goddess Tradition; shared first by Doreen Valiente and then re-written by Starhawk. This is how I like to pray it.

Welcome! I’m Carolyn—aka NorthwoodsWitch— a modern Spiritual Health professional practicing the ancient arts of my ancestors: the Goddess path, plant wisdom, herb magic, and Tarot. I offer my clients support in their healing and transformation through potions, readings, and rituals—including spiritual direction.

This is my Village Witchery podcast! It’s dedicated to offering you companionship in the witchy world, whether you are new and learning or seeking synchronicity and a friendly worldview. 

In this inaugural episode I offer you one of my favorite daily rituals: a guided meditation through the process of grounding. 

Start here, return often!

Do you struggle with a lot of emotional junk at work? You are not alone! In this episode, I share some super tangible tips and tricks for clearing out your energetic spaces and keeping them clean. Spoiler: it's good spiritual health practices! Come journey with me through the what's, why's, and how's of witchcraft in the workplace!

It’s “Life, The Universe, and Everything”  Northwoods Witch style: an inspiring soliloquy of beliefs and practices with *most*  tangents paying out in the end. None of these thoughts are exclusively mine; I’m inspired by the essays and Insta feeds of great thinkers, activists, and spiritual leaders.  But I hope you find some value—some resonance or inspiration—in this expression of belief! What shapes your worldview? Are you ready to hold hands with me and step out of the box? Because I can’t claim to fully live up or in to the values espoused in this episode—but I am a wholly incurable optimist and I think that together we can. 

I am currently raising donations for the Gaagige-Mikwendaagoziwag “They Are Remembered Forever” Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Spirit (MMIWg2S) People Reward Fund.  Please support if you are able by visiting paypal.com/paypalme/mmip2sfund

“This Indigenous-led and grassroots fund has been established to fill a really important gap to help us address injustices, and allowing law enforcement agencies to solve these violent crimes against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people, while bringing justice and healing to our region” Alicia Kozlowski, [Duluth] Community Relations Officer said. “This is not only an Indigenous issue. This is a community issue. This is a human issue. We don't want to be invisible anymore because that's how we disappear.”

Welcome! I'm Carolyn aka Northwoods Witch, I'm so excited that you're here! Having gotten my podcasting feet wet in 2021, I'm back with a new commitment in 2022: a new episode once a month, on the first of the month. Let's do this!

Who am I? What's this all about? Let me tell you!

I accepted an invitation to join the launch of  Wisdom, a new social audio app which  is kind of like a mash-up of Twitch and a radio talk show. I tried it out for a couple of weeks, and while I decided not to pursue it because I wan't getting the engagement I had hoped to, I found the experience super rewarding. Also I made a lot of content just talking to the folks who stayed to listen to me (of whom there were enough to make me feel like at least I accomplished something being there, thanks y'all!)

So, here is the fist talk I shared on the Wisdom app, unedited for your listening pleasure ;) all about Tarot.

In it I share my thealogy of how Tarot works,  the makeup of a deck, and sundry thoughts on how Tarot is powerful tool in our lives. 

I have seven (7!) of these talks—let me know if you liked this and want to hear the rest!

Podcast listener Laura (👋🏻) asked me, "How do you talk to your kids about your spirituality?", and here are my thoughts! 
This episode focuses on The Wheel of the Year: what it is,  and how I use it with my kiddos. I also take  a number of tangents around my philosophies of parenting and the history of pagan mythology so..... come on in for this ride around my Witchy Worldview!


Hey y'all, 
How do you talk to your kids about religion and spirituality? I've got more stuff to say about this, and would love for you to share what you are up to too! 

Wouldn't it be a bit of a thrill to chat about this in real life? So….. I am hosting talks on a brand new app called Wisdom where we could do just that!! Is that something you’d be into? 


EDIT: well friends, I completely mispronounced the (longer, more challenging name I don’t use personally but still…) name for the Pagan holiday around August 1, Lughnasadh. It’s pronounced “Loo-NAH-sah”. As Daniel Tiger sang to me just this morning: 🎵 “It’s ok to make a mistake; just try to fix it, and learn from it too” 🎵

The Lake Superior Freethinkers invited me to participate in a panel featuring joke-worthy guests “a monk, an atheist, and a witch” (we did not go into a bar, unfortunately...)

I really appreciated the opportunity to reflect deeply on this topic, and I enjoyed presenting on the panel (I was received with comments such as “I’d expected to disagree with you, but found we are on the same page” 🤷🏻‍♀️…Only a few micro aggressions from the old white dude crowd—I get them rarely so always an interesting awareness when it happens.) 

ANYHOW, check out my presentation on morality! I’m super into it, I hope it feeds some part of your mind and spirit ✨ (This episode is an after-the-fact recording of my presentation, and only features my contribution)

What’s the fuss about altars? Let me tell you! 

In this episode I experiment with recording-while-parenting and I talk through a few of my favorite ways and reasons to use Altars, a spiritual practice near and dear to my heart.

If you’re interested in my “origin story” (referenced a few times) you can read a bit more about it here in a talk I shared with our local Unitarian Universalist congregation back in 2016.

It was certainly a different vibe for me to record this while my son roamed about; what did you think? I have done a lot of work (you can read this and this to start) building a wholistic, children-inclusive practice so this fits my model—how is it to listen to? Much love in your journey! -Carolyn

I talk through the cycle of cultural appropriation from a white witch’s perspective. “Whiteness” and our lost lineage of relationship with land and community contribute to the spiritual lack that leads to cultural appropriation. 

I invite you into the journey of rediscovery of lineage, of subversive decolonization, of the necessary work to dismantle white supremacy for individual and communal healing!

Resources include :
Characteristics of White Supremacy from “Dismantling Racism: a Workbook for Social Change Groups” by Kenneth Jones and Tema Okun

Ines Talamantez - University of Santa Barbara, Dept. of Religious Studues; Mescalero Apache