The Alchemyst: A Book Review

      I'm not going to lie, Picking up The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, by Michael Scott, was a spontaneous, I'm just in it for the Alchemy bit, sort of buy, and let me tell you, I was not disappointed in the slightest. 

    Nicholas Flamel is the immortal of legend, and he's dying. You're introduced to him and his plight right off the bat with a letter to you, as the reader. Of course I dove in immediately, and needed to know what happened to him! Spoiler alert, this is a series, and nothing is resolved right way, alas, I must wait to find out what happens until the rest of the series have made it to my hands. 

    Nicholas and his wife Perenelle are protectors of an ancient book known as the Codex which was written into existence by Abraham the Mage. The book itself is pretty much a mystery, but Nicholas uncovered the elixir for immortality, the Philosopher's Stone.  The couple are hundreds of years old and in hiding, working across the street from one another and in the company of twins, a brother and sister, Josh and Sophie Newman. Everything is normal until an evil man, Dr. John Dee, a teriffying Necromancer, and his golems, come to steal the book. They Ransack the shop Nicholas and Josh work at, kidnaps Perenelle and set the twins on a dangerous course towards their fated destiny. A destiny that was foretold in the Codex itself. 

    There is no time to rest as the trio must drive out of the city of San Francisco to meet allies that put even Flamel on edge. A warrior ninja with a deadly secret they call Scatty, an elder who happens to the goddess Hekate and The Witch that all witches come from. Magic is abound, and no one can deny the fact that ancient creatures exist and all myths have a dark root of truth to them. 

    The only downfall I have to this book is the concept of history and myth. There were small points that irritated me, such as the fact that the dark elders had created everything, or that every god and goddess were one in the same person, just took different names and forms, or that a certain ancient artifact could be used in the hands of such evil. Again, they were really only minor bits that were easily looked over once the action set into motion.

     If there's anything to know about magic, is that in all uses, it come with a cost, there's always a price to pay and this book held true to that too. Even the elders grew weary after intense sessions, and needed a recharge. I was happy to see the rule still rang true in this book as well.

     I am a sucker for magic and myth, and it was why this book was such a spontaneous buy. I'm more than happy to give it 4 out of 5 stars. I find that lately, a lot of the young adult novels I've been picking up have been incredibly amazing as far as ratings go, and I am happy to add "The Alchemyst" among them. I cannot wait to read the rest of this series and I would definitely recommend this book to any fan of magic or someone that needs a light and quick read!

Soul Cards Deck Interview!

    I just want to scream about how in love with this deck I already am. I've looked at them here and there, the only place I've ever seen them was on a friend's Instagram feed, and then she uploaded a video onto YouTube showing them off and I don't know if it was because it was late in the night and I was tired, or in some state of mood, but it was like they were calling to me. 

    Here's the thing about Soul Cards, there are no keywords, no designated meanings, and the guidebook is just a means for ideas how you might want to work with, and incorporate them into your life. The art is meant to speak to your soul, and lying in bed watching this woman show them off in her video, that was exactly what they did... like old friends crying out for me to remember them.

    If you read my last post. This is a huge thing for me right now. Old friends and working with spirit.

    Now, it's been awhile since I have done a deck interview, and they can be long and tedious, so, I sort of went with my own questions and spreads, though I did look around for a few general ones as I didn't want a card or two when a pyramid seemed to fit better. 

    The questions:

1. Who are you?
2. How do you see me?
3. What can you offer?
4. How can I connect with you?
5. Where can we go together?
6. Is there anything else I should know?

    Prior to going into this, I had looked through the deck, I mean, who doesn't try and see what their cards are all about first? I really cannot explain the sensations I got, but a few cards did call out to me more than others, and a few of them actually appeared for this spread and questionnaire. 

    It's hard to ignore the colours of these cards, and I feel like there is a good representation of the elements going on in them. Not so much fire, which is my astrological element, but definitely earth, wind and water, and then there's the red in cards One and Five, red like blood is what comes to mind, and I'm not going to sit here and try and hide it. A lot of feelings have surfaced this past week, and a big one is my left behind sixth sense... or whatever it's called, and it directly links to the fact I've always had a passion of the ancient, the mystical, and that which has passed on.

    While I'm not going to go into all the cards, or else this might become really long, I will go into a few. 

    The first card, I see a few different things going on, the most prominent and probably not the obvious, is a person in the water, but at a closer look, the person may very well be jumping over a wall and ready to free fall, or it's hardly a jump at all and they will land on their feet and run off where ever the wind chooses to guide them.

     Again though, it's more like they're drowning, the water swells around to carry them below, the red of them, the pressure getting to them, and this could very well be the end. While that's what I see, that's hardly what I think the deck is about. I think it's more along the lines of rising from the depths, that there might be crushing pressure but with the right support you can rise above. Break the surface, take a long, deep breath, then go back to work. 

    I like the "What can you offer" card a lot. Like a literal guide purring he can show me the magic, remind me why I started doing this in the first place. He's not talking about reading Tarot cards or the New Age spell books either, but being able to feel like I used to, connect to those that have moved on, hear them. I know it sounds crazy, but I remember the blood freezing chills from when I was a child, and I remember those sleepless nights waking up and knowing I was being watched. I'm done playing pretend with the lot of it, and I'm done letting people think me silly. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but I'm not entitled to listen. 

     Card five, again, that blue and red, the red like blood... I'm just going to say this. This is me connecting to spirit, connecting to the afterlife and what's beyond. This is my window, I can see them, they can see me and I am allowed to come through, all I have to do is ask. 

    These cards are everything I need right now and I have much need of working with them and plan on it so long as they let me. 

    I must indeed sound silly at this point. I am a writer, I am doing what I can to build a foundation to be an author, to be published. I am working on networking so that the day may come where I can have the relationships that I need, that suit me and that are willing to support me then and now. Then I throw something in there where I sounds like I think I can talk to the dead? Who is going to want to know someone like that? Perhaps nothing is that direct, but do not think for a second I might deny the possibility. 

Not in the Cards

    Some days I pull one card from my tarot deck(s), some days I pull multiples just because I feel the tug too, then occasionally I become bold, light incense or candles, throw on some meditative themed music and go to town. On top of everything that has been going on this week (we're only two days in...) and last week, I've done such a thing; I found, and or made the time to sit down with my cards to see if I was ready to, I don't know, walk with my deities. 

    This has been an on going fancy of mine, and I suppose for most practicing witches, we all want to make altars to someone, to represent them, call on them for aid and guidance, in those dark places when we're alone or want that extra kick to our spells. I'm the last person who should be talking about spell work, but I do feel I can talk a little about my journey thus far. Besides, keeping track of the lot of this is really for me anyways (though of course i'm always going to hope it appeals to someone else). 

    So yes, this past week that lead into Monday is where I'm at now, trying to figure out of deities work is right for me, or if I'm even ready for them. Well, leave it the cards to tell you what they think you need to know, not what you want to hear, which I kinda wish was the case this time. While I've gathered it's a, you're not ready yet kind of answer, I know they cannot be far, not with the dream that cause me to pull the cards in the first place. 

    

    The picture above is what my bed wound up looking liked Monday morning, tarot, oracles, incense and crystals abound. It had started out as a three card draw. One from each of the three decks I've been working with lately. Two of them were created by lovely Instagram users mysticmoons_tarot and her lovely moon_phases_oracle along with thymewitch and her tarotinthyme oracle. There's something about the love and energy that goes into these, something so different then picking up a deck in the store, and while I don't want to get too involved at the moment, I've had the privilege of following them and their journeys through creating them and I think that's where a lot of the magic is to begin with. More and more I find myself wanting to create my own. 

    

    It's not the clearest picture as the lighting in my room is terrible, it was still something I needed, to catch the moment and to keep to journal about later, plus, now I get to employ it in this blog. Anyways, the first three cards I pulled were the Seven of Swords, Time and the Storm Moon.  I think me and swords have a love hate relationship, and while I feel like a lot of people might, they pop up a lot for me, and the Five of Swords is pretty much my signifier card.

    This is already getting to be long winded and I don't know if anyone really wants all the meanings of the cards, so here's the gist... The seven is like the anti-hero, where you might be the bad guy, but your reasons, your end game, might be for the greater good. Like stealing bread so you don't starve, so someone else doesn't starve, etc. Time is exactly what it sounds like, do I have the time to invest in my current journey, because if I don't I probably shouldn't start as this period could be exhausting, though if I do, if i continue and fight, the moon will always shine through the storm and I could emerge as something more. 

    Time, with my current moods lately, my depression and work in general, is not something I seem to have much of, and if I do, I make poor use of it. That brought in the next card and here we have swords again, this time the two and it is telling me this is a conflict of the mind and the heart, that it's time to pause and take inventory and find a way through the struggle (the storm moon again). The Two of Swords is absolutely true though, this is a struggle of the mind and the heart, because I know with all my heart I want to let the divine in, I've always wanted some powerhouse at my back, someone or something to turn to when I need guidance or feel lost. I often feel alone in this world and my spirit, my soul, it always tends to feel like something is missing. 

    The King of Coins is all about ordered stability, he's not about taking risks or going with innovations, he's old fashioned and lets common sense rule the day. However, he is the kind that if he puts his mind to something he is a powerful ally and whatever he puts his mind to will grow and flourish.  I'm pretty sure he's saying that now might not be the time to take that innovative risk, while the Christmas moon, the last card I pulled, is saying that while things are coming to an end, something beautiful is beginning, that these are precious minutes... 

    I'm tempted to say long story short, but we're past that, I'm past that. Overall, I don't think this is the time for deity work, that I'm still in the process of healing, healing myself. I won't say that was this past years theme, because I didn't realize that's what I was doing until late in the year. I'm constantly being reminded of things from the past that completely throw me off, like a jouster being knocked of their horse and being splintered and bruised and broken, and that's just daily, that's not the anger or jealously that's built up of late, or not having the right kind of people to talk to about any of it. 

    I'm not sure how to end this on a positive note, but I guess knowing I have to keep fighting, keep healing isn't necessarily a bad thing either.

(credit to the artist)