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I know that most pagans are familiar with Tarot cards.  I, too, started my divination practice with a deck of Tarot (classic Rider-Waite).  But many people never feel fully comfortable with Tarot, or find it difficult to learn in all its nuances.  I put my Tarot cards away forever when I discovered Psycards. 

This article originally appeared at www.tarotbyhilary.com.

"A New Moon teaches gradualness and deliberation and how one gives birth to oneself slowly. Patience with small details makes perfect a large work, like the universe."—Rumi

Habits. We all want them, need them, especially good habits. Some people just seem to wake up and say, "I'm going to completely change my life today and turn it all around." I don't know any such people, but I have faith they are out there, somewhere. Like leprechauns or the Easter Bunny. They're real because I believe them to be real.

There's a few habits I was trying to correct all at once:

☛ punctuality

☛ poor sleep

☛ consistency in writing

☛ physical activity

☛ procrastination

I saved the best (or shall I say the worst?) for last on the list, because it's a biggie. The Goliath to my David. And I realized it's a biggie because it is a "pivot point" habit: reframe this one, and all the other bad habit dominoes such as tardiness or inconsistency get knocked down.

No matter how much I would like to be one of those mythical people I spoke of above, I need to reformulate my habits one habit at a time. Multitasking is a myth... so too have I found this to be the case when reframing multiple bad habits into good ones. No seriously, one thing at a time. I need to be reminded of this… a lot.

If you are looking to knock a habit and need an astrological boost to help you along, the New Moon is one of the best times to set the intention to begin again. Even better is if you sync up which sign the New Moon is in to further help your intentions along.

Okay, not literally ;)

It seems a long time since I've written, but it's taking a long time to fill the kiln! I'm making smallish pieces, and it's a pretty large orifice! However, I started working on some larger pieces today... watch this space. 

King Baldwin IV: A King may move a man, a father may claim a son, but remember that even when those who move you be Kings, or men of power, your soul is in your keeping alone. When you stand before God, you cannot say, "But I was told by others to do thus." Or that, "Virtue was not convenient at the time." This will not suffice. Remember that.

—Kingdom of Heaven (2005 movie)

"for my thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not my ways, declares Yahweh.

For the heavens are as high above earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts." —Isaiah 55:6-9

"Am I not permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous? So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”—Matthew 20:1-16 (Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard)

Above are some quotes that I found relevant to the Judgment card and the Justice cards. Combining the quote "my thoughts are not your thoughts and your ways are not my ways" with the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard was something I heard in a sermon when I went to a Catholic church with my godmother this past year. The priest there had used both quotations from the Bible as examples of man's reasoning versus God's reasoning, and applying man's reasoning to decisions that God makes is inherently faulty.

 The Linestrider Tarot by Siolo Thompson 

The 7 of Swords is one of those cards that the shadow is pretty evident; especially when it is upright, but the truth is that it goes much deeper. The card conveys deception, lies, and stealing.  In most Rider Waite versions of the deck, the thief can usually be seen with his arms full of swords, walking away from the community that he stole from, as he looks back to make sure that he is getting away with it.  There is sneakiness to this card as the thief tip toes away with his bounty.

As I mentioned in my post A Halloween Divination Spread:

When it comes to spreads--positions for Tarot/Oracle cards, Runes, charms or other divinatory objects--it's easier than you may think to create custom layouts based on holidays, stories, songs, sacred texts, deities or themes using symbols for positions. 

For those of you following the adventures in clay, here's the Fool. I've got a lot of work to do on these, and I think I'm going to be moving away from using the forms in order to start to craft my own. That's going to take time, but the awesome thing is that once I have made the original, then I can make my own sprig molds from that. This means I can keep my originality, but also keep the price down. Win win, right? Watch this space. I think I rather fancy doing the Tower next... and maybe working on some more creative pieces, too.