TIME CRUNCHING - cards for when Time is of the essence.
another entry in my series about using the cards for academic pursuit :))) or just productivity in general. there are many times recently, i was swamped by deadlines of heavy projects and being a person that struggle heavily with burnt out and motivation, i rely on these cards, in combinations with the other cards to help me make it to the deadline.
DISCLAIMER: this is all written from my own experience so i encourage you to try and and find out for yourself what methods/ cards work and which ones don’t.
A note before we start
In media, Time magic is shown as the ability to going back and forth in a linear way, or stopping and starting it at will. this post isn't about that. but instead, it's about Temporal Elasticity—the psychological and procedural art of stretching Time. This is about reaching the finish line through precision, not through the impossible.
a second point is these cards, in my experience, required a large amount of energy to use. so if you want to try, make sure to prepare yourself properly before hand.
The Time - Time Magic
Purpose: To achieve hyper-focus and condense high-volume tasks.
in my study, i use this card for stretching time out. 2 or even 3 hour of work got pressed into 1 hour. i entered this hyperfocus and many things were done in the the course of 1 hour. to use the card, determine first your task and then gave it the command and intention.
Note: after the completion of the task and the card's effect ended, there will be stiffness in your joins and muscles from overexertion .
The Return - Time Travel
Purpose: To return to a specific emotional or physical state from the past.
Just like the name of the card and the episode it came from, This card's effect is about returning back to a state before. i initially used this card for recalling knowledge i have learnt but as it turned out, my whole being was brought back to that time, emotionally, psychologically and physically.
note: make sure that you was in an ok state at the moment you want to go back to.
I love my Clow Cards. They have such personality and charm. They are quite useful for adding special focus to spell work as well.
This particular spell is to enhance communication. Maybe you’re having difficulty speaking up in class. Perhaps you feel like someone isn’t being completely forthright with you. The possibilities are endless.
You’ll need:
A deck of Clow Cards (or at least The Windy, The Libra, & The Voice cards)
Optional: something to represent the person you’re casting the spell for.
The Voice card helps you (what else) access your voice. The Libra helps uncover the truth. And, The Windy is the primary source of communication among the Clow Cards. All three together = use your voice to communicate truth!
This spell is simple. Set up your ritual space as usual. Lay out the three cards in front of you, concentrating on their power as you place each one. If you have something to represent your target, like a picture, you can place it in the center.
Next, say:
Blessed by our Lord above
Find your voice, speak truth in love
Communication is the key
As I will it, so shall it be
The Hope card: In case you don't have it, draw the card's Kanji on a bay leaf or paper.
Something that can be used up: The bay leaf you wrote the kanji on, or just a bay leaf. An insence. A candle. A cup of water. Etc etc
A peaceful place
The Steps:
You need to get into a relaxed state.
Burn the insence/ a candle/ bay leaf
Say the following prayer,
By the power of Clow, i call upon The Hope,
Union of the Nothing and The Nameless.
Cradle this aching heart in your gentle hands,
dissolve the sorrow and lighten the heavy burden.
Though the grief is great, your solace is greater.
By the bond of love and solitude,
the void is filled, the heart renewed.
4. you said it, let your insence/candle burn all the way or drink your water.
After thoughts:
Lately, I’ve been struggling to 'capture' one of my own cards—a grueling process that has lasted two months. I first sensed its presence through a series of dreams where magical artifacts were shattered by an invisible force. When I finally called it out, it revealed itself as Breaking.
For the following two weeks, I endured repeated emotional blows that left me depressed and hollow. To ease this pain and find my footing again, I composed this prayer. It balances the aggressive, void-like nature of The Nothing with the restorative essence of The Nameless. By appealing to both, I hope to transform this suffering and finally bring the pain to an end. When I first used this prayer, it took effect within 10 minutes, though I suspect its speed depends on the intensity of one's pain.
1. Card spirits, in my experience, do dwindle in overtly dramatic effects after about 3 to 4 days of animating an object. My theory is they become harmonized with the object and go dormant until something triggers them, but I’ve not had occasion to test that overmuch.
2. In my experience, if you place more than one spirit into an object, you have to do so carefully to retain useful effects. They don’t remain separate, and the resultant entanglement is less than useful. Fortunately, releasing the spell can end that (within a month’s time at least, I wasn’t willing to risk it longer).
3. One card can be present in multiple places, BUT- it does split their focus and strength. Sometimes that doesn’t matter though- if the whole point is to have a multiple locus-based spell, then they are more than capable of doing it. That basic principle is what makes the card-charms work in the first place.
Kerberos (also spelled Cerberus or Keroberos), affectionately called Kero-chan, is a guardian beast created by Clow Reed. Together with Yue, he was tasked with finding a worthy successor to wield the Clow Cards.
Before Sakura-chan released the Clow Cards from the Book of Clow, Kero was sealed in the book and became the beast on its cover.
While his main form is that of a large lion-like feline with bejeweled armor and feathered wings, his temporary form looks like a cute plush toy with big round ears and small white wings.
Note: In order to be as thorough as possible, this profile may include spoilers for any related media. Keep this in mind before continuing under the cut!
This post is part a series covering entities from mahō shōjo media. These posts are intended to introduce you to powerful spirits that could aid you in your magical journey! If you have any suggestions for future entries, or if you have worked with any of these beings and want to share your experiences, please feel free to send me a message! ☆
After Sakura-chan accidentally released the Clow Cards, Kero appointed her a Cardcaptor in order to retrieve the cards and gave her the Sealing Wand.
Despite appearances, Kerberos is boisterous, demanding, and gluttonous. He can act a little unserious and self-centered at times but he genuinely cares about Sakura-chan and supports her wholeheartedly in her magical journey.
In contrast to his silly and brash demeanor, Kero-chan is remarkably intelligent; he is not only knowledgeable of Clow Cards but also of many forms of sorcery and mysticism and has a knack for reading magical auras.
In his true form, Kerberos has full control of his powers (including the abilities to create magical barriers and fire balls) and has jurisdiction over half of the Clow Cards, those under the elements of Fire (Firey) and Earth (Earthy). These cards draw power from Kero and are the only cards that can be used effectively against Yue the Judge.
He is more limited in his temporary form, however: while he can still fly and sense magic, he can only produce small breaths of fire after Sakura-chan has captured several Clow Cards, lacking sufficient magical power.
Associations
Kerberos is associated with the Sun and Western sorcery. As previously mentioned, the cards associated with Fiery and Earthy are under his protection. As Sakura captured more cards in his jurisdiction, Kero’s magical power increased.
His name and role as a guardian of the Book of Clow is inspired by Cerberus, the large three-headed beast from Greek Mythology who was assigned to guard the gates of Hades. The spelling ‘Kerberos’ is more associated with Greek transliterations.
Kero’s lion-like appearance is based on the alchemical symbol of the lion devouring the sun.
Magical Applications
Kerberos is an obvious choice to call on if you are seeking to recreate Sakura’s journey of capturing and mastering the Clow Cards; he can certainly be evoked to guide you on this pathworking and can be a stalwart companion in this effort.
I believe Kerberos can also impart onto you wisdom of Western mysticism and esotericism. Perhaps he would be able to assist you in those studies!
Suggestions for Offerings or Devotional Acts
Kero is known to love anything loud and fun and his hobbies include playing video games and eating snacks and sweets.
Despite his love of food, Kero does not need to eat to survive—he generates his own energy, drawing magical power from the Sun. Regardless, he will never turn down a sweet treat, preferring to indulge and enjoy the finer things in life.
Yue (月) is a guardian entity created by Clow Reed. He was tasked alongside Kerberos to select a successor to wield the Clow Cards. Yue is cold, aloof, and is much more serious and intimidating than his counterpart.
His appearance is that of tall, attractive young man with icy blue eyes and long, silvery hair that flows to the ground in a loose ponytail. He wears white robes set with dark blue armor, a jeweled earring on his left ear, a long side cape that drapes over his right shoulder, and has a pair of large feather wings that he can tuck away and hide in certain situations.
Before Sakura-chan released the Clow Cards from the Book of Clow, Yue was sealed in the book and became the winged crescent moon on its cover.
Note: In order to be as thorough as possible, this profile may include spoilers for any related media. Keep this in mind before continuing under the cut!
This post is part a series covering entities from mahō shōjo media. These posts are intended to introduce you to powerful spirits that could aid you in your magical journey! If you have any suggestions for future entries, or if you have worked with any of these beings and want to share your experiences, please feel free to send me a message! ☆
Initially, Yue’s presence was not revealed to Sakura and Kero-chan as he spent most of first part of Sakura’s journey in his temporary form, Yukito Tsukishiro, who had no knowledge of his other self.
The closer Sakura came to the Final Judgment, the more powerful Yue's presence became, especially during the full moon. Though Yukito was still unaware of his true identity, Yue's aura would occasionally bleed through having a bizarre effect on those around him.
When Sakura captured the final Clow Card, the Earthy, Yue revealed himself to her and Kerberos and announced he must judge Sakura’s worth as a candidate to inherit Clow’s magic: if she could defeat him in combat, she come Mistress of the Cards.
At first Sakura outright refused him, not wanting to harm Yukito, who she cared for deeply. However, Yue fully intended to defeat Sakura, not wanting to accept a new master.
After a fraught battle, Sakura transformed her Sealing Wand into a wand imbued with her own magic and subdued Yue, forcing him to admit defeat and accept her as Mistress of the Cards.
Like Kerberos, Yue has jurisdiction over half of the Clow Cards and lords over the cards under the elements of Water (Watery) and Air (Windy). He is exceptional at sensing magic and also has the ability to siphon magic from others. In battle, Yue is able to fly and can create weapons and barriers out of moonlight. He often relies on ranged combat, utilizing his archery skills and creating crystal-like projectiles.
Yue is severely limited in his temporary form, Yukito, as he generally prevents Yukito from knowing anything about his true form. If Yue uses too much of their magic, Yukito takes the brunt of it—needing to eat large amounts of food for energy while also becoming incredibly sleepy to the point of almost being narcoleptic. It isn’t until Sakura starts creating the Clear Cards when Yue begins to open up to Yukito and allows him to have a more active role in their relationship.
Associations
Yue is associated with the Moon and Eastern sorcery. As previously mentioned, the cards associated with Watery and Windy are under his protection. Yue’s power is directly related to the strength of his master.
Yue being skilled in archery may be related to the mythology of Artemis and her Roman counterpart, Diana, who are lunar deities who are also skilled hunters often depicted with a bow and arrow.
His name literally means ‘moon’ in Chinese which underscores his lunar associations.
Magical Applications
Yue is an another entity you can call on if you are seeking to recreate Sakura’s journey of capturing and mastering the Clow Cards; he can certainly be evoked to guide you on this pathworking, particularly to judge your progress. Sometimes you need a critical eye to impart necessary constructive criticism!
In a pinch, Yue may be able to siphon additional magic into you for a little boost of power. Don’t overuse this though: that temporary boon comes with a real physical cost and if you abuse his ability he will surely become cross with you.
I believe Yue can also aid you when delving into Eastern mysticism and esotericism. He may be reluctant at first but he may be able to assist you in those studies.
Suggestions for Offerings or Devotional Acts
Like Kerberos, Yue does not need food or drink to survive but unlike Kero, he never indulges. Yue prefers peace and quiet and abhors anything rowdy.
Acts of quiet meditation are something you can do with Yue or as a way to show your affection towards him. Additionally, you could offer him sources of magic to empower him; offering items associated with the Sun may seem contradictory it makes sense when you consider the moon reflects its light from the Sun.
IT'S A PIECE OF CAKE! - CARDS FOR EASE OF DOING THINGS
Continuing the series, another problem I often face is the task itself.
Sometimes assignments feel so daunting that I end up procrastinating. Not because I’m lazy, but because the task looks too big, too heavy, or too overwhelming to begin.
So, as always, I turned to my cards.
DISCLAIMER: this is all written from my own experience so i encourage you to try and and find out for yourself what methods/ cards work and which ones don't.
SWEET - The Chief
No matter the task, Sweet always makes it easier to approach, like candy after bitter medicine. She’s a very comforting card. Most of the time, she helps by making the objective (your task or otherwise) feel more pleasant, softer, or “tastier,” so you don’t recoil from it.
Whether you end up “eating” the task is still up to you—but if you can’t, the next cards can help you with that.
SMALL - Portion Control
If the task feels mentally overwhelming, Small helps you perceive it as smaller. In my experience, Small’s presence is subtle and hard to pinpoint, and so is the way they work. The task isn’t necessarily divided into parts, it simply feels smaller, lighter, and more manageable.
Sometimes that shift in perception is all you need to begin.
BIG - Appetite Control
If you are the obstacle, whether it be fear, overwhelm, or self-doubt is making the task feel bigger than you, then Big can help. Her power targets your sense of self, expanding your inner strength so that you feel larger than the task, not the other way around.
She gives you the courage, the presence, and the “bigness” you need to face something intimidating.
another post in the subject of study/ productivity aid. this time is about the clarity of mind. ok so as someone that struggle with maladaptive daydreaming and overthinking while also being a creative person, my head is both my greatest ally and worse enemy.
And so just like how i deal with the rest of my problems, i asked for help from my cards.
DISCLAIMER: this is all written from my own experience so i encourage you to try and and find out for yourself what methods/ cards work and which ones don't.
SILENT - were you silent, were you silenced?
I got the idea to use Silent from the original Clow Card Fortune Book, and she quickly became one of my most frequently used cards.
Once called upon and given a task, her spell takes a few seconds to settle. but when it does, everything becomes smooth and still. My head turns clear, empty, quiet. Because of the conditions I set, even the material I was studying wasn’t “voiced” in my mind, yet during recall, all the information was still there.
Silent is perfect for anyone who needs a calm inner world to work. although do note that you are not immune to external distractions.
ERASE - was it even there in the first place?
While Silent handles the internal, Erase handles the external. Her power works almost exactly like the show portrays it. Like Silent, she takes a few seconds before the effect “locks in,” but once it does, she’s extremely powerful. Nothing gets between me and my work. It feels like I lose interest in anything that isn’t the task at hand.
However, do not use Erase for too long, and be very clear about what should be erased and what should not. During one of my early uses, I forgot to state the conditions properly and ended up with painful blank moments when trying to remember things that were adjacent to what I had asked her to erase.
Being a student myself, I’ve struggled a lot with staying focused and keeping on task. In hopes of helping other students or anyone facing similar challenges, I want to share this spell.
This spell’s purpose is to anchor a fragment of your focus into the mirror, allowing it to take form as a second presence who acts as your accountability companion.
what you will need:
A calm or focused mind
A mirror or any reflective surface
The Mirror Card or the Mirror Sigil
the step:
Settle your mind. Close your eyes and ease yourself into a calm, steady state. If true calm isn’t possible, focus will do.
Call upon the Mirror. Invite the Mirror to manifest. Feel their presence forming around the reflective surface.
Channel your energy. Direct your focus down from your shoulders, through your arms, out your fingertips, and into the mirror. Imagine the energy flowing smoothly and filling the surface with
Meet your reflection. Open your eyes and gaze into the mirror. Take note of your features. Imagine (or witness) the Mirror shaping itself into your likeness—your eyes, your lips, your expression.
When it feels complete, smile.
The Mirror smiles back, confirming that the connection is sealed.
State your intention. Tell Mirror your study plan. For example:
> “Okay, we’re going to finish this assignment, take a break, and then move on to the next task.”
Close the ritual. When you’re done, look into the mirror and thank Mirror to release them.
a different aspect of studying is motivation. personally i believe that the best motivator is something you much create yourself and so these cards are for motivation when in the process of motivator.
DISCLAIMER: this is all written from my own experience so i encourage you to try and and find out for yourself what methods/ cards work and which ones don't.
POWER - THE CHEERLEADER
Out of the three cards, I’ve used Power the most. She feels like the friendliest and gentlest presence. With Power active, my work starts feeling more like a game rather than a stack of responsibilities with hard deadlines. Because of that, I end up working leisurely but consistently.
She’s perfect if you want a soft, encouraging motivator who cheers you on rather than pushes you.
FIGHT - THE COACH
I’ve only used Fight twice, and both times I felt a kind of tugging at my mind and heart like i'm being pulled along (The heart part might just be the caffeine, tbh.) Still, Fight’s energy is enthusiastic, eager, and very hands-on. She wants to help, and she’ll push you toward your goals within the timeframe you set.
If you need firm guidance and steady momentum, Fight acts like a coach who keeps you on track.
THUNDER - THE COMMANDER
I’ve used Thunder only once and honestly, that was enough.
My Thunder is loud, reactive, and forceful. His energy fills the whole space, and he makes his presence known like a very annoyed old cat rumbling in the corner.
He’s perfect if you need to shock or strong-arm yourself into action—the kind of motivator that roars you into motion rather than gently guiding you.
Y'all know how Yue was hiding within Yukito in Cardcaptor Sakura? I was wondering if the judge could be hiding in me or people close to me.
I don't like to talk about it online, but I'm kinda plural (I'm don't know don't care -genic) so it's a possibility. I also have many plural friends that could have the judge within. I haven't talked about it outside a clow sorcery centered discord yet, so I'm not planting any seeds outside my own mind.
This is just a theory. This is also assuming the guide and judge aren't a part of all of us by default. Just thought I'd put it out here so I can share ideas with other clow practitioners.
As promised in my previous post on the topic, here I will break down how I organized my personal deck inspired by Sakura Kinomoto’s cards throughout Cardcaptor Sakura and Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Arc and what creatively liberties I took in order to ensure the most complete representation of the various card fairies depicted in these works.
I hope that by sharing this process you can start thinking about how you would formulate your own cartomancy system!
This post is part of my Magi Praxis series. If you have any suggestions for future topics, or you have attempted anything I have shared and want you share your experiences, please send me a message! I am always happy to go back and provide further explanation as well. ☆
When creating this particular deck, not only did I want to have a non-dogmatic framework to build off of, but I found this was the perfect opportunity to immerse myself further into a system I have been helping my partner cultivate and improve over the last several years. You can find their work outlined here.
Emanant Void Magick is a meta-magick system developed by deconstructing, extracting, and recontextualizing concepts from chaos magick and Hermetic Qabalah. Where groups like the Golden Dawn used Qabalah to interpret, deform, and bind unrelated systems of magick into a single syncretic monolith, the explorations of Emanant Void Magick instead seek to merely provide tools to generate new systems: rather than imposing structure through dogma, Emanant Void Magick provides the magician with building materials with which they are free to innovate.
Like Qabalah, Emanant Qabalah maps out a sort of creation story for reality but, unlike traditional Qabalah, proposes that each step of manifestation is itself a complete whole and that manifestation does not stop at the manifest, Malkuth, and now moves beyond manifestation to incorporate postmodern philosophy and metaphysics.
Emanant Qabalah provides twelve steps of manifestations, each grown from the Void or Non-Being and organically emerging from the previous iteration. Of these, the seventh, ninth, and twelfth steps have a particular property of being in the form that can be “walked” in what in mathematics is called a “Eulerian trail”: in this, each path of the tree is crossed only once and all paths are touched while traversing from the first to the final sphere.
Qabalah is of particular interest to cartomancy since Éliphas Lévi connected the meaning of the Tarot to the Qabalah and the Tree of Life. In Tarot, the sequence of trumps is associated with the “Fool’s Journey”, connecting the meaning of each card in a sequence. The Eulerian trails of Seventh, Ninth, and Twelfth Trees also provide clear associations for the Fool’s Journey while also suggesting novel systems of divination inspired by this structure. Eventually, the plan is to complete a 93-card deck that illustrates the full 12-sphere tree but the 42-card system I developed and prototyped was a major undertaking in itself.
As I mentioned previously, I tend to refer to my deck as Lenormand Plus™: at 42 cards, this deck is significantly smaller than a standard Tarot deck and slightly larger than the traditional Lenormand. While the organizational structure is heavily inspired by Tarot, I was inspired by how Lenormand is read—with the goal in mind to ultimately read my cards in a Grande Tableau—but I also wanted a system that could easily utilized for smaller, more utilitarian/traditional readings and pathworkings.
For the purposes of this deck, I utilized an iteration of the Emanant Qabalah Tree up to the 7th sphere, the point where the Self (the Agents) encounters the Other (the Knaves).
The Agents correspond to the sixth sphere. These cards represent aspects of the Self. There are four representations, one for each of the elements, and Cardcaptor Sakura fans will recognize these cards as Windy, Watery, Firey, and Earthy. The Agents tend to be very straightforward and forthcoming but like all of the card fairies they can be mischievous when left to their own devices.
The Knaves correspond to the seventh sphere and represent the Other. There are four elemental representations for these cards as well and can be viewed as shadows of the Agents or obstacles the magician can encounter—whether that is another person, an event, or a concept. The Knaves are Struggle (Fire), Through (Air), Rain* (Water), and Wood (Earth). Unlike the Agents, the Knaves have more of a trickster energy as their purpose is to challenge the magician.
* Note: This is where some of my creative license starts coming into play, in terms of which cards I ultimately decided to depict. There are several cards in this deck that contain influences from two or more of Sakura-chan’s cards throughout her magical journey. For example, my Rain card includes aspects of Storm and Snow.
The elemental suits are organized like so:
This is probably where most of the consolidation in terms of card representations takes place. When I have documented readings I have done with these cards on my blog, I tend to acknowledge when individual cards contain aspects of more than one of the card fairies from the source materials.
Then we have the Path cards. These are most similar to the trumps or the Major Arcana of a traditional Tarot deck and even though I used the Emanant Qabalah system, it follows the traditional Fool’s Journey incredibly well (up to the representation of Death). There path cards are as follows:
0. Song (The Fool)
I. Silent (The Magus/Magician)
II. Repair (The High Priestess)
III. Flower (The Empress)
IV. Sword (The Emperor)
V. Light (The Hierophant)
IV. Sweet (The Lovers)
VII. Move (The Chariot)
VIII. Libra (Justice)
IX. Dark (The Hermit)
X. Shot (Wheel of Fortune)
XI. Shield (Strength)
XII. Seige (The Hanged Man)
XIII. Shadow (Death)
And that’s how I organized my personal deck! While I took a lot of time and consideration into creating this structure, I am continually surprised and humbled by how the cards decide to manifest in my daily life and practice. With time they only become more nuanced and powerful and it has been an absolute joy to work with them! ☆
Secrets of the Clow, Part I: Card System Foundations
Whether you are inspired to emulate Sakura Kinomoto’s journey as a Cardcaptor or you are purely interested in exploring magical systems and techniques, there are few experiences more fruitful than deciding to create your own tarot or oracle deck.
With all of the planning, associations, and other considerations that go into developing something like a tarot deck, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Hopefully this series of posts will elucidate the foundations of creating a card-based divinatory system and help you determine how you want to organize your own!
This post is part of my Magi Praxis series. If you have any suggestions for future topics, or you have attempted anything I have shared and want you share your experiences, please send me a message! I am always happy to go back and provide further explanation as well. ☆
The first thing to consider when building a card system is determining now you ultimately want to use it. Some questions you can ask yourself are:
⭒ What card systems do I gravitate towards? (ex. Tarot, Lenormand, oracle decks, etc.)
⭒ What divination systems am I comfortable using? (Even if they’re not card-based! Many times you can utilize other divinatory methods, such as using a pendulum or curios, with cards for nuanced results.)
⭒ How many cards do I want in my deck?
There is no right answer to any of these questions—it is purely a matter of preference and functionality—but once you have an idea of what you want, do some research! Look at decks you like using or that you are drawn to and take note of how they are organized. Does it follow a traditional or established canon or does it offer an original approach?
Many Tarot decks use the qabalistic Tree of Life (derived from the Jewish mystical teachings of the Kabbalah by Western occultists and esotericists) at least as a framework for the Fool’s Journey emulated in the Major Arcana. If you’re looking for a plug-and-play method of organization, this is a respectable avenue to that end. Alternatively, you can check out the work my partner has done on @covn if you want a less syncretic system to build off of. (While it looks similar to qabalah on the surface, the tree referenced throughout the blog was created out of series of mathematical emanations that just happens to look similar to the sefirot!) I highly recommend his work, and have used it in my own practice and in my personal deck creation as a meta-paradigm to work from, but it is not necessarily beginner friendly.
A potential downside of deciding to tackle the Tarot is that a standard deck has 78 cards—that’s a lot of work for one person to take on! For reference, my deck consists of 42 cards and that still took a long time to develop! While I will go into how my deck is organized in a follow-up post, I tend to describe it as Lenormand Plus™.
Lenormand decks typically consist of 36 cards, which is definitely more realistic of a project for most practitioners to handle on their own. A quick web search yields many beginner-friendly introductions to the traditional associations and reading techniques, if this is something you’re considering!
If you’re seeking a more intuitive approach, many oracle decks throw traditional frameworks out the window and work more like curios or magpie oracles. These divinatory systems have roots in various folk traditions and consist of various small items that are collected by the practitioner and are cast on a surface for reading; each item has specific associations, sometimes only known to the practitioner, and can be interpreted by itself and/or in conjunction with where it falls in relation to other items.
When creating a deck with this mindset, there is no map holding you back—you are free to include whatever you deem appropriate. And while this may seem like the simplest approach on the surface, I can say from experience that you can easily want to add in too many cards in order to feel like you’re ‘covering all the bases’. (I made a curio deck as an experiment several years ago and I quickly had over 100 cards! They were fun to read but the amount of cards was kind of unwieldy and were awkward to shuffle, etc.)
Once you feel comfortable moving forward with a plan to guide your decisions, it’s time to start figuring out what you want to include in your deck! In the next part of this series, I’ll use my deck as an example of how I looked at Sakura Kinomoto’s Sakura and Clear Cards for inspiration and used the C-ov-N system to decide what to include and how!
I haven’t posted much lately. There hasn’t been much for me to update with on here, as I spent much of last year working on cosplay.
But now, stuff’s come up, my depression has been kicking my ass for the last week, and now it’s time to just. Do something about it. Something powerful. I’m getting help, but I need something I can work with *now*, not later.
Ergo, this. A breakdown of the card choices below. Of course, each person is unique and would need to decide for them what would work best for their situation and interpretation of the cards.
I never really thought there’d be a consequence to the shape of my Wand. And when I chose a knife I was only thinking of the practical aspects of having something I could use physically too.
But .
Multiple Cards have noted that I come across as aggressive and more scary because of it. I guess every symbol has multiple meanings.
So I guess, if you’re looking to start Clow Sorcery, consider your choice of Wand from more than your own POV.
