Whats been going on...

So the last two weeks have been spend between me wonting to a lot of things to not doing anything at all. But its not all been laziness and falling into this empty void of nothingness like I have been doing for the last two years sadly. Not to say I have't been doing anything the last two years but its not really been much of anything and I'm tired of it.

Since being sick I have had to change a lot within my life and I wasn't till the last week or so of July that I realized just how much I have been in a slump emotionally, physically, even some what spiritually.

One change that has happened for the better was:
I have had to revamp all of my eating habits now that I know for sure I am lactose intolerant and with all the gallbladder issues I have had to cut out a lot of difference foods like beef and spicy foods. Despite all of this its actually been fun and not at all hard to accomplish. I am also finally loosing all this extra weight that I gained starting two years ago.
I had been going to the gym on campus and even with eating fast food all the time I was at the lowest I had ever been of 160. I alway stay around 175 never getting above 180 and never below 170 but I was actually making progress and losing the weight. Then a lot of things happened and I moved to FL to live with my grama and shit changed fast before I knew it I was 250 lbs and nothing not even just doing daily walking like I use to was fixing it.
With this new diet I am actually losing weight without even doing anything and I couldn't be more happier that I am not as heavy as I have been this last year and a half.

Another change has been:
A few week ago I found this new techno musician and fell in love with a description he left for one of his songs called Stargazing. The description goes:

While looking up deep into the galaxies and cosmos on a clear winter night, the stars brighter then ever before the cold wind blowing through your hair, and the most beautiful meteor shower to have ever graced the skies plummeting to Earth, you are suddenly struck by the awe-inspiring sense of insignificance, yet utter belonging within out universe.

I was stuck by the utter meaning and felling behind this. Add in his music and how well it conveys this I have decided to start using this thought and music in my meditations. I have been struggling with my meditations and doing them regularly here in the last couple of months has been nonexistent. This has shed a new light about how im going about my meditations and a deeper form of meditation that I have been lacking. Mediation having come easy to me seemed to loose its appeal and meaning to me.


I have also notices a big change in my general practices picking up since the hospital. I had been starting daily walks again right before I got sick and that was it. Now that walks are not an option I realize how much Ive been ignoring in my spiritual path and have been lieing to myself by thinking that because Im communing with nature and all that I normally do in my walks I was just going through the motions of an old routine that no long holds as much meaning to me as I use to.

Since the hospital I have started things that I wouldn't have been doing being stuck inside all the time and I have come to realize the importance of them finally in a way that I am so happy that I do now. I have been drawing out my book of shadow pages finally giving me visuals for me to learn faster and honestly make me feel more centered in my path not so wondering around. Also with school supplies being on sale I went and got a bunch of $0.25 spiral notebooks and now have them all dedicated to a topic.

I have a dream and meditations journal which Im actually keeping up something that I have never been able to do for longer then a week YAY.

A journal on topics I wish to actually post about my path and tips im hoping will help others like myself such as my hidden altar ideals I posted on here and on the forum I frequent.

One strictly for Poseidon and another for Artemis I am hoping to log all my knowledge about them and things that I connect with them and log events that happen with them. I also plan on doing this with my dragons and dragon meditations, I have been so bad a student when it comes to my dragons and I hate how neglectful i have been to them since working on finding my god and goddess and figuring all the things I have since February.

I also thought it would be a good ideal to keep a book on quotes and things I find that invoke meaning to me spiritually or that I connect to personally. This way I can keep them always and go back over them when I need a boost like I have been.


Final words:
Im hoping by doing all the things I have I will keep up some form of daily practice and that my path will be more firm then it has been in my search for what I knew to be my Goddess and what I knew my abilities to be. I cant even begin to describe the amount of growth I have had in the last year and to be honest I hope that my growth just keeps growing as abundant as it has been. I am finally feeling more myself then ever, more open to trying things and more social then ever. I love you my God, Goddess, and Guides and thank you for showing me the way when I am lost and keeping me on my toes when I'm not. Despite all of the hardships that I have gone through in life I know I will always get better and you will always be there for me. Blessed Be.

Hidden Altar Tips and Tricks #2

So adding from the other day I figured i would give you some more examples of what I have already shown you before i get on to new ideals. Numbers 1 and 2 are examples of the bowl ideal, number 2 being a floating bowl made to use as a offering dish to the god/goddess. Number 3 is a simple dish that you can do many things with to make an elemental altar in this case its candle colored water and dirt. I suggest actually getting crystal shards and filling them. And of course 4 and 5 are center pieces. 

This is a center peice that I have actually seen my grama do a couple of times when i was younger so I know for a fact it dose not raise eyebrows.

I love this one.

This one was so simple i decided to elaborate on how you could do this to without having statues that your worried someone will say something about. First off you could always get a faery if your a fairy wiccan, a dragon if you work with dragons, a animal you connect with or represents your god and goddess, heck you can just have a necklace and forgo the statue. Maybe even have a necklace with say a wolf on it or dragon and have that be a personal designated necklace to represent your path, just make sure that you purify it at least once a week to get rid of negativity.

This is a bathroom display that serves as a sea witches altar. the balls can be used for divination, the "pearl" i think is a moon stone I am not to sure *humm*.

Another way to amp up and designate a place as your altar or sacred work area is to get tables that have a meaning such as this one thats a tree. Or say a wolf end table or A driftwood coffee table, anything really works again as long as it has meaning to you. Besides they are a nice way to add character to a room without anyone knowing it also adds meaning.

Now this one is what I cal an altar in a vase. Simple take a crystal wand place 5 roses or any flower real or fake with the wand resting in the middle of all 5 right under the flower where the stem starts. Next take and wrap the garland around the stems so they secure the crystal into place and then place into your vase. You can use that vase as a altar and when you wish to work just take it out and set it up with some tea lights if you have them. *If you use real flowers and are keeping them into water make sure to see if your crystal can be wet* 

This is what i call the grab altar. Simple go on a nature walk and what you feel like your connected to grab as you walk. When you get to the end of your trail before you walk back place them on the ground or a stump and do your work leaving them when your done.

This one is kinda like the flower vase one only feathers and a piece of leather and fur to lay them out on.

This is a bird bath that you place flowers that you associate with your god and goddess in then add tea lights. Belive it or not this is also a great ideal as a way to light your bird bath or pond or fountain at night.

This is a crystal and stone concept, In this one you leave your stones and crystals outside in the bird bath and they get charged with sun and moonlight and you can just use the bird bath as a altar or take out the stones and crystals and set up a crystal altar. There are many designs for crystal altar or crystal grids and again this is a very simple way to hide your altar. If you dont have a birdbath you could just use a jar on a window seal and get the same effect.

Now on to wall altars done artiste. A fellow artiest on here said something that has stuck with me cus i feel the same way. Art is magic. The artiest spends time and pours there energy and intent into making the art perfect and show what they feel or mean. I have taken this into mind when I came up with this ideal. Simple you make a piece or art or find art that means something to you. For example: I plan on making a dragon/fairy wall altar, I plan on making a set of heavy metal fairy wings that i can wear on occasion but keep them apart so that i can also hang them on the wall in the center of the two wings im going to make one of these crayon arts by getting a dragon silhouette and placing it over a canvas and then proceed to melt red and black crayons around the dragon onto the canvas when im done ill remove the dragon and have a dragon outline with red and black for the background. There are several possibilities when it comes to DIY art ideals for a wall altar and im sure you can find one that fits for you. Some ideals are: making four small ones to represent each of the elements, making one with a quote that you are drawn to, finding a pic online that you like print it off onto iron on transfer sheets then ironing them onto a canvass or pice of fabric that you then stretch using embroidery hoops and hang onto the wall. The possibilities are endless.

I saw this and irremediably thought you could turn this into a wheel of the year and elements clock that has pictures like like a pumpkin for Samhain, Wheat for Lammas, Easter eggs for Ostara, A lake for water, a forest or mountain for earth, again the possibilities are endless. 

Hidden Pagan Altar Tips and Tricks #1

When making a altar you must first think of a few things before hand and keep a couple of thoughts in mind. 

• Its important to remember that no tools or symbols belong to any single faith or tradition; what they represent to you is what will be important. For example, if your parents are Catholic and you are not yet ready to tell them you have begun practicing Paganism, get a statue or picture of the Blessed Mother or St. Brigit (who, in pre-Christian times, was a Goddess rather than a Saint) and put it on your dresser. Surround it with your candles. Hang a Celtic cross above it– that is, an equal-arm cross (sometimes surrounded by a circle). The Celtic cross was originally a Pagan symbol but adapted for Christian use. Keep a set of rosary beads made of a crystal, stone or wood charged with magic. Instead of using them for Christian prayers, use them for meditation, chanting, or empowering objects by surrounding them with the beads.
• You must keep in mind that a altar can be sitting in the middle of your living room and, as long as you don’t have a giant pentacle hanging over a statue of the Horned God, most people would be none the wiser. Set up your altar on a shelf, mantle or table by using decorative candle holders, small potted plants, and artistic expressions and no one will guess that your 18th century floral porcelain plate is a pentacle or your elaborately carved medieval dagger hanging on the wall is more then just a part of your sword collection ;).
• What is important to you about your path? Do you follow multiple paths and if so what about your path are 100% got to have? I practice wicca but also practice aspects of Buddhism and Native American practices. This let me know that I want something that was simplistic but also incorporated my divination and aspects of my god and goddess but with a tie to my Native American and Buddhist aspects as well. 
• Who is your Goddess / God / Spirit Animal? What are some of the aspects or symbols that correspond to them be them known or what you feel represents them for you but also that you know wouldn't raise alarm? For example I follow Artemis and Poseidon and my Spirit animal is a Wolf, I also deal with Dragons. For me Blue and Purple are the colors I correspond with my God and Goddess. Other things would be sand dollars, sea shells, water, sand, antlers, nature, stars/crescent moon, deer, wolfs, fur.
•  What are some other things that you feel connected to or are prominent in your practices? For me salt, cinnamon and clovers are something I tend to use a lot. I also feel connected to fluorite.

• Another thing you might wont to consider is where your planing to place your altar. Do you need it to be facing a certain direction? Are you worshiping a Sun god or Moon goddess? if so it might be a good ideal to keep it within a area that gets sun or moonlight. Are you working with a small space like a small end table or bathroom sink or are you using a big space like a book shelf or dresser. 

Now that you have considered these aspects its time to think outside the box a little and see what works for you and to get you started here are some suggestions and thoughts. 

Minus the stone with the goddess if your worried about someone picking up the stone and seeing it this is a very cost effective simple altar ideal that can be placed anywhere and never raise a eyebrow. In a little bowl you place some sand/salt, place a tea light then add some stones/ crystals/ sea glass around the candle. Finally sprinkle some dried flowers or potpourri that matches with your god or goddess be it color smell or a flower/herb connected to them and your done. Make sure to dedicate your candle to your god and goddess and your done. 

This is a twist on the standard bookshelf. With it being a a circle shelf and the way its sectioned off  I love the many possibilities symbolism wise. Firstly the circle can represent the moon, the goddess, life, the wheel of the year and much much more. The sections can be dedicated to the four elements and the middle to spirit/god and goddess/yourself. Some other ideals besides the set up this person did is putting candle(s) in the middle instead  or a pic of yourself there instead of the bottom (I'm assuming that was her element and thats why the pic was there).

This is a simple autumn center piece but i love the concept and could see this a a alter in so many ways so I thought I would include it. Take a plate that you think fits your theme (sea, woods, Mabon, Ostara) you could also use a bowl. Then take and add three candles; the wood candles are a great way to add a nature element especially if your god or goddess are connected to nature like mine, you could also change the candles to fit your god and goddess better such as blue  candles if your say a sea witch or water is connected to your God or goddess or any candle really. Next you add a animal element such as an animal you are connected to like wolves or say if your theme is sea dolphins or horses or turtles or feathers for a Native American feel and to incorporate birds. Follow this with adding a wax/fake/real food that fits your god or goddess such as apples, grapes, a grain such as rice or corn. I know this doesn't seem like a altar but trust me thats the point after all. What you have just done is created a center piece for your table that has several symbols that are connected to your god /goddess and that is conveniently place on a table you can use to do your practices later.

This is kinda along the same lines as the center piece.

This is a really simple way to make a elemental based altar that can be made in just one glass or  5 it really does not matter. Taking various sized glasses (high wise) you add crystals or stones to the bottom or tied to the branches/twigs wit h wire. next add the twigs and arrange them so that they wont catch fire and allow the tea light to float. Next fill with water will about an inch below the rim, add the tea light and wahla you have a altar that you can place on a table, bookshelf, shelve, mantel the list is endless. If you do 5 you can arrange them in a line and when your ready to use them move them to the floor or on the table to form the points of a pentagram, If you use two you can dedicate one to the god and one to the goddess if so it might help to use crystals that are connected to your god in one and goddess in the other or just use different candle scents for each or color. If that is not an option keep in mind to dedicate each candle to its designated god or goddess and keep track of which is which.

This is another simple ideal that can go anywhere and is just small dishes that hold one of each  the elements and a single candle for the god and goddess.

This is a VERY SIMPLE and CHEAP altar ideal. Using a playing card deck pull out all the aces and the king and queen of hearts. Next your going to place the Queen of hearts in the center of the area your working, to the top of her sideways your to place the King (they will make a T) This is your god and goddess representation. Next you are going to place the aces in their corresponding elemental place around the god and goddess. Spade go to the right.and represent Air. Hearts go to the left because they represent Water. Diamonds go on Top because they rep Earth. And lastly, Clubs go to the bottom and represent Fire. When your done just simple place them back into your deck and your done.

Alright thats all I'm suggesting tonight guys belive it or not this had taken me about 6 hrs to plan out and write and I still think I dont make much since or messed up somewhere along the way. Anyway hope this helps someone.
Blessed Be from Baby Bear

4th of July

Hey guys so its been a little over a week since I was in the hospital and im doing good, had to take a week to finish meds, gain strength and get back to some what normal.

Anyways, now that I am back and everything I figured it was time to post a little something for the 4th.
As everyone knows this is the perfect time to get sparklers and since I never miss an opportunity to make a spell out of something odd I thought I would share something that I recently planed for tomorrow.

I like sparklers because they are a combination of fire but also night for me. What i mean by that is that the sparks to me are like fire stars that you can see up close and personal, almost as if im holding a star in my hand because im holding this wand of fire and light.

Going on this concept I made a spell/prayer to correspond with the moon phase atm. For me that is waxing so im doing a prayer for growth and health but if it was waning i would ask for banishing of my fears and obstacle in my way.

And what i will be doing is lighting the sparkler and say as i draw a pentagram in the air:
With this sparkler that I light
I hope you hear my spirits plight
For better health and spiritual growth
With fire light upon the air 
a pentagram for hope and care
I thank the for my answered prayer

Its simple to change the "For better health and spiritual growth" to fit yourself wish to gain/banish, and you can do this whenever.

I also find that this actually would make for a good coven prayer, kinda like when your coven leader lights their candle and then everyone lights their own, only its sparklers and as each person passes on the light they state what they are hoping to gain. I don't think it would be hard at all to make this into a simple little beginner coven ritual for say someone new to the craft and covens to get their feet wet.

Sorry

Hey guys sorry its been so long between posts, ive been sick and just got out of the hospital three days ago today. My gallbladder needs to be taken out so its been alot of pain and diet changing and all sorts of stuff. Ill keep up the blog as much as i can till i have the surgery but till then blessed be everyone.

Litha Back Yard Ideals

Wicca/Wiccan, Pagan/Paganism, Witch/Witchcraft

So if anyone noticed Ive changed my about me this goes to something that I have just found out and Ive been studying to better understand.
What I changed was how i presented what I practice as being Wicca. See the problem with this is it wasn't till modern practitioners that Wicca was even named a religion.

You can search youtube and find several people post vids on the difference between Wicca, Witchcraft, and Paganism but what a lot of people dont know is that Wicca use to just mean that you were a male practitioner of a faith based on the worship of Gods and Goddesses. The females are called Wicche.
It wasnt until Gardner that Wicca was the name of the religious practice, and has only been around for about 60/70 years. Before then they were just Pagans who practiced various coven based practicing. Now that Ive gotten that out of the way lets begin.

Now me personally this is how I separate the difference's between the three and why I define myself as a Pagan Wicche.

WITCHCRAFT
Witchcraft is the practice of using earth, elements and natural energies. This meaning people who are herbalist or aromatherapist who use natural properties of herbs, fruits, flowers and so on to aid them in a cause be it healing, relaxation, pain relief and so on. This also applies to people who do say yoga because it helps with pain or acupuncturist who use pressure points to alleviate pain and brake habits. Witches are more so Shamans then Wiccans and do not have to believe in Gods or Goddesses and can practice any religion freely. They do not have to adhere the the Wiccan Rede and are not a religion. And a witch can be anyone who uses natural remedies as oppose to medicine, say your Grandmother who tells you about using sweet onion oil for ear aches, or chewing whole clover to numb your gums cus you have a tooth ache and are out of Orajel. Witches can also cast spells without calling on gods and goddesses for help.
Witches can be both Wiccan and Pagan but can choose not to be.
 (DISCLAIMER: This doesn't give you permission to call your grandma a witch.)

WICCA
Wicca, is a new religion based on old Pagan practicing of covens worshiping and having ceremonies and traditions for various Gods and Goddesses. The term Wicca, like I stated before is actually the male practitioner and Wicche the female. Now they are both considered Wiccans. Practitioners of Wicca believe in Gods and Goddesses and follow a standard of living and practicing based on the Wiccan Rede (the link is the full version). It was published by Gwen Thomson in Green Egg Magazine in 1975, and attributed to her grandmother. The Rede has been redone several times and most have shortened it down but all follow these rules:

 An it harm none, do as ye will. 
This means if it harms none then do as you please. 

And ever mind the Rule of Three:

What ye send out, comes back to thee.

That what you do comes back to you 3 fold, or 3 times as bad or good.
Follow this with mind and heart,
And merry ye meet, and merry ye part.
Follow both the laws and the beliefs with all your heart and mind otherwise you will not be happy and you will not enjoy your practice to its fullness.

Now with Wicca you can be a Witch just like you could be a Witch if you are Christian, however you do not have to be a witch. Now most Wiccans believe that all Gods and Goddesses are real and just chose to focus on one set pantheons, or set of mythologies, or pick and choose what feels right to them, usually after spend years ahead of time studying and learning to the best of their abilities about their practice before choosing the God(s) and/or Goddess(es) who they believe has chosen them or to work with and even after then they spend all of their lives learning from their God(s) and/or Goddess(es) to learn what all they are willing to teach them in this life. Some also choose to believe in just Male and Female energy aka God and Goddess or Father and Mother. They do not choose a named god or goddess but just focus on the energies that the Male and Female represent.
Wiccans are Pagans and most are Witches.

PAGANISM
Paganism is an umbrella term for any one who dose not follow the Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Muslim and Judaism. All pagans are nature based religions or cultures and include everything from Buddhist, Hinduism, Native American cultural practices, Naturalist and Yogies. Pagans are people without God meaning the Abrahamic god. Like wise Pagans can be divided between a diagram of :
Community- worshiping with a community or focusing on that group of people (this part is controversial but I have to agree that it is a component because you can choose to worship with people or without)
Deity- The worship of a deity of any kind and can be one or more.
Self- The worship and building of you yourself.
Nature- The worship of nature and all that it gives us and the energy that comes from it.
This means you can focus on worshiping all, some or just one of the four aspects but most stick to just one or two aspects.
Pagans do not have to be Wiccan or Witches.

(I basically restated the definition on this one because there are to many that fall under Paganism also I am saying that its both nature based religions or practices but also cultural practices that are non abrahamic and this includes life styles)


Now I mix a lot of religions to make up my path both Wicca, a little bit of Voodoo, some Celtic traditions and a lot of Witchcraft, I have a lot of values that are also taken from all over the place like Buddhism and Native American because I feel they fit with my practice and are me. I believe in my God and Goddess, I worship them and hope to learn as much as I can from them. And going through my mind at this point in time is that I am a female pagan who practices a lot of various pagan religion practices spread out not just wicca and as I cover a little of all the circles but community atm and that is only because I do not live in an area where that is available, I decided for me I am a Pagan Wicche, a female practitioner of paganism not just wicca. If I'm wrong to call my self as such then I guess thats on me.

Sunday

Today I found that I was bored and struggling to come up with a topic for the blog and i got to thinking about how today is Sunday.
Today for me was Church Day growing up.

I would wake up at the ass crack of dawn (6am) to get ready to go to church. Spend an hr in Sunday School learning in my respective age group class, spend 9 to 12 in the adult church unless your 12 and under then you had children church which i guess was better cus at least then your spending most of the time playing with kids. After church service depending on the week we would either have Sunday picnic where everyone prayed and worshiped and ate at the local park till 3ish then go back to the church for all the different chorus practices, went home to eat lunch and come back at 6 for the practices, or had a lunch at the church and stayed and socialized all day and then had chorus practice before church. All ending the same way with me going to church again at 6 to attend children's/youth practice then adult chorus practice and then spend another 3 hrs or more at church for the evening service that started at 7 and ran at all hrs of the night at times even as late as 12 pm. I did this every day since I was born till I was 15.

What always got me more then anything is that my mother never had to attend all the services or do half the things me and my sisters were told we had to do. And this always made me madder then a bird who didn't get the worm.

I've learn not to let these things get to me as I'v grown but lately after much looking back on it it still gets me how parents make us do all the things they would never do to make you a "better person" or "have a better life then me".

My mom was not a good women and granted I understand she loves me, I still don't thing she had the right to do half the things she did as I was growing up. If she couldn't give herself a better life then how dose she have the right to tell me what will make my life a better one.

I bring this up to tie into the Sunday topic because I am so sick of people like my mom or even the parents who are the perfect parents and great people, who force children to believe what they believe or do what they think is best for them when it comes to things like religion or career paths for example:

You have a child who is a natural dancer, to them dancing is their life. However, life isn't easy for dancers and more then a little hard to make something out of yourself so a parent tells them that that is not a viable career path and instead force them to be something more "productive and viable" a career.

Or you have a parent like my mom who made me go to church ever chance there was Monday- Sunday if there was something going on then I was there sick or not. She know full well that I didn't believe in God and that I would never willingly go to church yet I was told God was the only religion of worth and that I needed him in my life or I was going to hell and all the other stuff that comes with Christianity bashing on people who don't believe.

These parents force their children into a life they don't wont to have and grow to hate. My question is why? You know that it pushes your children away, makes them resent the very thing you are making them do, hell your making them into what you wish you had done or did, and when it backfires and they tell you that this is not them you get upset and offended. Didn't you see this coming? How would you have reacted if you were them?

A popular question among parents now a days is rather you should force religion on to the children you are rising. My stance is no you should not ever force or sway your children for the fear that you will make them resent you or the very thing you love and hope that they will grow to love, but they should still be exposed to it to at least learn know about it and take to it if they please.
I think the world would be a whole lot happier if you stopped forcing people to believe in what you think is right for them when in actuality you yourself haven't found out what is right for you.
So what if  Christianity isn't my belief, or if they don't wont to continue the family line of lawyers of doctors. To to them/me its what makes us happy and there for shouldn't that be what counts?

My alter atm :)

My alter just pushed to the side, i didn't feel like setting it all up.

The stuff above my alter, since i meditate in front of my alter this is hear for my spirit guide. The string with the close pin holding paper are pre made sigils and a bookmark i made.

This is my pentagram, its just a old dream catcher ring i had with rubber bands cus i cant keep it up.
My sun and moon candle holders, and My flower arrangement for Freya, she loves flowers so i got some fake ones, added some handmade ones i made this morning with some paper and little glitter eggs from easter, the ribbon around the top is a wedding ribbon so i though it fit with her :)

Cinnamon cus thats one of my go to herbs for working, my container with my sigil for blessings from Freya: it just has dandelion seeds, the lady bug candle holder is just holding some dried flowers and buds again to represent Freya and nature. and behind them are just a lot of candles. 

I saw this on pintrest and loved it so i drew it up my way, then colored it. I love that it contains both my wolf and the elements all in one.

This is just a orange covered in whole cloves it makes a pomander ball. (whole cloves are what's in my bowl)  I love the smell and wonted to make one so this is my first one lol figures crossed it works out lol.  Oh and the bowl is what I use to burn things or mix stuff ie my cauldron. 

This is a vile of sigil infused water I made and the candle in the back is a white one i love that i drew the goddess and god moon symbol in repetition along the top.

I rely on salt like  more then normal cus thats all I had to protect me when  I was younger so i tend to keep a vile of it. This is just some i keep in a old medication bottle the cap has the rune for protection and under the cap is a drawn pentagram.

And this is just a MTG mat that i tend to use to practice stuff on like Cartomancy lol. I plan on getting one thats more shall we say pagany but that requires customizing a pic and then getting it printed and stuff and I don't have money for that atm.

Playing Cards: Cartomancy

Ive been always drawn to tarot. In fact why most girls at age 8 or 9 were buying Goosebumps or Junie B books at the school book fair I was buying a mini tarot card set. They were my pride and joy at the time lol. I use to pull a card every day or spend the day reading the book that came with it. Unfortunately I lost the little mini cards do to how I grow up and always moving around. *sad panda face*

Fast forward to now. Ive yet to get a big tarot deck because the option is just not available to me atm but for the last couple of years Ive thought about using playing cards to fulfill my needs. Especially when I watched the show Psychic Tia and seen her Gypsy Witch Fortune Telling Playing Cards and I know that it was for me.
So I set about studying how to use playing cards till I get around to buying the Gypsy Witch Fortune cards and have to admit that this is a lot easier to remember and understand if your starting out then a full tarot deck. The spreads can be just as complex or just overly simple. The meanings are short and to the point, and although its hard at times to combine them, that I will admit, it actually makes you think about the spread and whats happening overall. I have to admit I'm loving it to pieces.

heres some easy to understand links if you wont to give it a try:
http://www.talisman.net/tarot/regcard.html
http://www.cafeastrology.com/fortunetellingcards.html

Two Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtcXtzkzhTk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zX7-Lq4sp8