Blessings, beautiful souls —
Yesterday, I received my Seasons of the Witch Autumn Tarot. I bought this labelled as “used in excellent condition” through Amazon, but it wasn’t used at all. The box was sealed with the original wrap. It had a few dents in the box and was labelled with a red sticker by the seller (World Of Books), likely because of this slight damage, but otherwise, it was brand new. Buying it in this way saved me over 15 euros!
I decided to dive in with my tarot interview and, let me tell you, this will be the kind of deck that lays it out. Autumn makes me feel cozy, but this deck will see right through me, I can tell. It’s also Sword heavy – an indicator that it will offer mental clarity (something I’ve been longing for, as of late). This post was started in the dark depths of 4h morning, and was written as time allowed (which was scattered, sporadic, etc.)…
This is very clearly a deck for the Liminal Space…
Tell me about yourself and what I need to know about you – For this one, I took a peek at the teacher card – bottom of the pile – EIGHT OF AUTUMN SWORDS
This is the card of self-imposed cages, and this deck is saying to me that it will free me from my own mental burdens, that it will help me kill off all the limiting stories or roadblocks I’ve created in my head. This deck will show me where my mind has become my cage that I’ve mistakenly called home. It will be the key that frees me. But it will do so sharply, and without compassion.
Why have you come into my life at this point? – THREE OF AUTUMN SWORDS
While this is normally a card that represents betrayal or heartbreak, I read this as the deck saying to return me to the heart of all things, to stop the overthinking, overanalyzing, and desperation for clarity that leaves you breathless and longing for more. It feels very much like the deck has arrived at this point in time because I am navigating a “semi-shadow of the Self” I would call it, and this will be the deck that helps me heal that.
How will we work together? – SEEKER OF AUTUMN CUPS
In this deck, the SEEKER is the what is traditionally the KNIGHT. I love how the image on this card is a witch, flying on her broomstick, but reading a book. The guidebook says, “The seeker is moved by emotion, led by instinct, and grounded in the melancholic truth that everything worthwhile eventually changes, yet still they search. hey are not a wide-eye dreamer, chasing happily every afters, nor are they naive to heartbreak […] they continue to extend their cup. They continue to offer themselves up to the tenderness of being seen and the risk of being wrong, and they continue to follow their heart.”
Love is practice – and this deck will work with me through that frequency, with love. Despite all the swords, at the heart of it, we will work with love; perhaps in that Temple of Love from which I always sit and work. The deck will encourage me to follow the feeling and help me unravel what this intuition is telling me. And, as with all knights, this deck will get me moving.
How will you challenge me? – SIX OF AUTUMN SWORDS
What is most interesting comes from the guidebook: “Autumn is the liminal space that marks a transition, allowing you to immediately release and prepare for something new. The Six of Autumn Swords also stands in the in-between, representing the moment when you aren’t fully healed but you aren’t completely standing in grief either.” Okay, okay my beautiful little deck, I see you, I hear you… And clearly you see me, too. This deck is going to teach me how to sit in that liminal space (of me) and not force a resolution. Essentially, this deck will help me master becoming The Liminal.
What do you think about me? –SHEPHERD OF AUTUMN CUPS
Shepherd in this deck is traditionally the QUEEN in the standard Rider Waite. I am honoured that the deck sees me in this way – that it views me as the psychic, intuitive, deep-feeling matriarch. The deck feels that I lead with my heart, that I am a safe space for others. And I love that, in this deck, it’s called The Shepherd; they guide, watch their flock, tend to them… And, oddly enough, in this deck, she holds a little pumpkin cup with steam coming out the top — I am holding the same (here is a photo of it):
How will our journey begin with one another? – NINE OF AUTUMN WANDS
Finally, the deck tells me it will begin with patience, by allowing embers to turn into flames. It will make me work for what it has to tell me, but it will be worth it. The deck wants me to take the time to learn about it. To learn its imagery. To shuffle it, hold it, sit with it. To maintain boundaries on how much I let overwhelm consume me (fitting, right now) and make time to enjoy what I have built/am building with it.
And, strangely enough, I forgot to mix in a card while shuffling – I don’t even know how it happened, but it was sitting on the guidebook when I went to grab it to dive into this reading, so it feels important as well – THE AUTUMN FOOL
A fitting card to go off on its own adventures, as the Fool never stays where it is supposed to. This card is all about new beginnings and this feels a little like the deck is whispering, just you wait and see what emerges when you work with me.
This deck is truly beautiful, the guidebook incredible, and my only issues with it are like the complaints of many others. Having “Autumn” written on every card seems a bit redundant, but I suppose if you’re making the seasonal tarots, that little extra word makes sense. I think the borders are unnecessary, and I would have loved the art to continue to the edges like the oracles. I really hate that the Swords are symbolized by… sticks? Literal wands? I don’t know why an athame wasn’t selected. The broom for Wands is also a bit odd, same with the little Halloween treat container for Cups. It gives it a bit of a childish, Halloween-y feel rather than an Autumnal feel. I really appreciate the name changes on some of the cards; it truly evokes the fall vibes feel and makes it personal and magical.
Alas, this is where I disconnect. My overwhelm today is calling me to just slow and rest. I am quite behind on client readings, but this is also not something I can rush through and just get finished. I just have to trust that everything is happening as it should, when it should.
If you wish to support my work further, have a look at all my books, journals, and decks, available here. If you want to work with me as a spiritual healer, would like to have a Council of Light Transmission, or wish to have a tarot reading with me, check out my services through Seeking Celestial Grace and Awakened Little Souls.
xx C
