Divination Space Station: Leticia Ferrer-Rivera & Secrets of Paradise Tarot

June 20, 2021 By Lilith Dorsey

It’s been awhile since we have featured a new installment of Divination Space Station, but when I saw the new Secrets of Paradise Tarot by Leticia, The Witchy Dancer I knew I had to find out more. Leticia Ferrer-Rivera, The Witchy Dancer! is the owner of Dancing Crowns. She is Certified as Tarot and Crystal Healer. She does divination and Psychic Readings using the Pendulum, Tarot, and Crystals. Leticia is also a Wicca High Priestess and comes from a long generation of Witchcraft and Mediums on both sides of her family, especially from the Ferrer side from Barcelona, Spain. Here’s what she had to say (all responses come directly from her):

When did you start divining?

When I was 7 years of age I started to have clairvoyant dreams showing me the related person in the event that was going to happen very soon. For example, I remember dreaming that my mother was going to have her car stolen from one of the big shopping malls in Puerto Rico, and actually it was my aunt (her sister) who had her car stolen from the mall parking lot. As an adult, around 2004, I started learning Tarot and Pendulum on my own. That was the start of a big spiritual change in my life and was about a year before getting initiated as a High Priestess in a very intimate Coven in Puerto Rico. I loved both methods from the get-go.

With what method?

Tarot and Pendulum were my first methods of divination. It is ironic because I played Briscas (Spanish Cards) all my life and saw them as fun, instead of as a divination tool. So I kept using Tarot and Pendulum, and I incorporated Crystals Casting and Oracles back in 2017.

Which method do you use most often now?

I use Tarot, Pendulum, and Crystals more often, but I can also pull out an Oracle Card at the end of a reading sometimes for extra insight.

How important is the choice/phrasing of the question?

It is important to ask the right question and to be specific. The question must not just be about another person alone, but your situation, your relationship, you must be included in the question. This way the outcome has a message for you directly on how this is impacting you, and also guidance on how to proceed.
It is also super important to choose the correct method of divination when you know what type of reading the querent is looking for. It has higher probabilities for me as a Reader and Psychic to deliver the appropriate message throughout and at the end of the reading. It is important to know which method can be used for what type of reading, but also, within the method which card deck or which pendulum to use as well. I have Tarot Decks that are perfect for business readings, others for love readings, others for any kind of readings, and the same with the pendulums based on the type of crystal they are made, wooden pendulums, metal, etc. It takes not only your intuition and skills for choosing the right tool, but also studying each method and crystal is important.

Do you have a yes/no method of divining you recommend?

I love Pendulum for a Yes or No answer. However, I also use it for multiple-choice, dates, and confirming time frames. I use it for Crystal Healing too.

Is there any advice you have for newcomers when using divination?

– To study each method from trusted and reliable sources.
– To not learn more than two methods at the same time.
– To understand if you want to be a Tarot Reader or if you want to work with intuition, spirit, and the Divine for developing your Psychic or Mediumship abilities. This is a big decision to make.
– Do not choose an easy method you are not tuning with just because it is easier, push yourself to study and connect with the method you really like.
– Buy your decks from trusted sources and support authors, Tarot and Oracle creators, and trusted businesses online and locally. Do not buy counterfeit decks from Wish! This type of practice hurt us all and believe me, your counterfeit deck will not work with you with the same energy as the one bought from their creator or publisher.

Leticia, The Witchy Dancer. All photo rights reserved.

I’m absolutely in awe of your Secrets of Paradise Tarot? What was your inspiration for the deck, and how do people get one?

One day I asked my husband to take a picture of me in front of one of our Lilacs from our backyard. I placed a chair in front, grabbed one of the branches that needed to be cut, and sat on the chair. When I saw the picture I said… This is the Queen of Wands! It was not intended to look like a Tarot card, but it did. That was the first card I created, but from there I created the rest of the cards combining my expertise from the performing arts and the culture with my knowledge from the Tarot. In 600 years of Tarot History, there are several Hispanic Tarot Creators and several Tarot Decks with names related to the Spanish language, but none of them has illustrations, deities, and symbolism from the Caribbean and Latin America. That was the main reason I created it, I love that this deck is going to make history once is published. From the Taínos to our African Heritage, as well as our music, dances, food, and historical places, this deck includes new symbols that have never been on a divination card deck before, as well as some traditional symbols that are based on the Waite-Coleman Smith Tarot. Secrets of Paradise Tarot: A Caribbean and Latin American Approach to Symbolism and Divination is right now submitted as traditional publishing proposals to my two favorite big traditional publishers. One will be answering sometime soon and the other I am not sure how long they take for the response, but hopefully soon. (Update: During the writing of the post word arrived that the deck will be published by Hay House ! Congratulations and more updates to follow!) I want to take this opportunity to invite everyone to sign up for the newsletter at www.dancingcrownspsychic.com so you can all get invited to the themed Launch Party I am planning to do once it is available for purchase.

Are there any new projects you are developing?

Yes, I am always creating. Besides everything I do I am currently teaching to a group of women a pilot course called Sacred Geometry in Dance that I designed myself. I am also working already on my Mysteries of the Spanish Fan Oracle. That is my next big project. I will be opening two new courses in Crystals and Tarot so stay tuned! Sign up for the newsletter to receive all this information via email and before anyone else!

As always if you have enjoyed what you read here please remember to like, comment, and share !

A Magickal Victory Garden

March 31, 2020 By Lilith Dorsey

New Magickal Victory Garden photo by Lilith Dorsey. All rights reserved.

With needs being as they must now is a great time to start a Magickal Victory Garden. Spiritually based gardening is one of my favorite passions. I have always loved plants, what real witch doesn’t, and in college I minored in Plant Science and Horticulture (don’t make me get my chainsaw.)

These days, some people, myself included, don’t necessarily have the space to spread out and create the magickal victory garden of our dreams. This shouldn’t be a barrier, plants, including both important magickal herbs and flowers can be grown on a sunny windowsill or under a grow light. One of my favorite posts is about making a Magickal Protection Window Box. I love my window box, and for my recent years of apartment dwelling it has been a lifesaver.

This year my Magickal Victory Garden includes dill for communication, basil for protection and healing, chives for health and removing negativity, and a few more treasures. Another idea might be to start some ginger, which is said to raise psychic ability and awareness. Or you may even wish to grow some mint, Anyone who has grown mint in their garden knows this plant could almost be considered a weed, hearty and powerful it’s benefits are numerous. Mint can be used in spells for healing, love, money, and psychic power. You can choose from peppermint, spearmint, catmint, and many others. Consequently each have their own specific vibrations, so take those into consideration along with your own personal preferences when stocking your magickal cabinet.

One thing I like to do with my container plants is surround them with crystals and other power items (place these outside the pot.) This will help to establish a beneficial relationship between the stones and the plants. There are many other magickal herb posts on this blog, please check them out if you have the time.

I have a dear friend in Texas planing trees, and another in New Orleans sewing sunflowers. What are you growing in your victory garden, I’d love to hear from all my readers in the comments, drop a list of you favorite plants, or better yet a photo.

As always if you have enjoyed what you read here please remember to like and most definitely share.

Hoodoo How We Do: Underwear Spells

July 8, 2019 By Lilith Dorsey

Hoodoo Underwear Spells photo by Lilith Dorsey. All rights reserved.

Underwear spells … yes, you read that right, this post is about spells using underwear and other items of clothing. In lots of ways Hoodoo and Conjure workings are about resourcefulness, and making magick with the items you have at hand. Footprints in the dirt, hair, fingernails, and clothes are often used in these systems to represent and connect to an individual.

Several years ago I had an interesting and eye opening experience when I went with a friend to clear out the storage locker of someone we knew who had passed away. Our friend had left us too soon, and we solemnly had gone to his space to clear out anything he would not have wanted his family to see. We found lots of interesting things. One of which I’m still laughing about almost a decade later, was a small treasure chest filled with women’s underwear and all kinds of mojo mixed in. There were big panties, small panties, obviously he was an equal opportunity panty spell caster.

There is certainly an ethical question that has to be considered when doing any kind of magick with underwear and other personal items. These types of spells are a kind of commanding and controlling, and those things always have consequences. I have heard of people wrapping up their hair and that of their partners, tying them together and then surrounding it with the underwear. Personally, I would never do such things without my lovers permission, in that way I know that everyone is a willing participant in the process.

The simplest type of Hoodoo spell work you can do with underwear is to use your own to attract love and passion. This type of working can be as simple or as elaborate as you wish to make it. You can use oils, candles, crystals, herbs, or any number of items as part of this process. In my book Love Magic I give a spell that would work well, namely the Happy Delights Spray.

Happy Delights Spray

You can spray this on your underwear, your bed, your pillow, and anywhere you wish to attract joyous love.

Ingredients:

1 ounce Florida Water

1 ounce Rose Water

3 drops Amber oil

1 drop Sandalwood oil

1 drop Frangipani oil

Glass bottle

Combine all ingredients into your glass bottle. Make the sign of the cross in the air with the bottle, then gently toss into the air and catch it. This will make sure it is charged and blessed by the realm of the invisibles. Now it is ready for use.

As always if you have enjoyed what you read here please remember to like, comment, and share.

Birthing A New Tarot Deck

June 4, 2019 By Lilith Dorsey

Candles and Cards photo by Katrina Joyner. Licensed under CC 0.0

You could be a long time Tarot Reader, or one who just began yesterday, in either case from time to time you will need to go through the process of birthing a new Tarot Deck. Most readers that I know have more than one deck, some even have a collection numbering in the hundreds. Birthing a new deck is only the first step in a long life of caring and feeding for your cards, as I like to call it. The process can be as complex or as simple as you would like to make it. You can use any, or all of the following methods as you birth your tarot deck into the world.

Consider getting a special bag or box to place your cards in. This could be something in the a psychic power color like purple, or one inscribed with symbols or sigils that will help to charge and energize your cards.
Some readers like to put their new deck under their pillow on the night of the full moon to bond the deck and the reader together.
You may wish to create a crystal grid as part of a ritual to birth your deck. Consider setting stones like Amethyst,Carnelian, Iolite, Lapis, Jasper, Moonstone, or Quartz in a square or star pattern, then setting your new cards in the center. The square will help to focus the energies of the crystals into the gods, while the star is based on a pentacle, which will allow you to invoke all the elements when charging up your new deck. Leave them there inside the crystal shape at least overnight. For more about crystals and tarot please see my post How to Improve Your Tarot Reading With Crystals.
Another way to charge your cards and birth them into magickal existence is to leave them overnight on your altar or shrine. You could choose to place them on your ancestor altar, or even on your own personal altar or shrine.
Many people choose to do the initial blessing of their cards with the element of air. You could use a smudge stick, palo santo, or other type of incense. However please be mindful of the type of cleansing you are doing, the sage in certain smudge sticks can cause problems for pregnant or nursing mothers, and palo santo has been heavily harvested and is now classified by some environmental organizations as threatened. Whichever type of sacred smoke you use be sure to past the smoke over and around the cards, first in a counterclockwise circle then in a clockwise one.
Some readers even suggest birthing your deck with food. This involves cooking your favorite meal, setting a table with a place for you and one for the deck, place a small amount of food in front of the deck and a normal amount on your own. Share this meal with your deck, sitting with it while you eat. When you are done bury the portion that was in front of the deck. This symbolizes a sharing between you and the cards.
These are some ways to bless your new tarot deck, I would love to hear your methods, please leave them in the comments below.

As always, if you have enjoyed what you read here please remember to like, comment, and share !

Review: Astrology For Happiness And Success by Mecca Woods

November 3, 2018 By Lilith Dorsey

Astrology by Claudia Dea. Licensed under Public Domain.

Astrology for Happiness and Success by Mecca Woods has everything you would expect from an Astrology book. It recommends crystals, mantras, herbs, and more to resonate with your sun sign.

When I got this book I did what I usually do with a new Astrology book – I turned to my sign. Since this book focuses on Sun signs, for me that means Aries.

For Aries like myself Woods suggests using scents such as ginger, star anise, amber, and black pepper to enhance both power and seduction. One of my favorite things in Astrology for Happiness and Success is that they also include affirmations for each Sun sign. I’ve said it before and I will say it again affirmations are so important in magick. They allow one to focus on goals and desires, and shift them into reality.

This book is chock full of information on every Sun sign and what it means for your personal astrology, and your magick. I just wish it had information about moon and rising signs too, hopefully that will be in Woods’ next book.

Astrology for Happiness and Success book cover photo courtesy of Simon and Schuster. All rights reserved.

Woods biography on the Simon and Schuster website tells us “Mecca Woods is a New York City-based astrologer and writer who works to help others create a life they truly want using their natural-born gifts. Her writing and horoscopes have appeared in Essence, Bustle, xoNecole, and PopSugar. When she isn’t writing, Mecca teaches astrology classes around the city on love, compatibility, and personal development. Her most important job is being a mom to her awesome Aries daughter. You can find Mecca at MyLifeCreated.com ”

I hope to interview Ms. Woods here on Voodoo Universe soon, stay tuned !

As always if you have enjoyed what you read here please remember to like, comment, and share this post !

Hoodoo House Blessing 101

November 14, 2017 By Lilith Dorsey

Hoodoo House Blessing photo by Lilith Dorsey. All rights reserved.

There are a lot of reasons for Hoodoo House Blessing. Maybe you just bought, or came into possession of a house, or maybe you just feel like things need to be spiritually cleansed. Whatever the reason there are a few things to consider before you start. There are as many methods for cleansing and protecting a house as there are houses.

Hoodoo is at it’s core a type of folk magick. It uses everything, and just about anything available to get its jobs done. Any decent house blessing will incorporate all the elements : Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. You would always be wise in performing a divination before any spiritual work. Asking for direction and guidance can always be helpful. Consider using a yes/no method of divination to narrow down which ingredients would be best for this specific situation. Not everything works for everyone, but by doing divination you will be able to find the combination that is truly right, or rite, for you.

Earth

In magick the element of earth is most often represented by crystals, stones, and actual dirt. As part of your house blessing you can place these items in the corners of your rooms, and also at the entrances and exits. One extra special ingredient to consider is Red Brick Dust. In the post Black Salt, White Salt, and Red Brick Dust all over I write “Hoodoo practitioners put Red Brick Dust almost everywhere- the thresholds, the windowsills, the property line… anywhere that needs to be protected. The most effective dust comes from old houses or buildings.”

Air

The element of air can be used in many different ways for your house blessings. Some Hoodoo practitioners use ammonia for cleansing. This is a good tactic to use as a house that is spiritually clean must also be physically clean first. You can also use incense, either sticks or cones can be placed throughout the home. Pay special attention to doors and windows.

Fire

When performing any kind of house blessing it is advised to use both a black and a white candle in your working. These will respectively repel negativity and attract good things to your house. Consider adding a few drops of Myrrh or Sandalwood essential oil to the candles for extra potency.

Water

Water can wash away a multitude of ills. One Hoodoo House Blessing practice is to add Holy Water to your wash water for floors and windows. Holy Water is used as an amplifier and blessing in many Hoodoo spells. It can be purchased online, or you can simply go to your local Catholic church water font and make a donation.

Spirit

Spirit can be added to your Hoodoo House Blessing in many different ways. Maybe you have a special deity that you have a relationship with. Consider adding some of the herbs, incense, or oils specific to that energy to your blessing work. One Hoodoo trick if you are trying to sell a house is to place an upside down picture of St. Joseph somewhere in the property. Some go so far as to bury an upside down statue on the property. This is said to clear the way for a successful sale.

However you get the job done I hope you perform many successful house blessings. I’d love to know what your favorite ingredients are, please comment in the section below. And as always if you have enjoyed what you find here please remember to share, share, share !

Herbal Magick : Dandelion – Nature’s Wonderful Weed

September 18, 2017 By Lilith Dorsey

Dandelion photo courtesy of wikimedia commons. Licensed under CC 2.0

Magick doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, and the easily available Dandelion is a perfect example of this. This helpful little herb goes by several different names : Priest’s Crown, Irish Daisy, Blowball, Piss-a-bed, White Endive, and Lion’s Tooth. It’s resemblance to a Lion’s mane probably accounts for it’s association with the astrological sign of Leo.

Dandelion is connected to the element of air. In accordance with this association this is a great plant to use when performing divination, or magick for clarity and insight. This makes it a great herb to keep with your tarot cards or runes to help increase their ability.

Most often this herb is associated with the goddesses Brighid and Hecate. The blog Herbal Riot tells us it “belongs to Hecate and is mainly a chthonic plant associated with the underworld and necromancy. It is beloved by bees, goats, pigs and is considered a toad plant (all have a certain underworld nature), with bees sometimes acting as psychopomps in old folklore. Dandelion is also a very Mercurial weed associated with the air element explaining its use in aiding in communication with the dead and increasing psychic ability. Drink an infusion of the dried and roasted roots to enhance your psychic abilities before performing divination or summoning spirits of the dead. ”

Dandelion photo courtesy of Love Magic. All rights reserved.

There are many magickal recipes containing Dandelion. You can make a tea from the root, ,or add the sunny blossoms to a salad. Please check out my friend Amber Shehan’s website Pixie’s Pocket for great recipes like Wild Fermented Dandelion Wine, Dandelion Fritters, and many more. In my book Love Magic I write “Even small children know that you can wish upon a dandelion seed pod to send your desires out to the universe.” I go on to give a delicious recipe for Dandelion soup in the book so please check it out. Here’s another fabulous magickal recipe using the herb.

Dandelion Psychic Wash Spell

Use this wash on your crystals, pendulum, shrine, or yourself to help increase psychic power and knowledge.

1 cup spring water

1 cup Dandelion flowers

3 drops Myrrh oil

3 drops Sandalwood oil

Heat up spring water to boiling. Remove from heat and add flowers. Leave until cooled. Strain mixture and to the remaining water add the myrrh and sandalwood oils. Use liberally whenever needed.

What are your favorite uses for this golden herb ? I would love to see them in the comments below. And as always if you have enjoyed what you read here please remember to like and share.