Turning the Wheel to Autumn
Dear ,
Thank you so much for reading my newsletter! You’ll find this October 2019 edition filled with interesting news and informative articles – so please keep reading. I’m beyond excited to share information and ideas with you that support you along your spiritual journey. AND – be sure to click the link below to get your free gift this month!
My October GIFT TO YOU is an MP3 I’ve recorded entitled “The Wheel Turns As We Go Within”! It's available until Samhain (Oct. 31).
DOWNLOAD HERE
I want this newsletter to be informative and helpful to you, so please let me know how I’m doing! I’m so grateful that you have taken a course or workshop with me, listen to my podcasts, have emailed me, had a reading with me, or subscribe to my blog. I’m so excited to connect with you! If you missed last month's newsletter, you can read it here. https://us19.campaign-archive.com/?u=0c6d1fd0a989512adb1d27165&id=a43030bc9a
Upcoming Courses & Events
Deeper Mysteries of Tarot in October
This advanced Tarot course meets over the telephone (with great handouts!), so you can join in from anywhere on the planet. All you have to do is dial a telephone number to be connected with me and your classmates. We meet for three intensive sessions packed with information and practice!
I’ve been reading Tarot for nearly 40 years, and I still consider myself a student. Deeper Mysteries of Tarot is my advanced course, where we’ll continue to build on what you learned in the prerequisite course. Additionally, we’ll explore more of the myths and legends of Tarot, such as the Holy Grail’s relationship to the keys. We’ll work more with your intuition, crystals, chakras, numerology, and more!
Registration details here: https://debbowen.com/product/deeper-mysteries-of-tarot-february-2019/
Note: Unlocking the Mysteries of Tarot is a prerequisite for Deeper Mysteries of Tarot, even if you’ve taken a Tarot course with another instructor.
Tarot Mentoring Forum with Deb Starting in November
If you’re searching for both a MENTOR and fellow seekers in continuing your journey through Tarot, this twice-monthly forum is for you!
We meet on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month to discuss your work with Tarot symbols and how to enhance your intuition. We’ll discuss issues that come up in readings, ethical concerns, ways to handle difficult subject matter, when to refuse to do a reading…. and more! You’ll learn more about the depth and meanings of the keys, and new ways to work with Tarot.
Admission into the mentoring forum is available ONLY to people who have completed both my Introductory and Advanced courses, so it is assumed that you have a working knowledge of both the Waite-Rider deck and Eden’s Gray’s “Complete Guide To Tarot” book.
Tarot Mentoring Forum with Deb is conducted via teleconference. All you have to do each session is dial a telephone number, and you’ll be connected to me and your fellow seekers from around the globe! We meet for one hour each session. The forum is on-going, and you can register at the beginning of each month for each additional month!
Beginning Tuesday, November 5 and ongoing on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday each month.
8:00 – 9:00 pm EASTERN time
Register NOW for my Tarot Mentoring Forum with Deb. When I receive notice from PayPal that you’ve registered, I’ll send you a confirmation email requesting that you respond so I know I have the correct email for you (this is important for me to send call-in instructions and handouts!).
Prerequisite: Must have completed BOTH my Introduction and Advanced Tarot Courses
Register quickly, space is limited! https://debbowen.com/product/new-in-february-2019-weekly-tarot-forum-with-deb/
Deb and Granny Jean at Mystic Elements for Halloween!
WHEN: October 26, 2019 @ 4:00 pm – 11:00 pm
WHERE: Mystic Elements, 4403 Park Avenue, Wilmington, NC 28403
COST: $20 for a 15-minute reading CASH ONLY!!!
CONTACT: Mystic Elements, 910-799-1001
Mystic Elements invites you to join us for our Annual Halloween Celebration and mini-market.
I will be at the wonderful event offering Intuitive Tarot Readings, and GRANNY JEAN the PALM READER is back (she’s 91 folks!!) Cost is only $20 for a 15 minute reading. CASH ONLY!!! There are other great readers too – come see!
Come support small business and local artisans; browse their wares and stock up on unique gifts before the big holiday rush. Supporting our vendors will also get you special discounts on in-store purchases with us!
Join us for the fun!
9 PM – Samhain Ceremony honoring the Ancestors lead by Roger Lockshier and Rachel Wurz.
Participate in our Community Ancestor Altar for all community members to add pictures and tokens of their loved ones who have crossed the veils, in their honor. All items go home with you at the end of the night.
Join in our Costume Contest for adults and children. Prizes will be awarded for best costumes by our Master of Ceremonies.
Tarot Meditation for October: The Three of Cups
Three maidens raise cups in celebration and joy, dancing in a circle. At their feet are the fruits of the season’s harvest (including a pumpkin!).
This key denotes an abundant harvest, a time of thanksgiving, and a celebration of the changing season.
The Minor Arcana suit of Cups is related to the element of Water, and the unconscious, or intuitive, self. It is connected to emotions, particularly love, pleasure, and fertility.
Numerologically, Three is about finding balance. It is representative of those moments in our lives that are beyond duality, beyond black/white, right/wrong, them/us thinking. Three affords us an opportunity to go both beyond polarity and within ourselves to find balance in our beliefs and practices.
Three is the number of the stages of a woman’s life in relationship to the Divine Feminine: maiden, mother, crone. We also can see these aspects of life each month as the Moon cycles through nine phases, with New, Full, and Dark being the phases we most often think about. Three is the number of the Holy Trinity in Christianity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. There are many more examples, of course, in many cultures.
We’ve just passed the Autumnal/Vernal Equinox (depending upon whether you live in the northern or southern hemisphere). As you know, the equinoxes are all about balance – the two days of the year when the length of darkness and light are about the same. I have spent considerable time listening in meditation to ways in which I can better live my life in balance. The Three of Cup reminds me that one way to find balance in my life is to find reasons to celebrate, to find joy. And then, to take those emotions into my unconsciousness, so that they become such an integral part of me that I am able to store those emotions away so that they are always within me.
The Gift of Darkness: Fallow Time To Go Within, To Offer Gratitude
The cloak of darkness descends earlier each evening now in the northern hemisphere as we glide our way toward Winter Solstice. Each day, the light lessens by a few minutes, and I become more and more contemplative in the growing darkness.
This time after the harvest festival of Mabon is a fallow time. The fields are stripped of their crops, the corn stalks bundled, the hay baled for fodder. The canning and freezing are done. It’s a time to offer up gratitude for the generous gifts in our lives. It’s time to rest by the fire, to be still.
One of my favorite aspects in following the Wheel of the Year is the way in which each turning is a metaphor for how I live my life. As the nights grow longer now, it’s a time of reflection. What seeds did I sow this past year? What germinated and flourished? What fell by the wayside? How fertile was the ground in which I planted? Did I tend my garden well? How did I handle “weeds” and “pests”? What did I harvest? What have I done with my harvest? What might I do differently next season? How many ways can I offer up gratitude?
Autumn is reflective beach-walking time for me, and I cherish my solitude on the strand. My connection to Mother Ocean runs deeper than I can tell you. Her waters sparkle more brightly in autumn light, her sunrises and sunsets are more electric, her gifts of shells more exotic. Her fall fragrance is richer, and her marshes glow as the cordgrass gently changes colors to muted grays and browns.
Another fallow-time joy for me is the time I make to slow down for quiet evenings with friends, sharing a pot of bean soup, cornbread, and apple pie. Food brings us together in ways nothing else can. The warmth of love and kindness around a kitchen table deflects the gathering gloom and chill beyond our doors.
Finally, as we move toward the end of October and the veil between worlds thins, I offer gratitude for the lessons of my ancestors, and plan how best to honor them, not only on Samhain night, but throughout the year.
A Silent Supper: Honoring the Ancestors
This is a lovely old custom, traditionally held on October 31. The basic idea is to be silent, of course, so that, if our ancestors join us and wish to speak or offer a sign of their presence, we can hear them. Here’s what you do:
Set the table with the “good” dishes. This is a holiday feast! Add one place setting and chair that represents where the ancestors might sit.
Have lots of candles on the table ready to be lighted (remember to place matches nearby).
Bring the serving dishes of food to the table, so that no one has to break the circle during the meal to go get something you forgot (remember the butter, salt, pepper!)
Gather around the table. The hostess lights the candles. Say a prayer of thanksgiving and of welcome to the ancestors beyond the veil. Be seated.
From this moment on, not a word is spoken. Silently pass the food around the table. The person sitting closest to the empty plate should dollop a small amount of each food served onto the plate set for the ancestors, then pass the food on around the table until everyone is served all the food.
While you’re eating, reflect on your love and gratitude for those gone before you.
When the meal is finished, say another prayer to bring closure to the ritual.
Someone should then take the ancestor’s plate outside and offer the food to the four-legged, winged, and crawling people.
Note: In olden times, this tradition was called a “dumb supper,” because “dumb” was another word for “silent.”
Deb’s Podcasts
Do you know that PsychicTeachers podcast is consistently in the top 20 podcasts in iTune’s Society and Culture category? Do you know it’s often in the iTune’s “What’s Hot” category? Do you know
that Samantha Fey and I have been offering this podcast FREE almost every week for over NINE years? Do you know it’s downloaded by 10,000 of you EACH WEEK?
You can listen to PsychicTeachers on many outlets, including iTunes, Spreaker, iHeart Radio, and many others! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/psychicteachers/id361910564
My Deb & Friends: Quest for Connection podcast has taken some shifts and turns over the past few months. Hurricane Florence last September wreaked havoc on the lives of
much of the team. Some of us have been ill or had family members with serious illnesses, and others of the team have taken their lives in new directions. All that being said, the podcast continues to air new episodes periodically, and has been in iTunes Top 15 Spirituality category recently. This podcast also is broadcast FREE! Don’t miss a single episode by checking out both our archives and upcoming offerings on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/deb-and-friends-quest-for-connection/id1330237467?mt=2
There aren’t enough words to express my gratitude to you for listening to us, and for enrolling in the courses I teach. As you learn and grow from the podcast and from us, I learn and grow from you!