Well, it's a whole one degree outside, so I'm not going out there if I can avoid it.  Also, we're just past the first new moon of the new year, and it's a very long time since I did a card draw, other than during FAWM or 50/90, and I miss doing it.  I pulled out a bunch of decks, as I have been drawing cards to inspire a song for FAWM for some time now, and I have yet to decide which deck to use there.

As always, New friends and old are very welcome.


Status: Closed

About the readings,

You can simply ask for a single card with no obligation to tip (though tips are very much appreciated, and allow you to ask for a clarifying card if the reading is not clear to you).

I am also offering a three-card reading for $20 or a five-card reading for $35, or if you want a larger reading we can discuss costs. A signal boost for readings or for my Patreon will also allow you to ask for a clarification card on some part of this reading, if you still have a question after seeing the first card(s). 

The five card circle spread I designed is described here:  https://www.patreon.com/posts/dandelyons-five-60824603  If you want a five card reading, that is one option, but not the only one.   For a three card reading, you can ask for past/present/future, insight into an issue (or life in general) and two ways to deal with it, or something else. 

Regardless of the length of the reading, you may ask about real life or a creative project, even for a character you play in a game. I can draw a card for you to meditate on, to represent the Guide you need right now, or to get you unstuck. I can draw a card for your protagonist or villain, or can draw a card or cards for you to use as writing or art prompts, and I can modify a more-traditional five-card spread into a prompt for a story focusing on plot or characters or a little of both. Let me know if you have any particular request.

For free one card readings, you can pick from any of my decks, including the Goddess Tarot, the Daughters of the Moon Tarot (one of the round decks), the Fantasy Tarot, the Art Nouveau Tarot, or the Shapeshifter Tarot. If you want a Guide to companion you in the new year or the holidays, the Susan Seddon Boulet art cards, a card from one of my Flower oracle decks (I have two) or Pathfinders (A lovely set of animal cards) would work well. If you don't pick a deck, I might pick from any of the decks available to me. Or give me a number from one to nine and I'll grab the deck that's in that position at the moment.  If you remember a deck from previous readings, you can ask for that one too.

The first card is free (though tips are always appreciated). I understand all too well that when people don't have cash or spoons that is generally when they most need inspiration. Don't be afraid to ask for a card if you can't tip.

When you tip, it's helpful to me for you to mention it here so I can connect your Paypal information with your request. Tips should be at least $2 (Paypal charges fees). If Paypal doesn't work for you, drop me a message and we'll work something out.  The guitar case below is my personal PayPal link, featuring my own artwork, which does inspire me even though it isn't Tarot-related.  Or you can use paypal.me/DeirdreMMurphy

I will reply to all requests. If I start to feel overwhelmed, I will close to free readings; in that unlikely event, that will be in nice bold letters after the word Status above. I plan to stay open until late Wednesday for free readings. After that, you can certainly ask for a paid reading, if you want one.  Yes, I still have the stupid long covid, so if I'm too tired or can't focus at any particular moment, I'll rest and return later.

For paid/tipped readings, I will PM you with a photo of your reading.  I do not put the images here because am not comfortable posting other people's art in a public place on the internet.  (If I find an already-existing photo of your card, I might link to it.)

Thank you, Blessed Be, and may your new year be full of joy and dreams made happily true!


As always, while I work hard to offer insight and inspiration, all I can legally promise is entertainment. See my "Dandelyon's Readings" page for a little more about my readings.

I had a wonderful New Year's Eve, with my computer connected to the Zoom filk celebration from when my New Zealand pokemon friends started saying Happy New Year to when it ended. I didn't hear most of the first 7 hours or so because of the need to sleep, but still, falling asleep and waking to friends celebrating was pretty cool.

The next day I tried to stream Dr. Who while painting a room with no cable service, which failed miserably. The cable company told me that I need a new modem, and they set me up with an appointment for Tuesday. So I got less painting done than I wanted, because I retreated to watch Dr. Who on an actual TV, but at least I figure I should count my blessings that the connection held for streaming the zoom gathering the day before.

Looking back at last year, I lost a huge amount of progress on my goals because I spent the whole summer sicker than I realized, and that wasn't cleared up until the fall. I hate the allergies and asthma, which means I'm never all the way healthy. It makes it hard to tell if I have a virus or bacterial infection until and unless the infection gets really bad. I also hate it when I realize I need to call the doctor right after the close of their day, because then it's that much longer before I can get medicine to help the problem.

But this time, I feel like I lucked out. I realized not only that I needed to get a prescription, but that my thinking was foggy, so I started a list of symptoms on paper. That took way longer than it should, but by midnight, I had come to the realization that what was happening had been chronic all summer, and the primary doc had kept on telling me, each time it flared up after the first couple of times, that no matter how much I was self isolating, she thought it was just a virus and I should sleep it off. And spending a few days doing nothing but rest and sleeping 10-14 hours did beat it into remission, but it really wasn't gone.

The thing was in my sinuses and vocal chords for certain; when the initial laryngitis was partially cleared by antibiotics, I still had to capo 2-3 frets higher on everything than normal all summer. And I got less and less focused and less energetic by tiny, invisible increments all summer too. I had managed to do a lot of writing earlier in the year, especially during FAWM, when I wrote more than 30 songs, some of them quite good (going by comments I received and by my own estimation). But over the summer, that mostly stopped. I stopped practicing (which has always been an on-again off-again thing, but I had been going strong for months up until I caught this thing in, I think, early May). I even hit a point where I just wanted to mostly listen during the zoom filks.

And I didn't realize it, until I was trying to put together symptoms on paper for the doctor, and called the allergist to get the kind of treatment I really needed. And the infection had gotten so entrenched by then that I was on antibiotics for weeks, first a longer course of the perfectly appropriate antibiotic the primary prescribed when I insisted, and then a different one because even a long course of the first one just didn't get rid of it. And then the doc insisted on doing new scratch tests, and I got a flu shot, and finally the covid booster, and I feel like I lost most of a year to that crap.

And then both of my laptops were not working right. The older one has keys that just aren't working, and the newer one's mouse pad isn't working. Having a thing plugged into the only USB port it's got makes it hard to transfer files too, but a lot of it is just feeling depressed that neither computer is working right on top of feeling depressed that I got so little done in the past too-many months. And covid, and money issues, and I was too sick to even feel like starting NaNoWriMo this year, and some stupid family drama that really isn't my story to tell, so I wont even try, and the renovation on my bedroom isn't done yet and...well, it's a new year and I can hope for better.

So, plans for the new year.

I'm still pondering that, but there are a few things. I shall do January (music) Practice Month again, and hope that this year I will be able to keep that practice going longer. I shall do FAWM, without the goal of surpassing last year's total, since last year's total left me feeling like I had more than enough worthy new songs to learn. Instead, I shall work on the plan of writing songs _and_ fiction during February. I hope to figure out this home recording thing, and maybe should make progress on that a January goal along with Practice Month. I want to do more art, and make progress on several issues on the house, and be here more, since I feel that time spent here is more creative and productive than time spent on Facebook. I want to get the self-publishing thing going. And I want to start doing Tarot readings here again, both because finances are tight and because I feel like I need more spiritual connection, and doing readings helps with that.

And right now, I need to go do a little snow shoveling, since I can't do a lot at once. But after that, I can work on paying bills, some house stuff, and clearing space for readings. So maybe tonight, or more likely tomorrow, I'll post that I'm open for readings.

Oh, and I did start doing duolinguo last year, and just before the new year hit a 250-day streak!

We got out to a proper Solstice party today, and a ritual. As part of the ritual, we were invited to talk about our intentions for the new year.

Now, I've never been much for New Year's Resolutions. They're usually rash promises for radical change, things we think we ought to do, and hope that a public declaration will give us some magical resolve or insight that makes us different people.

I listened to people talk, asking for change, or intending things that I just don't feel up to, and I thought about what I want in the new year, and what the world needs, and which parts of that I might be able to actually do. And I came up with this:

I want to make good art.

(The echo of Neil Gaiman resonated in my head. He meant all art forms, but my listeners wouldn't know that. And I don't want to be only arting, I want to be singing and writing stories and songs. So I added to that.)

And good music and good stories.

(And I am doing volunteer work, hoping to get the worst of our politicians out of office, and replace them with good people, people who care about all of the citizens, not just their own pocketbooks and people like them. I don't really 'want' to be doing those things, in and of themselves. They are a means to an end. But what is the core of that? I finished:)

And bring people hope.

(I didn't know I was going to say that, but it's true. I wish you hope for the New Year, and for future years. I wish hope for the natural world, hope for all people, hope for future generations. Hope for achieving your dreams. Because it's really hard to work toward your dreams if you don't believe you can achieve them. I know that one all too well.)

None of those things are new. All of those things are things I'm doing already, at least a little. But in this coming year, I want to do them more and better. No radical changes, just more and better.

That's a new year's intention I think I can keep.

Over the weekend, I visited my sister, and we made Irish Soda Bread with Deirdre-safe ingredients. Yum!



Reminder: I'm still open for card readings, if you want one.

It's a New Moon tonight, perfect for starting new projects--and what bigger or more important new project is there than the new year? Well, a new novel, maybe, or a short story collection, or an album...

Anyway, there's lots of reasons, right now, that a person might want a card drawn. We face an uncertain future in so many ways. I am hoping to send some good energy out into the world, spark some hope and creativity, and help each of you to get a good start on something that matters to you. So, a card draw!

I hope you will stop by my garden. There's snow outside, so we'll pass through the frost-covered rose bushes and head inside. I'll leave an offering of food to the feral cats and the poor, paraplegic racoon in my yard as we pass--those critters still cannot be convinced I'm harmless, so there's not much I can do for them, but they'll happily eat the food I leave for them. Hopefully that is enough.

You and I can share hot chocolate or tea and chat, and you can get a reading if you would like one. Both new friends and old are welcome.

From now to January 1st, for free one card readings, you can pick from the Brian Froud's Faeries Oracle, my combined Susan Seddon Boulet Animal Spirits and Goddesses cards, or the Shapeshifter Tarot. You can ask a question, ask for a Guide, ask for inspiration, or you can just ask for a card. You can also ask for one of your characters or in some other way ask for advice or inspiration for a creative project.

The first card is free (though tips are always appreciated). Tips also let you ask me to use any of my other decks, to request a private reading, or to draw a clarifying card. If you want a longer reading, send a direct message so we can agree on the type of reading and rate.

Please consider dropping something in the guitar case below. Readings take time and energy, and even though the Milwaukee winter, like everything else, has been affected by global warming, winter heat is pricey and old houses always need repair somewhere or other.

Signal boosts are very much appreciated, and also earn you the right to ask for a clarifying card.

I understand all too well that when people don't have cash or spoons that is generally when they most need inspiration! Don't be afraid to ask for a card if you can't tip.

If you tip, it's helpful to me for you to mention it here so I can connect your paypal information with your request. Tips should be at least $1 (Paypal charges fees). If that doesn't work for you, drop me a message and we'll work something out.

I've written before about why I do readings and some of the decks I use here, feel free to hop over and check me out. I'll wait.

I will reply to all requests. In the highly unlikely event that the number of requests nears my limits, I'll close this card draw by adding a clear note at the top of the post rather than risk leaving anyone without a response. However, I intend to stay open until the end of New Year's Day, and longer for paid readings since, between the holidays and being in these days of low LJ usage, people may find the post late.

Thank you, and Blessed Be!

As always, these readings are for entertainment and inspiration only. See my "Dandelyon's Readings" page if you have questions.