From My Table to Yours

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An international group of tarotists (check out the master list) are all writing on the same topic and then linking to each other so that the reader can hop from one blog to the next, seeing all the permutations and facets that the topic inspired in different writers. You can leave my blog and hop back to Joanne Sprott of Cosmic Whispers Tarot. Or read ahead here and then hop forward to Louise Underhill of Priestess Tarot!

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From My Table to Yours

This month’s wrangler, Arwen Lynch of Tarot by Arwen, posed the question, “What can I share from my table to enrich my community?” Of course, I immediately thought of my reading table and how each reader I know makes their table unique with table cloths; decorations; implements such as crystals and gemstones for clearing, building or grounding energy; symbols to invoke the energies of guides or deities; multiple decks; and sometimes the tools for alternate modalities, such as oracle decks, a pendulum, runes, or a crystal ball. But my mind quickly progressed from the mundane to the astral, and how readers set their space psychically. I’d like to share both my practical table setup as well as some tools I use to energetically prepare my reading space.

My table set up is pretty utilitarian. I cover the table with a black cloth printed with a blue, olive green, tan and gray Celtic knot design. I never intended this, but it ends up matching the basic colors of the card backs for two of the decks I use most often: the Legacy of the Divine and the Tarot of the Old Path. I set out an acrylic holder for business cards. I put a little note after the last business card, that I can read through the clear plastic, that says “Newsletter?” so that I remember to ask people if they’d like to sign up for my e-mail newsletter.

The one pretty decoration I have is a taper candle in a glass holder that is shaped like a five-pointed star. I put some small beads in the holder, including a peridot and two citrine for prosperity and abundance, and then a combination of jade and rose quartz beads. Jade helps access intuition and the astral planes and wards off negativity. Jade and Rose quartz both stimulate the heart, the center of compassion, to bring emotional balance and healing to my sessions. These beads sit in the bottom of the candle holder, and then on top of them I place a quartz point in each of the five points of the star shape. The quartz, bedded on these stones for intuition, compassion and prosperity, magnifies those qualities and, positioned in the shape of a five-pointed star, creates a zone of high energy and protection. The burning candle clears negativity and helps charge the crystal points.

I like my candle setup and what it represents and how it energetically affects the room. In fact, I used up the last of my candles a week or so ago and neglected to restock, and so I didn’t put out this setup last week. One of my regular clients came in and the first thing he said is, the room feels different. So my clients feel the energy too!

Unfortunately I don’t always have the freedom to burn candles in all the venues I work in. So I learned early on that when candles weren’t permitted, I would need an alternative for clearing my space and increasing energy. That’s when I started creating room sprays from essential oils.

My first room spray was a last minute thing when I found out that I couldn’t burn candles or incense at a psychic fair. I found a plastic spray bottle lying around, and filled it with water and added a splash of rosemary essential oil. I mostly used the rosemary because it was what I had on hand, but to me the sharp, piney scent felt like it would both clear negativity and increase psychic energy at the same time. Many people might choose to use sage or cedar, or a clever combination of oils, but ever since I first tried rosemary it has been my reliable and easy-to-make room spray.

Last year at our Denver Tarot Meetup group, we had a guest presenter talk to us about the magical properties of herbs and how to use them to help increase our intuition and create a space conducive to doing tarot work. Under her guidance, I created a spray that used orange and peppermint essential oils in a water base. The orange oil helps create a sense of well-being and confidence while the peppermint is refreshing and stimulating. This spray is especially helpful for clearing my own personal limitations on a day when I’m not feeling up to it or after a reading with a difficult client when I need to get back into my usual head space quickly for the next reading.

I love using essential oil room sprays to energetically clear and prepare my space. You can design your own recipes for room sprays–they are extremely easy to make. All you need is a spray bottle, water and essential oils. You can get small plastic plant misters (I like the one pint size) at the dollar store or other bargain store, or you can get two to four ounce glass or plastic spray bottles at your local metaphysical store or health food store. You can get distilled water at any grocery or health food store. I get my essential oils at metaphysical stores as well as at the health food store. Rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) can be added to the recipe to serve as a scent fixative and to help prevent the spray nozzle from clogging due to the oil. Some people substitute Vodka or brandy. Feel free to play around with proportions until you find what works for you. And as always, remember to label your concoctions!

Chances are your local metaphysical store will have someone on staff who can answer all your questions about oils and preparations using oils. Nancy at Isis Books answered all mine!

Rosemary Room Spray

Rosemary has strong energetic cleansing properties and banishes negativity and unwanted astral entities. It has fiery solar properties (astrologically it is Sun in Aries), which raises the energy of the room. Its name means “dew of the sea” which gives it lunar qualities including heightened intuitive awareness. Rosemary also strengthens the memory and lifts the spirits.

2 cups distilled water
5 ml rosemary essential oil
(1 t rubbing alcohol – optional)

Fill a pint spray bottle with distilled water (ok, I totally admit I use tap water). Add about half a 10 ml bottle of rosemary essential oil (and optionally the alcohol). Generously spray the room you read in or around your reading table before starting to read and periodically throughout the day to clear negative energy and raise the energy of the room to a higher level.

Orange-Peppermint Room Spray

Orange increases a sense of well-being and confidence while peppermint refreshes and stimulates. Orange helps to lift depression, bring joy and inspire creativity. Peppermint helps to clear the mind so you can focus. Both oils are considered to be purifying and increase psychic awareness.

¼ cup distilled water
5-10 drops orange essential oil
5-10 drops peppermint essential oil
(1/8 – 1/4 t rubbing alcohol – optional)

Fill a 2-ounce spray bottle with distilled water. Add the oils (and the alcohol if you choose to use it). I like to make this one a little stronger since I use it less abundantly. I’ll do a quick spray in each corner of the room and the center of the room when I need to clear my personal energy or after reading for a difficult client.

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Joy Vernon has been teaching energetic and esoteric modalities for over twenty years. She is one of the Psychics of Isis in Denver, Colorado and also reads at Northern Lights in Fort Collins. She teaches Tarot, Astrology, Qabalah and Traditional Japanese Reiki. She is a Certified Professional Tarot Reader and a member of the American Tarot Association. Her specialty is Empyrean Key Transformational Guidance, which helps her clients break through blocks and align with their higher purpose. For information on upcoming classes or to schedule an appointment, please visit JoyVernon.com.

© 2013 by Joy Vernon. All rights reserved.