Samhain Blog Hop: Honoring Our Beloved Dead. “Come on in, the water’s fine!”

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Welcome to the Samhain Blog Hop! Our topic this time is to honor our beloved dead with an altar (mine is above as the featured image for this post, though the image is a few months old now, but the altar is still up with different flowers), tarot card, and reading based on the questions below. If you’re been reading my blog the last few months, you know that I lost my beloved, adorable, sarcastic husband in July–so naturally, he’s the beloved dead who I’m going to address my blog hop questions to.

His birth card was the Hierophant, and was he ever hierophantic: old-fashioned, a lawyer, and yet also someone who thought carefully about how to get away with breaking the rules if one needed to. Which comes up in his answers to my questions below.

But first, I’ll just note: I have been communicating with him a lot, and had planned to soon start blogging about that a little in my #notesongrief series. Hadn’t gotten to it yet. Lacking that context, this may look a little weird, but here are the basics: I communicate with him with tarot. I also use journaling. And other techniques that need not be mentioned for this post but that I may or may not mention in due course in my #notesongrief series. In my journaling, I also use a technique I learned from mediumship class with Carrie Paris and Andrew McGregor–backwards writing–and I’ll include some photos of that, but it does look a little wild when it’s done. I promise I’m sane. This is just backwards writing. I am aware that it may be a projection from my subconscious and need not necessarily be an actual communication from JP in the beyond. Either way I think it’s pretty interesting, though.

I used three tarot decks for this particular post: the Tinker’s Damn Tarot, the Tarot des Femmes Erotiques (with some strategic additional elements placed on top of the cards to prevent this from being an X-rated blog post), and the Osho Zen. I asked JP with a pendulum which decks he’d like to speak through today and of the ones I suggested, my pendulum indicates that he chose these.

Question 1: What can I learn from your life?

Answer: From the Tinker’s Damn, the Eight of Cups, which shows a man dressed in a suit throwing his heart into a body of water. From the Femmes Erotiques, the Eight of Wands, which shows two women aiming arrows. And from the Osho Zen, the Seven of Swords, Politics, in which a mask and snake feature prominently. I wrote in my journal my interpretation and then switched hands with the pen for the backwards writing showing what JP had to say:

Me interpreting JP: People are not always what they seem to be. For better or for worse. For good reasons or bad. And you should dress well. If only to be fancy.

JP through my left hand: Make no mistake. What’s under the mask matters. It’s the reason for all of it. But don’t throw the mask out. Don’t underestimate the value of a good mask. We all wear them. If you say you don’t you’re lying. This mask is a legal instrument to keep you safe. It’s not immoral. It’s just a cover like the cover of a book. Then if you’re stupid enough to sell your soul you sold the mask’s soul and fuck the devil if he can’t take a joke. Besides the mask doesn’t conceal what’s really under there, it just makes you use your brain and guts to suss it out. Trust your gut, trust your brain, and keep your heart safe in the deep.

Question 2: What advice do you have for me?

Answer: From the Tinker’s Damn, the Six of Water. From the Femmes Erotiques, the Fairy (Hanged Man). From the Osho Zen, the Ace of Cups, or Go With the Flow.

Me interpreting JP: I didn’t bother to write about this in the journal. It’s patently obvious what he means. I think he’s referring to diving into the other world through dreams and meditation.

JP through my left hand: Come on in, the water’s fine!

Question 3: What do I need to know about my own path? 

Answer: Tinker’s Damn: Enslavement (the Devil). Great. Femmes Erotiques: Seven of Wands, or Don’t Give Up. Osho Zen: Ten of Pentacles, or We Are the World.

Me interpreting JP: This train is bound for glory (reference to the folk song, possibly by Woody Guthrie, or at least that’s a version of it I have heard). It’s safe to throw yourself in, not because it’s safe, but because it’s guaranteed not to be! And we’re bound for it all: bound for buddhahood, bound for glory, bound for the stars, whatever you want to call it. Regardless. Plus, on the Devil card–the universe/multiverse will tend to draft you to do stuff. That’s its nature.

JP through my left hand: All bonds can be broken. Rewrite the Constitution or just fucking break them (the bonds) and deal with it. What are they going to do to you if you break the rules? This world pretty much doesn’t have any recourse but to accept your choices. Do what you want to do. Be who you want to be. Fuck it. What is anyone going to do about it? We are made of autonomy. That’s what I am trying to say. You always have a choice. Write this down. Also the asylum is a misnomer (referring to the rock in the photo). It’s the whole world.

So, yeah. He does say some intense things. Again, whether you think they’re coming from JP or from my subconscious JP–does it matter? 🙂

Necessary disclaimer (I’m a lawyer’s wife–okay, widow–so what do you expect?): Any choices you may make based on what JP says are yours alone! He is not omniscient. This is not to be construed as advice. It is merely food for thought.

Please feel free to write your results in the comments if you try this technique with your beloved dead–I’m very curious.

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