Tarot and Spellcasting

Four Directions Harmonious Home Spell

“A natural edge turned wood bowl made of peach wood” (Raymond Overman)

I’ve been feeling anxious lately. Anxious about, of all things, Tarot.

If you’ve been reading my posts for a while now, you know this is a weird vibe. I’m the “Pay What You Like, Pay What You Can” Tarot reader, after all, so why am I suddenly (or not so suddenly) anxious about the very thing that has been, since I started this publication a year ago, my Substack bread and butter?

I love Tarot. I love the traditions, history/histories/myths, archetypal associations, artistic choices, energies, everything about it. I carry a deck with me everywhere, because you never know when you or someone else will need a reading. I’m partial to the Eight Coins Mini Tattoo Tarot at the moment.

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Lately I have also found Tarot to feel limiting. I say this as someone who has practiced the art of Tarot reading for many years.

Using Tarot cards in a bubble no longer feels satisfying or whole.

There are incalculable depths of spirituality to be mined that overlap with and go far beyond what Tarot is capable of saying on its own.

Here is an example of such spirituality. I recently learned that my great-great grandfather, William Henry Harrison Breitenbach, used peach tree branches to dowse for water. As a Cancer Sun, I find myself sinking into the metaphorical waters of my mind and spirit as I meditate on this new-to-me information that my direct ancestor was what some might call a water witch. While I wish that my family had kept dowsing alive in my lineage, I also know that I can pursue this art on my own.

I am also deeply interested in spell work. During a recent trip to Hierophany & Hedge, one of the finest purveyors of magickal supplies in the United States, I added three new volumes to my reference library (affiliate links support Witchstone TAROT):

• The late, great Scott Cunningham’s 1989 classic, The Complete Book of Incense, Oils & Brews, now in its 46th printing. This is the second copy I have owned in my lifetime, the first having been culled from my library at a time when I thought I was done with magick (it was not, however, done with me!).

• Arin Murphy-Hiscock’s Spellcrafting: Strengthen the Power of Your Craft by Creating and Casting Your Own Unique Spells. The author of The Green Witch book and companion oracle deck brings together many aspects of spellcrafting such as magickal timing, correspondences, common ingredients, substitutions, and more. An impressive little volume!

• Steve Patterson’s Spells from the Wise Woman’s Cottage (link to publisher) shares spells and charms used by a Cornish wise woman known as Old Joan. Patterson shares information about the Museum of Witchcraft & Magic in Boscastle, where Old Joan’s magickal practices come to life once more.

Tarot cards are a powerful addition to spells, especially when they are selected face up. If your aim is to draw romance into your life, why not work with The Lovers? To renew energetic vitality in your workspace, how about the Eight of Pentacles?

Four Directions Harmonious Home Spell

“IV.Four of Wands,” Moon Dust Tarot by Florance Saul.

This spell can be used to clear negative energy, rebalance unresolved conflict, and remove energetic clutter.

Ingredients:

• Four of Wands Tarot card

• Four small twigs (found on your property is best)

• A white candle (for clarity)

• A black candle (for protection)

• Matches or a lighter

• A compass

Set-up:

To banish negative energy from your home, light your black candle, saying:

With this flame, I banish negative energies from this place. I burn away bad spirits.

To set your intention in this newly protected space, light your white candle, saying:

With this flame, I invoke a clear head and heart. I burn away clouded thoughts and emotions.

Close your eyes and imagine the inside of your home. Focus your intention on a pure ball of light. Inside this ball of light, visualize a happy scene such as a dinner party or a quiet evening around the hearth.

Calling the Four Directions: take the North-facing twig, saying:

I call to the North, keeper of Earth, to heal and harmonize my home’s foundation.

Pass the twig over each flame, black followed by white. Return the twig to your ritual surface, with the burnt end pointing North.

Repeat this fire-cleansing ritual for each of the remaining three Directions, returning each twig to the ritual surface with the burnt end facing the Direction called upon:

I call to the East, keeper of Air, to heal and harmonize my home’s thoughts.

I call to the South, keeper of Fire, to heal and harmonize my home’s activities.

I call to the West, keeper of Water, to heal and harmonize my home’s emotions.

Meditate on the Four of Wands card, allowing the flickering flames to warm and blur the corners of your vision. Allow your breathing to slow and deepen. Allow the sense of harmonious energy all the time it needs to feel complete and pure.

To close the ritual, simply thank the Four Directions in your own way, then extinguish both flames.

To make a talisman from this ritual, tie together the four twigs with a piece of string and hang it over the door most used by guests, with the burnt ends facing toward the doorway.

Repeat this ritual any time your home’s energy feels stale, combative, or otherwise negative.

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If you tried this spell, or have cast a similar one, please let me know in the comments!

- Margaret Estelle

P.S. It’s never too early to start thinking about the holidays. Giving the gift of reading or Tarot decks this year? Tap/click on the purple door to step into my bookshop!

To book your Pay What You Like, Pay What You Can Tarot reading, please visit my date book.