All posts by ravencraft

Special Staycation Pricing

Hopefully you are taking some time to refresh yourself spiritually. To help with this, Saul is offering remote sessions at half price. That means that individual sessions are only $25 and any group sessions are $10/person. Use individual sessions for readings, personal learning, coaching on your metaphysical goals. Group sessions can be arranged on anything Saul works with, minimum of three participants.

Get started now by filling in the contact form.

A Card A Day LIVE

Some time back I did blogging exercise where I would read a tarot card for the day. When COVID-19 forced us all to innovate, I redesigned my webcam setup so I could have a face view and a table view, allowing me to do remote readings that would feel more like what we would do in person. I realized it was time to restart the Card A Day with live video broadcasts. I do them every day that I can. Eventually we’ll get through the entire tarot and we’ll move on to some other kinds of oracles. You can watch the latest video below and all the previous broadcasts.

If you are curious about your own personal reading we can arrange a remote session that will feel very much like what we would do in a face to face session at a fair or event. Set yours up now by filling in the contact form.

Sanity Soiree

The first few days of the COVID-19 staycation were not so bad. It was like an extra-long weekend. The routine relaxed a little. As it has drawn on, it has impacted all of us. Time seems to have no meaning. Trips to the grocery store feel like supply runs in the zombie apocalypse. We start to recognize the impact simple human connection has on us as we miss it.

We will share some time, share some stories, share some compassion. We will be human together. Don’t worry about what you look like. Don’t worry if you don’t have a beautiful background. If you don’t have a webcam; you can access by telephone.

Tune In

Tues, 12 May 2020, 7:30 pm      

Hocus Pocus Holistic Faire

Saul is very pleased to join Practical Magic for their first ever on-line faire.

Saul will be doing a live workshop each day. No private sessions will be scheduled during that time.

Saturday, April 11, 1:30pm: Intention — The foundation of every magickal working or divination is intention. You get out what you put in. This can be trickier than it sounds. Saul will cover key ideas about intention including how to get out of your own way and trust your intuition and the universe.

Sunday, April 12, 1:30pm: Working with the Elements — The elements have become the center of Saul’s work, both in magick and divination. He will share fundamental ideas about the elements and how to effectively call their energy into your spiritual and everyday life.

Catch them live on facebook: facebook.com/texasmojoman

Private remote sessions are $25. Use your session for a reading, or personal coaching for your own goals and practice. Sessions will not be available from 1:00pm – 3:00pm during the workshops. To book your time, use the calendar form below. You will be invoiced electronically through PayPal for the session. Pay with credit, debit, or your PayPal account.

  

Painting of pilgrims and native Americans celebrating the first Thanksgiving feast

The Power of Giving Thanks

When I was growing up, the US holiday of Thanksgiving was surrounded by a lovely legend of two different types of people coming together for survival in a harsh winter. It was a tale of mutual respect. In this tale, the Pilgrims didn’t try convert the indigenous people, but learned from them. The Wampanoag tribe didn’t challenge the strangers in their land, but befriended them. It’s a lovely tale, and George Washington signed in a national holiday around it.

Historians challenge this tale and there is now a lot of controversy. The real story is not as simple or as nice as the one we get in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. It’s filled with all the complications and ugliness that seems to be present in any time we look at the real events and actions of our ancestors rather than the legend.

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
Photo by United Feature Syndicate Inc., 1973

Added to that are the gatherings of families, with all their own imperfections and oppositions. As I write this, I am visiting my family, where I hover somewhere on the edge of being a perpetual 16-year-old. It takes a strong force of will to be my own man in this environment, and most of it is actually in my own head. Others deal with major clashes in areas of politics, religion, sexuality, work ethics, and pretty much every other possible way to differ. Why don’t we just call the whole thing off?

And, yet, I think there is something truly valuable in having a holiday that is focused on giving thanks.

But, why? We can give thanks any time we want! We don’t need some sort of national order to tell us to be thankful.

This is true. We don’t need a specific holiday to make us thankful. In fact, articles, such as this one published by the Harvard Medical School, say that a regular regimen of gratitude has enormous benefits to our psychology and well-being. Furthermore, there is evidence, like what is referenced in this Forbes article, that suggest we shouldn’t wait for things to turn out well to begin expressing our gratitude. We can, and should, be giving thanks every day.

By Ratomir Wilkowski, Kazimierz Mazur – www.RKP.org.pl, www.rodzimowierca.pl – Own work, CC BY 2.5,

For that matter, we don’t really need the wheel of the year. We don’t need a Yule festival to think of the light returning, renewal, and resurrection. We don’t need a Dia de las Muertos to think of our ancestors and to connect with their essence. We don’t need a New Year celebration to make resolutions for change. We can do these every day. Nevertheless, these traditional points in time cause us to reflect on these areas of our life. We get to put extra effort and focus into the idea. If it’s something that we’re not doing so well, it gives a target for making improvements. It’s a time for a do-over. We can dedicate ourselves to doing better from this point forward, and the traditions help us to focus our intent. The legends surrounding these holidays also help instruct us about how to embrace and act on the ideas we want to improve, even if they are apocryphal.

So far, I’ve done a good job of not talking too much about politics and lifestyle choices at my family gathering. I also notice that, personally, I need to up my gratitude game and will use this day to propel me into better habits. Here are things I’m going to start doing. Feel free to steal.

  • I will be sending out a load of hand-written Thank You cards next week, some of which are way overdue. I don’t think there’s a statute of limitations on thanking people, though.
  • I’m going to start a ritual of gratitude. Many suggest a journal, and that might be a good idea. I will certainly begin a sort of meditation or devotional to reflect on things for which I am thankful.
  • I’m going to be more proactive with my gratitude, being thankful for the opportunity for success, whether or not the conclusion is known. How many people never dare? How many people are unable or unwilling to try? That I am on my chosen path at all is worth some gratitude.
  • I’m going to work harder on finding ways to let people in my life know that I am grateful for them. I am going to work harder to let them know that I see them.

I am grateful to you for taking the time to read my thoughts. I am grateful to you for your support on my path. I am grateful for living in a time where our minds can meet, no matter who or where we are.

I hope that you find your own way to renewed and robust gratitude going forward. If the prominent legends and icons that surround the holiday are trouble for you, select your own and apply them. You don’t have to raise up the ideas that you don’t agree withbut you will benefit from a day focused on thanks, which will lead you more and more to being truly thankful every day. We’ll see those results evolve as we achieve it together.

Saul Ravencraft's signature

What would you tell the bees?

Perusing the Interwebs I came across this article from amusingplanet.com about the custom of sharing mourning news with the bees, who would then help to spread the word of someone’s passing. The practice expanded to sharing with the bees anything that you wanted to pass to the spirit world because they were able to pass between worlds.

I seem to be controversial sometimes when talking to other psychics and mediums about whether anyone has the ability to make these connections. My thinking is that anyone can throw a ball. You may not have the skill and accuracy to do it in a way that is generally useful for sports, but if you had a strong desire you could certainly exercise that ability. Of course, there will always be those who due to intense training and natural talent will always throw a ball better than you. Anyone can throw a ball, though.

I try to never discourage people about their own intuition and abilities to connect with spirit. There are many techniques that help people to explore and develop these things. Telling the bees is one of them. While our modern sensibilities may laugh at this as naive superstition, look at all that is going into this. There is an acceptance of death. There is an idea of continuance. There is an acknowledgement that there are forces at work that are bigger than any of us individually. There is a willingness to be open to mysteries. We don’t know how or why the bees carry these messages, but we allow that they will. I think that’s beautiful.

Detail of Charles Napier Hemy’s painting The Widow (1895)

Of course, the bees have been struggling for some time. There are many environmental causes attributing to this decline in bee health and population, but could it also have something to do with our turning away from spirit? Would it make any difference if we were to enlist the bees again as metaphysical messengers? The gist of it all is recorded in this wonderful poem by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892) found in The Poetical Works in Four Volumes. 1892. It is presented here from bartleby.com.

Narrative and Legendary Poems
Telling the Bees

HERE is the place; right over the hill
  Runs the path I took;
You can see the gap in the old wall still,
  And the stepping-stones in the shallow brook.

There is the house, with the gate red-barred,
  And the poplars tall;
And the barn’s brown length, and the cattle-yard,
  And the white horns tossing above the wall.

There are the beehives ranged in the sun;
  And down by the brink
Of the brook are her poor flowers, weed-o’errun,
  Pansy and daffodil, rose and pink.

A year has gone, as the tortoise goes,
  Heavy and slow;
And the same rose blows, and the same sun glows,
And the same brook sings of a year ago.

There ’s the same sweet clover-smell in the breeze;
  And the June sun warm
Tangles his wings of fire in the trees,
  Setting, as then, over Fernside farm.

I mind me how with a lover’s care
  From my Sunday coat
I brushed off the burrs, and smoothed my hair,
  And cooled at the brookside my brow and throat.

Since we parted, a month had passed,—
  To love, a year;
Down through the beeches I looked at last
  On the little red gate and the well-sweep near.

I can see it all now,—the slantwise rain
  Of light through the leaves,
The sundown’s blaze on her window-pane,
  The bloom of her roses under the eaves.

Just the same as a month before,—
  The house and the trees,
The barn’s brown gable, the vine by the door,—
  Nothing changed but the hives of bees.

Before them, under the garden wall,
  Forward and back,
Went drearily singing the chore-girl small,
  Draping each hive with a shred of black.

Trembling, I listened: the summer sun
Had the chill of snow;
For I knew she was telling the bees of one
  Gone on the journey we all must go!

Then I said to myself, “My Mary weeps
  For the dead to-day:
Haply her blind old grandsire sleeps
  The fret and the pain of his age away.”

But her dog whined low; on the doorway sill,
  With his cane to his chin,
The old man sat; and the chore-girl still
  Sung to the bees stealing out and in.

And the song she was singing ever since
  In my ear sounds on:—
“Stay at home, pretty bees, fly not hence!
  Mistress Mary is dead and gone!”

1858.

When you are mourning someone, when you want to send a message to one who has crossed, try telling the bees.

Saul Ravencraft's signature

Tea & Terror Theater

What: Tea & Terror Theater
Where: Curia Arcanum: House of Curiosities, 1006 S. 1st St., Austin, Texas 78704 (map)
When: Saturday, January 5, 2019, 2:00pm – 5:00pm
               (Readings will be available starting at 1pm and ending at 7pm)
Join: Facebook Event Page

Saul Ravencraft will join with the Curia Arcanum: House of Curiosities‎ to celebrate two bizarre films from the early years of cinema. Saul will help introduce the films and do some interactive intuition games with the group. He will also be offering tea readings before and after the films for only $20. Reserve your spot now by pre-paying.

The films

The two films will be The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and Nosferatu (1922). Both are the products of an unusual time in cinema, as everyone was figuring out what movie-making was all about. In addition, the socio-political conditions in Germany created a unique style known as German Expressionism. These films have a strong theatrical quality combined with imagery that make them feel very dreamlike. The films are silent, but are still rich in storytelling.

The readings

Saul will also be offering tea readings. This is a classic form of divination that a lot of people have heard of in books an movies, but few people have actually done.

The art is as ancient as tea. It all begins by enjoying a lovely cup of tea, freshly brewed in your cup. Then you will go through a brief ritual to imbue the cup with your intention. Saul will read the symbols provided by the tea leaves. Like any reading, this talks about the energies around you now. You can act to encourage or dispel these energies, according to what you want.

There may be a line of people wanting their reading. You can reserve your spot by prepaying.

Join the event and the discussion on Facebook.

Til death do us part

(originally published at saulravencraft.com.)

Of all the different things that I do, I get particular joy from leading weddings. Several years ago I became ordained through the Church of Universal Life. At the time it was mostly out of curiosity, and because I had been advised that having clerical credentials might afford some protections against more aggressive opponents to some of my arts. I had been ordained for many years before I was first asked to marry someone. 

I’ve performed ceremonies in different conditions for people with different spiritual perspectives. My last ceremony was a vow renewal performed in a cemetery. (This held very special meaning for the couple and I was game.) We did not lack for witnesses, even if some of them were unseen!

Saul, dressed in his clerical robe, stands in a cemetary
Saul waits for the ceremony to begin for an unusual vow renewal.

I take these unions very seriously. I craft a ceremony using traditional elements that fits with the spiritual sensibilities of the people I am marrying. Since my spiritual view is pretty broad, it is easy for me to accommodate and blend perspectives and attitudes while keeping it comfortable for everyone involved. 

 A lot of what I find myself doing is providing an anchor for everyone. There are a lot of players in a wedding, sometimes with different ideas about what should happen. When someone asks me to lead their wedding I become their advocate, shaping the ceremony and enforcing their wishes. I also do my best to be a calm assurance that everything is going to be great. 

The creation of the ceremony is probably my favorite task. I have had to research different elements and traditions to blend something especially meaningful into a ceremony. (I’ve blended Norse mysticism with mainstream Christianity in a way that didn’t upset grandma.) I make it clear to my couple that this is their sacred rite. They are the ones who live with this. It must be meaningful to them. If that takes a little creative merging, I’m fine with that.

I am happy to say that the couples I have joined so far are still doing OK. What more could I ask for?

Gratitude is essential

The other day I created this meme in response to listening to people argue about Thanksgiving. I am grateful for pixabay.com for being a fantastic resource for public domain photos. 

In the United States we have a holiday that is themed around the idea of being thankful. People can and do debate the lore and what lays behind this holiday. Everything is about intention, however. Thanksgiving is an incredible opportunity to focus on gratitude.

We live in a world driven by marketing and consumption. In order to get you to consume, it is important to drive into your head the ways in which you are needy. We are bombarded with messages about our own inadequacies and how far we are behind the curve, how we are the have-nots. We have so many wish lists available to us, constantly reminding us of what we still need to obtain. 

buttons for Buy now and Add to wish list

Today is a day to set all of that aside. It is a day to not look at what we want, but what we have. When we really think about it, we have quite a lot.

My world has shifted quite a bit. I went from a comfortable corporate circumstance to a world of uncertainty. Don’t get me wrong. This has, overall, been very good for me, but there is a lot of contrast between the so-called guarantees of a few years ago and the spontaneity of today. I am not the only one having this experience. 

And yet, there is so much in my world that I treasure. I have family and friends who stick with me, despite the twists and turns. The money manifests… enough… in time. I am in a mode where I am free to explore and express. I continue to have the necessities of food, shelter, cats. Many hardships that could be mine are not. Hope and opportunity are still with me. Life is really blessed in so many ways.

Part of magickal working is follow-through. We set the intention; we build the energy; we focus, aim and fire that energy. Then, we move forward with the assurance that what we sent forth will do what we asked. When we see evidence, we act with gratitude. We acknowledge how the universe has helped to manifest for us. (How our prayers have been answered, if you will.) Along with thanking the universe, we should also give love and thanks to the people around us who have been part of that journey, who have contributed to that manifestation.

Consider making your intention today to set the differences, the doubts, and what is lacking aside. Look at what you have. Look at who you have. Look at who you are. Look at what is already there. These are all proofs of what is possible. Acknowledging these things, even if they are things from your past, shows that they can be. As you have gratitude, you are adding to the foundation of assurance for what you can make happen. 

Blessings and gratitude to you.

Saul Ravencraft's signature
Group of cosplayers at Katuscon 2015

Don’t fake it ’til you make it — Cosplay yourself

“Fake it ’til you make it!” the wisdom goes. In other words: if you don’t feel like you are what you want to be, just act in the role and it will eventually become reality. Dress in the clothes. Talk the talk. Spend time with the people. Do the things. Pretend if you have to.

I’m a fan of this thinking, but I’ve decided that there is an even stronger idea. Cosplay yourself.

Cosplay is basically what we’ve all done on Halloween. You dress up as someone. But, for cosplayers, Halloween happens all year round. These people go to astounding lengths to bring their visions to life, which is much more in tune with what we are trying to accomplish with ourselves.

The problem with “faking it” is that you are fake. It has this aspect of being an imposter. The intention is to get you to be bold. As you are bold, you find that you actually were able to do the thing all along. Your powers come from within. But, sometimes we have problems getting over the fake part. 

I find that cosplayers provide some excellent inspirations for becoming. Maybe they will resonate with you, too.


1. You identify with what inspires you

Cosplay at the 2016 New York Comic Con by Richie S

When cosplayers come out, they connect with what inspires them. They seem to delight in being recognized as their characters. People call them by that name and take pictures with them. It’s OK if there are other Spidermen or Wonder Women. It’s OK that the costumes may come from different eras of the character. It’s OK if some costumes are more party quality than film quality. It’s all about honoring that vision as best as one can. 

We need to be true to the vision, and not worry about what others are doing, except to be inspired by them. It’s always about realizing the vision as well as you can. Even though the casual observer might see a group as all the same, the discerning observer will find the nuances that make us a special connection for them. Your variation, your uniqueness is an asset.

 2. It’s not about perfection

Photo from SnappyPixels.com

People bring varying degrees of resourcefulness and artistic skill to their creations. Even those attempts that are considered “bad” are recognized. People still take pictures. Do they know they don’t look like the costume in the movie? Of course, they do! While some of them might be considered extra-optimistic, they came out of the house; they took it out on the street. They let the mask lend them a little extra courage to let go and have fun with it. It was likely a positive, memorable experience. If nothing else, it was a day out of the dreary treadmill of the ordinary.

We usually worry too much about perfection. We make the plan and want to execute the plan. Ultimately it is about whether or not the goals are achieved. Learn the lessons when things go astray, but don’t forget the actual goals. It’s OK if things get a little ridiculous from time to time. Strike the pose and be the thing. Your passion may transcend whatever you think of as imperfections.

3. You can mix it up

Cosplayer, Chrissy Gross, as Ash Wednesday. 
(Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family + Ash from the Evil Dead series + 
a religious holy day)

One of the things that cosplayers like to do is witty mashups. They combine ideas for puns, like Ash Wednesday, above. They gender bend. They play with time. They play with genres. Anything that can be imagined is fair game. Not everyone will get it. Some will need it explained. Even then, some will go “Meh.” But some subset will fully appreciate the creativity and cleverness that went into realizing that vision. 

We are encouraged to be pure, to be one thing. There is a wonderful quote from science fiction writer, Robert Heinlein:

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.

“Specialization is for insects.”

— Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love[

Marketing teaches that we need to be a box on the shelf with a single, recognizable thing. That may be true from a marketing perspective. However, humans are not made to be just one thing. Our curiosity, our multifaceted nature, our ability to try and do many different things make us naturally diverse. A laser focus might help you achieve a type of success, but what will you leave behind? 

Consider that if it feels right to you to combine some things that may be uncommon that you should listen to those feelings. Again, your unique set of flavors will create something that no one else can be. Just because something’s never been done doesn’t mean that it can’t be. Allow your inspirations to come from several different directions and combine them in a way that no one else has considered. Once people experience your version, it may be that everyone wants one! You may inspire others with something they believed was impossible. 


Manifesting our paths is an amazing act of creation. Some visions do require some precision and attention to detail. Some are more intuitive and flowing. In either case, it’s not about faking, it’s about realizing. Understand that you are always making it, no faking required. Let yourself be inspired by these cosplayers to bring your vision to life. If some days that works better in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle outfit, then “Cowabunga!”