I once ordered some herbs from a small online shop. When the order arrived, it contained a single, intriguing card. I’d been reading tarot for over a decade by then, and was an avid collector of decks, but this was not from any deck I’d seen before.
The card had the look of an old-fashioned woodcut imprint. It was clearly pulled out of a deck at random. But here’s what’s crazy: the card had a range of dates on it, and it happened to coincide with the month of my birthday. Before you think that the shop-keeper may have been creepy and just Googled me, here’s the thing: it was the month of a secret birthday I never share with anyone, much less a random shop owner. I was born in one month but the registrar somehow got the date wrong by several months, and it was just easier to go with it. In fact, I never even heard about this until I was an adult. So there would have been no way for this person to pick the card with the right range of dates on purpose.
It was weird, but I let it go. Coincidences happen, right? Plus, with only one card, there was no way to know what deck it had come from, short of asking the shop owner. A few weeks later, I was in a Zen Shop not far from my house. I like shops like that, with all their peaceful and beautiful offerings, and I was allowing myself to linger. I even walked over to the clearance table, which I don’t normally do. I grew up poor, and buying on clearance has negative connotations for me. (There’s nothing at all with being bargain-savvy! It’s just my own personal thing). I tell you this only to illustrate that it would not be usual for me to look at the clearance table.
This day, when I did, there was a full deck which held the cards like the random card I’d gotten with my order. It was called (wait for it) the Enchanted Spell Oracle: Medieval Hedgewitch Magic.
I mean, come on.
I often like to joke that the universe sends me such over-the-top, clear signals because it knows I’m kind of dense when it comes to picking them up. Throughout my life, I have been guided and gently (and not-so-gently) nudged this way. Clearly there was some work for me to do with these cards. I bought them and began to study them.
I can’t recommend this deck highly enough. It has aided my growth as a witch immeasurably, and has great spells and insights that have given me hours of work and enjoyment. You can read more about it in our shop. But, beyond this specific deck, the message is this: pay attention. Look for patterns. Listen. When you ask, don’t expect a booming voice from the sky. Maybe it will come in the form of a single card slipped into a bundle of herbs, or a slip of paper you see on the street. The signs are everywhere when we learn to look.