The Raven's Crucible

A blind raven

The Raven’s Crucible

Musings on magic, divination, and the occult.

  • Ora et Labora: Invocation in Alchemy

    Because of their obscure imagery, alchemical texts have come to mean a great many different things to a great many different people. Amidst all these interpretations, there are two specific (opposing) schools of thought that are worth talking about. They are worth talking about because both are incorrect. The first view is that alchemy is…

  • The Shape of Success: Side Effects in Spirit Work

    Magic is hard. It takes study, and practice, and repeated experimentation to get it right. And while that can lead to a lot of frustration at times, in many ways it’s also a blessing. You have a chance to develop judgement in a lower-stakes environment. Wisdom has the opportunity to grow alongside capability. I see…

  • Making Venus Talismanic Ink

    I’ve done some experimentation in the past with making carbon-based inks. Recently I’ve kicked off a new project to make talismanic planetary inks. Inks where the pigment used is an oxide of the planetary metal itself. I was inspired by a recipe for copper oxide ink found in Jason Logan’s excellent book Make Ink. The…

  • Playing Card Cartomancy: An Overview

    Playing Card Cartomancy: An Overview

    Last month I wrote about how different divination systems have different characters and vocabularies. One of the systems I referenced repeatedly was playing card cartomancy. It’s one of my favorite systems, so I’d like to start a new post series walking through the basics of that. First off, what is cartomancy? Cartomancy is a form…

  • Playing Card Cartomancy XVIII: Putting It All Together

    For almost half a year, we’ve been going through a cohesive system of divination using playing cards. We’ve covered the meanings of the colors, the suits, the various numbers, the court cards, and the jokers. We’ve looked at how to structure spreads and questions to get clearer, more actionable readings. In this last post, I…

  • Playing Card Cartomancy XVII: Spreads and Questions

    We’ve gone through the meanings of all the cards in a standard deck of playing cards. The vocabulary of playing card divination, if you will. This week we’re looking at how those cards interact and relate to each other and to the question being asked. The grammar and syntax of our divination system. One of…

  • Playing Card Cartomancy XVI: The Jokers

    We’ve now covered the meanings of all the cards – ace through king – in playing card divination. But open up any brand new deck of playing cards, and you will find two additional cards included: the jokers. These two cards don’t belong to any specific suit. They’re included with the deck as replacement cards;…

  • Playing Card Cartomancy XV: The Kings

    Over the last couple weeks we’ve been looking at the meanings of the jacks and queens in playing card divination. This week we’re wrapping up our discussion of the court cards with the kings. Like all the court cards, the kings can represent people, typically men who embody the characteristics of their respective suits. To…

  • Playing Card Cartomancy XIV: The Queens

    We started talking about court cards in divination last week with the jacks, this week we’re continuing that conversation with the queens. The queens are a little more straightforward than the jacks, in that they more consistently signify people. The jacks all have alternative meanings related to news or messages; the queens don’t. When a…

  • Playing Card Cartomancy XIII: The Jacks

    We’ve now covered the meanings of all the pip cards, ace through ten, in playing card divination. That brings us to the court cards: jack, queen, and king. Compared to the numbers, the court cards – especially the jacks – can be a little slippery. They each have a number of possible meanings, depending on…