In the month of August, pagans around the world engage in various celebrations to honor nature and the changing seasons. These celebrations have deep roots in ancient pagan traditions and are still practiced today by many who follow pagan beliefs. One of the main pagan celebrations in August is Lammas, also known as Lughnasadh. Lammas marks the beginning of the harvest season and is a time to give thanks for the abundance of the Earth. It is a time to gather and share the first fruits of the harvest, such as grains, fruits, and vegetables. During Lammas, pagans often hold ceremonies and rituals to honor the harvest goddess and give thanks for the blessings of nature.
After losing his job last December, Wong Fung, 26, said he felt constantly insecure and turned to online fortunetellers for guidance.
The cultural shift of the ancient art of divination in southeast Asia from in-person consultations to online platforms has spawned new opportunities for swift connections over smartphones and introduced the practice to a young, tech-savvy generation. Historically, fortunetelling has been a significant part of everyday life in Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China as far back as written records go dating to the Oracle Bones of the Shang Dynasty that lasted from 1600 to 1046 B.
During Lammas, pagans often hold ceremonies and rituals to honor the harvest goddess and give thanks for the blessings of nature. These rituals may involve the making of bread, a symbol of sustenance and nourishment. The bread is baked and shared with the community, symbolizing the interconnectedness of all beings and the importance of sharing resources.
Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon
This content was published: February 19, 2019. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Beyond Fortune-Telling: Reading Tarot for Self-Knowledge and Personal Development.
Claire Burgess, Community Education
Most people know of Tarot as the deck of illustrated cards used by fortune-tellers, lumping it into a category with crystal balls and Ouija boards as something of either supreme psychic magic or questionable accuracy. By some, it’s dismissed as a charlatan’s trick, and by others, it’s revered as an ancient mystical artifact holding the secrets to life. And the truth is that Tarot might be all of these things—depending on who’s shuffling the deck. But for me, and for the many people who use Tarot in their everyday lives, Tarot is an essential reflective tool, a comforting companion, and an unlimited channel to self-knowledge and personal development.
Tarot, in my view, isn’t a crystal ball that tells the future. Instead, it’s a practical (which is not to say it isn’t magical) tool for self-discovery, healing, and empowerment. When we pull Tarot cards and read them, what we’re really doing, on some level, is reflecting on our lives and how they match up with our desires. In doing so, we incorporate our personal mythologies, our stories of self, and all the data from our pasts in order to help us understand the present. From this vantage point, we can then see our likely trajectory based on our habits and patterns, our strengths and weaknesses, our action and inaction, our decisions. The Tarot helps us access these insights so we can decide to change, grow, accelerate, pause—whatever it takes to shift our paths for our betterment.
That’s why Tarot has earned a reputation for fortune-telling: because it works. Tarot tells the future because it guides us to our own agency. It equips us with self-knowledge and a bunch of reality checks and wake-up calls. It empowers us in the present to enact the future we desire.
One of the ways that the Tarot achieves this is by encouraging reflection, and the other is by reconnecting us to our intuition—a skill inherent in all of us, but one that we’ve been taught so thoroughly to ignore. The Tarot does this, I think, by speaking to us in the language of intuition, a tongue of symbols and images, archetypes and narrative, colors and numbers, and all the other elements of tarot which speak to us individually and collectively. But it’s not necessary to be a 9th Level High Priestess (no, really—I made that up) in order to read and understand the cards, and that’s because, aside from the arcane glyphs and the mythological references, what the Tarot really does is show us a story we already know: the story of ourselves. We just haven’t read that story closely enough yet.
So, maybe Tarot can be used to tell the future, but reading to know our fates is, in truth, not using the Tarot to its full capacity. Sure, we can cast some cards and get an idea of what will happen tomorrow. But more powerful and far more useful than that is pulling cards to get an idea of how we, ourselves, are causing those events of tomorrow—or, better yet, how we can heal our negative patterns and shift our behaviors in order to effect the futures we want to see. So Tarot’s most magical ability is not in telling us the future. It’s in helping us create it.
Claire Burgess (they/she) is a professional tarot reader, tarot teacher, writer, podcaster, and artist, among other things. They teach two tarot classes at PCC’s Cascade campus: the in-depth 4-week course “Tarot: the Art & Skill of Intuitive Reading,” and the 1-day introductory workshop “The Mysterious Tarot.”
Comments
Sorry, but the comments have been closed. If you see something that doesn't belong, please click the x and report it.
I would like some information about the following class:
Tarot: The Art & Skill of Intuitive Reading
I could not find a date for it. Please let me know.
Hi Pascale,
Thank you for reaching out. You can find the course listing for Tarot: The Art and Skill of Intuitive Reading here: https://www.pcc.edu/schedule/default.cfm?fa=dspCourse2&thisTerm=201902&crsCode=9PDV618D&subjCode=9PDV&crsNum=618D&topicCode=PER&subtopicCode=&crnList=26934
Please let us know if we can be of further assistance. Thanks again!
Archives
- May 2023 (1)
- September 2022 (1)
- April 2022 (1)
- View all . (136)
Categories
- Announcements
- Arts
- DIY
- Food and Drink
- Hobbies and Crafts
- Home and Garden
- Language and Culture
- Make 2017 Your Year
- Mind-Body Wellness
- Music
- Music and Theater
- Online
- Personal Development
- Recreation and Wellness
- Sports
- Style and Beauty
- Teen
- Work and Life Balance
- Work Out
I would like some information about the following class:
Tarot: The Art & Skill of Intuitive Reading
Another important pagan celebration in August is the festival of Hecate. Hecate is a goddess associated with magic, crossroads, and the underworld. During this festival, pagans pay homage to Hecate and seek her guidance and protection. Hecate is often depicted as a triple goddess, embodying the maiden, mother, and crone aspects. This festival is a time to honor her wisdom and transformative power. Pagans may perform divination rituals, light candles, and offer prayers or offerings to Hecate. Overall, pagan celebrations in August are a time to connect with the natural world and honor the cycles of life and death. They provide an opportunity for pagans to express gratitude for the bountiful gifts of the Earth and seek spiritual guidance from their deities. These celebrations are a meaningful way for pagans to deepen their connection to nature and their pagan beliefs..
Reviews for "The Spiritual Significance of August Pagan Celebrations"
1. Jennifer - 2 stars
I attended the August pagan celebrations out of curiosity, but I was disappointed with the whole experience. The event felt disorganized and lacked any coherent structure. It seemed like people were just randomly doing things without any clear purpose. Additionally, the rituals that took place didn't resonate with me at all. I left feeling unfulfilled and underwhelmed.
2. Mark - 1 star
I had heard so much about the August pagan celebrations and was excited to see what it was all about. However, I found the whole event to be a complete waste of time. The organizers seemed more focused on creating a spectacle rather than fostering a meaningful spiritual experience. The rituals felt forced and impersonal, lacking any genuine connection with the participants. I left feeling like I had witnessed a performance rather than engaging in a sacred celebration.
3. Sarah - 2 stars
Attending the August pagan celebrations was not what I expected. There was a lack of inclusivity and diversity among the participants, which made me feel uncomfortable. In addition, the event felt more like a commercial gathering than a true pagan celebration. It seemed that vendors were prioritized over the spiritual aspects of the gathering. The energy was not genuine, and the whole experience left me feeling disconnected and dissatisfied.