Watch a Behind the Scenes Video About The Book of Shadows Tarot

The following entry was originally posted by Barbara Moore on the Llewellyn Tarot Blog Tarot Pathways on August 28, 2012. The Book of Shadows Tarot is a unique project, many years in the making. It is an ambitious project based on a two-deck system. Each deck is designed to work independently but also to work together. The decks are based on the concept of As Above, So Below. The first deck, As Above, is a non-traditional (that is, not based on the Rider Waite Smith images) exploration of Wiccan/Pagan theories. So Below is a traditional deck that shows how magic is manifest in everyday life. The kit comes with the book and the As Above deck. The box includes a space for the second deck, So Below, available in February 2013. Below is a video created by Lo Scarabeo. Take a peek into the creation of this fascinating new tarot system. You can also view more behind-the-scenes videos on Lo Scarabeo's YouTube channel.

The September New Moon Is Out--Check Your Inbox!

For those of you who currently subscribe to our email newsletter for booksellers, The Moon, you may have noticed a few changes.

We've streamlined the look, included new features, and christened it with a new moniker: The New Moon. As with this blog, our goal is to really connect with you, our selling partners, each month and offer support, guidance, and resources with the aim of helping you grow and thrive in this ever-changing market.

Our September issue of the New Moon was mailed this morning. This issue includes:
-Embracing the "Spirit" of Your Business, from author Deonna Kelli Sayed
-Shelftalkers (Witches Tarot, So You Want to Hunt Ghosts?, America's Haunted Universities, and The Healing Power of Reiki)
-October New Releases
-Llewellyn's Winter 2013 Catalog
-Indie Stores' Top Five Picks
-And Much More!

If you did not receive a copy in your email inbox, you can also view it here: The New Moon, September 2012 Issue.

You can also visit our website to subscribe to The New Moon, ensuring that it reaches you each month (please note that you will need to log in/register to be able to join our mailing list).

A Round-Up of Fall Paranormal Titles

Editor's Note: This was originally posted in Llewellyn's Paranormal Blog.

Fall is my favorite time of year for many reasons: football, cooler weather, my birthday, the colorful fall leaves, and Halloween. It's my favorite holiday, and what goes along with Halloween? GHOST STORIES! And do we ever have some fabulous books debuting this fall.

Being the paranormal editor here, I read a lot of spooky things. I'm a bit immune to getting freaked out (I thought Paranormal Activity was boring, in some parts inaccurate, and shut it off after the first half hour), so when I AM freaked out when I read a proposal, that really speaks to me. I clearly remember the day I read the proposal for Restless in Peace by Mariah De La Croix. I read the section that involves spirit graffiti, turned to my coworker in the cubicle across from me, and stated, in a shaky voice, "I just read a story from a psychic mortitican and I'm really freaked out! I have goosebumps!" Yes, you read that right: psychic mortician. Mariah has tales that will scare you, warm your heart, and make you laugh. Her book really has it all, and it's such a fascinating book that you absolutely must read.

Another ghostly tale that will make you hide under the covers is In the Presence of Spirits by Barbara Parks. Imagine how terrifying it must be to be the focus of poltergeist activity as a teenager and to be absolutely petrified when someone you know passes away because you know they will visit you and say goodbye. Barbara has had paranormal experiences ever since she can remember. Spirit encounters have always left her terrified and caused her to shut out her abilities. This book is a chronicle of her life through the terrifying experiences, but she has learned to embrace her abilities, which have helped many (including herself) deal with grief and be comforted with the fact that loved ones are always around us. Barbara is such an excellent storyteller, you will get so wrapped up in this book you will not want to put it down!



If you love ghost stories and want to search out ghosts yourself, So You Want to Hunt Ghosts by Deonna Kelli Sayed will arm you with all the information you need to know in order to investigate haunted locations and form a team. Deonna is a member of Haunted North Carolina and has been investigating for many years. Her expertise and excellent perspective is exactly what you need in order to get off the couch and be proactive when it comes to ghosts.


True Casefiles of a Paranormal Investigator by Stephen Lancaster relays some of the most amazing and scary investigation that Stephen Lancaster has conducted over his years as an investigator. The Brentwood Wine Cafe, which is a chapter in this book, was featured on Bio's My Ghost Story. Stephen was interviewed for the segment as the paranormal investigator.


If you want to discover and explore some haunted locations, why not go to your local college or university? America's Haunted Universities by Matthew L. Swayne roams the halls of higher learning and unearths some spirits that are still bound to their alma mater. Check to see if your local school has some spirits that are still hanging out on the campus mall.



As the temperature drops, curl up on the couch with a steaming cup of cocoa and a spooky tale or two from Llewellyn. If you are like me, you'll have a black cat perched beside you as a sentinel to keep you safe as you read some truly hair-raising tales.

Embracing the “Spirit” of Your Business

Dear Booksellers,

It’s a quiet evening and the store is empty. You're locking up for the night and hear a thump. The lights flicker for no reason. A book inexplicably tumbles to the floor. The feeling of being watched is overwhelming.

Is your store haunted?

With Halloween approaching, it’s a great time to explore this question. Deonna Kelli Sayed, a paranormal investigator and author of So You Want to Hunt Ghosts (Oct 2012), can help you figure out whether you’ve got spirit guests. Maybe a few otherworldly visitors can help you build publicity and expand your customer base.

Even if your store isn’t a hotspot for paranormal activity, there are plenty of opportunities to take part in your community’s Halloween festivities to boost your business.

Embracing the “Spirit” of Your Business
By Deonna Kelli Sayed

Halloween is around the corner, and ‘tis the season for the spooky and the spectrally spectacular. This time of year celebrates everyone’s interest in ghosts and hauntings. The slew of paranormal reality TV shows has turned spirit talk into water cooler discussion among an unprecedented part of the population. Bookstores and booksellers can capitalize on this interest to help bring new customers in the door.

So You Want to Hunt Ghosts
October 2012

All the better if your business is actually haunted!

Bumps in the Night

A quaint, locally owned bookstore in a small Southern coastal town started experiencing some no-so-subtle paranormal events. Most noticeable were loud bangs that occurred in the early evening, and sometimes during business hours. The noises even shook the building. The owners were baffled, yet intrigued by the happenings.

They quickly capitalized on these occurrences and called in a reputable paranormal investigative team to conduct research. Local media was also contacted, and the team and the bookstore obtained some great local coverage from the investigation.

Not only did the bookstore get free media exposure, but also their willingness to share their stories created a unique way for people to identify with the business. Local residents began coming forth with their own experiences at the location, some of which occurred before the site became a bookstore. Interestingly, it was soon discovered that the entire downtown area shared an affinity for unusual occurrences.

Got Ghosts?

If you work (or live) in a location that you feel may be paranormally active, here are a few things you need to do:

•    Start keeping a journal of paranormal events. Note the time, place, people around, and provide as much description as possible.

•    Start asking others about their experiences on site. Research suggests that paranormal events occur when people are just doing their everyday routine—not when actively seeking out a ghost. Also, events do not exclusively occur at night.

•    Try to find out as much as you can about the location’s history. Contrary to what many people believe, no one has to die in a place to make it haunted.

If you find that you are having consistent or intriguing activity, consider calling a reputable paranormal investigative team. The Atlantic Paranormal Society has “family” teams around the country, and teams are listed by state on their site (look for the TAPS family). There are also many professional non-TAPS affiliated teams around, as well.

If you are lucky, a team may collect evidence of paranormal events and will provide you with a copy of any audio, video, and photographic anomalies. A team should also submit a report documenting their personal experiences at the location. Most teams, likewise, will ask you how much information from the investigation (if any) you want to make public, thus giving you control of how you represent your resident spirits.


Piquing Public Interest, Even When You’re Ghostless

Evidence of paranormal activity isn’t necessary to get the public buzzing about the ghostly side of your business. The Halloween season is a great time to welcome authors of paranormal topics (particularly those writing about ghosts) to host talks.

Even if your business doesn’t have ghosts, your customer base will have stories of their own. Having a “share your ghost story” hour at your location over hot cider gets customers in the door and also creates a sense of community around your business. Invite well-respected paranormal teams to come in and talk about local haunts or to conduct lectures on how to ghost hunt.

Locations housed in historic buildings have an added bonus of using public paranormal interest to teach local history. This is one of my favorite things about ghost stories—they are really retellings about who we are and our local communities. You can also invite local historians, coupled with local paranormal teams who have investigated historic sites, to provide an educational and spooktacular event at your store.

Ghosts or not, utilizing public interest in the paranormal is a great way to build a fun, personal relationship with your customer base!

***

Photo by Jessica Labbé

Deonna Kelli Sayed is a writer and paranormal investigator in North Carolina. She is the author of Paranormal Obsession: America’s Fascination with Ghosts & Hauntings, Spooks and Spirits and the forthcoming So You Want to Hunt Ghosts?  A Down-to-Earth Guide (October 2012). Visit her website.

Deonna on her favorite bookstore:
My favorite is the local Greensboro-based metaphysical store, Eclectic by Nature. The place is so bewitching, it comes with its own cats. It is unclear, however, if there are any ghosts.





Do you suspect your business or home is haunted? We would love to hear your spooky stories!

The August New Moon Is Out--Check Your Inbox!

For those of you who currently subscribe to our email newsletter for booksellers, The Moon, you may have noticed a few changes.

We've streamlined the look, included new features, and christened it with a new moniker: The New Moon. As with this blog, our goal is to really connect with you, our selling partners, each month and offer support, guidance, and resources with the aim of helping you grow and thrive in this ever-changing market.

Our August issue of the New Moon was mailed this morning. This issue includes:
-The Art of Blissful Storekeeping, from author Tess Whitehurst
-Shelftalkers (The Art of Bliss, Witches Tarot, Meditation for Your Life, and Restless in Peace)
-September New Releases
-Llewellyn's 2012 Tarot Catalog
-Indie Stores' Top Five Picks
-And Much More!

If you did not receive a copy in your email inbox, you can also view it here: The New Moon, August 2012 Issue.

You can also visit our website to subscribe to The New Moon, ensuring that it reaches you each month (please note that you will need to log in/register to be able to join our mailing list).

Meditation and the Workplace

Dear Booksellers,

You’ve probably heard a lot about the benefits of meditation. I find it amazing that this simple, yet powerful exercise can relieve stress, boost energy, increase overall satisfaction and serenity, improve memory, and help with insomnia. But I never considered its positive influence on our work life.






Here, Robert Butera, author of Meditation for Your Life, explores how meditation impacts how we respond to problems in the workplace—whether you’re a business owner making tough decisions or a bookseller helping customers on the floor.

Meditation Tip for Work
By Robert Butera, Ph.D.

People who spend time each day quieting their mind (meditating) typically for five to thirty minutes see an increase in their work performance. Some of the common benefits are:

• resilience to stress because you see the bigger picture and meditation offers processing time
• decision-making based on reality versus emotion
• conflict resolution—listening for meaning and remaining patient
• an upbeat and positive attitude due to feeling centered
• have more energy during and after work

Meditation for Your Life
Robert Butera, Ph.D.

Consider the concept from yoga translated as “pure thinking.” Yoga philosophy offers a triad of possibilities for the mind: negative, positive and pure. Most of us know our own tendencies for negative thinking and wish to refrain from that. However, when you catch yourself with a negative thought, you can follow it with a Pure response to understand from where the negativity arises. Negative thoughts can carry important messages.

Positive thinking, where every situation has an uplifting spin on it, is certainly better than negative thinking. For example, when a customer complains about something and we respond negatively, no one wins. If we spin it positively, we might think, “Mr. Customer is having a bad day, so I will be nice to him this time around.” These positive responses require a lot of mental energy to deflect the negativity. In effect, the positive response in this triad depletes our energy… and when the day is over, we are beat.

Pure thinking rests above the polarity of negative and positive. The customer complaint, met with purity, is merely a customer complaint. Our mind sees reality for what it is without judging it as good or bad, negative or positive, rude or nice. It just is. When the mind can stay unbiased, the listener can hear more and be free of any animosity or forced kindness. You simply are kind as you listen.

Daily meditation helps with this process of seeing reality as it is. During meditation practice the mind has one task in front of it, one focal point to consider. However, the mind has lingering thoughts, desires and memories alongside the meditation focal point. During this process, the mind thinks positive and negative thoughts, and the meditator learns to patiently accept those thoughts without thinking, simply accepting.

This process of accepting reality without emotion reinforces our ability to make sound business decisions and handle a wide array of work problems with confidence and grace.

***

Photo by www.jackramsdale.com

Robert Butera, MDiv, Ph.D., is the author of Meditation for Your Life and The Pure Heart of Yoga. He has studied meditation and yoga since 1984. He founded the YogaLife Institute of Devon, Pennsylvania, where he trains yoga instructors and publishes “Yoga Living Magazine.” His advanced degrees are from the Yoga Institute of Mumbai, India, Earlham School of Religion, and California Institute of Integral Studies. Visit him online.








***

Do you meditate? If so, have you noticed its influence on your work day? Do you feel meditation has increased your resilience to stress? Do you have an easier time resolving problems? Do you remain energized after a long day?

The Art of Blissful Storekeeping

Dear Booksellers,

Does a business have an emotional center, a heart? Do you find that customers are drawn to energy that’s fueled by joy?

Tess Whitehurst, the author of Magical Housekeeping and The Good Energy Book, is an expert in creating and maintaining positive energy. We're excited about her fabulous new book, The Art of Bliss, that focuses on how to activate your innate life force energy for success and happiness. Here, Tess talks about how these principles also apply to a business. Check out how easy it is to activate key areas in your store to encourage creativity, productivity, and genuine bliss.




The Art of Blissful Storekeeping
By Tess Whitehurst

With just a modest bit of alchemy, you can benefit your business—and beautify your relationship with your business—for years to come.

The Art of Bliss
Tess Whitehurst

You may already know that your business’s floor plan has nine life areas as designated by the bagua, or the I Ching-derived feng shui floor plan. And if you do, as a business-minded individual, you’re likely aware of what’s commonly referred to as the “prosperity corner.” (Hint: it’s the far left corner when standing at the front door, facing inwards, or the upper left corner in the diagram you’ll be drawing below.) You might also know that to help activate your finances, you can do things such as keep the prosperity area clutter-free, place a citrine quartz or chrysocolla in this area, and/or hang a large mirror to bring in extra energy and symbolic space.

What you may not know is that there are two other areas that are exceptionally important when it comes to maintaining a business in the most sustainable, profitable, enjoyable way possible.

Almost as Simple as Tic-Tac-Toe
Before I reveal where these areas are and how you can make them work for you, take a quick moment to make a super rough sketch of your floor plan. Honestly, no measuring or artistry necessary—rough is totally fine. Just an outline of the place that is expressly designated for your business is all you need (if there’s a larger main area and little asymmetrical offshoots such as bathrooms or offices, you might just want to include the main area for this exercise). Now, if the outline of what you just drew happens to be something other than a square or rectangle, use dotted lines to make it into one by filling in the missing corners. Once it’s a square or rectangle, draw a tic-tac-toe board over it, dividing it into nine (roughly) equal squares. OK—done! (See I told you! Not too terribly tricky.)

Locate the Spots
To locate the important areas I’m about to teach you about, first locate your front door. Draw an arrow pointing straight at it, in the direction you would be going if you were entering the business. Now, if necessary, turn the paper so that the arrow is pointing up. In the bottom center square, write, “Life Path.” In the top center square, write, “Radiance.”

Aha! Now we can move ahead to the fun stuff.

Life Path
The Life Path area—traditionally referred to as the Career area—is the place in your business that has to do with a natural sense of flow and an authentic, joy-fueled direction. For you, and for anyone else who works at this location, when this center is activated and flowing, there is a deep sense of fulfillment that fuels creativity, productivity, and enthusiasm. Because everyone can sense the genuine bliss at the heart of the business, additional benefits include loyal, longstanding customers and employees, which consequently support financial flow and word-of-mouth publicity.

There are a number of ways to activate this area, and to balance it energetically in the most ideal of ways, and all of them have to do with the water element. (Think depth, natural nourishment and flow, and a fluid wellspring of joy.) For example, you might place an actual water feature in this area, such as a fountain, or you might place something here that represents water, such as a painting or photo of the ocean, one or more items made out of glass, or a large mirror.

Of course, you might also have items for sale that fit with the water element, such as water globes, seashells, or books about mermaids. It might be fun to activate the Life Path area by placing these in this area of the store.

Radiance
The Radiance area—traditionally known as the Fame and Reputation area—is particularly important in businesses, as it has to do with how one is seen and known in the world. This area works synergistically with the Life Path area. You might say that each nourishes and balances the other: the Life Path area has to do with being in alignment with one’s own inner sense of purpose and joy, while the Radiance area has to do with generously sharing this joy with the outside world.

Again, there are a number of ways to activate this area. This time, most of them have to do with fire. (Think of how the sun and stars light up the sky from an incomprehensible distance, and how even fireworks can be seen for miles around.) And so, to activate and energize this area, you might want to add excellent or eye-catching lighting, candles, or artwork/items depicting red, pink, orange, stars, sun shapes, triangles, diamonds, or radial shapes (such as daisies).

Artwork depicting people or animals also brings in the fire element, and items that advertise or name your business—such as signs or complementary newspaper articles—are also excellent ways to visually affirm that your business is well-known and highly regarded.

And, of course, inventory relating to the fire element—such as candles, incense, lamps, brightly colored prayer flags—might be cool things to place here as well.

But What if it’s Missing from the Floor Plan?
The Radiance and Life Path are not commonly missing from most floor plans, but if one or both is missing from yours, never fear. You might symbolically bring in the energy of the area by hanging a large mirror or watery art with depth on one of the walls bordering the missing Life Path area, or a large piece of fiery art with depth on one of the walls bordering the missing Radiance area. This way, the chosen piece will be like a window looking into—and energetically holding the space of—precisely the type of energy you want to bring in.

For affirmations, rituals, and other fun stuff related to the nine life areas, check out The Art of Bliss: Finding Your Center, Getting in the Flow, and Creating the Life You Desire.

***

Tess Whitehurst is an intuitive counselor, energy worker, and feng shui consultant. She has appeared on the Bravo TV show Flipping Out, and her writing has been featured in Writers Digest, Whole Life Times Magazine, and online at The Huffington Post and Lemondrop.com In addition to The Art of Bliss, she is the author of Magical Housekeeping and The Good Energy Book. Visit her online.

Tess on her favorite bookstore:
Alexandria II in Pasadena, CA will always occupy a special place in my heart because it was the first metaphysical bookstore I ever had the pleasure of finding myself in. I’ll never forget how awestruck I felt as I explored it those first few times.

***

Do you have any feng shui tips to share? What are some of your favorite ways to create positive energy in your store?