What it's All About:
For the first time, I will talk to Monica Crosson about her new children's book, The Dreamer's Journey. It is a Tarot story with a fun-to-color 22 card printable deck. It's an excellent read for kids and adults learning how to use the Tarot for the first time. The story itself has a non-binary main character who goes on the journey. If you are interested in purchasing this book for a young one or yourself, scroll down to the links mentioned below and click on SYOB Bookstore - Speak Your Own Book. That will take you straight to the book. By the way, I have to apologize for the sound quality during the interview.
Monica Crosson - is a practicing witch and educator for over thirty years. Monica is also a member of the Evergreen Coven. She’s also written other books, such as The Magickal Family and Wild Magical Soul. Crosson is also a regular contributor to Llewellyn's Almanac and Datebooks, and magazines such as Witchology, Witchway, and Enchanted Living. And she currently lives near Concrete, Washington.
Songs Featured:
Hexhermetic Dance by Elane
There Was An Old Woman by KIVA
Links Mentioned:
Spirit Guide of the Week:
Hermes
Dream Symbol: (There are three)
Salt
Scale
Senior's Home
Transcript:
(03:22)
Welcome to another episode of the Music From the Goddess' Vault Podcast, I am your host, Midnight Starr. What you heard at the top of the show was Fool by Inkubus Sukkubus. The title of today's show is The Dreamer's Journey Episode. I will explain why after you first hear these announcements. I was helping out with the Save the Yellowstone Grizzly organization doing some audio. The head of that organization wanted to announce that they will have a premiere of their documentary The Beast of Our Time: Climate Change and Grizzly Bears Wednesday, August 4th, 7 p.m. Universal Time. It's a free event that will be streaming on both Facebook, Youtube, and Save The Yellowstone Grizzly dot org, so you might want to check out what time it starts in your area. The Five Things Grizzlies Need to Survive Climate Change and a Q & A session with the people in the film will also be in the presentation. Here is the message that Chuck from Save The Yellow Grizzly sent to me about this film and the organization.
"We feel a sense of urgency to get the film released due to the record number of grizzly deaths this year, four in the last week. Most of the grizzlies being killed are explorers and so-called "nuisance" bears. The ones needed for connectivity and genetic diversity. The goal of all these events is to inform the public so they can help us ask the Biden administration for permanent protections for the grizzly."
Save the Yellowstone Grizzly also has a petition on Change.org called Protect the Grizzly, Stop Killing and Harrassing Explorer Bears for you to sign. You can also help by texting GRIZ - G-R-I-Z to 66866. All the links that I have mentioned about this event are in the show notes. If you can, please share this podcast via Twitter, Facebook, goddess vault one dot Wix site dot com forward slash home, or wherever you can talk to everyone you know. And don't forget to check out the blog at goddess vault one dot wixsite dot com forward slash home. Now for the topic: The Dreamer's Journey. Other publishers have approached me to get an interview with their authors in the past. But they all fell through. So that is up until now. Before I air this Interview, I will say something about the author Monica Crosson. Monica is a practicing witch and educator. She is a member of the Evergreen Coven. She's also written other books, such as The Magickal Family and Wild Magical Soul. Crosson is also a regular contributor to Llewellyn's Almanac and Date Books and magazines such as Witchology, Witchway, and Enchanted Living. And she currently lives near Concrete, Washington. If you want to know more about Monica Crosson, you can check her out online at Monica Crosson.com or her @monicacrosson on Instagram. But before I get to that Interview. I want to play another song for you. This one is from Derek Schmidt, The Magician.
(09:47)
Here is the first part of my interview with Monica Crosson about her book The Dreamer’s Journey.
Midnight Starr: What made you come up with this book and the accompanying fun to color 22 printable deck of cards that adults and kids can color?
Monica: Well, I actually was. It was years ago that someone had asked me to come up with something and I was too busy. It was another publishing company and I had gotten into contact with Chris through speak your own book, and I was discussing it with her. And we just decided together as a team. Hey, let's go ahead and do this now because my time had opened up. Second open door. I'd already finished another book that is out right now and I just thought it would be kind of a fun thing to do.
Midnight Starr: It looks like a fun thing to do for both kids and adults.
Monica: Yes, who doesn't like the color?
Midnight Starr: What was the writing process like in creating this book?
Monica: I worked with Speak Your Own Books, so it was a team effort. So it went really nicely, really smooth. When we were working on this. Look, you're working one at a time. So, I'm focusing on one story at a time and then putting it together at the end. You know, you had to outline a goal for what we wanted, and it was pretty easy to achieve.
Midnight Starr: What was the goal that you wanted to achieve with this book?
Monica: We wanted to allow kids an easy way, not only to learn tarot but to explore that journey which is life and the magic of our own individual journeys. And we didn't want to leave any children out, so we called our fool, the dreamer. And I thought you know, aren't we all dreamers at heart? You know in life. We wanted to make it to where everyone can identify with this dreamer. So that's why the character is nonbinary. Kind of just very vague. So, they're customizable for the children and they can identify with that dreamer.
I will have more of my interview with Monica coming up after the Spirit Guide of the Week. I just want to play some more music. Here’s Mama Gina with The Empress Down Rattlesnake Road.
(17:55)
It's time for another spirit guide of the week. I am going to be talking about the Greek God Hermes. He is the lord of animal husbandry, wit, trade, travel, and divination. Hermes is also the trickster lord of the crossroads. He's associated with the cycles of life being birth, sex, and death. He is also the spirit of luck and gamblers. One of Hermes' specialties was something called cleromancy. It's a divination that uses pebbles but soon turns into dice. Hermes' myth is that he was born in a cave to the goddess Maia and Zeus. He is Zeus' winged messenger of Mount Olympus. He is the shaman who does travel between the realms. Before he was an Olympic God, Hermes was a pastoral spirit looking over livestock and women's fertility. His many loves included Aphrodite and a lot of Nymphs. Hermes is not aggressive or violent, but he does love to play tricks and practical jokes. What you can offer Hermes on your altar are the following; Honey, Olives, Cakes, Water, Wine, Goat or sheep's cheese, and Incense. That is it for now. Stay tuned for another spirit guide of the week.
(23:18)
That was Elane with Hexhermetic Dance. Here’s the second part of my interview with Pagan Author Monica Crosson.
Midnight Starr: Why did you not include the minor Arcana in this book?
Monica: Well, we plan on it. It was such. It's a lot of cards, so we thought if we start with the Major Arcana and then we could build on that. So we'll go to one of the suits and use the same character to go through the suits of you know these cups or whatever. So that is a plan of ours.
Midnight Starr: I noticed that there's this idea of the Easter egg. What is the idea behind the Easter egg of pop culture in the drawings?
Monica: What the artist Peter Dements wanted to do and he's a very talented artist and a stick and poke tattoo artist as well. He wanted to put in things from pop culture that would be fun for adults to discover. And that's all I can say about it as adults go through it. There will be something that they can pick out in those drawings and go, hey. I read that.
Midnight Starr: Can the cards be printed out in any size of paper?
Monica: They are, they are. I mean you can shrink them and enlarge them however you want. I actually printed them off recently and that's very simple to do, and it does, they don't distort or anything. They print off quite nicely. I suggest using cardstock and putting it, you know, attaching behind it to make a nice solid card or printing them on cardstock.
Midnight Starr: What lessons do you want kids and adults to take away from this book?
Monica: Well, we want them to know that each of us have an individual journey that's ours. And that finding ourselves is different for everyone. But We all have similarities. There's all like certain lessons, things that we can take from life and just make it a little easier for kids.
Midnight Starr: In the book, you have lessons like “We are the stewards of the land, not owners.” What lessons do you want kids and as well as adults to learn to take away from this book, aside from learning how to read tarot?
Monica: Well, there are many lessons on just life in general. How to deal with me being good stewards to the environment? How to treat one another, about your feelings. And that sometimes you know you have to work through certain feelings to get from this point to this point. Looking at different things in a new way, frustration, anger, things like this that everyone deals with. And They give advice, being persistent with your dreams is another one. Many little lessons in there.
Midnight Starr: What is your advice to all future Pagan authors out there that want to get their work published?
Monica: Well, start small, get your name out there. I started with calendars and almanacs and datebooks doing things like that. Small magazines you might not get paid, It's just getting your name out there. Then when you come up with a really good idea, present it to that publisher and have that resume ready. I mean, it doesn't happen for everyone that, you know, you have this book in your face. It's starting fall and being persistent.
Midnight Starr: Do you have any other books in the works right now?
Monica: I have two books out The Magical Family and Wild Magical Soul. Wild Magical Soul is about my own personal journey and basically for anybody who wants to Reach into nature and really like connect. So it's not exactly a witchery, but it's just a way for anyone on any path to reconnect with the earth and the spirits of the earth. The Magical Family is a Pagan parenting book. It's part memoir, so it has a lot of the stories and things I learned being a parent now. You did have social media and you know meetup groups and things like that. And what we did so and it goes through the wheel of the year and has projects, recipes, things like that gardening. And right now I just finished a piece of fiction. So I'm stepping into that world which I love.
Midnight Starr: Unfortunately, that's all the questions that I have right at this moment. Thank you very much, Monica, for speaking with me and my listeners today.
Monica: Anytime thank you.
That was my interview with Monica Crosson. She’s the author of the new book The Dreamer’s Journey. It also comes with 22 fun-to-color deck of cards which you can also print off if you purchase the ebook. And you can buy this book online at Speak Your Own Books dot forward slash S-Y-O-B Bookstore. I am going to play another song for you. This one is The Emperor of the Sun by Arcana.
(30:55)
Here's another dream symbol to interpret. This week's dream symbols are Salt, Scale, and Senior's Home. If you see or taste salt in your dreams, it means that you have found your vigor and zest in your waking life. If you had a dream where you were salting your meat, that represents longevity. To dream that you throw salt over your shoulder signifies luck and protection. Scales in dreams usually represent a decision that you need to make. If you had a dream where you are standing on a bathroom scale, it's telling you that you have some concerns about your own weight in your waking life. To dream that you see fish scales means your protective barrier. If you are young in real life and had a dream that you live in a senior's home, it's letting you know that you need to stop being dependent on others. If you are visiting a senior's home in your dreams, it means that you do need to connect with an older adult in your life. To dream you volunteer inside a senior's home represents you being more compassionate to others, especially older people. If you want a dream symbol to interpret and maybe have a dream symbol featured; the contact information will be mentioned at the end of this show.
(32:25)
It's time for another myth. This next story again comes from Folktext. It is a Blackfoot Native tale called The Order of Life and Death.
(37:56)
That was There Was An Old Woman by KIVA. Again I like to thank Pagan Author Monica Crosson for speaking with us. Her new book The Dreamer’s Journey, with 22 fun-to-color deck of cards, is out right now. And you can purchase this book online at Speak Your Own Books dot forward slash S-Y-O-B Bookstore. Monica also has her own website Monica Crosson dot com. She’s also on Instagram at Monica Crosson. Also don’t miss the premiere of the documentary The Beast of Our Time: Climate Change and Grizzly Bears Wednesday, August 4th, 7 p.m., Universal Time. It's a free event that will be streaming on both Facebook, Youtube, and Save The Yellowstone Grizzly dot org. That is it for this show, Again I am your host Midnight Starr. If you have a suggestion for a song, show topic, spirit guide or dream symbol. Or you just want to like, share or comment. You can do so at goddess vault one dot wixsite dot com forward slash home, through the Music From the Godddess’ Vault Facebook page. And on Instagram and Twitter at goddess Vault. I am going to leave you with Lover’s Pardon by Pandemonaeon. Blessed be
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