Silvan

Hi! I'm new here and looking to make new friends! I can be found elsewhere in the fediverse, but the server I'm usually on doesn't feel like the right place for spirituality. I was brought up Catholic and I rejected spirituality altogether for long time. But recently, I've found my way back to it on my own terms. In practice this looks like learning #tarot, but I've been dabbling in minor rituals a little as well. There's a decent chance I'll post some #art or talk about #books or #dance. I'll mostly avoid politics and how they affect my life, though it may come up in the context of tarot readings (in which case I use CNs). Other things to know about me: I'm 40 years old, #trans, #bi / #pan, #polyamorous, and #AuDHD. I'm originally from Germany 🇩🇪 (I've lived in 5 states, so it's hard to be specific). I've lived in the US 🇺🇸 for the past decade, where I'm on my fifth state, too (most recently #Colorado, which I *love*). I've also lived in Switzerland 🇨🇭 and Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿. I'm functionally bilingual (#English and #German). I mostly understand #French 🇫🇷 but haven't spoken it in 20 years. I've learned #Japanese 🇯🇵 to about JLPT-4 level but that, too, is over a decade in my past. More recently, I've picked up some #BrazilianPortuguese 🇧🇷 (Babble says I'm around B2 level) but haven't really used it much. I can't keep up with written Japanese but I can get the general gist in all the other languages. 😄 I used to do federally funded #RenewableEnergy research but if you've been following the news, you may have guessed that I've had to pivot to other topics. In my personal life, I spend most of my time dancing #BrazilianZouk, painting, reading, and chilling with my three #cats: Charmander (orange, that's him in my profile pic), Anubis (black), and Trixie (technically brown tabby but mostly white). My favorite book genres are #fantasy and #scifi, but I also read a lot of #romance (mostly #queer), and I try to read at least one non-fiction book per month. #introduction

My (actual) #tarot decks: My first deck is The Wild Unknown. The art is beautiful with it's mostly black and white with rainbow accents. The hand drawn scribbly style makes it feel pretty raw. It's all nature themed. The courts feature snakes for wands, swans for cups, owls for swords, and deer for pentacles. Instead of the traditional court, they're called daughter, son, mother, and father. After using this deck almost exclusively for most of this year so far, I'll say it definitely doesn't pull any punches. The answers it gives me are *brutally* honest. There are a handful of cards that are definitely reoccurring a lot. Many others I've only seen when looking at all my cards. This week, I got a second deck, Portals. Like the Wild Unknown, it's very nature heavy, but other than that, they couldn't be more different. Portals is made in collage style from photos in full color, with geometric elements and clean lines, and feels very polished. The suits are a lot more vague, and more focused around the elements than symbols. Wands are torches, trees, or fire. Cups are different bodies of water, swords are eyes or sky, and pentacles are soil, flowers, or fruit. My first impression from a few questions to the deck is that it's much more gentle and encouraging. Some of that is probably just the imagery, but I'm curious to see if this impression holds true.

@oreketa@pagan.plus 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷 Oi! Como vai? I really need to find the time to get back to learning Portuguese!

This is one of my favorite times of year. Outdoor temperatures are pleasant so I can sit by my open window and enjoy the smell of petrichor. 🌧️ 🦠