Yesterday, Samhain, it seemed I was receiving omen after omen. A baby saying “uh-oh” for no reason, tripping up the stairs, spilled tea. All leading up to the ritual I had planned.
Needless to say, the vibes were not right. I was not in the right headspace, and the universe had been trying to tell me all day.
So what do you do when the tarot reading or the ritual you had planned doesn’t go right?
Well first, it’s time to figure out if it’s actually going wrong.
There’s a couple ways to do this. The first, if you are able, is to feel in your body. Or listen to the first instinct in your head. People usually say there’s a gut feeling when something is off, right? Well mine is a tightness in my shoulder bones. You might feel it any number of places in your body. If you’re curious about how to do this, look at our hell yes or hell no post, and replace hell yes with a safe situation, and hell no with an unsafe situation.
If you’re not used to feeling out your body, that’s okay! You can ask a pendulum, a lit candle, or whatever method you prefer. I had a candle lit for my tarot reading, and I was too in my head from an emotional day for my body to give an accurate reading. So I quickly asked the candle to show me yes and no, and then asked the simple question “is now the right time for this ritual?” A clear no occurred.
So you’ve gotten the idea you should stop. But how?
If it’s something as simple as tarot reading, not involving spirits, you can pretty much just gather up your tarot cards and call it day. If it’s something bigger, or involved spirits, there are loads of ideas on how to go about closing the ritual.
First, thank any spirits, guides, etc. for being there with you, but let them know its time to leave you be.
If you’re in the middle of a ritual step, finish that step (lighting a candle, putting herbs somewhere, etc.) Then, simply don’t do anymore steps. And begin to clean up. Gather herbs, blow or snuff out any lit candles, and put everything away. It’s best to start over when the time is better anyway.
So in essence, you dismiss spirits if you’re working with them, take care of any fire safety by blowing out candles, snuffing incense, etc., and then you simply clean up.
And after that?
I personally don’t work with circle casting, but you can open your circle. Some people like to add and up their protections and wards, or cleanse themselves with incense, a nice hot shower, or something similar. These can be extremely helpful if you’ve been working with energies that are not your own.
But if it’s just because you’re in the right headspace, it’s time to take care of yourself. I took a nice grounding bath with bath salts, and sat with my feeling until it got smaller, honoring it, asking curious questions to myself. You might want to journal, dance to let the emotion out, go for a walk or run (if it’s safe), call a friend and talk it out, or distract your mind with video games or reading. Its all about listening to your instinct, and doing what you normally do when you need to feel better.
Once everything is clear and you’re feeling better, consult your intuition or another method of divination to ask if you should preform the ritual or do that tarot reading later, or if it should just be left alone for the time being.
Let us know about an expierence that didn’t go as planned and what you did instead over on our Instagram or facebook!