Healing My Witch Wound in Iceland
Distance Readings, Tarot Decks, Oracles, Animal Spirts, Runes, and Other Witchy Tools
“Not another Black Friday email!” Well, I hope that’s not what this is, but I am including some links to things you can buy in today’s essay. So, it kinda is. But with good intentions attached! I promise. Sincerely, me who has been spending the last couple of weeks hitting Unsubscribe on the majority of sales emails that land in my inbox.
I’ve spent a handful of days compiling a list of over 30 beautiful decks and witchy tools, formatting pictures, and… in the end, Ierased most of that work because it felt like too much. Too much product, too much sales. That isn’t what I want this space to be. Intuition whispered for simplification, so I listened like the good little storytelling witch I strive to be.
If you don’t know — and most people probably don’t — I spent a few weeks in Iceland. I went for the Samhain Vǫlur Retreat, creating a sandwich around those five days to land, titrate, experience, and land again. Spending so much of my life living abroad for 2-3 months at a time, I couldn’t justify spending only a week there, and had a hard enough time with a window of less than a full month.
And in the time since I returned from Iceland? I’ve spent a whole lot of my time doing nothing. At least, to those who measure productivity by activity, it appears I’m doing nothing. But with the canvas of my life erased with white expansion, I’ve been sitting in the space in between — the fill-in-the-blank — and observing what pulls at my attention.
The answer to that pull has been esoteric, and my curiosity about all things related to witchcraft has deepened — particularly when it comes to tarot cards, runes, and herbal concoctions. The essence of this new spiritual blueprint is simply to turn more attention inward, turn up the volume on my intuition, and infuse my actions with more conscious intention.
Many call it mindfulness, but to be honest, I have been doing mindfulness for years, and experiencing life through that vocabulary hasn’t been as potent as it could be. It’s been… diluted.
Seeing the same practices through the lens of “witchcraft” may be polarizing. It will illicit a cringe or eye roll from many people who practice the same rituals under a different name. But that small shift has made the practices feel more like my own, and easier to step into without internal resistance.
One such example of this change is around the word “Universe.” I have never been religious, but have believed fully in Mother Nature, in addition to some kind of higher energy to which I’ve referred to as The Universe. Since delving deeper into pagan histories, Icelandic folklore, and ancient goddesses, the term “Universe” has felt more aligned with the kind of methodologies that parallel things like spiritual bypassing and floof. And so, the word hasn’t been as light on my tongue.
Instead, I look to whatever goddess (or god) represents what I am bringing into my life. Perhaps there is an Icelandic god or goddess associated with one of the Elder Futhark runes (Thor representing Thurisaz or Frigg representing Berkanō); Hekate for companionship in shadow work; or Lilith to symbolize independent empowerment.
Seeing my challenges through the lens of a Witch Wound has been supportive in my healing journey. I have long known that I am not only an Empath, but an HSP, too. For almost as long as I’ve done the work with my nervous system in connection to both of those labels, I have carried shame and judgments around those labels and how society interprets them. These labels are now associated with neurodivergence, and as a mental health advocate who has always been wary of an over-diagnosis of anything, I find myself more resistant to them.
In another corner of my life, I have carried wounds around not taking up space, and even deeper wounds around a feeling of belonging, and sisterhood.
Choosing to instead interpret all of the above as part of a multi-generational Witch Wound has helped me to see that the wounding is not only about me — but about the weight of being a woman in a man’s world, persecutions of witches and healers from centuries ago, and the way all of the above has shaped the way women are still maltreated today.
And so, the lens through which I see mindfulness has been molded into Witchcraft, and this is a place where it feels good to be.
Of course, there are voices of doubt that creep up as I speak that outloud. People in today’s society don’t typically take that kind of person seriously. Stereotypes are aplenty, often accompanied with eye rolls. The truth is that the witchy part of me has always been inside of me, talking to the animals, brewing potions in the kitchen, or feeling into the energies of those around me. It’s nothing new, but I sure feel shiny.
Part of my deep dive into the esoteric whispers over the last weeks has been an amplified interest in tarot decks, and one of the tools I brought back from Iceland was my very own set of Futhark Runes to begin communicating with.
At our retreat, there were a dozen decks strewn across our communal table, and each one held a different magick in the energy carried, and different beauty in the illustrations. A seed was planted that tarot decks are a delightful item to become a collector of. (It also reminded me that for years I have dreamt of creating a tarot card of my own… perhaps I will finally get a start on that dream project.)
I love the decks that I have, and always thought that one was enough. But with our retreat rituals, I witnessed and experienced that different decks speak different languages… And there is a unique experience when you have a variety of decks to choose from, inviting you to listen to which speaks to your intuition on any given day.
And beyond that? Yes, they are meaningful tools to collect; and they may also be a meaningful gift for a witch (perhaps het to be initiated) in your life. ‘Tis the holiday season after all, and while I am not a fan of capitalism or gift-giving just for the sake of it, my hope at sharing the below gift ideas is that if you find yourself in need of something with meaning, my research can be a helping hand in your own search.
Speaking of traditions…
When it comes to traditions, Santa always brought everyone in my family a special calendar for Christmas. I’ve carried this tradition forward as an adult, and I have a feeling that gifting a deck of tarot cards might be another tradition that I bring into the lives of those I love!
All of that being said, in the spirit of anti-capitalization, I am doing my best to remove myself from using Amazon. I’ve included links that directly support the authors, publishers, or local bookstores. If you have a local bookstore that you love, it’s worth asking if they carry what you’re looking for. I’ve also included Amazon links because, unfortunately, if you are needing to save money, it is often the cheapest way to shop. If you do have the means to support small and local businesses this year, it is worth a few extra dollars to invest in the local economies and artists.
Without further ado, here are my favourite witchy tools to invite you into a witchy journey of your own! If you have any favourite tarot, oracle, or animal spirit decks, please let me know!
If anything about today’s writing speaks to you, please take a moment to like, share, or leave a comment. Those small actions tell the algorithm that this is worth reading and helps Reclaiming the Wild Woman reach more future witches. ♥️
A Short & Sweet Collection of Witchy Tools
If you’re new to all of this and feel overwhelmed or confused at everything I just shared, the first thing I will say is: don’t worry! I’ll be sharing another essay soon about my journey with tarot, and what it is. I’ve carried a lot of judgments around these things for a while, and it took time for me to decondition from them.
Animal Spirit Decks: The Gateway
The second thing I will say is that I recommend starting your card reading journey with an animal spirit deck. My initiation into this world was an animal spirit reading from Lola Pickett (about a decade ago), and the first deck I purchased was her Wild Messengers deck.
If you’re anything like me when I stepped into this world, you might find animals easier to relate to than, say, the four of wands or queen of pentacles. (What does that even mean?!) Animals are a little more tangible than the typical tarot card, and you probably have some baseline understanding of them from school or your love of other species (if you’re reading this then I would hope you are a fellow animal lover).
As luck would have it, I stumbled upon an announcement this week that Lola has just launched a pre-order for the 2nd edition of Wild Messengers! I thought this was forever out of print, so what a happy surprise that was.
If you’d like to dip your toes into this world, this is the number one deck that I recommend. You can preorder it here for a limited time.
Wild Messengers Deck — $43 — (Wild Messengers)
The More Traditional Tarot Decks
My first deck (that was not animal spirits) was the Wild Unknown Tarot by Kim Krans, so I am a little biased when it comes to recommending the same! I have yet to expand my tarot collection, but based on my research, these are the decks that caught my eye.
I have nothing to say about them, but gosh aren’t they beautiful?!
Seasons of the Witch: Winter Tarot — $29.95 — (Simon & Schuster / Amazon)
The Bonestone & Earthflesh Tarot — $32.95 — (US Games / Amazon)
The Forager’s Daughter Tarot — $100 — (Etsy)
The Wild Unknown Tarot by Kim Krans — $39.99 — (IndieBound / Amazon)
Oracle Decks
Like animal spirit cards, an oracle deck feel a little less intimidating than a more traditional tarot deck.
The most beautiful one that I’ve stumbled upon is the Phases and Forests Oracle Deck. Again, I haven’t (yet) added these to my collection, but the colours, artwork, and thought prompts caught my eye.
One thing I like about these are the invitations to journal about what comes up for you. You could interpret the artwork as you wish, but if you don’t want to strain your imagination too much, you can simply follow the prompt.
The cards invite a deeper connection to nature, accompanied by a set of moon phases to serve as a reminder of what it is we can focus on with where we are in each month’s cycle.
Phases and Forests Oracle Deck — $46 — (Katharine Ryalls)
Oracle of the Witch Cards — $32.99 — (Rockpool Publishing / Amazon)
Deeper Healing and Runes Work
Did anything resonate with the idea of healing your witch wound? If so, I recommended diving into Celeste Larsen’s book, Heal the Witch Wound. It’s opened my eyes to the history of how the witch trials actually began in Europe to essentially exterminate women, and offered actionable steps to do healing work within myself.
And lastly, I don’t know where Runes fit into divination work when rating these tools as beginner, intermediate, or advanced. They are the final tool that I’ve been introduced to, and I have a feeling that whatever level they exist at differs for each person, based on when they are called into their journey. I don’t have a specific recommendation for them, as I bought mine at a pagan shoppe in Reykjavik, but there are plenty of beautiful stone sets on Etsy.
I would personally be wary of sets that are priced “too cheap,” as that usually tells me the quality isn’t what you’d like it to be. The only recommendation I can give in choosing your set is to make sure that the symbols are carved into the stones, rather than painted on (the paint will inevitably come off with use). And, of course, to cleanse them with some sage when they arrive.
Heal the Witch Wound: Reclaim Your Magic and Step Into Your Power by Celeste Larsen (Red Wheel / Weiser / Amazon)
Set of Futhark Runes (Etsy)
Did I miss anything? If you’ve been on your own witchy journey for a while, I would love to hear about what your favourite tools have been to get in touch with that side of yourself. This list is far from complete, but at the same time… perfectly complete.
So much of doing any kind of work is to do what you can with the tools that you have. In this new path of reading the runes, I find the runes to simply be a tool to amplify information that is already within me. They help to pull the answers to the surface, and invite me into a meditative state. These are practices that you can with no tools whatsoever — meditating, journaling, and simply sitting in stillness enough to hear the whispers within.
As always, thanks for being here.
♥️ Savannah
A few other fun things in my little witchy world —
Fine art prints are 25% off through December 5th! “BF2525” gets you your discount.
You can book a Tarot Reading with me + Human Design reading with Griffin for the price of one, also through December 5th.
And if you’d like to schedule a Tarot/Rune/Animal reading on its own with me?
You can schedule one over here.
As always, but especially with the holiday sales going on, I have to recommend rucking gear for your loved ones! Goruck is having their end-of-year sale, and there are so many goodies to get your hands on. Anything rucking-related is a great gift to support your 2026 health goals!
Disclaimer: some, but not all, of the links here are affilliate links. If you make a purchase through them, I’ll get a tiny percentage at no extra cost to you. But, as always, all the opinions are my own! Photos are pulled from each respective website.