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Piercing the Veil – The Book of Seances

Friday, September 9, 2022 | Piercing the Veil

By JILLIAN KRISTINA

In times of darkness, of struggle, of grief and tragedy and loss, humanity has always sought connection beyond the mundane world for comfort and confirmation. The rise of spiritualism during the 19th century provided a channel for grieving families to connect with those they lost to sickness and war – with those where no closure was possible. Now, in 2022, we find ourselves in an eerily similar space, leaning on those instruments of communication with the spirit realm to provide us with the same connections and comforts our ancestors so desperately sought.

Claire Goodchild, founder of Black and the Moon, has made it her life’s purpose to create her own instruments of spirit communication, such as the Memento Mori Oracle – a deck of 85 cards specifically focused on engaging with spirits and ancestors, has become a cult favorite and is used extensively amongst paranormal investigators and enthusiasts alike. Now, Goodchild has created an exceptionally detailed, carefully crafted manual on various methods of divination, the personal experiences that started her on her unique path of spirit communication and ancestral veneration, best methods of protection, and much more in her debut book, THE BOOK OF SEANCES: A GUIDE TO DIVINATION AND SPEAKING TO SPIRITS.

Throughout the almost 300 pages of this beautifully curated book, a whole new collection of Goodchild’s famed collages accompany each section, artfully reflecting the subject matter and providing a gorgeous physical representation of the various divinatory tools outlined throughout. One of my personal favorite aspects of this offering, though, are her personal anecdotes, both heart-warming and unsettling, like this one here:

In the spring of 2016, a close family friend, who I will call James, went missing while visiting a relative at the relative’s home, located on the shores of Lake Huron, in Ontario. James grew up there, so he knew the area very well.

After learning that he had gone missing, I decided to turn to the tool I know best to try and get answers: the tarot.

The search party and police theorized that he had taken a bus out of town, but my family immediately suspected the worst: that he had drowned.

A few weeks prior to going missing, James had expressed interest in getting a tarot reading from me. He liked a morbidly hilarious deck of mine that features zombies behaving like living people. James was the epitome of the class clown, so this deck really spoke to his personality and sense of humor. When he went missing, I decided to use that deck for guidance about his possible location and to help calm my mind.

I asked out loud for a sign from him about where he might be, and while I was still shuffling, I received my answer.

The King of Cups fell out of the deck and landed face up on my coffee table.

The traditional meaning of this card is an emotionally intelligent and light-hearted person. While that described James as I knew him, it was actually the illustration on the card that told me what I needed to know.

A zombie face smiled back at me, sitting upon a throne underwater.

“It just so happens that my fondest and most unsettling experience (interacting with the dead) are one and the same, and that is the story about James,” Goodchild recalls. “His disappearance and death were extremely traumatic for everyone in my family, but at the same time, it was very comforting to know that he found a way to say goodbye. I actually learned later that he visited other family members and friends in different ways that night as well.”

Goodchild’s first experience with tarot came at an earlier age than most, after discovering a deck her mother had acquired. “I like to joke that my first experience with tarot was when I was a toddler. My mom had a vintage 1JJ Swiss deck that she brought back to Canada from a vacation in England when she was sixteen. I was completely enthralled by these cards. I would pick out specific ones to carry around or hide in all my favourite spots like underneath pillows or in the pockets of my clothes.” But it wasn’t until her twenties that she would make a conscientious connection with tarot, which would begin to pave the way for the connection with the otherside so unique to her. 

“In the book I talk about my experience with ghosts and spirits from a young age, so you’d think it would be a natural progression for me to combine spirit communication with tarot, but it was a lot harder than I anticipated. It took a lot of dedication and hard work to bring these two practices together, but I am so glad I did. It allowed me to do the legwork and all the trial and error before passing my knowledge on to the public in the Book of Seances.”

In addition to tarot, Goodchild connects with her known ancestors, those unknown who choose to reach out to her, and unknown spirits in other ways. “I have rituals and specific tributes for my ancestors that I perform every day with tarot and oracle cards, but the dead do tend to pop up in other ways as well,” she says. “Spirits who I am not related to typically visit me in dreams. In these scenarios, they provide me with clues and images about their identities. On more than one occasion, I have been so rattled or moved by them that I have gotten up in the middle of the night to search the newspaper archives for a spirit who fits the information they have left for me.” 

Although there’s been heavy mention of tarot and oracle decks, something I personally loved reading about were not only what kinds of divination she uses, but also, how different combinations can cast certain layers of meaning and symbolism onto a session. “I love to combine cartomancy with charms and spirit boards. I feel like that gives me a really solid group of symbols and messages to work with. Lately, I’ve been playing around more with dominoes, which at the start of writing the book I had no relationship with at all. I tend to combine that with tasseography. The tea symbols provide me with the overall theme of the reading, and the numerology in the dominoes provides me with direction on how to handle the situation.”

A subject that seemed particularly important to address, especially to those just arriving to these types of practices, is the topic of fear, how to overcome it, and how to use your own intuition and logic when entering into these liminal situations. To this, Goodchild has very pointed advice: “The most important thing is to stop buying into the persistent myths and harmful ideas around spirit work that are perpetuated by television and movies. Of course, this isn’t me saying you shouldn’t be cautious or respectful, but people really do need to start using their critical thinking skills. Examine where certain beliefs you hold have come from. Can you find evidence that supports these beliefs, or are they easily dispelled? Once you do that, it is definitely easier to relax and enjoy the process.”

But one can never be too careful. Throughout the book, Goodchild states multiple times that if you begin to have a negative experience with a spirit, end the session immediately. “While I believe the majority of spirit encounters are positive and emotionally fulfilling, there can be times when something uncomfortable happens. It only takes one bad session to erase a hundred positive ones, so I think it is important to stop before it happens. It’s also always better to do protection and cleansing at the beginning of your seance. If you do have a negative experience, I find that sitting down and writing out your boundaries going forward is a good idea. You should also take the time to invite positive energy into your space. This can be by playing music you like, watching a funny movie or reading a favourite book.” 

THE BOOK OF SEANCES is currently available for pre-order on Amazon through Voracious Books, and has an official release date of October 25th, 2022. In terms of what the future holds, fans of her decks (there are many – look her up!) and future fans of her book can expect more insight into her work with the other side. “I have just finished writing my second book, which will be coming out next year. It is somewhat of a companion to THE BOOK OF SEANCES. It is called THE BOOK OF ANCESTORS: A GUIDE TO MAGIC, RITUALS AND YOUR FAMILY HISTORY.” Goodchild can be found on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok under @blackandthemoon, on her podcast, Memento Mori Oracle podcast, and through her website, blackandthemoon.com.

Jillian Kristina
Jillian Kristina blends her love of horror and magic to facilitate healing from the real horrors in the world. Stephen King's movies and books raised her; magic and the occult molded and healed her. Find her on Instagram @root_down, on Twitter @RootDownTarot, and through her website jilliankristina.com.