Welcome to Cast Iron! A weekly newsletter that talks fitness, tarot and current events that hits inboxes every Monday. Each issue features a workout based on a tarot card, a tarot pull related to current events and, sometimes, a blog post or journal prompt. You’ll also find a list of my current favs at the end of each email, so be sure to check those out if you’re low on inspiration or energy. If you like my work, connect with me on Instagram and Twitter @byAlissaSmith or visit my website.
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The Empress is about connection.
In this card, the Empress is crowned with a spiked tiara, its 12 stars represent her dominion over the year and corresponding astrological signs. She’s naked, which is often used in tarot to represent vulnerability. I believe this Empress is unashamed of her vulnerability.
She’s surrounded by a field of wheat and blooming flowers, which speak to her connections to the earth and the concept of creation, both physical and conceptual. She’s the very idea of a mother, and, at times, can be smothering and overwhelming in her love. She’s also related to pleasure, which may bring to mind the Charge of the Goddess, which reads, in part:
“Let my worship be within the heart that rejoices,
for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals.
Therefore, let there be beauty and strength,
power and compassion, honor and humility,
mirth and reverence within you.”
The idea of connection makes me think of roots, so I’ve created a lower body workout to help you strengthen yours. As always, please keep any injuries or health issues in mind when attempting this workout. Sharp pain means stop, dizziness means stop, feeling lightheaded means stop. And, when in doubt, check with your doctor before starting any new workout program.
Fit tip: It’s fun to bounce around trying tons of Instagram workouts all the time but true progress will come when you repeat several workouts at increasing levels of difficulty for 4+ weeks. Schedule a “fun day” or two a week on which you’ll do random fun workouts like the one above but keep the rest of your workouts on repeat for a while.
Reading (the) Room
I thought it would be fun to break down the occult and secular symbolism of the fly that landed on VP Mike Pence’s head last week when he debated Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. I’m not saying the fly is involved in the occult but, you know, here we are.
The fly was reportedly perched on Pence’s head for exactly two minutes and three seconds, which Twitter users joked meant the fly knew about the debate’s two-minute response limit.
A 2007 National Center for Biotechnology Information article says flies have been used to signify sin throughout history because of their “frivolous” lives. Fittingly for this week’s card, The Fly, a book about the philosophy of the insect, says that “more than any other creature, the fly has a reputation for hedonism. As a consequence, attitudes toward the fly take the print of prevailing attitudes towards physical pleasure.”
According to The Fly, flies have been seen as evil in belief systems ranging from Buddhism to Zoroastrianism and maligned in texts covering topics from Finnish wizards to witch hunts.
“The fly is feared and despised not just because of its easy entrance into our houses, but because of where it has been before it arrives, dabbling its fingers, or its feet, indifferently in patisserie and cowpat,” reads the book by Steven Connor.
Connor writes that flies are often used as warnings against pursuing pleasure for pleasure’s sake. It is seen as something that consumes without contributing, as something that thrives off the uncompensated efforts of others.
The Talmud says people are disgusted by flies due to the creature’s habit of indiscriminately moving between dirty and clean surfaces or between sick and healthy people, according to The Fly, which says the Talmud even allows the Sabbath slaying of the “Egyptian fly.”
The NCBI article says a 1658 entomology book refers to flies as “little creatures so hateful to all men.” Jean Bodin, a demonologist and apparent sexist, wrote in the mid-1500s that “God wished to weaken Satan, and so gave him power ordinarily and primarily over less exalted creatures, like serpents, or flies.”
Witches, Loki, the Christian Devil and the Devil’s lieutenant Beelzebub are said to take the insect’s shape at times, according to the article, which says the fly’s reputation continued to sour when its role in disease transmission was discovered in the 19th Century.
Author’s note: I’ve never met a witch who turned into a fly.
Based on this, we can infer that the fly on Pence represented a sort of rot; Whether that rot stems from the corruption of his ethics, morals, actions, beliefs or meals, I cannot say.
Beelzebub’s name is theorized to mean “Lord of the Flies,” according to The Fly. Before ranking in Satan’s army, it’s theorized that Beelzebub may have been a local god who offered protection against flies and any illnesses they transmitted, Connor writes.
He notes that flies weren’t as hated in some places, such as ancient Egypt and Greece, where they sometimes represented impudence, courage and similarly admirable traits.
More recently, the 2004 book The Queen of the Air praises the fly. In it, John Ruskin writes: “I believe we can nowhere find a better type of a perfectly free creature than in the common house-fly … you cannot terrify him, nor govern him, nor persuade him, nor convince him.”
Flies have also been said to have powers of resurrection, according to The Fly, which says a drowned fly was believed to return to life once “sprinkled with ashes and warmed in the sun.”
Based on these beliefs, Pence’s fly could have been attempting to bolster his resolve and give him the courage to stand alone. Ultimately, I don’t believe flies can return from The Great Beyond™ or that they signify all the evil or (strange) good they’ve been theorized to represent. But I do enjoy the theories about the wee beasties being able to foretell the U.S. presidential election; A fly landed on Hillary Clinton during a presidential debate in 2016, and we all know how that election turned out.
What I’m loving this week:
I devoured this in a day. This mid-century novel takes you to a remote home in Mexico where reality blurs and walls seem to whisper. I highly recommend if you’re looking for a book that’ll transport you to somewhere unplagued by the pandemic and some of the current blights caused or fed by capitalism. TW: racism, sexism, sexual violence.
I’ve long looked at witchcraft through a secular and psychological lens, so this book was a way to expand my perspective without relying on personal gnosis or intuition. It’s much shorter than I expected but, with everything going on, maybe a short, sweet book is exactly what you want.
Yes, I bought a $10 book about flies specifically to help write this breakdown. It’s actually a fun read and taught me a bit about the Marquis de Sade. Learn more about him here. Be warned that this may send you down a rabbit hole.
This week’s deck is The Sasuraibito Tarot
This deck is my baby. I love her and would struggle for a long while if forced to choose between her and the Tarot of the Divine. In fact, I’ve put off using Sasuraibito for this newsletter because I know I’ll now struggle to use any other deck. I regret not getting the bundle that includes the reading cloth. Learn from my mistake!
How can you support Cast Iron?
Share this newsletter and leave a comment below! Tell me what you liked, didn’t like, want to see, etc. I want to know how to make this newsletter the best thing about Mondays. If you have a story or topic idea, drop me a line at Hello@AlissaSmith.red.
How can you support me?
Hire me for freelance writing gigs. You can find some of my clips here.
Schedule remote tarot readings and/or personal training sessions with me.
Buy a copy of COVENTRY, a secular witchcraft zine run by me and my friend, Megan Castro, an Atlanta-based artist. Our newest issue covers spellcrafting and casting. It’s available now as part of a collab with Folk Care, an Atlanta-based herbal company.
Note: Some of the links I’ve included are affiliate links, which means I may get a cent or two if you decide to purchase whatever was linked.