Keep Moving

/ Twist the Leaf / Leave a comment

Today’s meditation was a ten minute long #DailyTrip session from the @Calm app.

•    •    •    ◈    •    🌱    •    ◈    •    •    •

The @GlitterbyInk #MarchMoments26 Challenge
The Edge of Wonder Prompt for March 15th : Momentum
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Ukiyoe Tarot - The Hermit

Today’s draw is The Hermit card, which is traditionally a representation of solitude, self reflection and introspection, alone time, and inner guidance.

Who says you have pause on your journey of self discovery? Who says that stillness is the answer?

Our lives are a journey and it is through the momentum that we keep things moving. Stagnancy is not healthy, and thus, even when we are in our deepest moments of self reflection, it’s important to acknowledge that movement is still necessary.

The message in today’s card and “momentum” prompt is a reminder that it’s important to keep moving.

Don’t stand still and wait for things (realizations, understanding, wisdom, success, etc) to come to you. Instead, continue to walk forward and meet them along the way.

DECK USED:  UKIYOE TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsMar2026 Challenge
Prompt for March 15th : Do Spread 3
With the Spring Equinox just a few days away, the beginning of Spring is soon to be upon us.This spread is to help you find your footing as you move into the Spring season ahead.

Oracle Reading with the Animal Allies Birds Oracle

What to leave behind along with Winter’s chill

Owl – Sometimes the tried and true methods of the past just aren’t going to cut it. Leave behind the idea that the old ways of doing things are going to get you where you want to go. Consider some innovation. Try new things. The answer you’re looking for is there, but you might need to think outside the box to get to it.

What to take with you into Spring

Pelican – Lean into those around you to help you in finding the path forward that is the healthiest for you. It’s not so much that they advice or opinion is what you need, but their actual support and help. Don’t confuse the two, and remember that holding yourself apart just makes everything worse.

What needs exposed to the light and the world this Spring

Flamingo – Acknowledge the ways in which you are stronger than you think, and allow these qualities to shine. In doing so you create an unshakable foundation of strength and stability.

What needs kept close for further contemplation

Parakeet – Release you need to fight against the flow, and if you are unable to release it, then at least take the time to observe it instead of ignoring that you are reacting in this manner. It’s the first step to further growth, to acknowledge those things that are holding you back and making things harder than they have to be.

Other elements included in this reading:
Black Spruce Needles to Boost Self-Confidence and Positive Thinking
Dried Cedar Bundle for Protection from Negative Influences
Dried Rosebuds for Potential and Beauty Waiting to Unfold
Dried Purple Heather Flowers for Independence and Luck
Foraged Red Oak Leaf for Fostering Unconditional Love
Garnierite for help in Releasing Anger, Anxiety, and Guilt
Foraged Oak Branch with Moss and Lichen for Perseverance
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: ANIMAL ALLIES BIRDS ORACLE

@lightningwildflower‘s March Reflection to Action Challenge
Prompts for March 14th and 15th

Tarot Reading with the Ukiyoe Tarot

Momentum: What step forward feels brave and right?

King of Cups atop The Lovers – The more you lean into your partner to help you find emotional stability, the more emotional stability you’ll find.

Your self-destructive tendencies and outdated defense mechanisms try to hold you back from leaning on him as much as you could.

The more you do, though, the more you discover healthier ways to deal with your emotions , and the less likely you are to fall back on old unhealthy habits.

Mercury conjunct Mars: How can I channel passion into productive communication?

Nine of Wands Rx and Six of Cups – Instead of leaning into your defense mechanisms, no matter how familiar and comfortable they are, look at the more recent past and the love that has been given to you by him.

Trust in the dedication, integrity, and unconditional love that he has shown you over the nearly 18 years you’ve been together.

Other elements included in this reading:
Black Spruce Needles to Boost Self-Confidence and Positive Thinking
Dried Rosebuds for Potential and Beauty Waiting to Unfold
Dried Purple Heather Flowers for Independence and Luck
Foraged Parmeliaceae Lichen for a “Breath of Fresh Air”
Smoky Quartz for Introspection and Emotional Balance
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED:  UKIYOE TAROT
Daily Self Kindness

This is a catch up post, and I’m not entirely sure what the self kindness was for this day.

Gideon’s Challenge – So Much Fun

/ Twist the Leaf / Leave a comment

So Much Fun

A new neighbor
moves in
and what do I see
but the
Koolaid Man
staring back
at me
from their
bathroom window
with lots of friends
and it stirs
the kind of smile
I can’t pretend

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

❤️ Self Care Saturday (On a Sunday)

/ Twist the Leaf / Leave a comment

These Saturday readings are (not usually) bearing in on any one thing or event in my life, as the question used is asking for a more general outlook. This is a self care exercise, and is not meant as a predictive reading… although that, too, happens on occasion.

The question is… What do I need to focus for self-care through the week ahead?

Self Care Saturday Tarot Reading with the Mordant Tarot and Hodges 1828 Astronomical New Royal Playing Cards

Earth – Four of Coins – Go ahead! Be excessively miserly this week. Now is the time. You won’t regret it later.

Air – Queen of Swords – Take care with your words and make sure that when you speak with others that what you’re saying is constructive instead of destructive. Even during times when you feel like you need to be on the defensive, your focus needs to remain on constructive communication.

Water – Six of Cups – This card is an echo back to the Card of the Day reading that you did for yourself the other day. It is a reminder that it’s important to focus on the good memories that help build trust in those in your present, instead of getting stuck dwelling upon the bad memories of events from the past that hurt you.

Fire – Strength – Sometimes a show of strength is in the lack of reaction you give, rather than snapping back right away or being reactionary.

Waning – Boötes and Venus – People are going to try and play on your emotions this week. Whether it be through love or guilt, or some other emotion to push you and motivate you into their way of thinking and get you to do what they want you to do. Make sure that you are aware of this, and pause before you react. Acknowledge the emotions they are intentionally stirring up, but don’t let those emotions drive you.

Waxing – Pegasus and Aquila – Movement. Swift and sure. Get up, get out, do things… get some fresh air and allow yourself to breathe deep and move. Movement is the key to self-care this week, so make sure that you’re not indulging in stagnancy when you could be moving instead.

Take Away – Move, dance, get outside, and bring others with you whether they like it or not. Don’t allow them to push your buttons and get you to be reactionary this week. Instead, drag them along, kicking and screaming if you need to, in order to have them with you as you get outside and enjoy the refreshed energies of Spring and revitalization of fresh air that Spring brings with it. Make happy memories.

DECKS USED: MORDANT TAROT AND HODGES 1828 ASTRONOMICAL NEW ROYAL PLAYING CARDS

Emotional Influences

/ Twist the Leaf / Leave a comment

Today’s meditation was an eleven minute long #DailyTrip session from the @Calm app.

•    •    •    ◈    •    🌱    •    ◈    •    •    •

The @GlitterbyInk #MarchMoments26 Challenge
The Edge of Wonder Prompt for March 14th : Disorientation
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

The Blue Tarot - Strength card

Today’s draw is the Strength card, which is traditionally a representation of inner strength, persuasion usually through means of compassion, influence and/or manipulation, and courage.

Don’t allow moments of disorientation to turn you into a reactionary mess. Instead, use the calming tools and other methods you’ve learned to help keep yourself in a place of calm and quiet.

It is -so- easy to allow our emotions to take the lead. That’s where the speed of reaction comes from, that’s where the snippy comments, flashes of anger, and moments of snark usually live. It can be hard to -not- allow those things to have free reign. This is something I didn’t fully realize until I started on the journey of learning about my emotions and actually feeling them instead of burying them.

When you stay calm, though, instead of reacting, you allow yourself the space to think, tap into inner wisdom, hear intuition’s input, and make better choices.

The message in today’s Strength card and “disorientation” prompt is a reminder that emotions are fleeting and not dependable for gauging a situation or what you should do in reaction. This messages encourages a pause and a deep breath first. It’s not that you shouldn’t feel your feelings, only that you want to make sure they aren’t pushing you into reacting before you have a moment to process and think.

DECK USED:  THE BLUE TAROT

@silkandsonder’s Journal Prompts to Feel Like Yourself Again 
Prompts No. 4

Cartomancy Playing Card Reading with The Fortune-Teller's Deck

What has been taking up most of my mental space lately? 

Seven of Clubs and Nine of Spades – Imbalances and fears; the lack of harmony in your life that these two influences are creating.

Although you are trying to break free, there is a good deal of fear weighing on you, and the worries that come along with that have been keeping your mental space full and chaotic of late. There’s just a lot going on to worry about right now.

Is it actually important to me?

Ace of Spades and Two of Clubs – These fears and worries are only important to you in that you can’t move forward until you’ve sorted out how to solve the problem that’s causing all this imbalance. So… yes.

Although, from these cards it looks like your approach is flawed (interpreted from all those jagged edges in the Ace of Spades combined with the theme of plans and direction in the Two of Clubs).

Other elements included in this reading:
Scotch Pine Cone for Purging Negative Influences
Foraged Lodgepole Pine for Resilience, Growth, and Renewal
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: THE FORTUNE TELLER’S DECK

@recoverytrauma_’s Know Myself Questions for Self-Discovery
What Do I Need to Heal? Prompts (Part 1)

Tarot Reading with The Blue Tarot

What am I still holding onto that no longer serves me?

Strength atop The Star – There is no substitute for the positivity work you need to do in order to stay balanced. Skipping your medication, skipping your meditation, not giving yourself the room to pause and think before you react, entertaining your self-destructive tendencies and unhealthy habits…

All of these things defeat the effort that you are making towards a more positive and optimistic outlook, and the better life that this pursuit can provide for you.

When have I felt most hurt-and what did I learn from that pain?

Page of Wands Rx – Nay sayers are always going to try to shit on your parade. When you’re really enthusiastic about something that you want to try, this reaction from others can really hurt and cause you to lose enthusiasm as a result.

Seven of Wands – It’s better to prove them wrong than it is to listen to them and let them influence you away from what feels right for you. Just because they think it won’t work doesn’t mean that it won’t work for you.

What habits or patterns are keeping me stuck?

Staying at home and wallowing in your time there (Four of Wands) is holding you back from the success and stability you seek (Ten of Pentacles Rx) by stifling your innovative and creative spirit as a result (Ace of Wands Rx).

A lot of your inspiration comes from your time in nature. The less time in nature that you have, the more dormant your inspiration becomes. If you step outside more, you will spark your inspiration more.

Other elements included in this reading:
Pressed Pansy Flowers for Hearing the Heart More Clearly
Foraged Oak Branch with Moss and Lichen for Perseverance
Foraged Wood Fern for Exorcising Negative Influences
Gneiss Stone for Patience in Moments of Discomfort
Rose Quartz for Gentle Kindness to Self and Others
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED:  THE BLUE TAROT
Daily Self Kindness

This is a catch up post, and I’m not entirely sure what the self kindness was for this day.

Gideon’s Challenge – Seek Peace

/ Twist the Leaf / Leave a comment

Seek Peace

A reminder
tucked away
colorful
but forgotten
on the counter
in the corner
catching the eye
and I reach
to dust them off
and set them
a little more
prominently
to touch others
as they
touched me

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Keep Going, Keep Growing

/ Twist the Leaf / Leave a comment

Today’s meditation was skipped.

•    •    •    ◈    •    🌱    •    ◈    •    •    •

The @GlitterbyInk #MarchMoments26 Challenge
The Edge of Wonder Prompt for March 13th : Melancholy
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Sefirot Tarot - Seven of Wands

Today’s draw is the Seven of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of strategic thinking, “sneaky shit”, or getting away with something. It can also often be about taking only what one can carry.

Find a way to get where you need to go. That is how you fight against the melancholy.

I struggle with clinical depression. The kind that comes in waves (called episodes) and brings you to your knees for weeks or sometime months at a time. And, with every episode you have, you have a greater risk of having another. At this point in my adult life, I’ve lost count of how many I’ve had.

Aside from this clinical depression that comes in waves, even during the time when I am out side of a major depressive episode I deal with something called dysthymia (or, at least that’s what it was called when I was diagnosed). This is a second type of depression that is essentially an “ever present low”. A mild depression that never goes away, putting a pall upon life and everything in it, and making it difficult to experience life in pleasurable or satisfying ways.

The word melancholy (today’s prompt) draws my mind to these things. The Seven of Wands then pulled for the day reminds me that I have learned that there are things I can do to ease the hold that these two conditions have upon me.

One of them being this daily practice. Another being getting out in nature whenever possible.

These things (and others as well) are tools that help. They may not be a cure, but they help.

The message in today’s Seven of Wands and “Melancholy” prompt is a reminder not to give up on yourself. No matter the struggles, keep fighting. Use the tools that work to give you the strength to continue on and keep going. That’s what those tools are there for, to help you keep going and growing.

DECK USAED:  SEFIROT TAROT

@lightningwildflower‘s March Reflection to Action Challenge
Prompts for March 12th and 13th

Tarot Reading with the Simplicities Tarot and Feline Mystique Oracle

Emotional: What emotions from the past few days need space to settle?

Page of Pentacles and Memories – Your current predicament with your business puts you in a place of learning. This feels precarious and vulnerable to you.

You need to focus upon memories on how you have survived and thrived in the past in order to create a sense of confidence and empowerment in the present, rather than allowing memories of hardships long passed to strike fear into your heart.

Mars Conjunct Node: What fear must I move through in order to grow?

Nine of Pentacles Rx and Liminal – The fear of losing all that you’ve worked for and having to begin again.

The thing is? The journey wasn’t always easy and didn’t always feel rewarding. Sometimes, it was just exhausting and miserable. You fear having to go through those experiences again to reach stability once more. It isn’t doubt on whether you can do it, but rather fear of the discomfort that’s built into the process.

Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Red Maple Leaf for Adaptability and Connection
Foraged Parmeliaceae Lichen for a “Breath of Fresh Air”
Carved Rhyolite Leaf for Facilitating Calm Transitions
Bloodstone for Encouraging Fearlessness
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: SIMPLICITIES TAROT

@silkandsonder’s Journal Prompts to Feel Like Yourself Again 
Prompt No. 3 : Where in my life do currently feel most natural or at ease?

Tarot Reading with the Sefirot Tarot

Reading Summary: When helping others (The Hermit Rx) solve their problems (The Magician) instead of acknowledging and dealing with your own (Five of Wands).

Take Away: It’s not surprising that you would feel most at ease when dealing with problems that aren’t your own. It allows you to procrastinate on your worries and fears instead of dealing with them, after all.

This ease is false, though, as you can see in the Five of Wands. What happens is that this habit of procrastination allows you to -pretend- ease and comfort while internally there’s a war raging in that dark corner where you’ve tucked away your worries and fears.

This is one of the situations where “fake it ’til you make it” isn’t going to work, as you’re in the process of learning the hard way.

Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Rhododendron Leaf for Fostering Confidence
Black Spruce Needles to Boost Self-Confidence and Positive Thinking
Dried Rosebuds for Potential and Beauty Waiting to Unfold
Dried Purple Heather Flowers for Independence and Luck
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: SEFIROT TAROT
Daily Self Kindness

This is a catch up post, and I’m not entirely sure what the self kindness was for this day.