Cutting Fears Down to Size

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Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

The Cat's Tarot of Wondrous Journeys' Queen of Cups and card from the Create Brave Cards

Today’s draw is the Queen of Cups, which is traditionally a representation of a receptive alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s emotions, relationships, creativity, and intuition. Among other things, this often translates into themes to do with emotional support and advice from a trusted party that is easy to talk to.

The Queen of Cups has then been combined with the Brave card from the Create Brave deck, which says, “ I take action despite my fears.”

The thing about fear is that it’s an emotion, right? That means it’s not always going to be logical. This shows itself most often in the fact that when we fear something, the longer we choose not to confront it, the larger that thing we fear becomes.

It starts off small, but the more we avoid it the more it grows until it feels completely insurmountable, even though in reality it’s size or scope hasn’t changed at all.

The message in today’s Queen of Cups and affirmation card is a reminder that it’s when we confront our fears that we bring them back down to size. By being nurturing and supportive to our emotions, we give ourselves the confidence to deal with our fears and take action despite them, rather than allowing them to control us.

DECKS USED:  THE CAT’S TAROT OF WONDROUS JOURNEYS AND CREATE BRAVE DECK

September Prompts by @forgotten.dumpling & @ml.mecham
Prompt for September 1st : your fingerprints on my future

Creative Writing and Cartomancy with the Peacock Playing Cards

When we first met, I was young and filled with an eagerness to build a life for myself of comfortable solitude. I wanted to believe that I had no need for love, and was busy building a future of stability and comfort… a nest for one. (Two of Diamonds atop Four of Diamonds)

The first time I saw you, my stomach fluttered. My insides felt liquid and unstable, and each time we were in the same room, it happened again and again. You made me feel vulnerable and uncertain in ways I didn’t understand. (Jack of Hearts)

You never promised me everything, as if instinctively knowing that’s not what I wanted. Instead you moved from day to day, encounter to encounter, giving me slivers of happiness and comfort until I couldn’t imagine happiness existing without you as a part of it. (Ten of Hearts)

You became a guiding light, someone I can depend on. Someone I need in my life for things to feel secure and stable. (King of Hearts)

You created for me a safe place I could open up within, be accepted within, and find a love I never realized I wanted, let alone needed. You marked my soul in the process, and placed your fingerprints indelibly upon my future in the process. (Four of Hearts)

I love you. Always.

Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Parmeliaceae Lichen for a “Breath of Fresh Air”
Honey Calcite for Optimism and Motivational Boost
Rose Quartz for Gentle Kindness to Self and Others
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: PEACOCK PLAYING CARDS

@lightningwildflower‘s September Self-Talk Challenge
Mars square Saturn, Mercury sextile Mars Prompts for September 1st

Tarot Reading with The Cat's Tarot of Wondrous Journeys and Schamanische Seelen Medizin

What action feels blocked?

The Emperor and Geburt

The Birth card in this deck proposes that the conditions of your birth are a predictor of the type of life you will lead. For example, if you had an easy birth as a child, your life will be easy, whereas if you had a lot of struggle and had to be pulled forth with forceps, you may find your life fraught with obstacles.

I’m not sure how much I buy into this idea, but when joined by the Emperor card, this card combination speaks of difficulties from the past during formative years holding you back from the healthy leadership you could be demonstrating.

That is to say that unhealthy defense mechanisms and expectations that were drilled into you as a child have a tendency to hold you back in your adulthood, creating unnecessary blockages between you and your goals.

What will help me move through this resistance?

Six of Cups and Engel

To help you move through this resistance, take choice out of the equation when you’re able to do so. Trust, instead, in divine timing and that things will work out how they are meant to without your meddling in the process. Accept that not everything has to be under your control to work out how you want (or in some cases even better than your expectations).

Other elements included in this reading:
Pressed Pansy Flowers for Hearing the Heart More Clearly
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: THE CAT’S TAROT OF WONDROUS JOURNEYS AND SCHAMANISCHE SEELEN MEDIZIN
Daily Self Kindness

I ordered pizza for second supper. It’s been forever and I just didn’t feel like having anything I have on hand.

📆 Transitioning from August to September

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Monthly Check-In Oracle Reading with the Spirits of the Hedgerow and Shadows of the Hedgerow

Here and Now I Exist – Who you are now, in your entirety.

Deaths Cap – It’s okay to not be okay. You are masking heavily right now instead of being honest about how you’re feeling, and beating yourself up for your mistakes using the excuse that the punishment will “make the lessons stick”, when in actuality it’s just self-abuse. Hold on tight to the temporary nature of moods, emotions, and the stages of mental health struggles.

The Slough – What is to be left in the past as you move forward.

Hemlock – Weed out those in your life that are only there to use you. Their roots need to be thoroughly excavated, and a watchful eye trained on making sure once removed they don’t try to resurface and settle back in.

What Lies Ahead – An ideal state or ideal self you are seeking at this time.

Rosehip – It’s time to pay particularly close attention to your health. Make sure you are eating right, taking your meds as directed, and moving your body. Do what’s needed to keep yourself healthy and hale.

Limitations – Negative influences, opposition, or ill will.

Lords and Ladies – Perfectionism is not your friend. Holding yourself to unreasonable expectations doesn’t motivate for a good result, it just gives your inner narrative something to kick at while simultaneously setting yourself up to fail. Let go of impossible standards and unreasonable expectations. They are hurting your progress.

The Boon – Positive influences, higher guidance, or divine intervention.

Hensbane – Your pain is valid, whether that pain is physical or emotional. Seek out those that are empathetic to you and your needs, open to you expressing them as best you can, and supportive even in those times they might not fully understand your suffering.

The Wound – An unpleasant past experience or event that is ripe for some support and healing.

Cyclamen – Take time to reflect on the obstacles that you have overcome in the past and work on letting go of the ones that you failed to overcome. They also hold value, but only if you dig for the benefits they have to offer you. If you don’t, these wounds never fully heal.

Nostalgia – A positive past experience or event to acknowledge, reflect upon, and enjoy.

Daisy – Look at the positive benefits you’ve experienced from adding a positivity practice into your daily routine. It’s time to re-familiarize yourself with what this practice and other wellness practices offer you, instead of looking at them as just another chore or otherwise taking them for granted.

A Warning – Something coming that can be prevented or overcome.

Imbolc – You are running the risk of falling into darkness (depression). Make sure you are focusing on the light with your attention trained on positivity and optimism, rather than on the familiar pull that feels seductively comfortable but is anything but.

Empowerment – A future opportunity to work toward.

Blackthorn – Check in with yourself and what really matters. Let the minor inconveniences go instead of allowing them to pile up into a potential explosion.

Message from the Spirit World – Take care not to use positivity to cover up the pain. That makes the positivity toxic. Instead, use it as a tool for checking in with yourself when you’re blowing things out of proportion and catastrophizing.

Message from the Mind’s World – Use those times when you’re not okay as a tool to suss out those that don’t have your best interests at heart. Their true colors will show in their apathy toward your struggles and well-being.

Message from the Physical World – Your perfectionist tendencies makes it hard to take joy in the activities you don’t complete perfectly. It’s time to let go of that mindset and instead celebrate even your small accomplishments. Ex: You may not have completed the trail you chose to hike, but you still got yourself out in nature and you made it to the half way mark before turning back.

Other elements included in this reading:
Pressed Pansy Flower for Hearing the Heart More Clearly
Dried Red Maple Leaf for Adaptability and Connection
Foraged Oak Branch with Moss and Lichen for Perseverance
Gray Agate for Instilling Gentleness, Calm, and Stability
Moss Agate Tree for Attracting Opportunities for Growth
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECKS USED: SPIRITS OF THE HEDGEROW ORACLE AND SHADOWS OF THE HEDGEROW ORACLE

Gideon’s Challenge – Determined

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Withered Blackberry Leaf

Determined

the incline
so steep
my hands
touch earth
alongside
booted soles
and muscles
tremble
with the strain
as lungs
struggle
and sweat
beads
but with
each step
I’m closer
to the paradise
of rest
that awaits

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Timelines for Healing and Growth

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Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Everyday Witch Tarot - Seven of Pentacles and a card from the Pass Around the Smile Guided Affirmation Cards

Today’s draw is the Seven of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of slow growth, sustainability, domestic harmony, hard work, and practicing patience while the fruits of your labors develop and take form.

The Seven of Pentacles has then been combined with the Release card from the Pass Around the Smile Guided Affirmation Cards, which says, “ I am able to release the feelings and situations that are holding me back. I am not attached to them.”

This is part of the reason that growth often takes more time than we are expecting it to take. That release of the things in the past that hold us back is a form of healing that takes time. Thus, growth is slow as a result.

That is why it’s often better to see growth as “it’ll happen in its own time” rather than pushing it. When you push it, you often ignore the healing that needs to take place in order for the growth to be healthy and productive.

The messaging in today’s Seven of Pentacles and affirmation card is a reminder that patience is a quality worth developing. It helps us in our growth, as well as in our healing of past experiences and the wounds that are left behind by them. Being impatient with these wounds only makes them linger and sometimes even fester into something worse.

DECKS USED:  EVERYDAY WITCH TAROT AND PASS AROUND THE SMILE GUIDED AFFIRMATION CARDS

#DiscordTarotholicsAug2026 Challenge
Prompt for August 31st : Grab a spread of your choice you’re curious about… and give it a go!

The Unlived Life Tarot Reading with the Epoche Tarot

A version of myself I never became

Four of Swords Rx – The lazy person I was predicted to become by my father. Alone and lackadaisical. Cut off from others by my choices and preferences. A waste of space.

The story I tell myself about that version

Six of Wands – The story (lie) I tell myself is that I could impress him and gain his favor by not becoming that person. That his acceptance of me and my choices was based upon my performance.

What I grieve about that unlived life

Ace of Swords – It isn’t that unlived life I grieve, but rather that I never got the chance to communicate honestly and openly with my father. I grieve the chances I wasn’t given to connect with him, learn from him, and see eye to eye with him.

What aspects of that unlived life can still be lived now

Page of Pentacles – I am learning how to let go of those judgements thrust upon me and find my own path. One suited to me and stable beneath my feet. One created in the bedrock of who I am rather than who he wanted me to be or expected me to become.

Other elements included in this reading:
Bird Figurine for Encouraging Hope, Positivity, and Renewal
Foraged Ponderosa Pine Cone for Resilience and Adaptability
Dried Cedar Bundle for Protection from Negative Influences
Foraged Lodgepole Pine for Strength, Growth, and Renewal
Foraged Parmeliaceae Lichen for a “Breath of Fresh Air”
Rose Quartz for Gentle Kindness to Self and Others
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: EPOCHÉ TAROT

@lightningwildflower‘s August Reflections Challenge
Jupiter trine Saturn
Prompt for August 31st : What long-term goal feels expansive but also sustainable?

Tarot Reading with the Everyday Witch Tarot

Reading Summary: Rebuilding your concept of stability (Queen of Pentacles) to a place where when struggles arise (Five of Pentacles) they are seen as opportunities for something new and exciting (Two of Wands) instead of end-of-the-road obstacles (Five of Pentacles).

Take Away: You’ve fallen into a habit of catastrophizing things when something goes awry or an obstacle lands in your path. As a result, you seek to return to a better mindset where you can see these obstacles and struggles in a way that benefits you rather than something that destroys your efforts and decimates your goals.

This goal is about not just finding the boon in negative experiences, something you’ve always done but have struggled with lately, but also about reconnecting with a greater sense of flexibility and adaptability. That, in turn, can allow you to capture a greater sense of potential in each step along your journey instead of getting discouraged and letting that discouragement slow you down or hold you back from making the progress you otherwise could have made.

Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Red Oak Leaf for Fostering Unconditional Love
Calcite for Gently Calming the Mind and Stimulating Insights
Honey Calcite for Optimism and Motivational Boost
Rose Quartz for Gentle Kindness to Self and Others
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: EVERYDAY WITCH TAROT
Daily Self Kindness

I went for a hike in the woods today. 

Gideon’s Challenge – Indecision

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Mixed Gemstones

Indecision

like candies
in a jar
in every flavor
imaginable
they gather
together
and make
the directive to
“pick just one”
mind boggling
and impossible
at the same time
so close
your eyes
and let your
fingers
guide you

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

A Different Angle

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Today’s meditation was a ten minute #DailyCalm session from the @Calm.

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Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

The Fablemaker's Tarot - Seven of Wands

Today’s draw is the Seven of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of fighting for one’s beliefs, standing up for one’s principles, and confrontations that challenge one’s values.

The card has then been combined with the Breath of Fire card from the Rethink 120 Learning Cards For Mindful Daily Life, which says, “Exhale rapidly, and inhale through your nose, pumping your belly. Focus on the exhale being active in the inhale being passive.”

When confronted with challenges, sometimes it helps to think outside the box.

For example, where we often see our inhale as being the active part of breathing and the exhale being the passive, in the Breath of Fire exercise we switch up these assumptions, and in the process bring to light a whole different perspective on what is often an involuntary a day-to-day experience.

We can take that same approach with challenges, and in the process experience a completely different perspective that gives us better leverage to understand what’s going on around us and better able to stand our ground as a result.

The message in today’s Seven of Wands and Breathing Techniques card is a reminder that it doesn’t always behoove us to take challenges on head-to-head. Sometimes we need to take a step back and think outside the box in order to stand strong against opposition that we know to be detrimental to us or those things we value.

DECKS USED:  FABLEMAKER’S TAROT (non-lenticular) AND RETHINK 120 LEARNING CARDS FOR MINDFUL DAILY LIFE

One Card Tarot Journal Activity by @mariasofia_astro
Chapter 5 | Entry 15 – Health and Body
Affirmation : “I am strong and capable in mind, body, and spirit.”
Prompt : Belief in your own capabilities beyond the physical. Your personal beliefs can shape how you see yourself and the world. What are you capable of that you don’t currently see or fully appreciate about yourself? Draw a tarot card to discover the answer.

Tarot Activity from The One Card a Day Journal by Maria Sofia Marmanides - The Spacecrafter Tarot - Death card

What feelings came up when I pulled this card?

I had a bit of an “ugh” response when I first saw the Death card show up in reference to this prompt. It’s not an objection to the card or its answer though, but more of a response to the topic of change itself.

The thing is? I know I don’t handle change well. I know, too, that the lessons that are a part of this time in my life involve learning how to better deal with change.

Because of that, the topic comes up a lot at the moment… and that’s where my “ugh” factors in.

What elements of the card’s meaning resonate with me and this prompt?

The Death card is about slow, organic change. It represents letting go of the old so that what’s new can flourish and grow.

I struggle with that process of letting go. I think that a part of this is that I spent so much time striving for stability that once I got some I find myself wanting to hold onto it and protect it at all costs. Unfortunately, that tendency creates unhealthy stagnancy.

Comic Illustration by @emi_boz

What in the artwork spoke to me?

The base of the reaper looks like a tree trunk with broken roots, referencing that “everything is falling apart” feeling that often comes with change.

The pile of bones behind the reaper feels like it speaks on how the change represented in the Death card is gradual. Like a skeleton falling apart one bone at a the instead of all at once. (I just stumbled upon the Emi Boz illustration to the right an hour earlier on IG, and it also came to mind.) Each bone in the Death card seems tossed aside, and there’s always more to take their place.

The reaper’s one big eye wearing a party hat feels like a reminder to celebrate these losses instead of mourning them, speaking of the importance of finding the boon in situations of loss.

My prompt response and reflections.

You can, in fact, handle change without falling apart at the seams. When you learn how to better accept the losses involved and see more easily the positive aspects of these moments when you release something in order for something else to take its place, you will be better equipped to handle change and accept it with grace and open arms.

Other elements included in this reading:
Rose Quartz D20 and D6 Gemstone Dice

DECK USED: THE SPACECASTER MAJOR ARCANA TAROT DECK 2ND EDITION

#DiscordTarotholicsAug2026 Challenge
Prompt for August 30th : Do Spread 2
Question : What the hell did I do to my hand, and what is needed to help it recover?

Tarot Reading with The Fablemaker's Tarot and Twist's Gratitude Postcard Oracle

Reading Summary: First and foremost, the sword in the anchor card very much looks like Rod of Asclepius (the medical staff with the snake). This alone speaks of an actual medical issue that needs tending rather than some sort of reference pain or “in my head” ailment (ie: synesthesia, other pain blowing my perception out of proportion, etc.)

It all started with an uncomfortable position, the Hanged Man reversed sleeps even when in defiance to gravity. His outfit is a color correlation to the sword in the anchor card, speaking of a stiffness ignored during Thursday night’s inability to sleep. The Hanged Man‘s posture is also a connection to the sword in the anchor card through the rigidity of both posture and sword, indicating both stiffness in the injury as well as that patience will be needed for things to ease up.

You tried multiple different positions, each more unsatisfactory than the last. The bright red surrounding the covered cup in the Seven of Cups correlates to the color of the sword in the anchor card, speaking of one of these many positions being the culprit of your current discomfort.

There is also a color connection between the Seven of Cups and Ten of Cups Rx that indicates a need to take care with your sleeping positions going forward to avoid worsening the condition.

Take Away: Although a valid medical issue, the main problem indicated here is stiffness that needs some time to ease up. As with most stiffness, this is an inflammation problem.

You should consult with your sports medicine doctor to set yourself up with a brace or splint, depending on what he thinks would be best, to assist you with your patience as well as to protect the finger from further injury while sleeping. Anti-inflammatories are your friend; take time to find wherever the Diclofenac gel ran off to.

DECK USED: FABLEMAKER’S TAROT (non-lenticular) AND TWIST’S GRATITUDE POSTCARDS ORACLE
Daily Self Kindness

Dug around until I found a tube of Voltaren to use on my finger. It seems to be helping. Much more than my initial try with ibuprofen.