Day: October 25, 2019

Confidence and Perspective Changes

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and focused on how sometimes gifts come in the form of what you shed or release, rather than what you gain, and how that is one of the things about meditation practice that is of great value.

What they mean by this is that the gift that meditation gives you isn’t always an increase in focus or an advancement of some kind, it’s in the releasing of stress and the decrease of anxiety, etc.

I think that this view is a lot like the view that I have of the negative incidents and people in my past.    It’s a “look for the silver lining” approach.   This is not to negate though, as I think it’s a very good point and good practice to get into.  Life is better and there is better perspective within it when you can accept that even the bad things that happen to you have value.

Queen of Wands - Dark Mansion Tarot Today’s draw is the Queen of Wands, which is a representation of a receptive alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s passions, drive, and ambitions.  This theme portrays itself with independence, confidence, and determination.  The Queen of Wands is ambitious and knows how to get what she wants and go after what she believes is hers.

What I see in today’s card is encouragement.  It’s appearance today is there to boost my self confidence, which wavered a bit when the less-than whisper came during the recent drop.  The Queen of Wands has arrived to remind me that I am strong and passionate, and if they don’t like me?  Fuck’em.

I’ll try to take her message to heart, although I’m not quite far enough out of the post-drop tenderness for it to really sink in at the current moment.

Deck Used: Dark Mansion Tarot

Bonus Reading

Another #TarotForGrowthOctober prompt.

Question: Where may I need to shake things up?

Tarot of the Sweet Twilight Reading Summary:  I need to look recently occurring new perspectives (Hanged Man) concerning the drop (Eight of Swords) and the emotions that stem from it (Ace of Cups).

Take Away: Ok, so I had a really hard time with this last drop.  Yes it was massive, but it went beyond that, because for the first time in a long time, I completely shut down rather than allowing myself to deal with it.  And honestly?  My perception and feelings about it were different this time too, leaning far more to the negative.   I focused on those negatives rather than on the vulnerability and inner worries and fears, which didn’t help things.

This new perspective isn’t a healthy one, and isn’t healthy for me at all.  This isn’t the first time I’ve drowned so deep, or had such a massive drop afterward.  But I didn’t handle it well at all this time, and I need to look at approaching the drop and the emotions surrounding it from a different mindset in the future so that I don’t go back there again.

Deck Used: Tarot of the Sweet Twilight

Deepening Experiences of Deity

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

This week’s question from the Pagan Perspective YouTube channel is about connecting with deity.

deity

Topic for the Week of 10/21: “I have recently been getting more focused on spirituality in my practice and have since discovered that I feel greatly called to follow and to learn all I can from the Goddess Hekate. My problem is that I am having trouble finding any source of information on her. Outside of meditation and exploration of what little I can find of her in mythology, I don’t know how to deepen my relationship with her. If you have any recommendations on how I could get closer to the Goddess with the limited resources I have, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.” – from Arlin

Okay, so this is going to probably be a pretty short one. I’ve been kind of sitting on this question all week this week, and because I’m a non-thiest, I’m having a bit of difficulty coming up with a response.

That said, I’m all for seeing things from different perspectives.  And, in this way, I don’t see this much different than my own quest to get closer to nature and the energies I work with and revere.

So my advice on this would be to seek out the activities that better connection to the deity (or entity) in question that you want to work with.   For me, this is deeply incorporated in my life from the gemstones I work with in my jewelry designs to the farm work I do at one of my jobs, the nursery work I do at another of my jobs, the hikes I regularly take out into the rainforest to spend time in nature without distraction, etc.

I would say that most deities have certain things they are known for and enjoy.  If you want to worship Hekate, for example, she is known for her associations with magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts and necromancy.

So this reasoning mentioned above, therefore, would indicate to become closer with her and connect stronger with her, you would do things such as syncing up your magical workings to the moon’s phases, exploring (or at least educating yourself in) mediumship, practicing your magical workings at night, or focusing on the death aspect of her representations and incorporating things like dead leaves, corn husks, and other representations of death into your worship and workings.  One of the hosts for the Pagan Perspective also suggested composting, which I think is brilliant.

Meditation, as well, is an excellent way to connect to the ethereal.  Using Hekate as your focus in meditation and/or incorporating the things she is associated with into your meditation practice may also assist in a closer connection to your deity of choice (in this case, Hekate).

I think it’s also important to remember that if you are doing these things and working to find that connection, and you feel that perhaps you just are not getting anywhere?  This may not be the deity for you and you may want to look into others that may suit you better and be more interested in working with you.