Quiet Time
A quiet day
a balcony
a cup of tea
and a book.
Sometimes it’s
the simple things
that make life
worth living.
Self care isn’t always about the things we do. Sometimes it’s about the things we decide to put off and do tomorrow. Sometimes it’s about doing nothing at all… just for a little while.
The prompt for this reading came from one of my Discord servers and is as follows:
“I found this on Pinterest this week, and loved it, therefore this is your prompt for this week!! Pick a topic, and apply this spread!”
Chosen Topic: My unfounded feelings of trepidation concerning the upcoming holiday rush.
The Face of My Challenge
Six of Feathers
Change. The face of my challenge is change and the shift of things from one situation to another. I’m feeling a good deal of discomfort and a need to fall back on old habits. These old habits are unhealthy and do not serve me at all, but are simply what is familiar. Instead, I need to make sure I continue to move forward instead of backsliding.
The Crux of What Hounds Me
Ace of Roses
Concern over undoing all the new progress I’ve made this year. I’ve grown so much over the year, and I am aware that that new emotional growth I’ve been fostering for the past few months is still tenuous and new. I worry that the new beginnings I’ve been fostering are still too delicate to withstand the savage storm of the holiday rush.
What is real about this?
Three of Crystals
I have people to help me and collaborate with me when I need them. I am not in this alone. I have the support I need and I need to include them in the process from the beginning, not pull them in later when things are chaotic and a mess. Allow these people in my life to help so that everything doesn’t rest solely on my shoulders.
What is wrong about this?
Two of Roses
My discomfort and struggle with leaning into those that love me and want to support me. As mentioned above. They want to support me. They want to help. This discomfort and guilt is useless and is completely unfounded. I understand that this is one of my shadows, and one I will have to deal with over time, but for now I need to keep in mind that these feelings come from within and are not reality.
Where do I need more info?
Six of Crystals
It would be a good idea to delve into in what ways others are willing to help me and be proactive about getting that help… Rather than waiting until I need it and sticking them with tasks that they would prefer not to deal with. This is about even distribution of the work load so that the help that they are offering is used to its best advantage, and it is a suggestion that has recently come up in a previous reading as well.
What can I do?
Ace of Crystals
Focus on the task at hand, and accept that it’s going to be different this year… and that’s OK. It can lead to better things.
Today’s meditation was eleven minutes long and was another guided meditation with interval timer for my piriformis stretching. The topic of today’s guided meditation was dealing with feelings of overwhelm.
Specifically, the meditation spoke on how when we become overwhelmed, it is often because we are trying to take on too much at once. In truth though, a project or any topic of overwhelm is so overwhelming because it is so big. To solve this problem, we need to remember to break these huge projects and responsibilities down into bite sized pieces.
Like when you clean a house… you look at the house as a whole and it looks overwhelming and like so much work. Too much work. Instead, we need to look at the cleaning of a house as a bunch of little tasks. Dust one piece of furniture. Wipe down one counter.
In breaking down these big projects, we then can see them as small things we can manage to do. And if we focus on one small thing at a time, pretty soon that huge pile of crap to get done is whittled down to nothing.
Today’s draw is the Five of Swords, which traditionally is a representation of tests, trials, and conflict in the area of one’s thoughts, logic, intellect, and communication. This type of conflict often comes across as disagreements and competition, but what I find this card often indicates that is not so common of an interpretation is the “winning at all costs” attitude that this card can often convey, as well as being a reflection of “the spoils of war”.
Probably not surprisingly, what stood out to me in the imagery of this card is the plants. The flower in the background looks a lot like a clover bud, and yet the greenery beneath looks like dandelion leaves.
One of the lesser known representations of the white clover is revenge. This combined with the dandelion, which commonly represents standing strong and overcoming hardships, gives me the impression that in this case the battle has already been fought, and what we are witnessing in the card’s imagery is the aftermath.
The card here today is a reminder that the honor of standing tall is more important than the temporary satisfaction of retaliation. Sometimes (and I admit that this very well could be due to my Scorpio moon) I have this overwhelming urge to lash back at those that piss me off or irritate me. The card here today is an encouragement to rise above these urges.
#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: How do I grow from my mistakes?
Reading Summary: Open your eyes and pay attention (Eight of Spades) so that you can see your mistakes (Ace of Diamonds Rx) as opportunities to grow (Jack of Diamonds).
Take Away: This is about carrying forward the knowledge gained during my mistakes so that I don’t repeat them and can course-correct before mistakes become catastrophic. By learning to identifying mistakes early or by taking the lessons that come from them when you can’t course correct in time, I am then able to turn those mistakes into something of value instead of just another fuckup.
Watch Your Step
Pissy
Grumpy
An irksome mess
Not fit for company
Not fit for much less
Getting out of bed
might have been
a mistake.
Shouldn’t socialize
when in this state.
Heather Carter on YouTube put together a series of prompts titled #31DaysofWitchcraft that she’s been working her way through since the beginning of May. I really like this idea, but I can’t handle the responsibility of any more daily posts, so I thought that for the next few weeks, I would do one (or a few at a time) for the end of week “My Pagan Perspective” posts and work through them a bit at a time.
20. What do you do when you are in a witchy funk?
“Witchy Funk”. That is such a weird term to me when I read it and I’m not sure why. Maybe it is because my spirituality and my witchcraft are so wrapped up into one?
The thing is, witchcraft is an act. It is an activity. You do not have to be Wiccan or Pagan to practice it. There are Christian witches, Hindu witches, Atheist witches… there’s all kinds. It is not a spirituality, it is an act… a tool.
Paganism, is not an activity. It is a faith. A religion. A spiritual path. It is a path of belief. How someone walks this path may vary from person to person. Some Wiccans, for example, do not practice witchcraft. Some Pagans don’t either. And others do.
For me, these two things were interlaced and so very woven together that they grew together like gemeis, two trees that grow together into one. The inosculation in this natural phenomenon between trees is a good comparison how witchcraft and my spiritual path have grown together over time until there is no clear separation between them any longer.
So when I see the words “witchy funk” it feels strange. How does one have a “funk” from their belief? From their faith? From how they believe the world works and how we interact with it? I’m… not sure that’s possible. I mean, maybe during major depressive episodes and I essentially retreat from every little single thing in the world? But I definitely wouldn’t call that a “funk”.
Are there times when I am more active and engaged than others? Absolutely, but we can say that about anything in life, can’t we? Everyone goes through phases and cycles. Sometimes our attention gets drawn away to this or that, and then we slip back to center again when the newness wears off or we accomplish what we’d been distracted by. I also don’t consider these a “funk”, but more of a natural cycle of interest and curiosity balancing out with just how much time there is in each day.
So I’m left wondering… do I even have witchy funks? What exactly -is- a witchy funk anyway? I’m not sure.
Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and another of the guided meditations with interval timer for my piriformis stretching.
The topic of today’s guided meditation was self discipline, which is something that I’m both extremely good at… and crap-ass bad at, depending on what it’s about. In this case, the topic was about self discipline involved in making sure that you stick with your self care, and that you do not tear yourself to shreds with guilt or consternation when you miss a day now and then.
I am very guilty of this. Not the guilt so much, but definitely the consternation and self flagellation that comes with me missing a day (or a few days) of my self care routine. As if I don’t pay for it already with the physical pain aspect of skipping out on those necessary stretches, right?
Today’s draw is is the Justice card, which is traditionally a representation of checks and balances, cause and effect, as well as concepts such as justice, truth, fairness, and the law.
Interestingly, I do not see “justice” in the imagery for this card today. Rather, I see honor and the pursuit of justice. The pose of this woman knight is one of a tracker in pursuit. She peers to the left, which for me is a nod to the past and what has come to pass, yet her left foot faces forward in the present. She is grounded and sure of herself, and looks determined to mete out the justice that needs to be dealt.
The message in today’s card is that it is that in examining where you come from, you can find a clearer view of where you are and where you are going. Everything we do has a consequence or a reaction of some kind. This is how the world works. When you push upon a pendulum to make it swing, sooner or later the pendulum has to swing back the other way. It can be a good idea to take a moment now and then to take a look at the pendulums you’ve put in motion… and make sure when they swing back at you they don’t hit you in the head.
#Zentember #LovelyHealing Challenge Prompt
Question: How to improve my relationships with others?
Reading Summary: Work on my communication skills (Page of Swords) and lean into an empathetic approach (Queen of Cups). It’s not a hopeless cause, so don’t give up (The Star).
Take Away: It’s really easy for me to get frustrated with my communication skills, as I feel like I do a lot of fumbling in that area and hurting people’s feelings (or otherwise fucking things up) as a result. The cards here indicate that to resolve this problem, I need to not give up hope, but instead continue to work on my intercommunication skills and… while doing so, lean into a more empathetic side of communicating with others.
#DiscordTarotholicsSep2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Stop / Start / Continue
Stop – Two of Roots – How many rabbits can a fox hold at once? One. That’s how many. And like the fox? I have my limitations as well, and I need to make sure I’m honoring them. Stop trying to find wiggle room in my new balance to shove in more responsibilities. We’re not doing that anymore, remember?
Start – Two of Arrows – The wolf and the cougar are bound together, blind and both of them injured. Unable to see, does each one blame the other for their pain? It’s time to be honest with yourself. Take the blindfold off and pay attention to the things that cause you pain and create struggle in your life. You need to make peace with your inner slave driver.
Continue – Mother of Horns and King of Roots – The nurturing encouragement to connect with my emotions, allowing them to have a place at the table instead of being smothered beneath the lilypads has been combined with my natural grounding and stability that I am so very focused on all the time. I’ve been spending the summer melding this new level of emotional awareness and growth with my strong need for a grounded life… and will continue to work on that.
Lionharts #AstroTarotChallenge
Question: How can I best continue to build on the foundation, lessons, or teachings that make me who I am today? And how can I act on this information?
How to continue to build on my lessons learned?
Eight of Cups and Knight of Wands
The lesson learned here is when to “cut and run”, just as the octopus in the Eight of Cups dumps its ink and heads out for new and better waters. To continue building on this lesson, I need to focus upon those things that spark my interest and go after them.
How can I best act on this information?
The Chariot
Just do it. Leap into the fray and allow yourself to pursue these things instead of holding myself back. You have all of the willpower and determination needed to make anything you are truly interested in a success. Hesitation is not your friend.
Just take the leap and move your ass already.
#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: How can I best take action for myself at this time?
Reading Summary: Blinding yourself (Eight of Swords) to the damage you’re doing with your addictions (The Devil) is childish (Six of Cups). Make the moves needed to support your aspirations (Three of Wands).
Take Away: The addictions I’ve been indulging in over the past few months are unhealthy eating, not getting enough the exercise I need, and my deck spending. The cards here are telling me to stop wasting time and resources with these things, and instead pour the attention and resources into focusing on the future. With the holiday rush approaching, this is really good advice. If I’m not taking care of myself (and my finances), how can I expect to run my business (and my life during the holiday rush) as needed?
Twisting the Leaf 