A Heartbeat
Tendrils
of smoke
create a moment
of needed peace
as scents
of cedar smoke
swirl in the air
and breathing in
brings to mind
forest walks
beneath
cedar boughs.
Month: October 2020
Morning Bonus Read – Thinning Veil Spread
Because I am trying to show a bit more of my decks this month, as I have a whole LOT of October/Halloween/Samhain decks, I’m doing a few extra bonus reads over the month. This is one of those extra readings.
Your Higher Purpose
Page of Pentacles
Learning how to connect to the earth and to develop my manifestation abilities no matter what life throws at me along the way. It’s about adaptability and staying grounded while still moving forward. There is also an indication here about the speed of that movement. This is not fast movement, but rather slow and steady with the focus more on what you learn along the way than where you are going to end up.
Advice From Beyond the Veil
The Lovers
So many of my readings that have included this question end up throwing this same answer to me again and again. Make good choices. This isn’t about making choices that advance some agenda but rather about listening to my moral compass and allowing deeper needs and motivations to lead rather than surface wants and desires.
A Lesson From This Side of the Veil
Strength
The events of my life thus far have been about survival. It’s about taking your licks and keeping moving, no matter how much it hurts or how debilitating the experience should be. This is a lesson in inner strength. Most of my “misfortunes” along the way were not about making good or bad choices, but about the strength gained along the way as I move through and beyond the ramifications of what has happened, continually adapting as I go.
Your Shadow’s Influence
Ace of Wands
As the shadows within work to whisper in your ear, it can be hard to keep your inspiration and enthusiasm going. The influence of my Shadow upon this lifetime is to teach me how to sustain that enthusiasm, even as those whispers try to distract me and drag me into backslide after backslide.
DECK USED: SKELE-TAROT
Examining Motivations
At the moment, I’m playing catch up after having not kept up on my blog posts for a few days, so I don’t remember what the meditation was like today… or if I did it, to be honest. I will return to updating about my meditation each day once I’m caught up with my posts again.
Today’s draw is is the Ace of Wands, which is traditionally an interpretation of new inspiration and enthusiasm toward new passion projects. It’s not so much about the idea or the act of participating in a project, but about the spark of fire and drive that kindles in your soul when you are inspired.
It feels like there’s a message here in the clouded, deformed figures down in the lower right corner, and yet even now it doesn’t want to rise to the surface and speak to me. It’s about motivation behind why things spark your interest, and the hidden secrets we keep sometimes.
Oh… there it is.
The thing is? Sometimes when we feel that spark of inspiration? It’s important to take a pause and look at our motivations. Why are you so keen on this new idea or project, where is the interest and enthusiasm coming from? Is it pure? Or is it something being used to conceal or run away from something else you don’t want to deal with.
For example. Mopping the floor and cleaning the windows sucks. But it might look really appealing if you’re trying to avoid cleaning the toilets instead.
The best projects and creative endeavors are bred not from avoidance, but from pure inspirational spark. Make sure that when you feel a spark in your soul that you are eager to explore, that that exploration is pure curiosity and interest…. and not motivated by procrastination or avoidance.
DECK USED: MADAM LYDIA WILHELMINA’S TAROT
LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: In what way am I suggested to protect my personal energy?
Reading Summary: Grounded advance (Knight of Pentacles) and overcoming lack of joy in your entrepreneurial spark (Four of Wands Rx) through the sharing of that passion with others (Queen of Wands). It’s okay to feel, but don’t allow those feelings to mellow and stagnate (Queen of Cups… it’s about her face and how she’s holding the cup).
There is growth and advancement here in the inclusion of greenery both in the Queen of Wands and Queen of Cups. Emotional influences blending with inspirational drive will allow for a breaking free of the cage you feel like you’re trapped in. As long as you stay grounded, it’s okay to move slow.
Take Away: Whether these cards are read left to right, or right to left, the key here in moving forward and continuing to grow in both my emotional wealth as well as my business requires some grounding, as well as slow but steady progress. Don’t remain stagnant. It’s not healthy, no matter how appealing it might seem.
DECK USED: THE VAMPIRE TAROT
#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Philosophical Question: How important is play in living a healthy and fulfilling life?
Reading Summary: Play is the music of life. Whether you’re on your own and singing to the sky (imagery of Queen of Swords), or with those you love and serenading them from the heart (imagery on Ten of Pentacles)… either way that joy of play is what clears away the smog (imagery in Death).
Take Away: Clearly, it’s very important. It’s the fresh air that clears away the stagnancy and cobwebs in our lives and allows us to look at ourselves and the world around us with fresh eyes. Lack of play encourages stagnancy and lack of growth.
DECK USED: DEAD WAITE TAROT
#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: How does the message from the 19th help me with my greater purpose?
Reading Summary: It helps me open my eyes (Eight of Swords) to the fact that I’m not allow and am receiving strength from others (Strength) that are near and dear to me and have my best interests at heart (Four of Wands).
Take Away: My spirit guides are represented here by the Four of Wands, as they are with me all the time… from birth to death they will be there to help and provide a stable “home base” of guidance along the way.
The message on the 19th was that they are behind me 100% and are my cheerleading squad, there to cheer me on and give me strength. The message opened my eyes to this face, and that knowledge provides me with an undercurrent of strength that I didn’t have previously.
DECK USED: THE GOTHIC TAROT
#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What has most influenced my spiritual path?
Reading Summary: Learning about different traditions and adopting what has felt right for me (Seven of Swords). Hardships along the way that have taught me strength (Five of Pentacles). Following my gut concerning what is right for me… and what isn’t (Eight of Cups).
Take Away: This is about the development of my independence and finding the path that is mine alone. It’s about accepting that I have my own path, and that that path is directed by my intuition and moral compass rather than by what others think or feel is right for me.
DECK USED: LUIS ROYO’S LABYRINTH TAROT
Gideon’s Challenge
The Fade
Fading green
new bruises show
life drains out
to leave me low.
The drop
it flirts with
every breath
leaves me feeling
trampled,
soul crumpled…
joy’s death.
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Weekly Creativity Prompt – The Prophet
Pull (at least) three cards use them to tell a story about a hayride or a visit to a pumpkin patch.
There was once a young boy that was high strung and seemed to constantly be afraid of everything (The Moon). Because of this, he was picked on by everyone in town (Judgement).
Even with all the teasing and mockery, the boy was not dissuaded in the least from returning to the towns people, his teachers, and even the police, with wild stories about the town going to waste and world destruction (The Tower).
One autumn, the towns people had had enough and decided to take things into their own hands (The Magician). They plotted together to come up with a plan to change the boy’s ways and make him stop (Death) with all the horrible tales of death and destruction.
For Halloween, they created a haunted pumpkin field and tricked him into visiting late one night (The Fool) with the intent of teaching the boy him a lesson (The Hierophant). They they tempted him into the pumpkin patch with promises of listening ears (The Devil) and caught him in a trap and strung him up (The Hanged Man), forcing him to stay the night in the haunted pumpkin patch with all the scary decorations and frightening noises.
It was a horrible, terrifying experience for the boy and when he was released, he ran home to tell his mother of what he’d experienced (The Empress).
His mother was enraged by what she heard, and she plotted her revenge. On Halloween night, she showed her true colors (The High Priestess) and revealed herself as a witch.
She cast a curse upon the town (The Chariot), seizing control of the fate of each and every person that tortured her son, and sentenced each of them to a lifetime of night terrors (Justice). And as the people of the town became more and more sleep deprived, the prophesy that her son had tried so hard to warn the towns people about came to fruition. The town truly began to waste away as some trying to outrun the curse and others passing away… until none remained.
DECK USED: HALLOWEEN TAROT MAJORS ONLY DECK
The Power of Manifestation
At the moment, I’m playing catch up after having not kept up on my blog posts for a few days, so I don’t remember what the meditation was like today… or if I did it, to be honest. I will return to updating about my meditation each day once I’m caught up with my posts again.
Today’s draw is the Eight of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of harmony and expertise built over time through hard work and the honing of one’s skills. It’s about manifestation through these skills, and work with one’s hands to create one’s masterpiece.
What really stands out to me in the imagery of this card today is the pentacles themselves and their positioning within the air above where the woman kneels in her circle. She has honed her skills of manifestation and is in the middle of doing a boon spell. She has worked on this craft, done all of the physical labor, and with the skills she has honed she has become strong enough to manifest abundance in a very physical way.
Today’s card is a reminder of what I can do… of the fact I have this ability. Not to create coins out of mid-air, but rather to take an idea and make it into a reality. To spin an idea into physical reality is a skill of creativity and creation, and a blessing to cherish and enjoy instead of simply exploit.
DECK USED: TAROT OF HAUNTED HOUSE
LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: What should I keep in my mind when working with the other side?
Reading Summary: Stay grounded (Four of Pentacles) and don’t linger (The Chariot) or things can start to fall apart fast (The Tower).
Take Away: This is an echo of the reading I did yesterday that was a very similar question. It’s a warning that when I am working with the other side I need to be in a grounded place of control. In order to avoid chaos and disaster, it’s important to make sure I’m in the right place to be working with the other side, and able to get “in and out” quickly and smoothly while maintaining control.
DECK USED: GHOSTS & SPIRITS TAROT
#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What echos from the past are trying to resurface for me right now?
Reading Summary: Dad (The Devil and Six of Potions) trying to come back and tell me (Six of Candles under Six of Potions) what living my life should look like (Ten of Pentacles).
Take Away: This is the “cheer up and be a man” message that my father always had ready and waiting for me. “A man” being a provider and the strong foundation of a fruitful family. My father loves to try and rise up at this time of year and bring with him his whispers from the past, although I am grateful that these aren’t the worst whispers he’s ever shouted at me back when he was alive.
Still, with the fact that I feel like I’m lacking motivation this year, I really don’t feel like his input is productive, but more of a thorn in my already sore side.
DECK USED: NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS TAROT
#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: How do I embrace my message?
Reading Summary: Look at all the blue in these cards. It spreads through the entire reading, and is only missing from the second card where pink shades tie in that card to the rest instead. Pink is independence. Blue is calm and poise.
Card 1 – Hiding behind one’s independence in an effort to seize control and use it to create a solitary graceful strength away from the fear of other’s judgements.
Card 2 – Here is the solitary graceful strength. Independence without censure.
Card 3 – Insidious whispers from outside sources. Sitting atop one’s independence and begin resentful of those whispers, which creates negative feelings.
Card 4 – Very little independence. That resentment from Card 3 has stolen the ability to fight back and the independence you seek.
Card 5 – Trying to seize control of a situation involving conflict. This situation feels out of control as you try to reign back in the independence lost.
Card 6 – Wearing your independence once more and at rest and ease now that it is once again back in your possession.
Take Away: The cards here indicate that to embrace this message of support I need to set myself free (second card) of the fear and worries (first card) of insidious whispers and influences (third card) sneaking up and taking me by surprise ambush (fourth card).
Whether I am calm and collected (last card), or fully aware and trying to seize control (fifth card)… what is coming is inevitable (water represented in both cards) and it is best to try and move forward into it with calm and poise (all the blue throughout the spread).
DECK USED: NICOLETTA CICCOLI TAROT
#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What do past lives mean to me?
Reading Summary: You build up the physical within your life (King of Pentacles) which is then stolen away (Seven of Swords) as you are set free to join lost loved ones (Three of Cups) and the soul then can start again with prior knowledge it has earned (Knave of Wands).
Take Away: This is about reincarnation. It’s about how during our lives on earth, we have a habit of focusing too much on the physical. Then when the physical is yanked away, we are left with a clear understanding of what’s left behind and what we’ve learned. This knowledge is not conscious, but resides in the soul and is then carried forward into a new cycle.
Twisting the Leaf 