Month: May 2021

More Time In The Now

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Today’s meditation was silent and still.  I spent some time out on the balcony relaxing.  I should’ve taken the camera out there with me, but instead I just spend some time with the flowers and colors.  It was nice because the workers across the street apparently took the day off, which means it was quiet and relaxing.

Men + Monsters Tarot and Flower Fortune CardsToday’s draw is the Temperance card, which is traditionally a representation of moderation, patience, and connection between emotions, spirituality, and the earthly plane.

In today’s Temperance card, the element that remains from the traditional imagery is the cups and the flow of liquid from one cup to another, and from there down to the feet of the figure.  This brings to a point that connectivity that is a traditional element in the tarot.

Combined with the Flower Fortune Card for today with the saying “It is in the here and now that we must live”, I see not just a reminder to be present in the moment, but guidance on how to make sure that we remain mindfully focused in the now.

Often in guided mindfulness meditations, they often use a technique where you take a pause to explore each sense and what you perceive through that sense for the space of two full breaths, then move on to the next sense and repeat.  This is a method that can also be used outside of meditation to bring ourselves into the moment when our mind has decided to create chaos through worry, or focus too deeply on the past or future.

The message here is a reminder sometimes what is most needed is to slow down. To release control.  And to take time to just… breathe.

DECK USED:  MEN + MONSTERS TAROT AND FLOWER FORTUNE CARDS

The Sacred Grounds Tarot Club Prompt
Question: What rules unconsciously govern my life?

The Heroine Tarot

Nine of Swords – If it doesn’t feel right, then don’t do it. Every single time, without fail and without exception, when you do something that doesn’t feel right, you regret it in the end. This isn’t about legal or illegal, nor about social norms.  It’s about what feels right in your gut.  Go against that inner moral compass and intuition, and you’re going to pay the price either with external consequences or with your own conscience eating you up as a result.

Two of Cups atop Queen of Pentacles – Helping and nurturing others is important. Your life feels more complete and more at peace when you allow yourself to connect with others, listen and provide insight and guidance.  That guidance is often natural to you and grounded in nature, and hits others in a very earthy way.  It connects you to them, and builds bonds and friendships as a result.

Six of Cups – Cherish every day.  When you look back on the past, you do not remember the boring or the dredge of day to day. Nor do you accurately remember the bad, for time softens those memories over time.  Instead, it is the good that really sticks and stays accurate in our memories.  This encourages us to make more out of every day, so that there is more good and memorable moments that fill out lives from one day to the next.

DECK USED:  THE HEROINE TAROT

#DiscordTarotolicsMay2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: How can you unlock more positivity in your heart and mind?

Men + Monsters TarotReading Summary: Don’t judge yourself (Judgement) so harshly (Three of Swords) when something doesn’t work out (The Tower) and you have to move on or start over (Six of Swords).

Take Away: This is about my inner narrative and the fact that I’m so harsh with myself, especially with what I perceive something not so much as a failure, but rather as a fuck up.

Failures are things that we learn from.  Fuck ups are careless and irresponsible bullshit.   The cards here indicate that if I want to unlock more positivity in my heart and mind, I need to be more forgiving with myself and treat those moments in the same manner that I do failures. Not something that I need to be punished for, but rather as lessons to learn from.

DECK USED:  MEN + MONSTERS TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I ate eight meals yesterday instead of six.  Which seemed to help quite a bit with my energy levels when it came to getting my packaging done in the 1am-3:30am time slot that I worked at packaging.

Gideon’s Challenge

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The Lure

A lure toward chill air
that cools sweat on skin
as the hike comes
ever harder
and altitude higher
Hours pass while
trees grow sparse
and the ground
becomes bare stone

And I hear the call as it
whispers through trees…
Higher
Keep going

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

New Moon in Taurus – May 2021

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Tomorrow is the new moon, and like all new moons and full moons, I did a spread aligned to the moon’s current themes as a part of my recognition of the moon’s cycle and influences upon us. Today’s spread is about  rooting in earth medicine, and brought to you by Sharron Basanti of Seeds of Shakti.

Floriography Tarot - Taurus New Moon Tarot Reading

1. How can I draw in the fertile energy of the Taurus New Moon for manifesting prosperity?

Wheel of Fortune – Have some faith that luck is on your side right now.  You’ve seen this theme pop up a few times in some of your readings over the past week or two. There’s always going to be ups and downs in everything, and that includes in your luck… right now is an up swing, so have a little faith and take advantage of it.

2. As an earth sign, what can Taurus teach me about nourishing my heart and soul with the raw pleasures of life?

High Priestess atop Eight of Tulips –  Listen to your intuition on what’s right for you… and what’s not. Keep in the forefront of your mind that it’s okay to reject those things that your intuition says are not for you.  No matter who might be suggesting them or where those things might come from. Follow your intuition.  Always.

3. How can I root myself into the divine medicine of the Earth?

Ace of Tulips – Emotions feel counter intuitive to rooting, and yet they are an important part of being healthy. To connect stronger to the medicine that the earth has to offer, you need to be willing to allow your emotions to flow freely… which means you need to continue seeking out that emotional growth and the newness of experiences it is providing you.

4. What self-imposed beliefs and blocks do I need to release that are connected to money?

Four of Tulips – Your recreational spending habits may be connected to your emotions, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.  Don’t worry so much about it but instead work on accepting this as a healthier way to deal with certain emotions than the alternatives available to you at the time. There are some things you’re just not ready to deal with yet, and that’s okay.

5. Message from the Ancestors and Guides.

Nine of Trunks – Be watchful and be careful.  You’ve been warned. Paranoia isn’t always a bad thing. Being careless just because it’s not what you want to do right now isn’t an acceptable way to deal with the situation. Instead, stay diligent for the time being.  It won’t last forever.

DECK USED:  FLORIOGRAPHY TAROT

The First Step Is The Hardest

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IMG_5932Today’s meditation was another untimed meditation, this time on the ground at the farm.  I needed some time to do some rooting with the earth, and if I can’t do it out in the forest right now without a supervisor, I could at least get a brief amount of time on the farm alone in one of the fields behind the barn.

The thing is?  Although I can visualize my connection to the earth and I can tap into the energy of that element at will (as described to the right in the image there), it can never compare to having an actual connection to bare earth.  Of lying down and connecting mind, body, and soul to the earth beneath you.  There is no comparison, and the mental connection, although a strong one, will always only be a shadow to the real thing.  I need that connection, raw and unblemished, unfiltered and without barriers.  Sometimes?  Nothing else will do.

Trinity Tarot and Flower Fortune OracleToday’s draw is the Strength card, which is traditionally a representation of inner strength, courage,  and compassionate coercion.

Although when people think of the word “strength” they often think of muscle and brute force, this cards is about a different kind of strength.  Instead it is about that inner core that keeps us going, the compassion that we feel for others, and the kindness we offer even as we use persuasion to turn people to our way of thinking or our will.

Combined with the Flower Fortune card for today, which states “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, what I see here is a message about determination and perseverance.

There are always journeys in life that we are hesitant to start on from time to time.  We hang back and hesitate, pause and procrastinate instead of taking the action needed to begin and get moving.  Sometimes this is because we are afraid, sometimes we just feel overwhelmed. It’s through tapping into our inner strength that we can find the “mettle” needed to step into that journey and get started. We all have that inner strength, it’s just sometimes we have to more consciously connect with it than others.

DECK USED:  TRINITY TAROT AND FLOWER FORTUNE CARDS

The Sacred Grounds Tarot Club Prompt
Question: How can I best nurture my personal growth?

Isidore Tarot Sea and Sand Spring Edition

Reading Summary: Lean in (Queen of Wands). Go after the growth you want with the understanding that it’s going to take a long time to get there (Seven of Coins atop Knight of Swords) and that you’re gonna have to leave some shit behind in order to find something new (Six of Swords).

Take Away: It’s all about knowing what works for me, and leaning into that using past experience as a guide. It’s about not giving up when things take longer than anticipated, and about making sure I’m making room in my life for the changes and growth that needs to happen.  Each of these represents a stage in my growth that I move through, and the aspect in that stage where I struggle upon the path of my personal growth.

Not procrastinating. Acceptance of the “long game”.  And “making room”.

DECK USED:  ISIDORE TAROT SEA AND SAND SPRING EDITION

#DiscordTarotolicsMay2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: Do Spread #1

Trinity Tarot and Floret OracleWhat positive quality do I have that others admire?
Keeper of Pentacles atop The Lovers, Scabiosa and Marigold

My ability to support, help, and guide people when they need it towards making the choices that are right for them. My personal experience doing the same, and my openness in sharing my own experiences, helps them in focusing on how the choices before them feel to them personally. This skill feels warm and nurturing, and helps them in sussing out the choices that are just right for their unique path.

What positive quality do I wish I had that I admire in others?
Seven of Wands and Sunflower

I would love to be able to project positivity even in the middle of conflict and adversity. I have seen people who stand strong in their moral compass and principals even while they smile warmly.  It’s a unique skill that keeps things from truly turning ugly.

What step(s) can I take now to work toward developing that quality in myself?
Champion of Cups atop Six of Cups, Hydrangea

Tap into love and caring and actively connecting into the emotions of joy and youthful optimism could help immensely in this, but you have to remember as well not to expect every conflict to come to a head.  Not everyone is out to fuck you over or hurt you, no matter what you were raised to believe and how cautious you were raised to be. Work at having a bit more faith in humanity.

What step(s) can I take to make the positive qualities I have shine brightly?
Ten of Wands and Lily

Allow those around you to help with your burdens.  You spend too much time in the cycle of overwhelm and recovery.  If you distribute the eight of your responsibilities more evenly and allow others to help more, this wouldn’t be the case and you would then have more time and energy for…. well, everything else in life.

DECK USED:  TRINITY TAROT AND FLORET ORACLE

Daily Self Kindness

I gave Gideon a tour of my balcony garden today and it was really nice.  I loved sharing all the plants and flowers with him.

Gideon’s Challenge

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Silver Skies

Fluff and swirl
against gauzy film
turns sky
from blue
to silvery hues
As cotton balls
drift
like airy mountains
insubstantial
and massive
sliding from view

The air is cold

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Self Care Saturday (On a Sunday)

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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?

Spirit Speak Tarot, Untamed Truth Oracle, Small Spirits Oracle

Earth – Ace of Cups atop Eight of Pentacles, Passion – There’s nothing wrong with taking joy in the process of manifestation and you can be both responsible and sink into that pleasure and allow it a place in your heart.  Try connecting more to that pleasure as you work, and the peace and spark of passion that it can bring with each beautiful thing you create for the people that order from your shop.  It doesn’t have to feel so much like work.

Air – The Hermit and The Unknown – Don’t go out alone right now. Being alone now may be tempting, but you need to remember that at the moment that urge could be more about self destruction than it is about healthy solitude. Having someone along on your excursions for the time being isn’t a bad thing, even if it’s not what you really want. That solitude you crave isn’t exactly healthy at the moment, so let your escorts keep you safe… both from yourself as well as from the potential stalker that decided to let itself be known.

Water – Page of Wands and Imagination – Here, like in the Earth position, we have an encouragement to bring your emotions into the creative process.  You love learning new techniques and different creative pursuits.  Allow there to be an emotional element to your imaginative endeavors and creative process.  There’s much to explore and there’s no reason to leave your emotions out of the equation when they can add another colorful element to the cause.

Fire – Death and Fuck It – The Selaginella lepidophylla is what is depicted in the Death card’s imagery, and is a reminder that changes aren’t always bad. Sometimes they’re just a part of life and we need to set back and enjoy the ride, wait for the water that will regenerate and renew, fill up the space of what was once dry and thought dead.  The “Fuck It” card is also a reminder of this…. but rather instead of a reminder of the changes, it’s a reminder that you have to “set back and enjoy the ride”. Sometimes letting go is the only thing you can do.  So take a breath and a step back, and let shit ride for now… see where it goes from here without trying to control every step along the way.

Waning – Thorn Bug – Defensive adaptation towards greater protection may be needed, but you need to make sure that you don’t go overboard.  This theme is carried forward from the Air position above and speaks of a need for judiciousness and care for your safety without going overboard.  Do what is necessary to stay safe, but not to the point that you end up feeling as if you are in a cage.

Waxing – Gnat – Inspiration is thick in the air this week and it may feel a little overwhelming with it all coming at you at once.  Make sure that you are writing down ideas as they come, break them apart into pieces that are easier to pursue and process.  Do a little at a time.

Take Away – There are two themes to the upcoming week.  One is to not take for granted the danger that is present and make sure you are protecting yourself without going overboard at it.  The other is about your imagination and inspiration, and beginning the research and exploration process towards your ideas. Write everything down, and you’ll be able to explore at a slower pace and enjoy the process more.  That enjoyment is extremely important right now, so don’t discount the need for it or take it for granted.

DECKS USED:  SPIRIT SPEAK TAROT, UNTAMED TRUTH ORACLE, SMALL SPIRITS ORACLE