Month: August 2021

Morning Bonus Read – Monthly Key Spread

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The Prince Lenormand - Monthly Key Spread

Key to Your Heart: What will Guide you to make decisions that are aligned with your heart and your truths this month?

Ship – You know that whole proverb that says “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket“?   Yeah… that.  A lot of times, the Ship card is about travel and business, but in this case? It’s about making sure that you’re not screwing yourself (and your business) over by focusing too much in one area.  Even if you’re not diversifying now?  Make sure you have an escape plan for if you need to. In order to adapt and come out on top, this is important.

Anchor: What will ground you in the face of anxiety, stress, overwhelm, and existential dread in general?

Letter – Write.  Write down your thoughts and your feelings, write down your anxieties and worries.  Share them with Gideon.  Fill your blog with them.  Have a big idea that you can’t explore right now? Write those down too.  List making is a good thing this month, expressing yourself through the written word is very much in your forte.  Use these skills to help ground yourself and find balance when things feel out of control.

Star Wand: What accelerates your magic, creativity, and manifestation powers?

Sun – Optimism and positivity. Sometimes I feel corny when I get this response from the cards. But the thing is? It really does work. Does it entirely take away the depression? No. It doesn’t. But it makes the time spent in them not as severe, and it makes the visits into a depression not as long. It provides more energy, and just… makes the days better. What is “it” that I’m talking about? Optimism and positivity. Making the -effort- to try and see the good side of things, including the Card of the Day activity that I do where I ask each day for the cards to provide me with a positive message to carry with me throughout the day and foster perspective. It helps, no matter how corny my inner pessimist says it sounds.

Blessings from the Stars: The Universe has got your back – how will you be supported this month?

Man – Gideon will be a huge influence in your life this month, in supporting you and helping you in working through what comes up. Don’t forget that he’s there for you and don’t shy away from leaning on him when you need to, sharing with him whatever and whenever you want, and trusting him to always have your best interests at heart.

One Trick Up Your Sleeve: A life saving idea or inspiration for any unexpected challenge or difficult moments?

Lily – Take a pause to think things through, and don’t be shy about asking for advice from those with more experience that have time tested wisdom to offer up to you. Crones are called wise women for good reason.

Emergence Pt 1: What is emerging within you / within your reality right now?

Moon – You’re finally starting to come out of the mind fog that you’ve been struggling with through this season. As you do, your curiosity and creativity are beginning to thrive once more, and you’re starting to experience more enjoyment in your artistic endeavors.

Emergence Pt 2: What are you expanding towards?

Tree – Evolution from past to present. Growth that comes from finding connections to the past that will help you flourish rather than wither your roots. It is time to transform those issues that still drive your inner destructive tendencies, and turn them around into something healthy.

DECK USED:  PRINCE LENORMAND ORACLE

The Benefits of Curiosity

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Today’s meditation was just over fourteen minutes and was a repeat of yesterday’s meditation.  I enjoyed it enough that I wanted to repeat it, and I felt the need to meditate today.  Instead of subversively punishing myself by pushing away that feeling, I gave myself what I was craving.

Mystic Faerie Tarot and How to Be a Wildflower DeckToday’s draw is the Knave (Page) of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of a receptive omega energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s finances, resources, home life, health, manifestations, and the physical world.  This often translates into learning new skills that can be used to create or manifest ideas into reality.

Like all the pages, the Page of Pentacles is filled with curiosity, and is open and ready to learn and explore.  That pairs amazingly with the imagery on the back of today’s affirmation card, which depicts an octopus.  The octopus is one of the most intelligent and curious of our worlds known sea creatures.

The thing is?  The more curious you are?  The more intelligent you have potential to become.  Through every moment of curiosity a learnable moment is born. This is why children ask so many questions. They’re learning. It is through our curiosity that we (all of us) discover the world around us and all the wondrous things it has to offer, and in the combination of the affirmation card for today and the Knave of Pentacles, we see an encouragement to stay curious and eager, interested and engaged.

DECK USED:  MYSTIC FAERIE TAROT AND HOW TO BE A WILDFLOWER DECK

CoffeexTarot’s Who’s Your Spirit Guides? Prompt
Questions for August 1st thru 5th

A card to represent the guide(s) communicating with me.
Journey of the Sacred Bee TarotStrength / California Poppy

This particular guide is all about personal strength in the things that matter to me personally, as well as helping me to navigate the world as I move along my path. Manipulation and persuasion through their messages to help keep me on track, and out of more trouble than I can handle. Their influence is positive and uplifting, but not overtly so.

What type of guide(s) are you?
King of Wands / Dragonfly

Strong willed and determined. Authoritative, but able to relate to the creative drive I harbor inside. Focused on changes, and ensuring that I weather those changes well.

What is your personality?
Alchemy / Sunflower

Patient. Adaptive. Focused on turning negatives into positives. Spiritual interconnectedness. It’s not about them, but about me.  They’re here for a purpose.

What is your connection to me?
The Wheel / Clockworks

I was “picked up” (much like a stray pup) for the purpose of being guided through the ups and downs of life. They see themselves as the protector of my balance as life shifts like sand beneath my feet.

Message you have for me?
Five of Swords atop Two of Disks

“With each failure and defeat, make sure you are looking forward to adapt instead of allowing these times to beat you down and send your world out of balance.”

DECK USED: JOUNEY OF THE SACRED BEE TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsAug2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: What do I need to prepare to harvest in my life during the month ahead?

Mystic Faerie TarotReading Summary: Nurturing yourself and others (The Empress) will lead to closer/tighter bonds between you and others (Three of Cups), leading to a greater strength (Strength) for what is to come throughout the harvest season (wheat in Empress’ arms).

Take Away: Strength, especially the quiet strength that lies beneath the surface, comes in many shapes and forms. It isn’t always just about us, but sometimes is bolstered and supported by others.

As I prepare for the harvests coming through the month a head, I need to keep in mind just how much benefit… just how much strength I get from those around me.

Don’t take this for granted, but instead appreciate it and return it with your own brand of support and nurturing as a way of showing gratitude for all that they offer you.

DECK USED: MYSTIC FAERIE TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

It set me back in my work, but I let myself take a nap today even though it was an orders day.  Oddly?  I managed just a short nap instead of my body’s normal demand for at least two hours, but it was enough to help me keep going and finish up what I needed to get done today.

Gideon’s Challenge

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IMG_3149The Ice Bath

Where glacier water
meets the sea
and freezing currents
nip and tease
and flushed flesh
that wades within
Toes go numb
and shivers come
as emerging swimmers
hit summer balm
Soon they’ll be
too hot again
and longing to return
and dive back in

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

First Harvest 2021 – Lammas

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August 1st was Lammas, which is known as the First Harvest of the year. This day marks the transition into the harvest season of August, September, and October (of which there is a Second Harvest and Last Harvest that correspond to these months).

This holiday is often called Lammas, Lughnasadh, or Lugh, although I usually just refer to it as the First Harvest. On my path, it celebrates the beginning of Summer’s decline and ramping up of the busy season where we begin to reap in the abundance that the bounty of summer’s energies has encouraged to grow and flourish.

Like with new moons and full moons, I usually do a spread to check in with myself and give myself some direction for the next couple of months for each solstice, equinox, and other Sabbats. This spread is an adaptation of my Self Care Saturday spread, so there are sure to be  some similarities in how it is read. The focus of this spread, though, is not about Self Care, but rather about progress and my path. The time period is also longer, reaching through the next handful of weeks until the celebration of the upcoming Second Harvest (aka. Mabon, Autumnal Equinox) in September.

First Harvest Tarot Reading - Lammas

Theme of the Season – Lammas, Last Quarter Moon, Symphytum officinale (Comfrey) – Lammas, which is the First Harvest of the year, is a time of evaluation. It’s a time when you want to ascertain what you want to accomplish before winter has arrived, and make sure that all those things you’ve done so far this year to get you there are still on track and moving in the correct direction.

The Waning Crescent Moon is not a time for planting new things, but for cutting out the chaff, weeding and thinning, pruning, mowing, and cutting timber. It is a time for freeing up space for growth by clearing out what isn’t working. As the moon’s energies decrease towards the new moon to come, it is a perfect time for cord cutting and cleansing practices that are used in discarding those things and people that no longer serve us, or have never served us and need to be let go.

Although Symphytum officinale (Comfrey) is used as a medicinal herb for anti-inflammatory purposes and is used in healing for a variety of purposes from bumps and bruises to sore throats, digestive issues, menstrual issues, and more. In metaphysical workings, it’s an herb often used to ensure safe travels, as well as promote peace and well-being.
[Cautionary Note: Comfrey contains poisonous pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which can be absorbed through the skin in simply handling the plant. Caution when using this plant for either medicinal uses or metaphysical ones is important.]

When looking at these three cards together, the theme that I see here is not so much about reaping, but about making room.  It’s about letting go, which is a theme I’ve been dealing with a great deal this summer. The message here is about making sure that I am making room in my life for what’s working and what I feel is important.  Making room for what’s healthy and right… and letting go of what isn’t.

Earth – King of Cups – You’re feeling all kinds of comfortable with yourself and your situation at the moment. You’re also getting enough time with Gideon to make yourself feel safe and happy. You’ve finally gotten over the stagnancy feelings you struggled with earlier in the year and are in a place where eddies and shifts in the currents of life are once again feeling natural and comfortable.

Air – King of Swords – Hard work is starting to pay off in the area of your mind and thought processes and clarity is on the rise as the fog you’ve been experiencing begins to clear. Direction, confidence, strategy, and the written word are all in your court at the moment. Don’t let them go to waste.

Water – Four of Cups Rx – You’re not doing as good as you could at getting the rest of reflection time that you need. Focus more on getting in that meditation every day, even on the days when you don’t feel like you really want to do it. The avoidance isn’t about time, and you know it. Forcing might make it feel like a chore, but not doing it at all isn’t working either.

Fire – King of Wands – If you take a minute to really look and see where you’re at, you’ll find that you’re better off than you think you are. Stop looking ahead so much, and instead look at where you are now.

Waning – The Unbound – There’s been a lack of structure in your life through a good part of the summer, so much so that it’s been a struggle for you to find direction. This lack of structure and direction is now coming to an end and, as the brain fog lifts, you are finding purpose once more.

Waxing – Briar – Make sure you are paying attention to the world around you and taking precautions.  Cleansing, caution, spacial awareness, and a watchful attitude will help steer you through any dangers coming your way.  Set good boundaries including protections and wards, and make sure they are steady and firm.

DECKS USED:  LAMMAS ART CARD, PAGAN UNDERWORLDS TAROT, COMPENDIUM OF WITCHES ORACLE, HEALING HERBAL CARDS VOL 1 & 2

Don’t Taste the Cherries… Savor Them

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Today’s meditation was about fourteen minutes long and was the seventh installment of the introductory meditation series in the Balance app.  I’ve not been using a timer for my piriformis stretches when using these meditations, which is why the times on them is all over the board.  Sometimes the meditation finishes before my stretching is finished, so I just keep meditating until I’m done with the stretches.

Dear Heart Tarot and How to Be a Wildflower DeckToday’s draw is the Queen of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of a receptive alpha energy, personality, or person in the are of one’s intellect, logic, communication, and wisdom.  This often translates into themes about being shrewd, sometimes even verbally cutting, and yet good at giving advice.  It’s about having the intellect and experience to offer others the advice they need to hear… which is not necessarily what they want to hear.

I have heard stories about my great grandmother, and how terrified people were of her.  How accurate she was with throwing a dirty dish cloth at someone when they  popped off at the mouth.  How tyrannical she could be. How stubborn she was.

And yet, she’s also remembered for having kept the family together during times when there was much conflict and in-fighting going on.  Her demand that everyone gather twice a year and “play nice” while at her home created bonds and kept family as family when without her they would have spread into the wind in all directions.  She was known for her love of these gatherings, and the love of her family.

That’s the message in these cards today.  It’s about realizing you don’t have to be hard or harsh all the time.  It’s about finding the things that really mean something to you, and diving into them.  So ask yourself… what matters to you?  Are you pushing it away?  Are you disregarding it?   Are you savoring it?  Or are you too busy trying to “stand strong” to soften for the special things in life that mean more?

DECK USED:  DEAR HEART TAROT AND HOW TO BE A WILDFLOWER DECK

#DiscordTarotholicsAug2021 Challenge Prompt
Topic: Do Spread #1

Frau Grand Duchess Tarot and The Sophie Herxheimer IndexSeeds Sown – What seeds for my physical health & growth planted in the spring have flourished and grown strong?
Nine of Cups and Upper Pink Index

Understanding the physical benefits that a regular daily meditation practice has for me.

I might still resist on an inner level the daily practice, my resolve not always it’s best when confronted with my emotion driven destructive urges, but the physical benefits are undeniable and acknowledged. My body is happier and healthier when I am doing this practice on a regular basis, and the longer I sustain that regular basis, the more benefits I reap from it and the happier my body is.

The Chaff – What seeds have not flourished and I need to let go of to encourage healthy growth in other areas?
The Emperor and Lower Pink Index

I’ve come to realize that forcing myself to do things, even things healthy for me or that I normally enjoy, kills my enthusiasm. The forceful push breaks my spirit, kills the part of me that -wants- these things in the first place. I end up feeling like it’s a chore. This method isn’t working for me, and I need to let it go.  I need to figure out a better way.

The Harvest – How can I best prepare now to reap the benefits of a positive and healthy harvest in the Fall?
The Chariot and Bottom Blue Index

Enjoy the process.  Don’t spend so much time trying to control every little thing that you miss the beauty in the changes and transformations taking place. Life is too short not to savor every taste of joy and pleasure you’re given.

DECK USED: THE SOPHIE HERXHEIMER INDEX ORACLE AND FRAU GRAND DUCHESS TAROT

Mr Lionharts’ #TheAugustTarot #SOLTarot Prompt
Questions for August 1st thru 3rd

Dear Heart TarotWhat energy am I invited to embrace this month?

Two of Swords – This or that, not both. Be decisive.  Hemming and hawing isn’t going to do you any good, and stewing in the decisions that need made this month isn’t going to do anything, but make a mess you have to clean up later.

How can I best embrace this available energy?

Knight of Cups – When you’re being decisive and making those choices, make sure that you are choosing what’s going to make you happy. Not everything can be about money and responsibility.  Sometimes?  You just have to do what’s right for you and will bring you joy, and fuck the rest.

What can I accomplish for myself throughout August?

Eight of Pentacles Rx – Take time for yourself away from work. Now is the time to really enjoy these more fun and enjoyable pursuits, take the rest and relaxation you need, and enjoy the lazy days of summer that are left.  Soon enough, you’ll be back to the grind and struggling to keep up with orders.  Let’s not jump the gun and start in on that too early.

DECK USED:  DEAR HEART TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

Hours of relaxation time with Gideon.  I even managed to deal with a disgruntled customer without getting all out of sorts.

Gideon’s Challenge

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IMG_7592The Fallen

Vibrant colors
long gone now
the heat came and
killed them off somehow
I tried to save them
I really did
but they couldn’t handle
what the fierce
heat dome did
they’ve been replaced
with something new
but I just want to say…

I miss you

Photo © ZenStatePhotography