The Reach
Dark shadows
nurture life
and cradle growth
in damp crevices
but sunlight
beacons
the intrepid soul
to stretch
tall
and seek
the warmth
that shadows
cannot provide
Month: September 2021
Self Care Saturday (On a Sunday)
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?
Earth – Death atop Cloak, Page of Swords – You may feel as if you’re getting knocked down a peg or two this week in reference to how much you think you can accomplish vs how much you can actually do. This experience will be a necessary reminder to pace yourself and continue your new path of a better work/life balance. Your plate is not going to get any bigger, so keep a hold on your expectations.
Air – Crown and The Empress – Only you have the ability to make self-care make sense for you and a priority in your life. It may help this week to reflect on just what putting this as a priority does for you and the benefits it generates.
Water – Tower atop King, The Lovers – Extraneous distractions are going to work hard this week to keep you from getting laid. Remember that intimacy is about far more than sex, and will be far more important this week. It’s not a personal failing that sex isn’t in the cards for you this week, so don’t self blame.
Fire – Dagger and Ten of Cups – Don’t allow others to piss in your Cheerios this week. Make sure you are focused on what you need and have , and let others stew in their own slew of shit.
Waning – Duende – It’s not yet time to allow that spark of creativity and entrepreneurial fire kindle to life. Hold back for just a bit longer.
Waxing – Sage – Centering, balance, and connecting with your spirits and guides needs to be the theme of this week.
Take Away – There’s going to be a bit of a struggle this week emotionally as some old battles rise up and other new ones start to show their faces. Make sure you are staying focused on self care and on yourself and not falling into old traps. Wait just a bit longer before diving in gung-ho on work.
DECKS USED: CERISE TAROT, COPPER RABBIT ORACLE, ARCHEO PERSONAL ARCHETYPE CARDS
Work In Progress
Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long and was not guided today nor from an app. Instead it was just ten minutes of steady breathing combined with some stretching.
Today’s draw is the Eight of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of working hard, possible apprenticeship, building skills and expertise, and perfectionism.
This view stated in the Thera-Pets card is something that I struggle with a lot, but over time I have worked on accepting it more. That’s not to say that it still isn’t a struggle, but yet? I think it’s a wonderful idea. I really do.
But? I also accept that this is a work in progress for me.
And here is where the message in today’s cards lies. It’s in the fact that we aren’t perfect. It’s in the fact that we all still have things to work on. In ourselves… in our lives. We have things to do, and to do better. We have a chance to be better, but it’s going to take some work to get there.
DECK USED: SERPENT AND THE PEACOCK TAROT AND THERA-PETS EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL CARDS
The #ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt for the Sacred Grounds Tarot Club
Question for September 25th thru 27th
How can I say no to others and yes to myself more?
The Green Man and The Tower – Remember that everyone else has to go through their own Tower moments for growth as well. You can’t save the world, and if you did, no one would grow and change, mature, or develop into better people.
How can I stop taking criticism personally?
Away We Fly and Five of Pentacles – Don’t be reactionary when confronted with criticism. Instead, use your imagination to consider how this criticism can be useful to you. Even criticism that is cruel and non-constructive can be useful.
Do I believe my opinion matters?
The Old Paths and Spirit – Absolutely. The experiences gained in your life are combined with your highly attuned sense of intuition and your moral compass, which often can make your opinion extremely useful to others. You also rarely speak on those things that you have no opinion or experience to base your opinion on, making when you do speak up of greater value.
DECK USED: FOREST FAE CARDS AND THE LONELY DREAMER TAROT
Mr Lionharts’ #TheSeptemberTarot Rise and Fall Prompt
Questions for September 25th thru 27th
What can I do to prepare myself for this Mercury Rx?
Undone atop Light, The Emperor – Brace yourself for some misunderstandings and take care to not to make assumptions based on too little knowledge. If your foundation is steady, you will weather these upsets and come out the other side no worse for wear, so make sure you go into this Mercury Rx on steady footing.
What am I asked to reflect on during this Mercury Rx?
Temperance and Wood + Stone x2 – There is more to see and more to learn, more curiosity to sate, but you need to walk, not run. This is an encouragement and an invitation to take more time in nature and really sink into your connections with the earth during this time, but take care to be gentle with that ankle while doing so.
Something I need to leave alone until after Mercury Rx?
Animal and Strength – This is an echo of the answer to the previous question. It is a reminder that you are injured and it would be unwise to ignore it or push too hard right now. Give your ankle time and gentle treatment so that it can heal.
DECK USED: SERPENT AND THE PEACOCK TAROT
I did the spinach thing again with my smoothie this morning (I have a tub of the stuff that I need to use up before it goes bad). I also made sure to have my tea, and did my meditation…. and dawdled a bit with the phone before all hell broke loose. I also managed to take a breath and let go of that toxic shit from this morning on IG.
Gideon’s Challenge
Welcome Home
Cedar tips
caught
within my hair
with fragrant tugs
from bits
of green
like playful fingers
teasing
a loving touch
as trees whisper
greetings
and ask me
to stay
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Morning Bonus Read – Appreciation
The prompt for this reading came from one of my Discord servers and is as follows:
“The weather may be getting cooler or bringing in some mighty storms wherever you are and for some of us, it gives us joy, but not for all of us. Today, we will discover and give a little appreciation to ourselves. This is a short prompt, enjoy some TLC after!”
Where in my mind am I feeling my best? Why?
Nine of Hearts and Seven of Spades – I’m feeling at peace and content in my mental health because I managed to dodge a bullet with the medication adjustment I did at the last MDE onset.
What familiar comfort can connect me more closely with how my mind is feeling?
Nine of Spades atop Two of Clubs – These cards are a reminder that I now know what the medication adjustment can do and, when I detect another onset coming in the future, I can use this again at that time.
Where in my body am I feeling my best? Why?
Ten of Clubs and Ace of Clubs – I’ve made leaps and bounds this year at the new strategy in not overwhelming myself with too much on my plate at once, and thus managing to avoid the resulting cycle of burn out.
What familiar comfort can connect me more closely with how my body is feeling?
Three of Clubs – Keep doing what I’m doing. It’s working and it’s a healthier choice than what I was doing before. Make it familiar and routine, a permanent part of my path going forward.
Where in my energy am I feeling my best? Why?
King of Hearts – Although it never feels like enough, I’m getting the support that I need in my relationship to keep my energy uplifted. When everything else feels like it goes to shit, I am drawn to Gideon like a moth to a flame. He helps me get out of my own head, find peace, and reminds me that I am loved.
What familiar comfort can connect me more closely with how my energy is feeling?
Ten of Hearts – Don’t forsake the positive place that this energy provides. The security of knowing I am loved, and that he’s not going anywhere, is something worth not just acknowledgment, but a good amount of wallowing in.
Where in my true self am I feeling my best? Why?
Six of Hearts and King of Diamonds – I am starting to find a new level of peace with my past and look at it in a more positive manner. This has been brought about by the realization that I need to create a more compartmentalized view of the past and the present, a discovery that I made earlier this year and I’ve been processing ever since.
What familiar comfort can connect me more closely with how my true self is feeling?
Ten of Diamonds atop Ace of Spades – Sink into the new sense of stability that this realization has created. I’ve always been hyper-fixated on building increasingly more stability and security in my life. This new realization has allowed me to enjoy what I’ve built and be comfortable instead of being driven to always do more.
DECK USED: BICYCLE’S SEWER DWELLERS PLAYING CARDS
Just Do What You Can
Today’s meditation was just over eleven minutes long, and was the fourth installment of the Foundations III series on the Balance app. This meditation was almost identical to the last in that it was a body scan (Yoga Nidra) practice with a guide moving you through the different parts of the body. In fact, I didn’t really detect any difference between yesterday’s and today’s.
Today’s draw is the As di Denari (Ace of Pentacles), which is traditionally a representation of the seed of new beginnings in the area of one’s finances, resources, home, health, and manifestations. This often translates into themes that have to do with new opportunities and potential for new growth in those areas.
I’m sure I’m not alone in having so many pots that I really want to put in the fire that sometimes even just putting -one- of them in the fire feels like too much.
With October starting to creep up and the holiday rush close behind it, there’s so much to do to get ready, and yet… all I feel is tired. Exhausted, really. I don’t want to do any of it, and some days like today? I don’t feel like I have the energy for any of it either.
Today’s cards are a reminder that no matter how many things you have piled up to get started on? It’s okay to take a breath and just do what you can… and not be down on yourself about not doing more.
DECK USED: TAROT OF THE MASTER AND THERA-PETS EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL CARDS
BekahMurphysMagic’s #IntuitiveHealingTarotChallenge Prompt
Questions for September 24th and 25th
Where, or in what way, does my intuition need healing?
Hiraeth and The Star
When I was young, and my father was cruel to the point that I needed to retreat and curl up in a ball somewhere and cry, I always felt the ache of the hiraeth.
That little boy said to himself again and again “I want to go home”, “I want to go home”… even when I was at home in my room or in the woods outside our house. Until today, I never realized that there was a word for this unbearable ache of longing for that “home” that doesn’t exist in reality, but that you long for anyway.
Closing myself off and pulling myself inward again and again in my youth ended up shutting down my ability to hope, and it made me the pessimist that I am today. That is where healing is needed.
What wisdom do I need to gain in order to heal the remnants of this wound?
Wolf and King of Wands
More trust in yourself and your inner knowing, less attention paid to the extraneous noise and nonsense that tries to distract you from your passions and purpose. Trust yourself more, trust your judgement and moral compass. Doubts and second guessing is a waste of time and perpetuates the damage done all those years ago.
Where do I need to gain clarity in order to heal the remnants of this wound?
Warrior and Ten of Wands
It is through our struggles and determination that we grow. This understanding needs to be applied to these past wounds. This is no different than a car accident or home invasion, both of which you have experienced. You either crumble or grow stronger.
DECK USED: THE ARCHEO PERSONAL ARCHETYPE CARDS AND E D JASBECK’S NON-BINARY TAROT
The #ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt for the Sacred Grounds Tarot Club
Questions for September 23rd and 24th
How can I get closer to my dream life?
Wood + Stone atop Light, Caval di Bastone – Get your ass out in nature as much as possible. This is where you really shine. There was a time when I used to provide guided hikes in the national rainforests, and a time in my life when when I wanted to be a forest ranger.
I pursued a different path for my career, and I stopped doing the guided hikes over a decade ago. But just because I no longer pursue income in these areas doesn’t mean I need the time in the forests any less. In fact, perhaps I need it even more.
What would it be like to only worry for 10 minutes a day?
History atop Light, II di Spade – Your history has proven to you again and again that this is not possible. Your mind does not work this way. You have a logical mind that requires a full array of information before you can make decisions and choose a course of action. Ten minutes a day is not enough time to gather up all the information needed.
DECK USED: APESOS NEW TAROT AND TAROT OF THE MASTER
I put a small handful of spinach in my smoothie this morning. I couldn’t even taste it was in there so I think this could be a good way to get a little extra veggies in now and then.
Twisting the Leaf 