Month: January 2023

Don’t Forget the Stick

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Today’s meditation was skipped.

Ethereal Forest Tarot - Knight of WandsToday’s draw is the Knight of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of an active projective beta energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s drive, determination, passions, motivations, values and principles, and/or inner spark.

The only thing a dog holds more sacred than his stick is his bone (which has clearly been left at home for safe keeping), and so it is off to charge out into the woods this dog goes with stick in mouth, holding on to what is most valued even as he plunges headlong into his next big adventure.

There is a lot of impulsiveness in the Knight of Wands, as it is his nature to charge forward with eagerness and boundless energy. Today’s card reminds us, though, that even as enthusiastic as we might be to dive into a new project or adventure, make sure that we don’t leave our values and priorities behind in the process. Who we are and the kind of person we wish to become should be unwavering… even in the chaotic enthusiasm of something new and exciting.

CrowSister’s #DeckStudyTenTrueWords Prompt
Prompt: Distill your reading of the card to your ten truest words.

Hold tight
to values
and principles
while diving
into adventure

DECK USED:  ETHEREAL FOREST TAROT

Lionharts’ #TheJanuaryTarot 2023 Year of Evolution Challenge Prompt
Question for January 5th: Go through your deck, card by card, until you find a card that depicts what you would like to establish this month. Place it on the table then do a reading asking “What can I do to achieve this?”

Moon Magic OracleWhat You Want to Achieve – Lunar Light – I don’t want to just be guided forward into the future by the faint glimmering lights of hope. I wish to collect those lights up and bring the close to me, fostering positivity and optimism in order to save myself from becoming lost in the encroaching darkness that usually begins to creep up on me at this time of year.

What can I do to achieve this?

When you feel your energy, efforts, and mood beginning wane (Waning Crescent), connect more strongly with your spirituality and spiritual practices (Taking the Moonlight), and reach out to connect with those you love to get their help in bolstering you in your efforts (Lover’s Moon).

DECK USED: MOON MAGIC ORACLE

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2023 Challenge Prompt
Question for January 5th: National Bird Day – How can engaging socially with others lift your spirits?

Ethereal Forest Tarot - The Fool, The Magician, Death, Three of WandsReading Summary: Allow socializing with others to lighten your mood and bring a bit of frivolity into your life (The Fool). Not everything has to be so serious and in your control all the time (The Magician), and a little fun won’t hinder your ability to grow and adapt (Death), nor will it send you off course from your chosen path (Three of Wands).

Take Away: You have a habit of being too serious and always a bit too single minded.  It robs you of the joy and fun that is needed in your life. Engaging socially with others helps lift your spirits by pulling you away from that always-serious mentality and shoving you into situations where you can let go and have a little fun, and forget for a time about the fear that you’re going to “drop the ball” somewhere else in your life by cutting loose now and then with friends and loved ones.

DECK USED: ETHEREAL FOREST TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I took a nap today, and I also got a little bit of play with Gid, even if it was interrupted.

Gideon’s Challenge

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IMG_9884Taking Time

Time together
finally
a gift
vibrant
and perfect
as your hands
wash over
my senses
like a sunset’s
gentle kiss upon
mountain peaks
before
night and sleep
soon follow
close behind

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Bring the Goods

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Today’s meditation was skipped.

The Illustrated Fox Tarot - Six of SwordsToday’s draw is the Six of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of moving on, letting go, intentional transitions, and releasing baggage from your past in order to move on to something better.

The Capricorn in this illustration isn’t just moving on from a crap situation into a (hopefully) better one, but they’re taking their valuables with them with absolutely no intention of looking back.

Today’s card is a reminder not to leave behind what’s important. Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in the transition, and moving out of a bad situation into a better one, that we can forget what’s important. And sometimes? Those important things end up left behind, either because we think we should, or because we simply forget them.

The message today is to make sure you don’t forget these important things. Make a list, check it twice. Tuck away the good stuff and take it with you… make sure you don’t leave it behind.

CrowSister’s #DeckStudyTenTrueWords Prompt
Prompt: Distill your reading of the card to your ten truest words.

What matters most
comes along
on the journey
into hope

DECK USED:  THE ILLUSTRATED FOX TAROT

Lionharts’ #TheJanuaryTarot 2023 Year of Evolution Challenge Prompt
Question for January 4th: Go through your deck, card by card, until you find a card that represents how you feel today. Place it on the table then do a reading asking “What am I asked to do with or about my current feelings?”

AATR TarrotHow You Feel – The Used – I have to talk with a friend about reciprocity today, and it’s gonna suck. This was the closest card I could find in the deck that fit what I’m feeling, not just concerning them, but in general for the day so far.

What am I asked to do with or about my current feelings?

Right now they are feeling like they didn’t do anything wrong and are oblivious to there being a problem or willfully ignoring it (The Lost Ones), thus this needs to be brought to their attention (The Executioner). If you don’t talk to them about the problem, they won’t know what it is and can’t start over and turn over a new leaf (The New).

DECK USED: AATR TARROT (ORACLE)

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2023 Challenge Prompt
Philosophical Question for January 4th: Historically, what has been humanity’s biggest challenge?

The Illustrated Fox TarotReading Summary: Passionate determination (King of Wands) to reach for the stars (The Star) sometimes creates more problems and hurdles in the way of success than it solves (Ten of Coins Rx).

Take Away: Humanity has always had a tendency to get in its own way when it comes to true success and enjoyment of their successes. Whether it’s with their single minded determination toward a goal, or an increasing obsession with a single passion, or zealousness of one flavor or another.

All of these are distractions that have a habit of drawing humanity away from true success and happiness in that success, for there is always a desire for more and better and never time to rest and smell the roses and truly enjoy.

DECK USED: THE ILLUSTRATED FOX TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I had that talk with J that needed to be had, no matter how uncomfortable it was.

Gideon’s Challenge

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IMG_0121The First Flakes

Delicate bits
hold on
with a tenuous
grip
as friends come
to join
and gather close
to lend support
and weight
to the cause
until not one
but hundreds
then thousands
cover everything
in sight

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Weekly Creativity Prompt – The World

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Prompt: “Pull the Hermit card from your deck(s). Compare the imagery between the card provided below and the card(s) from your own deck(s). How would you read them differently and why?“

Tarot of the Hidden Realm - The WorldTarot of the Hidden Realm – Resplendent and spent, she lies among the green  and exhales a sigh of relief as butterflies flutter around her and reminder her of hope and that after she has taken this moment of rest?  She will rise to dance with them, and a new journey will begin. The imagery in this card speaks of relief, hope, and continuation. Just because we come to the end of one journey doesn’t mean it’s the end of everything… it simply means that you need to take a moment to orient yourself, and then lean into hope as you rise again.

Magickal Nature Tarot, Josana Jaus Tarot, Monsoon Tarot

Magical Nature Tarot – She dances in joyous celebration, skirt flared as she twirls in a feeling of completion and pleasure. She is there to remind us that endings are not to be mourned, but celebrated.  They mean that we have completed something.  A phase… a journey… it’s not dying but completing, and in that completion we find a touch of sadness yes.  But we need to focus on all the good it offers, the feelings of success and the boon we are being given and will be able to then carry with us into the future with a light step, lighter shoulders, and an even lighter heart.

Jonasa Jaus Tarot 7th Edition – Growing life within the womb is a miracle of womanhood, and the journey is both a beautiful blessing and a heavy burden. There is so much that can go wrong, and so much to take on, so many changes and so much discomfort. And when it’s time… and the birth comes? Well that can hurt too, and yet it too is a blessing beyond compare.  This card speaks of the boon and the bane that comes with growth and rebirth. You can’t have one without the other, but the end is worth the struggle when it comes down to it.

Monsoon Tarot – A figure emerges from a bed of flowers like they are slipping free of a Faerie mound, a nest rests as a crown on their head, eggs nestled within it and others lying among the flowers. This card speaks strongly of rebirth.  The World circles around back to the Fool, and what I see here is the Fool at rest before they wake and begin to move. It is that moment of pause where you acknowledge all you have accomplished and take a breath.  When your eyes open, you will step into the shoes of the Fool once more and an exciting new journey will begin.

DECK USED: TAROT OF THE HIDDEN REALM, MAGICAL NATURE TAROT, JONASA JAUS TAROT 7TH EDITION, MONSOON TAROT

Plotting the Path Can Soothe the Soul

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Today’s meditation was skipped.

Cosmic Beings Tarot - King of SwordsToday’s draw is the King of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of a projective alpha energy,personality, or person in the area of one’s intellect, thoughts, education, logic, as well as strategies an ambitions.

The figure in this card appears very happy with the double moon that brackets the butterfly above (yes, I know he’s supposed to be staring at the sword, but that’s not what it looks like), and you know why? Symmetry. Symmetry is soothing to those that like to plan and strategize, as it means things are in perfect order. It is reassuring when all your ducks are in a row and everything feels like it’s fitting into place.

What I see in the message of today’s card is a reminder to not let the unpredictability of the world to keep you from making plans.

CrowSister’s #DeckStudyTenTrueWords Prompt
Prompt: Distill your reading of the card to your ten truest words.

Maps
lists
and orderly plans
pave the way
to success

DECK USED:  COSMOBEINGS TAROT

Lionharts’ #TheJanuaryTarot 2023 Year of Evolution Challenge Prompt
Question for January 3rd: What can help me make the most out of this month?

Forest of Precious Twigs OracleAwareness – Connect with the world around you rather than retreating into yourself and holding yourself apart.  It’s tempting to sink into yourself and let the world slide away a while, but that won’t keep you out of depression’s pit, and you know it.  Use this knowledge to do something else that might help you more than hinder.

Immersion – Be true to yourself. Only through your own experience and truth can you continue to grow. Wearing masks prevents growth, as those masks become shells that either contain your growth or that you have to break free of to continue growing. Avoid putting on those masks in the first place and immerse yourself in truth instead.

Movement – Do not allow hurt feelings and past struggles to hold you back and tie you down. Stagnation is not your friend. Those past pains taught you lessons and made you stronger… they facilitated growth and are not there to cripple your ability to keep moving.

DECK USED: FOREST OF PRECIOUS TWIGS ORACLE

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2023 Challenge Prompt
Question for January 3rd: Fruitcake Toss Day – What nasty carry-over from the holidays can you benefit from tossing out of your life?

Cosmic Beings Tarot - Ten of Cups, Four of Wands, Queen of SwordsReading Summary: Cutting off your emotions and forsaking joy (Ten of Cups Rx) when at home (Four of Wands) in favor of fostering your ambitions with single-mindedness (Queen of Swords).

Take Away: Running a business at home means that you are always at work. Stop allowing yourself to view your home through this lens of always being a place of work, and you will find the contentment you lost in your home through the holiday rush.

When trying to balance your enjoyment and sense of play, you have to put the mentality of being in the workplace aside.  You can’t be working -all- the time, no matter how accessible it is to do so.

DECK USED: COSMOBEINGS TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I used my cane off and on today as needed.  My ankle has been acting up, so a combination of ibuprofen and care was needed.