Month: January 2023

❤️ 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?

Self Care Saturday Tarot Reading with the Magical Nature Tarot and The Twilight Canticle Lenormand

Earth – Apprentice of Swords – Take time to learn new methods. Not everything is going to work out the way you’ve done it in the past.  You’ll have to adjust and adapt strategically to make sure you stay on top of your responsibilities this week.

Air – Four of Swords – Stop overthinking everything.  Set those things that keep wiggling their way into your mind aside and take a breather.  Not everything can be solved by obsessing over it.

Water – The Suspended One – Work on putting yourself in other’s shoes more often so that you are connecting with with more clarity and understanding to how others are feeling. Pay closer attention.

Fire – The World – New trails and explorations lie ahead, but take a minute to celebrate how far you have come first.

Waning – Lily and Lady – Caring for someone elderly takes patience. It is a balance between helping them feel capable, and showing them where they need help in a way that keeps them open to accepting it. Ease up. She doesn’t take hearing she can’t do something any better than you do. Let her try instead. Just be there to catch her when she needs it.

Waxing – Mice and Birds – Gossip is a corrosion of healthy social connections. Keep this in the forefront of your mind as you move forward into the week ahead.

Take Away -DECKS USED: MAGICAL NATURE TAROT AND THE TWILIGHT CANTICLE LENORMAND

Grace Costs You Nothing

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#DailyCalm with the Calm AppToday’s meditation was ten minutes long, and another of the #DailyCalm sessions from the Calm app. It was interesting that today’s topic for the session was about envy, when just last night Gideon and I had just had a discussion about the use (or rather misuse) of the words jealousy and envy in everyday conversation.

The meditation discussed how love opens us up to experiencing new things, allowing us to find new connections and explore new horizons.  Whereas envy, on the other hand, picks things apart through nitpicking and negative emotions.

Insecta Obscura Tarot - The Tower and Six of CupsToday’s draw is the Six of Cups atop The Hermit (they demanded to come out together). The Six of Cups is traditionally a representation of nostalgia, and The Hermit is traditionally a representation of alone time and self-reflection.

What I see in today’s cards is a reminder not to be harsh on yourself if you occasionally fall into old bad habits when it comes to your alone time.

I have a habit of dawdling after my meditation, relaxing into a few extra minutes of down time while I play on my phone or scroll through Instagram. It’s not a particularly good or useful habit… and it wastes time.  And yet?  It happens sometimes.

Today’s card is a reminder that, as a book I recently read says, “Grace costs you nothing.” Be kind to yourself and just seek to do better in the future.

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

Some habits
die slow deaths,
be kind
when relapse happens

DECK USED:  INSECTA OBSCURA TAROT

Lionharts’ #TheJanuaryTarot 2023 Year of Evolution Challenge Prompt
Question for January 14th: If there is one thing I could change for the better, what would it be?

Star Light CardsReading Summary: There is an intrinsic and unending (Limitless) strength that comes in leaning into the positive (Light), and allowing that effort toward optimism and positivity to permeate through your life (Nucleus).

Take Away: Your nature is one of pessimism and distrust. This is what you were taught through your formative years, and was reinforced through adulthood.  But, what you’ve found is that when you counterbalance your negativity and pessimism with an effort to lean into positivity and optimism, it helps you to balance things out a bit.   This effort lightens  your mood and your perspective, allowing you to see the world in a bit more positive light than before, which in turn helps in keeping your depression at bay and lifting your spirits.

If there was one thing you could change for the better, it would be to make this process easier to accomplish, and share it with others in a way that would show them its benefit without coming off as that abrasive “goodness and light” vibe that turned you away from things that could help in the past.

DECK USED: STAR LIGHT CARDS

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2023 Challenge Prompt
Topic for January 14th: Draw or write something free form inspired by the card(s).

Insecta Obscura Tarot - Judgement, Nine of Blades, Nine of Swords, Five of CupsThe girl wept tears
tinged with blood
as her fears weighed
heavy upon her head
and the nightmares
followed her
into the waking world
through harsh
inner whispers
of “should haves”
and “what ifs”
until, on her kees
she asks…
“Why me?”

DECK USED: INSECTA OBSCURA TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I gave up on looking for something that’s gone missing rather than allowing myself to continue to wind up and get more and more upset.

Gideon’s Challenge

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IMG_1429The Crying Sky

Moisture collects
bit by bit
as it builds
to larger drops
that drip
one by one
to earth
and grow
as they
join together
into puddles
and streams
until in time
the ocean
is made of
teardrops
from above

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Warming Up Cartomancy Reading

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The prompt for this reading came from one of my Discord servers and is as follows: “For many of us in the northern hemisphere, it’s been cold, so let’s do talk to our divination tool of choice how to warm up.”

Constellation Playing CardsWhere could I benefit from more warmth in my life?

King of Diamonds (Deneb Kaitos) – The King of Diamonds is a rigid card indicating a “fixed” position in the Deneb Kaitos star.  This often translates into self-destruction by change that is forced upon us, sickness, or disgrace/shame.  The King of Diamonds can be a ruthless king, rigid in his ways and unwilling to bend.  Make sure that you are not sinking into this rigid stance and allowing stagnancy to creep in and take over.  You need movement to keep life’s blood flowing, and your life healthy and happy.

How could I start the process of instilling this warmth where it’s needed?

Seven of Clubs (Horologium) – The Horologium constellation represents a pendulum clock.  Combined with the Seven of Clubs, it speaks of there being an ebb and flow to times when there is harmony in your life with others, and times when there is not, and it reminds us to take advantage of opportunities to connect and create positive ties with others of similar beliefs and values that can be there for you when things turn to being not at their best in your life later on.

From who (or in what way) do I need help in bringing that warmth to life?

Ten of Spades (Pictor) – The painter’s easel is what the constellation Equuleus Pictoris represents. It reminds us, when combined with the Ten of Spades, that when we paint the picture of our lives we need to deal with painful endings with grace and dignity.  Just because it hurts doesn’t mean we should lash out.  Sometimes, it means that the lesson to be learned wants to make sure we’re paying attention.  How will you paint your picture… what will you see when you look back at the most difficult times in your life? Will you see someone of strength? Or will you shy away from looking because you’re unhappy with what’s there?

What would be the benefit of welcoming this warmth into my life?

Five of Spades (Telescopium) – Your scarcity issues have been a long term problem in your life, and will continue to be for a good long time moving forward.  That doesn’t mean that we give up, but rather that we look ahead and plan… dream… work towards overcoming their negative influences in the future.  Reach for help instead of turning away from it, and face forward toward the future.

Is instilling this warmth into my life a long journey, or a short trip?

Two of Diamonds (Serpens) – Never Ending.  The Serpens constellation is a representation of a serpent and, when I think of serpents in a metaphysical sense, they always reflect back to the ouroboros. This ties into the constant necessity to foster balance, as balance is never stagnant and always changing.  A little weight one way or another and the effort to balance needs to be shifted, again and again and again.  There is no finish line, for constant and/or consistent balance requires constant and/or consistent change, and the cycle feeds into itself, never ending.

What are the possible repercussions of leaving things alone?

Five of Diamonds (Taurus) – Again, we see stagnancy, and an inability to ask for help, as well as a refusal to receive it even if it is available to you.  Lonely, stagnant, and miserable.  Not to mention broke.

DECK USED: CONSTELLATION PLAYING CARDS

Kindness Goes a Long Way

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Daily Calm with the Calm appToday’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was one of the #DailyCalm sessions in the Calm app.  It dealt with consistency in the things that are good for you like meditation practice, self care things, etc. It spoke about the importance of consistency, but also visited our resistance to establishing and sticking with it.

This is something that I personally struggle with, and I really enjoyed the listen, so I ended up saving it to return to again and repeat at a later date.

Best Tarot - StrengthToday’s draw is the Strength card, which is traditionally a representation of inner strength, persuasion usually through means of compassion, influence and/or manipulation, and courage.

And that’s one damned -funky- looking lion on the imagery for this card.   It takes a special kind of either stupidity or bravery to approach situations of uncertainty with confidence. Illnesses and deformities can take one aback, especially when surprised by them.

Today’s card is a reminder that illness and deformity is not always catching, and that with those that deal with these struggles on a daily basis?  A bit of kindness and care can go a long way toward connecting with them on a deeper level.

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

Let warmth
from within
ease the way
with prickly pears

DECK USED:  BEST TAROT

Lionharts’ #TheJanuaryTarot 2023 Year of Evolution Challenge Prompt
Question for January 13th: How am I asked to begin to incorporate my lessons of the past?

Gamilas Tarot (Oracle)Reading Summary: In order to “make the bar” and be truly well (Passe), you have to give yourself (Six of Clubs) the kindness you need and allow yourself time outside (Terre). You can’t talk yourself out of this need (Parole), so just do it.

Take Away:  Your behavior is self punishment and self neglect, both of which are a part of your self-sabotage patterns concerning how you treat yourself and your well-being.  No amount of reasoning with yourself that you don’t -need- time in nature is going to change the fact that you do, and no amount of self-denial is going to keep you hearty and hale.

Instead of repeating patterns of the past, turn over a new leaf and be more generous with yourself.  Give yourself what you need instead of withholding it out of habit or through the machination of inner demons.

DECK USED: GAMILAS TAROT (ORACLE)

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2023 Challenge Prompt
Question for January 13th: Blame Someone Else Day – Where in life are you assigning a scapegoat when you need to take more responsibility?

Best Tarot - The Magician, Queen of Wands, The LoversReading Summary: It would be far healthier for you (The Lovers) to own your part (The Magician) of your falling out with your own personal Queen of Swords in your life.  It’s not that she doesn’t play a very strong part in the dynamic that has become the norm between you two (Queen of Swords looking into the past with a lifted chin), but that she didn’t create the situation all on her own.  You chose to turn a blind eye (Magician in the lower left position and appears to be stubbornly ignoring the Queen of Swords looking down her nose at him) instead of seeing things clearly where she is concerned.

Take Away: Relationships are a two way street, even bad ones.  We each play a part in the dynamic that develops between us and others, and can’t blame everything on the other party all the time, no matter how much we’d like to.  Own your mistakes.

DECK USED: BEST TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I meditated again (as you can see above) and I saved this meditation because I liked it and the topic deals with something I struggle with in my meditation, which is to say… consistency.

Gideon’s Challenge

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IMG_1684Missing You

Everything
around me
is so lonely
without you
by my side
your hand
curled on mine
and our fingers
entertwined
and nothing
is the same
without you
I need you
around me

Photo © ZenStatePhotography