The Too-Close Closet

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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The @hippiepixie333 #Escapril2026 Challenge
Prompt for April 25th
: tomorrow’s promise 
Daily Mental Health Prompt
: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Queen Alice Tarot - Nine of Wands

Today’s draw is the Nine of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of boundaries, defensive maneuvers, and protection of what you hold dear.

Tomorrow there is going to be a get together, and someone is coming to visit who I really like and enjoy spending time with. The last time they visited, though, I found out that they are extremely homophobic; and they don’t know that I’m not straight.

Not that I’m hiding anything, it’s just never come up. My discovery during the last visit was while I was overhearing a discussion I was not involved in, as I was in the other room.

This is the first time that I have ever been confronted with the idea of being “in the closet” about myself. It’s not like I keep anything a secret, even if I’m not blaring it to the world. In this instance, though, I do consider keeping it a secret. If for no other reason, than to protect the peace of this get together that’s not even mine.

This has been weighing on me a bit over the past month; ever since I found out that they were coming back for another visit.

The message in today’s Nine of Wands and the “tomorrow’s promise” is that the potential for things to get ugly is there. It’s up to me how I deal with it.

In this situation, when you know the other person may fly off the handle and you are a guest in the situation… I’m not sure if the topic comes up with me in the room if I should speak up, or if keeping my mouth shut is the better idea. This card definitely makes me think the latter. It could ruin relationships beyond just the one between me and this person, after all, if I don’t.

DECK USED:  QUEEN ALICE TAROT

@Lionharts #TheAprilTarot Root & Rise Challenge
The Rise Prompt for April 25th
: What would support my progress without restricting it?

Tarot Reading with the Mibramig Magical Tarot and Fool's Items Oracle of Enchantment

Reading Summary: When it comes to your emotional exploration and development (Water Element), during times of turmoil (whirlpool in the Water Element card) it’s important to keep your eye on the far-reaching goal of who you want to become (Judgement) rather than trying to seize control and calm things in the moment (The Emperor).

Take Away: There is learning to be had in chaos, including the chaos of your emotions. If you always smother your turbulent emotions, then you never learn how to deal with them in a healthy manner.

In order to support your progress in your emotional intelligence, as well as towards growth into the person you want to become, you have to let this turbulence happen instead of trying to restrict it or otherwise control it through force of will.

Feel your feelings, and learn from them.

Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Oak Branch with Moss and Lichen for Perseverance
Japanese Cherry Leaf as a Reminder of Life’s Fleeting Moments
Calcite for Gently Calming the Mind and Stimulating Insights
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: MIBRAMIG MAGICAL TAROT AND FOOL’S ITEMS ORACLE OF ENCHANTMENT

@lightningwildflower‘s April Energetic Shifts Challenge
Sun square Pluto, Uranus enters Gemini Prompt for April 25th : How can I embrace change without feeling like I’m losing myself?

Tarot Reading with the Queen Alice Tarot

Reading Summary: Watch at first (The Hanged Man), and be aware of the fears that this change causes to rise up within you (Nine of Swords).

When you acknowledge your fears and hang back long enough to get an idea of what’s going on, you are then better able to turn the situation to your needs and desires (The Magician).

Take Away: Change is scary. Especially when it involves something that’s important to you. Adapting to change is important, but it’s also important to make sure as we adapt that we are creating the space needed for us to be authentic.

When change happens and fears rise up, instead of reacting right away, do some information gathering first. Hang back, pay attention to the changes that are happening as well as your reaction to those changes.

With this information you can then ensure that any adaptation you need to do is going to continue to be true to yourself rather than just a reaction to something you’re scared of.

Other elements included in this reading:
Black Wood Kitsune Carving for Cleverness and Ingenuity
Foraged Oak Branch with Moss and Lichen for Perseverance
Conch Shell Knot for Concentration, Clarity, and Determination
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED:  QUEEN ALICE TAROT
Daily Self Kindness

I soaked in an Epsom salt and apple cider vinegar bath in the hopes it would help ease not just my muscles but also a skin issue I have going on right now.

Gideon’s Challenge – Happy Together

Seagulls in the Pacific Northwest

Happy Together

If I should call you up, invest a dime
And you say you belong to me, and ease my mind
Imagine how the world could be, so very fine
So happy together

I can’t see me lovin’ nobody but you
For all my life
When you’re with me, baby, the skies’ll be blue
For all my life

Me and you, and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it had to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together

Song “So Happy Together” by The Turtles
Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Accepting the Good With the Bad

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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The @hippiepixie333 #Escapril2026 Challenge

Prompt for April 24th
: a way forward 

Daily Mental Health Prompt
: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Ferdinando Crippa I Tarocchi 1978 - Wheel of Fortune

Today’s draw is the Wheel of Fortune card, which is traditionally a representation of luck (both good and bad), changing circumstances, the ups and downs of life, and the cyclical nature of life and the world.

Acknowledging that things aren’t always going to go our way is not pessimistic. It only becomes pessimistic if we refuse to also acknowledge that sometimes things will go our way as well.

That’s called balance.

The Wheel of Fortune isn’t just all downs (bad luck, crappy circumstances, etc), but has an equal amount of ups. Its motion is cyclical, after all.

The message in today’s Wheel of Fortune card and “a way forward” prompt reminds us to make sure we are acknowledging the bad and the good. Acknowledging just the bad is pessimistic and excessively negative. Acknowledging just the good is toxic positivity. We need to work on acknowledging both, and accepting that both have a place within our lives.

DECK USED:  FERDINANDO CRIPPA I TAROCCHI 1978

@Lionharts #TheAprilTarot Root & Rise Challenge

The Rise Prompt for April 24th
: What am I willing to stand behind consistently?

Tarot Reading with the Gustave Doré Tarot

Reading Summary: Traditional knowledge (The Hierophant) developed over generations (Seven of Pentacles) through slow progress and experience (Knight of Pentacles).

Take Away: It’s easy to trust what works when what works has worked again and again through the tests and trials of time.

New information, new efforts, and new methods are always an interesting avenue to explore. When it comes to trust, though, there is nothing that stand strong and trustworthy better than the traditions that we have carried down through generations and know to be true and work well, standing the test of time.

For this reason, you consistently tend to stand behind traditional methods when it comes to those things that you feel are important. You trust these tried and true methods first, holding them above the experimental adventures of new methods.

Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Rhododendron Leaf for Fostering Confidence
Green Jasper and Tiger Eye Turtle for Confidence within Progress
Aragonite for Fostering Truth and Understanding
Green Aventurine for Harmony and Balance of the Heart
Desert Rose for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: GUSTAVE DORÉ TAROT

@lightningwildflower‘s April Energetic Shifts Challenge

Venus enters Gemini Prompt for April 24th : How can I bring more play into my relationships?

Tarot Reading with the Ferdinando Crippa I Tarocchi 1978

Reading Summary: Allow your creative passion pursuits (Knight of Wands) to take the reins (The Chariot). Sitting things out in feigned disinterest serves no one and nothing (Four of Cups).

Take Away: If you’re unwilling to participate, you’re not gonna get very far and instilling more play into your relationships. Instead, you have to be open to engaging, as well as involving the people and things that inspire you to connect with them.

To bring more play into your relationships requires engaging in those relationships and allowing your creative spark to have a say in the things you do with these people you choose to share your time with.

This means speaking up to propose ideas and adventures you’re curious about exploring and, in doing so, inviting others along with you on these adventures. It means opening choosing what -you- want instead of letting everyone else choose. It means being engaged and involved instead of standing on the sidelines simply waiting things out.

Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Lodgepole Pine for Resilience, Growth, and Renewal
Dried Red Maple Leaf for Adaptability and Connection
Desert Rose for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED:  FERDINANDO CRIPPA I TAROCCHI 1978
Daily Self Kindness

This is a catch up post, and I’m not entirely sure what the self kindness was for this day.

Gideon’s Challenge – Bashful

Persian Cyclamen (Cyclamen periscum)

Bashful

A blush rises
as eyes
cast down
and head dips
as if to hide
from the world
behind
silken strands
that falls forward
as if to conceal
delicate skin
with a hue
of pink
that spreads
toward the ears

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Stability Through Acts of Kindness

Today’s meditation was skipped.

•    •    •    ◈    •    🐇    •    ◈    •    •    •

The @hippiepixie333 #Escapril2026 Challenge

Prompt for April 23rd
: starvation 

Daily Mental Health Prompt
: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

This Might Hurt Oracle - The Scales, Six of Pentacles

Today’s draw is the Six of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of charity, generosity, sharing the wealth, asking for or accepting help, and balancing the scales between the “haves” and the “have nots” in life.

Balance is important… not just within oneself but in all things. For example; diets fail because people feel restricted and like they’re missing out, thus those that succeed long term are those that allow a little treat nor and then. By the same mechanism of balance, a society may have the “haves” and “have nots”, but that only works if the “haves” are willing to help out the “have nots”.

Each aspect of life seeks balance, sometimes swinging wildly out of balance in its effort to find it, like a pendulum swinging back and forth toward a balanced center has to swing many times, each time reduced in intensity until it finds that center.

In my experience, we help these efforts of the universe to find stability through acts of kindness. Just as the “haves” bestow kindness on the “have nots”, and dieters bestow a little kindness on themselves in order to not feel like they are missing out or neglecting a need.

The message in today’s Six of Pentacles and the “starvation” prompt asks us to consider where we can instill acts of kindness into our own lives and actions. Even if it’s smiling at someone to lighten their day or making time or space for someone who needs it.

DECK USED:  THIS MIGHT HELP ORACLE

One Card Tarot Journal Activity by @mariasofia_astro

Chapter 1 | Entry 8 – Self_Care and Personal Development

Affirmation : “Time is a gift and that is why I prioritize what is most important and valuable to me.

Prompt : As you juggle multiple priorities and competing deadlines in your routine, you may struggle with prioritization. Draw a card for insight into what needs should take top priority in your day so you can release any obligations that don’t serve you.

Tarot Activity from The One Card a Day Journal by Maria Sofia Marmanides - The Beginner's Tarot - The Star

What feelings came up when I pulled this card?

I was a bit worried about what might come up in this pull today. When the Star card showed itself to be the answer, that tension eased as I had an “of course, that makes perfect sense” response.

What elements of the card’s meaning resonate with me and this prompt?

The Star card is often about hope and optimism. These are elements that I work hard to instill into my life, because they don’t come naturally to me.

Also, this card is a representation of seeking balance between practical stability (Earth) and the emotions (Water). Both are needed in a healthy and happy existence, and just as I seek to instill more hope and optimism into my life to counterbalance the negative self talk and pessimism that comes so naturally to me… so too do I seek to learn and connect more strongly with my emotions while keeping a stable and balanced foundation beneath my feet.

What in the artwork spoke to me?

The vulnerability that is so obvious in the nudity of the figure on the card.

The large northern star above with its offspring surrounding it, speaking of how once we start an endeavor it can sometimes take on a life of its own if you let it. This specifically speaks to me of optimism and positivity, and how they begin to come a little bit easier over time when taken in bite-size pieces.

The pitchers of water being poured both into the body of water and onto the Earth, and how the water poured onto the Earth trails back towards the body of water. Not only does water absorb into the Earth, but is trailing along top so that what isn’t needed returns back to the source.

My prompt response and reflections.

My efforts towards positivity and optimism, as well as towards exploring my emotions while creating a stable foundation, need to take priority.

Often, I have a tendency to get wrapped up in money matters and business, and lose sight of these goals. Today’s prompt and the response from The Star card is a reminder on where my priorities really should lie, in an effort to help orient me back in that direction when I stray.

Other elements included in this reading:
Moss Captured Resin D20 and D6 Dice

DECK USED: THE BEGINNER’S TAROT

@lightningwildflower‘s April Energetic Shifts Challenge

Venus conjunct Uranus Prompt for April 23rd : Where am I craving excitement or novelty?

Tarot Reading with theThis Might Hurt Oracle

Reading Summary: Social situations are very uncertain for you, and the emotions involved are extremely easy for you to misinterpret. (The Garden and The Mask)

This gives you more than enough excitement, and is only a positive experience when you feel safe and uplifted by those involved. (The Ibises atop The 12-Star Crown)

Take Away: The excitement you crave has nothing to do with adrenaline or persuits such as going out to party among strangers at clubs or raves. It’s all about getting together with those you know well to spend time with them in a safe and somewhat predictable environment instead.

These smaller get-togethers with those you are comfortable and familiar with allows you to feel the excitement of being around others without the chaos of uncertainty that can otherwise often put a damper on the experience of being social with strangers.

Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Cedar Bundle for Protection from Negative Influences
Japanese Cherry Leaf as a Reminder of Life’s Fleeting Moments
Black Spruce Needles to Boost Self-Confidence and Positive Thinking
Dried Rosebuds for Potential and Beauty Waiting to Unfold
Dried Purple Heather Flowers for Independence and Luck
Green Jasper and Caribbean Calcite Turtle for Calm within Progress
Black Tourmaline for Grounding and Protection
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: THIS MIGHT HELP ORACLE
Daily Self Kindness

This is a catch up post, and I’m not entirely sure what the self kindness was for this day.

Gideon’s Challenge – Longing

Mountain Landscape

Longing

The heart aches
as eyes gaze
to horizons
far away
and long for
moss draped
branches
and spongy ground
covered in
pine needles
and
evergreen fronds
fragrant
in the moist air

Photo © ZenStatePhotography