Prideful
A deep breath
as chest swells
and chin
tilts high
as a moment
of satisfaction
flows
through senses
providing
a little spark
of energy
to light
the way forward
Gideon’s Challenge – Prideful
Month: April 2026
❤️ 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 – The Fool Rx – Practicality needs to rule this week. There’s no time for frivolity and carelessness. Measured steps are best while keeping your eye on the path before you and what lies ahead.
Air – Eight of Air atop The Tower – Don’t ignore the shit storm. Get in there and get your hands dirty. It’s only through opening your eyes to what’s going on around you that you can respond appropriately in the moment, and thus prepare for how to come out the other side with a plan.
Water – Nine of Water atop Eight of Fire Rx – Remember that there is no need for speed right now. You are paying attention and watching the chips fall. You are not meddling. Instead, you are using this time to slow down and connect with your feelings and do things that make you feel better and happy. Doing these things will assist you in getting through this temporary trial in a healthier manner.
Fire – Queen of Fire – Don’t lose sight of what’s important. You need to foster this vision within you right now. Remember what you’ve worked for so far and stay true to the vision you have for where you want to go and who you want to be. Just because the ground shakes doesn’t mean it has to knock you off course.
Waning – Stork and Bouquet – No one is going to be leaping into the fray like a knight and shining armor to save you this week. Let go of the hope there’s an easy solution out there. That’s not what this current journey you’re facing is about.
Waxing – Star, Birds, Key – That’s not to say that there isn’t plenty of hope to go around still. Make sure you are listening to what other people are saying, for there are answers in the advice they try to provide as well as the chatter that goes on between them.
Take Away – Pause. Breathe. Listen. Although you need to be sustaining movement through carefully thought out responses and reactions, it’s far more important to pay attention and glean what you can from the situation as well as from others. Make sure any actions you -do- take this week are geared toward the direction you want things to go in and the person you want to grow into. Base your decisions upon these future goals.
Other elements included in this reading:
Zodiac Wheel spun to land between Libra and Scorpio
Scotch Pine Cone for Purging Negative Influences
Foraged Parmeliaceae Lichen for a “Breath of Fresh Air”
Gneiss Stone for Patience in Moments of Discomfort
Raw Clear Quartz for promoting a Sharper Mind
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECKS USED: THE GOOD TAROT AND DUSK TILL DAWN LENORMAND DAWN EDITION
The Museum Curator
Today’s meditation was skipped.
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The @hippiepixie333 #Escapril2026 Challenge
Prompt for April 11th : the last lie
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is the Queen of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of a receptive alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s passion, drive, willpower, determination, values, and principles. This often translates into themes that have to do with being supportive of others projects and passions, or searching for inner truth within your own values and principles.
Curate a collection of your interests, passions, and desires; picking and choosing what it is that you add to your collection, rather than just dumping everything in without thought of the consequences.
Treat your interests like a museum.
When museums create their displays, they don’t put on display everything that they have in their possession. They pick and choose what they put out for the public to see.
In this same way, it’s important that we take care to pick and choose what interest we decide to pursue. These interests shape our lives, and become pieces of who we are. If we have too many of them on our plate at once, we never really get to fully explore any of them… and more often than not end up overwhelmed and burnt out.
That is the last lie that we tell ourselves before burnout, after all. The lie that we can just add one or two more things to our plate of responsibilities and interests and things to be done… and will still be able to handle it just fine.
No. We won’t.
The message in today’s Queen of Wands and “the last lie” prompt his a reminder that there’s only so much time in a day and only so much energy in a body. Pick and choose where you spend your energy instead of trying to spread yourself too thin, and as a result you will more greatly enjoy those interest and passions you put your energy into.
DECK USED: STAR CLUSTERS TAROT
@lightningwildflower‘s April Energetic Shifts Challenge
Check-in Prompt for April 11th : What is my energy level telling me today?
Reading Summary: You want to stay home today (Four of Clubs), and you accept that just because you don’t like the consequences of the choices in front of you (Five of Diamonds) doesn’t mean that you don’t have choices (Seven of Hearts).
Take Away: Just because there’s no harmony (in the 7❤️) to be found within you concerning the options you have to choose from, doesn’t mean that you still don’t have choices you can make.
• You could stay home and relax in the nice stable security of a familiar space, wallowing in that stability and enjoy some stagnancy.
• You could head out and do what you need to do today, including the travel and whatever chores there are to be done up north.
If you do the first option, you upset someone you care about and give in to unhealthy habits. If you do the latter choice, you deal with being tired and in pain, but you get some stuff done that needs to be done.
Neither one sounds appealing, but you already know which one you’re going to choose.
Your energy level for today is telling you that there are no real satisfactory options available to you at this time, and you need to make your choice based on the healthiest choice available to you, with consequences considered.
Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Lodgepole Pine for Resilience, Growth, and Renewal
Beech Pods for Realizations that Foster Personal Growth
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: RADIO CAT PLAYING CARDS BLACK EDITION
#DiscordTarotholicsApr2026 Challenge
Philosophical Questions for April 8th and 15th
What is Divinity?
Lemon, Four of Swords, Eucalyptus
Divinity is “God / The Universe” at rest and dreaming.
[Note the sleeping individual in the Four of Swords and the sleeping koala in the Eucalyptus card, combined with the “no one’s watching” from the Lemon card and the parrot seeing the world as “upright while upside down”. ]
These cards introduce the idea that our reality isn’t real. That instead of reality being a material, objective world, it is a subjective, cosmic dream occurring within a universal consciousness (God / The Universe). This is called the Dreaming God Theory.
Thus, and answering the question with this theory, the cards are saying that divinity is the dreaming “God / The Universe” that creates our reality within its dreamscape.
What existed before our universe was created?
Lemongrass, The Moon, Rosemary
These cards continue to expand upon the Dreaming God Theory from above by saying that before our universe was created there were many gods working to together (the “successful teamwork” and bee hive in the Lemongrass card); and that a debate over the creation of life (the weeping “goddess” toying with a baby in its carriage) ensued due to uncertainty that arose over repeated past efforts always leading to the same results (well trodden path” in the rosemary card combined with the sideways look from the owl on that card).
By this interpretation, it means that prior to our universe being created by a dreaming “God”, there were many such gods, all working together to create life; perhaps experimenting with how to create sustainable life.
Other elements included in this reading:
Clear Quartz Point for boosting Mental Clarity
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECKS USED: STAR CLUSTERS TAROT AND THE ESSENCE OF THREE ORACLE
This is a catch up post, and I’m not entirely sure what the self kindness was for this day.
Gideon’s Challenge – Delight
Delight
Pops of color
appear in
surprising places
as spring
warms the earth
and awakens
slumbering flowers
to coax them
free to bloom
and share
their enthusiasm
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
The Hidden Parts
Today’s meditation was a ten minute long #DailyTrip session from the @Calm app.
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The @hippiepixie333 #Escapril2026 Challenge
Prompt for April 10th : second self
Daily Mental Health Prompt : Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is the Page of Cups, which is traditionally a representation of a receptive omega energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s emotions, relationships, creativity, or intuition. This often translates into themes that have to do with emotional growth, second chances relationships, or exploring one’s creative pursuits.
I like to see myself as measured and logical, with a good dose of stability and moderation leading the way.
The fact of the matter is, though, that as I learn more and more about my emotions and gain more emotional intelligence… I’m discovering that there is a “second self” hiding inside that I’ve really tried not to acknowledge.
This “second self” is impulsive and emotional and often awkward as hell. They are reactive, and not at all logical.
This is where all the emotions of the past and present live, including the ones that I buried for decades.
By not having given this “second self” freedom and fresh air for so much of my life, now as I try and learn about my emotions it feels like everything is always out of control. That’s not necessarily true, but that’s how it feels.
The message in today’s Knight of Cups and “second self” prompt is that we are more than the face that we present to the world. We are more than just what we want to be, hope to be, or believe ourselves to be. There is a whole other “second self” inside us all that we try to ignore or bury.
In today’s message, the card and prompt combo shines a light on this part of ourselves that we try so hard to exclude from our day-to-day lives. This spotlight reminds us that this second self is there, it is also a part of who we are, and it needs acknowledgment and acceptance… no matter how chaotic and awkward that may feel. Finding a sense of wholeness and self-acceptance requires accepting even those parts of ourselves that we don’t really want to acknowledge.
DECK USED: MORGAN-GREER TAROT
@Lionharts #TheAprilTarot Root & Rise Challenge
The Roots Prompts for April 9th through 11th
What holds lasting worth in my life, regardless of external validation?
The Empress and Raccoon – Your creative spark is always there and it’s one of the things that lights you up inside and nurture your creative spirit.
You don’t need other people to tell you the things that you make are pretty or nice or beautiful. It’s nice to hear these compliments, but what you get out of your creative process doesn’t require them. It just requires you to enjoy what you’re doing.
What in my current rhythm can support me long-term if I continue it?
Ten of Wands and Butterfly – You’ve been working a long time now on learning how to better stretch out and delegate your time and responsibility so that you don’t burn out as quickly or as often. As long as you don’t fall back into old habits of pushing yourself too hard for lofty unreachable expectations, these changes you’ve made will become the new norm.
The key is to not fall back into old habits, but embrace the change and transformation that you have created and continue to create in this area.
What currently brings a sense of settledness, even if nothing else changes?
The Lovers, Lizard, Unicorn – Your time with Gideon gives you a sense of security and “settledness” that you don’t find in other activities. Even when you are creating new stories together in newly developed worlds, there is a familiarity and a safety there that makes everything feel right, no matter what’s going on in your life.
This connection and unconditional love is always there to support you, and provides you with an escape from the world when you need it into a place between the two of you where anything is possible.
Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Wood Fern for Exorcising Negative Influences
Pressed Pansy Flowers for Hearing the Heart More Clearly
Conch Shell Knot for Concentration, Clarity, and Determination
Gneiss Stone for Patience in Moments of Discomfort
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: VENTUM ARCANAE THE AIR TAROT AND THE WILD UNKNOWN ANIMAL SPIRIT ORACLE
@lightningwildflower‘s April Energetic Shifts Challenge
Ground Prompt for April 10th : What impulse deserves reflection before acting?
Reading Summary: When it comes to your creativity, you have a tendency to let your imagination run away with you (Page of Cups). This allows you to see all the amazing possibilities (The Lovers), but means you have a tendency to forget to look at the pitfalls (Eight of Swords).
Take Away: This is true for all of your creative endeavors, but especially true when it comes to your jewelry design pursuits. When you walk into a bead store or shop online for beads and findings, etc, you have a tendency to see the potential in everything that’s on offer, and you want to buy it all so that you can do all of the wonderful ideas that come to you when you see all of these wonderful possibilities.
Unfortunately, the truth is that 1) you don’t have enough money to buy all that stuff, and 2) you don’t have the time needed to make all that stuff.
In the enthusiasm of the moment, though, sometimes you can forget about these unpleasant inconveniences that your imagination does not want to acknowledge. During these times, it’s important. to not act impulsively, but instead take time to reflect and consider first.
Other elements included in this reading:
Sigil for fostering a balance of Healthy Sustainable Energy
Foraged Acorns for Protection during New Beginnings
Green Aventurine for Harmony and Balance of the Heart
Carnelian Agate for Inner Drive and Focusing On Aspirations
Mookaite for Help with Weighing One’s Options
Citrine for Energy Lift (easing the weight of heavy energies)
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: MORGAN-GREER TAROT
This is a catch up post, and I’m not entirely sure what the self kindness was for this day.
Gideon’s Challenge – Pixie Cups
Pixie Cups
Laughter chimes
like little bells
almost too soft
to hear
as pixies
dance among
lichen and leaves
and stop
to sip from
little cups
fuzzy
and filled
with raindrops
Twisting the Leaf 