Wonder and Awe
Like the face
of the moon
some places
seem to be
far too
inhospitable
for life
to flourish
and thrive
and yet
even here
we find
bits and pieces
of nature
creating a spark
of life in
desolate spaces
Gideon’s Challenge – Wonder and Awe
Month: June 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 Again / Apple Blossom, Lilac, Strawberry – Look for opportunities and themes of rebirth this week. The time is right for a new beginning. Take the growth that you have experienced thus far and carry it forward with you into the next adventure as you start on this new path.
Air – Ten of Swords / Sunflower and Autumn Leaves – New beginnings aren’t possible without the endings that go along with them. Make sure that you keep your frame of mind towards letting go of that which is not serving you as you move forward. Sometimes letting go can be painful, but the journey ahead will be lighter without these outdated mindsets dragging you down and stunting your new growth.
Water – Queen of Pentacles / Queen Anne’s Lace – Tend to your nest. For you, life is often at it’s best when you’re working towards a harmonious environment for yourself and others. Don’t close yourself off in solitude, but instead let the support from others help you in achieving a happier and healthier home.
Fire – The High Priestess / Passion Flower, Iris, Cannabis – Make sure to stay focused on staying open and receptive this week, both with your normal five senses and those others beyond that as well. There is much to help further your journey and awaken your inspiration, as long as you’re willing to be open to their presence and influences.
Waning – Queen of Diamonds and Two of Diamonds – Take care you aren’t falling into the habitual mindset that the only way to get something done correctly to do it yourself. You need others help. Remember to include them in your efforts and responsibilities rather than closing them out and doing everything on your own.
Waxing – Eight of Hearts and Jack of Diamonds – Keep in mind that sometimes extricating yourself from the situations you don’t want to be in might take a little bit of time in order to assure no damage is sustained in the process. Just because you have to take it slow, doesn’t mean you’re not in the process of breaking free and walking away.
Take Away – There is a great deal of encouragement here to lean on others and let them assist you in your endeavors this week; this doesn’t just mean chores, responsibilities, and home care, but also any new projects or ideas that pop up. Don’t forget that to let new things into your life, you need to let go of some of the things that aren’t serving you anymore. Otherwise there’s just no room for the new stuff to take root and grow.
DECKS USED: THE PRESSED FLOWER TAROT AND EPIPHYLLUM v2 LOVE AND PAIN PLAYING CARDS
River Rafting
Today’s meditation was a ten minute #DailyCalm session from the @Calm app.
• • • ◈ • ☀️ • ◈ • • •
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is the Ten of Cups, which is traditionally a representation of feelings of completion, connection with others and harmony in those connections, and is often considered as the “happy family” card.
The Ten of Cups has then been combined with an affirmation card from the Pass Around the Smile Positive Guidance Oracle cards, which says, “Ride the Wave: You can choose which waves to ride and this is a good one. Allow it to flow.”
The fun of river rafting is in going with the flow. Whether you do this in an inner tube on your own, or on a raft with others, the fun is in riding the river and allowing it to choose your path. You’re not there to fight the current and try and go in the other direction, but instead to enjoy the ride.
Life is also like this at times. We can’t be in control of every situation, event, or experience. Sometimes the best thing we can do is let go of control and allow ourselves to just go with the flow. In this way, we can sit back and relax and enjoy rather than always having to make decisions and choose which direction to go.
The message in today’s Ten of Cups and affirmation card as a reminder that often the greatest joys in life come when you’re not in control, and instead just going with the flow; no matter whether this is on your own or in the company of others. Today’s message encourages us to just give it a try and see how it feels.
DECK USED: THE HEARTS PATH TAROT AND PASS AROUND THE SMILE POSITIVE GUIDANCE ORACLE CARDS
@de_tarotjuf’s De Zomer In! #detarotjufjunitarotchallenge
Prompts for June 23rd through 26th
Which dream calls for visibility?
One Way Or Another
Although you’re often encouraged to let go of expectations and allow yourself to be a bit more free spirited, don’t forget that the dreams that you are truly determined to accomplish need to at least be out in the open.
If you aren’t acknowledging your dreams and desires, and putting them out there in the universe, then you don’t have the assistance of the universe in achieving them. It’s only once you state what you want that you can garner the assistance needed to get there in a timely manner, without having to overextend yourself in the process.
What attention do I want to give to my senses today?
May Wonders Never Cease
Don’t forget to bring your earbuds with you today, as well as an audiobook queued up and ready to go. There is a wondrous world of curiosities and new experiences awaiting you in these books. Reading is perfect for the days when things are just a little too slow or stressful, and you need a bit of distraction from reality.
Which quality within me calls for care in the sun?
She Who Laughs Lasts
Take time to savor the sunshine and allow it to lift up your spirits. You may not enjoy the heat, but you do enjoy a bit of sunshine now and then, and it can help in dispelling the heavier emotions that hold you down and keep you from laughing more often. Even just a little bit of sun can help with this. It doesn’t have to be a lot.
What kind of adventure lies hidden in my neighborhood?
The Ice Skating Girl
Once it’s not so hot outside, taking a walk in your neighborhood can be a good way to connect with the community that you live in while still being a somewhat solitary activity. Currently, the heat makes the hills unbearable and means there’s just too many people out there to really enjoy the activity, but once it cools down that will change.
Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Red Maple Leaf for Adaptability and Connection
Carnelian Agate Mushroom for Focusing On Aspirations
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: LOONACY GAME CARDS
The @lightningwildflower June Inner Journey Challenge
Release Prompt for June 27th : What burden am I ready to release?
Reading Summary: Don’t allow your feelings on aging (Judgement compounded by the Page of Cups atop Three of Swords Rx) to hold you back from going after the things you enjoy (Knight of Cups).
Take Away: As you creep towards your fourth decade on earth, you’re starting to experience your first negative feelings in relation to aging. Through your 20s and 30s, you really didn’t have much of an opinion on this. As you reach towards your 40s, though, you’re starting to worry that you might lose your appeal to your partner or start to weaken in ways that could affect your way of life.
These cards encourage you to let go of those fears, and to instead work on stealing as much enjoyment in your life as you can. Don’t allow your fears of what’s to come to hold you back from these things.
Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Wood Fern for Exorcising Negative Influences
Dried Cedar Bundle for Protection from Negative Influences
Conch Shell Knot for Concentration, Clarity, and Determination
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: THE HEARTS PATH TAROT
This is a catch up post, and I’m not entirely sure what the self kindness was for this day.
Gideon’s Challenge – The Sway
The Sway
There is
no stillness
even in
quiet moments
when even
just the lightest
breeze causes
whispers
through
the trees
and flowers
to dance
among
the sway
of grasses
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Free Spirit Seeking
Today’s meditation was a ten minute #DailyCalm session from the @Calm app.
• • • ◈ • ☀️ • ◈ • • •
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is The Fool card, which is traditionally a representation of innocence, carelessness, carefree enthusiasm, and new beginnings.
The Fool has then been combined with the Willy-Nilly affirmation card from the Nowbits Oracle, which says, “Don’t be afraid to live willy-nilly. Or at least to make lots of room for it. Your future self knows the magic of this! Don’t believe me? Think you always need a plan? Did you PLAN your greatest loves in life? Did you know HOW you were going to connect with those loves before it happened? I didn’t think so. See what I mean? willy-nilly can lead to a lot of great stuff.”
It doesn’t make a lick of logical sense, but it’s true all the same. Someone who dances to life’s drums with joy, enthusiasm, and trust in the universe can be just as (if not more) happy in their life than another who meticulously plans out every event and accomplishment.
So why wouldn’t we choose more joy? What is holding us back from letting go and living a little more freely? And, if we did, how would it feel and what would be different?
The message in today’s Fool card and affirmation encourages us to ask these questions, as well as reminding us that we don’t have to control every little aspect of our lives. It’s okay to let go and have some fun now and then.
DECK USED: SOUL CARDS 1 & 2 (TAROT MODIFICATION)
One Card Tarot Journal Activity by @mariasofia_astro
Chapter 3 | Entry 4 – Family and Friends
Affirmation : “My perspective as an individual matters, no matter what my role is in a group.”
Prompt : Families are often best understood by those in them. If you had to describe your family to someone you’ve never met, how would you do so? Use the card you draw to aid in your understanding of your family and inspire your description.
What feelings came up when I pulled this card?
Isolation. Aloneness. I can’t say loneliness, but a feeling of being on my own.
Combined with this came a need to understand what is going on around me, but being unable to “make heads or tails of it”.
What elements of the card’s meaning resonate with me and this prompt?
Usually when I think of contemplative isolation, it’s the Hermit that comes to mind.
In this pull, though, the contemplation is less about personal soul searching and more about trying to understand one’s surroundings from the point of a bystander. The Hanged Man is that bystander, tasked not just with making sense of the things and people around him but also handicapped in that process.
What in the artwork spoke to me?
The Hanged Man is bleeding. This speaks of the situation being one that hurts the observer (me), even when not directly involved in the situation.
The crow in the tree gives the impression there is a timeline involved. Time is running out to find a way to make things better.
My prompt response and reflections.
My family is scattered and the lines of communication are broken. Everyone is waiting for someone else to make the first move, and are so stuck in their own perspectives that even in isolation, it’s all they can see.
I am also guilty in this. They are unwilling to help me see things from their perspective, and thus I’m unable to let things go and take the first steps in reconciliation. I feel like I have a need to understand before I can move past it and bridge the gap.
Other elements included in this reading:
Petrified Wood D20 and D6 Dice
DECK USED: THE QUARRY TAROT
The @lightningwildflower June Inner Journey Challenge
Prompts for June 23rd through 26th
Offer: Where do I need to offer myself compassion?
Temperance – Stop beating yourself up for not doing more. You do a lot. Perhaps it’s time to start logging your daily accomplishments again in order to get a handle on your expectations and negative perceptions of what you aren’t getting done each day, and instead impress upon yourself how much you actually are doing.
Listen: What message will arrive if I slow down and listen?
Three of Wands – Your head is so full of plans and “what if” contingency strategies that your missing out on the opportunity to act.
Put down the drawing board, take a big breath, and clear your mind… you’ll then find it much easier to take that first step.
Sun square Neptune: In what way am I confusing fantasy and reality?
Seven of Cups – You are entertaining too many “wishful thinking” and “what if” anxieties in your decision making process. Try writing these things down and then crossing out the unrealistic from the list.
Speak: How can I speak out with greater confidence?
Nine of Cups – Take a moment to connect with those things in your life that really make you happy and give you comfort. This is the foundation to speak from, as it allows you to draw on the joy that these parts of your life have to offer.
Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Oak Branch with Moss and Lichen for Perseverance
Conch Shell Knot for Concentration, Clarity, and Determination
Carnelian Agate for Inner Drive and Focusing On Aspirations
Citrine for Energy Lift (easing the weight of heavy energies)
Desert Rose for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: SOUL CARDS 1 & 2 (TAROT MODIFICATION)
This is a catch up post, and I’m not entirely sure what the self kindness was for this day.
Gideon’s Challenge – Greedy
Greedy
How is it
that I can
miss you
so much
when you’re
no further
than a text
away from me
at any moment
and yet
I sit and stare
at my phone
instead
of picking
it up
to hit
send
Twisting the Leaf 