Delicate
softness
sometimes
leaves
the strongest
impression
on those
that see
the world
in black
and white
sharp angles
and stone
Gideon’s Challenge – Delicate
Month: July 2026
Expressions of Love
Today’s meditation was skipped.
• • • ◈ • 🍃 • ◈ • • •
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 Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of satisfaction and stability in the area of one’s finances, resources, home, health, manifestations, and the physical world. This often translates into themes that have to do with hard earned success, accomplishments, abundance created through patience and hard work, and reaching a point in that abundance and stability where it is comfortably shared with those around us.
The Ten of Pentacles has then been combined with an affirmation from the Miracle Mantras deck, which says, “I give and receive love freely.”
I provide stability. Everyone has a “love language” by which they naturally express love to others. For some it’s touch, or words of support, or gifts, or service. For me, it’s stability.
This doesn’t mean that I express my love through giving people money. It’s not as limiting as providing resources either, although sometimes that’s part of it. It’s that I provide those around me with a sense of security. They feel safe with me. They feel stable with me. I help others find and experience (sometimes in small ways and sometimes larger) that feeling of grounded stability we all need now and then.
The message in today’s cards is an encouragement to look at and take some time to explore how you express love. Not just romantic love, but love given freely to others in a language that is an intrinsic part of your nature.
DECK USED: MAYA LAND COLLAGE TAROT AND MIRACLE MANTRAS AFFIRMATION DECK
#DiscordTarotholicsJul2026 Challenge
Philosophical Questions for July 8th
What is strength?
Seven of Cups Rx and House of Otter
Strength lies in knowing when to fight loud and wild for your convictions, and when to approach things with a softer and gentle tone.
Strength means listening to the past and learning from it, carrying those lessons forward into the future instead of leaving them behind.
Strength means no man is an island and, in supporting each other, we strengthen each other individually and as a whole.
Where does strength come from?
Knight of Swords and Balsamic Moon
Strength comes from the lessons learned both individually and as a community as we stumble our way through the dark of uncertainty.
Strength comes from allowing ourselves to look at the past and accept that we don’t (and can’t) know everything, but are still eager to learn what we can.
Strength is born within the seeds of curiosity.
Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Red Maple Leaf for Adaptability and Connection
Foraged Oak Branch with Moss and Lichen for Perseverance
Clear Quartz for boosting Mental Clarity
DECK USED: JOHN BAUER TAROT AND JAGUAR KAI ORACLE
The @ambitiouslyalexa July Journal Prompts
Prompt for July 8th : A desire you’re done shaming
Reading Summary: The Page of Pentacles and Eight of Swords both look back in the direction of the Six of Cups.
Your shame resides in your past (Six of Cups) and those things you have tried to put behind you, ignore (Eight of Pentacles), and yet learn from (Page of Pentacles).
Take Away: It’s time to examine what in your past you’re hiding from and the unresolved experiences that lie there in relation to others’ impossible expectations and demands.
You were able to stand strong in who you are and what you liked back then, so why are you shaming yourself for it now?
Ref: queerness, softness, “feminine” interests
Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Cedar Bundle for Protection from Negative Influences
Foraged Lodgepole Pine for Resilience, Growth, and Renewal
Scotch Pine Cone for Purging Negative Influences
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: MAYA LAND TAROT
This is a catch up post, and I’m not entirely sure what the self kindness was for this day.
Gideon’s Challenge – Cracked
Cracked
broken bits
fall from
cracked surfaces
like ice
dropped
to shatter
on hot pavement
and although
no marks
are left behind
something
is lost
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Bite Sized Busy Work
Today’s meditation was skipped.
• • • ◈ • 🍃 • ◈ • • •
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is the Four of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of one’s passionate love for the security and welcoming energies of home. This often translates into themes that have to do with homecoming, celebrating home and stability, as well as relaxation in comfortable spaces.
The Four of Wands has then been combined with a card from the Animantras Chakra Oracle, which says, “Be Busy”.
You would feel far more welcomed and comfortable if your home was better cared for.
The lack of a housekeeper compounded with the fact that running your business from home creates a fair bit of chaos means that things have gotten a bit out of hand. It’s overwhelming, and because it’s overwhelming it becomes something that you want to hide from and ignore instead of deal with. This, in turn, exacerbates the problem and at the same time, blows the task up in your head to the point it feels insurmountable and hopeless.
The fact is, though, that if you do just a little bit of busy work each day, that insurmountable mountain will become a molehill and the things that need done will be done before you know it.
Today’s Four of Wands and prompt card are an encouragement to do one little thing to make your home feel more welcoming and comfortable. Then, tomorrow? Do a different little thing. It’s okay to do the busy work one little bite sized piece at a time.
DECKS USED: MARSEILLE CAT TAROT AND ANIMANTRAS CHAKRA ORACLE
The @ambitiouslyalexa July Journal Prompts
Prompt for July 7th : A moment you want to stretch out
Reading Summary: You absolutely love your alone time of both the healthy and unhealthy varieties (Right Card), to the point when it is interrupted you often become disgruntled (Center Card) and forget to celebrate and enjoy that together time with others (Left Card).
Take Away: It can be hard to let go of the peace and solitude that alone time provides you with. You want to stretch these moments out and wallow in them. This urge is so powerful within you that, even when the alone time is of the unhealthy variety, you resent its interruption.
These cards are a reminder that time with others is also precious and should be savored and celebrated. Don’t let your urge to wallow in alone time (including unhealthy alone time) hold you back from enjoying time spent with others. You’ll be able to get back to a bit of that alone time later on, and will have the joy of those memories with others to then savor when you’re there.
Other elements included in this reading:
Chinese Silver Grass for fostering Grounding and Nurturing Stability
Dried Cedar Bundle for Protection from Negative Influences
Desert Rose for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: TAROT OF ATLANTIS (trimmed naked)
#DiscordTarotholicsJul2026 Challenge
3-Card Spread Prompt for July 7th : About dreams…
What repeated element in your dreams have you been overlooking or ignoring?
Nine of Cups atop Ace of Coins – Your dreams always start off well. No matter what ends up happening, you always begin with everything feeling safe, happy, comfortable, and secure.
What is the presence of this element trying to convey to you?
Seven of Coins – That potential lies in this moment of beginning. Although most of your dreams are nightmares or dreams of frustration, the potential at the beginning is there for them to take a happier direction.
That solid starting point in your dreams is telling you that with less micromanagement and meddling, better things can follow.
How can this new awareness help you in your everyday life?
Five of Swords – Less struggle means less strife and less exhaustion. If you want a healthier, happier future, stop trying to control every aspect of its creation.
Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Rosebuds for Potential and Beauty Waiting to Unfold
Japanese Cherry Leaf as a Reminder of Life’s Fleeting Moments
Fluorite for the Amplification of Stress Relief
Aquamarine for Fostering Relaxation and Letting Go
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: MARSEILLE CAT TAROT
I took a pain pill today and spend some time on an ice pack instead of just forcing myself to keep going and ignore the pain.
Gideon’s Challenge – Crowded
Crowded
too many people
crammed together
taking up
all the air
and all the space
so that a reminder
of their presence
lives
in every nook
cranny
and moment
and the peace
of being alone
is lost
even with no one
in sight
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
What Love Is… and Isn’t
Today’s meditation was skipped.
• • • ◈ • 🍃 • ◈ • • •
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is the Eight of Cups, which is traditionally a representation of withdrawal, abandonment, or letting go of things, situations, or people in your life that are just not working out for you emotionally.
The Eight of Cups has then been combined with the Protection and Strength card from The Life Navigator Deck, which says, “Love is who we are. Love made you and walks close beside you, always ready to protect and strengthen you in times of need.”
Remember that participation is not always necessary, and just because you walk away from an experience doesn’t mean that the others involved won’t still love you, regardless of your lack of interest. Neither does it mean that you don’t love them.
Real love is not conditional upon you allowing others to cross your boundaries. True love is about who you are, not what you can do for others.
Therefore, even when you love someone dearly doesn’t mean that you need to be their drinking buddy or wing man, or go to the carnival with them, or be the one that they depend on for all the stuff they don’t want to and/or can’t do themselves. That is not what love is about.
If someone is going to reject you because you aren’t filling those rolls for them, then it’s not love.
The message in today’s Eight of Cups and affirmation card is a reminder that love is more than just a companion. Love protects as well as supports, which means if you are stepping back for your own reasons? They will still love you because that’s what you needed to do.
DECK USED: WITCHES TAROT (1989) AND THE LIFE NAVIGATOR DECK
The @ambitiouslyalexa July Journal Prompts
Prompt for July 6th : A habit you’re rebuilding
Reading Summary: You are rebuilding the habit of allowing yourself, when feeling vulnerable (Soften) you are to reach out your partner and loved ones (Kindred) for their comfort and support (Support).
Take Away: Once upon a time, I was better at this than I am today. There was a time during my relationship with Gideon that when I toppled into subdrop it was easier for me to reach out to him and seek out support to get me through the experience.
I don’t know what happened. Somewhere along the line I forgot how to do this and once again became resistant to seeking out that support and allowing myself to have it. It’s like I regressed back to before that period of acceptance.
I am now seeking to re-awaken that acceptance and allowance for support, and to reach out to him when I need him instead of forcing myself to deal with the subdrop on my own.
Other elements included in this reading:
Baby’s Breath Bundle for Connecting to Purity of Heart
Gneiss Stone for Patience in Moments of Discomfort
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: SOUL SEEDS ORACLE
#DiscordTarotholicsJul2026 Challenge
3-Card Spread Prompt for July 6th : About creativity…
What unseen or unacknowledged factor is the source of my current creative block?
Ace of Swords – You are too much in your own head and aren’t doing anything physically to stir things up, not even in so far as writing down your new ideas.
If you visualize your creative juices as a body of water currently lying stagnant, then your ideas are simply a gentle brush of a breeze over the surface. You need the physical act of writing them down or doing something about them to dip beneath the surface and stir the currents below into movement. That movement can then eventually become flow when nurtured in a particular direction.
How can I move beyond this block to access and amplify my creative energies and inspiration?
Seven of Wands – Act. Show your devotion and how much you value your creativity by acting in some way upon the ideas you have. Do something, even if it’s something small, to get those juices moving instead of sitting still.
Moving forward, what strategy can I an enlist to help keep my creative energies flowing?
The Tower atop Two of Cups – During times of struggle and strife, don’t abandon your creative endeavors. This is how you got in this situation in the first place. Don’t let the chaos of other responsibilities and obligations shut down your creative spark.
Other elements included in this reading:
Zodiac Wheel on cusp of Aquarius & Pisces for Empathy & Creativity
Foraged Oak Branch with Moss and Lichen for Perseverance
Foraged Lodgepole Pine for Resilience, Growth, and Renewal
Foraged Acorns for Protection during New Beginnings
Citrine for Energy Lift (easing the weight of heavy energies)
Carnelian Agate Mushroom for Focusing On Aspirations
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: WITCHES TAROT (1989)
I pushed myself past the resistance I felt to letting Gid help when I discovered that the drop has started.
