Released
a breath taken
and anxiety
eases
as reality
reasserts itself
once more
and the end
of the world
isn’t at hand
after all
for the panic
made everything
far more dire
than reality
revealed
Gideon’s Challenge – Released
Month: August 2026
Little Things and Pocket Change
Today’s meditation was a fifteen minute long self-guided visualization session while listening to JW LoFi’s Fog track.
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Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is The Sun card, which is traditionally a representation of success, optimism, positivity, fun and frivolity. In my practice, the Sun is also a symbol of masculine vitality, virility, and warmth.
The Sun card has then been combined with a Mindfulness Practices card from the Rethink 120 Learning Cards For Mindful Daily Life, which says, “Mindful Tea Ceremony: Mindfully brew, a cup of tea. Pay attention to the process of boiling the water, selecting the tea leaves, and steeping them. Sit down and savor each sip, noticing the aroma, flavors, and warmth. Engage your senses fully and embrace the moment of relaxation and nourishment. The goal is to create a ritual of presence and self-care, finding tranquility in the simple act of drinking tea.”
Not all goodness in life comes from career, success, or monetary rewards. Sometimes just spending time with another can create a sense of well-being, as can making a cup of tea.
The key in life’s celebrations and positive moments doesn’t lie in the accolades of others or the garnering of material goods. Instead, it lies in the mindfulness to acknowledge the good stuff… even the little stuff that’s good. In doing so you choose to brighten your day one nibble-sized piece at a time.
The message in today’s Sun card and Mindfulness Practice card is a reminder that like pocket change tossed in a jar, all the little good things begin to add up over time. As they do so, they change your perception of each day that passes into something a little brighter and lighter than before. These cards encourage us to take the time to be mindful of those small good things in our life instead of letting them pass us by unnoticed or ignored.
DECKS USED: ANCESTRAL PATH TAROT AND RETHINK 120 LEARNING CARDS FOR MINDFUL DAILY LIFE
@note.project August Journal Prompts
Prompt for August 22nd and 23rd
A choice that feels aligned with the person I want to be
Seek your inner wisdom
I don’t want to be someone who looks to others for validation, but neither do I want to be unfeeling to their opinions and perspectives.
Instead, I wish to tap into my intuition, inner moral compass, and gut instincts and allow them to have priority. Yet, at the same time, still listen to what others have to say with an open mind so that I see and understand their perspectives on the situation.
I want to know who I am, and be unshakable in that authenticity to the point where considering others perspectives, opinions, and ideas doesn’t change that sense of comfortable security, but broadens my horizons and understanding of the world around me and the people therein.
A relationship I want to nurture more intentionally
Make a plan and take action
I want to tap into the inspiration and motivation that creates action with a flavor of curiosity and interest, rather than approaching creativity with a feeling of reluctance and dissent.
Often it feels like I’m stuck in the mire of slow movement and stagnancy to the point where it sometimes seems like I’m not getting anywhere or doing anything at all. It’s hard to be mindful of one’s accomplishment during this time when it feels like nothing is getting done.
Writing down the things that I am doing helps to shut down that inner voice telling me that I’m doing nothing, but it does not inspire me with motivation and get me off my ass to change things up and do more. As a result, I would like to find a way to more deeply nurture my relationship with motivation, inspiration, and curiosity.
Other elements included in this reading:
Staghorn Sumac for Connecting with Nature and the Wild Within
Rose Quartz for Gentle Kindness to Self and Others
Moss Agate for Attracting Opportunities for Growth
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: LIFE DESIGN CARDS
@lightningwildflower‘s August Reflections Challenge
Sun enters Virgo
Prompt for August 22nd : How can I bring intention to my daily routines?
Reading Summary: Don’t be tempted to run off with “a bunch of trinkets” you haven’t earned and that hold little meaning for you (The Devil atop Seven of Swords). That path only leads to more uncertainty (The Moon). Instead, seek out the things that make you truly happy (Nine of Cups), and share those things with others (Three of Cups).
Take Away: Hoarding things that hold very little sentimental value or meaning for you can easily take up a great deal of your time and attention if you let it. It’s important to remember that if something doesn’t bring you joy then there’s no point in having it. Nor is there much point in having it if all you’re going to do is stare at it and not share it with others or otherwise enjoy it.
The key to a greater sense of purpose and intention in your daily routines is to fill these routines with substance and meaning. If you’re just collecting stuff to do just for the sake of having stuff to do, but that stuff has no meaning to it, then of course there will be less intention within these routines. It is better to have less to do and more meaning, than it is to have more to do but less meaning.
Other elements included in this reading:
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
Norway Maple Key for Fostering Strength and Resilience
Calcite for Gently Calming the Mind and Stimulating Insights
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: ANCESTRAL PATH TAROT
I ordered sushi at the place that never fails to always serve good sushi when we went out to dinner today.
Gideon’s Challenge – Overwhelmed
Overwhelmed
a moment of pause
needed
for the mind to rest
and worries
to ease
as anxiety tries
to make fissures
in my calm
and silence
in noticing the
smallest of things
can help in finding
my footing
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Missing Flawed Trend
Today’s meditation was skipped.
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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 Swords, which is traditionally a representation of willful ignorance, self-imposed restrictions, turning a blind eye (especially when it can be harmful to self), and entertaining a victim mentality.
The Eight of Swords has then been combined with a card from the Art From the Heart Affirmation Cards, which says, “I have control over my perceptions, decisions, and actions. When you consciously choose to fill your day with the highest priority actions – those that truly matter to you – you created deeply meaningful and inspiring life.”
Sometimes it’s difficult to open ourselves up to our own faults and flaws. We lash out at others without realizing having done so, we allow snark to get in the way of genuine conversation, etc. These things happen. It’s a part of being human.
Stress, anxiety, or a hyper focus on a particular thing or theme can blind us to unhealthy ways of dealing that can leave us (and those around us) floundering instead of coping.
This is why it’s important to work at looking outside yourself and your own perceptions to enlist a greater perspective. In doing so, we are given the opportunity to adjust our approach into something more caring, kind, and open. The key is in wanting to do this, though, instead of falling back on unhealthy defense mechanisms.
The message in today’s Eight of Swords and affirmation card is a reminder that it’s important to open our eyes and look honestly at how we are treating ourselves and others. Are we leaning into abusive self defensive maneuvers? If so, it’s time to be honest about that and seek a better way do deal.
DECKS USED: ERENBERG TAROT AND ART FROM THE HEART AFFIRMATION CARDS
@lightningildflower‘s August Reflections Challenge
Venus opposite Saturn
Prompt for August 21st : How can I honor both desire and responsibility?
Reading Summary: Don’t waffle (Haste) when asked to make a decision (The Boat), go with your gut (The Deep).
Take Away: Your intuition always knows. Think of how many times you’ve followed your gut and it’s been right… and how many times you’ve -not- followed your gut and looked back later to realize that you absolutely should have in the first place.
If you catch the whispers of your intuition when they speak deep inside you, it will tell you which direction to turn. The key, is in the fact that this guidance comes in a whisper. You have to listen for it.
Let that quiet intuitive voice be your guide, and take care not to allow logic and reason (or fears and uncertainty) to step in and usurp its position in the lead.
Other elements included in this reading:
Conch Shell Knots for Concentration, Clarity, and Determination
Great Scallop Shell for the Flowing with Beginnings and Endings
Cowrie Shell to Connect with Wealth and Fertility
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: RUNES OF SAND AND SEA DECK
#DiscordTarotholicsAug2026 Challenge
Prompt for August 22nd : Where in life do I need to be serious and buckle down?
Reading Summary: Lean into those things that you have excelled at and still have more room to advance (Eight of Pentacles). This isn’t about winning or losing (Five of Swords Rx), nor about doing things the way they’ve always been done (The Hierophant Rx).
Take Away: It is in creating and sharing your artistry that you truly excel. These cards indicate it’s time to look beyond the ways you have heretofore been going after this pursuit, and to stop looking at it as a pass or fail endeavor.
Work at viewing your creativity an adventure and an exploration, for it needs to be treated as such. Dive in with the excitement of exploring something new and letting your curiosity run rampant, instead of tripping over feelings of obligation or responsibility.
Just because you make money through your creative spark doesn’t mean it has to feel like a chore.
Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Cedar Bundle for Protection from Negative Influences
Green Calcite for Finding Balance Within the Self
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: ERENBERG TAROT
I’m putting extra effort and mindfulness into tempering my negative inner narrative, especially in reference to how it starts to reflect how I see the world around me and those in it.
Gideon’s Challenge – Seeking Peace
Seeking Peace
if I slip beneath
the surface
don’t worry
that it’s too cold
or that I float
still and lifeless
in the limbo
of water’s hold
for I’m just
pretending
the reaper
has come to
say hello
and revisiting
a moment
of peace
remembered
and then let go
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
To Unburden the Soul
Today’s meditation was a ten minute #DailyCalm session from the @Calm.
• • • ◈ • 🌻 • ◈ • • •
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 Swords, which is traditionally a representation long journeys coming to an end, painful endings, lessons learned the hard way, deep wounds, and sometimes can indicate loss or betrayal.
The Ten of Swords has then been combined with Sharing Shame card from The Healing Mantra Deck, which says, “When I share my deepest pain, I give myself permission to be.”
Sometimes, when we trip over one of our own triggers, or someone else trips them for us, it can feel like the end of the world.
Yesterday I had that experience for myself when my closest friend spoke words to me that echoed the insidious negative self talk that has whispered in my head for decades.
He did not use these words in the same context as that narrative in my head, and yet because I’ve heard that narrative all day every day for years on end, when the words came out his mouth, I immediately heard them in the same context as that narrative.
As a result, even though we talked things out after my panic subsided from this experience, I spent the rest of the day quietly bleeding on the inside while pretending I was fine.
It wasn’t until I got home and could be alone that I allowed myself to cry, but even then it wasn’t until I shared with someone (Gideon) what was going on in my head and what I was feeling that I started to feel as if I was becoming a bit more steady.
And here’s where the message in today’s Ten of Swords and affirmation card come into focus. Sometimes when you’re hurting, keeping that pain to yourself only prolongs the hurt and uncertainty. Am I magically all better now that I’ve talked out what was going on in my head with someone? No, I admit that I’m not; but it does help. It helps to share, even when we don’t want to and would prefer to just crawl up in a corner alone somewhere to lick our wounds.
DECKS USED: WHEEL OF THE YEAR TAROT AND THE HEALING MANTRA DECK
@note.project August Journal Prompts
Prompts for August 19th through 21st
Something I want to make more space for in my everyday life
Bloomeria, Nine of Spades (Rubber Plant), Clotted Murff
Strength training, hiking, and other activities that push at your current limits.
You want to participate in more of the activities that foster physical stability, aware that in doing so you give your body a chance to feel better and flourish, and also ease some of your gut health problems in the process.
Fear and uncertainty hold you back, as well as your unwillingness to work through the additional pain involved.
Something I want to spend less energy on
Two of Spades (Snake Plant) atop Two of Diamonds (Gerbera Plant), Wumplebud
You want to spend less of your energy waffling in indecision to the point that that indecisiveness begins to upset the balance of everything in your life.
Indecision spreads and overpowers one segment of life at a time. It starts off small, and grows so quickly and easily that it begins choking out the good stuff in your life in no time flat.
A boundary that supports my well-being
Three of Hearts (Poinsettia Plant), Scuttlebloom
Take care you are not bending over backward just to please others. Groveling for their attention and good favor is not healthy for you or them.
Remember that it’s possible to course correct with dignity, instead of by debasing yourself or your values.
Other elements included in this reading:
Pressed Pansy Flowers for Hearing the Heart More Clearly
Dried Red Maple Leaf for Adaptability and Connection
Gneiss Stone for Patience in Moments of Discomfort
Carved Rhyolite Leaf for Facilitating Calm Transitions
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: YOGA THE SPIRITUAL LIBERATION PLAYING CARDS AND PLANTS DECK FROM THE VICIOUS GARDENS BOARD GAME
@lightningildflower‘s August Reflections Challenge
Steadiness Prompt for August 20th : What does steady progress look like for me?
Reading Summary: A little uncertainty and discomfort (The Moon) while still being in tune with what’s right for you (The Lovers). Focusing less on what feels good (Knight of Cups Rx), and more on what feels right (The Lovers).
Take Away: Steady progress means slowing down in order to become more in tune with what truly aligns with who I am and who I want to become, instead of allowing uncertainty and discomfort to cause me to halt, or the temptations of pleasure to tempt me into charging forward without a clear direction.
Sometimes it’s hard to accept that what -feels- good isn’t always what’s right for us. This is true with activities, with people and relationships, and with the choices we’re confronted with every day.
It’s only in slowing down that we are able to feel our way through what is right for us… and what isn’t.
Other elements included in this reading:
English Elm Seeds to Encourage Flexibility During Growth
Cave Aragonite Stalactite for Fostering Tolerance and Understanding
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: WHEEL OF THE YEAR TAROT
I talked to J today about how the words he said yesterday hurt me.
Twisting the Leaf 