Frustrated
When no amount
of product
can make
the fly aways
calm
the corkscrews
relax
the cowlicks
settle
it becomes
a challenge
to not pull out
the razor
and start
shearing
it all off
Gideon’s Challenge – Frustrated
Month: August 2026
The Ride Along
Today’s meditation was a ten minute #DailyCalm session from the @Calm app.
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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 Lovers card, which is traditionally a representation of love and relationships, long term contracts, harmonious unions, and making choices that are geared toward what is best for you.
The Lovers card has then been combined with a card from the In This Moment Mindfulness Affirmation Cards, which says, “In this moment, I flow with life and let go of control.”
Every day we make choices in what we engage in, and what we choose not to engage in. Sometimes those choices are good ones… and sometimes not so good.
Usually, the not so good choices in this area, come about because we let our emotions or the demands and expectations of others take over our decision-making process, and during times when others are making decisions or pushing expectations upon us that do not align with our authentic selves or our desires on who we wish to become.
The message in today’s Lovers card and affirmation are a reminder that it’s okay to let go of control once in a while. Just make sure that when you do, that it’s during time when you can continue to float for a time along the path you’ve chosen for yourself, and not get pulled off course.
DECKS USED: STAR POWER TAROT AND IN THIS MOMENT MINDFULNESS AFFIRMATION CARDS
#DiscordTarotholicsAug2026 Challenge
Prompts for August 19th through 21st
Philosophical Question: Can we understand good without evil?
Ten of Cups Rx and Hugag
No. Like many things in life, humanity has trouble understanding certain concepts without something in opposition to compare it to.
This doesn’t mean that there can’t be good without evil, though, only that we cannot understand one of these concepts fully without being able to make a comparison to the other.
As an adult, where am I neglecting myself at this time?
Ten of Wands and Tsmok
You are putting too much pressure and unreasonable expectation upon yourself instead of doing what comes naturally to you. In doing so, you are neglecting needs that have been with you throughout your entire life and you know are necessary to be healthy and happy.
Stop trying to juggle and put the burdens down now and then so that you can get the time in nature that you need
How can I begin to resolve this pattern of neglect?
Death and Yowie
Stop ignoring your needs to get out and nature among the trees and connect with the soil and roots. Ignoring these needs will not make them go away or fade. It just makes being able to fulfill them seem more illusive.
Other elements included in this reading:
Staghorn Sumac for Connecting with Nature and the Wild Within
Foraged Parmeliaceae Lichen for a “Breath of Fresh Air”
Dried Cedar Bundle for Protection from Negative Influences
Conch Shell Knot for Concentration and Clarity
Green Aventurine for Harmony and Balance of the Heart
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: THE UNOFFICIAL SHEL SILVERSTEIN TAROT AND STRANGE & EERIE CRYPTID CREATURES ORACLE
@lightningildflower‘s August Reflections Challenge
Awakening Prompt for August 19th : What part of me feels more awake or aware today?
Reading Summary: The judgy bitch (Judgment and Empress Rx) and the problem solver (Magician) that insists the old ways are the best ways (The Hierophant).
Take Away: Why break the wheel? If it’s not broken, why fix it?
The above was written this morning when I first pulled these cards. Indeed, the judgy bitch and problem solver were both very much awake and aware today.
Conflict happened due to the former, and was resolved (I hope) because of the latter. Things were broken that I didn’t realize were broken… things need fixing that I hadn’t realized needed fixing.
Now, the judgy bitch is living in my head picking me apart, and the Empress Rx is a reminder that I can allow my negative inner narratives to bleed me dry on these words spoken that were not meant in the way they were heard and taken… or I can be kind to myself and try to let it go.
Other elements included in this reading:
Staghorn Sumac for Connecting with Nature and the Wild Within
Conch Shell Knot for Concentration and Clarity
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: STAR POWER TAROT
When I got home and could have some time to myself (with Gideon), I bawled my eyes out concerning something someone said that severely tripped my triggers earlier today.
🎨 Weekly Creativity Prompt – Fragile Things
Prompt: “Pull at least three cards and use them as the foundation to tell us about the life of a very delicate or fragile object or person.”
The dandelion tuft stands tall in the grass,
(The Fool)
proud of its lions mane of white
(Six of Wands)
A soft breeze tussling it’s delicate fibers
(Temperance)
until a stronger one makes them take flight
(Three of Wands)
And the now bereft head watches with a sigh
(Death)
as its seedlings float away out of sight
(Ace of Pentacles)
DECK USED: WAYHOME TAROT
Gideon’s Challenge – Triggered
Triggered
words
that make
my world
implode
words
not heard
with my ears
for decades
words
that shatter
my insides
to pieces
as they echo
and reinforce
insidious whispers
that my brain
has been
poisoning me with
for always
and I cry
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
The Inhale and Exhale of the Universe
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 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.
On the Wheel of Fortune card is also the phrase, “The magic happens when you believe.”
The Wheel of Fortune card has then been combined with a card from the Messages From the Universe deck, which says, “Your life is about to start to move quickly in some areas. Events that seem to have been on hold suddenly propel forward. Move with the flow and be mindful of what needs your attention most.”
Life is a series of cycles. Sometimes things move slow, and sometimes things move so slow that they feel like they’re not moving at all. Then, at other times, they speed up and move so fast that it feels like you can’t even keep up.
The acceleration and deceleration are all a part of the natural ebb and flow of the world around you and its energies. It’s like the world breathing in and out. This isn’t something that we can stop, nor is it something that it is healthy for us to try and prevent.
Instead, the healthiest course of action is to go with the flow. Be adaptable, and allow your own activities and energies to align with those of the world around you. Time, after all, is a subjective perception.
The message in today’s Wheel of Fortune card and affirmation is an encouragement to seek alignment with the universe and its cycles instead of resisting them. Rather than stubbornly trying to perceive things the way you want them to be and in doing so forcing them into a box that doesn’t fit, try working to let go of your resistance and go with the flow instead.
DECKS USED: THE SEED TAROCLE AND MESSAGES FROM THE UNIVERSE DECK
@lightningildflower‘s August Reflections Challenge
Recalibration Prompt for August 18th : What will help me reclaim my sense of direction?
Reading Summary: Utilize your creativity (Queen of Clubs) as a time to restore harmony (Six of Diamonds) and balance (Four of Spades) where disorder and discord has taken root (a lack of odd numbered cards).
Take Away: Once upon a time, your creative spark was something that you took great joy in and a type of play that you could indulge in and explore without guilt or discomfort. You reveled in your creativity, finding each new idea and inspiration and adventure you were eager to explore.
It’s time to return to this attitude towards creativity. In doing so, it will help you to also reclaim your sense of direction that has been lost since losing touch with this joy you once experienced and enjoyed.
Other elements included in this reading:
Staghorn Sumac for Connecting with Nature and the Wild Within
Dried Cedar Bundle for Protection from Negative Influences
Gneiss Stone for Patience in Moments of Discomfort
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: HYAKKI YAGYŌ PLAYING CARDS
@note.project August Journal Prompts
Prompts for August 17th and 18th
A routine that helps me feel more like myself
Death and Healing
You are learning to get in touch with your authenticity by going through a process of healing and self exploration. Stop looking forward to the end of the journey.
Healing takes time. You are not just exploring and healing from those things that hurt you and the wounds you carry, but there is also healing involved in the grief of letting these things go.
You will get the most out of the experience by living in the moment and savoring what’s happening right now, rather than looking ahead to whatever comes next.
A habit I want to continue building
Nine of Cups atop Nine of Swords; Diversity
Your deck collection is massive, and the idea of downsizing does not bring you joy.
Stop listening to the negativity from your inner narratives (occasionally fed by outside sources) and instead use the diversity of your collection to keep you interested and invested in the self exploration, healing, and helping that are the foundations of your practice.
You are learning to tune out that negative inner voice and the naysaying of others that have no business being in -your- business in the first place. Keep it up. Fuck’em if they don’t get it. It’s not for them. It’s for you, and your enjoyment.
Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Rhododendron Leaf for Fostering Confidence
Gneiss Stone for Patience in Moments of Discomfort
Calcite for Gently Calming the Mind and Stimulating Insights
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: THE SEED TAROCLE AND INNER TREE INTUITIVE ORACLE
I pushed myself to get my ass online today so I could spend some time with Gid instead of wallowing in the “meh” of subdrop on my own.
Gideon’s Challenge – Wanderlust
Wanderlust
lets go
for a long walk
that starts off
easy
and becomes
a challenge
in rocky ground
and elevation
as we end up
scaling
steep inclines
for yet unseen
peaks
Twisting the Leaf 