I discovered this little challenge on Instagram and thought I’d give it a go. Since it’s not demanding a card pull each day, I thought it might be fun to use it for a couple of my Pagan’s Perspective posts instead of adding it to my daily rotations.
1 Okay so this one might be just a lil’ weird since this is my blog and all. But… Hi, I’m Twist. I’m in my early 30s and live in the Pacific NW. I have a twin sister and a beautiful tortie cat named Luna. I am a farm hand, a jewelry designer, a gardener, a nature photographer, a fortune teller, a teacher and a student, a non-theist pagan, a survivor (of cancer among other things), and I am in a life-long battle with the inky black pit of clinical depression. I have an education in botany and horticulture, and a deep affinity for the earth and those things that grow from it.
2 My favorite thing about Samhain is the crisp feeling in the air. I love that the weather has changed and the scent in the air at this time of year is more than just that of a season’s change, but speaks to me of so many elements from the thinning of the veil to the wet and decay that autumn brings.
3 My favorite divination tools are cards. Sometimes tarot, sometimes playing cards, sometimes image only cards. But it’s cards. Always cards. It’s not the only divination tools that I use, but absolutely is my favorite.
4 Samhain is about religion, Halloween is about aesthetic. Samhain is about ancestors, Halloween is about spooky stuff. Samhain includes a dumb supper, Halloween includes trick or treating.
5 The page of cups is all about going after your heart’s desire. It’s about taking that pursuit seriously and using your creativity combined with action to not just claim what your heart wants, but express your emotions clearly and openly… essentially wearing your heart upon your sleeve. The Knight of Cups as the focus for this month is an indication that if I want things to go a certain way? It’s time to act upon those needs and heart’s desires to make sure that I am able to achieve what I want. I feel this is a direct play off the COTD I had the other day which indicated you must “start as you want to go forward”. In other words, don’t procrastinate in finding that grounding and balance with my life, responsibilities, and emotional growth. Do it.
6 Turkey. I mean, we’re talking seasonal food so, yeah. Oven roasted turkey.
7 Okay, so I’ve done this before on this blog and you can see my altar setup in that past post. Nothing really has changed concerning it’s set up other than the fact that the hand mirror in the photos for that post has been removed and replaced with my great-great-grandmother’s divination cards.
8 To be honest? I don’t really have a tarot card that I associate specifically with Samhain, or with any of the Sabbats for that matter. I tried to think about it and pick one out, but I guess that I do not see the Sabbats in that way… or see the cards in that way? It seems like an odd correlation to me. Now, I have a crapload of decks that are Samhain/Halloween based. But not a specific card.
9 I have created two of them for this month that are focused upon Samhain and the season. One is focused on the animal and plant correspondences of the season… and the second is focused on the plant and stone correspondences of the season.
10 The Ghost of Samhain Past is represented by the Devil and the Eight of Pentacles. These cards mark the path that I have taken in the past during this time of year.
The temptation to work myself to the bone and forsake sleep or any kind of self care in order to gear up for the holiday rush and be full prepared for what is to come. It indicates that that temptation is something that has become a bit of an addiction, and a habit that I am working to now break.
11 The Ghost of Samhain Present this year is represented by the Ten of Swords. This card speaks of coming to the end of a journey. Not just the end of any journey, but the end of a painful journey that has not been kind to me along the way. That journey is the habits of my past that are indicated in the cards pulled for the Ghost of Samhain Past. I am, in essence, working to kill those bad tendencies and the addictive pull to push myself too hard and treat myself too harshly. The Ghost of Samhain Present says that I have reached a point where I can put that behind me and start anew on a new path… but only if I am willing to pick myself up from the ashes and keep moving forward… not looking back.
12 The Ghost of Samhain Future is represented by the Six of Pentacles. As a card of generosity and economic balance, it’s appearance as the card of the Ghost of Samhain Future indicates that in riding out this change and using this time to find my grounding and my path, my balance and a better way forward, that the future ahead looks bright. Allowing for balance to take hold and the ability to sustain and flourish with this new way of doing things not just possible but absolutely probable. This card indicates that there is no need to worry about if I’m going to find a new balance that is healthier and more sustainable. It’s not just possible… but the most probable outcome looking at the trajectory forward.
13 A number of them, actually. My sister spend the time between Beltane and Samhain planning our Samhain ritual. The time between Mabon and Samhain is our favorite time of year and we participate in a number of spellcasting and rituals together during this time of year, culminating in our largest ritual of the year on Samhain. Included in this ritual is a dumb supper and respectful offering to our ancestors, as well as spellcraft that involves the releasing of stagnant energy and habits that are no longer useful us.
14 Green is slowly turning to oranges and browns. There’s a great deal of evergreen plants in my area of the world, but the deciduous trees and seasonal plants begin to lose their leaves, which causes the forest’s greenery to take on a darker shade as there are more trunks and branches and more old growth evergreens rather than the brighter green of the plants that do not keep leaves year round. Leaves start to leave their imprints upon pavement, stamping the pavement with the echos of their shapes as rain washes away the debris. By the end of the month, most trees that are going to lose their leaves will have lost them all, and the gray skies will be back in full force making each day “sweater weather” damp and comfy.
15 Yes. As I mentioned above, my sister and I will present offerings to our ancestors during Samhain, and invite them to join us in our dumb supper, setting places for them at the table and significant items for those we remember in the center of the table to make sure they know they are being remembered.
Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long and was another of the guided meditations with interval timer for my piriformis stretches. I’m sort of wondering if the additional soreness I’m feeling lately isn’t just because I skipped a couple of days of stretching, but also because I have not been going in to the sports medicine doctor for adjustments since the spring.
Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long and was a guided meditation with interval timer. I’m still working on getting back the flexibility I lost by skipping my stretches for those couple of days. I had not realized that in skipping a day or two it was taking so long to recover, but I’m definitely noticing now.
