Daily Meditation

Curating Your Gallery

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Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Cthulhu Mythos Comicology Tarot (Color Foil Edition) and Sinister Affirmations DeckDaily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is the Three of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of the first active step in a journey, progress towards a goal, and the seizing of opportunities.

The Three of Wands has then been combined with an affirmation card from the Sinister Affirmations deck, which says, “There is no rule that says you can’t be a captivating forest pixie and an intimidating ancient hell goddess. Hecate had three forms. You needn’t commit to just one.”

Pick and choose the paths  you decide to follow in life.  You can be more than one thing.  A mother and a boss. A boyfriend and an advocate. An entrepreneur and a nature enthusiast.  We all wear many hats, the important part is to be active in choosing which hats you decide to wear.

The message in today’s cards is a reminder that the life you are living belongs to you, and the hats you decide to wear? Are your decision.  If one of them isn’t fitting right? It’s okay to trade it out for something else, or even set it aside instead of continuing on with what isn’t working. Today’s message encourages us to carefully curate out lives, like a gallery of most loved artwork.  Each path a piece a fit for our unique needs, wants, and likes.

DECK USED:  CTHULHU MYTHOS COMICOLOGY TAROT COLOR FOIL EDITION AND SINISTER AFFIRMATIONS

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2025 Challenge
Spirits Prompt for October 25th : What guidance do your ancestors have to offer you at this time?

Tarot Reading with the Tarot Apokalypsis DeckReading Summary: Starting over is never easy, and can always be confusing (imagery in the Ace of Pentacles). It can be worse, though, if you allow your emotions to start overriding good sense (Ace of Cups atop Eight of Swords).  Leaning on your emotions alone will blind you to pitfalls and lead in the direction of failure (Nine of Pentacles Rx).

Take Away: Learning to moderate your emotions is difficult, and it’s a long and arduous process. Now that they are set loose instead of being buried, they have a tendency to try and take the lead.

Make sure that you are staying connected to what’s going on, so that you can step outside of those emotional influences and allow other factors to come into play in your decision making, actions, and reactions.

Other elements included in this reading:
Pressed Yew Tips for Ancestral Connections
Blue Apatite for Balancing Energies and Manifestation
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: TAROT APOKALYPSIS

@LightningWildflower October Tarot Challenge
Fire and Air “The Nines” Prompts for October

Tarot Reading with the Cthulhu Mythos Comicology Tarot Nine of Wands

How have I shown resilience in past difficulties?

Judgement – You show your resilience in how you keep your eye on where you want to end up and who you want to be. This focus helps you move through difficulties while staying true to yourself, allowing you a resilience you wouldn’t otherwise possess.

What helps me tap into my determination to see things through?

The World – The knowledge that everything is temporary and an end is coming if you just persevere helps you to tap into your determination and see things through when the road becomes difficult.

Also, the understanding that there’s a journey with lessons here that need to be learned for your growth and development.

Nine of Swords

What is an area of anxiety in my life, and how can I best approach this distress?

Queen of Cups Rx and Seven of Pentacles – Your craving for emotional support from a mother figure creates occasional rises of a sort of anxious desperation within you. You need to remember to take things slow, though, and lower your expectations to see what comes out of your hard work instead of pushing for a desired ideal.

Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Rhododendron Leaf for Fostering Confidence
Black Tourmaline for Grounding and Protection
Carnelian Agate for Inner Drive and Focusing On Aspirations
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: CTHULHU MYTHOS COMICOLOGY TAROT COLOR FOIL EDITION

Daily Self Kindness

This post is a catch-up post, and I can’t remember what my self-kindness might have been for this day.

It’s an Adventure

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Today’s meditation was a nine minute long #DailyTrip session from the @Calm app.

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PlagueTown Tarot's Five of Cups and Halloween Affirmation CardsDaily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is the Five of Cups (Jars), which is traditionally a representation of pessimism, regrets, doomsday thinking, disappointments, and occasionally, failure (or at the very least, the perception of failure).

The Five of Cups has then been combined with a Halloween Affirmation card that says, “Everything is scary and you feel vulnerable but that doesn’t mean anything is going to go wrong. Anxious feelings aren’t usually indicative of reality.”

Situations that raise our anxiety usually (although not always) give us the opportunity to look at the situation in one of two different ways. One of them is the disaster scenario where you look at the situation, and everything looks like it’s gone wrong and nothing’s going to go right and there’s some eminent danger or other issue involved that makes it seem like the end of the world.

The other scenario is to take this situation as the opportunity for adventure. You pick up what’s left and you run with it. Winging it as you go, and even if you expect it not to turn out okay, you have the niggling of hope that maybe just maybe the end result might surprise you.

Today’s cards are an encouragement to go with the latter. None of the five jars on this shelf (in the card) have been tipped over or broken. Sure all those jars could be empty, but it’s just as possible that they might not be all empty. Consider approaching situations where you feel anxiety with a bit of hope, instead of despair, and you may find that the anxiety lifts a little bit… and as a result you may even manage to have a little fun along the way.

DECKS USED:  PLAGUETOWN TAROT AND TWIST’S HALLOWEEN AFFIRMATION CARDS

@CrowSister #PreparingForTheDark Challenge
The Hearth Prompts

Tarot Reading with the Victorian Freak Show Tarot and Gothica II Dracula Playing CardsCelebrate – Eight of Hearts, The Devil, Ten of Clubs – You have the awareness and autonomy needed to identify and move away from those things that could be harmful to you in excess before they overwhelm you. This skill is valuable because you have a highly addictive personality.

In most cases, this ability to spot problems and move away from them quickly allows you to catch yourself before you go too far down any dangerous rabbit holes, keeping you from harming yourself as a result.

Ground – Queen of Clubs, The Sun, Seven of Clubs – Anchor yourself in the things that make you happy and inspire you. They are yours and yours alone to defend and enjoy. You can share them with others, but they’re still yours, and they are the rich soil in which you should dig deep with your roots and hold firm.  For you, creativity is at the top of this list, as is your intuition and ability to follow your “gut”.

Abide – Three of Diamonds, The Chariot, Three of Spades atop Queen of Diamonds – Remember that although you are the one holding the reins, you are not alone. You nurture others, teaching them along the way what they need to know. This might sometimes lead to disappointment, but that doesn’t mean that the sharing doesn’t still hold value for all involved.

Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Oak Branch with Moss and Lichen for Perseverance
Foraged Ponderosa Pine Cone for Resilience and Adaptability
Deodar Cedar Ceramic Impression for Clarity and Spiritual Connection
Conch Shell Knot for Concentration and Clarity
Cream Quartz Stone for Amplifying Intentions and Mental Clarity
Banded Carnelian Agate for Inner Drive and Focusing On Aspirations
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECKS USED: VICTORIAN FREAK SHOW TAROT AND GOTHICA II PLAYING CARDS DRACULA EDITION

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2025 Challenge
Skeleton Prompt for October 24th : How can you connect more deeply with your ancestors?

Tarot Reading with the PlagueTown TarotReading Summary: Don’t steal your ancestor’s air time for other things (Seven of Swords/Scalpels). Be aware that they are always there, and give them the acknowledgment needed to allow for growth (Page of Pentacles/Herbs). When you ignore that they are a contributing factor, it only causes a greater rift (Five of Pentacles/Herbs).

Take Away: To connect more deeply with your ancestors, make sure that you are staying open with your awareness and your receptivity to their presence and messages that come through. Don’t write their messages off as intuition or some other source, but acknowledge what you’re being given and by who.  In this way you build a stronger relationship between yourself and your ancestors, as trust and respect develop into an integral part of the connection between you and them.

Other elements included in this reading:
Pressed Yew Tips for Ancestral Connections
Japanese Cherry Leaf as a Reminder of Life’s Fleeting Moments
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: PLAGUETOWN TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I went and bought myself some ice cream bars, because L contaminated the ice cream in the freezer with her cold germs.

Make Them Pay Rent

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Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Murder of Crows Tarot's Knight of Cups and Sinister Affirmation CardsDaily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is the Knight of Cups, which is traditionally a representation of an active beta energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s emotions, relationships, intuition, and creativity. This often portrays itself in a theme of going after what brings someone joy or following your imagination and creativity into new adventures.

The Knight of Cups has then been combined with an affirmation card from the Sinister Affirmations deck, which says, “Once I replace my hair with serpents and develop a glare that turns people to stone it’s all over for my haters.”

There’s truth to the saying that when you hold a grudge or remain angry with someone, that they are staying rent-free in your head and heart.

Instead of focusing on the negative feelings that they may have caused within you with whatever it is that happened or that they did, consider instead showing the world you’re indifference to them and their actions. After all, the opposite of love is not hate… It’s indifference.

In doing so you are no longer allowing them to have a part of your life, your heart, or your head.

Today’s message is a reminder that when we stew in negative emotions, it affects us far more than it affects anyone else, including those that may have caused the emotions in the first place.

DECKS USED:  MURDER OF CROWS TAROT AND SINISTER AFFIRMATIONS

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2025 Challenge
Banshee Prompt for October 23rd : What inside you is screaming for release?

Tarot Reading with The Occult TarotReading Summary: There is a child inside you (Page of Pentacles) that is extremely frustrated with how things are going (Eight of Cups). They feel abandoned and alone (Five of Pentacles).

Take Away: What is screaming for release within you is your inner child.

You have a tendency to give yourself small doses of inner child work, but you really don’t commit to it in any meaningful way. It’s more something that you work on in bite-size pieces at random intervals.

Your inner child is frustrated with this slow and erratic progress, and often feels forgotten about and abandoned.

Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Lavender Bundle for Calming and Comfort
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Lunar Energies

DECK USED: THE OCCULT TAROT

@thetruthinstory #embracethemagical2025 Challenge
Prompt for Hollow (emptiness) : What space within me is aching or waiting to be filled?

Tarot Reading with the Murder of Crows TarotReading Summary: You ache for the confidence to stand strong without fear (Nine of Swords Rx) in the face of change (Death), secure in your knowledge, strength, and ability to navigate through the challenges of change with your gut at the helm (The High Priestess).

Take Away: Uncertainty is not the friend of intuition. Sometimes when you feel highly uncertain, as in the type of uncertainty that you feel during times of change, it can drown out the voice of your intuition and make it hard for you to navigate, as you are left feeling blinded.

You know how to trust your intuition, and how to let it guide you. But, in order to allow your intuition to fill you up and be your guide, you have to get past this block that uncertainty creates.

Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Red Oak Leaf for Fostering Unconditional Love
Dried Purple Heather Flowers for Independence and Luck
Black Spruce Needles to Boost Self-Confidence and Positive Thinking
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: MURDER OF CROWS TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

This post is a catch-up post, and I can’t remember what my self-kindness might have been for this day.

Nurturing the Beginner’s Spirit

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Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Grim Tales Tarot - Ace of Cups and Halloween Affirmation CardsDaily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is the Ace of Cups, which is traditionally a representation of the seed of new beginnings in the area of one’s emotions, relationships, creativity, and intuition.

The Ace of Cups has then been combined with a Halloween Affirmation card that says, “Stop calling yourself garbage. You’re a shimmering star. You are amazing.”

Yes, it’s true that emotions are not my strong suit. This is an area that I got a late start learning about and am struggling to understand, but that doesn’t mean I’m trash at it. It means I’m learning.

I feel like that should be my new mantra.

This is true of any new endeavor that starts off as unfamiliar and needs time to develop. Your emotions might tell you that your crap at it, but it’s important not to listen to those inner voices and instead give yourself the understanding that when starting out on something new there’s always going to be a learning curve involved.

Today’s message is a reminder to go easy on yourself in these moments. Berating yourself does nothing but drag you down and make the learning process take longer as a result. Be kind and understanding instead, and nurture your enthusiasm to keep going.

DECKS USED:  GRIM TALES TAROT AND TWIST’S HALLOWEEN AFFIRMATION CARDS

@LightningWildflower October Tarot Challenge
Fire and Air “The Eights” Prompts for October 22nd thru 24th

Tarot Reading with the Grim Tales TarotEight of Wands

What is something that needs my immediate attention?

The Hanged Man – You caught yourself with this earlier today; you need to remember that sometimes in your head you have a tendency to lean a little too hard into “this way is the right way” when it comes to certain things.

Instead of jumping forward and correcting others in these moments, make sure that you are stepping back. Listen instead of speaking. Remember that in doing so you are rewarded by seeing things from a different perspective and possibly learning something new in the process.

Eight of Swords

In what area of my life am I feeling stuck?

Knight of Swords – It’s hard to put strategy into action when you don’t know what’s going to happen next.  You want to leap forward and prep for the holiday rush by making extra and ordering extra supplies that you would normally need. You want to act on advertising opportunities and other tried-and-true methods in order to generate results.

You have been working hard to adjust to the transitions that started this year with your business.  At this moment in time, though, you’re stuck in a sort of holding pattern. You’re ready to act, but there’s nothing to do yet due to circumstances outside your control.

What self-imposed limitations are holding me back?

King of Pentacles – Perhaps you are holding back just a little bit too much right now? It seems that there should be things you can do at this time; even small things to further your goals. Look at what these small things might be so that you’re headed in the right direction when greater movement is allowed.

Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Beech Pods for Realizations that Foster Personal Growth
Foraged Oak Branch with Moss and Lichen for Perseverance
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: GRIM TALES TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

This post is a catch-up post, and I can’t remember what my self-kindness might have been for this day.

Labels and My Spiritual Path

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People love to hate labels, and yet… hate to love them too. The debate goes both ways. Labels are lazy, harmful, or limiting in some way… or, labels are a “container” for a set of characteristics with the purpose of effective and clear communication. 

I fall in the latter category, although I see and understand the other side of the coin. The truth of the matter (at least in my observation) is that whether you hate them or love them, they’re necessary for clear communication.  

I wear a lot of labels, this post specifically is about those in my spiritual practice, though.  In one of the communities I’m a member of on Discord, a question came up asking, “Which terms do you use to talk about yourself and your craft? Why do you prefer those terms?”

Here are my answers:

  • Witch / Witchcraft – It just feels like a term that’s easy enough to communicate without confusion.
  • Pagan – Lots of people in society at large are uncomfortable with the word “witch”, and they find “Pagan” as more palatable with less negative connotations. It also feels like this term connects my witchcraft to my spiritual practice. Not all witches see that path as spiritual, but for me they are very much connected. 
  • Practitioner – Also a more “politically correct” term that makes non-witchy people more comfortable when speaking on the subject.
  • Spellwork / Spellcraft – These are the terms I grew up using when speaking of witchcraft workings.
  • Eclectic – This term fits because although I have a foundation in Wicca, I’ve been pretty much “winging it” in my own personal way for decades. I do a lot of “dabbling” in other types of witchcraft outside the ones listed below that I consider my “home base”, just to see how things work or how it feels. Sometimes these new experiences get adopted into my practice… but usually, even if they’re successful, they are not. 
  • Gray – This one is due to how my ethics work. I don’t have a lot of “set in stone rules”, and instead everything depends upon my gut/moral compass. What’s right one day may be wrong the next due to change in circumstances or other factors, and vice versa. It’s very wishy-washy, and could be viewed differently by different people as a result. 
  • Green / Forest – My practice leans very heavily into revering nature and her cycles, spending time in nature/communing with nature, researching nature, etc. This includes practicing with a wide variety of plant matter in a myriad of ways, as well as stones, crystals, soil, and other such detritus from nature.
  • Hedge – I spend time within, and draw energy from, liminal spaces. Especially liminal spaces among the trees and in forest areas. I feel that for me, this is a “sub-category” of Green/Forest.
  • Cottage / Hearth – I would say that my practice is split between Green / Forest and this category. My home is my sacred space and most everything in it is geared towards my spirituality and practice in some way.  Including things like cleaning, bathing, laundry, etc. I would also classify my jewelry making spellwork under this term. 
  • Kitchen – Ties in the Cottage/Hearth factor with the Green side of things in that one of the ways I commonly use plant matter in spellwork (and practice spellwork as a whole) is through cooking, tea making, baking, etc.
  • Tarot Reader / Cardslinger – It’s what I do. Quite literally with the word “cardslinger” since I pull my cards through jumpers instead of picking off a pile. I do a variety of other divination techniques, but using cards is pretty much “home base” for me. To be fair, I read all kinds of cards other than just tarot regularly. (ie: Lenormand, oracle, playing cards, image only cards, game cards, etc.) But the term “card reader” never seems to be something people understand, so I don’t use it.
  • Fortune Teller – I do predictive readings (usually using cards).
  • Mediumship – In my divination practice (and occasionally outside of my divination practices), I sometimes communicate with the dead.

Because I lean into experimentation, there’s a lot of other terms that could be used to describe my practices, but I feel like none of them really weigh heavily enough in my practice to break out of the “eclectic” container and stand alone on their own.  

It was an interesting exercise to look at my spirituality and practice in this way, and I feel that it helped me in seeing my own path in a more organized light.  I’d definitely encourage others to do a little examining of their own paths and see what they come up with as well. 

Remember, just because a label fits doesn’t mean you’re restricted by it. It’s just a word to help in communicating with others. After all, we don’t call a mug “that cylindrical thing that holds the hot drink made with brown beans”. We call it a mug, even when it holds paperclips instead of coffee.

Hopes and Dreams vs Aspirations

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Today’s meditation was skipped.

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The Vampire Tarot by Robert M Place - The Star Card, and Sinister AffirmationsDaily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is The Star card, which is traditionally a representation of hope, faith, and the connecting of spirituality to the various aspects of our lives.

The Star card has then been combined with an affirmation card from the Sinister Affirmations deck, which says, “It’s a perfect day to seize an unsuspecting mortal and whisk him off to the underworld.”

What do you hope for?  I’m not talking about your goals that you work toward and your path through life.  I’m talking about those things that cling to your hope and you can’t let go of.  Those are the things that -really- matter. Is it happiness? Or love?  Is it health? Is it comfort? Or security?

We all long for certain things that we feel we need but are just out of reach. We constantly hope for them, seek them out, sometimes ache for them.

Today’s message is a reminder that these are the things in life that truly matter. Not money or accolades or climbing the corporate ladder.  Not material goods or expensive possessions.  It’s those things that deep inside you long for.  Ache for.  The message in today’s cards encourages us to dig deep to seek out what those things are and consider making them your priority rather than an afterthought.

DECK USED:  ROBERT M PLACE’S THE VAMPIRE TAROT AND SINISTER AFFIRMATIONS DECK

@thetruthinstory #embracethemagical2025 Challenge
Prompt for Harvest (completion) : What has ripened, ready to be gathered or released?

Tarot Reading with The Vampire Tarot by Nathalie HertzReading Summary: There is strength (Strength) in knowing oneself well (The Hermit). Although the transformation going on in your life (Seven of Swords) is not yet over (Ten of Swords Rx), you need to remember to stay in touch with yourself and what’s going on within (The Hermit)… not just without.

Take Away: It’s understandable to set aside distractions when there’s so much going on that you need to keep track of and watch out for. Ignoring yourself and your needs, though, can only go on for so long before it reaches a tipping point.

Make sure that you don’t allow things to reach that tipping point. Look within at what is going on with you before you reach that point, and use the knowledge gained there to build up your strength during this time of transition you’re going through.

Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Rosebuds for Potential and Beauty Waiting to Unfold
Dried Purple Heather Flowers for Independence and Luck
Black Spruce Needles to Boost Self-Confidence and Positive Thinking
Japanese Cherry Leaf as a Reminder of Life’s Fleeting Moments
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: NATHALIE HERTZ’S THE VAMPIRE TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2025 Challenge
Gravestone Prompt for October 21st : Pull 3 cards and use them to write a spooky or witty epitaph.

Tarot Reading with The Vampire Tarot by Robert M Place

Here lies Master Brown
(Four of Knives atop King of Spires)

We were all quite sure he’d drown
With how much drink
He liked to sink
(The Devil atop Nine of Holy Water)

His breath lit fire to the town
(The Tower)


DECK USED: ROBERT M PLACE’S THE VAMPIRE TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

This post is a catch-up post, and I can’t remember what my self-kindness might have been for this day.