Various Paganism, Tarot, Etc

Morning Bonus Read – Rest In Peace?

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

The prompt for this reading came from one of my Discord servers and is as follows:
“This week, chat with your divination tools about what things in your life need to be laid to rest.”

Piatnik's The Horror! Movie Playing CardsWhat general area of my life needs to see some death at this point? (Relationships, work, education, physical health, mental health, etc)
Three of Clubs

Passion projects that you have been working on lately are now in need of being set aside.  There’s a handful of things you started that are just not going to get done.  Not right now.  Not this year.  Set them aside for now and you can reconsider them and whether they should be resurrected once the new year has passed.

What specific things do I need to lay to rest over the next month?
Ace of Clubs

This is an echo of the previous question with a bearing down of focus on those creative passion projects that you have begun to invest in most recently.  The holiday rush is coming on fast and will be here before you know it.  You might not want to set these things aside since you’re feeling so very passionate about them at the moment… but do it anyway.

How will this affect me emotionally?
Four of Spades

By setting these passion projects aside for the rest of the year, it will create space for you to rest and recover rather than feeling the need to “go go go” without any rest or restoration at all.

How will this affect me mentally?
Nine of Clubs

Setting aside projects in this way has a tendency to make me feel guilty and defensive about the need to set things aside in the first place and the decision to do so.

How will this affect me physically?
Three of Spades

Anxiety and my inner dialogue creating hurt feelings… here we come.  This physical reaction is a response to the mental recriminations going on.  It’s about inner demons spilling out into physical symptoms.  That’s okay.  Pretty soon I’ll be too damned busy to worry about it and the increased anxiety will fade.

How should I cope with these emotional effects in the healthiest way?
Seven of Diamonds

With time and patience.  It’s important to understand that what’s happening in the present is just temporary.  It’s okay… and soon time will trudge on and things will change again.  So look forward to where you want to go, and work in the direction of where you want to be when you get to the other side of the holiday rush.

How should I cope with these mental effects in the healthiest way?
King of Spades

Take control of your inner dialogue and shape that shit up.  You may not be able to control every single aspect of that inner voice, but when you catch yourself listening to those negative whispers?  Take control of the situation and turn things around in your favor.

How should I cope with these physical effects in the healthiest way?
Ten of Hearts

Just recently you have begun to feel a sense of emotional completion that you’ve never experienced before, and you understand that this experience is through the growth that you’ve been working with exploring over the spring and summer of this year.

The Ten of Hearts card here is about focusing on where you want to be at the end of running the gamut of the holiday rush.  You want to return to your emotional growth and leaning into a deeper understanding of emotional intelligence… and to that sense of emotional completion you’ve now had a hint of a taste of.  The goal is to find yourself on the path where you can return to the warm glow of leisurely emotional exploration.  Train you focus there, like a light at the end of a long tunnel glowing in welcome.

DECK USED:  PIATNIK’S THE HORROR! MOVIE PLAYING CARDS

Countdown to Samhain – Part 1

/ Twist the Leaf / 2 Comments

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.

Countdown to Samhain #samhaincountdown1  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.

SkeleTarot - Knight of Cups5  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.

SkeleTarot - The Devil and Eight of Pentacles10  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.

SkeleTarot - Nine of Swords11  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.

SkeleTarot - Six of Pentacles12 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.

Morning Bonus Read – Meeting a Spirit Guide

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Because I am trying to show a bit more cards this week, as I have a whole LOT of October/Halloween/Samhain decks, I’m doing a few extra bonus reads over the month.  This is one of those extra readings.

Cartomancy with Everyday Zombies Playing Cards

Card to Represent Your Guide
Ten of Diamonds

Well off and secure in their position in life and ability to manifest into being those things that are needed.  This guide has been around the block a time or two and knows what they’re doing.  They are focused on guiding me toward a secure and stable future.

A Message Your Guide Would Like To Give You In This Moment
Three of Diamonds atop Seven of Hearts

You need to give those who work with you a bit more autonomy.  Don’t worry about what they’re doing, or who is doing what, as long as they’re getting shit done. That’s the important point at this moment.  You might want to consider putting stuff that needs to be done each day on a board or list and letting them check off stuff they decide to do themselves.  In this way they get to choose their own work and as long as everything gets marked off at the end of the day?  It’s all good.

Something Your Guide Has Been Trying To Convey To You That You Have Not Been Receptive To In The Past
Queen of Spades atop Six of Diamonds

Be a bit more generous with your mother.  She’s got a lot of really horrible qualities, but she’s still your mom and you need to make sure that you’re not regretting later by holding back now.  There are plenty of things you can do for her without putting her at risk by visiting.

How To Be More Open To Messages From Your Guide In The Future
Ten of Clubs

You need to accept that your guides aren’t here to overwhelm you but to help you.  When you are feeling overwhelmed?  They back off.  So if you want to be more open to messages from them, you need to find the kind of balance that allows you to keep yourself from hanging on the edge of overwhelm and burnout so often.

What Is This Guide Helping You With On Your Path?
Nine of Spades

As a part of finding a secure and stable future (as indicated in the Ten of Diamonds), it’s necessary to overcome your fears and anxieties. I have begun this year to seek out a new balance, a better balance that can carry me forward into that positive and stable future I seek.  But there’s a lot of uncertainty in this new path, and a lot of fears about what I’m leaving behind along the way. At this time, that is what this guide is helping me with on my path.

DECK USED:  EVERYDAY ZOMBIES PLAYING CARDS

Weekly Creativity Prompt – Three Themes

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From your deck of choice, select one card for each of the themes listed below:
1) A Wander in the Autumn Woods
2) Guidance from the Past
3) The Beginning of the End
Post the cards you chose here, and share with us how you made the connections that you did with the prompts above.

Halloween Ephemera DeckA Wander in the Autumn Woods
The Hermit

When I need time alone, it is to the woods that I go.  When I need to allow silence and stillness to wash over me, it is to the woods I go. When there is restlessness and chaos in my heart?  It is to the woods I go.  Forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) is a real thing, and even when I do not hike, I will wander in the woods, taking in the scents and the sounds and the flavor of the air. I will lie on the forest floor and soak in the sense of moisture and life.  I will seek out the stillness and cool wet of the rainforest, and it will be a balm upon my soul.  The Hermit seeks this peace and inner reflection, he seeks solitude and silence to delve inward and explore his soul.  I seek the same in the woods.

Guidance from the Past
The Hanged Man

Just the other day I did a reading where the Hanged Man came up along with the Six of Cups, and I was asked from these cards to reframe how I relate to my spirit guides, and to acknowledge that these guides have been with me all of my life.  Some of them among the living in my past, others always in the ethereal.  The thing is?  They’ve always been there though, and they have always tried to guide me the best that they could.  This shift in perspective helps me in understanding that even our guides are fallible, but they are doing the best they can… just as I am. New realizations like this and changes in perspective are what the Hanged Man is all about.

The Beginning of the End
The Devil

As someone with a highly addictive personality, anything that brings me enjoyment or pleasure has the risk of becoming an addiction.  This isn’t limited just to drugs but also different foods, hobbies and activities, behavior that wins praise or admiration, purchasing things that bring me pleasure such as books and decks, bringing home plants to nurse back to health.   All of these things are innocuous on their own, but through pleasure and temptation can be allowed to turn the tables and become harmful… even disastrous, if not kept in check.  You become a prisoner of your own making, and a slave to those things that you allow to take over. This is the pattern of behavior that the Devil card is all about.

DECK USED: HALLOWEEN EPHEMERA CARDS

Morning Bonus Read – My Creative Business

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Spiderweb Spread for Creativity - Tarot de Marseille par Pole Ka

Draw Your Focus Here
King of Swords

Strategize the way forward.  Take control of your on inner dialogue and take the lead in moving forward.  Give those under you direction and purpose toward the goals you set forth to achieve.

Become An Expert At This
Ace of Swords and Queen of Wands

Motivating others through your words and intent.  Although you may not feel like your conversational skills are the best, what you possess is passion and the ability to light a fire under others and inspire them.  Use this to your advantage… and their benefit.

Encourage Play In This Area
Nine of Pentacles

When you have alone time at home? It’s a good time to settle in and explore ideas and have some fun. Don’t waste this time dawdling in a nap or blow it on the drudgery of daily chores.  This is the time to delve into the playful exploration of creation and really have some fun with it.

Embrace Failure Here
Ace of Cups

Once you get really engrossed in the creative process and holiday rush, a little bit of backsliding in your emotional growth is going to happen.  That’s okay!  Don’t freak out about it, because you’ll resolve that issue later on.  Having already walked the path will make finding your way a second time just that much easier the next time around.

Explore Competition Here
Four of Wands

You know how competitive L can be. It could be a good idea to exploit that competitive edge she has going on to your advantage.  How many chains can she make in an hour vs how many you or Z can make.  Things like that turn the experience of work into not just work but also a game, and gives a little competitive incentive to do better and get more done all at the same time.

Connect With These People
Three of Pentacles

These are the people that are here to support me and help me in my creative business.  Connecting with those I collaborate with, specifically my sister and Z, are here to help me in both my creative business and other creative endeavors.  I have only to ask for their help, encourage their participation, and give them things to do… and they’ll be there for me.

Travel To A Place With This Energy
Queen of Cups

This is not so much about traveling to a physical place, as it is about getting myself into a place mentally and emotionally, where I’m able to connect with both my own inner emotions, as well as with those of others.  It’s about finding a grounding, nurturing place within myself that I can them settle into and be influenced by in positive, self-affirming ways.

Brainstorm On This Concept
Nine of Cups

While play is encouraged during times of fulfillment in hearth and home, it is emotional fulfillment that needs to inspire deeper thought and ideas. The Nine of Cups in this position indicates that finding that emotional grounding is extremely important to finding a comfortable and fulfilling place within myself.  The restlessness and shaky ground I’m feeling needs to be settled, and this might take discussion with others and contribution of ideas from many corners in order to find the right path forward here.

DECK USED:  TAROT DE MARSEILLE PAR POLE KA

Morning Bonus Read – Combating Hopelessness

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

The prompt for this reading came from one of my Discord servers and is as follows:
“With all that is going on in the world, it is easy to become overwhelmed by anger and grief, and to feel hopeless. This week, chat with your divination tools about some ways to constructively approach everything we’re dealing with.”

Tokyo Ghoul Playing CardsWhat am I paying attention to in my life that I don’t need to be? (Types of news, types of people, etc)?
Two of Diamonds

Stop worrying so much about juggling everything.  Your worry and stress over this topic are pulling your attention away from things that need to get done.

What am I not paying attention to that I do need to be?
Ten of Spades

You see that dark shadow that keeps trying to creep up on you?  It’s that black pit of depression trailing after you in the wake of your footsteps. If you allow it to catch up, it will buckle your knees and take you down, and take all your goals and ambitions down with you.

What am I doing to make the world a better place?
Eight of Hearts

You are social distancing like a champion, which is a pretty significant feat considering that you’re out in public nearly every day.

What can I do this week to keep myself focused on the things that are important to keep me and the world healthy?
Queen of Diamonds atop Five of Clubs

Use self care methods to help keep yourself afloat when conflict tries to drag you down.  It’s okay if you need to fight for what you believe in, but sometimes in the heat of battle things are said or things happen that can create a resonant disillusionment to slip in and bring you down.  Take that nurturing you give so freely to others and turn it upon yourself during these moments.

DECK USED:  TOKYO GHOUL PLAYING CARDS