Meaningful Praise

/ Twist the Leaf / Leave a comment

#DailyCalm with the Calm app - Sharon Salzberg quoteToday’s meditation was a ten minute #DailyCalm session with the Calm app. The session today was a “loving kindness” session, which dealt with projecting loving thoughts (namely “May you be loved. May you be healthy. May you be happy. May you be at peace.”) first to yourself, then to your loved ones, then to those you find difficult to tolerate, and finally to the world at large.

As usual, I found directing these sincere thoughts to myself far more difficult than to anyone else.

Moon Prism Tarot's King of Wands and It’s Going To Be Okay 2024 Day-to-day Calendar By Kate AllanToday’s draw is the King of Wands combined with the affirmation “You’re doing a great job.”

The combination of these cards is a reminder that it’s okay to need to be praised now and then, and it’s okay for that praise to be the inspiration that picks you up and keeps you going.

Is it healthy to depend it as your only source of inspiration?  No, of course not.  But it’s natural to want some kudos occasionally and for those times when they come to feel good.  It’s okay that other people’s opinions matter to you, as long as they’re not the end all be all of your existence and the only thing you are motivated by.

DECKS USED:  MOON PRISM TAROT AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

The #mysticstartarot Challenge Prompt
Questions for February 11th thru 14th

Love Messages From Your Pet Oracle CardsWhat are my overall thoughts about myself?

Follow My Whiskers – Whatever is going on in the moment, you trust your inner moral compass to lead you through and help you find your way.

What are my high vibrational thoughts about myself?

What Do You Want? – You are trying to turn things around toward a more positive viewpoint with a less negative mental narrative, and more positive reinforcement.

How can I amplify these positive thoughts about myself?

Breathe – Pause more. Breathe more. Stop and examine how you are reacting to stimuli internally and course-correct before reacting externally. Mindfulness is important.

How will these thoughts support me with my relationships?

Please Be Gentle – You will find that you will end up treating not just yourself more kindly but other people as well, and will begin to become less judgmental towards yourself and others.

DECK USED: LOVE MESSAGES FROM YOUR PET ORACLE CARDS

#DiscordTarotholicsFeb2024 Challenge Prompt
Question for February 12th : Lost Penny Day – What insignificant thing could it be useful for you to pay more attention to?

Moon Prism Tarot - The Empress, Five of Wands, Five of CupsReading Summary: It might seem insignificant when you butt heads with others (Five of Wands) and fall into a worst case scenario mentality as a result (Five of Cups), but what it really does is damage your self-care efforts (The Empress Rx).

Take Away: Taking care of yourself and nurturing yourself more is more than just the physical acts that you do for yourself each day or the pampering you try to give yourself from time to time. It’s about how you think and what you allow to go through your head. Letting negative experiences with others turn you against yourself is the exact opposite of what you’re trying to accomplish by upping your efforts in self-care. It might seem insignificant, but it’s not.

DECK USED: MOON PRISM TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I was able to get in a little play with Gideon while working on orders today.

The Commingling of Skills

/ Twist the Leaf / Leave a comment

Today’s meditation was skipped.

Jupiter Power Tarot's Three of Pentacles and the Cozy Comfort Cards for Sad and Anxious MomentsToday’s draw is the Three of Pentacles combined with the affirmation “You are good enough.”

A lot of times when asking for help, it’s hard not to feel like we’ve failed because we couldn’t do whatever it is on our own.  I struggle with this feeling a lot, and I know I’m not alone in this.

The thing is?  People aren’t meant to do everything alone and on their own.  It’s when we combine forces that we really shine, as each person brings a different element to the table and when those elements, skills, and expertise are combined? Magic happens.

Asking for help doesn’t mean that you’re not enough. It means you appreciate what other people bring to the table and have to offer.

DECKS USED:  JUPITER POWER TAROT AND COZY COMFORT CARDS FOR SAD AND ANXIOUS MOMENTS

#DiscordTarotholicsFeb2024 Challenge Prompt
Prompt for February 11th : Do Spread 2
Question: Why is my top side sparking so hot right now?

Lauren Marx Art Postcard Set and Jupiter Power Tarot - The Magician, The Tower, King of Cups, King of WandsReading Summary: You are feeling less like everything is falling apart [the tangled grass is a color match with The Tower reversed; although the  grasses are tangled, they are not restraining the roseate spoonbill settled upon them] and more interconnected with Gideon than ever [King of Cups;  here again we see a connection between the pattern of movement in the roots of the face, and in the grass, connecting the roots to the foundation that the bird stands upon so that it can feed as needed and get what it needs] which sparks your passions [King of Wands], and allows you to feel empowered [The Magician, combined with that The Magician flower faces forward into the future].

Take Away: This roleplay character you are using at the moment and the current play makes you feel very secure in yourself. In many ways, he’s a lot like you, which allows you to pull out those inner urges that are usually suppressed and share them openly with Gideon at this time.

DECKS USED: JUPITER POWER TAROT AND LAUREN MARX ART POSTCARD SET

Daily Self Kindness

I took time to unwind and breathe after a very stressful situation earlier in the day.

Gideon’s Challenge

/ Twist the Leaf / Leave a comment

Forest FloorSoggy Ground

Let’s go
on an adventure
where forest floor
squishes
under wet leaves
and pine needles
drip
crystalline drops
to cling
in our hair
as we wander
into the
deep dark woods
and get lost
in nature’s embrace

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

❤️ Self Care Saturday (On a Sunday)

/ Twist the Leaf / Leave a comment

These Saturday readings are (not usually) bearing in on any one thing or event in my life, as the question used is asking for a more general outlook. This is a self care exercise, and is not meant as a predictive reading… although that, too, happens on occasion.

The question is… What do I need to focus for self-care through the week ahead?

Self Care Saturday Tarot Reading with The Lover's Path Tarot and Tales for Tomorrow Petit Lenormand

Earth – Eight of Arrows (Swords) Rx – Take care of the things that you need to take care of instead of turning the blind eye because you don’t wanna look or be bothered. Make those calls that you don’t want to make and deal with the issues lingering on the edge of your plate before they become detrimental to you.

Air – Triumph (The World) Rx – Instead of looking at your end goal this week, take time to really examine where you’re at right now and suss out what’s being hidden from you (that sharp hook hidden behind her back in the card).

Water – Four of Cups – Don’t forget to do your meditation. It’s important to your emotional well-being. Make sure that you aren’t avoiding doing it out of a desire for languishing instead.

Fire – King of Cups Rx – You are not full of wisdom when it comes to how other people are feeling, so take care not to act as if you are just because you want to help. You’re barely able to understand your own emotions most of the time.

Waning – Anchor and Child – That fun loving kid inside you needs some freedom. Stop holding him down. It’s okay to give into flights of fancy every once in a while.

Waxing – Snake and Stork – Keep in mind that that snake in the grass might actually bring with it a boon. Instead of focusing on all the crap ass things it brings with it, train your attention on the good stuff it has to offer instead.

DECKS USED: THE LOVER’S PATH TAROT AND TALES FOR TOMORROW PETITE LENORMAND

It Could Be Worse

/ Twist the Leaf / Leave a comment

The Importance of Smaller StepsToday’s meditation was twelve minutes long, and was a self guided meditation focused upon the “importance of smaller steps” message in the graphic attached to this post.

It’s a topic I struggle with a  lot, and I particularly like this graphic used to demonstrate the concept, as there are a lot of times that my brain just refuses to believe that smaller steps (and thus a slower approach) is really the best way to get where you want to go.

Luna's Kuromi Tarot's Five of Cups and It’s Going To Be Okay 2024 Day-to-day Calendar By Kate AllanToday’s draw is the Five of Cups combined with the affirmation “All shapes are good. All shapes are pretty. Yes, including yours.”

Be grateful for the body you have. It could be worse.

Whether your body is full of curves or rigid planes, whether it’s mobility challenged or easy to get around. No matter the “flaws” you see in your appearance, whether it be the size or shape of your nose, your ass, or any other part of your anatomy.

It could be worse.

Be grateful for what you have. Do a thoughts-ploration of all the ways that it could be worse.  Really look it over… and then be grateful it’s not that bad. Appreciate what your body does for you instead of constantly feeding it thoughts of disdain and disappointment. It’s good enough… just as it is. You are good enough… just as you are.

DECKS USED:  LUNA’S KUROMI TAROT AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

de_tarotjuf’s #DeDonkereGodinTarotChallenge Prompt
Question for February 18th, 9th, 11th, and 19th

My Little Tarot, My Little Pony Tarot, Nine of Cups, Ace of Cups, The Fool, The High Priestess, Page of Pentacles, Eight of WandsWhat am I avoiding about myself?

Page of Pentacles atop Eight of Wands – Your desire to push and go faster is within yourself. It’s not anyone else doing the pushing. It might’ve been bred and nurtured by your past, but in your present, it’s only you holding yourself back from slowing down.

If you put as much enthusiasm into doing things in a new way at a healthier pace as you do looking back on the past and how you did things before, you will turn things around instead of feeling like you’re in limbo.

I learn to recognize my own worth.

Nine of Cups – By finding those things that bring you a sense of positive satisfaction and indulging in them, it can allow you to better recognize your own worth. Your worth is not about how much you can do or how far you go. It’s not about wealth or responsibility. Your worth is about what brings you joy and the person you are on the inside.

This way I can remain myself, even though it is difficult.

The Fool Rx atop The High Priestess – Allow your intuition to help you choose when you cut loose, and when you need to buckle down. This shouldn’t be a choice made by fear or worry as you have a tendency to do, especially when your stressed.

This is how I am loving to myself in difficult times.

Ace of Cups – As the theme of yesterdays meditation encouraged, allow yourself to feel your feelings and experience them. Even the uncomfortable and unfamiliar ones. You don’t have to analyze them, or have an excuse for them to be there. Just allow them to be there, feel them out, and accept them for their presence in the moment.

DECK USED: MY LITTLE TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsFeb2024 Challenge Prompt
Question for February 10th : Umbrella Day – Where do you need to focus on including a bit more protection into your life?

Luna's Kuromi Tarot - Six of Coins, Ace of Swords, Six of CupsReading Summary: Make sure when offering (Ace of Swords) your assistance to others (Six of Coins) that you don’t let nostalgia and fond memories (Six of Cups) get you in over your head (Kuromi goes from being taller than Baku to being shorter than him).

Take Away: Take care with those you want to help out that you retain the higher ground so that you don’t end up manipulated.

It’s very easy for people to use fond memories and things of that nature to pressure you into shifting your boundaries. It’s important that you are more careful in this area and work on firming up those boundaries more.

DECK USED: LUNA’S KUROMI TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

Although I was feeling -quite- uninspired, I managed to start getting laundry done today, which I’ve been putting off for a bit now.

Gideon’s Challenge

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

OrchidBreakfast Digressions

“There’s something
on your lip”
he says
and I pause
to lick
along the swell
with the tip
of questing tongue
as he watches
with rapt gaze
every movement
as I collect
what was left behind

Photo © ZenStatePhotography