Flustered
“Pay attention”
she says
and eyes lift
to rest upon
her pretty face
and wait
for what
will come next
as clatter quiets
to silence
as if the world
holds its breath
and color rises
to her cheeks
Gideon’s Challenge – Flustered
🎨 Weekly Creativity Prompt – Art Interpretation
Prompt: Below is a 3-card spread from Sasuraibito Tarot and a question/prompt to go with it. Your task is to pull the same three cards from your deck(s) and tell us how you might interpret these two (or more) decks differently, and why. Same question, same cards, different decks. And if you’d read them similarly? Tell us that, and explain why!
Today’s cards are Six of Wands, Two of Swords, and Two of Cups. And the question from our imaginary querent is “How can I best nurture whatever is sprouting right now?”
You are at an impasse (Two of Swords positioned in the center) between people pleasing for your community (Six of Wands), or connecting more closely with someone specifically that matters (Two of Cups).
Although you connect strongly with your community (strong, sturdy staffs) and they provide you with a great deal of growth (leaves and flowers growing from the staffs) and comfort through the diversity you find there (rainbow), you can’t pursue this connection -and- connect more deeply with this single person (linked pinky fingers in the Two of Cups) at the same time (separated by Swords).
To best nurture what is sprouting right now in your life, you need to decide which side of the coin you want to pursue; the community connection, or that closer one-on-one relationship. Both offer you growth, but it’s too much to try and do both at the same time.
You can work hard to achieve the recognition you crave from others (Six of Wands/Spatulas), or (Two of Hooks/Swords) you can allow yourself to build something meaningful between yourself and someone else (Two of Patties/Cups).
Either of these pursuits is going to snare (hooks instead of Swords) all of your attention, tangling you up in it so that you’re unable to do both. Specifically, on the side of things where you develop a meaningful connection with someone else, there’s a good chance that even if you met them at work, they’re going to be a distraction -from- your work in the end (there’s a spatula hanging in the air between them in the background).
You have a choice. These cards indicate that you can’t have both, after all. You can try to balance both, but in doing so both situations are going to get dicey and you’re giving up your ability to choose which one will be your end result. By directing your attention to the choice you prefer, you give that side of things a better chance of growing into fruition.
DECK USED: SASURAIBITO TAROT AND BEST DECK EVER TAROT
Don’t Choose the Bedbugs
Today’s meditation was a ten minute long #DailyCalm session with the @Calm app.
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The @hippiepixie333 #Escapril2026 Challenge
Prompt for April 14th : motel sign
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is the Judgement card, which is traditionally a representation of judgements, one’s inner calling and chosen life path, and looking back on one’s life to consider how they feel about the path they’ve taken and who they have become.
Have you ever been traveling and been in desperate need of rest, but when you go looking for a motel room to get a bit of sleep you’re only able to find motels where you wouldn’t want to rest your head?
Do you keep going? Or do you stop and rest in one of these places, knowing that you’re gonna regret it later?
There’s something to be said for sticking to one’s values instead of doing what’s convenient in the moment. It’s the values that we stick to that determine the type of person we become. Are you the type of person who takes care of the land and picks up trash and makes a place better? Or are you the type of person that tosses a piece of trash out the window thinking “oh, someone also pick it up eventually”?
If you want to become a better person later, you have to start being a better person now. This is how we grow and become better people. It doesn’t just magically happen someday and you look back on life and go, “Oh I was perfect all along”. Life is a journey of growth that we look back on later and say “I made a few mistakes, but I worked on it and now I’m a better person”.
The message in today’s Judgment card and the “motel room” prompt reminds us that it’s why practicing at what we want to be today that we become that tomorrow. If you want to be someone with bedbugs (crap friends, bad morals, uncaring, etc), then sure go ahead and sleep in the bedbug infested motel (don’t try for better).
But, if you want to be someone with integrity and values who is better than the person you are today, you start by practicing those values today so that by the time you get to that future self and look back, you can see that you’ve been working towards being a better person all along and have become that better person as a result.
DECK USED: THE BIZARRE TAROT GARDEN EDITION
@Lionharts #TheAprilTarot Root & Rise Challenge
The Roots Prompt for April 14th
Where do I respond with clarity rather than reaction?
Garden, King of Pentacles Rx atop Three of Cups, Three of Clubs
It’s your emotions that create that impulsive reaction instead of allowing you time to think and move forward with clarity of thought.
You have a tendency to respond with clarity rather than just reaction during times when you are able to foster a sense of community between yourself and others without allowing your emotions to steer the boat.
How can I bring this clarity into my more emotional moments?
Three of Spades, Six of Swords Rx atop Seven of Cups, Two of Clubs
Reactivity is a choice. When you are feeling disappointed or upset, you have to make the choice to stay and work it out rather than flying off the handle. Sit with your emotional discomfort instead of trying to off-load it immediately just because you don’t like it.
By doing this, you give that emotion time to breathe and calm, and give your mind time to step in and consider what’s going on and how to move forward in a healthier way.
Other elements included in this reading:
Gneiss Stone for Patience in Moments of Discomfort
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: SASURAIBITO TAROT TRAVELER EDITION AND BEE NO.92 CLUB SPECIAL PLAYING CARDS (Drawn on by Twist the Leaf)
#DiscordTarotholicsApr2026 Challenge
Prompt for April 14th : What do you need to focus on for self-care for this month’s new moon?
Reading Summary: A moment of stillness is needed for opportunity to show itself (Ace of Pentacles is the only upright card… and it’s a house). No amount of active pursuit (Knight of Wands Rx) or planning (Two of Wands Rx) is going to get you where you want to be (Knight of Cups Rx) during this month’s new moon phase.
Take Away: Sometimes the best thing to do is take a minute… take a breath… and take a look at what’s going on around you while you are standing still. We all have places we want to go and things we want to do, but how can you plot your way forward if you don’t have any idea what’s going on around you or what obstacles might be in your way?
You can’t. This New Moon phase is a time for observation. Don’t get impatient. Foster a sense of curiosity instead while you take a moment to ground yourself and steady your own footing.
Other elements included in this reading:
Staghorn Sumac for Connecting with Nature and the Wild Within
Japanese Cherry Leaf as a Reminder of Life’s Fleeting Moments
Deodar Cedar Cone for Fostering Clarity and Spiritual Connection
Foraged Oak Branch with Moss and Lichen for Perseverance
Garnierite for help in Releasing Anger, Anxiety, and Guilt
Carnelian Agate for Inner Drive and Focusing on Aspirations
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: THE BIZARRE TAROT GARDEN EDITION
This is a catch up post, and I’m not entirely sure what the self kindness was for this day.
Gideon’s Challenge – Irrational
Irrational
All sharp edges
and missing
the soft spots
I’m ready
to snag upon
any thing
and anyone
that steps
too close
with the
sharpness of
my warning gaze
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Redacted Friendships
Today’s meditation was skipped.
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The @hippiepixie333 #Escapril2026 Challenge
Prompt for April 13th : redacted
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is the Two of Cups, which is traditionally a representation of connection and unification, mutual attraction, and emotional connections.
Have you ever met someone that you liked in the beginning, but the more you got to know them, the more you realize that they don’t have a place in your life for one reason or another?
Then, you have to make the hard choice between keeping them on or letting them go (or possibly having to tell them to fuck off, as the case may be).
It’s the ones that don’t leave after you’ve told them it’s not working out that can create a problem. I have one of those… I know. It doesn’t matter how far you distance yourself or how silent you go. It doesn’t matter if you choose to cut them from your life entirely and completely erase (redact) the friendship from your life.
They are still trying. Months later… Years later. Still trying.
I suppose that this particular message today in the Two of Cups combined with the “redacted” prompt is a nudge for me to ask all of you… What would you do in this situation? What can you do in this situation?
Is the solution just to completely continue to ignore them and block their efforts for contact? How many times can you tell them to back off before it’s too many? Never mind, I know the answer to that last question. The real question is what comes after you’ve reached that point.
DECK USED: COSMIC BUTCHERS GUIDE TO THE STRANGE AND ETERNAL TAROT
#DiscordTarotholicsApr2026 Challenge
Prompt for April : Do the Int’l Plant Appreciation Day Activity
Instructions: Pull a random card, then spin the wheel using the link provided below
to be given an herb to work with. What similarities or differences do
you find between the herb you were given and the card you pulled?
[Safety Note: I have based my writing here upon tea. Although the herb that the wheel offered to me is quite safe, if you are pregnant, have any medical conditions, or are on medication, please be sure to research risks, interactions, and side effects before consuming.]
The Fool and Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) Root
Licorice Root is an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial substance. It has a sweet flavor to it that lends itself to being used in tea form, as well as made into candies, both of which are often used to assist in calming digestive issues such as indigestion, acid reflux, and other stomach upsets.
The Fool is traditionally a representation of innocence, carelessness, carefree enthusiasm, and new beginnings.
The first thing that comes to mind for me when I put these two elements together is that Licorice Root is the remedy to the consequences of The Fool’s actions.
After all, when you make bad choices, you sometimes garner things like acid reflux and indigestion. To me, these two go hand in hand. One being the remedy that eases the other when something goes awry (you know, like Tequila and Tacos Tuesday).
DECK USED: LISA FRANK TAROT
@lightningwildflower‘s April Energetic Shifts Challenge
Prompts for April 13th and 14th
Mars conjunct Neptune, Venus sextile Jupiter: How am I being asked to trust the unknown?
Two of Keys and Three of Keys Rx
Sometimes you just have to wait for things to balance themselves out. There’s nothing you can do, not even as a team with others, to solve the problem.
Instead, it’s about letting the problem solve itself and allowing things to fall back into balance on their own.
Mercury sextile Uranus, Mercury enters Aries: What truth needs to be communicated without hesitation?
Ten of Chalices Rx atop Messenger of Chalices
There will be no happiness to come if you don’t speak up during this time of imbalance to direct things toward what you want to get out of the situation.
This doesn’t mean you have to do anything other than communicate, but communication is necessary at this time so that as things go back into balance they include the things that you want to happen. Staying silent will only allow these opportunities for happiness to pass you by.
Other elements included in this reading:
Pressed Pansy Flowers for Hearing the Heart More Clearly
Dried Red Maple Leaf for Adaptability and Connection
Citrine for Energy Lift (easing the weight of heavy energies)
Carnelian Agate for Inner Drive and Focusing On Aspirations
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: COSMIC BUTCHERS GUIDE TO THE STRANGE AND ETERNAL TAROT
This is a catch up post, and I’m not entirely sure what the self kindness was for this day.
Gideon’s Challenge – Whimsy
Whimsy
Little bird
in a tree
high above
and watching me
flying high
among the blue
with wings
of clouds
and a
birds eye view
Twisting the Leaf 