Release
A tight bud
of protection
can only
take you
so far
before
it’s time
to open up
and breathe
as the air
ruffles
your hair
and fills
your lungs
Gideon’s Challenge – Release
🌑 New Moon in Aries – April 2026
Tomorrow is the new moon, and like all new moons and full moons, I did a spread aligned to the moon’s current themes as a part of my recognition of the moon’s cycle and influences upon us. Today’s spread is courtesy of @biddytarot
How can I shape my life to align with my true desires?
Knight of Pentacles (The Killer and the Lioness) – Take time to gather the allies you need. It’s a long journey to reach your end goals, both in time and distance. Having those along with you that can share in your interests and have your back along the way make the effort (and the wait) far more satisfying.
Where do I need to assert myself to feel emotionally secure?
Seven of Cups (The Hedger and the Octopus) – Autonomy and independence make you feel secure. When you give up your choices to others, it weakens that sense of emotional security you get from making the decisions yourself. Part of this is because you’re choosing to not think about things, which is killing that little clever and curious spark within you little by little through giving up your choices to others.
What new experiences will heighten my self-confidence?
The Moon (The Avoider and the Scorpion) – Confront your fears head on. Don’t worry so much about the bumps and bruises you may gather along the way. You have been blowing the possible consequences out of proportion of late, when considering your options. Worry less, act more.
What courageous action do I need to take to achieve my goals?
Seven of Wands (The Fuckboy and the Dragon) – Remember that you don’t have to take on every challenge that crosses your path. Not even the ones that are directed at you. Sometimes it takes more courage to snort with an eye roll and walk away, then it does to open your mouth or engage in battle.
How can I handle conflict effectively?
Eight of Swords (The Princess and the Swan) – Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut. You will learn more (including how to get yourself out of sticky situations) by listening than engaging. Just stay quiet. The knowledge you glean will become useful when it’s needed.
What is my highest intention for my personal power?
Nine of Pentacles (The Resting Woman and the Seabird) – You seek to look back at the end of the day with satisfaction, and in doing so feel as if your rest is well-deserved.
New Moon advice from the Minoan Goddess Amalthea.
Princess of Swords (The Ballerina and the Moths) – Keep a close eye on your addictions and remember that mistakes happen. Just do what you can and stay aware of your tendency to be drawn toward those things that are dangerous for you or unhealthy.
Other elements included in this reading:
Goat Charm as Sympathetic Representation of Amalthea
Staghorn Sumac for Connecting with Nature and the Wild Within
Banded Brown Agate Mushroom for Grounding and Stabilization
Flower Agate for Opening the Mind to New Possibilities
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: BLACK LILY TAROT
Spit It Out
Today’s meditation was skipped.
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The @hippiepixie333 #Escapril2026 Challenge
Prompt for April 15th : undercurrent
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.
Today’s draw is the Ace of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of the seed of new beginnings in the area of one’s thoughts, intellect, education, logic and reason, ambition, or communication.
If you don’t say the stuff that’s on your mind and communicate with others when it’s needed, it becomes an undercurrent in the situation and relationship. Something left unsaid that leaves its mark on everything else between you.
This unseen undercurrent of the unspoken changes the relationship with others overtime, and it can become stronger and stronger without you ever even realizing it’s happening because you’ve tucked it away out of sight.
This is true about important emotions, negative perceptions, or anything else that would be healthier to talk about rather then burying out of sight.
The message in today’s Ace of Swords card and the “undercurrent” prompt is an encouragement to speak up more when there’s a problem, instead of burying it and letting it fester. This doesn’t mean that you don’t need tact, compassion, or an effort at being gentle with your words… it just means that you need to get it out instead of holding it inside and trying to pretend it doesn’t exist.
DECK USED: DISNEY STITCH TAROT
@Lionharts #TheAprilTarot Root & Rise Challenge
Prompt for April 15th : Do the Alignment Tarot Spread
The Claim : What is mine to take ownership of now?
Marshmallow – The stability you have created, and the comfort it provides for both you as well as others in your life. This stability you’ve created in your life isn’t just about hard work paying off. It’s also about who you are and how you stand strong in the storm.
The Choice : What requires a clear decision from me?
Cacao – If you want to enjoy life more and find more fun and pleasure in the experience of the day-to-day, you need to make a clear and conscious decision to lean in that direction. You can’t just say you’re going to do it or put a little mindfulness towards it… This is a choice you need to actually make and hold to in order to shift your life in that direction.
The Limit : What am I no longer available for?
Vinegar – Self-neglect and all or nothing thinking. You don’t have to pour yourself in full-bore to every single thing you do or feel that you want to include in your life. Some things you can do just a little at a time, and that’ll be perfectly enough.
The Core : What action aligns with what I already know?
Pomegranate – Actions that create a greater sense of balance move in the direction that the universe wants things to go. The fact is that the universe requires balance, and is constantly seeking that balance. If you lean into trying to create that balance yourself, it will provide you with the path of least resistance to your goals.
The Vow : What takes form when I commit to this?
Tumeric – Anything worth having is worth working for. Not everything can be instant gratification and immediate rewards. A lot of the stuff that is worth having in life you actually have to spend a lifetime working towards to achieve.
Other elements included in this reading:
Japanese Cherry Leaf as a Reminder of Life’s Fleeting Moments
Staghorn Sumac for Connecting with Nature and the Wild Within
Foraged Red Oak Leaf for Fostering Unconditional Love
Foraged Oak Branch with Moss and Lichen for Perseverance
Dried Cedar Bundle for Protection from Negative Influences
Conch Shell Knot for Concentration, Clarity, and Determination
Green Jasper and Tiger Eye Turtle for Confidence within Progress
Carnelian Agate for Inner Drive and Focusing On Aspirations
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy
DECK USED: APOTHECARY SPIRITS ORACLE
@lightningwildflower‘s April Energetic Shifts Challenge
Pause Prompt for April 15th : What new message or idea is still forming in my mind?
Reading Summary: You are continuing to search (the caffeine-crazed bugeyes in the Temperance card) for ways in which you can indulge in more alone time (The Hermit and Suspension) without it becoming unhealthy (Suspension and Temperance).
Take Away: I really need to find a way to get out in nature on my own without an escort. It’s become a serious problem. The stalker issues have kept me from being able to do this and… I just need it. There’s no other way around it. I need it in the same way I need sleep.
Apparently J and I are going to have to work something out. I’m not getting what I need when he comes along. Perhaps a list of random options and he stays at the trail head or something. I don’t know, but ideas are definitely percolating in my head on how to work it out.
Other elements included in this reading:
Japanese Cherry Leaf as a Reminder of Life’s Fleeting Moments
Dried Rhododendron Leaf for Fostering Confidence
Conch Shell Knot for Concentration, Clarity, and Determination
Calcite for Gently Calming the Mind and Stimulating Insights
Blue Aragonite for Fostering Truth, Understanding, and Clarity
DECK USED: DISNEY STITCH TAROT
I finally finished trimming my Llewellyn Tarot just how I want it. It’s been sitting on my to-do list for a while now, gaining weight the longer it sat there. It felt good to get it done.
Gideon’s Challenge – Flustered
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
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
🎨 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.
Twisting the Leaf 