❤️ Self Care Saturday (On a Sunday)

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?

Baroque Tarot and the Golden Dream Lenormand

EarthKnight of Pentacles – Slow moving is still moving.  You might not feel like things are kicking off as quickly as you would like this holiday season, but keep in mind that the rush is a ramping up to hectic and not usually simply an immediate change.  There’s a time of transition involved that you’re currently riding forward one step at a time.

AirTen of Pentacles – This reminder has come up a lot lately, and the card is an encouragement to pay attention to what you have and be grateful for it.  You have accomplished so much, so don’t allow yourself to feel that you are a failure when you are thriving instead. It might not always feel like it, but at those times is when you need to step up and really pay attention… even catalog your good fortune if needed, in order to recognize it for what it is.

WaterKnight of Swords – Use your time wisely so that you can make sure you are carving out time for those things that help you feel emotionally balanced. Don’t forsake them for progress when you have a chance to take advantage of a bit of time to enjoy them.

FireQueen of Wands – Do what needs done to foster and grow your business. With the rush upon you, you have a lot of opportunity to help your business grow and thrive, not just through the holiday season, but throughout the rest of the year as well.

WaningLily and Broom – Slide off your high horse and ease your expectations of others before you end up falling out of the saddle and with a bruised ass for your trouble. People are sometimes going to disappoint, but make sure it’s not because you are expecting too much from them… or yourself, for that matter.

WaxingScythe and Hourglass – As time goes on this week you are going to find yourself lending that sharp tongue of your negative inner narrative more and more of an ear.  Make sure you are paying attention to this tendency and fighting back against it with a bit of positivity and optimism.  The rise of these tendencies towards self abuse is natural, but needs to be kept in check.

Take Away – Don’t worry about things being a bit slower than expected at the moment, and don’t tear yourself down while waiting for them to pick up.  Instead, lean into the different things you can do to help further your success, and make sure you are combating your negative tendencies instead of letting them grow as the week goes on.

DECKS USED: BAROQUE TAROT AND GOLDEN DREAMS LENORACLE

Healthy Alone Time

Today’s meditation was skipped.

Tarot of the Hidden Realm - The HermitToday’s draw is the Hermit card, which is traditionally a representation of alone time, introspection, self-discovery, and seeking one’s inner truth. Like all Major Arcana cards, the Hermit often deals with an overall outlook rather than any one aspect of the human experience.

Healthy alone time is a goal of mine, as I’m often tempted by self destructive tendencies that whisper lies about unhealthy alone time being just as good.   It’s not, and the keep intelligence of the wizened woman in today’s card looks on in that reminder.  Her gaze asks… is the time you spend alone healthy?  Or is it self-destructive in nature?

Always a good reminder on days when things are quiet and you can take a few minutes to yourself, yes?

The message in today’s card is a reminder to ensure that when you indulge in a bit of alone time, you make sure that you are doing so in healthy ways, and not using that alone time to feed into bad habits or unhealthy choices.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE HIDDEN REALM

Daily Self Kindness

I chose to not pull cards today, and to pull my self-care Saturday cards tomorrow as a “catch up” instead of dealing with it today.

Gideon’s Challenge

IMG_8793Seeking Support

Delicate
and fractured
I reach out
to you
in the dark
seeking the touch
of your skin
against mine
and in that moment
instead
of shattering
into tiny pieces
I find the strength
to continue on
another day

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

The Inner Tyrant

Today’s meditation was skipped.

Baroque TarotToday’s draw is the Queen of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of a receptive alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s knowledge, education, logic, ambitions, or communication. This often translates into themes that have to do with the people that foster you through tough love and sharp-tongued advice.

Today’s card popped out reversed, and that holds significance to me in this draw, as it speaks of the harder and harsher sides of the Queen and that sharp-tongued advice she is so prone to offering… with good intentions, of course.

The message in today’s card is a reminder not to let your inner tyrant be a dictator. Keep an eye on just how hard you’re pushing yourself, and make sure you’re getting the care and rest you need instead of allowing your ambitions steal away the self-care that you need.

DECK USED:  BAROQUE TAROT

Mr Lionhart’s The Suits: Revisited #TheNovemberTarot Prompt
Questions for November 11th and 12th

Carte Postale TarotSuit of Cups – In what area or in what way am I asked to honor my current feelings?

Ace of Cups and Four of Wands – It’s okay to enjoy this time at home. As long as it doesn’t take an unhealthy turn, being a homebody can be a wonderful change of pace for a bit, and definitely something to enjoy.

Suit of Cups – What is my intuition trying to tell me, or help me with, right now?

Four of Cups and Seven of Swords – Don’t let dishonest people be the reason for your retreat from the world. Make sure you are engaging so that you can watch out for them instead.

DECK USED: CARTE POSTALE TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsNov2022 Challenge Prompt
Question for November 11th
: Advice I need to hear at this time concerning my ambitions.

Baroque TarotReading Summary: Follow the plan that you’ve put in place (Three of Wands) to foster your business and your goals (Queen of Wands), but make sure that you are being flexible enough to adapt when needed along the way (Page of Swords).

Take Away: Don’t take on the attitude that you’ve “got this” and that nothing can trip you up.  Such rigid thinking will stand in your way when you need to adapt to any unexpected developments that might crop up along the way.   Instead, look at the journey through these seven weeks as a learning adventure and it will help you to encourage your business to thrive through this holiday season as well as those to come in the future.

DECK USED: BAROQUE TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I got in some time playing with Gideon today, which felt really good.

Gideon’s Challenge

IMG_8911The Scapegoat

Boundaries broken
and the guilt
eats away
at the edges
that have been torn
and refuse
to scab over
so they
instead
corrode away
a little at a time
like rust
as blame is assigned
and accepted
without contest

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

What Is a Shuffle Plate?

This was asked recently in my Discord’s DMs, but I thought it might be helpful to show others. So… a shuffle plate is essentially a plate you use to shuffle on that protects the table underneath. I don’t like reading cloths for regular use because they shift and wrinkle. Instead, I prefer bare wood. But… well. This is what happens when you shuffle on bare wood over time:

Board01

As you can see, shuffling creates a good deal of wear on wood over time. You can also see that when the wear got pretty extensive, I tried to turn the table around and use the other side for a bit. I clearly needed a better solution, though.  No matter how gentle I am with the cards, they begin to wear on the wood as time goes on.

So, while I was at a friend’s house, I noticed a sample piece of granite from the store sitting cast aside on the windowsill that they had considered doing their countertops in. They no longer needed it, and I asked if I could have it.

IMG_E6894

I took it home, put little fuzzy feet on the underside, and began using it to shuffle my cards on in order to preserve the table top (which it has done spectacularly since acquiring it). Since then, I also found a similarly sized tile in selenite, which I did the same with.

Yes, selenite is soft and, at some point, it will have to be replaced. It does include a cleansing benefit that the granite doesn’t, though.

And, there you have it. A “shuffle plate” is a piece of tile/wood/stone used to shuffle on that protects your table from the wear and tear of shuffling. Soft, fuzzy feet on the bottom are recommended, or the plate will cause it’s own damage to the table’s surface.