Compassionate Joy

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#DailyTrip with the Calm AppToday’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was a #DailyTrip session from the Calm app.  I’ve not done one of these sessions before and it was a nice change of pace.  It explored the space around you and feeling “out” into the distance through hearing.  For me, this extended into energy work, and the ten minutes seemed to fly by as I explored what I could feel though the different aspects and facets that the session walked me through.

To be honest?  I was worried at the title being “The Space Cave” that it was going to be some sort of astral travel thing or outer space based, but it was more about expanding your awareness within the space you are in, and connecting with the present and the world around you as well as within you in order to find peace.

Loaf Tarot - King of CupsToday’s draw is the King of Cups, which is traditionally a representation of a projective alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s emotions, relationships, creativity, and intuition. This often translates into themes that have to do with authority figures with roles that allow their compassion and understanding to shine.

Usually when you see a predator type animal looking at fish, you think, “oh God, there’s gonna be a massacre”. Yet, here in the imagery of this card, what we see is a happy raccoon, just resting above the surface of the water with chin in hand as he watches the golden fish swim below. He isn’t disturbing them, just watching with pleasure.

The imagery in this card teaches us to not make assumptions. Remember that we all have the ability to be understanding and compassionate, and to take joy in those emotions. By fostering them in ourselves, we show the world around us that we aren’t just approachable, but trust worthy as well.

CrowSister’s #DeckStudyTenTrueWords Prompt
Prompt: Distill your reading of the card to your ten truest words.

Do the unexpected…
show the world
true compassion
lives on

DECK USED:  LOAF TAROT

Lionharts’ #TheJanuaryTarot 2023 Year of Evolution Challenge Prompt
Question for January 15th:

Soul Care Oracle CardsWhere can I use a different perspective?

Capricorn and Spring – You could benefit from a reassessment of your goals. What do you really desire? Where has this changed over time and how can you align yourself appropriately to achieve these things? What wants, desires and needs are no longer relevant to your current self and can be set aside? It’s time to take a fresh look at things and reassess.

How can I begin to explore this new perspective?

Waxing Crescent and Aquarius – Don’t discount the power of others to lend you strength and help you in puzzling out the truth you seek. You are not “in this alone” and need to be sure to allow others in to help you in evaluating things.

DECK USED: SOUL CARE ORACLE CARDS

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2023 Challenge Prompt
Question for January 15th: Do Spread 3 – Separate your deck into the four individual suits and the major arcana and shuffle those piles separately. Draw a card for each position in the spread.

Loaf Tarot - Queen of Pentacles, Five of Cups, The Chariot, Two of Swords, King of WandsMajor Arcana Card to represent something important in your life

The Chariot – Independence and autonomy.

Wands Card (fire, energy, drive) – How the essence of this suit influences this important thing in your life.

King of Wands – You use your inspiration and creative spark in order to facilitate your independence and the level of freewill you can enjoy.

Pentacles Card (earth, resources, physical) – How the essence of this suit influences this important thing in your life.

Queen of Pentacles – You are consistently working to grow and foster a sense of stability in your life. This gives you solid footing from which to work from.

Cups Cards (water, emotions) – How the essence of this suit influences this important thing in your life.

Five of Cups – A carefully cultivated sense of dissatisfaction helps you to always strive for better and more.

Swords Card (air, mind, intellect) – How the essence of this suit influences this important thing in your life.

Two of Swords – Being decisive, helps you in making sure you stay ahead of the game. As long as you are careful not to deliberate too long, you allow yourself to continue to move forward on your own steam.

DECK USED: LOAF TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

Although I did a few things for the upcoming orders day tomorrow, I mostly just set all that aside and tried to relax and enjoy a bit of a break instead.

Gideon’s Challenge

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IMG_1973Winter Play Time

I want to play
in the snow
with you by my side
and we’ll romp
and roll
in tangled limbs
as the time flies by
please kiss me then
for a while
until the world
falls away
and you heat
my blood from within
and I feel
I can thaw the world
with just
one more touch

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

❤️ Self Care Saturday (On a Sunday)

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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 Magical Nature Tarot and The Twilight Canticle Lenormand

Earth – Apprentice of Swords – Take time to learn new methods. Not everything is going to work out the way you’ve done it in the past.  You’ll have to adjust and adapt strategically to make sure you stay on top of your responsibilities this week.

Air – Four of Swords – Stop overthinking everything.  Set those things that keep wiggling their way into your mind aside and take a breather.  Not everything can be solved by obsessing over it.

Water – The Suspended One – Work on putting yourself in other’s shoes more often so that you are connecting with with more clarity and understanding to how others are feeling. Pay closer attention.

Fire – The World – New trails and explorations lie ahead, but take a minute to celebrate how far you have come first.

Waning – Lily and Lady – Caring for someone elderly takes patience. It is a balance between helping them feel capable, and showing them where they need help in a way that keeps them open to accepting it. Ease up. She doesn’t take hearing she can’t do something any better than you do. Let her try instead. Just be there to catch her when she needs it.

Waxing – Mice and Birds – Gossip is a corrosion of healthy social connections. Keep this in the forefront of your mind as you move forward into the week ahead.

Take Away -DECKS USED: MAGICAL NATURE TAROT AND THE TWILIGHT CANTICLE LENORMAND

Grace Costs You Nothing

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#DailyCalm with the Calm AppToday’s meditation was ten minutes long, and another of the #DailyCalm sessions from the Calm app. It was interesting that today’s topic for the session was about envy, when just last night Gideon and I had just had a discussion about the use (or rather misuse) of the words jealousy and envy in everyday conversation.

The meditation discussed how love opens us up to experiencing new things, allowing us to find new connections and explore new horizons.  Whereas envy, on the other hand, picks things apart through nitpicking and negative emotions.

Insecta Obscura Tarot - The Tower and Six of CupsToday’s draw is the Six of Cups atop The Hermit (they demanded to come out together). The Six of Cups is traditionally a representation of nostalgia, and The Hermit is traditionally a representation of alone time and self-reflection.

What I see in today’s cards is a reminder not to be harsh on yourself if you occasionally fall into old bad habits when it comes to your alone time.

I have a habit of dawdling after my meditation, relaxing into a few extra minutes of down time while I play on my phone or scroll through Instagram. It’s not a particularly good or useful habit… and it wastes time.  And yet?  It happens sometimes.

Today’s card is a reminder that, as a book I recently read says, “Grace costs you nothing.” Be kind to yourself and just seek to do better in the future.

CrowSister’s #DeckStudyTenTrueWords Prompt
Prompt: Distill your reading of the card to your ten truest words.

Some habits
die slow deaths,
be kind
when relapse happens

DECK USED:  INSECTA OBSCURA TAROT

Lionharts’ #TheJanuaryTarot 2023 Year of Evolution Challenge Prompt
Question for January 14th: If there is one thing I could change for the better, what would it be?

Star Light CardsReading Summary: There is an intrinsic and unending (Limitless) strength that comes in leaning into the positive (Light), and allowing that effort toward optimism and positivity to permeate through your life (Nucleus).

Take Away: Your nature is one of pessimism and distrust. This is what you were taught through your formative years, and was reinforced through adulthood.  But, what you’ve found is that when you counterbalance your negativity and pessimism with an effort to lean into positivity and optimism, it helps you to balance things out a bit.   This effort lightens  your mood and your perspective, allowing you to see the world in a bit more positive light than before, which in turn helps in keeping your depression at bay and lifting your spirits.

If there was one thing you could change for the better, it would be to make this process easier to accomplish, and share it with others in a way that would show them its benefit without coming off as that abrasive “goodness and light” vibe that turned you away from things that could help in the past.

DECK USED: STAR LIGHT CARDS

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2023 Challenge Prompt
Topic for January 14th: Draw or write something free form inspired by the card(s).

Insecta Obscura Tarot - Judgement, Nine of Blades, Nine of Swords, Five of CupsThe girl wept tears
tinged with blood
as her fears weighed
heavy upon her head
and the nightmares
followed her
into the waking world
through harsh
inner whispers
of “should haves”
and “what ifs”
until, on her kees
she asks…
“Why me?”

DECK USED: INSECTA OBSCURA TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I gave up on looking for something that’s gone missing rather than allowing myself to continue to wind up and get more and more upset.

Gideon’s Challenge

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IMG_1429The Crying Sky

Moisture collects
bit by bit
as it builds
to larger drops
that drip
one by one
to earth
and grow
as they
join together
into puddles
and streams
until in time
the ocean
is made of
teardrops
from above

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Warming Up Cartomancy Reading

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The prompt for this reading came from one of my Discord servers and is as follows: “For many of us in the northern hemisphere, it’s been cold, so let’s do talk to our divination tool of choice how to warm up.”

Constellation Playing CardsWhere could I benefit from more warmth in my life?

King of Diamonds (Deneb Kaitos) – The King of Diamonds is a rigid card indicating a “fixed” position in the Deneb Kaitos star.  This often translates into self-destruction by change that is forced upon us, sickness, or disgrace/shame.  The King of Diamonds can be a ruthless king, rigid in his ways and unwilling to bend.  Make sure that you are not sinking into this rigid stance and allowing stagnancy to creep in and take over.  You need movement to keep life’s blood flowing, and your life healthy and happy.

How could I start the process of instilling this warmth where it’s needed?

Seven of Clubs (Horologium) – The Horologium constellation represents a pendulum clock.  Combined with the Seven of Clubs, it speaks of there being an ebb and flow to times when there is harmony in your life with others, and times when there is not, and it reminds us to take advantage of opportunities to connect and create positive ties with others of similar beliefs and values that can be there for you when things turn to being not at their best in your life later on.

From who (or in what way) do I need help in bringing that warmth to life?

Ten of Spades (Pictor) – The painter’s easel is what the constellation Equuleus Pictoris represents. It reminds us, when combined with the Ten of Spades, that when we paint the picture of our lives we need to deal with painful endings with grace and dignity.  Just because it hurts doesn’t mean we should lash out.  Sometimes, it means that the lesson to be learned wants to make sure we’re paying attention.  How will you paint your picture… what will you see when you look back at the most difficult times in your life? Will you see someone of strength? Or will you shy away from looking because you’re unhappy with what’s there?

What would be the benefit of welcoming this warmth into my life?

Five of Spades (Telescopium) – Your scarcity issues have been a long term problem in your life, and will continue to be for a good long time moving forward.  That doesn’t mean that we give up, but rather that we look ahead and plan… dream… work towards overcoming their negative influences in the future.  Reach for help instead of turning away from it, and face forward toward the future.

Is instilling this warmth into my life a long journey, or a short trip?

Two of Diamonds (Serpens) – Never Ending.  The Serpens constellation is a representation of a serpent and, when I think of serpents in a metaphysical sense, they always reflect back to the ouroboros. This ties into the constant necessity to foster balance, as balance is never stagnant and always changing.  A little weight one way or another and the effort to balance needs to be shifted, again and again and again.  There is no finish line, for constant and/or consistent balance requires constant and/or consistent change, and the cycle feeds into itself, never ending.

What are the possible repercussions of leaving things alone?

Five of Diamonds (Taurus) – Again, we see stagnancy, and an inability to ask for help, as well as a refusal to receive it even if it is available to you.  Lonely, stagnant, and miserable.  Not to mention broke.

DECK USED: CONSTELLATION PLAYING CARDS