Sweet Summer
Swaying blossoms
dance in the breeze
as quiet chimes
play off key
in the distance
as the scent
of fragrant lilacs
kiss the senses
to blend with
sweet summer
scents
of cut grass
and sun warmed
asphalt
Morning Bonus Read – Shadow Dossier
The prompt for this reading came from one of my Discord servers and is as follows:
“Use the mini-deity dossier to communicate with your shadow self for some shadow work.”
Spirit – Jack of Clubs – Been through a lot but eager to try, your shadow self isn’t ready to give up yet and is excited to be getting some attention after being ignored for so long.
Personality – Queen of Clubs – Supportive of your endeavors, helpful in sparking inspiration, and desires to be involved in the process. They may not know the way but they’re happy to be your cheerleader and will be with you along the way.
Abilities – King of Diamonds – Again we see a supportive energy here with a heavily grounded foundation. They encourage you in creating that stability you crave and are, in fact, the inspiration for that craving.
Traits – Three of Spades – All that grounding takes a tole and so does the fact that they’ve been pushed aside for so long. Because of this, there’s a lot of negativity there that bleeds out when you’re feeling down, tainting the water and polluting the optimism you are trying so hard to foster in your life.
Omens and Signs to Look For – Seven of Diamonds – Progress takes time, but there are moments along the way when if you pause and really look, you can see their touch in your growth. Their fingerprints smudged upon the glass.
Manifestation – Five of Diamonds – In the past, your shadow self has had to fight to manifest in your life. This process was always a struggle and took a lot of energy to accomplish, leaving you feeling drained as a result because you were resisting and forcing them back down and away.
Appearance – Ace of Spades – They are looking for a new and better way to communicate with you. With the old habits of shoving them away left behind, it’s time to find a better way to connect and thus a different way for them to make an appearance in your life going forward.
What They Want From You – Nine of Spades – They want you to help them with their worries and fears, anxieties and troubles. Your shadow self holds on to a lot of these things and it needs help to release them, confront them, or process them in a healthy way so that they will no longer be a problem.
Things to Know – Six of Diamonds – They want to get better and be better, even if they don’t act like it sometimes. It can be hard to move on to better things when sometimes it means leaving shit behind in the process that you’ve been clinging to for so long. It’s the same for them as it is for you.
Things to Avoid – Nine of Hearts – Don’t get so cocky in feeling things are good that you forget about them. It’s okay, of course, to fee good. Just don’t leave them behind and alone in the process.
DECK USED: GOLDEN DEER CASINO PLAYING CARDS
Hesitation and Procrastination
Today’s meditation was another valiant effort without much success on the meditation front. I laid down twice to try and meditate and both times phone calls forced me to break off after only a minute or two in. The first time I got pulled in to work. The second time was my mother.
Today’s draw is the Devil card, which is traditionally a representation of temptations, addictions, and the quandary that we get ourselves in when we go “too deep” into something we (at least initially in some way) enjoy.
Are you holding back because something you want in life is unhealthy for you? Or are you holding back because you’re scared? When we hesitate… what is the motivation behind that restraint?
If there’s something that you want, and you evaluate whether it’s healthy for you or not, and whether or not you can handle the “addiction factor”. If you evaluate all these things and you find that it’s safe to move forward anyway, even if it’s unconventional or something just for you… Then why not? Why are you hesitant?
We often tell ourselves that the things we want have to wait because it’s “not the right time”. We put off happiness enjoy in order to focus on goals and responsibilities. But as the Flower Fortune card says… “If not now, then when?”
The message in today’s cards is about looking before you leap… and then leaping once you’ve looked. It’s time to examine why you’re hesitating.
DECK USED: FLORIOGRAPHY TAROT AND FLOWER FORTUNE CARDS
Raven Willow Tarot’s Emotional Exploration Prompt
Questions for May 21st & 22nd
What role does love play in my life?
The Empress and The Hermit
Love is nurturing and supportive, even in times when you’re sinking into solitude. It’s always there. Even when you’re not reaching out for it. It’s unconditional and patient.
These things make love a reassurance, and a refuge whether you are with those people that love you or not.
How can I better enhance love in my life?
The Fool, Three of Honey, Strength
Be more “free” and unrestrained with those closest to you with whom life is a collaboration. Together you are stronger than apart.
DECK USED: BLOOD MOON TAROT
#DiscordTarotolicsMay2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: In what ways are you unhappy with who you are now?
Reading Summary: I want to be more comfortable with my emotions (Queen of Cups), and I want to feel like I’m not sacrificing control in that process (Emperor). As it is now, I am feeling uninspired and out of control in my creative endeavors, restless and ready to restructure (Ace of Wands atop The Tower).
Take Away: As my COTD indicated for today, I am hesitating in taking the leaps needed to get things on track both with my inspiration and my creativity. I just… feel like I’m not rested enough? Even coming out of having had a week off, I still feel like I’m wrung out and don’t have the energy to do the work involved right now.
On top of that, is the fact that in my emotional growth I’m in a place where emotions still feel completely unstable and unpredictable. I’m not someone that enjoys instability and so it’s a struggle for me to allow for that fluidity in something that can have such a strong influence on my perceptions and my life.
DECK USED: FLORIOGRAPHY TAROT
Orange Ceamcicle ice cream and Cheetos Puffs. Need I say more?
Gideon’s Challenge
The Bounty
Soft and fuzzy
nice and warm
protection given
a peaceful promise
sworn
brew some tea
with purple petals
and hang
green leaves
to dry to brittle
garden gifts
for health and home
precious treasures
I have grown
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Don’t Squeeze Too Tightly
Today’s meditation was skipped. I did actually try to meditate, laid down and put myself into position for the stretches, got the meditation timer going, the whole deal. But I couldn’t sit still. So I struggled with it for about five or six minutes then gave up and went to go get myself some food.
Today’s draw is the Four of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of stability, conservation, scarcity issues, control, jealousy (not to be confused with envy), and miserly behavior.
The bird stands on the coin demanding it remain where it is, it’s theirs and they don’t want it taken away. Sometimes when we get too focused on holding on to what we have, we forget to stay open and receptive to what others have to say. We essentially “close ranks” and become overly controlling.
The problem with this behavior is that it closes us off from others. Communication becomes limited. When communicating with others, yes, as the Flower Fortune card says today, “the most important thing with communication is to listen to what isn’t being said”. But there’s no way to hear what isn’t being said if there’s no communication at all.
The message in today’s cards today is that no matter how important something is or how possessive you feel about it, you need to make sure you don’t become so territorial and guard it so jealously that you shut others out and close yourself off.
DECK USED: CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS TAROT AND FLOWER FORTUNE CARDS
The Sacred Grounds Tarot Club Prompt
Question: Start of Gemini – How can I more effectively communicate and express myself this season?
Reading Summary: The opinion of others (Six of Wands) is fickle (Wheel of Fortune), so don’t look in that direction. Instead focus on your own perceptions of yourself and not being too hard on yourself (Judgement).
Take Away: The advice here is about making sure that you aren’t allowing your worry about what others might think to silence you or cause you to adjust how you say what lands on your tongue. Just be yourself and be true to who you are and what you want from yourself and your path, everything else will fall into place on its own. Public opinion is too unpredictable to base…. well, pretty much anything on, and that includes the value of your own words and communication.
DECK USED: WHITE NUMEN TAROT
#DiscordTarotolicsMay2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: Where in life do you need to “step up” and do better?
Reading Summary: Taking action to further your desires and dreams (Knight of Cups). Dive deeper (The Hanged Man) and enlist others in the cause (Three of Cups).
Note: These cards all depict water fowl, and this is not a water fowl deck… it’s a bird deck. This means that the Cups theme carries over into all of the cards in the reading and intertwines them together as one.
Take Away: Sometimes, a journey taken alone ends up no journey at all. Where I need to step up and do better is in making sure that I’m allowing others in and enlisting their help in furthering my dreams and desires.
The issue here is in how I view enlisting their help, and I need to look for a better perspective on this so that it’s something that cam become more natural and less forced. With their help, I can then go further and do more, and realize the dreams that right now are hovering just out of reach.
DECK USED: CONFERENCE OF THE BIRDS TAROT
I switched Gideon and I from play to IMs when I started feeling lost and vulnerable instead of trying to “tough it out” and keep playing.
Gideon’s Challenge
Temptation Needed
Bribery works
when nothing else will
when tastebuds
say
“no thanks, not today”
and there’s nothing
appealing enough
to lead you astray
a trip to the bakery
might do the trick
and some Heckboy tea
to sit and sip
