Morning Blush
Sweet color
bright and warm
spreads
across porcelain
as if in the
misty morning
the land
blushes sweetly
with shy smiles
as cool air
slips under
warm sheets
to whisper
over skin
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?
Earth – Seven of Pentacles and The Closed Book – Rome wasn’t built in a day and a lot of planning and learning went into the process long before the first brick was laid. You know what you want out of your money, your hard work, and your health. All three have a long term element and you need to make sure you don’t get out of touch with the elements that make up the progress. Take a look this week and make sure you know what’s going on in these areas, dig in and learn what you need to know, find what’s hidden that you don’t know yet.
Air – Eight of Wands and The Sword – Do your due diligence and do it now. Do not be aggressive this week in the pursuit of the knowledge you need, but the time to sit back and wait is now at an end and it’s time to be proactive and get gather up that knowledge so that you can use it to your advantage moving forward.
Water – The Fool, The Bridge atop The Knight – You may be feeling all kinds of vulnerable and not at all steady of foot this week, but that’s okay. It’s natural to feel that way when starting anew after a time trapped in the dark. Just make sure you have your armor in place should stray arrows come your way while trying to work out your path forward. Don’t take those unintended jabs personally. It’s not about you.
Fire – Six of Wands atop The Tower, The Dove In Mourning – You’re going to ACE this restructuring. Don’t worry about the chaos so much, because it’s just the chaos of change. Adaptation is your strong suit and you’re going to come through the changes going on with flying colors.
Waning – Radical Self-Love – You have spent the past week relaxing and giving yourself time away from the business. This was time you needed to heal and find your center. Now as you move into the week ahead, it’s time to find your footing and get back into the swing of things once more.
Waxing – Circles – As much of this reading has already indicated, there’s some chaos going on in relation to the business and you’re going to need to focus this week to make sure you gather all the information you need to make educated decisions on how to move forward.
Take Away – It’s time to get back in the swing of things. There’s a lot of changes going on right now that you need to catch up on this week. Make the calls that need to be made, and work out a plan, but make sure that you gather as much information as you can so that you’re well informed and prepared to adapt appropriately. During this process there may be a few “emotional hiccups” due to feeling a bit vulnerable (possibly due to either depression or the drop?). Keep in mind that these hiccups are you taking things personally that are not about you at all. Let them go instead of letting them in.
DECKS USED: MESQUITE TAROT, ELUCIDATION DECK, LANTERN ORACLE
It’s Okay To Shuffle In the Dark
Today’s meditation was just over seventeen minutes long and was the next installment of the mantra meditation course from the Oak app. Again, the meditation did not do the vocal part of things, but started the mantra in the head and kept it there. With each of the meditations in the course, the guide speaks less and there is more time to linger in the actual meditation side of things, which is really nice. I have a bit of mental straying today, but it was more like dreaming, then catching myself dreaming and coming back to center.
Today’s draw is the Knight of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of an active projective beta energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s finances, resources, home life, health, and manifestations. While the Pentacles suit is one of slow movement, the Knight is an indication of forward motion and determination. These two qualities combine to indicate themes that have to do with slow progress, productivity, and working hard towards one’s goals.
One thing that stands out strongly to me in the imagery of this card today is the fact that the knight is looking backward. They look to the pentacle in their hand… but also in the direction of the past even as the horse continues to move forward into the future.
This combined with the Tera-Pets card for today speaks to me about a need to be sure you are focusing upon what is important to you. Sometimes when we are moving forward it feels more like we’re fumbling forward in the dark, and that’s okay. The Knight of Pentacles joined with the message on the second card tells us that even when we are walking forward blind with our hands out to feel the way? We’re still moving forward… and that’s what’s important.
DECK USED: SILHOUETTES TAROT AND THERA-PETS EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL CARDS
LionHart’s Mercury Retrograde Tarot Challenge Prompt
Topic: A supportive message from the cards for this Full Moon
Reading Summary: It’s up to you to fight the good fight (Seven of Wands) as long as you feel that you’re in the right (Knight of Cups), but don’t forget that others are in that fight (Five of Swords) are a part of your past (Six of Cups) and thus a part of your future.
Take Away: The past cannot be erased. What you do cannot be erased. You carry your actions forward with you into the future and forever after. Make sure that when you are fighting for what you believe is right, that you keep in mind the methods you use and keep in mind that those you are fighting against and what you do to win will be indelibly inked into a part of who you are forever forward.
DECK USED: NANO STARSEEDS TAROT
#DiscordTarotolicsFeb2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: What do I need to focus on for self-care for this full moon?
Reading Summary: Call your mother (Queen of Swords). Now (The Chariot). And listen to what she has to say (The Hanged Man).
Take Away: Apparently, I need to make a phone call in the morning (because trust me, she won’t appreciate me calling and waking her ass up in the middle of the night).
I was going to call her this evening. Then I got a bottle of piss thrown on me by a homeless man and… yeah. Well. Plans change.
These cards don’t just indicate that I need to call my mother, though. They make it clear that in doing so I need to pay attention not just to -what- she’s saying, but where what she says is coming from. The hanged man tells me to listen closely, and look deeper. There’s more to the conversation than what lies on the surface.
DECK USED: SILHOUETTES TAROT
I took three showers today, brushed my teeth four times. And plan on taking another shower before bed.
Gideon’s Challenge
The Thaw
Once sharp
now brittle
as cold kisses raindrops
and ice coats the world
long spines
become encased
in the lick
of a frozen world
fingers touch
upon iced droplets
and brittle gives way
to warmth
like a broken soul
kissed by love
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Morning Bonus Read – State of Being
The prompt for this reading came from one of my Discord servers and is as follows:
“Join me this week in my very simple state of being draw.”
How am I doing emotionally this week?
Ace of Spades atop Eight of Hearts – Too much in my head and it’s not going well for that reason. The time off has been good for me, but I need to stop spending so much time thinking on the new processes and methods that have been changing around me over the past couple weeks and just let things flow and settle and worry about them later.
What am I going through mentally this week?
Jack of Spades – This is the problem that is causing my emotions so much turmoil. The problem is that I am used to being able to learn what I need to know when I want to know it. Waiting is (figuratively) killing me because I can’t get the information I need and I can’t start the adjustment process that will need to take place. For this reason I’m agitated and spending a good deal of time “all in my head” instead of allowing myself to relax and be at ease.
What should I focus on physically this week?
Six of Clubs – Get out into nature and find my balance. I have the ability to ground and center, to find my balance, and to find peace… but I need to actually get my ass out into nature and do it. An hour was not enough… do more. Don’t let the crutch hold you back because you know damned well there’s plenty of places you can go to enjoy that connection where showing up with a crutch and a gimp foot won’t be a problem.
DECK USED: EDO TOKUGAWA KARUTA PLAYING CARDS
The Nature of Value
Today’s meditation was supposed to be another installment of the mantra meditation, but it turns out I was so beat that I ended up dozing off within the first couple of minutes of the meditation. So… today’s meditation was skipped and I had a nap instead. I will pick it back up tomorrow.
Today’s draw is the Six of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of generosity, being receptive to help, and the giving and receiving that is involved in balancing the scales between the “haves” and the “have nots”.
Like so many of the cards in this deck, I see a lot of fae energy in this card. The piper that coaxes wealth from stone, the seedling below that absorbs that wealth like mana from the gods. In the image here we have not just the have and have not but rather we have one that can coax what is needed from the world around him, draw it out to shower upon the one in need that lies below. This is an exchange of not wealth but energy.
Combined with the Thera-Pets card for today, the message that I see here is that sometimes we need to look to others for inspiration. Outside sources can sometimes give us the added oomph needed to do the things that need to be done… including the self care we need for ourselves.
I find this in my relationship with Gideon. Not once in the nearly thirteen years of our relationship have we ever borrowed, loaned, given, or requested for monetary support from each other. Not once. Not once has money ever been offered or asked for.
Instead, the exchange between us is in something far more valuable. He receives from me what he finds of greatest value (and to be fair I am not sure what these things are, but I would guess that a part of it is my encouragement for him to be a better man, to do better and be better and shine brighter)…. and in turn I receive from him those things of greatest value that I need. Support and love, encouragement and nurturing. He gives me strength… and helps me be accountable to how I treat myself. That is the mana he provides to me in my life.
DECK USED: TAROT SKRYTÝCH SVĚTŮ (SHADOWSCAPES TAROT CZECH VERSION) AND THERA-PETS EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL CARDS
The Radical Love Tarot Challenge Prompt
Topic: Moments of resonance
Question: How can I listen more closely and go more deeply into my moments of resonance?
How can I listen more closely to my moments of resonance?
Ten of Pentacles and Nine of Cups
Be settled and grounded and grateful. This is about balance and security, and the need for both in order to hear more clearly what those moments mean and where they come from. When distracted by chaos or imbalance, it becomes harder to focus on those moments, and harder to render meaning from them, because there’s so much going on that’s pulling your attention away from that feeling of resonance deep within.
How can I go more deeply into my moments of resonance?
King of Swords Rx and Eight of Cups
Don’t over think it and instead let it lead you to new horizons. Moments of resonance are about intuition. Using too much reason and analytical thinking will just pick them apart and leave them like tiny pieces of shredded paper on the floor. Instead of dissecting these feelings and invalidating them with logic and reason, allow them to take you forward into the sensation itself and introduce you to new understanding about what feels right for you and you alone..
DECK USED: FOURNIER’S TAROT CATS BY ANA JUAN
#DiscordTarotolicsFeb2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I best work at improving the skill of a more gentle and nurturing delivery during readings?
Reading Summary: Acknowledge that using a nudging and persuasive tone (Strength) is too much too fast for some people (Four of Swords Rx). Instead, slow down (Knight of Pentacles) and allow a warmth to overlay (Queen of Pentacles) your normally more forceful approach.
Take Away: Although my reading for others is focused on empowerment and helping them, sometimes I come off too strong in this regard and it feels like “too much” in the moment. To temper this, I need to slow down and focus on instilling more warmth into my delivery. It’s not about giving them a shoulder to cry on but rather providing a glowing center of warmth and caring that threads through that message of empowerment. In slowing down, it then is easier for them to digest and the warmth further makes acceptance of what’s being said go more smoothly and easily.
DECK USED: TAROT SKRYTÝCH SVĚTŮ (SHADOWSCAPES TAROT CZECH VERSION)
When I realized I had dozed off into a nap during my meditation, I didn’t berate myself or shame myself for it. Instead I wallowed into the pillow and enjoyed the relaxation.
