The Air Has Changed
Although
the heat remains
for just a bit longer
the flavor of the air
has made a definite
shift towards fall
with moisture
in the earth
and the musky odor
of decomposing leaves
hinted at
in each breath.
Full Moon in Aries – October 2020
Tomorrow is the full 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 brought to you by Ethony‘s Tarot By the Moon series.
1. Where do I need to relax?
Eight of Cups – This is about choice and about my worries about having to set aside my emotional development and progress in order to dive into the holiday rush. Gideon and I have spoken about this at length, and I understand that I don’t have to abandon that progress. Instead, I need to find a way to ground it so that I can carry it with me instead of closing it away.
2. Where should I focus my fiery energy?
Eight of Coins – Get to work! I’m running out of time to get my holiday preparations done and I’ve really slacked off on it this fall more than I should have. I need to focus my fiery creative streak into the task of getting my work done and building up what needs prepared to make the holiday rush run smoothly.
3. Where do I need to take immediate action?
Justice – This hearkens back to the last question and has to do with cause and effect. This card stresses the urgency of righting this imbalance quickly before the pendulum swings back in my direction and I am unprepared for it. Right now the scales are not balanced, and there will be consequences to not getting the preparations done that need done. The longer I put it off, the more that imbalance will grow and the larger the consequences will be.
4. Where do I need to retreat?
Three of Swords – Stop worrying so much. Stop allowing your mind to influence and freak out your emotions. Take a step back and don’t allow yourself to be so reactionary to the inner dialogue going on. You know that bastard in your head is a jerk, so just stop listening and move on.
5. Where do I need to charge ahead with?
The Magician – Again we are back to what needs to be done and doing it. I have all the tools and skills at my disposal and am more than capable of doing what needs done. Stop procrastinating and put those formidable skills and wealth of tools and knowledge to work.
DECK USED: MADAM LYDIA WILHELMINA’S TAROT
Spirituality and Purpose
Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and without a guided meditation, although I did use the interval timer to keep me on track with my piriformis stretching during the meditative practice.
I had a bit of considering to do during my meditation today, which in itself made it more of a self-guided meditation than one of the more quiet and peacefully empty ones that is usually the case when there is no guide.
Instead, I took the time to focus upon how the work that I do in my business influences others around the world. I have created beautiful pieces of jewelry that have brought joy to thousands of people, lightening the weight of their days and bringing them a sense of beauty and happiness from the experience of opening an aesthetically pleasing package all the way through to the pleasure they take in wearing the beautiful piece of jewelry I’ve sent them over and over again.
I feel like when I started on this journey over a decade ago of the business I now run, I spent a lot more time focusing on and taking pleasure in this element of things. I think that in the present, I need to work on focusing on this side of things more.
Today’s draw is the Star card, which is traditionally a representation of themes having to do with hope and spirituality. It’s about being connected to the inner-connectivity between life and divinity, and about allowing that connection to renew your sense of hope and purpose in the world.
And… I just have to say. I really love the imagery on this card. The interplay between the earth and humanity, between life and death, and between endings and new beginnings. But, for today, what really stands out to me in this card is the banner that the bird holds in its beak with the worlds “a hunting we will go” scrawled across its length.
The message that I see in today’s card is about finding one’s purpose. It’s about acknowledging that you need to look beyond the earthly needs of business and life, and delve into one’s spirituality in order to find your true purpose and path. That is because our purpose stretches beyond life, beyond work and the material… our spiritual path is not over when our life ends, but continues on.
DECK USED: HUSH TAROT
#Zentember #LovelyHealing Challenge Prompt
Question: How do I connect with the Divine?
Reading Summary: Look at all those pentacles! By being proactive (Knight of Pentacles), no matter the circumstances (Wheel of Fortune), to get myself out in nature (Ace of Pentacles) and ground (Four of Pentacles).
Take Away: I connect with the Divine through nature and the earth, and in doing so in this way, it requires that I am proactive in pursuing time in nature. Each time I step into the forest and am surrounded by the trees and the moss and the moist earth, it is like the first time all over again. It is an embrace that feels new and exciting, yet familiar and comfortable. And one that I need to visit often to ground with and connect deeply with.
DECK USED: TAROT LEAVES
#DiscordTarotholicsSep2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What needs a little more focus and energy to complete before winter arrives?
Reading Summary: Finding stability (Four of Pentacles) in the changes that I’ve worked through putting in place in the spring and summer (Death). Make sure that you’re getting help from those that care for you and that you care for in turn (Two of Cups).
Take Away: This is something that I’m struggling with, and in struggling with it I’m not getting the prep work done that I need to get done because I’ve got so much of my energy turned towards this issue. I feel… like I need to find stable footing for the growth I’ve made. At first, I thought it was about choice. That I had to choose that new emotional depth or my holiday rush… but I understand I don’t need to choose. Yet I still feel like things are unstable and I need to find a way to shore up the foundation beneath my feet.
DECK USED: TAROT BY ALEXANDER DANDILOFF 2012 IV EDITION
Lionharts #AstroTarotChallenge
Question: What is the biggest lesson I can take from this month?
Reading Summary: Creative flow and the desire to move forward (Page of Wands) gets stalled out (Hanged Man) and moderated (Temperance) by worries, concerns, and anxiety (Nine of Swords).
Take Away: Anxiety is a creativity killer and the death of motivation. That’s the lesson.
DECK USED: SCIENCE TAROT
#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: How do I make time for rest and relaxation… every day?
Reading Summary: Stop using your ambitions to push yourself forward (Knight of Swords) and reassure yourself of what good you already have (Nine of Cups). Opportunities are not going to run out anytime soon (Ace of Pentacles)… Which means it’s okay to skip one now and then and not have to listen to yourself lecture about it in your head (King of Swords Rx).
Take Away: I can make time for rest and relaxation in my daily life by understanding that just because I might miss an opportunity for progress doesn’t mean that another isn’t right around the corner to offer itself up next. Also, stop listening to my father’s voice in my inner dialogue telling me that rest is for the weak and is a progress killer.
DECK USED: JOE SPARROW TAROT
Gideon’s Challenge
Multitasking
Unfortunately,
sometimes
there’s just
not enough
time in a day
to get
everything done
that you want to do
if you choose to
take each task
one thing at a time.
Miss Luna feels the same way sometimes, it would seem.
Photo © ZenStatePhotography
Weekly Creativity Prompt – Cookies
Pull (at least) three cards use them to tell a story about a child that befriends the monster under their bed.
Daddy always told me that there’s no such thing as monsters under the bed. He said that I’m a big boy and I should act like it, and that it’s all in my imagination. That if I’m determined enough, I’ll forget about the monsters and they’ll just go away. (Strength atop The Chariot)
I really did try. You see I even started sleeping with the light on, and put bells on the floor under the edge of the bed, and had teddy guard me from the chair beside the bed and everything. All these changes should have made the monster go away. (Death)
You see… the thing is tho? My monsters don’t stay under the bed. They come out and wander around the room! They growl and slobber and their glowing red eyes always feel angry, their sharp tipped fingers like daggers and just as dangerous! (Emperor and The World)
Momma had a different idea. She said that instead of working to kill the monsters like Daddy said I should? I should be kind to them. She told me to think of how horrible it must feel for all the children in the world to be so scared of them all the time, and how lonely it must be. (Adjustment and The Empress)
She told me to take a chance, and be nice to the monsters. That sometimes? Even the most horrible people just need to be given a chance to show that they have another side, but that it takes someone special to see beyond the scary parts and bring that other side out in them. (Fortune)
So I got some cookies and I waited up one night, worried and trembling in my bed until the monster crawled out of the dark space beneath my bed and started shuffling around. Then I sat up in bed and said hi! I offered the monster a cookie. The monster was so surprised and happy! Now each night I stay up just a little bit past bed time so that we can visit. (Aeon)
It turns out that the monster’s not so bad after all, and his sharp long fingers are really handy! He can pick up berries with them! And he even picked the lock on my treasure box that I’d lost the key to! I’m not scared of the monster under my bed anymore… now? We’re friends, and I feel safe because I know he’s watching over me while I sleep. (Art)
DECK USED: EMANUELLE TOMATO MINI TAROT 2020
Turn It Inward
Today’s meditation was skipped in the interest of the fact that I overslept and my day started far to late, especially for an order prep day. I definitely felt the difference of not doing the meditation today tho, and plan to pick it back up tomorrow.
Today’s draw is the Empress. This is the third card in the Major Arcana, which means that (as with all Major Arcana cards) it deals with an overall message or life path situation rather than a single aspect of the human experience. Traditionally, the Empress card is a representation of nurturing energy that is grounded and giving, but strong and stable. Her appearance is an indication of generous abundance, sacred femininity, and is associated with mother nature.
Like so many cards in this deck, it is not one aspect of the card that stands out to me above all others today, but rather the “atmosphere” of the card created by different elements. It’s the grace in the tilt of the woman’s head and the vulnerability of her bare shoulders and neck, it is the quiet sensuality in the slightly parted lips, the wealth in the earrings she wears, and abundance of nature’s harvest in her hair.
There is softness here, and strength. Abundance. She looks like she is just about to lift those lowered eyelids and give a warm and gentle smile of understanding. I would bet that her eyes are warm, no matter what color they end up being.
Kindness comes from within. This is the message in today’s card. You can be kind and caring, loving and nurturing, and not be a pushover or a doormat. It is the strength added into these qualities that allows someone to nurture not just others, but to know when they themselves need nurturing as well. Be generous not just to others… but to yourself as well.
DECK USED: BOTAN TAROT
#DiscordTarotholicsSep2020 Challenge Prompt
Topic: Goal / Pros / Cons/ Obstacles / Solutions
Goal – Four of Swords – To allow myself more rest and recovery.
Pros – Alchemist (Magician) – The pros of this goal are that the rest and recovery allows me the time to recover, so that I can think clearly and move with precision, using my tools to the best of my ability.
Cons – Moon – The cons of getting more rest and recovery is that I don’t get as much done, and I don’t have a much time to get the things done that I need to get done… which creates a feeling of uncertainty.
Obstacles – Lovers – The obstacles in this are that no matter which choice I make, it’s a choice for my benefit… less rest and more work furthers my goals and business. More rest and less work furthers my health and well-being. Both are extremely important to me, and so it makes it feel like there is no good choice.
Solutions – Nine of Swords – Stop worrying so damn much. The worry is yet another waste time, and it also causes extra exhaustion which then creates a need for more rest and recovery and therefore less work gets done as a result.
