Weekly Creativity Prompt – The Knights

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Pull the Knights from a deck of your choice. Do you have someone in your life that fits with one of these cards? Do you have people in your life that would fit with each of them? Tell us about the connection you see between each Knight card and the person in your life it represents.

Numinous Tarot

Knight of Wands (Explorer of Candles) – Idealistic and demanding, she visits the protests each night after work. With a mask over her face she holds her sign high, she shouts her passions loud and strong as she joins the mass in the streets again and again. She stands up for her beliefs and for what’s right.  She stands up for what she feels is important, protesting and demanding change as she helps the protestors to drive home what is important and what needs done.

Knight of Swords (Explorer of Bells) – What had once been a spark of an idea has become a burning need to succeed.  She built this business from the ground up and now constantly pushes forward, ever onward, to guide the business towards growth and encourage it to flourish.  Sometimes she takes risks that seem reckless in this need to advance her cause.

Knight of Cups (Explorer of Vials) – Such a charmer, he hits the bars each night with his frat brothers and always comes home with a giggling and happy girl.  He leaves them as happy as he finds them, if not happier, but he does this naturally in pursuit of his own fulfillment.  After all?  How can he wrangle the very best experience out of them without giving them the very best in turn?  Sometimes this means they fall for him, but he’s the love’em and leave’em type.  He does his best to let them down easy, because there’s new depths to explore around the corner with another in the wings.

Knight of Pentacles (Explorer of Tomes) – Five days a week he sits at a desk in a pleated suit and tie.  He meets with clients and guides them forward, showing them how to invest, and what to invest in, sharing strategies for paying off their debts, for financing their mortgage, for creating a fund for their retirement.  His passion in this work, in helping others find their own stability, brings him to work each day and he takes his own advice to build his own future as well.

DECK USED:  THE NUMINOUS TAROT

Healing is a Process

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and took place out on the balcony.  I needed some fresh air and distance, so I closed myself out there and laid out along the plants and pots to chill for a bit.  I took a lazy amount of time out there, even after the breathing exercises I rolled over to spend some time chilling with the overflowing of thyme I have out there this year, picking buds and cleaning things up.

Herbcrafter's Tarot - Three of AirToday’s draw is the Three of Air (Three of Wands) which is traditionally interpreted as representing themes of heartbreak, disappointment, emotional pain, and depression. These “emotions” do not live in the heart, but within the mind, and this is why although the card appears to be about the emotions, it resides within the Swords suit which is the suit of the mind.

In this card, my eyes are irresistibly drawn to the Echinacea flowers reaching for the sky today, as well as the hint of a rusted roof in the distance of the background.  Echinacea is an immune system booster, and is used in spellcraft as a plant that lends an energy boost to your intent as well as an herb used to promote inner strength. This makes the presence of the plant represented on the Three of Swords card especially relevant, as it transforms the card from a representation of desolation and despair to one of growth and support during difficult times.

The roof holds its own meaning to me when I see it in the imagery of this card today. It speaks to me of a long stretch of time. It takes time to weather a corrugated roof and create those streaks of rust and weathering you see in that small peek you see in the lower left corner of the card. Blended with the Echinacea, it speaks of the fact that sometimes it takes time to heal from disappointments and heartache.  Not everything can be immediate.

This message today is in reference to my journey of healing from “the letter”. It’s been months and months since the letter first arrived, and over six months now since I started confronting the fear and fog that swallowed me whole in response to that letter. It feels like this climb out of that place of fear and desolating doubt.  Today’s card is a message of encouragement and patience. A reminder that true healing takes time, and that’s okay.

DECK USED:  HERBCRAFTER’S TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJuly Challenge Prompt
Topic: I’m struggling with self-worth.
Question:  What three qualities do I associate with what it means to be “a good person”?

Lumina Tarot

Reading Summary: The ability to stay on the straight and narrow despite the shit that tries to tear you down.

I can’t quite break this one down as neatly as I usually do to display how I came to the bare bones of the reading.   What I see here is that the Three of Swords is the topic.  It is what “happens to you” and the basis of this reading.   The King then represents the strength to “stay the course” and the Eight of Wands reinforces single minded purpose  towards the direction I wish to go in seen in the Two of Wands.

Usually when I break apart my reading to display how I get there, I’m able to break it into pieces that fit together into a succinct sentence.  Something about how the Lumina Tarot communicates makes this process a lot more difficult.  I’m not sure why.

Take Away:  So in breaking this down, three of the qualities I associate with being a good person include the strength of will to “stay the course” of one’s beliefs and standards through through times of struggle and heartache, the ability to perceive the direction you want to go in through these times, and the determination to stay on that course.  This is about one’s moral compass and life goals, and about not allowing negativity to steer you away from those values.

DECK USED:  LUMINA TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJul2020 Challenge Prompt
Topic:  Banish This / Attract This

Minchiate Etruria Anima Antiqua TarotBanish This – Taurus –  It’s time to let go of your bullheaded stubbornness and rigidity. There is a great deal of inflexibility in you and in order for the growth you want to happen to flourish and really take off, you need to find a way to let go of some of that rigidity.

Attract This – The Grand Duke – Androgyny and a hint of mastery yet to come. The message here is about adaptability, versatility, and growth.  I need to invite these qualities in and allow them to ease the rigidity that is holding me back.  It is possible to hold on to who you are and your moral compass, even as you move through the changes taking place and grow into a better person.

DECK USED:  MINCHIATE ETRURIA ANIMA ANTIQUA TAROT

#OwlandBonesJuly Challenge by Owl and Bones Tarot
Topic:  let in // let out // let go // let rest

Albano Waite Tarot

King of Cups – Let in Gideon, for he is your support and knows you better than all others (except perhaps L). Sometimes, especially when I’m dealing with subdrop, it can be hard to open up.  Feeling so vulnerable makes being so open especially a struggle, but that is what he is there for, to block out the danger so that he and he alone has access to those tender moments and inner knots, and can help me through.

The Empress – Let out into the world my ability to nurture and encourage others. Remember that the creations you make and send out in to the world have power to influence others in positive, nurturing ways. They foster positivity and spread joy, bringing this warmth and energy into the lives of others, sometimes when they need it most, but always with the ability to then spread out from that person to the next and the next.

The Sun – Let go and allow the sun to shine. Don’t allow pessimism to win out. You’ve made he conscious choice to try and move in a more positive direction, to foster positivity and joy in your life. In order for this to happen, you have to allow it.

Ace of Swords – Let rest my harsher nature. That inner critic and the inner dialog that goes on with myself is not healthy.  Pushing it away is not the only path to easing up on this.  Letting it rest is another method worth exploring.

DECK USED:  ALBANO WAITE TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: How can I capture my best ideas?

Wheel of the Year Tarot

Reading Summary: Take time to examine them from all angles (The Hanged Man), pick them apart and judge them harshly (Queen of Swords) in order to challenge their worth (Five of Wands).

Take Away:  This is more about how to sort out the best ideas from the not as great ones. It’s one of those times where that shrewd judgement and harsh sight comes in handy as it allows me to pick apart an idea down to its bare bones and look at all the drawbacks and other pitfalls it might have.   If it can make it through that process and come out the other side, it is truly worthy of exploring further.

DECK USED:  WHEEL OF THE YEAR TAROT

Gideon’s Challenge

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IMG_9398Calm and Quiet

First she comes
tentative
and wild
one quiet step
and then another.
Shhh… stay still
and watch
they say,
and next
comes the surprise.

Twins with wobbly legs and curiously twitching noses follow their mother out of the trees and into the open. They stay close, but still they come.  Their mother is skittish, but she brings them forward to show them off in a gift built through years of cultivating trust.

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Morning Bonus Read – Responsibilities

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The prompt for this reading came from one of my Discord servers and is as follows:
“In these uncertain times, let’s look at a few positives this week with the help of our divination tools. What good thing has not changed in the world this year? What do you have to look forward to? What can you do right now to move yourself toward a good future? And what can you do right now to move the world toward a better future?”

Permaculture Playing Cards

What good thing has not changed in the world this year?

Five of Spades – We have not been beaten into submission.  Instead society continues to fight.  Perhaps sometimes their fight is misdirected, but that spark is still there and burning bright. We continue to stand tall, even as 2020 tries to break us all.

What do I have to look forward to?

Six of Clubs – Vitality within my ambitions and drive. My endeavors will continue to thrive and go well, as long as I am willing to put my interest into them and apply my creative drive to keeping them going.

What can I do right now to move myself toward a good future?

Jack of Spades – Apply yourself to finding better ways to communicate with others and express yourself and your ideas clearly. Make a list of your interests and ideas so that you can explore them at your leisure instead of either rushing through with the concern you will forget about them before you learn what you want to learn.

What can I do right now to move the world toward a better future?

Two of Spades – Make good choices. Every positive thing you do and good choice you make trickles outward into the world much in the same way your creations bring positivity to others and that positivity spreads out from them.  Sometimes more can be accomplished through a million small good choices than one grand gesture.

DECK USED: PERMACULTURE PLAYING CARDS

Familiar Comforts

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and I admit that I was a little distracted because I was eager to get out and go hiking. I did a second meditation in the woods lying naked on the forest floor in the mountains before going above the treeline, and that was much more relaxing. Although I didn’t time it, I would estimate the meditation probably lasted about half an hour… maybe a bit longer.

Cosmos Tarot and OracleToday’s draw is the Ten of Air (Ten of Swords) which is traditionally read as “the end of the line” of the tragedies of the Swords suit and is a culmination of the suit’s struggles.  It indicates themes that have to do with defeat, betrayal, and wounds that cut deep.

What stood out strongest to me in the imagery of this card today is the defeated slump of Medusa’s posture, but even more so… the snake that is closest to her face which then brings my attention to the others in the light… and from there the others yet still hidden in the shadows. In noticing this I feel that they must offer some sort of comfort.  They have been with her all this time and are surely, even as they are a part of her, also a comfort to her that they are there in this moment.

The message in today’s card is about not allowing times when you feel defeated by wounds (internal or external) that have cut you down also isolate you. Take comfort in others, seek out those that love you and care about you, find those that will sit and make space for you to just be… you.   Don’t look to them to solve anything, but take comfort in their presence and the fact that they are there.   You are not alone.

With my subdrop sure to be just around the corner, today’s card is a reminder that when I am feeling out of sorts from the drop, you are there for me to help me through.  Just your presence makes things better and eases that ache inside my soul.  I need to not hold myself apart and strive instead to move in closer and let you soothe the drop and untangle those inner knots that the drop creates.

DECK USED:  COSMOS TAROT AND ORACLE

#TarotForGrowthJuly Challenge Prompt
Topic: I’m struggling with self-worth.
Question:  How can I be more mindful about challenging and correcting negative self-talk?

Way of the Panda Tarot

Reading Summary: Remember to look at things from another angle (Judgement) and pay attention to the fact that you really have done a lot (Ten of Pentacles) and you’re a hard worker with great deal of hard earned skill (Eight of Pentacles).

Take Away: Instead of allowing my inner narrative to have free reign, pay attention to what you hear with your ears and take that to heart. You’ve spent your life refusing to allow people’s perceptions of you matter, but those same perceptions can boost you up and create a positive narrative to help you in counteracting the negative inner dialogue you deal with on a constant basis.

Remember as well that you have created a comfortable life not just for yourself, but for L as well.  You share your stability and comfort with others, and are more than capable of sustaining it going forward.  The skills you have worked so hard to master, and have used to create this stability  in your life, are not going to just disappear.

DECK USED:  WAY OF THE PANDA TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJul2020 Challenge Prompt
Question:  How can I feel more grounded on my life’s current path?

Evolution TarotReading Summary: Make sure you are getting the alone time that you need (The Hermit) and use that time to forge a new path for your inner dialogue (Knight of Swords). Keep in mind that positivity and optimism (The Star) is not a natural state for you and takes repetition and diligence (Knight of Swords again).

There is a theme of darkness and purple through each of these three cards that does not carry through the entire deck.  This speaks to me of not just solitude, but peaceful solitude.  This is why I indicate that the cards say that I need to use the alone time for distancing from my normal inner critic’s dialogue.

Take Away:  Peaceful alone time and continued work on the optimism perspective will combine to give me an increased feeling of grounding in my life at this time. Neglecting my alone time now that I have the opportunity to get it (even if not in the same ways I could before) is detrimental and I need to make sure I’m fitting that in.

DECK USED:  EVOLUTION TAROT

#OwlandBonesJuly Challenge by Owl and Bones Tarot
Question:  pencil // pen  // permanent marker // tattoo

Slavic Tarot

Recipe For A Good Life

Pencil in the hardships.
Add strength and purpose in pen.
Write in nurturing balance in permanent marker.
And tattoo motivation and drive into your soul.

DECK USED:  SLAVIC TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question:  How can I think more creatively?

Karma Tarot

Reading Summary: Don’t allow (Seven of Wands) your addictions (The Devil) to get in the way of your motivation (Eight of Wands).

Take Away:  Having an addictive personality is a bitch.  Just sayin’.   But it’s really hard sometimes to force yourself away from the stuff that feels good and you want more of.  Whether that’s certain foods, or sleep, or whatever…  So many things seem so innocuous but can become a mess of addiction and patterns that need to be broken so easily… so very easily.

The cards here indicate that it’s by staying on top of that addictive personality trait and making sure it’s kept in hand that allows my creativity free reign to flourish and grow.

DECK USED:  KARMA TAROT

Gideon’s Challenge

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IMG_8470Motivation

Half a moment
just a thought
flitting through
a butterfly
flying by
and yet
it becomes
creative spark
alight
burning
turning
spinning
twirling
I must
bring it to life

I have an idea. Yes… yes.  It’s going to be a for sale idea.  But still… I have an idea. And for the first time in a long time? I feel that inner spark of interest and excitement and exuberance that comes with the spark of creativity coming to life.

Photo © ZenStatePhotography