Rationing the Spoons

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and one of the #DailyCalm sessions from the @Calm app.

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1928 Steamboat Arcana's Six of CupsThe @GlitterbyInk #JulyJoy25 Challenge
Celebration of Joy Prompt for July 6 : Playfulness
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is the Six of Cups, which is traditionally a representation of nostalgia, joyful memories, childhood experiences, and revisiting the past in some way.

You only have so many spoons. Choose wisely what you want to spend them on.

Spoons refers to how many “spoonfuls of energy” your body allows you in a day, and is from the “spoon theory” which has become a commonly used way to quantify personal energy output in those with chronic illness that limits their energy. [ LINK ]

The mouse in this card daydreams about beer steins, wanting to try them all. Common sense says that she will probably only be able to drink two… or at most three. She’s going to have to pick the ones she wants to try now, and try the others another time.

Like the mouse, we have lots and lots of things that we need and want to do running around in our heads. We can’t fit get them all done at once, though.

The prompt for “playfulness” combined with this Six of Cups is a reminder that we need to be realistic about how much expectation to get things done we are putting on ourselves, and make sure that among all the “should do” tasks and responsibilities, we also leave a little room to cut loose and have some fun.

DECK USED:  1928 STEAMBOAT ARCANA TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJul2025 Challenge
Prompt for July 6th : Do Spread 1

Tarot Reading with the Steamboat Arcana 1928 Tarot and Zodiac Circle Game Cards

What needs to be left behind as I focus on further growth?

The Empress and Capricornus – Set aside the tendency to see your care of others as an expression of your own self-worth. You are allowed to be vulnerable, and that you need caring for sometimes does not reflect negatively on your worth.

What is in full bloom for me right now?

Page of Wands Rx, Pisces atop Singing Bird – You are doing well at giving yourself the breaks that you need. This is allowing you the opportunity to savor what feels good, as well as more time with Gideon. In this time together, he helps you connect to your emotions more deeply, yet at a moderate pace instead of your normal push to dive in head first.

Where do I need to direct my focus for further growth?

The High Priestess Rx and Cancer – Being capricious in your spirituality will only get you so far. It’s fine for a time, but you need to buckle down when you run into obstacles and plateaus instead of falling back on trying to wait it out.

Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Rhododendron Leaf for Fostering Confidence
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECKS USED: 1928 STEAMBOAT ARCANA TAROT AND ZODIAC CIRCLE GAME CARDS

Daily Self Kindness

I did my best to take it easy today and not push myself to try and fulfill unreasonable expectations. Instead, I focused on rest and restoration.

Gideon’s Challenge – Happiness

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Purple PansyHappiness

Pretty faces
greet us
vibrantly
to remind us
summer
isn’t just
a slow crawl
through hell
but a
fleeting moment
of beauty
to lift the spirit
and draw out
a smile

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 Gourmet Tarot and A Kitchen Witch's Culinary Oracle

Earth – Three of Cups – Make sure you are not isolating yourself this week. At this time, there is greater stability to be found in the company of others than on your own, even if it might not feel that way at the time.

Air – Queen of Cups – Seek out comfort where you can find it, and most especially with those you know can provide it. It’s okay to need others to help you in your inner struggles. They want to be there for you and will welcome you with open arms.

Water – The Empress – Care and understanding are needed right now, especially directed toward yourself and those delicate vulnerable parts. Be gentle with yourself and your emotions this week.

Fire – The Magician Rx – You’re going to be feeling “all thumbs” this week, and like you just can’t get anything right. Remember the guidance the other positions in this reading have given. Cut yourself a break and lean on others. Remember that this experience is temporary.

Waning – Cherries – You are still feeling the faint lingering effects of the subdrop. It can be tempting to try and hide from them by initiating more sexual intimacy, but although this will give a temporary relief, it will bring subdrop back with a vengeance when you’re still trying to shake off the last one.

Waxing – Pumpkin – “Count your chickens” and focus on building lasting stability instead of quick fixes.

Take Away – The lingering hints of subdrop are going to be niggled at by your sense of clumsiness and failure this week.  The struggle is real for you, and you need to seek out support rather than just plowing through on your own.  Not just with the tasks you want to get done, either, but also with your emotions and inner narratives. You need their stabilizing influence this week.

DECKS USED: GOURMET TAROT AND A KITCHEN WITCH’S CULINARY ORACLE

Finding the Positive for July 3 – 5

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Medieval Feathers Tarot's Five of Cups, Agni Roerich Tarot's The Moon card, and Royal Animals Tarot's Ace of Wands

July 3 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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The @GlitterbyInk #JulyJoy25 Challenge
Celebration of Joy Prompt for July 3 : Freedom
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is the Five of Cups (Eastern Meadowlark Feather), which is traditionally a representation of pessimism, regrets, doomsday thinking, disappointments, and occasionally, failure (or at the very least, the perception of failure).

It takes a village to raise a child, or so they say. The thing is? That’s not all that it takes a village to do.

I’m an introvert and a pessimist. This means that in general, I’m not a fan of society and often to look at humanity with an overly critical eye.

To me? I feel people should “live by example”, and I very often feel that people don’t do this anymore. More and more we see people behaving badly with entitlement as their excuse. Even those in power that should be setting an example for others seem to have lost that “live by example” creed that used to be integral to good leadership.

Today’s message is a shift in perspective on this pessimistic viewpoint, and encourages considering that freedom allows us to act as we see fit and feel is right. This freedom allows us to make mistakes, and like a child raised by an addict that will never touch drugs themselves as a result, teaches us by a different type of example. These days, more and more, it appears that we are being shown the consequences of acting foolishly, rather than the shining example of what good looks like. Regardless, the lessons are still there.

DECK USED: THE MEDIEVAL FEATHERS TAROT

July 4 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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The @GlitterbyInk #JulyJoy25 Challenge
Celebration of Joy Prompt for July 4 : Happiness
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is the Moon card, which is traditionally a representation of uncertainty, illusion, anxiety, fear, the unknown, and the subconscious.

What is happiness? I have a hard time answering this question, whether it’s for myself, or in an “in general” sense.

Inability to answer this question in a general sense is not surprising, as I think that happiness is subjective. But, I’ve often wondered why I’m unable to answer this question for myself. Is it the issues within my upbringing? Is it my pessimistic tendencies? Is it my battle with depression? Maybe uncertainty plays a role? What is it that creates the disconnect in being able to identify what happiness means for me?

I don’t know. And, I don’t know what happiness looks like for me. Or maybe I do… and just I’m unable to identify it as happiness in the same way I struggle to learn to identify so many of my emotions.

This meander through uncertainty is brought to you by The Moon card, which encourages us to bring our uncertainties “out into the light” now and then to observe and consider… even when doing so leaves is as “in the dark” as ever in the end.

DECK USED: AGNI ROERICH TAROT

July 5 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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The @GlitterbyInk #JulyJoy25 Challenge
Celebration of Joy Prompt for July 5 : Inspiration
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is the Ace of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of the seed, start, or new beginnings in the area of one’s passion projects, inspiration, drive, willpower, and determination. This often translates into themes that have to do with budding new interests and new passion projects.

I am not a big fan of structure. Which honestly, is a bit odd because I often seek it out and thrive under it.

In my conversation with my shrink the other day, we were discussing how I feel a great deal of guilt over times when I languish. You know, just relax and do nothing but play on the phone or what not.

In our conversation, she reminded me (and not for the first time) that everyone needs downtime. That is, time to not be productive. Even me. She encouraged me to try combating the guilt I feel with a greater show of intention. Specifically, by scheduling my languishing, rather than just “squeezing it in” at the expense of all those other things my brain says needs to be done.

I’ve never looked at languishing as something you might intentionally schedule (instead of time stolen from other pursuits). I’m going to give it a try, though. Maybe in doing so, I’ll find myself feeling a little less guilty about doing something that feels good and I enjoy. Or… that’s the hope at least.

DECK USED: ROYAL ANIMALS TAROT

Gideon’s Challenge – The Pause

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Forest FloorThe Pause

Lie down
and stay a while
with the
douglas fir
towering above
and pine needles
to cushion
your back
as you stare up
at the sky
and watch
patterns of light
sift
through branches

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Gideon’s Challenge – Exit Route

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Ferry PierExit Route

Tangled up
and disorganized
it seems
there’s
no way out
of this
trapped feeling
blending
distraction
and disorientation
until I feel
lost
and alone

Photo © ZenStatePhotography