Antique Anatomy Tarot

Do Something Inspired

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Today’s meditation was skipped.

Universal Goddess Tarot - Ace of Wands (Bastet)Today’s draw is the Ace of Wands (Bastet), which is traditionally a representation of the seed of new beginnings in the area of one’s enthusiasm, drive, willpower, principles, determination, and inner spark.

From the LWB: “I am energy, vitality, inventiveness, birth, fire. I am the active principle. I am Bastet, Egyptian goddess, fertile ray of sun that illuminates and warms the earth.”

Bastet is a lioness goddess, a role shared by other deities such as Sekhmet. Eventually Bastet and Sekhmet were characterized as two aspects of the same goddess, with Sekhmet representing the powerful warrior and protector aspect and Bastet, who increasingly was depicted as a cat, representing a gentler aspect. Before this deity’s nature was ameliorated around 1500 bc, she was known as a ferocious goddess of protection, and whose more gentle aspects make her the goddess of home, domesticity, women’s secrets, cats, fertility, and childbirth.

I feel that the LWB combined with being set upon the Ace of Wands leans more into Bastet’s fierce lioness traits. This card says… Do something today. Do something that sparks your enthusiasm and your interest, kindling that inner spark that the depression keeps banked.  Do something that brings you joy and stirs you up inside.

That’s the message in today’s card.

DECK USED:  UNIVERSAL GODDESS TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsMay2022 Challenge Prompt
Topic for May 8th: Do Spread #1

Winterseer Oracle and Antique Anatomy TarotWhat positive quality do I have that others admire?

The Moon and Seal – Even when you are feeling uncertain, your creative spark continues to grow and shine. Instead of fear or uncertainty turning you away from creativity, you find solace and shelter within your creative endeavors.

What positive quality do I wish I had that I admire in others?

Three of Elixirs and Raccoon – The ability to survive and thrive in intensely social situations. As much as you want to enjoy socializing and groups, that is really just not where you shine, but is something that you admire in others.

What step(s) can I take now to work toward developing that quality in myself?

Eight of Elixirs atop Two of Elixirs, Dove – You need to accept that some people show their love and affection differently than others, and those that love you understand that you are not a particularly social person. It’s okay to walk away when you need to, and your way of showing love to others is no better or worse than anyone else’s. Accept yourself as you are instead of trying to be something you’re not.

What step(s) can I take to make the positive qualities I already have shine brightly?

Six of Coins and Rat – Work on accepting help from others without worrying (or anticipating) that it’s going to end up biting you on the ass.

DECK USED: WINTERSEER ORACLE AND ANTIQUE ANATOMY TAROT

The #ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt by E Roebuck-Jones
Questions for May 8th and 9th

Universal Goddess TarotWhat positive traits do I bring to my relationships?

The Tower (Morrigan) and The Lovers (Venus) – You show people that it is possible to stay on a healthy path and make healthy choices, even when it feels like your world is falling apart. And in doing so, you encourage others to do the same.

What unrealistic expectations have placed on myself?

Judgement (Ceridwen), Five of Coins (Hel) atop Temperance (Anahita) – There is a lack of temperance to how you treat yourself concerning your inner narrative and it’s influences. You judge yourself too harshly and allow the feelings of scarcity and aloneness that result from this to lead you away from positivity and moderation.

DECK USED: UNIVERSAL GODDESS TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I spent some time digging in the dirt out on the balcony today, and I quit when my body said it was time to quit instead of keeping going.  I didn’t get done everything I wanted to as a result, but it’s a win for self-care and self-kindness.

Taking A Pause

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Today’s meditation was another of the musical immersion efforts involving my synesthesia, and I just don’t think it’s going to work out.  For the second time I ended up dozing off during the process, and I have a feeling that if I am using music that creates pleasurable responses, that will continue to be the case.  I’ll have to switch back to another method tomorrow.

Tarot of the Little Prince - The LoversToday’s draw is the Lovers card, which is traditionally a representation of not just love, romance, and marriage as it is often interpreted by many, but also about choices and making positive choices that are good for you. This choices interpretation leans into the Marseilles tarot meanings, but I find it applies far more often to the Lovers card when the card pops up for me in readings than the love and relationship aspect.

What stands out to me the strongest in this photo is not one specific element so much as the overall atmosphere of the image. I see gentle warmth and tenderness that speaks of a heart connection, and a hint of wistfulness that speaks to me of nostalgia and daydreams.

The message here in today’s card is that sometimes it’s okay to pause and take a moment, to give yourself a moment to “smell the roses” and allow yourself to consider what influences your decisions and the way forward from this moment rather than leaping ahead recklessly or thoughtlessly.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE LITTLE PRINCE

LionHart’s As Above So Below Challenge Prompt
Jupiter Question: How can I {further} focus on the good that surrounds me, or the good that is within?

Elemental Tarot

How can I further my focus on the good that surrounds me?
Seven of Swords atop Eight of Swords, Queen of Pentacles

Don’t allow the ass hats and betrayals of the world to close your eyes to the generosity and positivity that is out there.   Sometimes, especially when wounds are fresh, it can be hard to not turn away from people and tempting to turn into yourself in order to protect yourself from further pain.  By closing your eyes to the warmth and care others can provide, though, you do yourself more harm than good.

How can I further my focus on the good that is within me?
Nine of Pentacles, Four of Chalices atop Eight of Pentacles Rx

Practice gratitude for what you have, and don’t work yourself so hard that you forget to rest and meditate.  Without rest and restoration, you can’t focus on anything, let alone delve into appreciation for what’s good within yourself.   In order to find this focus you need rest, and you need to appreciate your accomplishments and what you’ve done well.  These practices allow you to feel a sense of pride and foster a bit more kindness for yourself.

DECK USED:  ELEMENTAL TAROT

#DiscordTarotolicsNov2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Greatest Strength / Greatest Weakness / Finding Balance

Antique Anatomy Tarot Mass Market VersionGreatest Strength – Four of Pentacles atop Wheel of Fortune – Finding stability in the chaos is one of your greatest strengths. This isn’t to say that the chaos does not affect you, but rather that you are able to ground your feet and stay centered far better than most would expect.

Greatest Weakness – King of Rods – Your excessive amount of creative spark and drive can cause a bit of a problem.  You repeatedly fool yourself into believing you have more “shoulder space” for responsibility than you actually do, and thus as that sense of creative spark and drive push you forward, you repeatedly overburden yourself trying to take on too much.

Finding Balance – Knight of Elixirs – Pick and choose the projects and responsibilities that truly speak to your heart, instead of just triggering the inspirational spark within you.  Inspiration is all well and good, but you need to involve more than that in your decision making in order to cut down on the things that you take on.

DECK USED:  ANTIQUE ANATOMY TAROT – MASS MARKET VERSION

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What is the best piece of advice I have ever received?

Delos Tarot

Reading Summary: Sometimes you have to look after yourself before others (Six of Pentacles) in order to build a secure (Four of Pentacles) and stable (Two of Pentacles) future.

Take Away:  Not the advice that I personally would’ve chosen as the best piece of advice I’ve ever received… and yet it is a really good one. When I was young I wanted to save the world from unfairness. If I had not been given the advice to take care of myself first prior to helping others and taken that advice to heart, I’d still be living in the backseat of an old Buick with no tires in a dark Seattle alleyway. Okay… so probably not the Buick specifically, but close enough.

DECK USED:  DELOS TAROT

Modulating Enthusiasm

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I’ve managed to fall behind yet again… and I can’t remember whether I meditated on the 11th or not. So I’ll leave this empty this time around as I finish up these posts that got started… but never published on the blog.

Tarot of the Little Prince - Knight of WandsToday’s draw is the Knight of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of exuberance and a intensity directed towards one’s focus through passion and drive.  This card is about inspired action and the embodiment of the phrase “Go get’em cowboy.”

What I see in the imagery of this card today is overkill.  That, too, is a part of the meaning behind the Knight of Wands.  Impulsive action and overkill often go hand in hand with feelings of enthusiasm and drive.

The message here is about moderation.  It’s great to be motivated, and spectacular to feel a sense of enthusiasm for a purpose or project.  But the thing is?  When you get too carried away in those feelings of motivation and enthusiasm, it’s very easy to become destructive to yourself, to those around you, and to the project at large.

It’s important to remember not to let those feelings of motivation and enthusiasm carry you away to the point that you become a destructive force instead of a productive one.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE LITTLE PRINCE

LionHart’s As Above So Below Challenge Prompt
Mars Question: An obstacle, or blockade, I am asked to deal with.

Antique Anatomy Tarot Mass Market Edition

Reading Summary: There’s a big difference between avoidance (Four of Elixirs), and moderation (Temperance). Avoidance (Eight of Blades) leads to overburdening and overwhelm (Ten of Wands).

Take Away:  I need to work on learning the difference because I excel far to well at avoidance… and not well enough at moderation.  The cards here indicate that my tendency toward avoidance is a part of the problem that causes me to hit overwhelm and burnout.

DECK USED:  ANTIQUE ANATOMY TAROT MASS MARKET EDITION

#DiscordTarotolicsNov2020 Challenge Prompt
Philosophical Question: What harsh truths do you prefer to ignore?

Delos TarotReading Summary:  That I can’t last forever with fresh as a daisy enthusiasm (Ace of Wands) without getting some rest and recovery along the way (Four of Swords). Gideon can help you find balance (King of Cups) but you have to reach out to him for that help (Two of Cups).

Take Away:  I hate that I need to rest.  I really do.  I hate that I can’t go the way I could have ten years ago, non stop and moving fast.  It just doesn’t feel right to me to need the amount of rest that I do, regardless of the fact that I know I get less rest than the average person.   Rest feels like an inconvenience more than a necessity and it drives me nuts that I have to take time for it. Time I could be putting forward into things that I need to get done.

I’m aware this is an issue that’s rooted in my upbringing and in my determination to be independent from a young age.   My need for stability requiring money that you have to work for, etc.  And I know that Gideon can help calm that desperation.  Sometimes, I fear, though, that in calming that inner desperation, I will lose my independence and the stability that has been so hard won so far.

DECK USED:  DELOS TAROT

Heal & Transform November Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I heal myself?

Lunatic Tarot

Reading Summary: Pay more attention to where you wanna go (Ten of Pentacles), and less attention to your feelings of scarcity (Five of Pentacles). You need to be able to rest and recover (Four of Swords)… and focusing on your feelings of scarcity is just not going to get you there.

Take Away:  Rest and recovery.  Recuperation and rest are the path to healing myself.  Feelings of scarcity rooted in my past (figure looking to the left in the center card) drive me to treating myself badly and making unhealthy choices.

I need to remember that I won’t be able to enjoy the stability I’ve accomplished, or further stability I might gain, if I’ve worked myself to death in trying to fill that never ending hole of emptiness that those feelings of scarcity create.

DECK USED:  LUNATIC TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What part of my life would I like to improve over the next year?

Edmund Dulac Tarot

Reading Summary: A better work / life balance (Two of Coins). The ability to enjoy my time with my loved ones freely (Three of Cups). Reclaiming my ambition while finding a better way (Knave of Swords).

Take Away:  These three cards tie in together, in that it is through finding that better balance between work and life that I can find time to spend with loved ones free of guilt or negative inner dialogue.  The cards also indicate that on the work side of things, the lagging of my ambition over the past handful of months is a reflection of the efforts to settle into the new work / life balance I’ve been trying to foster.  As I learn to adjust to this new balance and find it more comfortable, the card indicates that my ambition will then rekindle.

DECK USED:  EDMUND DULAC TAROT

Reconnecting with Nature

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IMG_7564Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and was a guided meditation that focused on the benefits of mindfulness that you learn through meditation and can then carry on into the world beyond.   It dealt specifically with the ability to stretch time within one’s meditation so that a minute can stretch out to feel like five, and ten minutes can stretch out to feel like thirty.

Sometimes?  This is exactly how my meditation goes.  Other times, though, even when I am fully focused on my meditation, the ten minutes seems to fly by and I feel like I have not spent enough time in my meditation.  The interval timer often creates this impression.  It’s set to go off every 2.5 minutes.   Each segment of 2.5 minutes can some days feel like ten minutes each, and at other times feel like not even a minute has passed.

Tarot of the Little Prince - The EmpressToday’s draw is the Empress card, which is traditionally a representation of abundance, the sacred feminine, and a nurturing earthy mother type of energy, personality, or person.

What stands out to me the strongest in this card’s imagery is the fox, and the reason for this is it is through the fox that I see the connection in this card to that earthy nature energy.

I often see the Empress card as a representation of Gaia, the earth goddess, and the way that the fox looks up at the woman in the card speaks strongly to me of that connection.

The message in today’s card is that I need to get myself out into nature. Doing so is about nurturing my self, and finding balance and grounding in my connection with mother earth. I’ve felt really off lately, and I need to reconnect with the earth in order to find the clarity and grounding that I need.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE LITTLE PRINCE

LionHart’s As Above So Below Challenge Prompt
Question: Take time today to fill out your birth chart and learn more about your Sun, Moon, and Rising Sign placements.

As Above So Below Birth Chart

#DiscordTarotolicsNov2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Do Spread #1

El Tarot de los MuertosA message that your ancestors would like to give you at this time:

The Tower – The chaos is coming. I am hoping that this is about the holiday rush crashing down on me with the force of a tornado.  The problem here is that this feels more like the need to restructure things in order to move forward, evaluating and reorganizing priorities, etc.

Honestly, I would not be surprised if that instinct is correct and this is a warning about the holiday rush not being as lucrative as I need it to be, but I am too close and have too much inner chaos concerning this topic at the moment to fully see what the card is saying clearly.

I should have pulled a clarification card.

A message that your ancestors have been trying to convey that you have not been receptive to in the past:

Four of Pens (Wands) – Appreciate your home and current situation and the stability you have in the present.  Make sure that you are being mindful of the present and wallowing in the pleasure that the stability you have created to date is providing for you. It doesn’t always have to be about the future.

How to be more open to messages from your ancestors in the future:

The Moon – Don’t give in to your fear and uncertainty. These emotions muffle your inner voice, and thus muffle messages from my ancestors as well.  Remember that sometimes not knowing and not digging to know is okay.  Work on being more comfortable with uncertainty instead of railing against it.

How to honor and connect more strongly with your ancestors moving forward:

Four of Coffins (Pentacles) – Ground yourself and stay open.  In staying centered and grounded, you are able to better hear your inner voice… and thus their voices as well.  Inner chaos silences them… inner calm and grounding allows them to speak loudly and clearly.  This honors them as well as connects them, as it opens you up to their input, lending them your ear and your attention.

DECK USED:  EL TAROT DE LOS MUERTOS

Heal & Transform November Challenge Prompt
Question: Where, right now, in this moment, should I focus my energy?

The Marigold Tarot

Reading Summary:  Your intuition and inner knowledge (The High Priestess) require you to move away from (Six of Swords) the distractions and outside influences that are setting you off kilter (Three of Cups Rx).

Take Away:  I have been struggling a good deal with a sort of foggy cobweb of confusion over the past few days.  This screws with my intuition and inner guidance and it’s something I need to work on resolving now instead of continually pushing it off to the side to try and ignore it.

DECK USED:  MARIGOLD TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What does my ideal day look like?

Antique Anatomy Tarot

Reading Summary: The opportunity to help others in finding their path, and learning from them in turn (The Hierophant).  A variety of activities that I enjoy (Seven of Coins). Time with Gideon (King of Elixirs).

Take Away:  It brings me a great deal of joy to help others in finding their personal path.  Whether it’s just some small thing I say that creates a burst of realization for them, or spending a good length of time speaking with someone over something to help them find if (or how) it works for them personally so that they can explore it more in depth.   During these types of activities, I get the chance to not just guide others, but to learn from them as well. Adding this aspect as a part of my day is on of the things that would create a perfect day.

Another aspect that would help create my perfect day is having a variety of different things to do during that day.  Things I enjoy that breaks up the day into segments, instead of getting stuck doing one thing all day and the day then sliding away in a haze.  By segmenting my day, it lengthens the day and creates a variety of memories for me to look back on later instead of one big fog (which is what happens if my day is spent doing the same thing all day long).

And of course, no day could ever be perfect without my King of Cups as a part of it.  Spending time with Gideon makes each and every day better, and thus no perfect day could ever be “perfect” without him along for the ride.

DECK USED:  ANTIQUE ANATOMY TAROT (MASS MARKET EDITION)