Bleu Cat Tarot

Passion’s Emmenagogue

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and was one of the harp string meditations.  It was nice and quiet, although I might have dozed off just a bit.   I need to find a way to stop dozing off during meditation that doesn’t include crashing me out of the relaxed peace I find.   I’d say set myself an alarm, but that would definitely defeat the whole meditation purpose because alarms give me an adrenaline spike.  I’ll figure something out.

Herbal Tarot - Seven of Wands - Wild GingerToday’s draw is the Seven of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of progress through determination,  perseverance, and the meeting of challenges head on.

What really stood out the strongest to me today in the imagery of this card is the confident and determined expression on the figure’s face, and the defensive hold on the wand in their hands.

Asarum canadense (Wild Ginger) is an emmenagogue, which means that it helps stimulate blood circulation in the area of the sacral chakra. As with many plants, it’s medical use is tied into its spiritual use, and on the spiritual side of things, wild ginger is a plant that is used to create a spark of warmth in the heart, inspiring bravery and tenacity when confronting obstacles in our path.

The message here in today’s card is a combination of the imagery that stood out so strongly to me, and the meaning behind the wild ginger. The message today is about knowing what your goals are and standing strong concerning them regardless of whatever criticism or hurdles stand in your way.

DECK USED:  HERBAL TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJune Challenge Prompt
Question: What emotions am I being invited to feel more fully?

Bleu Cat Tarot

Reading Summary: Gratitude and contentment in a solitary manner (Nine of Balls). Patience for gradual change (Death), and the awareness that there are many paths before me and I will need to make my choice again and again (Seven of Fishes).

Take Away:  The emotion portrayed through these cards as one of comfort. Everything’s going to be okay, and you’re not being forced into anything. Just relax, enjoy the ride while staying focused on what you want to happen as things change along the way.

DECK USED:  BLEU CAT TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJun2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: As an adult, where do I take myself too seriously?

Brady TarotReading Summary: I spend too much time focusing on building up stability in my life (Ten of Roots) rather than having a good time (Six of Horns).  There’s room for both, you just need to work out how (Daughter of Arrows).

Take Away: I spend a great deal of my time focused on stability.  Home stability.  Financial stability.  Resource stability.  These things are a near obsession for me and they definitely are something that I take very seriously. So seriously that somewhere along the line I’ve ended up losing touch with much of the fun and enjoyment that life has to offer.

Part of the efforts I’m trying to make over this spring and summer have to do with finding a better balance between that obsession with stability that creates a constant concerning my responsibilities and obligations… and giving myself the room and freedom to experience a bit more joy and enjoyment. I know it is possible to fit them both into my life so that they can coexist.

DECK USED:  BRADY TAROT

#TheJuneTarot Challenge by Lionhart
Question: Draw a card while repeating “I am my own personal power” and share how the card reinforces this concept.

Dame Darcy's Mermaid Tarot - Queen of SwordsAs much as I don’t wan to be like my mother, there are certain times (and in certain ways) that I am.

I am analytical. I am intelligent. I am cunning. I know how to handle myself and others in strategic ways when needed. I know how to get where I want to go.

These are all things that I have in common with my mother.  The difference is that I choose to use these strengths in a positive manner.

DECK USED:  DAME DARCY’S MERMAID TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What is my unique purpose?

Lily Stone Marseille Tarot

Reading Summary: To seek out more depth in life (Judgement) beyond what lies on the surface (Four of Cups), and persevere through the struggles thrown in my path (Seven of Wands).

Take Away: The cards here speak of what I’ve often felt was the meaning of my life.  That is to say, that my life is meant to be one of struggles and strife and hardship… and the reason for this is because I need to learn how to take one’s blows and move forward through them, coming out better on the other side.   I need to see each struggle or event as a learning experience, and find not just the lesson that is within them, but something positive about them that helps me move forward and be a better person in some way.

DECK USED:  STONE MARSEILLE TAROT

 

Patience Can Be Progress

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was fifteen minutes long and was tagged on to the end of my yoga session.  I needed a little extra time stretching today, so instead of taking time aside from my yoga, I extended my yoga practice and incorporated the meditation into it with the addition of some breathing and focusing exercises.

Japaridze TarotToday’s draw is the King of Gardens (King of Pentacles) which is traditionally interpreted as a representation of measured authority, abundance earned through self discipline, business acumen, and financial/resource security.

What stood out to me the strongest in the imagery of this card this morning is the blue/black hue of the figure’s face and that the folds on the back of the head looked like a different face to me… and I am left confused. Honestly, the imagery in this card is much like the imagery in the Hermit card in this deck.  Confusing and a bit too random and abstract.  Even in the aspect that I picked out of this card, I really am at a loss.

So, going by the traditional meaning of the card rather than off of the imagery, what I see as the  message in today’s card is a reassurance of sorts.   It is a reassurance that I am doing all I can at this time to provide stability and security in my home to those that depend on me, as well as for myself.

No, my mortgage is definitely not getting paid off at the rate I would prefer it to be, but at the same time?  I am still managing to keep up on it.  I’m still managing to keep everyone safe, and put food on the table, and keep us all in the resources we need to be healthy and happy.  Today’s card is a reminder to acknowledge for myself that I’m doing a good job.

DECK USED:  JAPARIDZE TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJune Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I better cope with ambiguity?

Tarot of the Animal Lords

Reading Summary: By not getting frustrated (the cage in the Three of Swords), but instead treating it with understanding (Queen of Chalices) and patience (Knight of Pentacles).

Take Away:  Usually, ambiguity frustrates me, and that creates a divide between me and the source of that ambiguity.  Instead, if I confront this behavior with understanding, it will create a deeper connection with the source of that ambiguity which will facilitate the potential for progress, while patience will help in getting where I want to go regardless of the wishy-washy bullshit. 

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE ANIMAL LORDS

#DiscordTarotholicsJun2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I better connect with my inner adolescent?

Bleu Cat TarotReading Summary: I am not really all that connected at all with my inner adolescent, which is where the Death card comes into this spread, as it is an indication that I will have to enact change in order to find that connection.

The Queen of Fishes with the Magician indicates that I need to take the emotional growth and lessons I’ve learned lately and use them as tools to apply to the cause (Eight of Balls).

Stalker note… the Queen of Cups seems to be getting very friendly with me this week.

Take Away:  I never really had much of an adolescence.  I was too busy being an adult.  Because of the suppression of this part of my development, I’ve never had much of a connection to this highly underdeveloped side of myself.  The cards here indicate that if I want to have a connection there, it will require long term commitment to the changes needed and using my emotional skills to build that bridge.  

Honestly?  I don’t think that I am yet at the stability phase of my current emotional growth to where I’m prepared to try and make that connection.  Not yet anyway.

DECK USED:  BLEU CAT TAROT

#TheJuneTarot Challenge by Lionhart
Question: Draw a card for someone who taught you a lesson.

Tarot SireneReading Summary:  I didn’t specify the person, but rather used the cards to tell me who the person is.   The person in these cards is my meth-head ex. His very selfish Knight of Cups pursuit of me landed him in the Justice system (thank the fuck).

Take Away:  So anyway, yeah.  This is him.  And the lesson here?  Listen to your inner compass when it tells you to step back.  I stuck around far too long and paid for it deeply. If I had listened to my instincts and inner compass?  I’d have dumped his ass a lot sooner and probably been able to circumvent the whole obsessive bullshit that followed.  Moral of the story?  Listen to your gut… don’t hesitate or procrastinate.  Just do it.

DECK USED:  SIRENE TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What have I let go of?

Tarot Mood

Reading Summary: Using going to bars (Three of Cups) and alcohol (vodka reference in Temperance) to avoid crash-and-burn emotions (The Tower)

Take Away:  It used to be that when I was super upset, instead of grounding and spend time with my plants… I would drink. At those times vodka was my friend, and yet never really solved anything and the feel better was only temporary. After making the promise to you not to do anymore drinking (because I clearly only drink for the wrong reasons), I began using my balcony and the plants there as a refuge and for grounding during times of high distress.

DECK USED:  TAROT MOOD

 

Allowing for Joy

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and another of the long and silent followings of the plucking of harp’s strings.   I am considering seeing if I can convince L to make me a recording of her plucking at a cello’s strings instead.   I haven’t discussed it with her yet, but I am thinking I might enjoy it a great deal.

All in all the meditation and two minute cycle of piriformis stretching I’m doing during it is working out really well.  The ten minutes actually seems to go by a good deal faster in this style of meditation than it did during my guided practices.

Japaridze Tarot - The FoolToday’s draw is the Fool card of the major arcana, which is a card traditionally interpreted as being full of innocence, naivete, and boundless enthusiasm and potential.

What stands out to me the strongest today in the imagery of this card is the little dog and the unicycle…. and the fact that there is no human on that unicycle.  The dog is up there alone and having a grand time of it.

I feel like these elements in the card speak not just of enthusiasm, but of trust and confidence.   Without a human there to coax the dog forward, the dog must have trust and confidence in itself rather than in a master.

The message here is about trusting yourself.  It’s okay go after the fun and silly things in life that make no sense to anyone else but you.  Have trust in yourself and the confidence to enjoy yourself without worry about what other people (or your inner critic) may think.

DECK USED:  JAPARIDZE TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJune Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I bring more pleasure into my life?

Fanuna's Tarot

Reading Summary:  Indulge in your personal temptations (The Devil) without allowing others snide glances get in your way (imagery on the Three of Cups).  You know what’s right and are strong enough to tread your own path without their input (The Empress).

Take Away:  Right.  So the Three of Cups imagery really triggered a reaction that has very little to do with the traditional card meaning here.  It had to do with the sidelong glance and open mouth of the center figure, which in my perception today feels snide.  Like a gaggle of girls snicering and gabbing rumors back and forth, yeah?

So with that in mind, the message that the cards in this spread is the whole “you do you” thing.  Don’t worry about what others are doing… or how they do things.  Focus instead upon what brings you joy and dance to the beat of your own drum.

DECK USED:  FANUNA’S TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJun2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I better connect with my inner child?

Tattoo Tarot Ink and IntuitionReading Summary:  Remember that as capable as you are (Magician)?  You don’t have all the answers (Hierophant). Don’t turn away (Four of Cups) from the good stuff (The World).

Take Away:  There is a definite theme going on in my cards today.   Here we have another message about not taking myself so seriously all the time.  A lot of times I bypass opportunities to experience joy as I lean into responsibilities instead, turning my back on things that will bring me pleasure either emotionally or spiritually… or both, because my sense of responsibility turns me toward the use of my skills, knowledge, and abilities to fulfill obligations instead.

If I want to connect more with my inner child, I need to stop ignoring those opportunities.

DECK USED:  TATTOO TAROT INK AND INTUITION

#TheJuneTarot Challenge by Lionhart
Question: What energy is available to me this month?

Bleu Cat Tarot

Reading Summary: Discernment (Six of Cups) and emotional exploration (Ace of Cups) as well as the destructive power to tear things down (Tower) so that something better can be built in its place (not this month).

Take Away:  The energy available to me this month is one of destruction and discernment.  The cards indicate that energy is about making good choices on what I’m tearing down and breaking apart, with the purpose of adding in space for my emotional well being and growth.    It’s about picking and choosing what to keep, and what to release, and not being afraid of breaking the plate if necessary so that it can be replaced with a different one.

DECK USED:  BLEU CAT TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: How do I feel right now?

Tarot Mood

Reading Summary: Resistant to change (Four of Pentacles) even though I know it has to happen (Judgement).  Feeling a need for help in getting my shit together (Three of Pentacles) while trying to stay positive (The Star).

Take Away:  I am trying very, very hard to get over my discomfort with change and “go with the flow”, but the fact I’ve struggled the last two weeks with falling into old habits makes it clear there’s definitely an inner struggle here.  I do feel like I need help, but I’m not sure anyone can actually do anything for me on this path at the moment… and I find myself consciously pushing towards hope in order to keep that alive rather than giving in to the shadow that such struggles can cause within me.

DECK USED:  TAROT MOOD