Cythia Elliott’s Positive Affirmation Oracle

Finding the Positive for June 16 – 18

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Two Bugs Tarot's Page of Swords, Yoga Tarot's Eight of Pentacles, and Tarot Emblemata Chromata's King of Swords

June 16 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped (because I fell asleep in the middle of it).

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The @GlitterbyInk #JuneSun25 Challenge
Summer Sunlight Prompt for June  : Play

Today’s draw is the Page of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of a receptive omega energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s thoughts, intellect, logic, ambitions, and communication. This often translates into themes that have to do with learning new ways to communicate with others, beginning new educational pursuits, exploring new ideas. and seeking to sate one’s curiosity.

OOph! Okay, so I’m just sayin’… but things are going to get awfully messy in a hurry if that ostrich figures out how to pick up that sword.

That’s the point, though, isn’t it?  Play is messy, and learning is a type of play. Learning is messy. Hell, even Life is messy.

When we set our sights on something new, there’s a high potential that we’re going to create change. In our minds. In our lives. Even, very possibly, beyond that into the lives of others.  And, like play? With change comes a certain level of chaos and mess.

The message in today’s card and prompt combo is that it’s all part of the process of growth and learning, so don’t be afraid of the mess. It’s temporary. Just have fun, and take a bit of care to not injure yourself or others in the process. (You know, unlike that ostrich and his sword.)

DECK USED: TWO BUGS TAROT

June 17 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was eleven minutes long, and one of the #DailyCalm sessions in the @Calm app. Learning how to challenge and soften your judgements of yourself and others.

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The @GlitterbyInk #JuneSun25 Challenge
Summer Sunlight Prompt for June  : Summer

Today’s draw is the Eight of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of hard work, expertise through practice, honing a skill, quality craftsmanship, handicrafts, and manifestations through skill and hard work. The card is often the embodiment of the “practice makes perfect” adage.

That adage is the thing, yeah? If you want to get better at something, persistence is the key.It means doing it horribly at first. Then doing it badly. Then doing it “sorta okay”.  It means going through the stages and steps of growth that eventually lead to being skilled at it.

As someone who spends a good deal of their time teaching others a skill, it sort of drives me nuts how many people come in looking for shortcuts, or some way to get around the actual -process- of building a new skill for themselves. They want to be good at it now, and if they can’t then they want a way to either shortcut it, or outright fake it.

To be fair?  There have been (and still are) things in life that I wish I could shortcut on too. So I get it. Learning a skill, though, is not a pursuit in instant gratification.

Today’s message is a reminder that there are no shortcuts in becoming skilled at something. It takes patience, practice, and persistence to get there. Just because you are impatient won’t change this.

DECK USED: YOGA TAROT

June 18 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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The @GlitterbyInk #JuneSun25 Challenge
Summer Sunlight Prompt for June  : Warmth

Today’s draw is the King of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of a projective “alpha” energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s thoughts, intellect, education, ambitions, and communication. This often translates into themes that have to do with someone that has a way with words and is able to use those skills to lead others to their way of thinking, as well as those that are in authority on intellectual topics such as professors, doctors, etc.

Although it’s said that the pen is mightier than the sword, and I tend to agree in some cases… there are more and more times of late that I wonder if it’s really still the case.

Nuances in writing once easily interpreted seem to be missed more often, ignored and responded to with impersonal form letters or cursory replies rather than a true connection and understanding. While truly listening to others seems to have taken a decline, the respect and “listening” given to the written word seems to have fallen off some remote cliff.

While I don’t claim to be Shakespeare or some kind of great wordsmith, writing is in fact my primary way of communicating with others. And so I ask… Is it too much to ask that when I am writing to someone that they actually take a moment to read what has been written, instead of skimming the highlights and replying cursorarily (yes, I did just make up a word) or with some for letter that (invariably) doesn’t even apply to what I’ve written? And if that is too much to ask, why is that the case?

I’m not saying that from time to time I’m not also guilty of this disregard. When I am overwhelmed or struggling, it can be difficult to read with “open ears” and empathy. It just seems to me that instead of becoming one of these things that happens now and then, I’m confronted with this issue far too often these days.

The message in today’s cards is about listening to others, whether in written word, or in conversation. It’s not enough to “hear” their words. That disregards the person behind them. True communication happens when we seek true understanding of what someone is trying to express. It makes them feel seen and heard, rather than disregarded. It creates a feeling of warmth, connection, and depth that often feels missing from interactions with others these days.

DECK USED: TAROT EMBLEMATA CHROMATA

Finding the Positive for June 3 – 5

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Magic Pantry Tarot's Five of Cups and Judgment Card, Student Tarot v2's Wheel of Fortune and Chariot cards, and Greenwood Tarot's Judgement Card

June 3 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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The @GlitterbyInk #JuneSun25 Challenge
Summer Sunlight Prompt for June  : Shine
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

I have now managed to pull the Five of cups three days in a row, this time combined with the Judgment card.

  • The Five of Cups is traditionally a representation of pessimism, regrets, doomsday thinking, disappointments, and occasionally, failure (or at the very least, the perception of failure).
  • The Judgment card is traditionally a representation of judgements, one’s inner calling and chosen life path, and looking back on one’s life to consider how they feel about the path they’ve taken and who they have become.

SO, because it’s clear that this card has a message for me that I’m missing, I went to the deck’s guidebook this time for a little guidance. The key points taken away from the guidebook’s input are…

  • Whatever it is that is creating this feeling of defeat for you is now in the past and can’t be undone.
  • Think creatively about how you respond and react so that not all is lost.
  • Don’t beat yourself up for struggling with this.
  • There is no prescribed answers sometimes, and in those moments you just have to wing it to gain better understanding through experience.
  • Expect the unexpected, even if you think you know what’s about to happen.

The message that I see here is to ride it out.  Ride out these feelings of struggle and disappointment, discontent and unhappiness. Look for the positive spin and let things move at their own pace while taking little sips of joy where you can.

Just make sure that you are staying alert to opportunities to turn things around moving forward. You can’t change the past and the decisions  you made. They say that hindsight is 20/20, and that’s true. Instead of looking back, look forward and seek out opportunities to change things for the better.

DECK USED: MAGIC PANTRY TAROT

June 4 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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The @GlitterbyInk #JuneSun25 Challenge
Summer Sunlight Prompt for June  : Bright
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is the Wheel of Fortune atop the Chariot card. This means that they came out of the deck together, and the Wheel of Fortune card was on top, and this the dominant card of the pair.

  • The Wheel of Fortune card is traditionally a representation of luck (both good and bad), changing circumstances, the ups and downs of life, and the cyclical nature of life and the world.
  • The Chariot card is traditionally traditionally a representation of control, determination, direction, and autonomy.

Some days, things are going to go how they’re going to go, and you can’t always have a lot of control over that. What you do have control over is your own reactions.

Make sure you are using that creative mind of yours to look on the bright side. Not being in control has a tendency to make you cranky and unreasonable. Be aware that today, it’s only you and your own reactions you are going to have control over.  Ride the wheel and enjoy the ride, no matter what it brings your way.

These cards are a reminder that some days all we can do in our lives or control is our own reactions an dhow we perceive a situation. Everything else is out of our hands, and any efforts to seize control will be overkill.

DECK USED: THE STUDENT TAROT v2

June 5 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was fifteen minutes long, and self-directed. It was based off of the graphic included in the image with today’s card.  It was about something called “Window Light Theory”, and the concept that light itself is healing. It doesn’t require you going out into the sun to feel those healing effects, either.  How this small touch of natural light can do so much, if we take a moment to savor it… and so can other little things like appreciating a moment of quiet beauty in the world.

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The @GlitterbyInk #JuneSun25 Challenge
Summer Sunlight Prompt for June  : Outside
Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is the Judgement Card, which is traditionally a representation of judgements, one’s inner calling and chosen life path, and looking back on one’s life to consider how they feel about the path they’ve taken and who they have become.

Last night, I saw a video of a polar bear just wandering through an Alaskan town, and it struck me that I never really grasped just how large these animals are.  It meandered its way past a standard sized sedan, and… the car was smaller than the bear. In fact, the car was dwarfed by the bear’s size. And yet?  It still looked like a warm and fuzzy white teddy bear in need of a good petting.

It’s funny, because I see these memes all the time that say, “If not friend, why friend shaped?” and here it is!

The message in today’s cards is a reminder to not judge a book by its cover. That bear may be cute, but he could also kill you with a hug.  What we see on the outside is not enough. It’s not enough for our safety, and it’s not enough to make decisions and actions concerning. Beautiful flowers can be poisonous. Cuddly looking bears can be hungry killers. People are even more complicated than plants and animals, and their covers just as difficult to interpret.

Make sure that you aren’t judging them by “their covers” alone. Actions are important, and so is digging deeper.

DECK USED: THE GREENWOOD TAROT

Finding the Positive for May 28 – 30

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Le Tarot Villeneuve's Magician, Animal Tarot's Ten of Swords, Linestrider Tarot's Seven of Swords, and Little Otter's Mindful Kids Emotion Cards

May 28 – Mental Health Card of the Day

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

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Today’s draw is the Magician (le Bateleur) card, which is traditionally a representation of capability, potential, resourcefulness, action, and manifestation. This often translates into themes having to do with being in possession of all of the skills, abilities, and tools necessary to reach one’s goals and accomplish one’s ends. It’s about being capable and skilled, resourceful and gifted with what is needed to get the job done.

Shower thoughts this morning had me thinking about a magazine article I read recently that proposed that our perception of time speeds up when we lack novel and/or memorable experiences used to differentiate our hours and days. I thought this was a really strange theory, as in my observation  time actually seems to pass more quickly as we become more aware of our mortality and how little time we actually have left. I feel this might be why time feels like it gets faster as we get older.  We see our mortality more clearly and it causes us to value our time left more, and thus the perception becomes that it is flitting away too quickly.  Instead, in my experience, depression, pain, and/or misery  cause time to crawl by, while “time flies” when we’re having fun.

These thoughts (which are currently written all over the walls of my shower in shower crayon) make me think that, at least in part, it’s up to us how we perceive time.  The Magician, then encourages us to experiment by using the tools we’ve learned over years of experience to find what works best for us to create a sense of time we’ll be happy with, and fill that time with memorable moments.

DECK USED: LE TAROT VILLENEUVE

May 29 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s draw is the Ten of Swords, which is traditionally a representation long journeys coming to an end, painful endings, lessons learned the hard way, deep wounds, and sometimes can indicate loss or betrayal.

Right, so… I am becoming/have become more susceptible to guilt. The thing is? I’m not entirely sure how this happened. I didn’t used to be susceptible to guilt, but somewhere along the line in the past decade or so it’s begun to actually have an influence.

Once upon a time, guilt trips by others just made me mad. They triggered my anger, probably as a defense mechanism, and that in turn turned off my ability to give a damn.

Maybe it’s because, as I search for understanding of my emotions and make progress on my healing past wounds, I’m more open and vulnerable now. That defense mechanism just doesn’t trigger like it used to, though, and i find myself becoming susceptible to guilt trips by those I care for where I wasn’t before.

I definitely am not a fan of this development, even if the defense mechanism is still there, just latent and only kicking in when I’ve reached the end of my tolerance and had enough.

The combination of the Guilty Dog and the Ten of Swords makes me wonder… is there a way to fine tune this defense mechanism so that I’m saying “stick a fork in me; I’m done” sooner? I would like to detach from guilt sooner… or is it just one of those things that goes part and parcel with allowing yourself to care about people?

DECK USED: ANIMAL TAROT

May 30 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was thirteen minutes long, and was self guided meditation based off a #DailyCalm session I did recently titled “Anxiety” in the @Calm app. (Because I had a severe anxiety attack, and I needed a little help to reign things in.)

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Today’s draw is the Seven of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of strategic thinking, “sneaky shit”, or getting away with something. It can also often be about taking only what one can carry.

Disappointment seems to come far too easily these days. Whether it’s witnessing the truth in Harvey Danger’s “only stupid people are breeding” lyrics, or the decline of work ethic that took a sharper than normal dip during the pandemic (ref: the WPA in the 1930s and how it was preferred by the majority of society at the time over public assistance because it “maintained self-respect, reinforced the work ethic, and kept skills sharp”), and all around wide spread choices to act without consideration of consequences.

Do I sound like an old curmudgeon yet?

The other day I watched someone walk out of a store with a cart full of junk without paying, and yet when I reported this to security? I was the one looked at as an inconvenience.

I could see a policy of letting it go if it was say… food, or children’s clothes. But electronics and other clearly unnecessary luxury crap? C’mon.

The cards for today reflect this event I witnessed and the feelings expressed above that arose from it. These cards are a reminder to not let the morons, the entitled, and the corrupted get you down. Yes, they’re out there and they’re breeding. That just means it’s that much more important to seek out and connect with those that share your own values. They’re out there too, and can help in putting a little faith back in your perceptions of humanity as a whole.

DECK USED: THE LINESTRIDER TAROT

Finding the Positive for May 20 – 22

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Phantasm of Life Tarot's Knight of Cups, The Mythical Creatures Tarot's Four of Swords, The Tarot by Caitlin Mattisson's Seven of Cups, and Affirmation Cards from Little Otter's Mindful Kids Emotions Deck

May 20 – Mental Health Card of the Day

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

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The @GlitterbyInk #MayTag25 Challenge
Celebrating Our Community Prompt for May 20 : Nurturing

Today’s draw is the Knight of Cups, which is traditionally a representation of an active beta energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s emotions, relationships, intuition, and creativity. This often portrays itself in a theme of going after what brings someone joy or following your imagination and creativity into new adventures.

Often, the word “nurturing” is associated with what we do for others or how we affect others. It’s seen as a gift to be given. Sometimes, though? The one that most needs to be nurtured is the self.

The Knight of Cups asks us what do you want? What do you need? It’s message is that sometimes it’s okay to be selfish. It’s perfectly okay, and even healthy, to nurture yourself and to at times prioritize your own wants and needs over those of others.

Today’s message is an encouragement to get in touch with those needs and wants, and give yourself the nurturing you need rather than expending all that energy on others.

DECK USED: PHANTASM OF LIFE TAROT

May 21 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s draw is the Four of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of taking time to rest, recuperation after a trying time, and stillness for restoration and meditation on the events that have brought you to this place as well as where to go from here.

It’s hard to connect with joy when you’re not fully rested. This is why we need vacations, time off, and… well, sleep. Deprivation of rest isn’t just detrimental to our physical health and concentration. It’s also detrimental to our happiness.

The Four of Swords combined with the Joyful Sandpiper are a reminder that we all need rest. Even you. It’s important to make time for it even when there’s no time for it. Even if it’s fifteen minutes here or there when we just can’t fit more than that in.

Rest more. When we allow for recovery from the daily fray, happiness and joy are easier to reach in everyday moments.

DECK USED: THE MYTHICAL CREATURES TAROT AND LITTLE OTTER’S MINDFUL KIDS EMOTION CARDS

May 22 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s draw is the Six of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of charity, generosity, sharing the wealth, asking for or accepting help, and balancing the scales between the “haves” and the “have nots” in life.

Let’s talk about “scarcity mentality”. This is an issue that I personally struggle with a lot. It’s the mindset or habitual assumption of not having enough. Not enough food, or money, or resources, etc. It keeps you in a constant semi-state of anxiety, pushing you to always work harder and earn more, often to the detriment of your health, happiness, and well-being.

The thing is? In many cases (such as mine), that fear that drives this mindset is unfounded. I have simply lived in a place in my life where scarcity was a very real thing, and fear returning there.

The message in the Six of Pentacles combined with the Scared Bear card is a reminder to check in with yourself and the fears that drive your unhealthy behaviors. Look at that fear objectively and ask yourself if things in this moment are really justifying the fears that are driving you. If not, maybe it’s time to ease up a bit.

DECK USED: THE TAROT BY CAITLIN MATTISSON AND LITTLE OTTER’S MINDFUL KIDS EMOTION CARDS

Finding the Positive for May 13 – 15

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Major Tom's Tarot of Marseille Lovers Card, Low Scare Tarot's Ten of Pentacles, Archania Tarot's The High Priestess card

May 13 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was a #DailyCalm session from the @Calm app.

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The @GlitterbyInk #MayTag25 Challenge
Celebrating Our Community Prompt for May 13 : Artistic

Today’s draw is the Lovers card, which is traditionally a representation of love and relationships, harmonious unions, and making choices that are geared toward what is best for you.

The card pulled for today offers us an opportunity to look at our  needs through a different lens. In the marseille tradition of tarot, the imagery we see is a central figure in one of life’s age-old battles as they are pictured between a matronly figure and a new love. It is a choice between past or future, stable stagnancy or new beginnings.

Everyone needs to make these choices in life, whether it’s moving away from home, choosing a partner, etc. The artistic representation here depicts making a crossroads where a decision must be made for your future… one that you’ll have to live with for a very long time, and advises us to make the choice that aligns with what we want out of life and need in our loves moving forward. For, whatever choice we make, we’re making a commitment to move in that direction.

[Digression Note spurred by the “Artistic” prompt for today:  When reading tarot, the reader also makes a similar choice pertaining to their practice. They can learn the traditional meaning of each card and stick to them with strict adherence, or they can use the traditional meaning in conjunction with visual cues in the card’s artistic choices.Neither choice is more right or wrong than the other, only more right or wrong for an  individual. 

For me?  It’s the latter that fits best. Colors, forms, shapes and lines. All of these things provide so much extra information, making reading the cards more than the rattling off of card meanings and introducing an element of art interpretation into the mix, where each card’s illustration doesn’t just speak to me but offers a conversation.]

Combined with the prompt of “artistic”, what I see her in the Lover’s card is a reminder not to just choose what’s easy in life.  Look at the context and consider the future. Think outside the box and use your imagination, then choose. Taking what is easy without considering the alternatives often leads to a lackluster life.  Sometimes, easy is still the right choice, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t need to consider other choices and perspectives first and make sure.

DECK USED: MAJOR TOM’S TAROT OF MARSEILLE

May 14 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was eight minutes long, and was a #DailyTrip session from the @Calm app.

The topic of today’s session was about restorative activities, and how important they are to our general well-being.  Activities in life that make you feel restored, such as going for walks, meditation, cloud watching, spending time with a loved one, coloring in a coloring book, watching a movie, etc.

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The @GlitterbyInk #MayTag25 Challenge
Celebrating Our Community Prompt for May 14 : Resourceful

Today’s draw is the Ten of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of satisfaction and stability in the area of one’s finances, resources, home, health, manifestations, and the physical world. This often translates into themes that have to do with hard earned success, accomplishments, abundance created through patience and hard work.

How do you recharge?  Is sleeping the beginning, middle, and end of your restorative process? Or are there other methods and moments mixed in there as well?

For me, it’s time in nature. Hiking or taking macro photos of nature’s interesting intricacies. Digging in the dirt or tending to plants that need a little TLC. These things are restorative to me.

The thing is? Success isn’t just about what you earn  monetarily or through status. It’s about how you are able to spend your time, and how you feel about life as a whole. If you’re constantly pushing and struggling, then life is missing something.  And just maybe? That something isn’t more money, but rather the time and energy to give yourself the restorative activities that make life feel a little bit more like a treasure and a little less like a chore.

Today’s “resourceful” prompt combined with the Ten of Pentacles card and the topic of today’s meditation session is a reminder that restorative starts with “rest” for a reason, and that we all need not just sleep, but also activities in life that feel restorative to us.   Sometimes that means being resourceful and thinking outside the box. Stealing a few minutes here and there to experiment and try new things, even silly things, to find those that allow you a moment of respite now and then. As a result, you may discover you’re already more of a success than you think, as you begin to enjoy life just a bit more.

DECK USED: LOW SCARE TAROT

May 15 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was eleven minutes long, and was a #DailyCalm session from the @Calm app.

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The @GlitterbyInk #MayTag25 Challenge
Celebrating Our Community Prompt for May 15 : Energetic

Today’s draw is the High Priestess card, which is traditionally a representation of intuition, secrets, sacred knowledge, mystery, the subconscious mind.

The High Priestess in this card seems oftly cheeky with her flash of thigh and flirtatious glance up at the pillar of masculine strength in the upper corner.  I don’t often see the High Priestess as a sensual card, but in this one, it’s hard to miss. It seems to say loud and clear “when you know… you know”.

The other day, I had a card of the day that spoke about how just because we like something or find it appealing, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s right for us.  Today’s card? Says that when it *is* right for us? We’ll know.  No doubt. No questions asked. When you know, you know… you know? This knowledge comes from within. It comes from your gut and has nothing to do with thought or reason. It’s inner ken that says “YES” because it is right for you.

Today’s message is to not ignore those feelings. When they come, it means you’ve stumbled upon something special and “just right” for you. In those instances, maybe give yourself the opportunity to explore instead of just reject, for you never know what new good thing you might be discovering.

I am as at-fault as anyone else for missing these signs at times, by the way. Nearly seventeen years ago, when I first met Gideon, it wasn’t I who knew. I was too much in my head and full of resistance to know… to recognize who he was and the potential he held for me and my future.  It was him.

He knew.  He knew from the moment he first saw me, before we ever even met.  He knew, and he followed that knowing, worked hard to turn my gaze and get me to realize that being with him would not sacrifice my independence and how good we could be together.  And nearly seventeen years later? Here we are, still happy, and still going strong.

So don’t let FOMO conceal itself as that inner knowing.  If it’s meant to be?  It’ll be yours… even if you miss the signs at first.

DECK USED: ARCHANIA TAROT

Finding the Positive for May 5 – 7

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Avalon Revelation Tarot's The Empress, The Avian Tarot's King of Swords, Orc Alien World Tarot's The Hanged Man

May 5 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was one of the #DailyCalm sessions from the @Calm app.  The session for today was in regards to the difference between sympathy and empathy, and to be fair?  Although I very clearly understand the difference between the two? I  have a hard time seeing empathy as the better of the two.

They presented sympathy as being perceived as “pity”, and empathy as being perceived as “I’m on your side”.   The thing is? I was always taught and understood myself that sympathy was a kindness of letting another person have their experience while you lend support, whereas empathy is making their trauma “all about you” and thus not giving them what they need.

I dunno.  Now I’m a little confused on which is the better route in such situations. Does my sympathy (instead of using empathy) come off as cold and distant?  I’m not sure.

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The @GlitterbyInk #MayTag25 Challenge
Celebrating Our Community Prompt for May 5 : Insightful

Today’s draw is the Empress card, which is traditionally a representation of the nurturing, female strength and empowerment without losing that “softer side” in the process, abundance, fertility, the divine feminine, and Mother Earth.

I’ve connected this card with the song that I woke up with stuck in my head this morning, which was “Not in the Mood” by I’MIN & Daryl Kim.   This combo between the song and the Empress reminds us that it’s healthy to set limits and boundaries in our lives to protect our peace and nurture our sense of well-being. In order to nurture a feeling of abundance in our lives, sometimes we have to learn to say “no”.

Today’s combo says that it’s okay to say “no”.  It’s okay to protect your own sense of well-being and abundance by choosing to use your time and energy to nurture yourself instead of expending it all on other sand their needs.  In fact, maybe? Some of us need to practice saying “no” more often.

DECK USED: AVALON REVELATION TAROT

May 6 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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The @GlitterbyInk #MayTag25 Challenge
Celebrating Our Community Prompt for May 6 : Motivating

Today’s card is the King of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of a projective “alpha” energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s thoughts, intellect, education, ambitions, and communication. This often translates into themes that have to do with someone that has a way with words and is able to use those skills to lead others to their way of thinking, as well as those that are in authority on intellectual topics such as professors, doctors, etc.

In the guide for this deck, one phrase (“Vulnerable and strong enough to let go of control”) really stuck out to me stronger than the rest.

Logic dictates that you cannot take care of or lead others if you are not taking care of yourself first.  This is why if there’s a problem on airline flights they tell you to put your own mask on first before helping others with theirs. What help are you to anyone else if you aren’t in any condition to do so?

Today’s card and it’s associated Andean Condor speaks of the need, in moments of stress or trouble, to rise above the situation and see things from an analytical viewpoint. Are you in any condition to step in now? Or would you be better served by standing back, letting go of control, and tending to your own needs first, then stepping in later if still needed?

Lean into taking care of yourself first… and you will find yourself not just better capable of taking care of others by doing so, but more motivated to engage as well.

DECK USED: THE AVIAN TAROT

May 7 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was one of the #DailyCalm sessions from the @Calm app. The topic for today’s sessions rested on how it’s often our thoughts about our emotions that cause the most damage, as opposed to the emotions themselves. For example, our thoughts of when in the grip of severe depression often circulate about how it will never end, when in truth, like everything else in life, the depression is temporary.

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The @GlitterbyInk #MayTag25 Challenge
Celebrating Our Community Prompt for May 7 : Joyful

Today’s draw is the Hanged Man, which is traditionally a representation of taking a pause, considering alternate perspectives, relaxing into difficult situations, surrender, or letting go.

The cards are being very persistent lately on the “wait and watch” messages, it seems.

Look at the expression on the face of the figure in the card, though. This entanglement makes it clear that they didn’t wait and watch, and that fate took things into their own hands to make them do so whether they wanted to or not.  There’s humor and a hint of bashfulness in that expression, speaking of humility and the ability to laugh at oneself when you pause to actually get a look at your screw ups.

The message in today’s card isn’t just “continue to wait and watch” on my personal situation. It’s that when things go awry? You can instill more joy into your life by looking for the humor in the situation you find yourself in and how  you got there.

DECK USED: ORC ALIEN WORLD TAROT