daily tarot

Making Yourself The Outsider

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Today’s meditation was skipped again today. I probably shouldn’t have, but I had so much crap to get done, plus a phone appointment with my shrink… and everything just got away with me a bit.  So.. it didn’t get done.  I do plan on giving it a go when I lie down to go to bed tho.

Tarot of Haunted House - Four of WandsToday’s draw is the Four of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of homecomings and celebration…. and celebratory homecomings.  There is a stability to this theme, and comfort as well.

There aren’t many cards in this deck I feel this way about, but I’m not really sure about the imagery for this card in this deck.  What I see here feels a lot more like a Hierophant card than the Four of Wands.  

That said, what really stands out to me in this card today is the four pillars and the burst of flame atop each of them.  That imagery of stability and celebration then draws my eye down to the knife held in a sacrificial downward angle, which then draws my eye down to the two figures that appear to have turned to look back at the viewer.

These three points feel like levels in this card, and what I see here is more about -not- feeling welcome.  It’s about feeling like an outsider. An outlier.  You can see the stability and the celebration in the distance, but there are forbidding obstacles between where you now stand and that comfort hinted at in the four pillars. 

The message here is to not allow issues with self worth or confidence cut you out of the places where you should belong.  These negative feelings and derogatory self-narratives that make you feel like an outsider?  They aren’t what others are thinking.  They are only what you are thinking.  Don’t project your self-worth issues on others and assume that they perceive you as you see yourself.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF HAUNTED HOUSE

LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: It’s just a bunch of hocus pocus, this card today will be my focus.

Grim Tarock - Five of CitadelsThe collection of buildings along the cliff’s face are piled atop each other and disintegrating under the wear of time.  Rocks tumble  and foundations crumble.

The Five of Citadels is a reminder about upkeep.

When you do a little each day to care for the upkeep of those things that are important to you, over time these things wear well and remain in good condition, creating a long future.

If, on the other hand, you do not do that little bit of care each day, over time things deteriorate a little at a time.  And soon, you find that those things you care about have fallen apart and no longer hold value.

The focus that this card prompts for me today is to make sure I’m doing the little work.  One small thing a day is enough to help keep things from falling apart… whether that’s self care, or home care, or relationships…. or anything of value.

DECK USED:  GRIM TAROCK

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Philosophical Question: Where do you find meaning in your life?

Hephoe TapoQueen of Wands atop The Hierophant – Through my passion for teaching and guiding others. I have found, especially as I’ve gotten older, that I greatly enjoy guiding others to help them in finding their own unique path, and teaching them in different skills and knowledge that I’ve collected along the way in my own life.  I want to help others in finding their own passions, their own interests, and their own beliefs.  I love occasionally hearing when something I’ve offered up “clicks” for someone and helps them in their own journey, or just knowing that I’ve helped in some way in making their life “fit” them better in some way.

The Emperor – Having a sense of independence and control.  These are things I need in my life. I require them.  And, in fact, it is a need that I have built a good deal of my life around, from how I am employed to how my relationships with others work, and even in how I relate to people and the world around me. 

Knight of Swords atop Ten of Pentacles – Going after my ambitions towards stability, security, and a comfortable living.  I feel that this answer is as much about the “going after” as it is about the obtaining of this goal. While I feel a need for stability and structure?  I also feel that need to strive for something, to push for something.  This stability and security is a sort of “moving target” that constantly stimulates that need to strive for something… and at the same time manage to accomplish just enough to fulfill that constant need for security.

DECK USED:  HEPHOE TAPO

#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: What is the significance behind this missed message from yesterday?

Dark Grimoire Tarot

Reading Summary: Lean on others (Three of Pentacles) instead of killing yourself trying to juggle everything on your own (Two of Pentacles). Depending on others is a choice that you have to consciously make for yourself (The Lovers)… and it will make your life better and more emotionally fulfilling in the end (Nine of Cups).

Take Away:  What these cards are saying is that I need to fill my life with people that love me and want to help.  By doing this, as time goes on, I will find the benefits spill over from my work and into my life at large and that even if I one day grown into a lonely old man alone in the world, I will feel emotionally fulfilled by all those past people that were a part of my life. The key here is that this is a choice.  A choice you make for yourself.  Letting people in is a choice that you have to start early and allow to then carry forward through the years ahead.

DECK USED:  DARK GRIMOIRE TAROT

Strength and Tenderness

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Today’s meditation was again curtailed due to the need for sleep. I didn’t mean to doze off, but I’ve just been so tired these last couple of days and the moment I settled in and relaxed? Suddenly I was out like a light.

Madam Lydia Wilhelmina's Tarot - King of CupsToday’s draw is the King of Cups, which is traditionally a representation of a projective alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s emotions, relationships, creativity, and intuition.

I don’t know what it is about this card, but there’s something so… sexy here.   I’m not sure what.  Maybe it’s the shoulder.  Or the hip.  Or the fact that the hand appears to be holding that scrap of tartan in place.  Whatever.  It’s hot.   And thus…. my brain goes to Gideon, because Gideon is hot… and is my King of Cups.

The thing that draws my gaze the most (along with the whole hotness factor) is the drape of tiny pearls. They hang from his hat, drape his body, as well as his right hand.

What I see here is a contrast between strength and fragility, power and delicacy.  It displays a balance.  The same sort of balance that Gideon shows me every day.  The balance I crave… especially when I am feeling vulnerable.

DECK USED:  MADAM LYDIA WILHELMINA’S TAROT

LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: Itch-it-a-kup-it-a, mel-a-ka-mys-ti-ka, a poison {1}, the potion {2}, the magick {3}, my witchy calling {4}.

Luis Royo's Dark Tarot

A Poison – The High Priestess Rx – Not listening to your intuition has the ability to poison both your actions, your motivations, and your confidence. It’s important to be able to trust yourself, and when you second guess your intuition, it breaks down that trust.

The Potion – The Wheel – Whether things are on the way up or on the way down, it is through the times that your intuition speaks to you that you learn to trust it in the first place.  This takes repetitive practice.

The Magick – Queen of Pentacles – Only through experience can we develop that trust.  It takes time and nurturing to make it happen, and it takes even more time and nurturing to help it flourish.

My Calling – The Lovers – Some people ignore their intuition, and thus it rarely speaks.  Others accept their intuition and allow it to become a part of their lives.  It is my calling to have this type of close relationship with my intuition, and to choose it’s voice over that of logic or reason again and again so that with each trusting step forward it grows healthier and stronger.

DECK USED:  LUIS ROYO’S DARK TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: You / Your Current Path / Potential Outcome

Gothic Horror TarotYou – Death – I am going through an adjustment at this time in my life. Not just the gradual growth and adjustment that came with the emotional growth I’ve been focused on in the past year… but also the adjustment that comes from shifting out of the more relaxed part of my year into the chaos of the holiday rush.  For me, autumn is all about adjustments and changes, shifting gears and transitioning. 

Your Current Path – King of Staves – I am on the trajectory of diving into my holiday rush. Control and motivation need to be high, not just for myself but to lead those that work with me this year into the fray and give them the inspiration to keep going when things are at their peak.

Potential Outcome – Four of Swords – Exhaustion and a need for recovery.  Ten weeks from now, I am going to be at the end of my rope.  My eyes will feel like sandpaper, my body will feel as if I’m wasting away, and my mind will be a fuzzy blur as the adrenaline of the holiday rush begins to fade. Ten weeks from now I will reach the end of the chaos of the holiday rush… and it will be time to take a very much needed restorative break.

DECK USED:  GOTHIC HORROR TAROT

#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: What message has my Spirit Guide been trying to send me that I have not heard?

Terrestrial Tarot

Reading Summary:  Be proactive (Knight of Swords) about making sure you’re getting enough rest (Four of Swords).  Soon enough you’ll be up to your eyeballs in ambition and creativity (Queen of Wands) and dealing with being overwhelmed by the fray of the holiday rush (Five of Wands).

Take Away:  These last couple weeks are the last bit of rest and relaxation I’m going to get for a wile.  I need to make sure I get what I can while I can and not allow myself to fall into the “oh fuck oh fuck” panic of what’s to come.  I’ve done the holiday rush before, and I’ll do it again. Don’t freak out and lose what chance for rest and restoration that I have left.

DECK USED:  TERRESTRIAL TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: How important is my health in my spiritual life?

Nightmare Before Christmas Tarot

Reading Summary:  Think of it this way (King of Needles imagery)… Your loved ones (Three of Potions) are there to make you take care of yourself so that you can get the most out of life (Nine of Presents).  If you don’t take care of yourself? No forward motion will be forthcoming (Three of Candles Rx).

Take Away:  Just sayin’?  But the way that King of Needles showed up was so funny.   It’s literally telling me that I need to really take some time to sit and think about this message.   The message being, of course, that my health is extremely important to my spiritual life.  No health means no progress upon my path.  Those that love me are here to help and make sure that I stay healthy, but their presence in my life is also an integral part of what makes me healthy as well.

DECK USED:  NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS TAROT

Morning Bonus Read – Samhain Tarot Spread

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Because I am trying to show a bit more of my decks this month, as I have a whole LOT of October/Halloween/Samhain decks, I’m doing a few extra bonus reads over the month.  This is one of those extra readings.

Samhain Tarot Spread - Trick or Treat Playing Cards

Life: What is my soul purpose in this life?
Eight of Diamonds

My soul’s purpose in this life is to learn and grow.  It’s about taking lessons learned in my past incarnations and honing my understanding of them, and of myself. This incarnation of my soul is about developing skills.  I don’t think this is so much about the “developing skills” of the earthly plane, though, but more about developing my skills of manifestation and perhaps skills involved with learning how to continue to move on no matter the hurdles trying to hold me back.

Death: How do I honor and learn from the dead and past?
Queen of Hearts

It is important to instill empathy and understanding into the honoring of the dead and the past.   We cannot know the nuances of what has created these past situations or caused those that have passed to do the things they did in life.  It is with understanding and empathy, that we can direct love to those situations and people no matter their mistakes or issues that you may not agree with.

Veil: What message does the other side have for me right now?
Four of Hearts

Don’t be a sour sack.  Right so…. the thing is?  I’ve had a few rough days this week.  There was the day that took 3x the time to do just about everything (including things as small as screwing a cap on a bottle).  Then the day where everything I touched ended up tipped over or upended (including my chili bowl ending up upended on the couch).   And lets not forget the day that damned near everything I touched ended up on the floor (including a pan full of boiling water and a good half of each deck of tarot cards I picked up).

It kind of begins really difficult to not become a sulky sourpuss after a streak like that… but I’m trying.

Trick: What distracts me from my soul purpose?
Jack of Diamonds atop Two of Clubs

Sometimes a slow pace is a good thing, but sometimes?  That same slow pace causes a lack of direction.  It’s like when you have a million thoughts in your head and you say “I’ll remember them and write them down later” instead of doing it right away.  Half the good ideas never get written down no matter how good your intentions.

It’s the same with my soul’s purpose.  Sometimes, when the pace is slow, I get drawn off and lose direction, then have to find my way back again.

Treat: How does my soul purpose give me joy?
Jack of Spades atop Four of Clubs

Part of that journey my soul is going through involves all those digressions that lead me astray along the way.  Part of my soul’s journey is learning to return to the path forward when I get distracted. And each time I return to my path after having gotten distracted it is like returning home once again, and the puzzle pieces fit back into place.  I can feel it happen when these times are upon me, and there is a great deal of pleasure and joy in those moments.

DECK USED:  TRICK OR TREAT PLAYING CARDS

Choosing Your Poison

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Today’s meditation was curtailed in the face of my need for a nap… because I totally dozed off in the middle of my meditation. I’ll try again before I go to sleep tonight but I’ve had two naps today, bot of them unanticipated, so… yeah.   Definitely not taking the chance of lying down again until bed time.

Tarot of Haunted House - The DevilToday’s draw is the Devil card, which is traditionally a representation of themes and situations that have to do with addictions and temptations.  It’s about those things you fall into that seem good and can become unhealthy if allowed to go to far, and about the bad habits and addictions that you fall into and then find yourself unwilling to leave behind even when you know they are bad for you.

I very much try to keep in mind Gideon’s take on this card.  For me, this card is often a representation of addiction, and a representation of the temptation that my addictive personality can create for me.  For him, it is a reminder of the temptation of me… how obsessed and addicted to me that he is.

Regardless of the temptation or addiction is beneficial or not, though. What really stands out to me in this card (and in many Devil cards) is that the chains on those caught and bound are loose. They could slip free.

The message of today’s card is that you choose your addictions and what temptations you want to allow into your life.  It’s important to pay attention and be diligent so that you make conscious choices about these things, instead of just wandering randomly from one to another.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF HAUNTED HOUSE

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Question:How can I best release negativity carried froward from my ancestors to me?

Cryptid TarotReading Summary: Instead of getting up in arms (Five of Wands – Tatzelwurm) when disaster strikes (The Tower – Mothman), take control and plunge into it (The Chariot – Kelpie).

Take Away:  Be proactive about the direction you go in and how you react to the chaos that starts to crash around you.  Don’t shirk, and don’t get your back up about it, move forward, adapt, and keep moving.  

It’s the difference between fighting change, or actually moving with it and adapting to it.  Sometimes, you have to just allow change to happen and control your own actions and responses rather than fighting against the change and causing things to go even harder on yourself.

DECK USED:  THE CRYPTID TAROT

#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I utilize mine and my Spirit Guide’s different personalities to my advantage?

Trick or Tarot

Reading Summary: When I’m in need of help (Five of Swords), just remember that they’ve been through all this before (Ten of Swords), and they’re trying to help by giving advice based on knowledge that they have obtained through experience (Queen of Swords).

Take Away:  It’s about trusting what I hear, and trusting what I fee.  They give me messages through the same sensations as my intuition to make sure I listen, so remember that the advice comes from a good place and is the same as when someone that’s been to war gives someone that hasn’t advice on using a gun.  It’s guidance given through expertise I didn’t have to live myself to take advantage of.

DECK USED:  TRICK OR TAROT

Morning Bonus Read – All Hallowed Spread

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Because I am trying to show a bit more of my decks this month, as I have a whole LOT of October/Halloween/Samhain decks, I’m doing a few extra bonus reads over the month.  This is one of those extra readings.

Boho Tarot's All Hallowed Spread - Trionfi Della Luna

How I Honor Myself
King of Wands

I honor myself by going after the things that I want. I respect my opinions enough to know the path before me.  The King of Wands is looking towards the “others” card, indicating that I also honor myself by being willing to use my enthusiasm to lead others as well.

How I Honor Others
Eight of Swords

I honor others by turning a blind eye to their faults when I can, and accepting that their path is their path… and my path is my path, and everyone’s path as unique and different. I can accept these differences easily and do not find the need to dig into everything about their path… and have no need to influence them into walking my path.

How I Honor the Divine
Ace of Wands

I honor the Divine by allowing the divine to inspire me and lead me into new adventures.  I interact with the Divine through my enthusiasm, and through that enthusiasm I honor and explore what the Divine has to teach me.

DECK USED:  TRIONFI DELLA LUNA

Don’t Knock It ‘Til You Try It

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IMG_7011Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and was about finding the path that is right for you and seeing ourselves through our own eyes instead of basing out self worth on what others think of us.

I think everyone does this to a point.  We all worry, in one way or another, about what others think of us or how we are perceived.  That’s pretty natural and probably has something to do with some sort of “human tribal/societal genetic wiring” of some kind or another.

The key, though, is to make sure that you prioritize how you feel about yourself above how others feel about  you. This requires having a positive view of yourself.  An honest view that allows for you to have things that you are proud of, and things that you like about yourself.  It means knowing your strengths and your weaknesses and finding a place within yourself where you are happy with yourself and who you are.

We are all works in progress, but its that comfort in your own skin that allows you to take other’s opinions and perceptions in stride, and not allow them to take over your life or your own perceptions of yourself.

Madam Lydia Wilhelmina's Tarot - DeathToday’s draw is the Death card, which is traditionally a card that indicates organic transition.  That is to say, it is about the slow and gradual build up of change that takes place over time.   Sometimes change happens all at once and is a chaotic mess of clashing energy and distress (aka The Tower)… the Death card, on the other hand, is about the kind of change that happens over time though. The kind of change that happens little by little until one day it reaches a tipping point  where you realize something is happening, and that it has been happening all along.

What stands out to me the strongest in the imagery of this card today is the hourglass in the lower right side, and the fact that with whatever is lying on the desk behind it?  It kind of looks at first like a gavel.

The message in today’s card is “Don’t knock it until you try it.”  Sometimes?  When we go through change we make snap judgements and reject the changes without even giving them a chance to grow on us, or time for us to adjust and give it a go.  But what we learn when we relax into change instead of immediately going up in arms to fight against it, is that we adapt more quickly and re-discover happiness more easily.

Consider the potential if we could relax into changes more often, and find our joy again more quickly in the wake of those changes.  Imagine how much less time we’d waste and how much more happiness we could enjoy.

DECK USED:  MADAM LYDIA WILHELMINA’S TAROT

LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: As above, so below, I will channel this {top of the deck}, so I can grow {bottom of the deck}.

Tarot of the Sweet TwilightReading Summary: A certain amount of solitude and self reflection (The Hermit) can help me in growing beyond the perceived limitations of my ambition (Knight of Swords).

Take Away:  The message here is that when I channel my inner hermit and go after that alone time that I need?  It fosters within me the ability to stretch my limits and do better, learn more, and become stronger.  I am one of those people that needs their alone time. I need time by myself to ground.  This alone time gives me the opportunity to settle and process. From there I can then move forward calmer and stronger than before.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE SWEET TWILIGHT

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Do Spread #2

Anne Stokes Gothic TarotBat – What is ending at this time that needs my awareness and focus?
Six of Cups

Last year at this time of year, I was far too close to my past and it allowed feelings and reactions to experiences in my past to rise up and overwhelm me a bit.   This card is a reminder that I need to set my past experiences and feelings from the past aside for now in order to make sure they do not invade and create a repeat of the experience.

Calendula – Who is a loving constant in my life that needs a bit more recognition?
Ten of Pentacles atop The Lovers

This card is pointing to my twin sister, L. Over a decade ago, my sister came to me and told me that she wanted to move out of our parent’s house, but felt uncomfortable living on her own. I made the choice to allow her to come move into my home, and she has been here ever since.

She is, in essence, a part of my home now. It’s hard to imagine living here (or anywhere, for that matter) without her. I think that the choice I made those years ago was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my entire life… which is saying something, because I’ve made a hell of a lot of good decisions along the way so far.

Owl – What do I need to know right now to trust that I’m on the right path?
Ten of Cups

This card is the carrot dangled before the ass, yeah?  It’s telling me that my emotional growth that I’ve been working on is leading somewhere positive and that I’ve made the right choice in diving into this exploration and taking up the journey towards greater emotional intelligence.

This is actually something I needed to hear, as I have been worried about the effect that the upcoming holiday rush might have on my progress.  I think I’ve gotten to a point now where I realize though, that even if I backslide a bit during the holiday season, that I’ll be able to regain my footing and continue on that path of exploration once the rush has ended.

Rosemary – What memory in my past needs revisited to guide in my future safety?
King of Swords

For a very long time, I associated very strongly with the King of Swords. Over the past few years, I’ve found that has shifted a bit and I relate far more to the Queen of Swords these days than I do the King. The memory of when I was in that place where I related more to the King is something I need to keep in mind to guide me in my future safety. The strength and the accuracy and ambition, as well as the sharp and keen perception and tongue, are still there. They reside beneath the surface and can be brought out when needed. This is important to remember.

Black Cat – Where is conformity more of a risk than independent thought?
Ace of Cups

My emotional journey is something that is unique to me.  I can’t follow in another’s footsteps, nor allow others to lead the way, because my emotions are my own and how they manifest and communicate with me, as well as how they relate to the world around me, are unique to me.

Although I can take in guidance as needed, it’s important to remember that this journey is about my path and my growth… and it is important to not restrain myself to expectations (whether mine or that of others) when exploring the path ahead and this growth.

Wormwood – During this time when the veil is thin, what in my life needs protection?
Eight of Swords

There is much I have not learned yet and much I do not yet know.  Because of this, there is much yet that I don’t see or understand.

This is about my explorations of mediumship, spirit guides, etc.  I have been doing a bit of delving, in very surface ways, into the mediumship and spirit guide area of things.  The card in relation to this question makes it clear that I need to be careful and take precautions even in these smallest of explorations during this time of year when the veil is at its thinnest.

Raven – Where can sating my curiosity lead to the resurrection of something I’ve lost?
Queen of Pentacles

I need to call Ms B.

DECK USED:  ANNE STOKES GOTHIC TAROT

#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I embrace my Spirit Guide’s personality more effectively?

Tarot de Marseille Par Pole Ka

Reading Summary: The two left cards really stand out strongly to me in this reading.  They hold warmth and power that feels like it overshadows the rest of the cards. The Kings, on the other hand, both appear to be decreasing in power in some way, from the leeches that suck power from the King of Swords to the blood dripping from the head of the King of Wands.

Heart open (Ace of Cups and The Empress), and personal motivations on the back burner (King of Swords atop King of Wands).

Take Away:  To embrace my Spirit Guide’s personality more effectively, I need to remember that they speak through my intuition and to not just hear them clearly but understand their messages most effectively, I need to be open and welcoming to their messages. Closing myself off muffles their communications, and when I am digging deep into my  personal motivations and ambitions?  I am usually very much also closing myself off.

DECK USED:  TAROT DE MARSEILLE PAR POLE KA

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: How can I my perform spellcraft more effectively?

Ludy Lescot Tarot

Reading Summary: Slow down and be mindful of secrets (Eight of Wands and the skulls under the stairs). While you delve deeply into the study and learning process (the men in both the Seven of Swords and Page of Pentacles are deep in study… one of maps and the other in books), make sure that you do not neglect hands-on experience (Five of Wands).

Take Away:  The advice in these cards is that in order to more effectively improve my spellcraft I need to make sure I don’t lose myself so deeply in theory and study that I forget about the experimentation and practice part of things.  Both are equally important, as is taking things slow so that you don’t miss something important along the way.

DECK USED:  LUDY LESCOT TAROT