#DailyCalm

Balancing Hope and Practicality

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

Today’s session was called “Breath; in three acts” and took the listener through an activity where you observe the breath for a full minute, counting how many breaths you take within that 60 seconds in time.   Then, for the “second act”, you take a full minute where you control your breathing to take full, deep breaths slowly in and out, filling your lungs all the way full with each inhale, then slowly easing the breath out on the exhale.  Then, for the “third act” you do another minute where you breathe naturally and count your breaths again for the full 60 seconds.

The notation is that you take less breaths in the third act than you did in the first, demonstrating that in having taken time to do some deep breathing, it helps ease your central nervous system and thus your breath and your body as a whole.      For me in this session, the difference was 10 breaths in the first act, and 6 breaths in the third act.

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Soul Creatures Tarot - Seven of Cups - Will o' the WispThe @GlitterbyInk #AprilFinds25 Challenge
Lost and Found Prompt for April 11 : Hope

Today’s draw is the Seven of Cups (Will o’ the Wisps), which is traditionally a representation of themes having to do with having a plethora of options to choose from, all of opportunity’s doors being open upon one’s path, and at times being overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices available in the moment.

The message in today’s card when combined with the prompt of “hope” is to remember not to let hope overshadow your good sense.

Hope is an integral part of being human, but its important to balance hope with practicality, especially when making important decisions.  If we don’t stay in touch with practicality and common sense during these times, hope can lead us astray into the land of unrealistic expectations.  This, in turn, can cause us to make bad choices when there are better ones on offer to us.

Don’t get me wrong. Hope is important. The key is in balancing it with unbiased practicality (not to be mistaken for negativity or pessimism, which are not unbiased), so that we don’t end up lead astray.

DECK USED: SOUL CREATURES TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsApr2025 Challenge
Prompt for April 11 : What do you need to focus on for self-care for this month’s full moon?

Éclosion l'OracleReading Summary: It’s time to take a look at your trapped (enfermement) shadows (ombre) in a new light (évolution).

Take Away:  You (and to be fair, many) view shadow work as something that’s a trial, sometimes a trial through fire.  Hard and painful, an uphill slog through difficult emotional and psychological terrain.

Shadow work does not always have to be difficult, though. Sometimes it just means setting free to let breathe a part of yourself that you have been hiding from the world.

Owning a part of yourself as you own your mistakes and flaws, instead of judging that part of yourself so harshly and trying to pretend it doesn’t exist.  Looking inward with honesty doesn’t have to be torturous or painful.  It just means being honest with yourself, no matter what.

Other elements included in this reading:
Dried Red Maple Leaves for Adaptability and Connection
Conch Shell Knot for Concentration, Clarity, and Determination
Cedar Heart with Feather Moss Sprout for Protection of Understanding
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: ÉCLOSION L’ORACLE

Daily Self Kindness

I spoke with Gid about how I was feeling and what I was worrying about concerning new writing characters we were working on creating, rather than keeping it to myself as I wanted to do. It turns out I was misinterpreting his creative block as something it wasn’t.

The Necessity of Movement

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was one of the #DailyCalm sessions from the Calm app.  In today’s session, they spoke of the difference between resolutions and intentions, which I think is a really important topic that I’ve seen brought up quite a bit this year on social media.

The session discussed how resolutions are often created with all or nothing thinking.  “I am going to lose weight”, for example. Intentions give a little wiggle room.  Instead of “I am going to lose weight”, you express the intention to eat healthier. “I intend to feed my body healthier food.”   The end result is losing weight, but by setting an intention instead of an “all or nothing” resolution, you’re not focused on the end goal, but rather on the journey to getting there.

Psychologically speaking, this makes your end goals more attainable, as there’s more wiggle room involved, which means less of an “I’ve failed” mentality when you trip up.  Instead, you’re able to slip up and the say “Tomorrow’s a new day and I’ll do better”.

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Majestic Tarot Takes and Inner Child OracleThe @GlitterbyInk #DivineGoddess25 Challenge
Words and Wisdom Prompt for January 3 : Vitality

Today’s card is the Empress card combined with the affirmation “Flow with the Rhythm”.

Our bodies need movement to stay healthy and happy. It’s basic maintenance in the same way that gears need lubricant and tires on a car need air. 

Like a lot of people, I’m not a huge fan of exercise. I love to hike in the woods, don’t get me wrong, and I’ve spent my fair share of time in the gym.  But honestly? I hate sweating.  I really do.

Today’s cards are a reminder that even though you might hate exercise, or hate sweating, or whatever reasons you have for not getting up and moving more? Part of self care is caring for your body, and that means we have to get up and move a bit, get our joints and muscles working a bit, and our heart and lungs put through their paces a bit.  Otherwise?  We stiffen up and begin to hurt more, then the more we hurt?  The less we do, which makes us hurt even more.

It’s an evil cycle that we break by pushing through the pain and doing something active.  So treat your body good and nurture it’s health.  Go for a walk… or a run… or a hike.  Whatever.  Give your body some love by getting your body moving today.

DECKS USED:  MAJESTIC TAROT TALES AND THE INNER CHILD ORACLE

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2025 Challenge
Prompt for January 3 : Humiliation Day – How can you help yourself heal from your most humiliating moments?

Majestic Tarot Tales - The Empress, King of Swords, Page of PentaclesReading Summary: Sit with the humiliation (Page of Pentacles Rx) and explore it with a professional or someone that can provide you with some guidance (King of Swords). Remember that spending time speaking with your therapist candidly is also a form of self-care (The Empress).

Take Away: Sometimes instead of trying to move on from moments of humiliation or learning to step past it, you need to sit with it and explore those reactions and seek out an understanding of where they come from. 

Someone earlier today that was doing this prompt mentioned that humiliation is often a defense mechanism response to trauma. I’d never thought of this perspective before, but it has the ring of truth with it.  Often, to get past trauma we need a little help. Professionals trained in these things, for example, can often provide perspective and help us in digging into the root of an issue. These cards are saying that seeking out that help, rather than pushing feelings of humiliation away, is a form of self care.

DECK USED: MAJESTIC TAROT TALES

Daily Self Kindness

I resisted the urge to mess with business stuff even though it was really niggling at me, and worked on the recreational enjoyment of realm building and character creation with Gideon instead.

Don’t Be Intimidated

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

The focus for the meditation session for today was on perfectionism and how important it is to focus so hard on perfectionism that you become unkind to yourself in the process. It encouraged focusing on acceptance, gentle, and self-compassion, rather than always trying to push yourself to the limit.

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Spooky Halloween Cat Oracle and Halloween Affirmation Cards@GlitterbyInk #OctoberCauldron24 Prompt
Cauldron of Motion Prompt for October 11th : Synergy

Today’s draw is the Look Around card combined with the affirmation “I am a candy cat, not a scaredy cat.”

Those things that feel intimidating to you can often cause you to retreat within and close yourself off to your environment and others around you.

If you take the energy you are using to close yourself off to instead connect with others and engage with your environment, your fears will ease and those things that intimidate you will no longer have so much power over you.

DECKS USED:  SPOOKY HALLOWEEN CAT ORACLE AND SELF-MADE HALLOWEEN AFFIRMATION DECK

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2024 Challenge Prompt
Philosophical Question for October 11th : What awaits us after we pass to the other side of the veil?

Cthulhu Mythos Tarot - Six of Wands, Seven of Pentacles, Three of WandsReading Summary: There is no more need to please others (Six of Wands Rx), just a reaping of what we’ve sown throughout the length of our life (Seven of Pentacles) that determines your movement in a new direction (Three of Wands).

Take Away: Whether you believe in heaven and hell, reincarnation, ghosts and spirits, or any other sort of direction after death, these cards indicate that there are definitely places to go.  The cards also indicate that where you go concerning those options is based upon what you’ve done with yourself and your growth in your life.

These cards say that what happens after death is all about reaping what you’ve sown, and indicate that what waits for us on the other side is dependent upon not just what we believe, but also the lessons we learn and the seeds we’ve sown in our lives up to that point.

DECK USED: CTHULHU MYTHOS TAROT

@HealingThruTarot’s #httOctoberTarotChallenge2024 Prompt
Prompt for October 11th : Truths the moonlight will illuminate.

Spooky Halloween Cat Oracle and Tarot of the Sweetest Twilight - Five of Cups, Knight of Wands, The HermitFive of Cups and Choose a New Direction – You can’t just run away from shit when it feels difficult or impossible. You can, however, change direction when needed. Just make sure that when you shift direction, it’s to find resolution, and not running away from a problem.

The Hermit and Improving Health – Your need for alone time is well-known, and is something that makes you feel balanced and less stressed. Remember that when add in spending that alone time outside, you have tendency to improve both physically and mentally.

Knight of Wands and Be Aware – Take stock of your motivations and why you are driven in a certain direction as you move forward. Don’t forget to glance down once in a while and make sure your feet are still on the ground. Be realistic in your efforts and endeavors.  It’s okay to dream, but you need that grounding in your life to help you find stability.

DECK USED: TAROT OF THE SWEET TWILIGHT AND SPOOKY HALLOWEEN CAT ORACLE

Daily Self Kindness

I worked at weeding out a few campaigns from KS that I decided weren’t for me.  Or rather, I guess they -could- be for me, but I decided I didn’t want to spend as much on them as was being asked in the campaigns in a couple of cases.

Bad Starts Don’t Mean Bad Days

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was one of the #DailyCalm sessions in the Calm App. And… I fell asleep.  I know I made it at least half way through the session, but I didn’t make it to the whole “moral of the story for today” end part. It was primarily just a relaxation and breathing exercise, to which I relaxed into just a little too deeply.

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Enchanted Mushroom Tarot and It’s Going To Be Okay 2024 Day-to-day Calendar By Kate AllanToday’s draw is the Page of Pentacles combined with the affirmation “Today kind of sucks, but you don’t. Hope your day gets better.”

So, when I drew this card this morning, I figured it would just be a rhetorical topic to keep in mind, but it actually turned out to be something that I really needed to hear.

That is because I managed to receive the fluke injury of all fucking time this morning. Driving with the window down, while passing a semi-truck on the highway, the truck’s tire threw a stone (you know, like the ones that crack your windshield). This particular stone comes IN the open window and hits me in the shoulder, and holy CRAP did it hurt. (I’m okay. Just bruised and sore.)

So, as you can imagine, my day really didn’t start off all that great, although I DID manage to not swerve or jerk the steering wheel, so that’s good.

Today message in the cards are to not let one bad experience screw the rest of your day.  That may mean that you have to adjust how you do things in order to accommodate and/or work within the parameters of the unexpected when it jumps in.  That’s why humans are adaptable, though. So when shit happens? Do your best to work at lightening your mood, give yourself a little comfort, and keep going.

DECK USED:  ENCHANTED MUSHROOM TAROT AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

@tarot_juf Een Uitnodiging voor de herfst #SeptemberTarotChallenge
Prompts for September 22nd, 23rd, and 28th

Enchanted Mushroom Tarot and Divine Nature OracleHow can I hold on to the warmth in the coming period?

Page of Swords and Garden the Heart – Use your intellect and curiosity to find ways to nurture that softer side within you. Explore things that interest you and allow yourself to learn through experimentation.

This is soft and tender.

Four of Pentacles and Burn Sacred Fire – Your tendency to hunker down and hide in order to obtain a sense of stability is keeping you from the connection to nature that you need. Do not let this habit born out of vulnerability thwart you from fulfilling you needs. Even that vulnerable place inside you needs time out among the trees.

This is becoming more intense.

Nine of Swords and Submerge – Worries, fears, and anxieties are rising as the holiday rush gets closer. Remember to pull yourself up for a breath of fresh air once in a while.  Wallowing in those anxieties and fears are not going to help you, but will drag you down into a pattern that is unhelpful and unhealthy.

DECK USED: ENCHANTED MUSHROOM TAROT AND DIVINE NATURE ORACLE

Daily Self Kindness

I used ice packs and ibuprofen today.

Positive Mistakes

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#DailyCalm with the Calm app - Rupi Kaur quoteToday’s meditation was ten minutes long, and one of the #DailyCalm sessions from the Calm app.  The topic of today’s session was about how we look at love.  Some people see love as something that they cannot live without. That the “true love” factor is an eternal hunt for your “missing piece” which means you will never be complete without it.   It proposes that a better way to look at love is to love oneself and see oneself as whole and complete on one’s own… and seek someone that then amplifies your good qualities as you amplify theirs.

I liked this, and not just because it uses Shel Silverstein’s “The Missing Piece” story as its basis (although, that was a bonus). In the profession of reading cards, you run into a lot of people who see themselves as forever incomplete if they don’t find their “perfect match”. Some who get into unhealthy or abusive relationships because they insist they found their “missing piece” in someone that is abusive or toxic… thus stay in those relationships.

I like the idea of people being whole on their own. Developing themselves as a unique individual who is then complimented by another whole and unique individual.  It feels far healthier to me than the alternative.

Golden Age of Romance Comics Tarot's Eight of Wands and It’s Going To Be Okay 2024 Day-to-day Calendar By Kate AllanToday’s draw is the Eight of Wands combined with the affirmation “Mistakes are fine. They don’t make you a bad person.”

Sometimes, when we make a mistake, we hurry to judge ourselves harshly.  We even overlook whatever positives we might gain from having messed up in the first place.  What lessons did we learn? Where is this mistake taking us that could be a good thing in the end?

The cards today are about these moments, and remembering to slow down and consider if those mistakes we make along the way (both big and small) are really as bad as we think they are… or if something good came out of them in the end. The message today is a reminder not to judge yourself so harshly for these mistakes, but find the boon in them and run with it.

DECKS USED:  GOLDEN AGE OF ROMANCE COMICS TAROT AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

Daily Self Kindness

I called an electrician instead of trying to figure out what the hell happened in the kitchen lighting by myself.

Listening to Lies

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#DailyCalm with the Calm app - Papaji quoteToday’s meditation was a ten minute #DailyCalm session with the Calm app that addressed the value and importance of individuality.

The session was a reminder that it’s not in the ways we conform to society that get us noticed and draw others to us; it’s in those ways that we are unique. It discussed how, when we show our true colors and put our unique traits out there on display, we draw people to us that admire us, connect with us, and enjoy our company… and don’t expect us to change ourselves to conform to their values, principles, and idea of how you -should- look or behave.  It’s how we find our tribe… those in life that we connect with deeply and profoundly.

Victorian Romantic Tarot's Eight of Swords and It’s Going To Be Okay 2024 Day-to-day Calendar By Kate AllanToday’s draw is the Eight of Swords combined with the affirmation “Your survival rate is 100%!”

Depression and anxiety can make it difficult for us to see just how capable we are.  It descends over us and blinds us in a fog of misery and “what if” thinking.  It leaves us feeling powerless and alone, hopeless and drowning.

During these times it’s important to remember that you are being blinded by your ailing mental health.  This is not reality.  You are far more capable than you can see in these moments… and the proof is right before you in the fact you’re still here and breathing.

You’ve gone through tough times before, and come out the other end just fine, and you will this time too.  Don’t let your depression or anxiety tell you differently.

DECKS USED:  THE VICTORIAN ROMANTIC TAROT AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

#DiscordTarotholicsFeb2024 Challenge Prompt
Question for February 13th : Get a Different Name Day – Pull a card. Muse on how you and your life might be different if you had had more of this card’s qualities in your life from an early age.

Victorian Romantic Tarot - Nine of Swords, Knight of CupsKnight of Cups – The Knight of Cups is all about going after those things that make you happy.  It’s about action and movement and “seizing the day” in the area of one’s joys and happiness.  Having more of this in my life would open me up to experiencing more joy and happiness, but also pull my attention away from some of the responsibilities I carry.  It is a double edged sword, for I may smile more and have more fun, but I think I might also be more stressed due to a greater lack of stability in the areas of life that require that “buckling down” needed to keep things on an even keel.

Nine of Swords – The Nine of Swords is about nightmares, anxieties, worry, and insomnia. Having more of these qualities in my life would mean a rise to more organization and a need for greater amounts of rigid structure.  I have been in that experience before just after the home invasion, and it means turning into a shut in and not going outside.  It means a katy bar against the door, extra security cameras, and a great deal less daylight.

DECK USED: THE VICTORIAN ROMANTIC TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I slept in the back of the truck today on the way north, and skipped out on going into Costco to avoid the concrete floors (which always make my body hurt by the time we’re done).