Dead Waite Tarot

It Takes Guts

/ Twist the Leaf / Leave a comment

Today’s meditation was skipped

Dead Waite TarotToday’s draw is the King of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of a projective alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s finances, resources, home, health, labors, and other elements of the physical world.

The poor Zombie King may not have much contained in his ribcage anymore because you can see all the way through to his spine, but he’s still got his guts.

It takes guts to be king.  It takes guts to be in charge and be responsible for your actions, for your family, for your own health, for your stability.

Today’s card is about those guts, and about making sure to acknowledge just where your strengths lie, and what you use those “guts” for.  Where do your strengths shine? Where do you dig deep in your core for strength to create stability in your life?  Where can you reach a little deeper?  Where have you done more than enough?  Take time to examine these questions today, and your answers to them.  Are you happy with what you come up with in answer? Or are there things you’d like to change?

DECK USED:  DEAD WAITE TAROT

HealingThruTarot’s October Shadow Work Challenge Prompt
Question for October 21st: Which emotions drive my sabotaging behaviors?

Tricks & Treats OracleEmotion – Witch – There is a savagery within you that is harsh and cruel. It seeps into your inner narrative and is turned inward upon yourself.

What can I do to mitigate this?

Strength – Sometimes you have to literally strong-arm your inner critic under control. Consider the ways that have worked most successfully to force your inner narrative to yield to a more positive influence and use those tactics again.

Emotion – Potential – You set your expectations for yourself far too high. This sets you up for failure.

What can I do to mitigate this?

Four of Cups – Take time to turn things over and consider before committing to anything. If you already have enough on your plate, perhaps refusing the extra cup being offered is a good idea, instead of trying to convince yourself you can take on a little more… that always turns out to be a lot more than “a little”.

Emotion – Mysterious – When you are feeling uncertain, you blame yourself for these anxiety inducing feelings, and berate yourself for feeling vulnerable.

What can I do to mitigate this?

The Emperor – Own your feelings instead of shaming yourself for having them. Accept that everyone has times when they feel uncertain or vulnerable, and it is in owning your feelings that you can overcome them… for when you bury them or berate yourself for them, you’re only making things worse.

DECK USED: GARBAGE PAIL KIDS TAROT AND TRICKS & TREATS ORACLE

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2022 Challenge Prompt
Question for October 21st: Buried Alive – What in the past needs to be dug up and dealt with?

Dead Waite TarotReading Summary: The passions and desires you had in the past and the places you were going with them (Page of Wands) have been swallowed up over time by life (The World) and the choices you’ve made (Justice).

Take Away: You aren’t on the path that you started on so many years ago. Your job is different, your goals are different, and those things that you had planned on accomplishing did not get done, in favor of other things and distractions that pulled at your attention along the way. You need to let go of the disappointment you feel towards yourself concerning these things you didn’t finish.  You didn’t “drop the ball”, but rather, you intentionally let them go in order to focus on what suits you far better.

DECK USED: DEAD WAITE TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

This post is a catch-up post, and I have no idea what my self-kindness for today might have been.

We Are Not Born Wise

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was done twice.  I did my morning meditation of ten minutes with interval timer for my piriformis stretching.  I then did a second meditation later in the day just before our Samhaim ritual started, in order to help ground and center myself for the ritual to come.  Both were needed and seemed to help a bit not just with grounding but with the low grade anxiety that’s been playing havoc with me for the past few days.

Madam Lydia Wilhelmina's Tarot - The HierophantToday’s draw is the Hierophant, which is traditionally interpreted as a religious or spiritual leader and/or institution with spiritual wisdom and the authority to lead others along traditional spiritual paths using their wisdom and experience. Conformity to traditions is a strong component as well in the traditional meaning of this card.

I connect very strongly with this card on many levels, although… conformity is not one of them.   I do not see conformity here in this card, which means it is one that connects for me even stronger than most.   What this card represents to me is guidance and wisdom.  It’s about teaching others to find their path… and about learning from others in ways that enhances your own path.   A teacher is no teacher at all if they are no longer open to learning as well, and in this imagery you see that he does not just hold a book of Jupiter.  Now whether this book is about the Roman god Jupiter, or the planet Jupiter is really irrelevant as it speaks to me of the fact that he is seeking knowledge.  You do not become knowledgeable and wise by sticking your head in the sand.

The message in this card’s appearance today is a reminder that exploration is a good thing. Never be afraid of failure, for even failures teach you something you didn’t know before, and all knowledge becomes valuable eventually… whether in sharing it with others, in expanding your wisdom, or both.

DECK USED:  MADAM LYDIA WILHELMINA’S TAROT

LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: Now is the time {card 1}, this is the hour {card 2}, this is the magick {card 3}, this is the power {card 4}.

Dead Waite Tarot

Now is the time {Judgement} to reign in your judgements and make sure that you are being kind to yourself and others. You do not need to be harsh or cruel to yourself to get where you want to go. 

This is the hour {Knight of Swords} to charge after your ambitions. Pick up that sword and focus on your target.  Stop being distracted by trivial shit that doesn’t matter and worries about things that have no foundation.

This is the magick {The Devil} that will get you not just the things that you need… but the things that you want as well.  Just like you can’t put food in your belly without success, neither can you can you feed your addictions without the success of your business. 

This is the power {Two of Cups} that will get you through. It’s not about sharing the work, but about coming together and supporting each other.  Yes, sharing the work is a part of that, but that’s not the part that needs to be stressed or focused on.  Focus on how they make you feel supported, and how you are after the same things.

DECK USED:  DEAD WAITE TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What do I need to focus on for self-care for this blue moon?

Ritual Abuse TarotReading Summary:  There is too much going on emotionally and you need to narrow down everything that is vying for your attention (Seven of Cups). Like an arrow poised to be set loose, find your direction and bear down on it (Two of Wands) while making sure to take care of yourself so that you stay healthy along the way (The Empress).

Take Away:  I need to set aside distractions and focus on the direction I want the next couple of months to go on, and the self care that will allow me to carry through the next couple of months without falling apart or hurting myself (most likely through severe burnout).

DECK USED:  RITUAL ABUSE TAROT

#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: What is the “Trick” I should be wary of for the next year?  What is the “Treat” that is coming to me this year?

Terrestrial TarotWhat is the “Trick” I should be wary of for the coming year? 

Queen of Coins – Make sure that you are not allowing people to lean too heavily upon you or depend too much upon what you can provide for them on a material level.  Being supportive is one thing, but you aren’t a single parent raising children, so don’t put yourself in a position where you feel the onus of everything rests upon your shoulders alone.

What is the “Treat” that is coming to me in the coming year?

The Sun – There is a double meaning in the appearance of The Sun card here in this spread.   First is the traditional meaning of positivity, success, and fun.  After the holiday rush, I will be able to lean into learning how to embrace these things once more on a fully conscious level.

The second meaning in The Sun’s appearance echoes back to a reading I did on October 3rd, in which The Sun card (this specific sun card in this specific deck) came up as a representation of one of my spirit guides.  spiritual guide relationship that was indicated in a reading at the beginning of the month. Appearing again now, it is an indication that I will find myself developing a stronger relationship with this guide in the future.

DECK USED:  TERRESTRIAL TAROT

Morning Bonus Read – Witch’s New Year Spread

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Dead Waite Tarot - Witch's New Year SpreadWhat is the strongest potential/possibility awaiting me in the next twelve months?
The Chariot atop Eight of Wands

Slow down and get where you’re going to faster.  It sounds counter productive, yeah?  Slowing down does not feel like it would get you where you want to go faster… but sometimes it does.

The Chariot indicates that I have the control to take myself forward in any direction that I want to go.  All roads are open. What’s key here, though, is that whatever road I choose?  I need to take my time.

What attitudes do I need to shift to welcome this opportunity?
Strength

I need to reevaluate what I perceive as strength.  This makes perfect sense, as taking things slow and moderation are not really things that I usually view as strengths, especially when trying to get somewhere or accomplish something. And they are very much something I’m not at all good at.  The suggestion here is that I need to sit with the concept of one’s strength, and consider how I view my own.

What beliefs do I need to shift to welcome this opportunity?
Page of Pentacles

So much of my time and focus lies on the development of stability and security in both my home and finances. This has been to such an extreme over the past decade that it sometimes feels as if these values are the only thing I have dedicated myself to working towards in life.

If I want to welcome in the opportunities available to me over the next twelve months, I need to reframe how I see these goals as well as how I go about accomplishing them.

What behaviors do I need to shift to welcome this opportunity?
Knight of Swords

Jumping in full-bore and going at it without taking a pause or giving myself breaks.  Allowing my ambitions to drive me ruthlessly forward, constantly pushing myself harder and harder.  These behaviors are not healthy and although I have begun the process of changing how I do things in this area, there’s still a long way to go.

 How can I support myself as I make these shifts?
Page of Swords

I need to take some time to really think on and absorb the ramifications of the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors mentioned above. In these specific areas, the old way is not the best way and I need to make sure that I am open to learning something new that’s going to serve me better.

 How can I empower myself as I make these shifts?
Ten of Swords

Accept the shifts need to happen and do what you can to step into them and allow these old attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to die.  In order to move forward, you have to leave something behind.

DECK USED: DEAD WAITE TAROT

Enjoying the Journey

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was skipped this morning because the girls would just not leave me the fuck alone.  Between that and the running of the vacuum, I just couldn’t make it happen.  I will be doing it before bed, though.  Absolutely.   I won’t skip it entirely.

Tarot of Haunted House - King of PentaclesToday’s draw is the King of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of a projective alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s finances, resources, home and hearth, health, and manifestations. This often translates into themes that have to do with business acumen, a strong sense of responsibility, and financial growth and stability.

What stands out to me the strongest in the imagery of this card is that the king is surrounded in all of this wealth, but his sword is down and he looks bored as hell.

We all have goals to aim for, dreams to reach for.  We all have those things that we strive for in our day to day lives.  The thing is?  We spend all of this time striving… and then once we get there?  We’re bored.

The message in today’s card is about enjoying the journey.  It’s not about the end zone.  It’s about the game.  It’s about each step you take along the way and living in the moment instead of being so focused on the future that you miss all the good stuff in the now.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF HAUNTED HOUSE

LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: I now call in my ancestors, how do you respond?

Ritual Abuse Tarot

Reading Summary: My ancestors respond with a hopeful outlook for this new connection (The Star), and an eagerness to play a more open role (The Sun) in helping me find balance (Justice).

Take Away: I wasn’t really sure how this reading would go, but it went really well and the answers came through loud and smoothly.  My ancestors are eager to have a more conscious role in my life just as my guides are, and hope to help me on my journey to make good choices, enjoy life more, and have a better sense of balance in my life. 

DECK USED:  RITUAL ABUSE TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What healing lesson is waiting for me to realize and accept it?

Halloween TarotReading Summary: That you can carry forward and reap the benefits of the lessons you’ve learned (Page of Pumpkins) in the past (Six of Ghosts), while still letting go of the bad stuff and leaving it behind (Death).

Take Away:  Although I know that this is possible and have been able to do it in some cases, there are other cases where the crap that taught me the lesson still clings to the lesson itself. In these instances, I struggle to pry my emotions about the incident away from the lessons learned.  Although I realize this struggle is ongoing for me, I haven’t yet gotten to a point where I’ve been able to accept it in all cases yet.  Its something I’m working on, though.

DECK USED:  HALLOWEEN TAROT

#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: What in myself do I need to strengthen to understand my Guides better?

The Gothic Tarot

Reading Summary: The stronger your intuition is the more you’ll understand (The High Priestess rising up from beneath the Eight of Swords). Use the spark of passion that you have in your soul (Ace of Wands) to search for ways to develop this slowly… a bit at a time (Death).

Take Away: This is a message about taking things slow and steady while continuing to develop my intuitive abilities. The interior cards here are all about my intuition, and allowing it to emerge and slowly bring clear sight to murky moments and the things I’m not yet ready to see.  The outer cards are then about taking my time and allowing my curiosity to lead the way forward into this change and through it’s slow development.

DECK USED:  THE GOTHIC TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What beautiful aspect of my life am I ready to embrace?

Dead Waite Tarot

Reading Summary: Gideon is helping me in making better choices (The Lovers) that don’t involve retreating into myself (The Hermit Rx). As this help continues,  I’m learning to lean into that response as my go-to reaction less and less (Eight of Wands).

Take Away:  Each time situations arise that I would have previously retreated from the world and curled into myself, I more quickly jump to use the tools and methods that Gideon has been helping me with learning.  Healthier methods that allow for me to connect with others instead of close myself off from the world.  The beautiful aspect of my life that I am ready to embrace is two-fold in this reading.  First, is Gideon’s help.   Second is the healthier methods he has helped to teach me.

DECK USED:  DEAD WAITE TAROT

Examining Motivations

/ Twist the Leaf / Leave a comment

At the moment, I’m playing catch up after having not kept up on my blog posts for a few days, so I don’t remember what the meditation was like today… or if I did it, to be honest. I will return to updating about my meditation each day once I’m caught up with my posts again.

Madam Lydia Wilhelmina's Tarot - Ace of WandsToday’s draw is is the Ace of Wands, which is traditionally an interpretation of new inspiration and enthusiasm toward new passion projects.  It’s not so much about the idea or the act of participating in a project, but about the spark of fire and drive that kindles in your soul when you are inspired.

It feels like there’s a message here in the clouded, deformed figures down in the lower right corner, and yet even now it doesn’t want to rise to the surface and speak to me. It’s about motivation behind why things spark your interest, and the hidden secrets we keep sometimes.

Oh… there it is. 

The thing is?  Sometimes when we feel that spark of inspiration? It’s important to take a pause and look at our motivations. Why are you so keen on this new idea or project, where is the interest and enthusiasm coming from?  Is it pure?  Or is it something being used to conceal or run away from something else you don’t want to deal with. 

For example.  Mopping the floor and cleaning the windows sucks.  But it might look really appealing if you’re trying to avoid cleaning the toilets instead.  

The best projects and creative endeavors are bred not from avoidance, but from pure inspirational spark.  Make sure that when you feel a spark in your soul that you are eager to explore, that that exploration is pure curiosity and interest…. and not motivated by procrastination or avoidance.

DECK USED:  MADAM LYDIA WILHELMINA’S TAROT

LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: In what way am I suggested to protect my personal energy?

The Vampire Tarot

Reading Summary:  Grounded advance (Knight of Pentacles) and overcoming lack of joy in your entrepreneurial spark (Four of Wands Rx) through the sharing of that passion with others (Queen of Wands). It’s okay to feel, but don’t allow those feelings to mellow and stagnate (Queen of Cups… it’s about her face and how she’s holding the cup).

There is growth and advancement here in the inclusion of greenery both in the Queen of Wands and Queen of Cups.   Emotional influences blending with inspirational drive will allow for a breaking free of the cage you feel like you’re trapped in.  As long as you stay grounded, it’s okay to move slow.

Take Away:  Whether these cards are read left to right, or right to left, the key here in moving forward and continuing to grow in both my emotional wealth as well as my business requires some grounding, as well as slow but steady progress.  Don’t remain stagnant. It’s not healthy, no matter how appealing it might seem.

DECK USED:  THE VAMPIRE TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Philosophical Question: How important is play in living a healthy and fulfilling life?

Dead Waite TarotReading Summary: Play is the music of life. Whether you’re on your own and singing to the sky (imagery of Queen of Swords), or with those you love and serenading them from the heart (imagery on Ten of Pentacles)… either way that joy of play is what clears away the smog (imagery in Death).

Take Away:  Clearly, it’s very important.  It’s the fresh air that clears away the stagnancy and cobwebs in our lives and allows us to look at ourselves and the world around us with fresh eyes.  Lack of play encourages stagnancy and lack of growth. 

DECK USED:  DEAD WAITE TAROT

#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: How does the message from the 19th help me with my greater purpose?

The Gothic Tarot

Reading Summary:  It helps me open my eyes (Eight of Swords) to the fact that I’m not allow and am receiving strength from others (Strength) that are near and dear to me and have my best interests at heart (Four of Wands).

Take Away:  My spirit guides are represented here by the Four of Wands, as they are with me all the time… from birth to death they will be there to help and provide a stable “home base” of guidance along the way.

The message on the 19th was that they are behind me 100% and are my cheerleading squad, there to cheer me on and give me strength. The message opened my eyes to this face, and that knowledge provides me with an undercurrent of strength that I didn’t have previously.

DECK USED:  THE GOTHIC TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What has most influenced my spiritual path?

Luis Royo's Labyrinth Tarot

Reading Summary: Learning about different traditions and adopting what has felt right for me (Seven of Swords).  Hardships along the way that have taught me strength (Five of Pentacles).  Following my gut concerning what is right for me… and what isn’t (Eight of Cups).

Take Away:  This is about the development of my independence and finding the path that is mine alone.  It’s about accepting that I have my own path, and that that path is directed by my intuition and moral compass rather than by what others think or feel is right for me.

DECK USED:  LUIS ROYO’S LABYRINTH TAROT