#DiscordTarotolicsDec2020

Don’t Stop Yet

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

IMG_8210Today’s meditation was just under thirteen minutes long and was another of the guided meditations from the Calm app accompanied by an interval timer for my piriformis stretching. 

The topic of today’s meditation was about choosing your battles.

The thing is, everyone has those times when something sticks “under their craw” and they jump forward into an argument either in defense of something they believe in, or maybe just because they don’t like how something was said or who said it.  But if we spend our lives in that space where we’re always ready to jump on every little thing, it diminishes the joy we feel in the day to day.

This is where it’s important to choose your battles wisely.  Not just because you want to win or be in the right, but also because you don’t want strife and conflict to overtake the joys in your life.

Green Witch Tarot - The Battle WagonToday’s draw is the Chariot (which in this deck is known as The Battle Wagon), which is traditionally a representation of willpower leaning into action.  It is about motivation, progress, and success through determination.

The horses really stood out to me in this card today, but I think it’s more because they’re pretty than anything, because the message that came through when the card first hit the table was, “No rest for you today. Get back on the wagon.”

This is fitting, and was actually really good advice. I had a really nice and relaxing Friday with Gideon and I really didn’t feel like going back to work for these last three days of the holiday rush.  And yet… if I had not taken that advice from the Battle Wagon card this morning?  I’d be up until three or four in the morning tonight trying to finish the work that landed in my lap today.

Because I did listen?  I get to actually get some sleep tonight. That’s a win in my book.

DECK USED:  GREEN WITCH TAROT

LionHart’s 20/21 Tarot Challenge Prompt
Topic: In what way can I use 2020 as an inspiration for 2021?

Inkromancy Tarot

Reading Summary: Continue with the changes that were started in 2020 (Death). Keep your eye on the prize even though the progress is slow going (Knight of Pentacles), and don’t judge yourself harshly for the extra time it takes (Judgement).

Take Away:  I need to remember that I’m not on a deadline where it comes to the emotional growth I’m working through and the changes I’m working on making concerning my work balance and personal care priorities.  This isn’t a race and there’s no finish line, which means it takes as long as it takes and there’s no such thing as “lagging behind”.  I’m so used to pushing myself so hard on every project and endeavor that I sometimes forget that this isn’t like making it through a holiday rush or working on a project with a deadline in mind. Stop worrying so much about how long it’s taking… or how long it takes… or whatever speed I am moving along that path.

DECK USED:  INKROMANCY TAROT

#DiscordTarotolicsDec2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Where do I find the most joy in life?

Bonestone & Earthflesh TarotLook at that Empress and Sun card.  Talk about artwork flow in a reading!

I find the most joy in life in my connection with the earth and celebrating that connection through enjoying time in the presence of the earth and her generosity.  When I connect with the earth through my time in the outdoors, I am given energy and an inner healing that I can’t find anywhere else, which is not just healing but also uplifting.

There is also an outlier here in the Ten of Wands which is an indication of a sort of self destructive joy I find in being busy.  This particular joy has to do with feeling like I’m accomplishing things… even if in doing so it grinds me into the ground.

DECK USED:  BONESTONE & EARTHFLESH TAROT

What Are You Building On?

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

IMG_8195Today’s meditation was just under thirteen minutes long and was a guided meditation with interval timer for piriformis stretches.

The topic of today’s guided meditation was about the Danish/Norwegian concept of Hygge, which essentially is a word that indicates a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment… In both Danish and Norwegian, hygge refers to “a form of everyday togetherness”, “a pleasant and highly valued everyday experience of safety, equality, personal wholeness and a spontaneous social flow”. (Thank you Wikipedia)

The meditation went over how important this concept is to our well-being and how meditation helps in finding a way to slow down and sink into the hygge concept more easily with less resistance to those moments when we can find ourselves enjoying the moment and the world around us without the strain and stress pounding on our mental or physical doors.

Faeles Arcanae - Nine of CupsToday’s draw is the Nine of Cups, which is traditionally a representation of a sense of contentment and satisfaction.  This isn’t about the work or what has been earned, but rather about the feelings involved with those things.

What stood out to me the strongest in the imagery for this card is that the cat is sitting on a rug that looks like it’s either a representation of the sun or a sunflower.  Either way, the meaning there is very similar in that there is a radiant warmth and joy in the foundation of those feelings of contentment and satisfaction.

The message here today is about staying focused on the stuff that makes you happy, rather than allowing things that don’t to tug at your attention.  Everyone, even those most fortunate, have things in life that make them unhappy, but instead of focusing on them… make sure you are building your good feelings on a foundation of positivity rather than a bedrock of quicksand.

DECK USED:  FAELES ARCANAE TAROT

LionHart’s 20/21 Tarot Challenge Prompt
Topic: What should I keep in mind in preparation for 2021?

Heaven & Earth Tarot

Reading Summary: Good and healthy decisions (The Lovers) will require seeking out a new outlook, thought patterns, and methods (Ace of Swords) in order to ensure victory (Six of Wands).

Take Away:  It’s time to set behind me the old habits and work-a-holic attitudes of my past now that the holiday rush is over, and re-focus on the new goals and perspectives I was fostering throughout most of the last year.  Self care and finding a healthy balance between my own needs and my work, as well as exploring that emotional growth and fostering it to continue, now need to come back into focus as I move forward into 2021.  Don’t allow the bad habits and slippage the holiday rush caused to carry forward into the new year.

DECK USED:  HEAVEN & EARTH TAROT

#DiscordTarotolicsDec2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I better connect with my intuition and decrease self-doubt?

Broken Isn't Bad TarotReading Summary: Kill (Ten of Swords) the bitch in your head (Queen of Swords Rx) that makes you so unhappy (Three of Swords)… and look forward into making healthy choices for yourself instead (The Lovers).

Take Away: When you are tortured by those negative voices and being pulled down into the quicksand of depression and bad decisions, your intuition’s voice becomes more faint and your confidence tanks. 

In order to keep yourself on top of that mound of quicksand, you need to make healthy choices and not listen to that inner voice that likes to rise up when you’re feeling down or vulnerable. Finding ways to “kill the bitch” in your head or otherwise weaken that voice until it has much less power will assist you in moving forward in more healthy ways.

DECK USED:  BROKEN ISN’T BAD TAROT

The World Spins On, Regardless

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

IMG_7984Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long, and was a guided meditation with interval timer for my piriformis stretching.

The topic of today’s meditation was actually an activity in love and compassion where you first build an energy of love and compassion that you direct toward yourself, and then towards a loved one, and finally towards the world as a whole.

I had an interesting experience in the middle of this meditation.  I was wide awake, so it was not a dream, but it felt as if my consciousness… slipped into something.  A dark place of flickering lights like stars in a midnight sky with a flowing swirl of navy and blue similar to those photos you see of traffic where the shutter has been left open and all of the lights are streaked swirls instead of points of light.  There was a moment when I seemed to move within that swirl of blue streaks like a leaf in a stream.  It was only for a brief moment, and then I was back within my meditation.

I think I might have astral traveled… which would be a first.  But I’m not 100% certain, as that is not something I’ve ever done before.  In fact, it’s something I’ve been told I will be unable to do unless I ease up on my grounding and rooting.  As I haven’t eased up on these things… this brings into doubt that that was what I experienced.

Winter Waite Tarot 2019 Edition - Four of SwordsToday’s draw is the Four of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of rest and restoration.  It’s about taking a break and allowing yourself time to heal and recover.

First of all, I took this card as a demand to do exactly that.  Although my phone has been going off with orders all day, I have made a concerted effort to ignore work for the majority of the day and do a little self care instead.  I even took a nap.   The only thing I’ve kept up on was responding to customers.

Beyond that… what stands out to me the strongest in the imagery of this card today is the little bird.  That bird looking over the resting man feels a lot like the stained glass window with the figures in it that is in the traditional RWS cards.

In both cases, what I see is a loving, caring watchfulness.  A quiet wait and gentle protection that is less about brute strength and more about love and kindness.   Perhaps the bird is in fact the soul of the man, watching over the body while it recovers.

The message in today’s card is that there’s more to kindness to self than just going through the motions. You have to mean it, and you have to trust that when you are taking care of yourself that your responsibilities and the world around you can take care of themselves for a while.

DECK USED:  WINTER WAITE TAROT 2019 EDITION

#DiscordTarotolicsDec2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Where should I direct my focus this week to foster my relationship with myself?

Fantastic Menagerie Tarot by Baba StudiosReading Summary: Make sure you’re practicing a bit of moderation (Temperance) when planning your direction (Two of Wands) and forward motion into the future (Six of Swords) concerning the things you want to pick up and explore (Page of Wands).

Take Away: These cards are a reminder that I can’t take on every single little thing that strikes my interest or pulls at my attention. There are so many things that I want to do and explore, and it always feels like there’s not enough time to do them all.  So I always try to pile on more and more of them onto my plate so that I can make sure I get to explore them all. 

But the thing is?  When I pile on so much, suddenly none of it is any fun and it all feels like a chore. Moderation is important.  Extremely difficult for me, but important.  Which means prioritizing is important as well. If I can’t get to everything I want to do and try, that means I need to make sure I prioritize the ones that feel the most important ahead of the rest.

DECK USED:  FANTASTIC MENAGERIE TAROT