El Tarot de los Muertos

Where Are You Going?

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

IMG_7874Today’s meditation was just over eleven minutes long, and was a guided meditation with interval timer for my piriformis stretches.  The topic of today’s guided meditation was perfectionism, and letting go of the need for everything to be perfect and at 100% all of the time.

It brought up the subject of the “80 / 20 Rule”, which is essentially that eighty percent of any endeavor can be smooth sailing, but when you get to that last 20% needed to make something “perfect” it can take as much energy and effort as the entire eighty percent of the project that had come before.

I get what they’re saying, but I really don’t see that as an excuse to give up at the 80% quality mark instead of going for that extra 20% of a job well done.  That said, I do agree that you can’t give that kind of dedication and effort to every single little thing you do or you’ll wear yourself out constantly pushing too hard.  It’s important to use that extra 20% judiciously and make sure you’re not hurting yourself in overextending your reach and energy by pushing yourself too far.

In other words?  Sometimes you just have to let go and be okay with a “good job” instead of a “perfect job”.

Tarot of the Little Prince - The ChariotToday’s draw is the Chariot card, which is traditionally a representation of control and direction. This is a card that is filled with action, determination, and willpower… all of which often lead to success more often than not.

What stands out to me the strongest in the imagery for this card is the fact that the birds are carrying the chariot and its occupant away from the strict organization that lies below.   Instead of heading towards structure and organization, they are literally flying away from it, rising higher and higher in the sky.

The message here is about paying attention to where you’re going. It’s all well and good to be revved up and ready to go, and to plow forward with your hands on the reigns.  But where are you going?

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE LITTLE PRINCE

LionHart’s As Above So Below Challenge Prompt
Neptune Question: What can serve as an inspiration, or how can I {best} get/stay inspired?

The Mushroom Tarot

Reading Summary: Sometimes it’s through your unhealthy choices (The Lovers Rx) and being overwhelmed (Ten of Wands) that you find your inspiration. Keep in mind, though, the goals that you want to accomplish along the way (Ten of Cups and Ten of Pentacles).

Take Away:  This is an interesting perspective, and one that may help explain why I felt so uninspired over the summer months when I was trying to take it easy.  The pressure and hint of self destruction could very well be a part of what drives my inspiration and motivation… and maybe that’s okay.

But, if it’s going to be okay to indulge in these unhealthy methods to find a modicum of motivation?  I need to make sure I’m keeping in mind the grounded stability and emotional well-being that I’m trying to feed and foster along the way. 

DECK USED:  THE MUSHROOM TAROT

#DiscordTarotolicsNov2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Three Things to be Grateful For…. Card 1 / Card 2 / Card 3

Global Fusion Intuitive TarotTemperance – Okay so moderation is not my strong suit by any means. But, that doesn’t mean I am not grateful for the opportunity to try for it, as well as those that assist me in striving for more moderation in my life. I am striving to invite moderation into my life, and with it allow for more room for self-care and self-acceptance.

Two of Pentacles – Finding a new balance between my work and personal life hasn’t been easy, but I feel like I’ve done really good at finding a better balance over the past year.  Even now during the holiday rush, the addition of meditation and other self care techniques help me in finding a bit more balance than I’ve been able to manage in the past.

The Hanged Man – I am grateful every single day for the ability to put myself in other’s shoes and see things from other’s perspectives.  I cherish the ability to take things in from multiple perspectives and see things from different angles, exploring not ideas and beliefs but all sorts of opinions and perspectives from as many angles as possible to better understand the world and those within it. 

Additional Notes – Aside from the cards and their individual meanings, there is also a connection between the Temperance card, and the Two of Diamonds. This connection is through the violet shades shared between the juggling balls in the Two of Diamonds and the wings of the angel in the Temperance card. This combination further reinforces that through the moderation I strive for, I am finding a better and thus healthier balance than I’ve had in the past.

DECK USED:  GLOBAL FUSION INTUITIVE TAROT

Heal & Transform November Challenge Prompt
Question: What or who in my life is healthfully feeding or expanding my energy?

Tarot of the Unknown 1st Edition

What in my life is healthfully feeding my energy?
The Wirt (The Magician)

My confidence in my abilities is currently feeding my energy.  The holiday rush is officially here, and where before I worried that I would not be able to handle the rush, I am now no longer in that state of mind and sure of my capability to ride the rush through to its end. This doesn’t mean that it will be difficult, but I no longer am at a place where I am dragging my feet and stalling out, but rather I am energized by the fact that I know I can and will do this.

Who in my life is healthfully feeding my energy?
Lorna (Death)

Death, in this instance, is Z.  Although her appearance on my doorstep was a bit sudden back in the spring, I’ve had a good number of months now to get used to her constant presence so close here in my home.  She is amazing and supportive in a number of ways, and she knows how to give space when space is needed. She also cooks! Providing me with my life-long dream of having someone cook for me on at least a semi-regular basis.

What in my life is healthfully expanding my energy?
Two of Pentacles

My self care.  I mentioned this previously in the Tarotholics reading, and the card here is a carry over from there.  What is healthfully expanding my energy at this time is the fact that I’m able to fit in the self care I need to give my life a bit more balance so that every single moment of my day is not consumed by work and pressure and stress.

Who in my life is healthfully expanding my energy?
Ten of Pentacles

Z and L both. This card is about my home life, and my home life is essentially Z and L. By expanding my energy, what I understand this to mean is that they are expanding how many hands I have to work with, and how much I can get done.  They are here to help me, and they help with making some of the different items in my shops.  L is very good with adhesives, and Z is spectacular with wire and chain.  Together they have been indefensible in helping me stay on top of things.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE UNKNOWN

Stepping Up

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

IMG_7766Today’s meditation was just under twelve minutes long and was a guided meditation with interval timer for my piriformis stretches.

I really connected with the focus of today’s guided meditation, which was about not fighting so hard against pain and suffering, but instead allowing it to flow through you. The example used in the guided part of the meditation was a man dying of thirst finding a river, but unable to bring the water up to his lips because his hands were too busy trying to grasp the water tightly.

The thing is?  When dealing with physical pain?  This is absolutely true.  You cannot heal physical pain by fighting against it.  Tensing against pain only makes the pain worse, tensing when you fall only makes your injuries on impact worse.  So it makes sense to me that it would be the same mentally as well.  I just wish it wasn’t so hard to ease my grip in that area.

Tarot of the Little Prince - JusticeToday’s draw is the Justice card, which is traditionally a representation of “balancing the scales” between right and wrong, fairness, cause and effect situations, and the law.  So at it’s core, this card is about balance and the constant adjustments that life and the world go through to keep everything in balance.

This might seem a bit strange, but what really stands out to me in the imagery of this card today is that the color of the figure’s shoes in the image match the gems in his crown.  Also, that his one eye looks like it’s twitching.

These elements speak to me about the fact that sometimes you have to do more than think and intellectualize how you feel about things and how things should be.  Sometimes you have to get off your ass and do the work to make things fair and to make sure things are balanced.  The eye twitching is an indication of stress, speaking of the fact that making that transition from “I think it should be this way” to stepping up and making sure it is can be stressful.  That doesn’t make it any less important, though.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE LITTLE PRINCE

LionHart’s As Above So Below Challenge Prompt
Venus Question: A reminder of my personal values, my happiness, or how to remain aligned with what makes me feel good.

Tarot de los Muertos

A Reminder of My Personal Values

The World atop Three of Swords – Even through the hardest of times when I’m feeling down and struggling with my negative inner dialogue, its important to remember where I’m going and that the ultimate goal on my journey is about bettering myself along the way.

Often I become far too focused upon money and material security and the inner voice in my head berates my ability to get done as much as I feel I should be able to have accomplished. But it’s important to remember that my true path in life is not about monetary and physical accomplishments, it’s about improving myself and becoming a better person.

A Reminder of My Happiness

The Emperor atop Two of Pentacles – Having control over the balance between responsibilities and personal life is extremely important to me, and when I feel that independence I am at my happiest. It makes me comfortable and happy to know that my life is my life and not controlled by others. I might make some mistakes, and I might tip those scales too far into the work side more often than I should, but the fact that I have the choice and the control to do so really is one of my greatest joys and comforts.

A Reminder of How To Stay Aligned With What Makes Me Feel Good

Eight of Pentacles atop The Sun – What makes me feel good about myself is my expertise. Being able to sink into those things that I excel it brings me a great deal of joy. It’s important to remember that the things you do are also things that bring you joy.  Your actual -work- was once just a hobby and even now that it’s also work doesn’t mean you can’t bring the joy you always felt in creating beautiful things into the process.

DECK USED:  TAROT DE LOS MUERTOS

#DiscordTarotolicsNov2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: My Desire / An Obstacle In My Path / The Solution

The Mushroom TarotMy Desire – The Star – More time dipping into spirituality and my connection with nature.  Hope is like a wellspring of fresh air swirling through the spirit, and a lot of times I find myself so pessimistic that my hope falls down the drain and is lost in the weeds. I would very much like to spend less time focusing on my worries and more time focusing on my spirituality and, with it, my hopes for my future that are not monetarily motivated.  I’m all too aware that the world runs on money, but my desire is that it wasn’t such a huge focal point in my life.

An Obstacle In My Path – Three of Pentacles – Work.  Duh.  *LOL*  As I mentioned above.  The world runs on money.  I know that.  Everyone knows that.  And in order to have security and stability, which are two things I’m very much into having, you have to work either with or for others in one manner or another. It’s just the way it is.

The Solution – Six of Wands – Do the work that makes you happy and draws others to you.  If you enjoy your work, it’s a little less work than it would be if you don’t enjoy it. So if you want to bring less monotony and more spirituality into your life, you need to focus on making your work more fun and more play and more pleasurable.

DECK USED:  THE MUSHROOM TAROT

Reconnecting with Nature

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

IMG_7564Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and was a guided meditation that focused on the benefits of mindfulness that you learn through meditation and can then carry on into the world beyond.   It dealt specifically with the ability to stretch time within one’s meditation so that a minute can stretch out to feel like five, and ten minutes can stretch out to feel like thirty.

Sometimes?  This is exactly how my meditation goes.  Other times, though, even when I am fully focused on my meditation, the ten minutes seems to fly by and I feel like I have not spent enough time in my meditation.  The interval timer often creates this impression.  It’s set to go off every 2.5 minutes.   Each segment of 2.5 minutes can some days feel like ten minutes each, and at other times feel like not even a minute has passed.

Tarot of the Little Prince - The EmpressToday’s draw is the Empress card, which is traditionally a representation of abundance, the sacred feminine, and a nurturing earthy mother type of energy, personality, or person.

What stands out to me the strongest in this card’s imagery is the fox, and the reason for this is it is through the fox that I see the connection in this card to that earthy nature energy.

I often see the Empress card as a representation of Gaia, the earth goddess, and the way that the fox looks up at the woman in the card speaks strongly to me of that connection.

The message in today’s card is that I need to get myself out into nature. Doing so is about nurturing my self, and finding balance and grounding in my connection with mother earth. I’ve felt really off lately, and I need to reconnect with the earth in order to find the clarity and grounding that I need.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE LITTLE PRINCE

LionHart’s As Above So Below Challenge Prompt
Question: Take time today to fill out your birth chart and learn more about your Sun, Moon, and Rising Sign placements.

As Above So Below Birth Chart

#DiscordTarotolicsNov2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Do Spread #1

El Tarot de los MuertosA message that your ancestors would like to give you at this time:

The Tower – The chaos is coming. I am hoping that this is about the holiday rush crashing down on me with the force of a tornado.  The problem here is that this feels more like the need to restructure things in order to move forward, evaluating and reorganizing priorities, etc.

Honestly, I would not be surprised if that instinct is correct and this is a warning about the holiday rush not being as lucrative as I need it to be, but I am too close and have too much inner chaos concerning this topic at the moment to fully see what the card is saying clearly.

I should have pulled a clarification card.

A message that your ancestors have been trying to convey that you have not been receptive to in the past:

Four of Pens (Wands) – Appreciate your home and current situation and the stability you have in the present.  Make sure that you are being mindful of the present and wallowing in the pleasure that the stability you have created to date is providing for you. It doesn’t always have to be about the future.

How to be more open to messages from your ancestors in the future:

The Moon – Don’t give in to your fear and uncertainty. These emotions muffle your inner voice, and thus muffle messages from my ancestors as well.  Remember that sometimes not knowing and not digging to know is okay.  Work on being more comfortable with uncertainty instead of railing against it.

How to honor and connect more strongly with your ancestors moving forward:

Four of Coffins (Pentacles) – Ground yourself and stay open.  In staying centered and grounded, you are able to better hear your inner voice… and thus their voices as well.  Inner chaos silences them… inner calm and grounding allows them to speak loudly and clearly.  This honors them as well as connects them, as it opens you up to their input, lending them your ear and your attention.

DECK USED:  EL TAROT DE LOS MUERTOS

Heal & Transform November Challenge Prompt
Question: Where, right now, in this moment, should I focus my energy?

The Marigold Tarot

Reading Summary:  Your intuition and inner knowledge (The High Priestess) require you to move away from (Six of Swords) the distractions and outside influences that are setting you off kilter (Three of Cups Rx).

Take Away:  I have been struggling a good deal with a sort of foggy cobweb of confusion over the past few days.  This screws with my intuition and inner guidance and it’s something I need to work on resolving now instead of continually pushing it off to the side to try and ignore it.

DECK USED:  MARIGOLD TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What does my ideal day look like?

Antique Anatomy Tarot

Reading Summary: The opportunity to help others in finding their path, and learning from them in turn (The Hierophant).  A variety of activities that I enjoy (Seven of Coins). Time with Gideon (King of Elixirs).

Take Away:  It brings me a great deal of joy to help others in finding their personal path.  Whether it’s just some small thing I say that creates a burst of realization for them, or spending a good length of time speaking with someone over something to help them find if (or how) it works for them personally so that they can explore it more in depth.   During these types of activities, I get the chance to not just guide others, but to learn from them as well. Adding this aspect as a part of my day is on of the things that would create a perfect day.

Another aspect that would help create my perfect day is having a variety of different things to do during that day.  Things I enjoy that breaks up the day into segments, instead of getting stuck doing one thing all day and the day then sliding away in a haze.  By segmenting my day, it lengthens the day and creates a variety of memories for me to look back on later instead of one big fog (which is what happens if my day is spent doing the same thing all day long).

And of course, no day could ever be perfect without my King of Cups as a part of it.  Spending time with Gideon makes each and every day better, and thus no perfect day could ever be “perfect” without him along for the ride.

DECK USED:  ANTIQUE ANATOMY TAROT (MASS MARKET EDITION)