Flower Fortune Cards

More Time In The Now

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was silent and still.  I spent some time out on the balcony relaxing.  I should’ve taken the camera out there with me, but instead I just spend some time with the flowers and colors.  It was nice because the workers across the street apparently took the day off, which means it was quiet and relaxing.

Men + Monsters Tarot and Flower Fortune CardsToday’s draw is the Temperance card, which is traditionally a representation of moderation, patience, and connection between emotions, spirituality, and the earthly plane.

In today’s Temperance card, the element that remains from the traditional imagery is the cups and the flow of liquid from one cup to another, and from there down to the feet of the figure.  This brings to a point that connectivity that is a traditional element in the tarot.

Combined with the Flower Fortune Card for today with the saying “It is in the here and now that we must live”, I see not just a reminder to be present in the moment, but guidance on how to make sure that we remain mindfully focused in the now.

Often in guided mindfulness meditations, they often use a technique where you take a pause to explore each sense and what you perceive through that sense for the space of two full breaths, then move on to the next sense and repeat.  This is a method that can also be used outside of meditation to bring ourselves into the moment when our mind has decided to create chaos through worry, or focus too deeply on the past or future.

The message here is a reminder sometimes what is most needed is to slow down. To release control.  And to take time to just… breathe.

DECK USED:  MEN + MONSTERS TAROT AND FLOWER FORTUNE CARDS

The Sacred Grounds Tarot Club Prompt
Question: What rules unconsciously govern my life?

The Heroine Tarot

Nine of Swords – If it doesn’t feel right, then don’t do it. Every single time, without fail and without exception, when you do something that doesn’t feel right, you regret it in the end. This isn’t about legal or illegal, nor about social norms.  It’s about what feels right in your gut.  Go against that inner moral compass and intuition, and you’re going to pay the price either with external consequences or with your own conscience eating you up as a result.

Two of Cups atop Queen of Pentacles – Helping and nurturing others is important. Your life feels more complete and more at peace when you allow yourself to connect with others, listen and provide insight and guidance.  That guidance is often natural to you and grounded in nature, and hits others in a very earthy way.  It connects you to them, and builds bonds and friendships as a result.

Six of Cups – Cherish every day.  When you look back on the past, you do not remember the boring or the dredge of day to day. Nor do you accurately remember the bad, for time softens those memories over time.  Instead, it is the good that really sticks and stays accurate in our memories.  This encourages us to make more out of every day, so that there is more good and memorable moments that fill out lives from one day to the next.

DECK USED:  THE HEROINE TAROT

#DiscordTarotolicsMay2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: How can you unlock more positivity in your heart and mind?

Men + Monsters TarotReading Summary: Don’t judge yourself (Judgement) so harshly (Three of Swords) when something doesn’t work out (The Tower) and you have to move on or start over (Six of Swords).

Take Away: This is about my inner narrative and the fact that I’m so harsh with myself, especially with what I perceive something not so much as a failure, but rather as a fuck up.

Failures are things that we learn from.  Fuck ups are careless and irresponsible bullshit.   The cards here indicate that if I want to unlock more positivity in my heart and mind, I need to be more forgiving with myself and treat those moments in the same manner that I do failures. Not something that I need to be punished for, but rather as lessons to learn from.

DECK USED:  MEN + MONSTERS TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I ate eight meals yesterday instead of six.  Which seemed to help quite a bit with my energy levels when it came to getting my packaging done in the 1am-3:30am time slot that I worked at packaging.

The First Step Is The Hardest

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

IMG_5932Today’s meditation was another untimed meditation, this time on the ground at the farm.  I needed some time to do some rooting with the earth, and if I can’t do it out in the forest right now without a supervisor, I could at least get a brief amount of time on the farm alone in one of the fields behind the barn.

The thing is?  Although I can visualize my connection to the earth and I can tap into the energy of that element at will (as described to the right in the image there), it can never compare to having an actual connection to bare earth.  Of lying down and connecting mind, body, and soul to the earth beneath you.  There is no comparison, and the mental connection, although a strong one, will always only be a shadow to the real thing.  I need that connection, raw and unblemished, unfiltered and without barriers.  Sometimes?  Nothing else will do.

Trinity Tarot and Flower Fortune OracleToday’s draw is the Strength card, which is traditionally a representation of inner strength, courage,  and compassionate coercion.

Although when people think of the word “strength” they often think of muscle and brute force, this cards is about a different kind of strength.  Instead it is about that inner core that keeps us going, the compassion that we feel for others, and the kindness we offer even as we use persuasion to turn people to our way of thinking or our will.

Combined with the Flower Fortune card for today, which states “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”, what I see here is a message about determination and perseverance.

There are always journeys in life that we are hesitant to start on from time to time.  We hang back and hesitate, pause and procrastinate instead of taking the action needed to begin and get moving.  Sometimes this is because we are afraid, sometimes we just feel overwhelmed. It’s through tapping into our inner strength that we can find the “mettle” needed to step into that journey and get started. We all have that inner strength, it’s just sometimes we have to more consciously connect with it than others.

DECK USED:  TRINITY TAROT AND FLOWER FORTUNE CARDS

The Sacred Grounds Tarot Club Prompt
Question: How can I best nurture my personal growth?

Isidore Tarot Sea and Sand Spring Edition

Reading Summary: Lean in (Queen of Wands). Go after the growth you want with the understanding that it’s going to take a long time to get there (Seven of Coins atop Knight of Swords) and that you’re gonna have to leave some shit behind in order to find something new (Six of Swords).

Take Away: It’s all about knowing what works for me, and leaning into that using past experience as a guide. It’s about not giving up when things take longer than anticipated, and about making sure I’m making room in my life for the changes and growth that needs to happen.  Each of these represents a stage in my growth that I move through, and the aspect in that stage where I struggle upon the path of my personal growth.

Not procrastinating. Acceptance of the “long game”.  And “making room”.

DECK USED:  ISIDORE TAROT SEA AND SAND SPRING EDITION

#DiscordTarotolicsMay2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: Do Spread #1

Trinity Tarot and Floret OracleWhat positive quality do I have that others admire?
Keeper of Pentacles atop The Lovers, Scabiosa and Marigold

My ability to support, help, and guide people when they need it towards making the choices that are right for them. My personal experience doing the same, and my openness in sharing my own experiences, helps them in focusing on how the choices before them feel to them personally. This skill feels warm and nurturing, and helps them in sussing out the choices that are just right for their unique path.

What positive quality do I wish I had that I admire in others?
Seven of Wands and Sunflower

I would love to be able to project positivity even in the middle of conflict and adversity. I have seen people who stand strong in their moral compass and principals even while they smile warmly.  It’s a unique skill that keeps things from truly turning ugly.

What step(s) can I take now to work toward developing that quality in myself?
Champion of Cups atop Six of Cups, Hydrangea

Tap into love and caring and actively connecting into the emotions of joy and youthful optimism could help immensely in this, but you have to remember as well not to expect every conflict to come to a head.  Not everyone is out to fuck you over or hurt you, no matter what you were raised to believe and how cautious you were raised to be. Work at having a bit more faith in humanity.

What step(s) can I take to make the positive qualities I have shine brightly?
Ten of Wands and Lily

Allow those around you to help with your burdens.  You spend too much time in the cycle of overwhelm and recovery.  If you distribute the eight of your responsibilities more evenly and allow others to help more, this wouldn’t be the case and you would then have more time and energy for…. well, everything else in life.

DECK USED:  TRINITY TAROT AND FLORET ORACLE

Daily Self Kindness

I gave Gideon a tour of my balcony garden today and it was really nice.  I loved sharing all the plants and flowers with him.

Success and Good Fortune

/ Twist the Leaf / 2 Comments

Today’s meditation was not timed, and was done during my trip to the wetlands this morning.  I arrived just before dawn and spent an hour or so there, watching the sun come up and listening to the birds as they awakened and became busy in the start of their day.  The meditation was peaceful and quiet, and I spent a good part of my visit walking the trails, and the rest of it sitting on one of the pier stops along the way enjoying the fresh air and birdsong while watching occasionally movements in the water indicating frogs or some other wildlife was active just beneath the surface.

Tarot of Wishmaster Manikins and Flower Fortune CardsToday’s draw is the Six of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of either the seeking of or obtainment of public accolades. It’s a card that is all about success, whether it’s what you’re striving for or what you’ve achieved, and the public side of being admired, praised, or otherwise recognized for those successes.

There’s something interesting about this card specifically, as just yesterday I had almost used this deck and I’d picked it up then changed my mind.  Before putting it back down I gave it a shuffle, and this exact card popped out.  Being that I’d chosen to go a different path yesterday, I put the card back.

And here it is again.

Combined with the Flower Fortunes card today, whose advice is “Fortune favors the brave”, what I see in today’s cards is an encouragement not to let doubts and uncertainties hold you back from the things that you want out of life. Fortune isn’t the only thing that favors the brave, after all… so does success.  So if there’s anything that you are hanging back on due to fear or uncertainties?  It’s time to sort those fears and uncertainties out, and take that leap forward.  Be brave… and believe that you can succeed.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF WISHMASTER MANIKINS AND FLOWER FORTUNE CARDS

The Sacred Grounds Tarot Club Prompt
Question: What stops me from expressing my passions?

Alchemist's Garden Tarot

Reading Summary: Fear of losing (The Tower) the joy and fun that I can find in life (The Sun), or losing my way entirely (Seven of Wands).

Take Away:  There are very few passions that I’m fearful of expressing. Of those that I am, the reason that I hold them back and “close to the vest” is due to fear.  The thing is, when you pursue your passions and bring them into fruition, this can often bring about drastic changes in your life.  And… like most people?  I struggle with change.  There is a sense of fear in the thought that this change might diminish the fun and success that I’ve managed thus far, or cause my deep roots and moral compass to somehow go awry.  When I hold back?  These are what I fear happening, and these are the things that hold me back in those moments.

DECK USED:  ALCHEMIST’S GARDEN TAROT

#DiscordTarotolicsMay2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: How can you better express to loved ones how you feel about them?

Tarot of Wishmaster ManikinsReading Summary:  Slow down (Eight of Wands Rx) and pay closer attention (Eight of Swords). Lead the way toward their dreams (King of Wands) and involve them more in the process (Six of Pentacles).

Take Away: To better express to my loved ones how I feel about them, there are two things that they need from me.  The first is to make sure I’m slowing down and spending time with them.  Time that allows my attention to truly rest upon them instead of being distracted or blinded by other things and people.  My undivided attention.

Second is to ensure that when I am delegating work that I’m doing so in a fair and balanced manner, as well as ensuring that I’m keeping in mind their own passions in the process.  By sharing alike in the work, as well as the fun and play and enjoyment of the process, they feel appreciated and enthusiastic instead of just another “cog in the machine”.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF WISHMASTER MANIKINS

Daily Self Kindness

I know that this is a repeat theme, but I toll a nap today instead of forcing myself to stay awake, even though what I really wanted was more time with Gideon.

Negative Assumptions

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

IMG_1231Today’s meditation was just over thirteen minutes long and was a guided meditation from the Calm app, which I combined with an interval timer for my piriformis stretches and forearm flexor stretching.

I also had to take a slight break about half way through to write down some notes for today’s COTD, as sometimes perspectives come at inconvenient times and this was one of those.  I don’t have the memory retention needed to recall these thoughts later, so I paused to take them down, then continued with the meditation after.

The focus of today’s meditation was on empathy, and the difference between empathy and sympathy. Sympathy can sometimes be taken as an insult, because there’s no sharing of the feeling just “poor you, you feel like this”.   Where empathy is sharing an emotion, speaking from a place of sharing.  Sometimes when we empathize with others, we find ourselves in a place where we just don’t know what to say for this other person.  The meditation today included a reminder that it’s okay to simply say “I don’t know what to say, but I’m glad you told me / are sharing this with me / allowing me to share this time with you”.

Stolen Child Tarot and Flower Fortune CardsToday’s draw is the Two of Zephyrs (Swords), which is traditionally a representation of looking inward for the wisdom to make difficult decisions, finding oneself at a crossroads, or trying to ignore the the need to make a decision which ends up in stagnancy and stewing.

What stands out to me in the imagery of this card today is the interaction between the rat and the vulture in the foreground. That combined with the “choose a child/egg” theme going on in the background speaks to me of conflict. Specifically inner conflict.

We’re starting a new affirmation deck today, and in the Flower Fortune card for today we see a prickly cactus that carries with it a feeling of caution and conflict combined with the words “The person you desire feels the same about you”. Actually… he loves me more. But that’s beside the point, because the actual message here is about our assumptions.  It’s about the assumption that someone wouldn’t feel the same… and how that assumption can hold us back from going after what we want, whether it’s a romantic relationship, a potential friendship, a job promotion, etc.

Today’s cards are about “predicting the future” by making negative assumptions, and how hope and positive thinking can help lighten that load of worry and fear, making the choice to go after what we truly want easier.

DECK USED:  STOLEN CHILD TAROT AND FLOWER FORTUNE CARDS

LionHart’s Reap & Sow Tarot Challenge Prompt
Question: What thoughts, beliefs or feelings are hindering my growth?

Shapeshifter Tarot

 Feelings – Five of Pentacles – Recalcitrance.  The desire to close myself off from others, shirk away from society, and be alone all the time, whether it is healthy for me or not.  This is not healthy, but it is an urge that I feel more often than not.

Beliefs – Transcendence (Judgement) – That I have to do everything perfect and that my mistakes along the way are unforgivable and something that I have to carry with me always.  High expectations and demanding perfection in all things all the time is unhealthy.

Thoughts – The Sun – My perception of fun and play, happiness and success. Perhaps it is all far more simple and far less intense that I seem to always seem to think it’s supposed to be.  Maybe it’s not as big as it at first appears from the outside looking in.

DECK USED:  SHAPESHIFTER TAROT

#DiscordTarotolicsMay2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: What value do you add to the lives of those around you?

The Stolen Child Tarot7 of Oak – Nurturing care blended with a heavy dose of patience. It really is only with myself that I am an impatient asshole. With others, I have far more patience and with those that live under my roof and I share my space with, that extends a good deal further. Two obvious examples of this include the fact that my sister moved in with me temporarily over a decade ago… and still living here, and then last year our childhood mentor was stuck with nowhere to go after they closed the borders due to the pandemic and has lived here for over a year now, waiting for restrictions to lift so that she can go home.

8 of Oak – Others that depend on me to help them with their own stability also depend on the skills I have spent time honing and perfecting. Spiders are the greatest of all architects, building unique and delicately precise structures in all sorts of spaces and areas. Like all skills, this is something that is part instinct and part practice.  My own skills are much the same, and when I find one that I excel at I use it to support not just myself but those that depend on me as well.

6 of Brine – Emotional support.  I may not be particularly skilled with interpreting and processing my own emotions, but I am a good listener and I have the ability to take in stride other’s emotions help them find the path back to calm once more after the torrent of their emotions has been released.

DECK USED:  STOLEN CHILD TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

Although I really didn’t want to, I took a nap.  I wasn’t feeling all that great and the nap seems to have helped. I’m all kinds of bummed that they cut down another tree across the street.  That’s three now, and they cut all the branches off of another one on the side facing the lot that’s being worked on, but at least that tree is still standing.  For the time being anyway.  Although, I think once the building is constructed I won’t be able to see it anymore.