Future Vision Gem Tarot

Self Care Is Important

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

IMG_8874Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long and was a guided meditation with interval timer for my piriformis stretches.   I can’t really remember what the guided meditation was about, even with the graphic prompt to the right.  It was about mindfulness obviously, and using it to break habits or be mindful of the things you do.  But honestly?  I just don’t remember.

Bonestone & Earthflesh Tarot - Queen of PentaclesToday’s draw is the Queen of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of a receptive alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s home life, finances, the material world, resources, or health.

What stands out to me the strongest in the imagery of today’s card is that the crone is tangled in thorns.  She’s clearly up to some sort of spellcraft, as she’s holding a chicken foot, but it’s the thorns that really catch my attention here today.

Those thorns bring me to thinking about a common pitfall that a lot of caretakers fall into over time, where they begin to focus so much on others and what others need that they begin to put off caring for themselves.  The excuse being that everyone else needs them, so they just don’t have the time or energy for their own needs.

It’s a flawed thinking, and dangerous as well.  How can you take care of others if you aren’t taking care of yourself.  Without self care, there’s nothing left to give to others.   This is something I myself need to hear now and then, especially concerning my business and responsibilities. That reminder is what today’s card is about.

DECK USED:  BONESTONE & EARTHFLESH TAROT

#DiscordTarotolicJan2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: What is a negative thing in your life that you don’t need to stress over?

Neon TarotReading Summary: The worry that fighting for what feels right , what you stand for, and what you believe in (Seven of Wands) is going to tear down everything around you (The Tower Rx) and leave you lost and alone (The Moon).

Take Away: This isn’t something that I worry about all the time, but more a worry that whispers in the back of my head now and then, especially when I step up and am in the thick of it.

It isn’t a fear that holds me back from standing up for what I believe in, but it is something I worry about.  Not everyone appreciates a healthy and strong standing moral compass or those with the strength of will to stand up for what they believe in after all.  And I do worry that some day I will be left… alone.   An old queer dude with no friends and no loved ones left, no family and no future generations either.  Will it happen?  I have no idea… but it is something I find myself concerned about now and then.

The cards here are saying it’s not something I need to stress over, and to let that fear go.

DECK USED:  NEON TAROT

Purefield.Healing’s Taking My Power Back Challenge Prompt
Two Cards: Where have I given my power away to avoid conflict? / Where have I given my power away to avoid standing out?

Future Vision Gem Tarot

Where have I given my power away to avoid conflict?

Ten of Wands atop Four of Cups – I will hand my power, my responsibilities, and my control over to others that I trust when I am feeling overwhelmed and overburdened and it’s causing me to need to distance myself emotionally and step away.   In these times, I have no choice.  I need to let go in order to give myself time to breathe, center, ground, and find my balance again.

Where have I given my power away to avoid standing out?

The Hermit Rx – When I am in the middle of a self-destruct and I’m trying to retreat into myself and go into hiding.  When I’ve reached that place… that mentality? It’s either drop the ball, or hand that ball over to someone that can deal with it until I’m in a better place mentally.

DECK USED:  FUTURE VISION GEM TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

Today’s self kindness was in taking a moment to actually feel good and happy with the small chores I got done around the house instead of berating myself on all the things I haven’t gotten done.   It felt good to sit down and feel like I got a few small good things done today like filling the hand soaps in the bathrooms and kitchen, refilling the shower spray bottles, etc.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was subverted for a nap.  Apparently I needed the sleep more than I realized, as I was going to be doing a guided meditation and as soon as I settled in place… I dozed right off to sleep.   I will try to meditate again before bed.

Heaven & Earth Tarot - Nine of SwordsToday’s draw is the Nine of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of anxiety, insomnia, and struggling with one’s inner voice and worries.

I’ve always loved this card in a wide variety of decks.  It’s one that I relate to greatly.   What stands out the strongest in the imagery of this card today is the astronomical symbols on the blanket covering the woman in the image.  Or rather, it’s the style of artwork that allows for some of those symbols to be so crisp and precise, and others to be blurred or indistinct.

I understand that this was an artistic choice, and one that was probably not intended to convey a message.  And yet, to me… it does.  It speaks of allowing yourself not to worry so much about the little things.   It’s about that phrase “don’t sweat the small stuff” because perhaps these details are so small that many wouldn’t even notice them… and perhaps so unimportant that some wouldn’t pay attention.  And yet to the artist?  These detail are very important and a conscious choice was made not to make them so minutely detailed that they took up the focus of the image as a whole.

There’s always lots and lots of things to worry about in life, but we need to make sure we don’t get so focused on the small stuff that we forget to look at the big picture and allow ourselves to get a good night’s sleep at night.  Let go of some of the small stuff and all those micromanaging inclinations… take a breath and relax.

DECK USED:  HEAVEN & EARTH TAROT

LionHart’s Elements Tarot Challenge Prompt
Question: What am I asked to do about elements within myself that don’t support my plans?

Mundane Magick Tarot

 Reading Summary: Go on your merry way (The Fool) after the things that light your fire (Pupil of Lighters), and don’t allow your responsibility to others (Forecaster of Coins) to overwhelmed you (Ten of Lighters).

Take Away:  This isn’t about ignoring those elements within myself that hold me back, but rather allowing my enthusiasm to overpower them and weigh that enthusiasm as having far more weight than the responsibilities that try to drag me down.   In other words… beware the burnout that can happen when you let those that depend on you become a burden instead of an asset.

DECK USED:  MUNDANE MAGICK TAROT

#DiscordTarotolicJan2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: What do I need to focus on for self-care during this new moon?

Future Vision Gem TarotReading Summary: Down moods and depression happens (Three of Swords). Use your strengths to rise above (Strength) and remember it’s only temporary (Wheel of Fortune).

Take Away: The whisper of my negative inner narrative has been flirting at the edges of my subconscious for about a week now.  The cards are a warning of the whispers that are trying to slip in and mess with my head.  They are a reminder than I am strong and I have tools at my disposal to help curb the coming depression into something more manageable.  They are also a reminder that these struggles are not permanent. They are temporary, and they will pass.

Depression often feels like it will never end, that you will never feel better and that this is feeling of depression is your existence for always.  Keeping in mind that it is temporary is an important part of making it through these times and to the other side.

DECK USED:  FUTURE VISION GEM TAROT