Sins, Not Tragedies

Today’s meditation was a ten minute self-guided session based on an affirmation card that says, “You are important. You matter.”

•    •    •    ◈    •    🎃    •    ◈    •    •    •

The @GlitterbyInk #OctoberAlchemy26 Challenge
Bless Prompt for October 11th
: Gratitude
Daily Mental Health Prompt
: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Agatha All Along Tarot's Tower card and a card from Twist's Halloween Affirmations Deck

Today’s draw is The Tower card, which is traditionally a representation of sudden change, chaotic transformation, destruction, and the tearing down of something within one’s life or beliefs that leaves room for something new to take its place.

When you think back on your life and those catastrophic “shit happens” moments, do you look back with unhappiness and resentment for what you lost? Or with gratitude for the change in direction these moments caused that have lead you to the good stuff in your life now?

We all have regrets. We all make mistakes. We all have things happen in our lives that are out of our control.

The message on today’s Tower card and Gratitude prompt is a reminder that how we look at these instances and situations influence our perspectives on the present and where we are now. Today’s message encourages us to seek out the positives in these situations so that they can lift us up, instead of focusing on the negatives that will drag us down.

DECK USED:  AGATHA ALL ALONG TAROT AND TWIST’S HALLOWEEN AFFIRMATIONS DECK

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2026 Challenge
Prompt for October 11th
: Do Spread 2
Question for October 10th
: Buried Alive – What in your past needs dug up and dealt with?

Tarot Reading with the All Hallow's Tarot and Halloween Postcards Set

Reading Summary: With the Nine of Discs reversed, the color connection between its title bar and the anchor card stands out and speaks of a cruel individual (anchor card) stealing one’s joy (Nine of Discs Rx).

There is also a color correlation between the wands in the Nine of Wands card and the skin tone in the Hanged Man that connects up to the anchor card’s orange hues. This communicates a need to stay on the defensive (Nine of Wands) and wait (Hanged Man) when cruelty is present (anchor card). The matching backgrounds in these two tarot cards reinforces the need for healthy boundaries while you watch and wait.

The halo of bones in the anchor card then connects in form to the hanging branches of the tree in the Hanged Man card, indicating that the waiting and watching aspect is extremely revealing, but may require more patience than you’re capable of managing in order to get the full picture.

Take Away: “I wish we could just keep Gid and get rid of that f’ing piss-ant Twist.” (Paraphrased… can’t remember the exact wording.)

It still hurts. At least fifteen years later, and the ache from those wounds still lingers. It isn’t the blow it once was, as I’m no longer the innocent I was back then. I’m not as trusting, and not as free with my friendships or my loyalties. And yet… for some reason, those words still sting.

This is the experience that taught me how important it is to look below the surface of other’s behaviors and pay attention to niggling warning signs instead of writing them off as idiosyncrasies. This experience mad a mess of me, reinforcing unhealthy assumptions and shattering a precious innocence and naivety that I’d previously viewed the world through. And sometimes, not always but sometimes, it still hurts.

Other elements included in this reading:
Green Jasper and Caribbean Calcite Turtle for Calm within Progress
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED:  ALL HALLOW TAROT AND TWIST’S HALLOWEEN POSTCARDS ORACLE

One Card Tarot Journal Activity by @mariasofia_astro
Chapter 2 | Entry 12 – Love and Relationships
Affirmation : “I am an attractive person who magnetizes love.”
Prompt : What is a self limiting thought or belief you have about yourself? Use the cards more challenging qualities to help answer this question. How can you release that thought/belief in order to attract love and tenderness? Use the cards more positive qualities to help reframe this thought or belief.

Tarot Activity from The One Card a Day Journal by Maria Sofia Marmanides - Poison Apple Tarot - The Tower

Self-Limiting Thought – “I’m not enough.”

What feelings came up when I pulled this card?

Do I really care about this? Or is this something I only think that I need?

What elements of the card’s meaning resonate with me and this prompt?

Challenging Aspects – I am self destructive. This may not be a part of my nature, but it’s a behavior that the depression I’ve been experiencing since childhood has ingrained within the crevices of my soul.

Positive Aspects – I am aware. I’m aware of my self-destructive tendencies, and I’m aware of my addictive inclinations. I am self aware enough to catch myself and pull myself back from the edge of doing irreparable harm to myself and my life.

What in the artwork spoke to me?

The scissors about to cut off the top of the dolly’s head. Ruining the toys you cherish, and regretting it later. The imagery speaks to me of the temptation to mar what gives joy so that it resonates with how you feel on the inside.

My prompt response and reflections.

In order to release “I’m not enough” thinking in order to attract love and tenderness, it’s important to lean into the self awareness of my self-destructive tendencies. It’s only in fighting back against them and resisting their allure that I can connect with others and receive their love and acceptance, as well as give myself the love and acceptance I need from myself as well. Closing myself off to this self awareness creates a spiral of destruction that ends in being utterly alone and without the love, acceptance and help I need when I need it most.

Other elements included in this reading:
Amber Resin D20 and Agate D6 Dice

DECK USED: POISON APPLE TAROT

@owlandbonestarot #OctoberinBetween Challenge
Prompts for October 11th

Tarot Reading with the Agatha All Along Tarot

Ask – Three of Pentacles – Ask for help. You don’t have to do this alone. There are others eager to be there by your side and lend their skills and expertise, their shoulders and their hands, to your cause.

Answer – Five of Swords – Allow yourself to be wrong. Sometimes when you ask for help, it opens you up to having to confront some of your least likeable qualities. That includes allowing yourself to be wrong about the things you -think- you know.

It means letting others show you there’s another way, another perspective, and that they might have an answer that works far better than your own. Don’t let pride get in the way of hearing what others have to say and the suggestions they may bring to the table.

Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Parmeliaceae Lichen for a “Breath of Fresh Air”
River Rock for Resilience within Life’s Flow
Honey Calcite for Optimism and Motivational Boost
Green Aventurine for Harmony and Balance of the Heart

DECK USED:  AGATHA ALL ALONG TAROT
Daily Self Kindness

This is a catch up post, and I’m not entirely sure what the self kindness was for this day.

Ignorance Is Not Bliss

Today’s meditation was nine minutes long, and was one of the #DailyTrip sessions in the Calm app.

The topic of today’s session was about plateauing in one’s practice. That is to say that just like when learning a skill, or losing/gaining weight, or any other experience where you are learning and changing over time, there is always going to be plateaus where you level out and feel like you aren’t making any more progress.

This guided meditation spoke about that experience, and encouraged the listener to consider plateaus as a time for your body and mind to process without conscious thought. This meditation session reminds us that just because you aren’t aware that you’re growing doesn’t mean that you’re not growing. The plateau is a time for the things that you have learned and growth you’ve made to cement themselves into place and become permanent.

•    •    •    ◈    •    🌱    •    ◈    •    •    •

Bone Dead Tarot's Eight of Swords and Soul Creatures OracleToday’s draw is the Eight of Swords combined with the affirmation “I shape my own destiny with skill and precision.”

The Eight of Swords is about what you are not seeing, and perhaps even willfully being ignorant about.  The cards for today are a reminder that precision requires awareness. Not just self awareness, but also awareness of the world around you. That precision falls into the weeds and skill isn’t worth much if you aren’t paying attention.

Thus, if you want to shape your own destiny and meat your goals with precision and skill? You need to make sure that you are paying attention to what’s going on around you.  Don’t stick your head in the sand and expect everything will turn out okay.  That’s just setting yourself up as a buffet for the wolves.

DECK USED:  BONE DEAD TAROT AND SOUL CREATURES ORACLE

#DiscordTarotholicsSep2024 Challenge
Prompt for September 28th :
Ask a Stupid Question Day – Ask your cards a stupid question and see what they say.
Prompt for September 29th
: Do Spread 2
Question
: What would happen if I just skipped the holiday rush this year?

Halloween Postcard Oracle and Bone Dead Tarot - The Emperor, The Sun, The Beginning

Reading Summary:  You might feel empowered by skipping the holiday rush, but it would be the beginning of the end for your goals and dreams, even if you enjoyed taking it easy and basking in the glow of the holidays.

In the Emperor card, the surrounding gold glow reflects the border at the bottom of the anchor card. This indicates that the feeling of empowerment that you would feel by skipping the holiday rush is only a mask, as is indicated in the words “Halloween time” in the bottom border. In the moment, it might conflate your ego to do as you please and make you feel like you’re in charge, but that is an illusion.

The black miasma of the beginning card is reflected in the hissing black cat in the lower left-hand corner of the anchor card. You won’t like the result of your actions. It may be the beginning of something, but would be the beginning of the end of what’s important to you, and that fact would put you on the defensive in the long run.

The radiant sun in The Sun card reflects in the yellow of the broom… but only just. Combined with the carefree skeleton and his colors connecting to the moon in the background of the anchor card, what we see here is a moment of pleasure that will quickly be swept away. You may enjoy the warm glow of loved ones and the holiday season, but it won’t last and by closing your eyes to what is important, the feelings of success experienced in stepping away (as seen in the The Emperor’s horns also matching the skeleton in The Sun, and the moon in the background of the anchor card) will only be temporary (setting sun instead of high in the sky).

Take Away: Well, it’s a stupid question for a reason! It is obviously a bad idea, as you knew before you asked. That temporary sense of relief and control that comes with rejecting your responsibilities (and what is your greatest source of income over the next few months) may feel empowering in the moment, but will lead to destruction of all that you’ve worked for in the end. The pleasure and feelings of success for stepping away would be temporary, just as the sun sets instead of staying continuously in the sky.

DECK USED: BONE DEAD TAROT AND SELF-MADE HALLOWEEN POSTCARDS ORACLE

Daily Self Kindness

I let myself sleep in late because I struggled to fall asleep last night.