Jeremy Miranda Oracle Cards

Foundation Work

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and incorporated into my yoga/physio practice because I’ve been having a few days of difficulty with just sitting still. I haven’t been to the sports medicine doc for an adjustment on my ribs in almost four weeks now, which means that I have had a few things move out of place and then the time for the inflammation and irritation to ease enough to “cement” those misalignments out of place.    This means that when I lie still, my muscles spasm some, so I was hoping that incorporating the meditation into my yoga would help.

Long story short… It didn’t.  Not really.   So, hopefully I’ll see him on Tuesday next week and start to get things back to a more comfortable alignment.

Four of Pentacles - Efflorescent Tarot (Color Edition)Today’s draw is the Four of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of stability and steady structure in the area of resources, finances, manifestations, and the physical plane.

This card’s appearance today is an encouragement following yesterday’s nudge.   It reminds me that what I want to work at achieving with the changes I’m doing to my business this year are to increase the stability of the foundation that my business rests upon.

And the first step on building this foundation is to make a physical list of the changes I want to make. (Intuitive hit… wood paneling in the background and earthen tones.)

Creativity is a flighty and ever-shifting process in my experience, and I need a stronger base for what has grown into a thriving business so that it can carry forward into the future with not just strength and purpose, but also longevity.

DECK USED: THE EFFLORESCENT TAROT (COLOR EDITION)

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I best move into the risks that the universe wants me to take this year? (Build off of yesterday’s read.)

Wheel of Fortune Tarot by Ivy Feng

Reading Summary: Don’t let fear of failure hold you back (via the look on the Hierophant’s face and tension in his pose as he looks at the Five of Pentacles). Even though you feel a lurking darkness from outside influences that may cause some doubt (via the dark head of the lion looking down on the couple below and siphoning energy into their glasses), you have all the tools at your disposal to succeed and do well (The Magician facing and atop the Two of Cups card).

Take Away:  As I mentioned yesterday, I worry about the folly of pride whenever I try to appreciate my accomplishments.  The interaction between the Hierophant and the Five of Pentacles speaks of this fear.   The dark lion in the Two of Cups speaks to me of the doubts I struggle with concerning my emotions and learning how to better integrate them into my life (as opposed to burying them).  That energy siphons into the cups below, polluting and “poisoning the well” so to speak.   If i want to push through these risks and find the prize beyond, I need to look at the tools I have at my disposal and use them to help me along this path, rather than shirking from the risks altogether.

DECK USED:  WHEEL OF FORTUNE TAROT BY IVY FENG

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What does Miss Luna think about me?

Accurate AF TarotReading Summary: I am the provider of all good things (Six of Cups) … And some of the bad as well (Justice).  I am her safe harbor (Five of Pentacles), and where all the good stuff in life comes from even if she can’t always figure out why I do what I’m doing (Son of Cups).  She likes it when I am able to know what she needs and understand her even though she can’t talk human speak (The Priestess).

Take Away:  The cards pretty much lay out the life of a happy house cat.  She needs me.  She loves me.  She sees me as the provider of all good things, and punisher when she does something wrong cuz I’m the one that lays down the law.  Sometimes the stuff I do makes no sense to her, but she’s happy over all and is having her needs met.

DECK USED:  ACCURATE AF TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question: How can I better utilize my strengths to achieve my goals?

Jeremy Miranda Oracle Cards

Reading Summary:  The cards on the left are crisp and filled with water, whereas the cards on the right (which overlay the left) are grounded in earth and carry the flavor of the forest in their coloring and depictions.   The cards on the left being the present, the cards on the right speak of what is needed to move forward.

Take Away:  I need to spend more time in liminal spaces.  The world is too crisp and cold.  Too in focus.  By stepping outside of that and finding where the lines are blurred, I will better be able to find the grounding I need to move on with solid footing, rather than feeling as if I’m treading water.

DECK USED:  JEREMY MIRANDA ORACLE CARDS

Balance in Boundaries

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long and, as with yesterday, I chose to do my meditation without a guide.  For today, I did a quiet breathing exercise and full body scan that started at the top of the head and traveled to the tips of the toes, then back up again.

This is one of my favorite meditations, as it allows for the systematic relaxation of muscles that sometimes I don’t even realize are holding tension.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to get rid of headaches, and I have had one since waking up for work this morning.

Nine of Wands - Spacious TarotToday’s draw is the Nine of Wands, and I’ve really noticed that this particular deck seems to really love throwing wand cards at me. And.. I do mean throwing.  This one hit me right in the face between the eyebrows.

The Nine of Wands is traditionally a representation of culminations, fulfillment, and consequences in the area of one’s ambitions, drive, and passions.  This often communicates itself through themes involving resilience, persistence, and setting good boundaries.

What really stands out to me in this card today is the rose, and the fact that the wand it rests upon is in front of the other wands in this card instead of tangled within them or concealed behind them.  It speaks to me of not just boundaries, but the fact that sometimes you need boundaries in order to achieve growth.

Boundaries can sometimes provide a safe place for growth and development to take place without that protection.  The card is a reminder that when setting boundaries you need to do so with balance.  If the boundaries are too tight, then there is no air to breathe and no light to nurture growth.   If the boundaries are too loose, the rose can end up trampled.

DECK USED:  SPACIOUS TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: What does my spirit enjoy that it didn’t get enough of last year?

Ethereal Visions Tarot

Reading Summary:  Taking the reigns (Three of Wands) and allowing my inner strength to rise (Strength) within my relationship (Two of Cups) within a grounded and self possessed manner (Nine of Pentacles).

Take Away:  This is about Dominance.   I had my reasons for not going there over the past year.  One of the strongest being the burn-out that was caused by the time between us when you were dealing with your grief and the imbalance we went through during that time.  That said, there were a few times I felt the urge and pushed it away, mostly out of concern that I wasn’t ready yet to step back into those shoes.

DECK USED:  ETHEREAL VISIONS TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What does your inner child crave that you’ve been ignoring?

Jeremy Miranda Oracle Cards

Reading Summary:  All of the cards here are depicting shades of cold, and the layout is bracketed in ice.  It speaks of cold on so many levels, but with three of the four of the cards also depicting being on the inside and looking out, there is a very clear message to me of the need to get outside and enjoy nature.

Take Away:  Get your ass outside already.  Yes, it’s cold… but do it anyway.

DECK USED:  JEREMY MIRANDA ORACLE CARDS

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question: What do I need in order to create a better evening routine?

The Prediction Tarot

Interpretation: Focus, organization, and intuition. Honestly?  This isn’t a read off the cards and their traditional meanings, but rather off of intuition from the imagery before me.   There is a lot of stress placed within these cards about new methods and finding a balance between the emotional, intellectual, and spiritual aspects in my life.  If I want a better evening routine, the cards indicate that I am going to need to focus on finding that balance.

DECK USED:  THE PREDICTION TAROT

Growth and Uncertainty

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and was not guided.  Nor did I listen to music or any other audible agents to help me focus.   Instead, I spent the ten minutes in my regular piriformis stretch, while taking a slow meander through different physical sensations.

This was more of an exploration and appreciation of sensations as a whole, from that of the pain in my hips from the stretch, to the comforting warmth of the blanket I’d draped over my torso, to the cool nip of the air as it entered in through my nose on each breath.   It was very relaxing, and just what I needed.

The Moon - Spacious TarotToday’s draw is the Moon card, which is the eighteenth card in the Major Arcana, and whose meaning is seated in the themes of uncertainty, confusion, and illusion.

The thing is?   Sometimes uncertainty and confusion has a purpose.   It’s not fun, and it’s not comfortable, but growing pains rarely are.  And sometimes?  That’s what uncertainty and confusion is all about.   Growth.

That’s what I see in the appearance of the Moon in today’s draw.  I see it in the moon in the sky and in the fungi and flowers below reaching up towards the moon’s glow.   When we have moments of uncertainty and confusion, maybe there are times when a better path would be to examine where and why, and take some time exploring that fully… rather than just trying to ignore it or “fix” it.

DECK USED:  SPACIOUS TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: What gift awaits me in 2020?

Vindur Tarot

Reading Summary: Better financial security (Ten of Coins), but I’ll have to work to get there (Three of Wands) because there is going to be a lot of ups and downs along the way (Wheel of Fortune).

Take Away:  I am actually really surprised at the directness of this deck’s voice, which feels very similar to Lenormand.  Anyway, on to the reading… Sometimes gifts aren’t free, and sometimes?  The gift is in the work itself.   That’s what I see in the cards here.  The gift is not so much about the better financial security, although that is always something that I appreciate.  Instead, the gift is about the work in getting there and the lessons I learn along the way.  Lessons that will teach me how to better deal with those ups-and-downs that life deals out so readily.

DECK USED:  THE VINDUR TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What do you take too seriously?

Spirit of the Flowers Tarot

Reading Summary:   Short answer?  Myself.   When things get difficult (Five of Pentacles) or uncertain (The Moon), I have a really bad habit of bearing down on myself (The Emperor) and assessing myself too harshly (Judgement).

Take Away:  I am always quite hard on myself, which is something I’m aware of and I know I need to work on.  I am constantly pushing myself to do better, to be better, etc. Uncertainty, especially, incites this reaction from me.  But, the kind of struggles and scarcity issues that the Five of Pentacles represent?  They are absolutely the type to illicit uncertainty in me as well, so it is not so much a different issue, but something that compounds the issue.

DECK USED:  SPIRIT OF THE FLOWERS TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question: What makes my ideal day?

Jeremy Miranda Oracle Cards

Reading Summary: Relaxation and the opportunity to delve into (First Card) my creative endeavors (Second Card) without the need to rush or the pressure of others to bother me (Third Card), which allows me to let go of my analytic need for perfection and instead find perfection within imperfections and flow with that mentality (Fourth Card).

Take Away:  For me to actually relax, I need to feel that everything is stable and under control.  The house in the first card indicates this to me.  The turquoise door speaks of everything being well in hand, the box structure one that speaks of stability.  The ladder in the first card speaks of escaping to a secret world, which combined with the overlay of the second card, reinforces that “secret world” feel while the table and art supplies indicate artistic and creative endeavors.

The shelter depicted in the second picture along with the sunset beyond it’s walls speaks of extreme relaxation.  The day is ending and everything is quiet and calm, there is protection provided, which when combined with the warm tones of the sunset creates a sense of comforting protection and warmth.

In the last photo three is the lapping waves and beauty of the landscape, but the surface from which you stand is rickety and falling apart.  Sometimes?   Decay is beautiful.  It’s messy and disorganized and lacks structure… and yet it is its own kind of perfection.  When I am stressed, I have a hard time seeing the beauty in chaos.  When I am relaxed, though, I can not just see it, but also appreciate it.

DECK USED:  JEREMY MIRANDA ORACLE CARDS

Taking The First Step

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was just over eleven minutes long and focused on how sometimes we fill our lives up with so much noise that we lose track of our path, and how important it is to slow down and take the time to connect with silence and stillness so that we can delve deep into our selves, our values, and our motivations.

If you don’t take the time to know yourself, then you end up missing an entire aspect of the world, and the depths of our interaction with it.   In that aspect we find perspective and understanding that isn’t available when dealing with ourselves and others on a purely surface level.

As deep as we know ourselves in our day to day, there are always inner depths yet to plunge into and explore.  Depths that can only be reached through stillness and silence and taking the time to do so.  Meditation allows for that exploration.

Wheel of Fortune - Efflorescent TarotToday’s draw is the Wheel of Fortune card of the Major Arcana, which is not just my birth card for this year but also appears to be my stalker card for the beginning of the year.

This card’s traditional meanings deal with the ups and downs of life, and with luck (both good and bad).  It can also mean a turning point as well as a resistance to change, and I’m starting to think that the stalking aspect of the card during this time of year has to do with those latter meanings rather than the former ones.

As a stalker card, it’s asking me to seek deeper meaning, and there is definitely a time of transition going on for me in a lot of areas.  There is also a sense of resistance in some ways, because I feel like I am dragging my feet on getting started on things.

The fact is that a journey can only start once you take the first step.  It can be a small step, but it has to happen.   So I feel the message of today’s card isn’t so much about the ups and downs, or even about luck.  It’s about movement, and taking that first step.

DECK USED: THE EFFLORESCENT TAROT (COLOR EDITION)

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: What can I do to prepare myself for that obstacle? (Build off yesterday’s cards.)

Jeremy Miranda Oracle Cards

Reading Summary:  The obstacle in yesterday’s read was about tripping over my own pride.

In the first card, I see a simple and stable home that blends in well with the earthy surroundings and draws focus to the window devoid of curtains.   This card indicates a need to keep one’s mind and heart open to both the view you can obtain within yourself, as well as at the world outside yourself.  Entertaining different perspectives while staying grounded and stable can sometimes be difficult, and pride is a hindrance to this goal.  By being mindful of this and fostering this multi-perspective view, it can help to then combat against the pitfalls of pride.

Within the second card, there is a comfortable if sparse room with a warm fire burning in the fireplace.  The card speaks to me of that inner self and allowing yourself to find comfort and warmth within yourself.  This comfort and warmth allows for kindness to the self.  Pride is cold and hard, and what comes from it is also cold and hard.  By allowing some space for simplicity and warmth within the soul, pride has less room to take hold and grow into a problem.

The image in the third card speaks to me of escaping cold chaos for inner warmth and inner calm.  As I mentioned before, pride is a cold emotion and is often used to cover up the turbulence of uncertainty.  Fostering inner calm gives you somewhere to go to escape that cold conflict that can encourage pride to rear its head as a defense mechanism.

Take Away:  The cards indicate that to prepare myself for the possibility of a “flare up” of pride and possibility of tripping over it, I need to stay grounded and down to earth with an open outlook while keeping things simple and remembering to foster an inner warmth and inner calm that I can touch base with when things feel uncertain.

DECK USED: JEREMY MIRANDA ORACLE CARDS

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Something that you miss more than you realize and can bring back into your life?

The Circle Inner Animal Tarot

Reading Summary:  Time spent in liminal spaces (Infinite Circle) within the deep forest (Ten of Pentacles) brings me happiness (The Sun).

Take Away:  I need to start going hiking again.   I haven’t been out into the depths of the rainforest since the first week of November. That bond with nature and lingering in the liminal spaces that reside there are refreshing to me in a way nothing else is.  I need to make the time to get back out there, which will lift up my mood and be healing to my inner spirit and inner spark.

DECK USED:  THE CIRCLE – INNER ANIMAL TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question: What makes my ideal life?

Accurate AF TarotReading Summary:  Knowing that I have moved through life’s change and challenges (Death) while holding strong to the parameters of my values and personal moral compass (Judgement and Strength).  Being able to do this while exploring my creative ideas (Ace of Wands) and obtaining my goals (King of Pentacles).

Take Away:  Both exploring the spark of my creative spirit as well as obtaining my goals are very important to finding satisfaction in my life, but in order for that life to be considered “ideal”, I also need to be able to adhere to my personal values, ethics, and morals through the challenges and changes that life presents to me.

DECK USED:  ACCURATE AF TAROT

Revisit of the Five of Wands

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and focused on the benefits of meditation in helping keep mental clutter in check.  This has been one of the largest benefits of my meditation, to be honest.

I know that, like most people, I struggle with concentration while in the middle of my meditation practice, but the effort does seem to assist in building the mental “muscle” needed to focus better in the day to day, and by doing so, not allow overwhelm to get the better of me.

The thing is that with meditation it’s about slow progress and small gains.  You only start to see those gains once they’ve begun to add up like grains of sand in a glass.  One grain of sand or even a thousand of them, seems inconsequential.  But over time, they become something substantial.

Five of Wands - Spacious Tarot Today’s draw is the Five of Wands (again) which, as I mentioned before, is about tests, trials, and conflict in the area of one’s ambitions, drives, and passions.  And I’m just saying, but when this card shows up twice in a week and it’s only Tuesday? It starts to feel a little ominous. I know it’s just the cards saying, “You didn’t get it… Try again,” but still.

I still feel that this message is about what can be benefited from conflict.  The sparks still stand out to me the strongest. In that message, though, is also the indication that you have to go through the conflict in the first place.

As the purpose of my daily draw is to find the positive in each day’s card for mental health reasons, today’s appearance of the Five of Wands is a message of hope, indicating that no matter how hard  the conflict might be, there is a reason for it and an in to it as well. Because after every upheaval comes the calm, and in that calm a newness.

DECK USED:  SPACIOUS TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: What can I do this year to be of service to others?

Jeremy Miranda Oracle Cards

Reading Summary: Provide a sense of stability and security (Card 1) and a calm center (Card 2) for others in the storm (Card 3).

In the first card, the house and garden communicate to me a sense of peace.  There’s a sense of providing what is needed in the healthy garden out front, and security and stability in the house itself and how well cared for it is. 

In the second card is a depiction of a beach and calm sea.  To me this imagery is very soothing.  There are stones well seated in the scene that speak to me of solidity and stability as well, reinforcing the first card and further indicating a sense of calm.

The third card depicts a roaring fire, and my first instinct when I saw this was the phrase “trial by fire” and the chaos and transformation that is involved in the process.

Take Away: Friends often come to me for an ear or guidance when they’re feeling lost.   For these friends, I represent a safe place and an open mind, a place they can come to confide in someone and find perspective.  The cards indicate that this is a good thing, and a way that I can contribute to others in the year ahead, just as I have in the years past.

DECK USED:  JEREMY MIRANDA ORACLE CARDS

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What is a really great idea you had but then forgot about?

Ember + Aura Tarot

Reading Summary: A new investment (Ace of Coins) in my passionate endeavors (Daughter of Wands) that will take me to the “next level” (The World).

Take Away:  There are a couple of creative classes I’ve been wanting to take.  But over the past year I’ve not even been able to entertain the idea, let alone look into doing something about it.   The classes in jewelry design techniques and photography have the potential to elevate my work both professionally and creatively to a new level if i can find a way to fit them in sometime this year (or even beyond this year if that’s the case).  This is definitely something I had forgotten about over the past year.

DECK USED:  EMBER + AURA TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question: Pull three cards for a career/life meaning goal.

Cat's Eye TarotReading Summary: The career/life goal that I focused on was a general outlook on the business over the next year.   From the cards pulled, business over the next year is going to be crappy (Seven of Swords… look at that cat pissing on the wall!  Jesus.  Seriously.) and uncertain (The Moon). Just remember to stay calm and centered emotionally (King of Cups).

Take Away:  That is not something I’m particularly good at since the awakening of my emotions has gotten more intense lately.  I’m referring to the whole “stay calm and centered” during personal crisis and uncertainty, yeah?   I mean I can?  But it takes a lot more effort these days than it used to when I could live in a state of detachment. 

That said, the cards are a good reminder that it’s going to be needed moving forward into this year, as there will be hurdles involved that are going to try my patience and effort to stay calm and collected.

DECK USED:  CAT’S EYE TAROT

Lacking the Oomph

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was fourteen minutes long, and I tried again to do the spirit guide meditation.   I think that perhaps I need to find a different guided meditation for this.  I’m not sure if it’s the guide’s voice or the background music or something else entirely, but there’s something in there that is not allowing me to relax and focus as I’d like.  Maybe there’s just too much audio stimulation going on.

The Efflorescent Tarot (Color Edition)Today’s draw is the Three of Pentacles, which often for me is a representation of collaboration, but that is not what I pick up from this card.  In fact, if I were to take the image alone and fit it into the tarot, normally I’d have fit this in as the Eight of Pentacles rather than the three.

As an intuitive read, though, I see something else entirely in this card.

I see boredom.

The message in today’s card speaks the fact that no matter how good you get at something and how beautiful the end results are, sometimes it’s still just a job.  It might be your greatest passion.  It might be your most favorite hobby of all time.  You might absolutely love your job and everything about it.   But sometimes?  It’s just a job.  Sometimes you have a period of boredom and lack of inspiration, and that’s okay.

It’s okay to feel that way.  In fact, it’s perfectly natural.  And that reassurance is what I get out of today’s card.

DECK USED:  THE EFFLORESCENT TAROT (COLOR EDITION)

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: What do my ancestors/spirit guides/the cards want me to know about 2020?

Golden Art Nouveau Tarot

Reading Summary:  There’s that King of Wands again.   Stop overburdening myself with brilliant inspiration and creative spark (Ten of Wands). New creative inspirations are great (Ace of Wands), but you need to take a more structured and grounded approach (King of Wands).

Take Away:  I’ve been getting this message from the cards a lot lately, and… clearly I’m not listening.  Or maybe I am, but I’m just not allowing it to actually absorb and sink in deep.   This is actually my very first “spirit guides” reading (for myself or for others) and… it makes me wonder if they haven’t been speaking through the cards all along actually.

DECK USED:  GOLDEN ART NOUVEAU TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What do you actually deserve? (Built off yesterday’s cards.)

The Circle - Inner Animal Tarot

Reading Summary:  The Six of Swords is a repeat from yesterday’s read, indicating that I do deserve a change for the better (Six of Swords), but that it won’t come from changes to who I am or a personality/outlook adjustment.  Instead it will come from a more organic source that has been a long time coming (Death), and create a period of feeling overwhelmed and overburdened (Ten of Wands) while I move through the adjustment period.

Take Away:  Change is coming… and it sucks.  It’s going to feel heavy and like it’s too much.  It’ll be a struggle.  But, once I’ve made it through the gauntlet?  I’ll be in a better place on the other side.   I have deliberately chosen not to ask the cards -what- this upcoming change is, at least for the time being.

DECK USED:  THE CIRCLE – INNER ANIMAL TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question: Three cards for guidance on a personal goal. (Rephrased for specificity.)

Jeremy Miranda Oracle Cards

Reading Summary:  Stay on track (Card 1), stay grounded while looking forward towards what I want (Card 2), and invite others along the way to help me get there (Card 3).

Take Away:  I know that to a lot of people image-only cards are difficult, but they appear so very self explanatory to me.  It’s like my brain says “do I need to flesh this out?  Because it’s so obvious” but I know it’s not.  It’s just obvious to me.

My goal for this question are centered around stability and security concerning home and finances.   The shades of blue combined with hints of water threaded throughout all three cards is a reminder to stay calm and not allow emotional disruption to influence my outlook.

The first card speaks of staying focused on my goals rather than allowing different interests and distractions to take me off track.

In the second card I see a seaweed draped rock sitting before a painting of the sea, staring at where it wants to be, representing my need to focus upon the future and my goals and stay grounded in the moment while doing so.

The third card is an invitation.  A dinner party waiting for guests to arrive.  The card is a reminder that there are others in my life happy to step in and help, all I need to do is reach out to them and invite them in.

DECK USED:  JEREMY MIRANDA ORACLE CARDS