Judgement Card

Personal Reflection

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IMG_8910Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long and was a guided meditation from the Calm app with added interval timer for the piriformis stretches.  As a side note, I’ve done a number of different types of meditations through the Calm app, but somehow keep going back to the ones narrated by Tamara Levitt.  I like her voice, which is unusual since I usually find voices somewhat distracting.

The topic of today’s meditation was about resisting change, and it really had a good point.  Everyone says that they struggle with change, and yet when the change is something good like getting a raise at work or moving into a nicer neighborhood and a bigger, safer home?  There’s no growing pains at all involved, and no resistance.  It’s only when the change is uncertain or bad that we fight… and in fighting cause the ride to become that much more bumpy as a result.  It makes me wonder what would happen if we didn’t resist the negative changes quite so fiercely or fear them quite so much…. just how much smoother would things be as a result? Would we recover quicker?  Adjust more easily?

Heaven & Earth Tarot - JudgementToday’s draw is the Judgement card, which is traditionally an interpretation of how you feel about how your life is going and what you’ve done along the way.  It’s about ascertaining the worth of your life, your moral compass, and your integrity.  Where the Justice card might ask “what have you done lately?”, the Judgement card asks “what have you done with your life?”

What stands out to me the strongest in the imagery of this card today is the open arms that reach not up, but outward as if to embrace the Archangel Gabriel above and the judgement taking place.

This, to me, speaks of needing to be willing to open up and look at yourself openly and honestly.  It means taking off the rose colored glasses and self-delusions and really look at what is going on with you, what you’ve done with your life, and where you can improve upon yourself moving forward from this point. 

This can be a hard process, and one that a lot of people can’t deal with… but what I see here is a call for honesty.   Honesty with the self.  Honesty to confront those things that we are uncomfortable with or ashamed of in ourselves, embrace those things, and begin the work towards something better.

DECK USED:  HEAVEN & EARTH TAROT

LionHart’s Elements Tarot Challenge Prompt
Question: How/where can my journey benefit from a loving approach?

Ink Witch Tarot

Reading Summary:  In finding a better balance (Two of Pentacles) between the running of my business (King of Wand) and my home life responsibilities (The Emperor)

Take Away:  Ahhhh, yeah.   I’m a motherfucking slave driver when it comes to both of these aspects of my life and I have very little understanding or tolerance for slacking, falling behind, or not keeping things on target and on track in both.  This cutthroat attitude is not always healthy, and a bit more of a loving approach could definitely help in this area.  It might be a good idea to draw some cards at some point on just how to go about instilling a more loving approach to these topics at some point, but I definitely acknowledge that doing so would benefit me and my journey forward.

DECK USED:  INK WITCH TAROT

#DiscordTarotolicJan2021 Challenge Prompt
Topic: Do Spread 2

Mystic Masters TarotWhat we see here between the cards in this reading is the carry over of pink through the three cards in the spread.  In this case, the Temperance card speaks the loudest here due to it’s greater saturation of pink, and then spreads it’s influence to the other cards in the spread to highlight the aspects that carry the most weight in each of the other two cards.

Where am I in my journey of depression right now?

The Magician – It’s about the table… not the tools. Before you can start the climb out of the pit, you have to sit down and take stock of where you’re at.

How can I be proactive at climbing out of this depression at this time?

Temperance – Patience.  This isn’t something you can push or force, but rather something you have to have patience about and let run its course.

Page of Cups – It’s important to make sure that you are vocalizing your emotions and getting them out there. This is still a learning process for you and it can make the speaking about your feelings a struggle sometimes.  Just keep trying.

DECK USED:  MYSTIC MASTERS TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I took the time to clean my keyboard and work table today.  It’s been a bit groady for a while now, but in order to get it really clean it needed to have a hot wet cloth lying on top of it for a bit and then a scrub brush scrubbing… and honestly?  I’ve been putting it off for some time.   I also have been doing a bit of smart-boy work throughout the day while in play with Gideon so that I wouldn’t feel so overwhelmed and pushed on orders day tomorrow.

The Person You Want to Be

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and another of the harp strings meditations.  It was very relaxing although I had a little bit of trouble focusing today.  It happens, and I try not to let it be frustrating as I know that it’s a part of meditating, as is bringing yourself back to center after your mind has strayed.  I find it interesting that this meditation seems to work so well for me when usually it is the guided meditations that I gravitate toward.

Herbal Tarot - Goldenseal - JudgementToday’s draw is the Judgement card, which used to be a really difficult card for me.  In fact, for most of my time reading tarot, this was the one card I struggled with connecting to… until last year. I attended a card study that the cards Justice and Judgement were the focus of.  In this study, these cards were presented as Justice being immediate, present- day balance of cause and effect (which was how I viewed it anyway), and that by contrast, the judgement card was about what you’ve done with your life as a whole.  How is your life path going?  Is it going in a way that you like?  Are you happy with the person you’ve become and how you live your life and see the world?

This contrast actually turned my confusion around completely.  By having set the Judgement card beside the Justice card, it made the differences clear to me, and helped me to clearly define my understanding of the Judgement card in a way I’d failed to be able to in the years prior.

What really stands out the strongest to me in the imagery of this card today is that the Hydrastis canadensis is bearing fruit.  The goldenseal plant reproduces in two different ways.  Beneath the soil, the rhizome reproduces clonally and can do so within the first year.  But the second way that this plant reproduces is through sexual reproduction above ground, which it is unable to accomplish until it’s fourth (or more often fifth) year of life.  That is what the berry in the center of the plant’s leaf here signifies.  It indicates that the plant has finally reached full maturity.

The message here in today’s card is about examining what you want in life and “checking in” with where you’re at to ensure you are staying on that path.  It’s not about money or power or superficial matters… its about maturity of the heart and the soul, and ensuring that you are the type of person that you want to be.

I think this is a good message and a very good reminder, especially as I go through the growth concerning my emotions.  Reassessment gives the opportunity to course correct values and just make sure I stay… true to who I want to be along the way.

DECK USED:  HERBAL TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJune Challenge Prompt
Question: Where am I nearing a crossroads in life?

Dame Darcy's Mermaid Tarot

Reading Summary:   Note the color coordination connecting the Seven of Wands and the Ten of Swords, as well as the Page of Swords and the Queen of Pentacles.   The Seven of Wands freaks out as challenge starts to transition into defeat (Ten of Swords), while the Page looks back as if to say “see baby, it’ll be alright… just look where we’re going” (Queen of Pentacles).

Take Away:  The cards here depict a common cycle for me between the Seven of Wands and the Ten of Swords.  I fill my plate with all that I’m passionate about until I’m at a point of struggle and overwhelm and everything feels like it’s in chaos and I’m fighting for my life.   I struggle.  I fail.   I hit the ground and my guts spill out.   Then I have to pick myself up and start over again as I regain balance and fill my plate again. 

The Page of Swords in these cards slicing through this cycle and showing a second path.  An exit out of the loop.  At the end of that second path sits the Queen of Pentacles, indicating if I make the choice to break this common cycle of mine and stay committed to doing things differently, I can find a much more stable and comfortable place than that of the path I’ve been on.

DECK USED:  DAME DARCY’S MERMAID TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJun2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I begin working on healing my inner child’s injuries?

Sawyer's Path TarotReading Summary: Work on a better way of fulfilling responsibilities (Knight of Pentacles over Two of Pentacles) so you can have some fun (imagery on the Seven of Wands) and a more fulfilled existence (Judgement).

Key note here is in the Seven of Wands and how, although the character in this card is on the defensive and in the  middle of battle… they look like they’re having a hell of a good time while they’re at it.

Take Away:  It is telling that the responsibilities portion of this reading is a pair of Pentacles, and specifically that the Knight of Pentacles overshadows the juggling in the Two of Pentacles.  It speaks of needing to slow down and the necessity to pace myself rather than pushing so hard and being impatient.  The other two cards are a reminder that while I’m slowing down, I need to make sure I’m having a good time (even when dealing with challenges) and staying on track concerning where I want to go spiritually and the person I want to be… which is someone that’s more than just work work work, incidentally.

DECK USED:  SAWYER’S PATH TAROT

#TheJuneTarot Challenge by Lionhart
Question: What can I do, or keep in mind, to make today better?

Tarot of Metamorphosis

Reading Summary: Don’t worry so much (Judgement) about where your emotional growth is going (Knight of Cups). Just focus on not backsliding (Six of Swords). For the moment, it’s the present that’s important and fostering your sense of enthusiasm (The Fool).

Take Away:  Lots of guidance today to help me in getting on track with my emotional growth and keeping myself from backsliding into the bad habits of the past. The cards here indicate that it’s important for me to focus on finding those glimmering inner sparks of joy and enthusiasm and fostering them to life, and not to spend so much time worrying about where I’m going… or where I’m coming from.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF METAMORPHOSIS

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: How are my goals progressing?

The Golden Girls Tarot

Reading Summary: You are at a crossroads where you are going to have to make a conscious and concerted choice (The Lovers) between pushing back against that emotional growth going on (Four of Cups), or embracing it and letting it continue (Ace of Cups).

Take Away:  I want the Ace of Cups.  Avoiding the backslide into old habits is difficult, but I want that feeling of dappled sunlight on the soul that this growth has created.  It’s the feeling of lying beneath trees as sunlight breaks in dappled warmth through the leaves above.  It’s warm and peaceful and much different than the cold logic of my normal existence to date.  I’ve come to discover that I like that dappled sunlight… and I want it to continue.

I want that exploration of the emotional growth I’ve been experiencing to continue… even if maybe I haven’t really seemed much like it over the past couple of weeks.

DECK USED:  THE GOLDEN GIRLS TAROT

What Have You Done?

/ Twist the Leaf / 2 Comments

Today’s meditation was just under ten minutes long, and due to having a rib out of place I had a really hard time staying still and settled for the meditation.

The meditation today focused on a full body scan that started at the top of the head and worked its way down to the toes and then back up again.  I ended up cutting off the meditation a few minutes early, though, so that I could spend some time on  my foam roller and work at trying to get that rib back into some semblance of alignment.

Judgement - Hush TarotToday’s draw is the Judgement card of the major arcana, which is traditionally interpreted as to do with, well…. judgement.  Also with themes that have to do with absolution and rebirth.

Honestly? Whenever my mind wanders to the traditional interpretations of this card?  I get that line in that old Janet Jackson song filtering through my mind. “What have you done for me lately?”   I feel that the judgement card is about your soul and moral compass, and that it is them saying that line, yeah?   It’s about either “being on track” with what you value and feel is right… or having been lead astray and needing to re-evaluate and come back on track again.

What I see in this card has a bit to do with that, but also with the visit to the bank for today.   It’s about the clubs in the pillars on either side, indicating passion and drive.  And it’s about the flowers that have grown up over the arch while the supports beneath rot away.

The message for me in today’s card is a reminder to make sure that while I am taking care of the present and planning for the future, that I am also protecting that foundation that I care so deeply about.

DECK USED:  HUSH TAROT

#TarotForGrowthMarch Challenge Prompt
Question: What spark is ready for me to ignite with this new moon?

Animal Totem Tarot

Intuitive Interpretation: It’s time to find a new way of feeling about things.

Take Away:  This feels like a continuation of the theme of most of yesterday’s readings, in that it speaks of looking at things in a new perspective and finding a new and better way to see things, especially concerning my emotions and my emotional investments.

Things can’t always be perfectly stable, no matter how much I want them to be.  Sometimes you have to let go and start anew, and that’s okay.

DECK USED:  ANIMAL TOTEM TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsMar2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What do I need to focus on for self-care this new moon?

Eight Coins Tattoo Tarot

Reading Summary:  These cards match along the same line as a lot of my readings have over the past few days.  They speak of finding the stability I seek by taking a new direction and entertaining new “outside of the box” perspectives and perceptions (Hanged Man).

Take Away:  Sometimes in my strive to develop stability and a solid foundation, I forget that life is about the journey and a big part of that journey is adaptability when confronted with change.   That is a big challenge right now, and I need to stop digging in my heels (and my roots) so stubbornly and allow the changes that need to take place to happen.   Allow them to happen, and focus on adaptation rather than fighting so hard to keep things the same.

DECK USED:  EIGHT COINS TATTOO TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: How can I move through my intuitive blocks?

Tarocco delle Vetrate by Luigi Scapini

Reading Summary:  Taking time for introspection (The Hermit) in times when things feel up in the air (Wheel of Fortune) will allow me to avoid becoming defensive (Seven of Wands), which pulls up walls that muffle my intuition.

Take Away:  One of my largest and most difficult intuitive blocks is the muffling effect my inner walls cause when they are erected as a part of my defense mechanisms when I am feeling uncertain and vulnerable.   The cards indicate if I want to move through that block, it requires introspection and honest reflection, rather than my normal habit of boxing things up and ignoring them as I shove them behind those walls.

DECK USED:  TAROCCO DELLE VETRATE BY LUIGI SCAPINI

Year’s End Reflections

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was not guided and not particularly eventful.   It was a body scan that started at the top of my head and moved slowly down to the tips of my toes before focusing upon certain areas that were showing tension that needed a bit of extra work.

I often do some of my physio and stretching during my meditation, as it allows me to breathe and pause for long moments in a stretch, and that is what the second half of my meditation was is that stretch and pause routine with breathing exercises to keep me focused.

Judgement- Tarot of the Little Prince Today’s draw is the Judgement card of the Major Arcana.  The Judgement card is often about looking at the “big picture” of a person’s existence and ascertaining the value of what has been offered and done.  It is about seeking out “the right thing” and knowing whether or not you are on that path.   It is about one’s moral compass, and how one follows that compass not just in a moment or event, but overall upon one’s life path.

The message in the appearance of the Judgement card in today’s draw has to do with the year coming to an end and looking back on what I have done over the past year, taking store of the good and the bad and the lessons learned, and moving forward to do better in the year ahead.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE LITTLE PRINCE

#TarotForGrowthDecember

Question:  Where can I challenge myself moving into the new year?

This Might Hurt Tarot

Reading Summary:  I need to look at finding a more seated and secure way of doing things (Nine of Pentacles) rather than allowing conflict (Five of Wands) and struggle (Seven of Wands) to always be a challenge in my path. Instead, it is important to lean upon my expertise (Eight of Pentacles) and skill to find a better way (Death).

Take Away:   There are a lot of times that I find I feed off of the stress of being overburdened with work.  I think it is probably an adrenaline thing.  The thing is, though… it’s not healthy.  Not physically, or mentally, or emotionally.   One of the challenges I have decided to take on for the next year is finding a stronger footing and more rooted and secure way to “get my stuff done” that abandons that need for an overwhelming amount of stress.  The cards indicate the path forward to that change is through leaning on the skills and abilities I have honed over the years in relation to my craft and business.

DECK USED:  THIS MIGHT HURT TAROT