justice card

Patience, Not Pushing

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I’ve managed to fall behind yet again… and I can’t remember whether I meditated on the 26th or not.  I don’t think that I did, but I did manage to soak in the tub for a bit. So I’ll leave this empty this time around as I finish up these posts that got started… but never published on the blog.

Traditional Manga Tarot - JusticeToday’s draw is the Justice card, which is traditionally about checks and balances.  It’s the fact that there will always be a repercussion or consequence to any action taken. Sometimes the consequences involve the law, sometimes it’s about karmic backlash from previous incarnations.  Sometimes, it’s just the nature of of cause and effect.

What stands out to me in this card’s imagery today is how calm and self contained she is.  Her posture perfect, her elbows in against her sides, ankles crossed and knees pressed. She sits silent and still, but she is not blindfolded like lady justice but rather watches quietly from that place of stillness.

The message here is about patience and being watchful.  Sometimes the smartest option is to step back and wait, watch… and listen. Sometimes the only way to get what you want is through patience instead pushing.

DECK USED:  TRADITIONAL MANGA TAROT

LionHart’s As Above So Below Challenge Prompt
Saturn Question: What {personal} limitations am I asked to accept and be more understanding of?

The Sabbath Tarot

Reading Summary: Things can’t be rainbow and sunshine (The Sun) all the time.  There are going to be times when you feel like you’re floundering and feeling hopeless (Five of Coins).  Just remember that it is through embracing yourself and fostering hope that you are able to pull yourself out of the depths (The High Priest).

Take Away:  The cards here are reminding me that it’s okay to feel down sometimes when things are going awry.  It’s okay to have bad emotions.  Don’t forget in your effort to find a more positive inner narrative and optimistic outlook that you don’t have to force it all the time.

It’s healthy to feel discouraged now and then as long as you rise above the temptation to tear into yourself about it.

DECK USED:  THE SABBATH TAROT

#DiscordTarotolicsNov2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Advice I need to hear at this time concerning my family relations.

Witches Wisdom TarotReading Summary: In the dead of winter (Ten of Air) broils the brightest fire (Ace of Fire). Be ready to guide the way when the time comes (Guardian)

Take Away: It looks like L or Z (or possibly both) may be coming up with a brilliant idea sometime in the next month or two and is going to need some support to make it come to life.

The message here is to make sure that I am supporting the inspiration and passion of that idea rather than dousing it or leaving her to her own devices.  By supporting the idea and helping it in getting off the ground, I in turn am able to help protect it (and her/them) from failure.

DECK USED:  WITCHES WISDOM TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What does it mean to speak my truth?

Scorpio Sea Tarot

Reading Summary:  Growth forward into the future (Two of Wands) from passionate pursuits (Queen of Wands) into a seat of experience and knowledge (Queen of Swords).

Take Away:  In speaking my truth, it means that I am able to take my experiences and carry them forward to help others with their own.  By having had my own experiences and learned from them, I can then take that experience forward and share my knowledge with others. In doing this, in sharing this with others, I am then able to speak my truth and allow it to help others in finding theirs.

DECK USED:  SCORPIO SEA TAROT

Stepping Up

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IMG_7766Today’s meditation was just under twelve minutes long and was a guided meditation with interval timer for my piriformis stretches.

I really connected with the focus of today’s guided meditation, which was about not fighting so hard against pain and suffering, but instead allowing it to flow through you. The example used in the guided part of the meditation was a man dying of thirst finding a river, but unable to bring the water up to his lips because his hands were too busy trying to grasp the water tightly.

The thing is?  When dealing with physical pain?  This is absolutely true.  You cannot heal physical pain by fighting against it.  Tensing against pain only makes the pain worse, tensing when you fall only makes your injuries on impact worse.  So it makes sense to me that it would be the same mentally as well.  I just wish it wasn’t so hard to ease my grip in that area.

Tarot of the Little Prince - JusticeToday’s draw is the Justice card, which is traditionally a representation of “balancing the scales” between right and wrong, fairness, cause and effect situations, and the law.  So at it’s core, this card is about balance and the constant adjustments that life and the world go through to keep everything in balance.

This might seem a bit strange, but what really stands out to me in the imagery of this card today is that the color of the figure’s shoes in the image match the gems in his crown.  Also, that his one eye looks like it’s twitching.

These elements speak to me about the fact that sometimes you have to do more than think and intellectualize how you feel about things and how things should be.  Sometimes you have to get off your ass and do the work to make things fair and to make sure things are balanced.  The eye twitching is an indication of stress, speaking of the fact that making that transition from “I think it should be this way” to stepping up and making sure it is can be stressful.  That doesn’t make it any less important, though.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE LITTLE PRINCE

LionHart’s As Above So Below Challenge Prompt
Venus Question: A reminder of my personal values, my happiness, or how to remain aligned with what makes me feel good.

Tarot de los Muertos

A Reminder of My Personal Values

The World atop Three of Swords – Even through the hardest of times when I’m feeling down and struggling with my negative inner dialogue, its important to remember where I’m going and that the ultimate goal on my journey is about bettering myself along the way.

Often I become far too focused upon money and material security and the inner voice in my head berates my ability to get done as much as I feel I should be able to have accomplished. But it’s important to remember that my true path in life is not about monetary and physical accomplishments, it’s about improving myself and becoming a better person.

A Reminder of My Happiness

The Emperor atop Two of Pentacles – Having control over the balance between responsibilities and personal life is extremely important to me, and when I feel that independence I am at my happiest. It makes me comfortable and happy to know that my life is my life and not controlled by others. I might make some mistakes, and I might tip those scales too far into the work side more often than I should, but the fact that I have the choice and the control to do so really is one of my greatest joys and comforts.

A Reminder of How To Stay Aligned With What Makes Me Feel Good

Eight of Pentacles atop The Sun – What makes me feel good about myself is my expertise. Being able to sink into those things that I excel it brings me a great deal of joy. It’s important to remember that the things you do are also things that bring you joy.  Your actual -work- was once just a hobby and even now that it’s also work doesn’t mean you can’t bring the joy you always felt in creating beautiful things into the process.

DECK USED:  TAROT DE LOS MUERTOS

#DiscordTarotolicsNov2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: My Desire / An Obstacle In My Path / The Solution

The Mushroom TarotMy Desire – The Star – More time dipping into spirituality and my connection with nature.  Hope is like a wellspring of fresh air swirling through the spirit, and a lot of times I find myself so pessimistic that my hope falls down the drain and is lost in the weeds. I would very much like to spend less time focusing on my worries and more time focusing on my spirituality and, with it, my hopes for my future that are not monetarily motivated.  I’m all too aware that the world runs on money, but my desire is that it wasn’t such a huge focal point in my life.

An Obstacle In My Path – Three of Pentacles – Work.  Duh.  *LOL*  As I mentioned above.  The world runs on money.  I know that.  Everyone knows that.  And in order to have security and stability, which are two things I’m very much into having, you have to work either with or for others in one manner or another. It’s just the way it is.

The Solution – Six of Wands – Do the work that makes you happy and draws others to you.  If you enjoy your work, it’s a little less work than it would be if you don’t enjoy it. So if you want to bring less monotony and more spirituality into your life, you need to focus on making your work more fun and more play and more pleasurable.

DECK USED:  THE MUSHROOM TAROT

Where You’re Coming From

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IMG_6344Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and another of the guided meditations with interval timer for my piriformis stretching.

The topic of today’s guided meditation was self discipline, which is something that I’m both extremely good at… and crap-ass bad at, depending on what it’s about.   In this case, the topic was about self discipline involved in making sure that you stick with your self care, and that you do not tear yourself to shreds with guilt or consternation when you miss a day now and then.

I am very guilty of this.  Not the guilt so much, but definitely the consternation and self flagellation that comes with me missing a day (or a few days) of my self care routine.  As if I don’t pay for it already with the physical pain aspect of skipping out on those necessary stretches, right?

Botan Tarot - JusticeToday’s draw is is the Justice card, which is traditionally a representation of checks and balances, cause and effect, as well as concepts such as justice, truth, fairness, and the law.

Interestingly, I do not see “justice” in the imagery for this card today.  Rather, I see honor and the pursuit of justice. The pose of this woman knight is one of a tracker in pursuit.  She peers to the left, which for me is a nod to the past and what has come to pass, yet her left foot faces forward in the present.  She is grounded and sure of herself, and looks determined to mete out the justice that needs to be dealt.

The message in today’s card is that it is that in examining where you come from, you can find a clearer view of where you are and where you are going. Everything we do has a consequence or a reaction of some kind.  This is how the world works.  When you push upon a pendulum to make it swing, sooner or later the pendulum has to swing back the other way.  It can be a good idea to take a moment now and then to take a look at the pendulums you’ve put in motion… and make sure when they swing back at you they don’t hit you in the head.

DECK USED:  BOTAN TAROT

#Zentember #LovelyHealing Challenge Prompt
Question: How to improve my relationships with others?

Tarot by Alexander Daniloff 2012

Reading Summary:  Work on my communication skills (Page of Swords) and lean into an empathetic approach (Queen of Cups). It’s not a hopeless cause, so don’t give up (The Star).

Take Away:  It’s really easy for me to get frustrated with my communication skills, as I feel like I do a lot of fumbling in that area and hurting people’s feelings (or otherwise fucking things up) as a result.  The cards here indicate that to resolve this problem, I need to not give up hope, but instead continue to work on my intercommunication skills and… while doing so, lean into a more empathetic side of communicating with others.

DECK USED:  TAROT BY ALEXANDER DANILOFF 2012

#DiscordTarotholicsSep2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Stop / Start / Continue

Brady TarotStop – Two of Roots – How many rabbits can a fox hold at once?  One.  That’s how many.  And like the fox?  I have my limitations as well, and I need to make sure I’m honoring them.  Stop trying to find wiggle room in my new balance to shove in more responsibilities.  We’re not doing that anymore, remember?

Start – Two of Arrows – The wolf and the cougar are bound together, blind and both of them injured.  Unable to see, does each one blame the other for their pain? It’s time to be honest with yourself.  Take the blindfold off and pay attention to the things that cause you pain and create struggle in your life.  You need to make peace with your inner slave driver.

Continue – Mother of Horns and King of Roots – The nurturing encouragement to connect with my emotions, allowing them to have a place at the table instead of being smothered beneath the lilypads has been combined with my natural grounding and stability that I am so very focused on all the time.  I’ve been spending the summer melding this new level of emotional awareness and growth with my strong need for a grounded life… and will continue to work on that.

DECK USED:  BRADY TAROT 2ND EDITION

Lionharts #AstroTarotChallenge
Question: How can I best continue to build on the foundation, lessons, or teachings that make me who I am today?  And how can I act on this information?

WilderWoven Tarot

How to continue to build on my lessons learned?
Eight of Cups and Knight of Wands

The lesson learned here is when to “cut and run”, just as the octopus in the Eight of Cups dumps its ink and heads out for new and better waters. To continue building on this lesson, I need to focus upon those things that spark my interest and go after them.

How can I best act on this information?
The Chariot

Just do it. Leap into the fray and allow yourself to pursue these things instead of holding myself back. You  have all of the willpower and determination needed to make anything you are truly interested in a success.  Hesitation is not your friend.

Just take the leap and move your ass already.

DECK USED:  WILDERWOVEN TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: How can I best take action for myself at this time?

Lonely Dreamer Tarot

Reading Summary: Blinding yourself (Eight of Swords) to the damage you’re doing with your addictions (The Devil) is childish (Six of Cups). Make the moves needed to support your aspirations (Three of Wands).

Take Away:  The addictions I’ve been indulging in over the past few months are unhealthy eating, not getting enough the exercise I need, and my deck spending. The cards here are telling me to stop wasting time and resources with these things, and instead pour the attention and resources into focusing on the future. With the holiday rush approaching, this is really good advice.   If I’m not taking care of myself (and my finances), how can I expect to run my business (and my life during the holiday rush) as needed? 

DECK USED:  LONELY DREAMER TAROT

Make It Fun

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes and ten seconds long, and focused on techniques for releasing thoughts so that they do not clutter up your mind during meditation.   This is something that a lot of people have difficulties with in meditation, myself included, and is one of the main lessons meditation in mindfulness is there to teach you.

It also had encouragement for those (also like myself) that become frustrated when thoughts continue to keep bouncing back in again and again, even once acknowledged and set aside.

Today’s draw was a triple.  That is to say it was the main card with two jumpers that came out together.  It was an odd experience, to be honest, but I decided to go with it rather than try for a single card answer.  It is also the third time in the past 24 hours I’ve been given 3 cards when seeking a single card answer.

The main card in today’s draw is one that’s visited quite often over the past couple of weeks.  That is the eleventh card in the Major Arcana, the Justice card (with the chimpanzees).

The two jumper cards in today’s draw are the Eight of Pentacles (the Beaver) and the Page of Cups (the Platypus).  Once again today, I will go into traditional meanings afterward, as I feel the need to pull my intuitive reading out of the cards first before delving into my more “book learned” information.

What these cards are telling me (in the order they are received) is that I need to focus on creating more balance in my working life.  It doesn’t all have to be serious or studious.  Yes, hard work is important, but so is having fun with it.  And it is absolutely possible to do both.

I sometimes lose touch of this aspect of “fun” when I become too focused upon the work that needs to be done.

The two guidance cards attached to the Justice card are also both depicted in water, which points to my creativity and emotions.  I think this is an important distinction, especially within my business, as my business is a creative process at the heart of it all.  And although the success of my business is created with hard work, it is also an expressive venue of my creativity that requires a bit of fun, and even whimsy to not just succeed but be enjoyable to me.

And on to the traditional meanings…

The Justice card is in the Major Arcana, which deals with “big picture” topics and issues, rather than specific aspects of the human condition.  This card is a representation of cause and effect, balance, karma, accountability, fairness, and truth.  In the guidebook for this deck, the chimpanzee is associated with the keywords adaption, objectiveness, awareness, compassion, and honor.

The Eight of Pentacles is a representation of the manifestation, mastering of skills, accomplishment through hard work, determination, and purpose in the areas of the physical world, manifesting reality from ideas, resources, and finances.  The Beaver’s keywords are dedication, drive, guidance, success, integrity, and community.

The Page of cups is a representation of a receptive omega type of energy, personality, or person in the area of emotions, creativity, intuition, and relationships. This card’s energy is one of curiosity and learning, creative opportunities, tapping into one’s intuition for guidance, and possibilities.  The Platypus’ keywords are curiosity, peace, intuition, opportunity, individuality, and fluidity.

Deck Used: The Animism Tarot

 

Its Better Together

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes and ten seconds, and focused on the concept of gezellig, which is (apparently) a German adjective that means a kind of thing or activity that embodies a sense of joy or peace.

The guided meditation started out with a very broken down mindfulness technique or the breath that involves first focusing on the rise and fall of the belly, then the expansion and contraction of the ribs, then the rise and fall of the chest, before then focusing on how the breath moves like waves through each part. It was extremely relaxing.

After this, it spoke about the importance of adding activities into each day that help to restore the soul. These are things that bring you a sense of peace, joy, contentment, or fun. I think sometimes we all forget to do this, and forget to truly appreciate these things even when we do actually do them. I know that I am guilty of this.

Today’s draw is another double without a jumper. It is the 11th card in the Major Arcana, the Justice card (with chimpanzees), and the Two of Cups (with seals).

Today I’m not going to bother with traditional meanings because I got an intuitive hit (and currently riding in a car which means I’m flirting with getting car sick by working on this right now.

Today, the Justice card is telling me that we are going to get pulled over sometime today (or some other event that is going to deal with an authoritative figure and reckoning).

The Two of Cups is a reminder of emotional support. It says that I may either need it, or need to provide it, in relation to the above mentioned event. I’m traveling with J today, so we’ll just have to see how things go.

Deck Used: The Animism Tarot