Rallying the Troops

Today’s meditation was skipped, although I did do a sort-of one while chilling at the hospital this morning.

Mio Im's Tarot - King of WandsToday’s draw is the King of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of a projective alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s passions, drive, determination, principles, values, and willpower. The King of Wands often indicates themes that have to do with leadership figures or authority figures with the ability to rally others to their causes and draw them in to their own values, principles, and passions.

In my life, today is the day that I officially go back to work after taking a few days off.  The shops were open during my small vacation, and thus there are orders that need to be caught up on.   The card, therefore, is a reminder that I’m the conductor on this train… the general in this army.  It’s time to rally the troops and get them going on helping in getting things done, on getting orders set on track, and making sure everyone is on board with not just help in this moment… but in the weeks to come as the holiday rush rises up to greet us.

The card today asks us all… what do we need to “rally our troops” to help us with?  Where is it that you cannot accomplish your goals without others?  And in those areas, how can we best inspire others to our cause?

DECK USED:  MIO IM’S TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2022 Challenge Prompt
Topic for October 16th
: Do Spread 3

Mio Im's Tarot

Smoky Quartz – How can I best purge negativity from my life and develop greater stability?

Six of Wands – Stop looking to those in your past for approval. They are long gone, and it is only the memory that you seek approval from. You can’t change the past, so look forward instead and, if you feel the need approval from others, seek it from those in your present and future… not your past.

Apple – What insight is needed to improve my physical health at this time?

Knight of Wands Rx – Take care in where you leap forward and act impulsively. A bit of restraint is needed to keep things moving in the right direction.  In other words? Just because your leg is feeling a bit better doesn’t mean the problem is solved.  Take things slow and make sure this issue isn’t something that’s going to reoccur later on.

Chrysanthemum – Where do my defenses and boundaries need some bolstering?

Three of Wands – You’re going to have to be more realistic about your plans and take things at a different pace than usual. A bit of extra care and a bit of extra time is going to be needed. Don’t allow your inner narrative to step in and make things ugly for you just because you have to take things a bit slower.  A slow burn is best, so you don’t set the bridge ablaze and the entire forest along with it.

Aquamarine – In what ways can meditation promote more calm and confidence in my life?

Queen of Swords – Meditation can provide you the balance to foster your own strengths. You don’t have to be ruthless, but sometimes you can feel that urge when you don’t have enough balance in your life.

Meditation gives you that balance that allows you to choose between being your own Queen of Swords… or being the kind of domineering and self-centered Queen that you’ve observed from others with similar qualities used in less kind or generous ways.

Mint – What factor in my relationships need some reevaluation and perhaps adjustment?

Ace of Swords – You have received a lot of advice from the cards lately about turning over a new leaf in your communication with others. Here we see this message again in your relationships. Use your voice to communicate what you need instead of staying silent.

Carnelian – In what ways can including more creativity in my life brighten my daily outlook?

Ten of Swords – Creativity helps you avoid feeling as if everything is lost and nothing is going your way. In participating in creative endeavors, you then shine a touch of light to the darker corners of your life and make everything a bit better.

Pomegranate – What wish of mine is ready to be manifested into reality at this time?

Knight of Hearts (Pentacles) – You want more time to explore a slower pace in your life.  This card indicates that there is boundless potential here, but you’re going to have be patient. The holiday rush is not a time of slowing down and a measured pace.  But, the holiday rush won’t last forever.

DECK USED: MIO IM’S TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I’m continuing to work on keeping my foot elevated, and treating things gingerly, even when my patience is stretched a bit thin.

❤️ Self Care Saturday (On a Sunday)

These Saturday readings are (not usually) bearing in on any one thing or event in my life, as the question used is asking for a more general outlook. This is a self care exercise, and is not meant as a predictive reading… although that, too, happens on occasion.

The question is… What do I need to focus for self-care through the week ahead?

Mio Im's Tarot and Halloween Lenormand

EarthAce of Hearts (Pentacles) – Keep an eye open for new opportunities in the area of your finances and resources. The things that make you feel secure and stable in life can provide new opportunity this week if you are paying attention and clear headed enough to take it vantage of the offers presented.

AirThree of Swords – No sinking allowed. Do not let disappointments feel as if they are crushing you. Make sure you are focusing on things that can help in mitigating the influence of these negative thoughts, emotions, and experiences.

WaterFour of Cups – By the same turn, as with the advice in the Air position, make sure that you are not sinking into sulking and turning away from those that can help lift you up.

FireTen of Swords atop Page of Hearts (Pentacles) – You know all that preparation you’ve been doing to help yourself find a new in better ways in which to deal with the approaching rush? All that shit’s going to feel like it’s falling apart this week. Remember that you’re supposed to be off this week, and set it aside instead of dealing with it right away.

WaningRaven (Stork) and Blood Moon – Keep an eye on your emotions this week.  Contentment and feelings of satiated positivity are waning and you don’t want the gaping hole left behind to be something you fall in face first.

WaxingPoison Ring and Sir Pumpkinhead – Focus on Gideon and let him help in easing your anxieties this week. He has the ability to lift you up when others might struggle under the weight, which is part of what makes him such a good match for you.

Take Away – Anxiety is going to try and have its way with you this week.  Make sure you are staying on top of combating negativity and those abusive inner narratives not just with a conscious effort towards positivity and optimism, but by leaning into those that love you for the support you need.  Keep your eyes open for opportunity to strike.

DECKS USED: MIO IM’S TAROT AND HALLOWEEN LENORMAND

Transitioning from October to November

Mio Im's Tarot and Oracle of Nightmares

Here and Now I Exist – Who you are now, in your entirety.

Ace of Wands and Caution – You are in a moment of limbo and it is holding you up in all areas of your life. There is burning awareness of the potential of what is to come, but it isn’t time quite yet, and that has left you antsy and out of sorts.

The Slough – What is to be left in the past as you move forward.

Two of Wands and Entrapment – Your time stuck in the planning phase of things is drawing to an end. There won’t be a chance for standing still for all that much longer. You should enjoy it while you can.

What Lies Ahead – An ideal state or ideal self you are seeking at this time.

King of Hearts (Pentacles) and Finale – At this time your eye is focused on one prize and one prize only. That prize is financial abundance earned by the end of the holiday rush, which then creates stability for the year ahead and a sense of security that you constantly crave.

Limitations – Negative influences, opposition, or ill will.

Five of Cups and Guilt – A good deal of your recent malaise is being sourced by your guilt. You need to examine what these feelings of guilt are about, and work on releasing them, as they are only dragging you down and are not a useful tool.

The Boon – Positive influences, higher guidance, or divine intervention.

Two of Swords and Liberation – Stop waffling! Step away from the things that are allowing you continue to hesitate and dither. (Hello, games on your phone.) This avoidance of decisive thought and action is the root of your lack of true rest.  Retreating into these pursuits is not rest at all.

The Wound – An unpleasant past experience or event that is ripe for some support and healing.

Judgement and Indecision – You need to stop beating yourself up for the opportunities missed and things left undone. This doesn’t equate with inaction, but rather with course correction. Do these corrections kindly instead of with derision.

Nostalgia – A positive past experience or event to acknowledge, reflect upon, and enjoy.

King of Swords and Confusion – Its okay to look back on how you dealt with things in the past, prior to the efforts to open up emotionally, and allow the crisp and concise purpose you had at those times inspire you.

A Warning – Something coming that can be prevented or overcome.

Five of Swords and Truth – Keep an eye out for liars trying to get ahead by dishonest means. Winning at any cost really does mean “at any cost”, and you don’t want to become collateral damage or a part of the fallout.

Empowerment – A future opportunity to work toward.

Knight of Cups and Illusion – Emotional clarity is coming. You will have an opportunity to better ingrain the emotional growth you’ve acquired and your practical mind in new ways in the days ahead.

Message from the Spirit World – There is emotional warfare going on that needs to be addressed.  Do not allow other’s determination to win end up creating false narratives for you and end up stabbing you in the back.  Do not allow their awareness of what you want in life to be turned into something that they can use to manipulate you.  Pay attention and make choices aligned with your moral compass while taking what others say with a grain of salt right now.

Message from the Mind’s World – Ground yourself in order to weather the storm that is coming. You have the ability to achieve the goals you have plotted and planned for, but you have to free yourself from the negativity first, and find steady footing.

Message from the Physical World – All of the inactivity and dithering you have been doing needs to be taken in hand.  Slice through these issues with your practical nature and allow what you want to happen and what you want to become to be a beacon to draw you forward through the fog.

Take Away – This reading is primarily guidance in finding the source of the struggle I’ve been going through the past week or so, and finding a more secure and comfortable place within myself to start off the holiday rush with.  Finding positivity and stability are important right now.

DECKS USED: MIO IM’S TAROT AND ORACLE OF NIGHTMARES

Don’t Forget

Today’s meditation was skipped.  I suppose I could have done it while lying on an ice pack, but I ended up falling asleep instead.

Dead of the Night Tarot and Thera-Pets Emotional Support Animal CardsToday’s draw is the Six of Cups, which is traditionally a representation of your roots within the past, nostalgia, reflecting on past events, and childhood experiences.

Those that have grown up in an environment of abuse often struggle with feeling that they matter in life.  This is not the only experiences that can give root to these feelings, though.  Sometimes it can be hard to look back on our pasts and see anything of value, no matter what lies back there behind us.

The truth is though?  We would not be the people we are today without the past there to teach us, guide us, and… sometimes show us just exactly what not to become.

Today’s cards are a reminder that the past holds the building blocks that create who we are in the present, and who we will become in the future.  What we do and the lives we touch change the lives of others, just as they change ours.  To someone?  You matter.  You always matter.  Just existing makes a difference in someone’s life.  Don’t forget that.

DECK USED:  THE DEAD OF NIGHT TAROT AND THERA-PETS EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL CARDS

Mr Lionharts’ #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonoftheWitchChallenge Prompt
Questions for October 19th and 20th

Oracle of the Shapeshifters and Mio Im's TarotLike howling wolves that call for the moon, what instinct am I, to follow soon?
The Faery Ring, The Magician atop Three of Hearts

You excel at all that you put your mind to and adapt quickly to new circumstances. These qualities are a part of you that you will be given the opportunity to share with others soon. As you advance and learn new tools and skills to put under your hat, take these others with you.

Triple Goddess of moon and tides, share your wisdom, for my path, tonight…
Little Brother Little Sister, Seven of Cups atop Four of Hearts

Staying caged (Ie: staying home) is an emotional choice, and your sister needs your help right now.

So, I guess I’m going to my sister’s full moon circle tonight. I’m always welcome to join in her coven’s activities, but being solitary, I’m not a big fan of group ritual and practices. I’ll be making an exception tonight, though.

DECK USED: ORACLE OF THE SHAPESHIFTERS AND MIO IM’S TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2021 Challenge Prompt
Philosophical Question
: Is there an afterlife?

Dead of the Night TarotReading Summary: Depending on how you die (The Tower), and what you’ve got going on on the inside (Strength), there are some that stick around to try and deal with unfinished business (Skeleton in the Two of Wands is facing the Past).

Take Away: So… yes.  Obviously if some of us are sticking around to deal with unfinished business, there is an afterlife. I would imagine that it’s not what is generally imagined it to be, and that there are a variety of different scenarios (the one mentioned above being merely one of them), but the answer makes it clear that there is indeed the possibility of life after corporeal death.

DECK USED: THE DEAD OF NIGHT TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I’ve been using an ice pack on my back off and on all day.  It’s feeling both painful, but also quite unstable today.

Self Care Saturday (On a Sunday)

These Saturday readings are (not usually) bearing in on any one thing or event in my life, as the question used is asking for a more general outlook. This is a self care exercise, and is not meant as a predictive reading… although that, too, happens on occasion.

The question is… What do I need to focus for self-care through the week ahead?

Mio Im's Tarot, Season of the Witch Samhain Oracle, This Deck Is Haunted Oracle

EarthEight of Cups and Elements – It’s time to focus upon moving away from what isn’t working for you and seek a more harmonious path. Your health needs attention right now. Don’t ignore the discord and discomfort, but instead use it to tell you what patterns and habits need to be discarded for something better and healthier that will put things back in balance.

AirThree of Hearts and Centaur – Look closely at what is making you happy… and what isn’t. This week, make sure that you are focusing on those things that make you happy. Not the things that should… but what actually does. In doing so you will be able to give your inner narrative something more genuinely positive to focus on. Keep in mind that satisfaction is not necessary the same as happiness.

WaterPage of Swords and Ritual – What habits in your life need re-examined with a critical eye? These cards tie into the Air section of this reading in that you need to look at what you are doing, look deep and examine if these habits are truly making you happy, or just a form of self medicating to bury unresolved past issues.

FireQueen of Wands and Grief – Don’t allow confused and conflicting emotions to pull you away from what needs encouraged to flourish this week. You have a lot of prep work to get done. Allowing feelings of failure or being hyper focused on what isn’t going well at the moment is only going to hold you back and slow you down.

WaningBoogie Man atop Planchette – Don’t let worries about the influences of your father plague you this week. He came through the thinning veil last year and really upset your balance. You are more prepared this year, and in a better place.

WaxingEctoplasm atop Living Doll – Work on remembering and acknowledging all of the ways that difficulties and the pain from your past has transformed into positives in your life and in yourself.

Take Away – The advice in these cards is about focusing on what is truly important.  That includes self care, but also in finding those things that truly make me happy.  Set worries and inner conflict aside, let go of the “shoulds” and look for the truth beneath those thoughts and desires.  Where does the truth truly lie?

DECKS USED: MIO IM’S TAROT, SEASONS OF THE WITCH SAMHAIN ORACLE, THIS DECK IS HAUNTED ORACLE