origins expansion pack

Gratitude Is An Offering

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Today’s meditation was fifteen minutes long and attached to the end of my extended yoga / physio practice that I did this morning.  It was a good idea to give it a day between sessions of the new routine in order to let my muscles ease a bit.  I’ll continue the on-again off-again schedule for the next few weeks.   I don’t plan on making the added routine permanent, but I think that until I can get back to the chiropractor on a regular schedule it’d be a good idea to continue on with it.

Herbcrafter's TarotToday’s draw is the Madre of Earth (Queen of Pentacles) which is traditionally a representation of a receptive alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s finances, resources, health, manifestations, and the physical world. This often translates into a theme of nurturing energy that is both strong and supportive.

I know that in the guidebook for this deck, it says that the hands holding the bowl are making an offering to deity, but when I look at the imagery on this card today, I do not see an offering…. I see an expression of gratitude as those hands accept a gift from nature.

Larrea tridentata (Creosote bush) is definitely one of those things to be grateful for in nature.  It is an extremely useful plant that survives in places and climates that most plants can’t.  It is antimicrobial, fever reducing, and useful in treating a vast array of different physical ills from diarrhea and sinusitis, to general pain complaints and arthritis, anemia, and even stomach cramps.

The message in today’s card is about gratitude and respect.  You don’t take what is not sustainable, and you always show gratitude for what is given and used. This form of respect is something that seems to be lost by so many these days, and forgotten by society at large.  The message here today is to not allow yourself to be one of those that forget. Practice gratitude, be mindful of what you take and what you use, and always show respect for what has been given and where it comes from.

DECK USED:  HERBCRAFTER’S TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJuly Challenge Prompt
Topic:  I’m struggling to maintain motivation.
Question:  How can I accept that willpower is a limited resource?

Dixit Cards v4 Origins Expansion Pack

Reading Summary: Remember all the times that you have intrepidly move yourself forward (Left Card) even when you were out of your comfort zone (Center Card), and how it is so anxiety ridden to be there (Big Eye… Worried Fish). And how refreshed you feel after taking a rest and some time in Gideon’s care (Right Card).

Take Away:  This is about knowing when to yield.  You can push on and push and push and push yourself until you’re a mess of anxiety and tied up in knots, but sooner or later you -have to- let go.  That makes willpower not a personality trait, but a skill or ability.  And like all skills and abilities?  They require times of rest and recharging.

DECK USED:  DIXIT CARDS v4 ORIGINS EXPANSION PACK

#DiscordTarotholicsJul2020 Challenge Prompt
Topic:  Write something free form inspired by the cards.

Tarot MaddonniThere was once a young king named Keern, who ran his kingdom with great love (King of Cups). Sometimes he felt overburdened (Ten of Wands), but he chose to push through these feelings and direct them into providing strength (La Force) to his kingdom by protecting all within his realm (Nine of Wands).

And yet even then, he felt disenchanted (Four of Cups) and alone (Nine of Coins)

Although he was a very picky man (Judgement), he decided it was time to take a wife. And so King Keern began to seek out someone with similar ideals to his own they could help him foster and nurture his people (The Empress).

He met with many women, and there were so many more to choose from! There were so many, in fact, that his search became a burden in and of itself (Seven of Cups).

Then one day on his search, Keern met a poor man down on his luck (Five of Coins) named Heste, who encouraged him to sit down and discuss his problems. The king had love in his heart for all his subjects, and did so.  At the end of the discussion this man helped him to see that he was going after what was expected of him rather than what he really wanted (The Pope).

This conversation helped the king to realize that the heart wants what the heart wants… no matter what others think. Seeing things from this new perspective, Keern then changed his tactics and purpose (Hanged Man).   He opened himself up to more options, and in the end he found his true love among not the women of his kingdom at all.   Instead, it was the wise peasant with whom he’d spoken to that day he found his mind and heart drawn to, and so Keern brought Heste home to the castle to take on their future… together (The Lovers).

DECK USED:  TAROT MADDONNI

#OwlandBonesJuly Challenge by Owl and Bones Tarot
Topic:  dream // plan // manifest

Women of Science Tarot

Dream – Ten of Nano – Emotional fulfillment is something that I can’t even imagine, but I do hope for.  I think that perhaps once I have gotten to a point where I’m more comfortable with my emotions that this dream will be more easily realized… rather than a concept that “sounds good”.

Plan – Knight of Nano – Moving forward emotionally is often just like moving forward in any capacity.  Sometimes?  You have to factor in a bit of planning.  I’m in the process of finding “comfortable” with the new emotional levels I’ve grown into over the past few months.  Having a plan in place to allow that growth to settle in might be a good idea to consider.

Manifest – Two of Macro and Eight of Astro – Allow yourself to see the blockages that are self created and standing in the way to getting your new balance of responsibilities set into place.  If you want to make this new balance a reality, you need to be open to those self restricting beliefs and behaviors that are still holding you back.

DECK USED:  WOMEN OF SCIENCE TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question:  How will I know if I have achieved my creative calling?

Psychopomp Tarot

Reading Summary: Elements that will be present include inspiration to move forward (Two of Wands), a sense of connectivity with myself and the universe (The Star) and  And a feeling of balance and rightness in my direction (Justice).

Take Away:  When it all comes together and feels right?  That’s when you’re in your element and have hit that mark.  This is about how it feels in the moment and like the two hands that paint each other in the Two of Wands card, this calling is not stagnant or permanent, but ever changing and cyclical. What is my creative calling ten years ago may not be my creative calling ten years from now… and that’s okay.  As long as it feels right.

DECK USED:  PSYCHOPOMP TAROT

Chakra Reading from Owl and Bones

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So this reading was actually the Owl and Bones prompt for the 15th of this month, but it was a bit too… involved for me to work with at that time.  Because it deals with the chakra centers, it needs a bit more attention for me to do a full reading on, so I saved it so I could do it separately at a later date.   That “later date” would be today.

Chakra Reading with Dixit Cards v4 Origins Expansion Pack

#OwlandBonesJuly Challenge by Owl and Bones Tarot
Topic:  to balance:   root // sacral // solar plexus // heart // throat // third eye // crown

Root – I am… Surprisingly fierce. To balance this part of myself it is important to remember the effect that “jack in the box” pop of fierceness can have on the unsuspecting. It isn’t something to use indiscriminately, for the surprise is a part of the power that lies within this quality. Choose your battles wisely and allow that fierceness to show itself only when needed.

Sacral – I feel… Precariously balanced.  This card reminds me of Eddy Murphy in the cave on the way to get the cup in the Golden Child movie, balanced so carefully upon the towering stone pillars and at risk for a long, long fall. Due to the emotional growth I’ve been working through over the past few months, my footing is unsteady, although I am taking the right steps. If I want to find better balance in this area, I need to find better footing.

Solar Plexus – I do… Focus on zen and comfort and silence. I find strength in peace and my connection with nature.  The white on the face and blue lips speak of my mutism, and how I can use this part of myself as a strength instead of a weakness. Sometimes silence is comforting and peaceful.  Creating a balance in my core requires time in nature, and time wallowing in the things I find comforting (like Luna’s purrs and squishy Pluto).

Heart – I love… Loving care through symbiosis. The Egyptian Plover is a bird that flies into the mouths of Nile Crocodiles and perches within their open maws, picking the meat and other remnants of food from between the crocodile’s teeth. The crocodile does not eat the plover because the plover is ensuring the health of the crocodile, by removing debris that could cause infection while cleaning the crocodile’s teeth. This type of symbiosis is needed for me to find balance in a loving relationship… and this type of symbiosis is something I have with you.

Throat – I talk… About elevation and inner strength. My communication is filled with my desire to help others to rise above their tragedies and hardships and find the positives both in their situations and within themselves. This is something I desire and love, but I also accept that not everyone is ready to let go and move on.  Sometimes, you just have to ‘hold space’ for them.  Holding space is not my greatest strength, but to find balance in this area of my life, it’s something I need to work on.

Third Eye – I see… Possibilities within impossibility.  To find balance in the area of my intuition and creativity, it’s important to allow myself the freedom to get lost in my imagination and let it carry me away into a land of possibilities far removed from “the box” of conformity.  Anything is possible… I just have to imagine it, and then act.

Crown – I understand… The connection between light and dark. I know and I understand the differences between right and wrong.  My moral compass is strong and sure, and is swirled through with as well as heavily connected to my intuition.  Balance in the area of my deeper knowledge and my intuition relies on this connection and upon the clear and strong readings my moral compass provides me.

DECK USED:  DIXIT CARDS v4 ORIGINS EXPANSION PACK

Looking Out the Windows

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Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long, and was another of the harps strings meditations with interval timer of chimes to help me through the stretching part of the process. It was very relaxing, and as often seems to happen these days when I meditate, I ended up in a bit of a nap afterward. Just saying? But having fruit in the house was a real motivator to get me going as well surprisingly. I was very eager to make myself my berry smoothie, so when I woke up there was no dawdling at all.

Herbcrafter's TarotToday’s draw is the Four of Earth (Four of Pentacles) which is traditionally a representation of stability in hearth and home, finances and resources, as well as one’s health and manifestation goals.  This can also easily turn into a negative card if one takes that stability too far and becomes miserly or overly focused.

Although basket weaving is in the forefront and represents home and hearth to me as well as taking care of those you love, what really stood out to me today is the willow in the background. Medically speaking, its properties include use as an astringent and fever reducer, and the salicin in its bark is the active ingredient in aspirin.   Metaphysically, this tree is considered a sheltering protector and is associated with immortality through it’s reproductive abilities.

What I see as the message in today’s card is a combination of what sits in the foreground, and the willow that drew my eye to the background.  The willow is a protective tree.  It shelters many secrets within its shady embrace and protects them from discovery and harm.  So too does the Four of Earth offer protection through the sheltering protection of stability.

Just don’t get so focused upon that shelter that you forget to look beyond it.

DECK USED:  HERBCRAFTER’S TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJuly Challenge Prompt
Topic:  I’m so burnt out all the time.
Question:  What can I do to remind myself that rest is important before I’m in desperate need of it?

Star Seeker Tarot

Reading Summary: Learn to recognize the signs (Page of Swords), and then seize steady and rooted control (King of Pentacles) to keep things balanced by using the tools at your disposal (The Magician).

Take Away: To make sure that I’m staying on top of when I need rest and when it is most important to my health and well being, I need to pay attention to the signs and not ignore them as I usually do.  Instead, I need to take them seriously and use them as a trigger to bring my responsible self forward and do what needs done to solve the problem before it becomes detrimental to me.

DECK USED:  STAR SEEKER TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJul2020 Challenge Prompt
Question:  Do Spread #2
How can I make sure that I don’t backslide in my emotional growth from this year?

Dixit Cards v4 Origins Expansion PackReading Summary: The combination of colors that coincide with each other in the second and third cards, connect these cards together, whereas the complete difference in colors and shapes through the first card in relation to the other two mark it as an outlier.

In the first two cards we have a crazily swirling sea with lots of unknown monsters in the dark, and yet the child sleeps and the sailor continues to row his boat.  This indicates a need to accept that uncertainty happens.  The world within the spin of a roulette like wheel then continues that theme, saying that that the presence of uncertainty in life is a part how the world works.

The outlier card, stands alone, separate from the other two by form and shape, subject matter and colors. The figures are packed and moving on…. and this indicates that the uncertainty indicated in the other two cards does not mean that you can just pack up and walk away.

Take Away: The cards here indicate that my biggest hurdle to trigger backsliding is emotional turbulence and uncertainty.  My natural response to these things is to close up and turn inward, retreating from others and the world in order to pull up my “walls” and hide behind them.   In order to keep from backsliding in my emotional growth, I need to accept that uncertainty is a part of life and that retreating from it solves nothing.  Don’t run away, stay and see things through instead.

DECK USED:  DIXIT CARD v4 ORIGINS EXPANSION PACK

#OwlandBonesJuly Challenge by Owl and Bones Tarot
Question:  what you project // what you take in // what lies deep within

Animism Tarot

What I Project – The High Priestess – Mystery in the knowledge of secrets. I found this card to be an interesting response to this question, but at the same time, it also makes sense considering my background and knowledge garnered from being a life-long pagan, fortune teller, and witch.  I think it’s more the “secret” part of the answer that gave me pause, as I’m always so willing to be open about my history and my knowledge, should anyone want to ask.

What I Take In – Nine of Wands – Energy.  I take in the energy of others, which is often defensive.  I didn’t realize this until recently when Kev did my Human Design System reading. A good deal of the reading rang true, and that included the part about my struggle to connect with others. When I rub people the wrong way, I feel that deeply as it is reflected back to me.  I’ve considered restructuring my shielding to deflect this, but I find the input helpful.

What Lies Deep Within – Five of Pentacles – Depression and pessimism.  As I mentioned in yesterday’s reading, I’m upfront about the fact that I deal with depression and have done so throughout my life… and yet when a depressive episode comes upon me, I work to hide it both from others as well as myself.  My pessimism is something I also try to hide, although it more often becomes apparent during times when I’m feeling especially grouchy.  These things live deep within me, and although I struggle with them and try to fight against them when they rise up?  I don’t think they can really be abolished so much as… managed.

DECK USED:  ANIMISM TAROT