Phantasmagoric Theater Tarot

Creativity and Joy

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IMG_5033Today’s meditation was just under eleven minutes long and was a guided meditation that worked through connecting the heart and your emotions to first flesh, then muscle, then bone, before then turning it outward to radiate from you.

It was a really interesting progression that I’ve never tried before, and I found it relaxing, which is surprising considering how damn bad my back is hurting today.

Herbal Tarot - Eight of Pentacles - GingerToday’s draw is the Eight of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of hard earned expertise and hard work in the areas of one’s finances, resources, health, home, and manifestations.  This is a card about personal skills and strengths.

What stood out to me the strongest in the imagery on first seeing this card today is the new shoots on the ginger root, and the hammer in the man’s hand.

Zingiber officinale (aka Ginger) is a stimulant that gets the blood moving and, as a result, warms the body. Unlike with the Wild Ginger of yesterday, this herb has a full body effect instead of focusing directly upon the pelvic region.  The metaphysical properties are also about warmth and spark, as the herb is often used to stimulate one’s talents and spark one’s motivation.

The message in today’s card is about allowing my spark to combine with my talents to manifest something new.  It’s about developing one’s skills, and creating something new from that effort of development.  This is about working on the wood burning, and about making time to not just develop my skills, but to enjoy the process of creation.

DECK USED:  HERBAL TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJune Challenge Prompt
Question: Where have I grown that deserves more recognition from my conscious self?

Nicoletta Ceccoli Tarot

Reading Summary: Both figures in the outside cards face towards the center, giving me a sense of self-awareness, where in the center card the girl’s eyes are closed and it appears she has turned inward to find calm among the chaos of dark tangles around here which indicates having found an inner calm and centering.  This centering is not disrupted by outside influences (the movement and action going on in the two outer cards), nor by my own inner critic (indicated by the whip in the hand of the rider on the left card, and the lack of organization in the blocks and toys in the background of the card on the right).

Take Away: The growth that I’ve experienced that I need to give myself more credit for is that I’ve become better at centering myself and staying mindful in times of chaos and distraction.   I’m more aware of, and thus more able to tune out, the negative influences around me.   This isn’t to say I don’t have a long way to go… only that I’ve also come a long way already.

DECK USED:  NICOLETTA CECCOLI TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJun2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I go about lightening up in these areas? (Built off yesterday’s cards.)

Phantasmagoric Theater TarotReading Summary: I need to find more time for others (Three of Cups) and more joy in including them in my path (Two of Cups).  Allow them to take care of me sometimes, and allow myself to be nurtured not just by others, but by myself as well (The Empress).

Take Away: What I take myself too seriously on is my focus on stability.  The cards here indicate that I need to try to frame stability in a different way, and realize that there’s more to stability than hard work and finances.

Stability is also about my connection with others, and their connection with me.  The love they provide is a comfort and can take the place of some of that obsession I feel towards my current view of stability and need to push myself so hard to obtain it.

DECK USED:  PHANTASMAGORIC THEATER TAROT

#TheJuneTarot Challenge by Lionhart
Question: What can I embrace in support of my strengths?

Golden Girls Tarot

Reading Summary: Remember that starting over is okay (Ten of Swords) and it makes you stronger than you were the first time around (King of Swords). You need a little temptation , and the joy that comes from that temptation (The Devil), in order to obtain emotional fulfillment (Ten of Cups).

Take Away: Okay… so this one is a big one to unpack.  The thing is that how I view stability and security at the moment needs to be reevaluated.  This is indicated above in the Tarotholics reading, but it’s reinforced here in the mention of starting over through reassessment in order to become stronger… as well as the presence of the Ten of Cups, which indicates I need to try and ease my focus from the Ten of Pentacles as my goal to more of a Ten of Cups goal instead.

Both are fulfillment and both represent stability, but the Cups provides an emotional element that includes connecting to others and allowing their support, which is something I’m currently lacking in my Ten of Pentacles view of stability and security.   The Devil card in this reading is a reminder not to be ashamed of the things that bring you joy.  It’s okay to have those enjoyments and take pleasure in them as long as they are not becoming a detriment to your goals. 

DECK USED:  GOLDEN GIRLS TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: How can I cut through the noise and get to what’s important?

Everyday Witch Tarot

Reading Summary: Take the first step beyond planning (Three of Wands). Choose a direction and step off the teeter totter (Two of Pentacles Rx). Follow what is stirring your interest at this time and claim these interests as yours (Queen of Wands).

Take Away: Stop waffling.  Stop screwing around and sitting on my ass thinking about what I need to do to make the changes I want to make. Take the first step and lose yourself in the process of passionate creation.  Wallow in the joy that comes from manifestation through creative expression.   In other words?  Stop focusing so damned much on work and allow yourself to ease up on that tight-ass grip of yours and have some damned fun already.

DECK USED:  EVERYDAY WITCH TAROT

 

Cleansing Breaths

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IMG_5009Today’s meditation was a little over ten minutes long, and I chose to go with a guided meditation today.  The topic of the meditation was a guidance on one of the methods used to deal with invasive thoughts during your meditation practice.   I think that the quote in the graphic to the right covers that really well.  The method involves opting to acknowledge the thoughts that intrude rather than trying to push them away.   Instead, you recognize that you were thinking, and what it was about… but you don’t allow it to suck you into a dialogue.  Instead, you identify the rabbit hole as a rabbit hole and step over it.

Herbal Tarot - Three of Swords - Pleurisy RootToday’s draw is the Three of Swords, which is traditionally a representation of themes that have to do with disappointment, heartbreak, grief, and other forms of emotional hurt.

I used to feel that the Sword suit was a strange place for this card, as the Swords are supposed to be about thought, intellect, and communication. But, over time I’ve come to understand that it is not the heart or the emotions that spur these feelings represented in the card. Instead, it is the mind that spur these feelings… and the heart that then feels them.   Since the feelings are spawned from the mind, it then makes sense to me that they are in the Sword suit.

What stands out to me the strongest in the imagery of this card today is the two seed pots that are in the process of falling on the left side of the card.  These seed pods speak to me of renewal, while the plant depicted in this card speaks to me of purging.  Asclepias tuberosa (pleurisy root) is an expectorant, diuretic, and diaphoretic.  It very literally forces the body to purge itself of toxins and its spiritual uses are very similar.

Combined with the traditional meaning of the card, the message that I find here today is about letting go.  It’s about releasing the issues and problems, the bad thoughts and negativity.   Let go of the “can’ts” and the “this sucks” and instead embrace that sometimes things are difficult and sometimes they hurt… but that is temporary.   Once you’ve had a moment to wallow in those negative feelings, it’s time to let them go and keep moving.  Take a deep, cleansing breath and reach for a new start.

DECK USED:  HERBAL TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJune Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I invite more compassionate energy into myself?

Tarot Mood

Reading Summary: Let go of so much of the juggling (Two of Pentacles Rx). Balance out the feminine and masculine energies that are threaded through your emotions (King of Cups and Queen of Cups). Understand this is just one leg on a long journey (The World).

Take Away: You know, I hadn’t actually considered that there might be a bit of imbalance going on in the emotions I’m trying to become more comfortable with and that may be why I’m struggling with it.   It’s something I need to delve into and look at more closely, but the message from the cards rings true. The message in the Two of Pentacles and the World are not new and something that has been repeated often as a reminder lately, and are things that I am actively working on and keeping in mind.

DECK USED:  TAROT MOOD

#DiscordTarotholicsJun2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Philosophical Question: Does fate exist?

Tarot for DandelionsReading Summary: We move slowly along our path (Knight of Pentacles), making the wisest decisions and judgements that we can along the way (King of Swords), and determined to do the best that we can towards what sparks our passions (Queen of Wands) with the tools we have (Magician).

Take Away: Although I’m not sure that I agree with this answer, the answer in the cards says that no… fate does not exist.  These cards speak of autonomy, personal choice, and control over one’s path and one’s future.  There is nothing in these cards indicating a lack of control, nor direction being placed in the hands of fate.

Side note:  Yes, I covered the nipples on the Queen. These posts on my blog are backed up on Tumblr, which has a very strict “no female nipples” policy.  So I try to make sure I cover the nips when they’re visible just to make sure I don’t get booted off that platform. I think that also may be a policy on IG as well (although I’m not 100% certain on that one).

DECK USED:  TAROT FOR DANDILIONS

#TheJuneTarot Challenge by Lionhart
Question: Draw a card and let it serve as a reminder of something good about this very moment.

Phantasmagoric Theater Tarot - Seven of SwordsReading Summary: I’m not the one cleaning the bathrooms. I essentially logic’d my way out of doing the task myself and foisted it off on L.

Take Away: I mean seriously… who the hell wants to clean bathrooms. It’s a miserable experience and it’s something I usually pay others to do for me.  L and Z have essentially put it off on their chore list until it was the last thing, and then tried to skip it to start over on the list.  So, yeah.   I pointed out that the bathrooms needed cleaning and I’d already wiped down the ceilings for them, so they needed to finish it.

So!  We have clean bathrooms!

DECK USED:  PHANTASMAGORIC THEATER TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: How can I live in abundance?

Tarot of MetamorphosisReading Summary: Make the most of what you have (Queen of Pentacles) and be grateful for it rather than constantly focusing on getting more (Temperance).

Take Away:  Abundance comes in one’s perception and there is no “line” or “enough” to where a line can be drawn to say that you’ve made it.  It’s about finding the things that make you happy and help you feel complete and fulfilled, and appreciating them instead of constantly looking for more.   This is what the cards reflect here.   Find those things in life that make you happy and fulfill you now… and you are already there.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF METAMORPHOSIS