Kindness Isn’t a Roadblock

I’ve managed to fall behind again… and I can’t remember whether I meditated on the 6th or not. So I’ll leave this empty this time around (and tomorrow too) as I finish up these posts that got started… but never published on the blog.

Traditional Manga Tarot - Queen of PentaclesToday’s draw is the Queen of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of a receptive alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s finances, home life, health, resources, and manifestations.

What stands out to me the strongest in the imagery of this card today is the way that the woman holds onto the coin/pentacle/disc. She holds that disc much as a woman holds her unborn child when it is still tucked within her womb.

The message here is about nurturing growth.  It’s about the fact that manifestation of those things you want to create will come more smoothly, more healthily, and far easier if you add a bit of nurturing warmth to the process of getting there.

DECK USED:  TRADITIONAL MANGA TAROT

LionHart’s As Above So Below Challenge Prompt
Rising Sign Question
: How does the world around me perceive me right now?

Bosch Tarot

Reading Summary: Easy to work with and align with (Two of Cups), able to lead the way with other’s new emotional investments (Ace of Chalices), the governing body over chaos and conflict (The Emperor) there to save the day when needed (Seven of Swords Rx).  Something within the warmth of the cups cards also indicates that they think I’m nicer than I really am.

Take Away:  Apparently the world around me sees me as understanding and admirable, and more approachable than I realize.  A leader willing to help others and work with others, but able to put my foot down when its needed.  

DECK USED:  BOSCH TAROT

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

Sweeney TarotReading Summary: When you’re feeling lost (Five of Pentacles) and internally chaotic (The Tower Rx), your friends are there to help point the way and lead you forward (King of Wands).

Take Away: The advice here is that I can trust my friends and loved ones to know where I want to go and the ambitions I want to fulfill, and to help nudge me forward and keep me going even when I feel lost in the weeds of my own inner chaos.  Sometimes it can be hard, during those times, to see beyond the inner conflict, but I can safely trust those that love me to help keep me from falling off my desired path entirely.

DECK USED:  SWEENEY TAROT

Self Care for Sustainability

IMG_6456Today’s meditation was just under twelve minutes long and was another of the guided meditations with interval timer.   This guided meditations was one of my favorite types.  That is to say, it was one of the yoga nidra full body scans that starts at the top of the head and slowly moves through each of the body’s parts from head to toe, focusing on sensation and relaxation one body part at a time.

These meditations are very relaxing for me, and they also have the added benefit of allowing me to find problem areas in my body that need a little extra stretching or care.

There was also a small speech at the end about how to increase one’s focus so that you can tune out distractions, but… to be fair?  I wasn’t really listening to what she was saying, because I was enjoying the music that was playing in the background.

Hush Tarot - Queen of PentaclesToday’s draw is the Queen of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of a receptive alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s finances, resources, home, health, and manifestations.  This often translates into themes of nurturing energy that holds the weight of responsibility for others.

In the imagery of this card today, what I see is the “bride of dandelions”.  A beautiful and earthy queen that does not have time to dawdle but will make the time to care for and support those that are important to her.

The dandelions are a reminder that when you take care of others, you must also care for yourself, and that is the message in today’s card.  Without caring for yourself, you are unable to care for others.  Don’t forget that.  Self care sustains us and helps us in everything we do and everything we want to do… not just for ourselves, but for others as well.

DECK USED:  HUSH TAROT

#Zentember #LovelyHealing Challenge Prompt
Question
: How to strengthen my personal power?

Tyldwick Tarot

Reading Summary:  Connect to the optimism you have been fostering (The Star) and bring it into your work and expertise (Eight of Coins) in order to kindle the strength of your passions (Ace of Wands)

Take Away:  In order to strengthen my personal power I need to make sure I’m not allowing myself to fall into old pessimistic habits.  Optimism is not easy for me, but it is healthy for me and opens me up to opportunities  because begins to filter into my work.   As this positivity slips into my work, it lightens and brightens the end products I produce, all the while inspiring me to create new beautiful things.

DECK USED:  TYLDWICK TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsSep2020 Challenge Prompt
Topic
: Write something free form inspired by the cards.

Hardy TarotThere was once a young woman that was fed up with her husband’s behavior and decided she’d had enough. He no longer brought her flowers or wrote her love letters, and all he seemed to do these days was work and sleep.  With her heart on her sleeve and her emotions driving her, she gathered up their two children and left him behind, striking out on her own to find something better. (Eight of Cups)

For a while, the freedom of her new life on her own with her children was glorious.  She wallowed in the new life that independence brought into her life and busily went about making a new home for herself and her children. (Page of Cups)

Soon, though, the newness of it all wore off and she found herself constantly overbooked and overburdened.  She came to realize that her husband provided her with more than just love, but also support.  Support that she had not realized he provided until she was left without it and had to carry all of the responsibility on her own shoulders. (Ten of Wands)

DECK USED:  HARDY TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What is my favourite mantra?

Tarot of the Secret Forest

Reading Summary:  Don’t allow outer conflict to crush your inner spirit, instead take comfort in those that love you and the security and stability of home.

Take Away:  This was an interesting question and although I’m not sure this translated directly into a mantra?  I think what the cards did here was just as clear.   The thing is, when I feel like I need to crawl into a corner and “lick my wounds” after conflict?  It can be hard to deal with reality… because all I really want to do is go find a rock to hide under.

This isn’t unusual, and is pretty common with a lot of people.  But it’s important to remember that too much alone time is a bad thing, especially when feeling down.   So instead, I need to make sure I’m reaching out to others to get their support, not just in making the world feel okay again… but in emotional support to help soothe my suffering.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE SECRET FOREST

Self Care… Even in Chaos

Today’s meditation was just over fourteen minutes long, and focused on the body and how when you place your focus solely upon a place of discomfort or pain, sometimes it your perception of that pain will ease and cause the pain to feel as if it dissipates.

By the same turn, by focusing on something beyond the pain, you can also allow it to ease into the background, which will allow it to feel as if it is dissipating as well.

These are mental tricks that I was already familiar with.  Due to the car accident in my late teens and the resulting surgeries that allowed me mobility and functionality after so much damage, I have done a great deal of exploration in pain management techniques over the years.  In fact, it’s one of the major benefits I’ve found of keeping up a regular meditation practice.

Queen of Pentacles - Tarot of the Unknown Today’s draw is the Queen of Pentacles, which is a representation of a receptive alpha energy, personality, or person in the areas of finance, resources, manifestation, and the physical world.

I accidentally missed my meditation the other day, and then nearly again last night (I ended up taking them a few hours late, but I didn’t miss the dose entirely).

With the holiday rush picking up and me going through the adjustment period into this time of the year, it can be hard to keep track of everything that needs done, and the first thing to fall to the side is my self care.  The appearance of the Queen of Pentacles in today’s draw is a reminder to make sure I’m taking care of myself and not letting self-care fall to the wayside.

Deck Used:  Tarot of the Unknown

Bonus Reading – #TarotForGrowthNovember

Question: How can I better recognize whether a new idea is worth chasing?

Badger’s Forest Tarot Reading Summary:  This reading is a 100% intuitive hit off of card imagery (rather than read by traditional interpretation of the suits)… If I’m feeling overwhelmed (Ten of Badgers) and like it’s me against the world (Seven of Badgers), then I am doing myself a disservice by taking on more at that time (Seven of Rabbits).

Take Away:  I am bombarded by ideas ALL the time, and I have a lot of projects on the go at once no matter the time of year or what’s going on in my life.  This doesn’t just include jewelry design ideas, but also other types of crafts and art and miscellaneous other endeavors.   The problem comes when I have too many projects on the go, and the new ideas continue to keep coming.  The drive and passion to explore EVERY idea can make me start to feel not just overwhelmed but as if everything is crashing in on me.  The cards are a reminder that it’s okay to let some of them go, or to write them down for later on down the road rather than taking them all on in the moment.

(This answer actually came as a bit of a surprise, as I was anticipating an answer about the quality of said ideas, which is not at all the direction this reading took.)

Deck Used:  Badger’s Forest Tarot

 

The Bunny Rabbit

Today’s meditation was ten minutes and six seconds, and focused on reflecting upon those that have contributed to your life and assisted you in both the small ways and large ones in getting you to where you are now.

It began with a moment’s reflection on yourself and a mindful moment of gratitude for who you are and what you have, then upon those that have influenced your life and your path.

I am one of those people who feel that there is absolutely nothing in my past that I would change.  I feel that even the bad things that have happened have assisted in my growth and development, creating the man I am today, the moral compass that resides in my head, heart, and gut, as well as the circumstances I find myself in, which could always have turned out much worse.

One different choice, one slight step to the left or the right, and things would have changed… and perhaps not for the better.   I am grateful for what I have and for every day I’ve experienced, and every step along my path.  Without them, I would not be me, and…. not to sound egocentric, but I like who I am.

This mindset made today’s meditation focus very easy for me, and it was both a comforting and relaxing session.

Today’s draw is the Queen of Pentacles, which is a representation of…. loses his train of thought.

Bunny!

*Clearing his throat.*  Right, then.   The Queen of Pentacles is a representation of a receptive alpha energy, personality, or person in the areas of the physical world, resources, finances, and earthly delights.

Geez.. I’m really stuck on the bunny today.  OK… the bunny.  Lets do this by intuition today, then.

When this card came up today, she looked like she was sleeping on her throne instead of looking down at the pentacle she holds.  And then the bunny popped out of the picture for me and I haven’t been able to get my mind off of it since.

A common theme in the symbolism of rabbits is fertility.  Obviously, we aren’t going to take this literal, as… hello.  Only one nut and absolutely no ovaries to be seen over here, even if I was playing hide the sausage, which I am so not even going there.  Other definitions of fertility, though, include creativity and abundance.  And here is where today’s Queen of Pentacles is leading.

x9ii0fy4

I made a diagram for you, man, cuz I knew you were going to ask.

From the rabbit combined with the napping queen on her throne, the message I get from today’s card is to realize that I have enough and let up a little bit.   I have plenty, and everything is moving along just fine.  There is no need to kill myself with work or worry.  Relax.  Rest.  Restore.  And, once refreshed, head back at it with a new sense of energy and creativity.

I hear you, little bunny.  Loud and clear.

Deck Used: Student Tarot v5

 

Encouragement In the Face of Imbalance

Today’s meditation was ten minutes and twenty three seconds, and focused on the natural breath.

Most of the time when I meditate, I do yogic breathing. This means that my breaths are rhythmic and deep, with a full inhale to completely fill the lungs, then a full exhale until the lungs are empty before then repeating the process.

Today’s meditation was to focus on your natural breath, which I found oddly difficult to do. When I allow myself to breathe naturally without control, I find that my breathing is not particularly even, or very deep. And, like the observation effect in physics, it feels as if just by observing the natural breath (even as a passive observer), that the observation results in change.

Today’s draw is the Queen of Pentacles, which represents is a strong “feminine” energy, personality, or person that is both nurturing and practical in the areas of the physical world, money, and resources.

A lot of the times when I see a Queen card within a daily draw, it is a sign of praise for something that is happening or that I have accomplished. This is, of course, a very limited view and I believe that it is especially lacking in regard to today’s draw.

The appearance of the Queen of Pentacles today is telling me that, rather than having found a balance between work and home, it is something that I still need to work on.

I agree with that message, as I feel that I have had very little time with you lately. I’ve been so focused on trying to get back on track after the depression that had weighed me down for so long, and As a result I have been neglectful of you and your needs… and myself and my own needs where you are concerned.

The Queen of Pentacles presence in today’s draw tells me that I need to pay more attention to finding that balance that gives me the time and energy to work on my goals financially and otherwise, but also to spend time with you and nurture that “home” aspect of my life as well.

Sustaining Balance

Today’s meditation was fifteen minutes and fourteen seconds, and focused on the judgment we give to those thoughts that cycle repetitively through our minds.

The meditation was about one’s inner-dialogue, and how instead of just accepting what our mind comes up with, sometimes we need to stop and take a moment to examine these thoughts. How it is important to make sure that these thoughts are true, instead of just the party line we have always bought into, thoughts filtered through our emotions, or simply if they are just too harsh for whatever reason.

During meditation I don’t really have a lot of emotional connection with my thoughts, as my thoughts are more mental pictures of random things. But, this is something that I struggle with outside of meditation where I judge myself far more harshly than I’m sure others ever do.

Today’s draw is the Queen of Pentacles. This card represents a strong but nurturing energy, personality, or person in the area of the physical world, finance, or resources.

The Queen of Pentacles often refers to a balance between one’s home responsibilities and one’s work responsibilities, and I believe that’s what it represents for me in today’s draw.

I have goals that are nearly within reach, and I have a lot going on in my work life right now But, the Queen of Pentacles is a reminder that I am needed at home as well. Life requires balance, and it is important that I keep that in mind so that I don’t let things fall out of place and end up neglected.