self improvement

Self Care Saturday (on Sunday)

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SCS

Week five of accountability.  This is definitely working out for me, and I will continue it past the end of August.  Today, I would not have gotten my journaling done on this spread at all without the accountability of needing to post it here.  I’m well aware of that and that the reason I did it is because it needed to get put up here on the blog.

As I mentioned before, these 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 are not meant as a predictive reading.

The question is… What do I need to focus on in the week ahead?

Body – Four of Candles – Now is a time to focus on the progress made.  Do not let what is predictably a slow two weeks each year drag you down.  Celebrate how far you’ve come instead.

Mind – Five of Tomes – Don’t let worries and anxieties about finances and stability overrun me and blind me to options and methods that are there to assist when needed.

Emotions – Explorer of Bells – As the Five of Tomes speaks of keeping the mind open to possibilities and options, this one speaks of keeping oneself open to lessons of the “heart”.  Do not close yourself off, just make good choices.

Inner Spark – Nine of Bells – Do not let the cacophony of self doubt over the next week stunt your progress, no matter how distracting it may be.

Moving Away From – Subdrop… and thank god for that.  The feeling of being swallowed whole bhy the drop will soon pass.

Heading Toward – Self doubt and overly critical thinking directed at the self, especially in relation to my business and finances.

Moral of the Story – Relax and Breathe… It’s going to be okay.

Untitled-1Side note on last week’s Self Care Saturday:

You see this card from last week?  You see that devil there, invisible but on the leash?   I know what that is now.

That is the motherf’king subdrop… walking so nicely beside me, hidden but there. But it’s not on a leash at all. Just when I thought I had it under control, it jumped up and bit me on the ass.

Just sayin’.

Decks Used: Numinous Tarot, Dixit Quest Expansion Pack #2

Self Care Saturday (on Sunday)

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SCS

Week two of accountability on my Self Care Saturday spread in order to foster the motivation to write it down instead of just reading the spread, taking a picture, and moving on.

As mentioned before, these 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 not meant as a predictive reading.

The question is… What do I need to focus on in the week ahead?

Body – Temperance – I need to keep an eye on what I’m doing to my body this week and take care to practice balance and moderation with both my physical activity and what I’m using as fuel.  Don’t hurt myself by pushing too hard.

Mind – Two of Rods & Ace of Cups – There are some decisions that I need to make concerning what direction I want to take my creativity for the week.  The new project that I’m considering will bring me joy, but I need to be careful not to overload myself. (In other words, make a choice on what to focus on instead of putting all my fish on to fry at once.)

Emotions – Three of Pentacles – This is the 2nd time that this card has appeared in a reading for me in the past two days, and both times it has appeared in the position of the heart/emotions.  This is all about learning some new skills and flexing my creative “muscles” while putting in the work to manifest my idea into reality.  This ties directly into the new project idea mentioned above.

Inner Spark – King of Pentacles – Very clear here. Grab the reins, Be the Boss. Do It.

Moving Away From – Stripping Illusions & Grounding – It’s time to strip away my second guessing and self doubt.  Stop holding myself back and pushing down the ideas that have been brewing.

Heading Towards – Growth & Psychic Development – Although the question for this reading didn’t direct me towards the project that I was considering, it appears that’s the direction that it went in anyway.  It’s time to grow, move forward, and follow where my intuition is leading me.

Decks Used: Anna K Tarot, Shamanic Healing Oracle

 

Cast Them Overboard

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes and sixteen seconds, and focused on the practice of bringing gratitude into your everyday life.  

Sometimes, especially when we are feeling down, gratitude is something that is hard to get in touch with.  But, there are always things to be grateful for, even if it’s simply the fact that when you wake up in the morning you are being presented with another chance to make life better.

I am planning to do a post soon concerning my own daily gratitude practice, so I won’t wax poetic on this topic here, but suffice to say that I absolutely agree with the need to bring gratitude into each and every day.  I feel that it is uplifting to the spirit and soul to find -something- with which to be truly grateful for at the beginning of each day.

Today’s draw is the Six of Swords, which is a representation of transitions and change in the area of thoughts, ambitions, communication, and logic.

The representation of the Six of Swords in the card is a depiction of someone moving away in a boat, but carrying six swords in the boat behind them on their journey.   These swords often represent old thoughts and mindsets, past experiences and old lessons that the person on the journey is carrying with them into the future.

The tips of these swords are down, embedded in the bottom of the boat…. a type of craft you don’t really want to have holes in it.  To me, this often means that these thoughts and mindsets from the past that the individual is bringing with them on this journey to new horizons are not of a positive nature.   They are the thoughts and mindsets of the past and are a detriment to progress on this journey.

I’ve been having a lot of dreams lately where the theme of the dreams is my victimization.  They do not specifically have G in them, or G’s friend for that matter, but the feelings within the dream are very similar even if the subject matter is not.   From these dreams I have been involuntarily carrying into waking hours a sense of anxiety and negativity.

Today’s draw of the Six of Swords is telling me to let go of my swords and cast them overboard… before they sink my boat.   Don’t ignore the negativity that is dug up by the dreams, but deal with it and discard it.

 

Instinct vs Intuition

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and was focused on working on the inner self.  It discussed how society is so focused upon the external progress, that we often forget about working on our inner selves where our emotions, instincts, and sense of self lives.

To me, this related to the importance of shadow work, and the necessity of knowing yourself.  Not just the parts of yourself you want to know or accept, or believe that others will accept… but knowing your whole self, including those dark and secret parts you don’t want to acknowledge or admit to.

Today’s draw is the Two of Swords, which is a representation of duality, division, and choices in the area of intellect, the mind, logic, communication, and instinct.   It is a card that deals with making choices, and trusting your perceptions and instincts (as opposed to intuition) to choose the path that is right for you.

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Instinct and intuition are often confused with each other, perhaps because they both speak from a very similar place (your gut).   Instinct indicates that your subconscious is gathering outside data and steering you in relation to that data and one’s genetic dispositions.  Intuition is more esoteric.  It is the “just knowing” that sparks regardless of external input, instead of because of it.

Or, at least, that was how it was explained to me.

Because most people feel both of these through their “gut” or solar plexus, they are easily confused and intermeshed together, and I am no different.   In truth, I don’t care which is which when I feel it in the moment.  I only care that I felt it and react accordingly.   Later on, though, I (we?) often sit back and pick apart these reactions (if not doing it in the moment already), and even then it can be difficult to discern which was in action at the time.

Oops sorry…. wandered off topic.

The Two of Swords… Instinct and decision making.   A choice.

This card represents when there is a choice present that needs to be made, but the scales are level as to which seems the right one to go with.

The Two of Sword’s appearance in today’s draw is a reminder that when such difficult choices arise, it is important to take in all of the pros and cons of each situation, but JUST as important to listen to your instincts.  Bringing in as much information as possible will assist your inner voice of instinct in having all of the information it needs to steer  you in the right direction.

The key?   Don’t discount that voice when it speaks or disregard what it has to say… no matter how much you may want to at the time.

 

An Ode to Intuition

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and focused on intuition and the importance of listening to your inner voice, and how when you foster mindfulness through both meditation as well as your life in general, it assists in giving that inner voice a bit of a boost.

This meditation theme goes very well with today’s daily draw.

Today’s draw is the second card in the Major Arcana, the High Priestess.  This card is a representation of intuition, the subconscious, spirituality, and the sacred feminine.  It is a card in the Major Arcana, which deals with one’s spiritual journey and life paths, rather than any one aspect of the human experience.  In this case, it deals with intuition and that inner voice that whispers from the subconscious.

Have you ever noticed that your gut reaction is always right?  I’m not talking about the stuff you’re taught by others, or lessons you’ve learned along the way, or habits you happen to pick up… I’m talking about that gut reaction right at the beginning, before thought even factors in.  That moment… that fraction of a second when your mind and reasoning is not engaged and it’s all about instinct and intuition.

It’s always right.  We might end up disagreeing with it, or second-guessing. But, that combination of instinct and intuition is always right if you listen to it instead of overthinking it or reverting back to preconceive notion‘s and learned ideals.

This is the instance of that internal debate of “should I or shouldn’t I” when your first gut reaction is that you shouldn’t… but, you do it anyway because you want to. Then, later, you wonder why it turned out badly?   Well, you knew in your gut at the start it was a bad idea and you chose to ignore your inner voice.

This is the situation where instinct and intuition tell you to stay away from someone… but you reason to yourself that you are being unfair, or that that feeling is baseless. And then, later on down the road, you learn a painful lesson by getting hurt by them.  Yet if you’d listen to that first instinct and intuition, you’d have either known what was coming and been prepared, or avoided the pain all together.

These initial reactions from your inner voice are a combination of intuition and instinct, and they are often discounted and disregarded by most people. But, the fact is that they can be a useful tool, and the more that you listen to them the more they will flourish and grow.

The High Priestess card speaks of this.  Of listening to those inner voices and allowing them to grow.  To strengthen.  To assist you and guide you along your life’s path.  The more you listen and respect the messages that your instincts and intuition offer up, the more you’ll hear.  As a result, over time, those messages will become clearer, and easier to recognize and understand.

 

 

Back to Basics

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes and ten seconds, and focused on the uselessness of blame and its origins in anger. It outlined a variety of options and ideas for how to work past that anger that resides at the seat of blame, and redirect ownership of situations to a place of problem resolution rather than stewing and pointing fingers.

Today’s draw is the 5th card in the Major Arcana, the Hierophant. As with all of the Major Arcana, this card deals with personal development and spiritual evolution, rather than any one aspect of the human experience.

The Hierophant is a representation of tradition, institutions, spiritual paths, and teacher/student relationships. The appearance of this card in today’s draw is an indication that it is a good time to consider the traditions, rituals, and practices of my spiritual path, and perhaps do a little research and reach out to a mentor.

I have been very closed off throughout the spring, and I spent a good portion of June focused inward, getting myself back “on track” after my depression came to an end. The Hierophant speaks of turning one’s focus outward in order to either teach or learn, therefore, the card is also a reminder to keep myself open to learning from and/or mentoring others.