Seven of Wands

Passion’s Emmenagogue

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and was one of the harp string meditations.  It was nice and quiet, although I might have dozed off just a bit.   I need to find a way to stop dozing off during meditation that doesn’t include crashing me out of the relaxed peace I find.   I’d say set myself an alarm, but that would definitely defeat the whole meditation purpose because alarms give me an adrenaline spike.  I’ll figure something out.

Herbal Tarot - Seven of Wands - Wild GingerToday’s draw is the Seven of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of progress through determination,  perseverance, and the meeting of challenges head on.

What really stood out the strongest to me today in the imagery of this card is the confident and determined expression on the figure’s face, and the defensive hold on the wand in their hands.

Asarum canadense (Wild Ginger) is an emmenagogue, which means that it helps stimulate blood circulation in the area of the sacral chakra. As with many plants, it’s medical use is tied into its spiritual use, and on the spiritual side of things, wild ginger is a plant that is used to create a spark of warmth in the heart, inspiring bravery and tenacity when confronting obstacles in our path.

The message here in today’s card is a combination of the imagery that stood out so strongly to me, and the meaning behind the wild ginger. The message today is about knowing what your goals are and standing strong concerning them regardless of whatever criticism or hurdles stand in your way.

DECK USED:  HERBAL TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJune Challenge Prompt
Question: What emotions am I being invited to feel more fully?

Bleu Cat Tarot

Reading Summary: Gratitude and contentment in a solitary manner (Nine of Balls). Patience for gradual change (Death), and the awareness that there are many paths before me and I will need to make my choice again and again (Seven of Fishes).

Take Away:  The emotion portrayed through these cards as one of comfort. Everything’s going to be okay, and you’re not being forced into anything. Just relax, enjoy the ride while staying focused on what you want to happen as things change along the way.

DECK USED:  BLEU CAT TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJun2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: As an adult, where do I take myself too seriously?

Brady TarotReading Summary: I spend too much time focusing on building up stability in my life (Ten of Roots) rather than having a good time (Six of Horns).  There’s room for both, you just need to work out how (Daughter of Arrows).

Take Away: I spend a great deal of my time focused on stability.  Home stability.  Financial stability.  Resource stability.  These things are a near obsession for me and they definitely are something that I take very seriously. So seriously that somewhere along the line I’ve ended up losing touch with much of the fun and enjoyment that life has to offer.

Part of the efforts I’m trying to make over this spring and summer have to do with finding a better balance between that obsession with stability that creates a constant concerning my responsibilities and obligations… and giving myself the room and freedom to experience a bit more joy and enjoyment. I know it is possible to fit them both into my life so that they can coexist.

DECK USED:  BRADY TAROT

#TheJuneTarot Challenge by Lionhart
Question: Draw a card while repeating “I am my own personal power” and share how the card reinforces this concept.

Dame Darcy's Mermaid Tarot - Queen of SwordsAs much as I don’t wan to be like my mother, there are certain times (and in certain ways) that I am.

I am analytical. I am intelligent. I am cunning. I know how to handle myself and others in strategic ways when needed. I know how to get where I want to go.

These are all things that I have in common with my mother.  The difference is that I choose to use these strengths in a positive manner.

DECK USED:  DAME DARCY’S MERMAID TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What is my unique purpose?

Lily Stone Marseille Tarot

Reading Summary: To seek out more depth in life (Judgement) beyond what lies on the surface (Four of Cups), and persevere through the struggles thrown in my path (Seven of Wands).

Take Away: The cards here speak of what I’ve often felt was the meaning of my life.  That is to say, that my life is meant to be one of struggles and strife and hardship… and the reason for this is because I need to learn how to take one’s blows and move forward through them, coming out better on the other side.   I need to see each struggle or event as a learning experience, and find not just the lesson that is within them, but something positive about them that helps me move forward and be a better person in some way.

DECK USED:  STONE MARSEILLE TAROT

 

Caution and Defense

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was non existent not because I didn’t try to do it, but because within barely a minute of getting settled into the meditation… I fell asleep.   The nice part of that?  Was that it was out in the field on the farm, which felt really refreshing when I woke up, regardless of the fact that I didn’t actually get the meditation part in.

Seven of Flame - Seven of Swords - Stolen Child TarotToday’s draw is the Seven of Flame (Seven of Wands) which is traditionally a representation of themes that have to do with standing up for oneself, as well as conflict for the purpose of defense and protection.

Aww, look at the little vtiligo child. I really love this imagery and the inclusion that’s involved in this deck as a whole. I love that it also wasn’t billed as an inclusive deck, either, and yet is very much exactly that.

What really stood out to me in this card’s imagery today has to do with the tender flesh of the child among all those long, sharp tusks.   And yet the child remains unharmed even as the narwhal swim and circle.   It speaks to me of treading lightly so that you don’t hurt those more vulnerable than yourself.

This can be true even when using words as opposed to tusks.  Those you care about deserve the added care to make sure you don’t hurt them unintentionally.  I think we all do that sometimes, say something and it just comes out wrong either in tone or words, and hurt people as a response… but that fact that we all do it sometimes? It doesn’t mean that it’s not important to still take care.  Just as the narwhal take care with the child so that they don’t cause harm.

DECK USED:  STOLEN CHILD TAROT

#TarotForGrowthApril Challenge Prompt
Question: What opportunity do I have to support others?

Considerate Cat Tarot

Intuitive Interpretation:  Providing perspective on “tower moment” situations in order to allow others to see that change happens and is necessary is one of my greatest strengths that I can share with others. Just remember that sometimes that message is not going to be well received, no matter how well intended or how much they may need to hear it.

Take Away:  Sometimes I get a bit frustrated when I run up against those walls others put up.  Walls used to stay miserable and wallow in the negative, yeah?  It is a struggle for me to just… accept that they truly want or need to wallow in that.  The cards here address that in the last two cards, reminding me that as I share my gifts with others and make efforts to lift them up, there will always be those that choose to remain where they are, no matter how bad that spot they’re in mentally or emotionally may suck.  The opportunity here is to remember to focus on those that will welcome my help, and leave the others to their own devices.

DECK USED:  CONSIDERATE CAT TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: When do I criticize myself most often?

Bunny Tarot

Reading Summary: When I’m feeling as if I’m falling behind or struggling to keep up (Five of Cups) and my intuition has fizzled out as a result (High Priestess), I lose the ability to take possession (Emperor) of my emotions as they arise (Ace of Cups) and my inner critic pounces forward to pick and probe at my vulnerabilities.

Take Away:  My struggle to understand my emotions and deal with them in a healthy manner is one of my greatest vulnerabilities.  As a result, when negative emotions rear their ugly head, especially if I’m dealing with subdrop or depression, my intuition recedes a bit and leaves me wide open for my inner critic to pounce and make things worse.

DECK USED:  BUNNY TAROT

#MidnightTarotChallenge Prompt
Question: How can I attract more abundance into my life?

Cry Baby TarotReading Summary: Pay more attention to the emotional abundance in my life (Ten of Cups) and stop focusing so strongly on my need to protect (Seven of Wands) my home and hearth and financial stability (Ten of Pentacles)

Take Away:  Things are pretty well balanced with my life and yet I continue to feel overly protective of that balance and stability to the point of obsession.   The cards here indicate that I need to turn my focus to enjoying the pleasure of having those around me that I love and that everything is actually pretty good right now concerning my relationships with others, rather than continuing to be constantly cautious and watchful to the point of paranoid concerning threats to the more material factors in my life.

DECK USED:  CRY BABY TAROT

 

Not Later… Now

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long, and was the next installment of the “how to” series I’ve been listening to.  The topic of today’s guided meditation was about the phrase “you are what you repeatedly do” and how that relates to meditation.

It went into the importance of filling your life with the habits, thoughts, and feelings that you want to perpetuate in your life, including making meditation a habit in order to bring the positive qualities into your life and incorporate them into a part of who you are.

Slow TarotToday’s draw is the Seven of Wands with the Knight of Swords as a jumper.  This is all about motivation and drive and being proactive about my goals.

This week my orders doubled, which is the beginning of the rush to come.  The Seven of Wands on its own is an indication of encouragement that now’s the time to amp myself up, get my ducks in a row, and start moving.   The fact that the Knight of Swords jumped out is a reinforcement not just of these things I need to do, but of the immediacy of it all.

This is not a “get ready” message.  It is a “get your ass moving” message.

Deck Used:  Slow Tarot

Bonus Reading – #TarotForGrowthNovember

Question: What can I do to better deal with emotional pain?

Sasuraibito TarotReading Summary: (There’s that Knight of Cups again.)  In the throes of emotional pain, I need to think first of grounding (The Empress), then seek a new more positive perspective of the situation (Ace of Swords).  Use my need to feel emotionally connected with those I love (Knight of Cups) as motivation to keep myself from closing off and building up my inner walls (Nine of Wands).

Side note on the above cards… just adding in: I like how the Knight and the Empress look IN on the two center cards. It feels…. good to me. Supportive. And I like the Nine of Wands in this deck in this instance, as I feel that the imagery fits well with what it represents in this reading, because to me it looks like ribs and a spine.

Take Away:  When I am hurt emotionally, my initial defense mechanism is to close myself off and bring up the walls that I learned to build so well during my childhood.  This doesn’t serve to heal anything, or help me in any way other than to make me “feel” a bit safe.  The pain is still there, and the wounds fester behind those walls instead of healing.   The cards are indicating that that discarding this pattern to seek out the comfort that my loved ones can provide while I ground myself and look for the silver lining is a far healthier way to deal with emotional pain.

Deck Used:  The Sasuraibito Tarot

 

Onward, Intrepid Traveler

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and focused on seeking a connection with your authentic self. That is, that self beneath the mask you show the world and the lies you tell yourself. It was about allowing that inner self to stand tall, even during the onslaught of outside influences that try to sway you away from your true self.

I did it twice, because I really liked it.

Today’s draw is the Seven of Wands, which is a representation of movement, progress, leaping ahead, and the unknown in the area of thoughts, logic, communication, and the mind.

This is a card that speaks to the doubts you have experienced, the worries that hold you back, and that moment in time when you return to yourself and surge forward back upon the path those doubts and worries had distracted you from.

It is the perfect card for today’s Full Moon in Sagittarius, which is chalk full of progressive “get it done” energy for one’s thoughts, aspirations, and endeavors.

It is also the perfect card (and moon, for that matter) for my Monday, because today is order preparations day and I have a crapload of earrings to make, which is one of the most time consuming of the types of jewelry I create.

So, the Seven of Wand’s message for today is one of progress. No lollygagging aloud.