Finding the Positive for August 25 – 27

Tarot de Jacques Vieville Editions SIVILIXI, A Grieving Tarot, and Tarot of the Hidden Realm

August 25 – Mental Health Card of the Day 

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was one of the #DailyTrip sessions in the @Calm app.

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@FatMumSlim August #FMSPAD Challenge
Prompt for August 25th : Something Starting With 8 | #FMS_825
Daily Mental Health Prompt
: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is the Two of Coins, which is traditionally a representation of juggling responsibilities, work/life balance, and prioritization.

[Note: The Eight of Cups was not a draw, but rather it was the first “8” card come to in the deck for the “Something Starting with 8” prompt.]

OK, let’s be clear. Nothing starts with eight. Even the Eight of Cups (or any 8 in the tarot); far more went on well before we ever get to the eight. This is true in just about anything (with the possible exception of the birth of octuplets).

Beginnings are births, and what comes after are lessons, trials, obstacles, imbalances, and experience; which eventually leads you to Eight.

You can’t get there without experience, and a massive part of that experience is all about balance. After all, you don’t just decide to walk away from something you’re invested in (which is what the Eight of Cups is all about) without having gone through some sort of imbalance that has built up to the point where the endeavor is no longer worth your while.

Today’s message asks us to examine those imbalances; before walking away if you can… or after if you need that distance to see things more clearly. In examining what has caused our reaction to bail on something that at one time was important to us, we can learn more about ourselves and how to possibly foster a better balance in future endeavors.

DECK USED: TAROT DE JACQUES VIEVILLE EDITIONS SIVILIXI FRANCE

August 26 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was a ten minute self-directed session based upon the affirmation “You deserve the best. The foggiest of cemetery strolls. The silkiest coffin lining. The most haunted of castles. The fiercest of hellhounds. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re just a recluse the townsfolk tell stories about – you are an immortal countess with a horrifying secret.”

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@FatMumSlim August #FMSPAD Challenge
Prompt for August 26th : The Last Photo I Took | #FMS_LASTPHOTO25
Daily Mental Health Prompt
: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is the Justice card, which is traditionally a representation of balance, cause and effect, repercussions and consequences, give and take, and can often indicate the law or legal system.

If you don’t use it, you lose it. That’s what happens when you stop doing the things that you love. You lose them.  (This includes riding a bike by the way. That skill is not universally, retained, regardless of the saying to the contrary. Take it from someone who had to do the relearning.)

Sometimes, I’ve let go of hobbies and the skills associated with them with the knowledge and acceptance that if I pick them back up later, I’ll have to relearn them. It happens. I do a lot of creative exploration and you just can’t keep up on all of them all the time.

One in particular that this is not the case for, though, is photography. My treasured SLR camera gathers dust more often than not these days; not out of a lack of interest or an intent to let it go… but due to the lure of convenience. My cellphone, after all, is already on my person and has a very good camera. As good as my SLR with a macro or telephoto lens? No. But a hell of a lot lighter and more convenient.

And… as this convenience, seduces, I fumble a bit more with the SLR; my skills with it becoming less adept as I sacrifice quality again and again for the convenience that the camera on my cellphone provides.

I’m not sure I’m happy with the trade-off.

Today’s message is a reminder that you get what you give. If you’re not willing to put in the extra work and put up with a little inconvenience, don’t be surprised when your skills grow rusty and quality starts to decline.

DECK USED: A GRIEVING TAROT AND SINISTER AFFIRMATIONS CARDS

August 27 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was one of the #DailyCalm sessions in the @Calm app.

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@FatMumSlim August #FMSPAD Challenge
Prompt for August 27th : A Colour That Calms Me | #FMS_CALMCOLOUR25
Daily Mental Health Prompt
: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is the Four of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of one’s passionate love for the security and welcoming energies of home. This often translates into themes that have to do with homecoming, celebrating home and stability, as well as relaxation in comfortable spaces.

No. It’s not yellow! (ref: today’s “color that calms me” prompt).  A “color” that calms me is home. Not just the home that provides a roof over my head, though, but the people that color my life with moments of joy. The trees that stand tall and the fallen nurse logs that I am welcomed by each time I step out into nature.

Speaking of…. when I travelled across the US back in my trusty (now gone) Jeep, there was one thing that stood out to me the most in every place I visited as determining how comfortable and “at  home” I felt in each location.

It was how much wild green the locations had. Not the manicured lawns and landscaped gardens, but the wild green of forests and ferns and towering trees. I found that in the places without these wild green spaces, I never truly felt comfortable… comforted… or at home.

Today’s message (and the wild mental ride that got us here) is a reminder that “home” is not your house (although it could be).  It’s a feeling of comfort, safety, and belonging. It’s those places and people for which you are the missing piece of the puzzle, and when you slip into place it’s a perfect fit worth celebrating.

DECK USED: TAROT OF THE HIDDEN REALM

Make Yourself at Home

Today’s meditation was a ten minute self-directed session based upon the affirmation “It’s okay if you need a break. It’s okay if you need a hug. “It’s okay if you need help performing an occult ritual that will enthrall a dark unspeakable evil. Don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself.

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Pre-Raphaelite Tarot's King of Wands and the Sinister Affirmations: Mantras for Formidable Women Cards@FatMumSlim August #FMSPAD Challenge
Prompt for August 21st : Feels Like Home | #FMS_FEELSHOME25

Daily Mental Health Prompt: Seek a positive message to carry with you throughout the day and offer perspective.

Today’s draw is the King of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of a projective alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s passions, drive, determination, principles, values, and willpower. The King of Wands often indicates themes that have to do with leadership figures or authority figures with the ability to rally others to their causes and draw them in to their own values, principles, and passions.

When you build upon your passions and personal values, life becomes your home.

The King of Wands is all about personal values, passionate endeavors, and using both to create a stable foundation to lead from. He is the epitome of the phrase “the world is your oyster”. Not that the journey he’s on is new, but that he has made it uniquely his and special. His perfect fit.

Today’s message asks us where are we sacrificing our sense of comfort and belonging in the world by not following our dreams and our inner compass? How can we turn this around so that it’s not just where we rest our head that feels like “home”, but our lives as a whole?

DECK USED:  PRE-RAPHAELITE TAROT

@Lionharts #TheAugustTarot Leo Season Challenge
Seven of Wands – Courage Prompts for August 20th thru 22nd

Tarot Reading with the Tarot de Besançon Gaudais Anima Antiqua and Enchanted Blossoms Empowerment OracleWhere am I guided to stay rooted in my truth and unshakable in my presence?

Valet de Coupe and Orchid/Yellow Tiger Swallowtail – It’s difficult to teach our brains to reject negative narratives. As Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman, “The bad stuff is easier to believe.”

Remember to touch base with the beauty in the world around you. In doing so it can help teach your emotions to follow suit and more easily accept the beautiful things that reside within you as well.

How can I protect or honor what matters to me right now?

Juno (La Popess) and Sedum/Apollo – Keeping your reading space clean and tidy will help in allowing your intuition and spiritual practices to flourish. Seek out and get rid of those things that have no use and are simply creating clutter. Tranquility without helps to promote tranquility within, and it’s in that tranquil place where your inner ken can flourish.

Where am I invited to stand firm in faith and act with courage, even when the path ahead is unclear?

Reine de Coupe and Honeysuckle/White Admiral – You are only able to give to others if you have something to give. Make sure that you are taking care of yourself and treating yourself well, visiting the things that make you joyous in your day-to-day life, and providing yourself the self-care you need.

Only when you give yourself these things are you able to also generously give to others of yourself. Remember that When you are lacking in what you need and not taking care of yourself, helping others becomes not an act of generosity, but a chore of obligation.

Other elements included in this reading:
Foraged Silver Maple Key for Bouncing Back to Thrive
Pressed Pansy Flower for Hearing the Heart More Clearly
Rose Quartz for Gentle Kindness to Self and Others
Selenite for Purification and drawing in Positive Energy

DECK USED: TAROT DE BESANÇON GAUDAIS ANIMA ANTIQUA AND ENCHANTED BLOSSOMS EMPOWERMENT ORACLE

Daily Self Kindness

I claimed all of the leftover Chinese food in the fridge as mine and had it for dinner.