six of Pentacles

Cooperation and Balance

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was ten minutes and thirty seconds, and focused on savoring the moments and the little things. It delved into how it is not the big accomplishments and flashy moments that define our lives and bring meaning, but the little things in life, the small kindnesses, the moments in which we stop to appreciate what we have and what surrounds us.

For me, photography has always been this.  With my camera in my hands, I tune into the things that mostly get passed by.  The wondrous world of lichen, the synchronicity of nature, the beauty of colors that one wouldn’t think might go together, and yet in nature there is proof that they do.  With the camera in my hands, I am attuned to all of this and so much more.  And then, when I put the camera down?  It carries forward with me into my day to day.

Today’s meditation was a beautiful reminder that although I don’t -need- my camera to pick up on all these things… I need to pick up my camera more often.

Today’s draw is another double without a jumper, as they both came out together. The cards in today’s draw are the Six of Pentacles (the Alligator and the Plover), and the 11th card in the Major Arcana, the Justice card (chimpanzees).

I will put the guidebook’s keywords for each animal at the end, but first I want to get out what I see in the cards today, which is cooperation and balance.  Harmony through collaboration and partnership.  Yes, the Justice card is here again today, but there is no warning there as there had been last time.  Instead, this is all about creating balance and helping each other.

It is a fitting card for today, as today is my driving day and I will once again be traveling with J.  Aside from that, though, I also see this in the relationship I have with you.  We are both very different, and yet very the same.  We approach things differently to come to the same ideas or conclusions.  We work together to the betterment of both of our lives in so many aspects.

Today’s draw is a celebration of that balance, and a reminder that it is there.  The cards have appeared to draw up my conscious awareness, appreciation, and gratitude.

Okay…. Guidebook interpretations for the animals are as follows…

Alligator – adaptation, patience, power, and opportunity

Plover – unity, insight, tranquility, reflection, creativity, and resourcefulness

Chimpanzee – adaptation, objectiveness, awareness, compassion, and honor

Traditional meanings of the cards for today’s draw….

The Six of Pentacles is generally a representation of cooperation, vitality, and the “give and receive” aspects of harmony in the area of resources, finances, manifestation, and the physical world.

The Justice card is a Major Arcana card, which means it deals with more of a “big picture” perspective than one aspect of the human experience.  It generally deals with ideas and themes to do with balance and the “righting” (or tipping) of the scales of life, cause and effect situations, and the ideals of fairness and truth.

Deck Used: The Animism Tarot

 

You Don’t Have To Do It Alone

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

220px-Fractal_treeToday’s meditation was ten minutes long, and focused on how one’s life and meditation practice is like a fractal.   I… didn’t really get it, to be honest.  I mean, I know what a fractal is.  Essentially it’s when you have a specific design/shape that is created out of identical shapes (see example picture).

My problem lies in how this applies to the relationship between meditation and daily life?  She did some explaining, but it didn’t make a lot of sense to me.

That said… I very much enjoyed the meditation’s method on focusing on the breath today, which was a step by step process of noticing where in the body you feel the breath, from nostrils to belly, and then as a whole throughout.

Today’s draw is the Six of Pentacles, which is a representation of harmony, cooperation, abundance, charity, and a cyclical balance of give and take in the area of finances, resources, and the material world.

Sometimes we are all on the giving end, and sometimes we all need to be on the receiving end, but in our journey through life this is truly more of a cycle.  Even the most wealthy sometimes need a helping hand, and even the poorest of the poor are able to give of themselves to others in need.

This card’s appearance today is a reminder to me that it’s okay to ask for help.  Sometimes I forget, and will struggle under the weight of trying to do everything myself and work it all out on my own.   That is a completely unrealistic mindset, and yet I return to it again and again.

Some of the aspects of my life that I find this most prevalent are in my business, in my self care, in my finances, and in my resources (such as my grocery/food supplies specifically).  It’s good (and in fact, important) to remember that there are venues out there to assist me in some of these areas when I struggle with them.

Deck Used: Student Tarot v5

 

Give and Take

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was fifteen minutes and nine seconds, and focused on catching yourself when you’re reacting to something without thought.

I don’t mean instinct. Rather, the meditation was about habitual reactions, and how they develop overtime through repetition into something we don’t even think about first.

The guidance was focused on catching yourself in the act of these habitual reactions, examining them, and then deciding whether they are justified, or if there is a different reaction that would serve you better either in the present moment, or next time if the moment has already passed.

Today’s draw is the Six of Pentacles, which is a card that represents abundance, generosity, charity, and sharing in the areas of resources, money, and the physical world.

This card can represent both sides of the spectrum on this theme, meaning that the seeker (me) can be either the one doing the giving, or the recipient.

I believe that the Six of Pentacles is telling me that everything is going to be okay. Stability wise, I mean. Financially.

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in my worries and my goals, that I forget that in most cases a deficit isn’t the end of the world. I’m not going to lose everything if I’m a few dollars short here and there once in a while, because I also have times when I’m a few dollars ahead.

This balance of give-and-take is natural. I just need to remember that when I am in the lows that I allow other people to help me, and that when I’m in my high points I am offering my help to others. In this way, a cycle of good energy and good intentions is created, and a theme of harmony and unity begins to flourish.