Spirit of the Flowers Tarot

The Good Stuff

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long and focused on spending more time and attention on the people in your life and less time and attention on consumerism.

This is a good reminder.  I think we all get a little caught up now and then in that drive for “more” and “I want”.  Maybe it’s just a part of human nature.  Today’s meditation was a reminder that there is so much more to life than that, but it takes a choice to focus on those people that enrich our lives and truly appreciate their presence to find the true joy of their presence there.

Nine of Cups - Efflorescent Tarot (Color Edition)Today’s draw is the Nine of Cups, which is a representation of satiation in the area of one’s emotions and relationships.

I think this card goes really well with the message that was presented in today’s guided meditation, to be honest.   It’s important to know when you have enough.  Being someone with an addictive personality, I can attest first hand that sometimes?  That line is a difficult one to identify, let alone toe.

To balance out those traits, it’s important to appreciate what you have before you already.   Family, friends, and loved ones are an important part of life, and shouldn’t be forgotten or swept under the rug.   I see each of the cups in the imagery of the Nine of Cups in today’s draw as a cup that is filled.  Filled because it represents a person that has enriched and enhanced the life of the person appreciating them.

DECK USED: THE EFFLORESCENT TAROT (COLOR EDITION)

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I face that truth this year? (Build off yesterday’s read.)

Spirit of the Flowers Tarot

Reading Summary: Spend more time getting in touch with my needs and the needs of those around me (Empress) so that I have a better chance of having more “your cup is half full” experiences (Nine of Chalices).  If I don’t want to be held back by my own ignorance of the issues (Eight of Swords), I need to try approaching them from a more optimistic perspective (The Sun).

Take Away:  This is… not the answer I was expecting, to be honest.  But it’s right on the mark.  Part of the reason I set aside issues I don’t want to deal with is because I see them in a pessimistic light.  This causes a systemic lack of enthusiasm to deal with them as a whole.  The cards indicate if I approach from a place of nurturing optimism, I will have better success in the future at avoiding the problems that arise when I choose to ignore those issues instead of deal with them.

DECK USED:  SPIRIT OF THE FLOWERS TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What luck is coming your way, and how can you foster it into fruition?

Tarot Cats

Reading Summary: Someone’s deception is going to play to my advantage (Seven of Swords). I just need to sit back and wait and stay detached (Four of Cups), and make good choices when some difficult options are eventually presented to me (Two of Swords).

Take Away:  This is interesting in having followed the Tarot for Growth reading above.  But, it deals with a specific situation that is coming, not an overall change (or lack of change, as the case may be in this instance) in how I do things.  I’ll need to remember this advice when the moment of betrayal comes so that I remember to sit back and wait rather than acting rashly in the moment.

DECK USED:  TAROT CATS

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question: How can I find positive mentors?

Ethereal Visions Tarot

Reading Summary: Over the next year (Wheel of Fortune), if I want to seek out a positive mentor I will need to listen closely to my intuition (High Priestess) and keep myself open to the possibility of new emotional bonds (Page of Cups) and new ways of doing things (Page of Pentacles).

Take Away:  The cards just called me out on being a stick in the mud. Laughing. I am often very rigid in how much I am willing to put myself out there, and although I’m often open to learning new things, my guardedness can be a hindrance to that. If I decide over the next year that I want a mentor, I will need to ease up on that guarded restraint and let people in.

DECK USED:  ETHEREAL VISIONS TAROT

Growth and Uncertainty

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and was not guided.  Nor did I listen to music or any other audible agents to help me focus.   Instead, I spent the ten minutes in my regular piriformis stretch, while taking a slow meander through different physical sensations.

This was more of an exploration and appreciation of sensations as a whole, from that of the pain in my hips from the stretch, to the comforting warmth of the blanket I’d draped over my torso, to the cool nip of the air as it entered in through my nose on each breath.   It was very relaxing, and just what I needed.

The Moon - Spacious TarotToday’s draw is the Moon card, which is the eighteenth card in the Major Arcana, and whose meaning is seated in the themes of uncertainty, confusion, and illusion.

The thing is?   Sometimes uncertainty and confusion has a purpose.   It’s not fun, and it’s not comfortable, but growing pains rarely are.  And sometimes?  That’s what uncertainty and confusion is all about.   Growth.

That’s what I see in the appearance of the Moon in today’s draw.  I see it in the moon in the sky and in the fungi and flowers below reaching up towards the moon’s glow.   When we have moments of uncertainty and confusion, maybe there are times when a better path would be to examine where and why, and take some time exploring that fully… rather than just trying to ignore it or “fix” it.

DECK USED:  SPACIOUS TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: What gift awaits me in 2020?

Vindur Tarot

Reading Summary: Better financial security (Ten of Coins), but I’ll have to work to get there (Three of Wands) because there is going to be a lot of ups and downs along the way (Wheel of Fortune).

Take Away:  I am actually really surprised at the directness of this deck’s voice, which feels very similar to Lenormand.  Anyway, on to the reading… Sometimes gifts aren’t free, and sometimes?  The gift is in the work itself.   That’s what I see in the cards here.  The gift is not so much about the better financial security, although that is always something that I appreciate.  Instead, the gift is about the work in getting there and the lessons I learn along the way.  Lessons that will teach me how to better deal with those ups-and-downs that life deals out so readily.

DECK USED:  THE VINDUR TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What do you take too seriously?

Spirit of the Flowers Tarot

Reading Summary:   Short answer?  Myself.   When things get difficult (Five of Pentacles) or uncertain (The Moon), I have a really bad habit of bearing down on myself (The Emperor) and assessing myself too harshly (Judgement).

Take Away:  I am always quite hard on myself, which is something I’m aware of and I know I need to work on.  I am constantly pushing myself to do better, to be better, etc. Uncertainty, especially, incites this reaction from me.  But, the kind of struggles and scarcity issues that the Five of Pentacles represent?  They are absolutely the type to illicit uncertainty in me as well, so it is not so much a different issue, but something that compounds the issue.

DECK USED:  SPIRIT OF THE FLOWERS TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question: What makes my ideal day?

Jeremy Miranda Oracle Cards

Reading Summary: Relaxation and the opportunity to delve into (First Card) my creative endeavors (Second Card) without the need to rush or the pressure of others to bother me (Third Card), which allows me to let go of my analytic need for perfection and instead find perfection within imperfections and flow with that mentality (Fourth Card).

Take Away:  For me to actually relax, I need to feel that everything is stable and under control.  The house in the first card indicates this to me.  The turquoise door speaks of everything being well in hand, the box structure one that speaks of stability.  The ladder in the first card speaks of escaping to a secret world, which combined with the overlay of the second card, reinforces that “secret world” feel while the table and art supplies indicate artistic and creative endeavors.

The shelter depicted in the second picture along with the sunset beyond it’s walls speaks of extreme relaxation.  The day is ending and everything is quiet and calm, there is protection provided, which when combined with the warm tones of the sunset creates a sense of comforting protection and warmth.

In the last photo three is the lapping waves and beauty of the landscape, but the surface from which you stand is rickety and falling apart.  Sometimes?   Decay is beautiful.  It’s messy and disorganized and lacks structure… and yet it is its own kind of perfection.  When I am stressed, I have a hard time seeing the beauty in chaos.  When I am relaxed, though, I can not just see it, but also appreciate it.

DECK USED:  JEREMY MIRANDA ORACLE CARDS

The Quagmire

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was twelve minutes long, and was an activity in sensory awareness, and using the five senses in a productive way that can reduce moments of anxiety.

The activity starts off with the meditative breathing, and then moves through finding five things you can see.  Then four things you can hear.  Three things you can feel (tactile). Two things you can smell.  Then one thing you can taste.

By focusing on each sense individually, you sort of “distract” your anxiety away from whatever has been triggering to you.  I think that it could also work really well to bring you down into a meditative state at times when having trouble focusing during meditation.  That’s something I’ll explore another day, though.

Efflorescent Tarot (Color Edition)Today’s draw is the Eight of Swords, which is a representation of being trapped in your own “mental mess”.

This is very much a clear representation of me of late.  I feel like I am stuck.  Stuck in regards to the business.  Stuck in regards to the clutter in my home at the moment. Stuck in my spiritual development. Stuck in the quagmire of being… stuck.

It’s like the “pause” in the new year where you go into reflection of the past year and consideration of future steps turned into cement that is drying around my feet.

Today’s appearance of the Eight of Swords is an encouragement to seek a path out of the “stuck” that I currently find myself in.  This feeling is one of my own making, and it needs to have a light shined on it so that I can find the steps forward out of the mire rather than standing in it and growing roots there while the cement dries.

DECK USED:  THE EFFLORESCENT TAROT (COLOR EDITION)

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I do so without neglecting my own needs? (Build off yesterday’s cards.)

Bohemian Animal Tarot

Reading Summary: Be selective in who I offer my help to (King of Earth), and make sure they are appreciative (Six of Fire) of what I have to offer (The Shaman).

Take Away:  Yesterday’s read was about friends that come to me for an open ear or a bit of guidance.  Today’s reminds me that I can’t be that for everyone.  In order to keep from becoming overwhelmed and to allow myself space for my own self care, I need to be selective concerning those I offer that ear and advice to.  And in order to keep from becoming frustrated or resentful, I need to make sure that those I give these gifts to value them rather than disregarding them as either inconsequential or their due.

DECK USED:  BOHEMIAN ANIMALS TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Do Spread #2

Lo Scarabeo TarotReading Summary: The Moon focuses this reading upon my uncertainties in moving into the new year.

The Ace of Wands indicates that the new beginnings planned for my business are feeling a bit overwhelming. The redirection is a new ambition in this area, and that newness can can cause a “sit and stew” situation when there is a lack in push to move forward.  This doesn’t have to deal with just the business, as I had a lot of “newness” to explore in the new year.  Things I put off emotionally, spiritually, as well as concerning my business ambitions.

The Knight of Swords indicates that I’m stuck too much in the mud of the ideas and inspirations, and not pushing forward as much as I need to.  What started out as a rest after the holidays has turned into a stymied situation that I really need to push to get through and out of.  Because there is so much newness in so many areas, the Knight here speaks of finding focus.  You can’t charge forward without having a direction to charge into.

The Knight of Cups makes it clear that without emotional investment, I’m not going to break free of the quagmire that I find myself in. Don’t close my emotions off and go about things as if everything is fine.  Instead, use my emotions as motivation to drive me forward and into action.

The Three of Pentacles reminds me that I am not alone.  Not in any of this.  I have support when I need it, and help whenever I need to ask for it.  I don’t need to do it all by myself and will become better at these different aspects I’m struggling with if I bring in others to help me learn along the way.

Take Away:  Too much new shit on my plate at one time.  If I want to get going with the things I want to change, I need to pick a direction and go instead of stewing in uncertainty and letting that uncertainty mire me deeper and deeper in immobility.

DECK USED:  LO SCARABEO TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question: Where could others benefit from me contributing more?

Spirit of the Flowers TarotReading Summary:  These cards are a reiteration of the Tarot for Growth answer for today.   They speak of choosing recipients of my time and attention by looking at the long-term benefits (Seven of Pentacles) that my contributions will offer to others to help them through times of overwhelm (Ten of Wands) and emotional development (Knave of Chalices) by using my skills at guidance to help them along their path (The Hierophant).

Take Away:  I feel that this read is about how others benefit more, but also myself.  It speaks of the need to look at a larger picture and a more far-reaching development and result when I choose those that I share my time, advice, and knowledge with.  Those “fly by night” friends and students will only benefit a small amount, and I will only benefit in helping them by a small amount.  If I really want a beneficial relationship with helping others, I need to look for those that are going to carry those lessons forward into their lives.

DECK USED:  SPIRIT OF THE FLOWERS TAROT