student tarot v5

Coping With Subdrop

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes and thirty six seconds, and focused on shinrin-yoku, or what is known as “forest bathing”.

This is a type of eco-therapy where one takes a walk in the woods and, instead of spending the time distracted by one’s phone, thoughts, or the drive for getting exercise, you focus on your senses and what you are experiencing there within the forest.

This includes everything from listening to the sounds of the forest such as the rustle of leaves and sound of insects, to the scents of the forest such as the smell of the earth and the trees, the experience of touch through feeling the sun and air on the skin or the feeling of dappled shade through leaves, taking in the colors and shapes and beauty around you, and even taste through how the air tastes as you breathe it in.

When I hike, this is my practice. I am not hiking in order to get exercise or see how far I can go. I am there to enjoy nature in all of its subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways. Sometimes, I might bring my camera… but I always turn my phone off and leave my earbuds at home.

To me, hiking has always been a time to commune with nature. Like some people use a maze or labyrinth to foster mindfulness, I have always used the hiking trails in the forests here where I live in this way.

Today’s draw is the 14th card in the Major Arcana, the Temperance card. Like all cards in the Major Arcana, this card deals with not just one single aspect of the human experience, but instead a broader picture as a whole.

The Temperance card is a representation of moderation, balance, and patience. It speaks of the need for a pause before reacting, thought before action, and reflection before absorption. This is an extremely good card for me today, because the subdrop has definitely arrived! Holy crap, has it ever.

One of the qualities of the Temperance card is to remind you to remain calm during times of stress and chaos. The subdrop is absolutely a time of stress and chaos for me, as I feel extremely vulnerable emotionally during this time.

As a result, the message of the card for today is just to take my time. Remember that I need to consciously seek out balance and stability, rather than just flying off the handle over every little thing. No matter whether that be mentally, emotionally, or even physically.

Side Note: Whenever I am in subdrop, it always reminds me of those movies where a woman is in labor and she looks over at her significant other and screams at him, “This is all your f’king fault, you son of a bitch!”.

Like pregnancy and labor, the sub drop is a joint endeavor… but in the moment, I just feel like blaming it all on you. Just sayin’.

 

Step Off

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and focused on creativity, or rather on creative blocks (such as writer’s block, for example).

The guided meditation discussed how it isn’t in pushing yourself that you can overcome these blocks, but rather in letting go.  Taking a moment of stillness and peace, of mindful existence in the present, and using that step away from the blockage, whether it be for a few minutes, a few hours, a few days, or longer, to clear the mind of that frustration and drive.   And, that once you do this, creativity has a way of returning to it’s natural flow all on its own.

As is often the case, today’s meditation correlates well to today’s daily draw, which is the Ten of Swords. This card is a representation of culmination and completion in the areas of the mind, logic, intellect, communication, and ambition.

As you can see from the very RWS rendition of this card, that culmination and completion can often be painful, and is followed by a time of rest before one can then move on.

Sometimes, this card can come up as a warning, but I believe that for today’s draw it is speaking of a need to let go.  It speaks of now being a time not to get wrapped up in bustle and chaos, but rather to “step off” and close that door, and move on to better and brighter things.

It seems that I need this message from time to time, primarily because there are times (even daily) when my self destructive urges niggle at me to enmesh myself in unnecessary struggle and strife, especially mentally.   With the subdrop soon upon me, this is not the time for that on any level, and this card is telling me that I need to be seeking rest and peace instead.

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.

 

 

Home Sweet Home

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes and forty eight seconds, and focused on being present. That is to say, consciously be mindful of the now instead of being distracted by thoughts of the past or the future.

This mindfulness then allows you to find more clarity and joy in your life.

Today’s draw is the third card in the Major Arcana, the Empress. This card, like all cards of the major arcana, deals with not just one single factor of the human experience, but rather the whole of our journey through spiritual awakening and/or life.

The Empress is the “mother” card, and represents fertility, abundance, hearth and home, the earth and our connection with it, as well as the good and bad factors of a mother’s energy and responsibilities.

This card has appeared in today’s draw as a reminder that work is not everything. It is not the end all, be all of my existence. The Empress is a reminder that home is also important, as is nurturing oneself and those around us.

I often get so wrapped up in my work that I forget about self-care, savoring my home life, and nurturing myself and those around me. Today is my Self-Care Saturday, and as such this is a fitting card to appear today to remind me that there is far more to enjoy in life than just work.

The Little Things Make a Difference

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes and thirteen seconds, and focused on exhaustion and how to deal with it so that you do not suffer burnout.

The guided meditation started with a body scan from head to toe, which I always enjoy, before moving on to discussing how we need to be sure to put time in our schedules for self-care, and be sure that we are not overcommitting ourselves so that the self-care times end up neglected.

Today’s draw is the Six of Swords, which numerologically speaks of harmony, vitality, and cooperation, as well as humanity’s issues and limitations in the areas of the mind, thoughts, logic, and communication.

What I see in today’s card, though, is more of an intuition reading then a numerological one, although I suppose it ties into the latter part of the above explanation as well, now that I think about it. That is because today, the Six of Swords is a representation of “moving on” and finding a new path away from thoughts and mindsets that are not serving me well.

I’ve recently started to fall into a couple of old habits since coming back from mom’s house. Little things that, after some contemplation in the shower today, I realize have been holding me back and tugging me down.

As an example… Prior to heading to visit mom, if I woke up organically in the morning I would get up out of bed and start my day. Recently I’ve been waking up and looking at the clock and then rolling over to get a few more Zs. But what I have found is that I feel better throughout the day if I don’t do this. If I get up when I first organically wake up on my own I seem to have a little bit more energy, and a slightly brighter outlook on the day. It’s a small thing… and yet it isn’t, because it messes with my energy levels and enthusiasm.

The Six of Swords is telling me that these indulgent mindsets I’ve fallen into are really not serving me, and it’s time to find a new path moving away from this type of behavior.

Balance and Prioritization

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes and fifty four seconds, and focused on how to defuse anger.

The guided meditation discussed how when we feel that first spark of anger, it is through our thoughts that we fuel the fire of the anger. This then feeds it, allowing it to grow to greater and greater heights.

Yet, if we instead take a moment when we feel that initial spark of anger, and just step back for a moment and breathe… sometimes this is all we need to help defuse the anger, or at the very least keep it from building upon itself until it develops into an unruly inferno.

Today’s draw is the Two of Pentacles, which is a representation of dualities, balance, partnerships, unions, and division in the area of the human experience concerning the physical world, resources, and finance.

As I mentioned in previous appearances of this card, the Two of Pentacles is one of the cards that I identify the most strongly with in the Rider Waite Smith system. Like the person depicted in the card’s imagery, to me this card is all about juggling and balance most of the time when it comes up in a reading, and today is no different.

I have a busy day of processing orders and prepping for my trip to the post office tomorrow. I need to balance this with my own personal self-care… as well as my needs that you awoke last night that need to be satisfied damnit!! The balance between responsibilities, personal care, and my own wants and desires is always a difficult one to juggle. There just never seems to be enough time in the day.

Today’s draw is a reminder that each of these aspects of my life is important and, like one of the pentacles is higher than the other in the eternal juggle of the two on the card, it is important to prioritize… but not to the point that you drop everything else.