tarot and psychology

Morning Bonus Read – Boundaries

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The prompt for this reading came from one of my Discord servers and is as follows:
“This week’s prompt is on the theme of boundaries. Let’s do some divination to better understand our boundaries, using Goldilocks reasoning.”

Johannes Brahms Composers Luxury Playing CardsIn what areas of life are my boundaries too hard (trying so hard to protect me that they end up injuring me or preventing growth)?

Myself – Three of Clubs – forcing people to stay at a distance so that I don’t get hurt. Expecting betrayal, and thus building my inner walls too hard and too deep so that nothing can get through to touch me.

Others – Six of Diamonds – Shutting people out so strenuously that they do not have the ability to get through to help me when I need help.

In what areas of life are my boundaries too soft (not being enforced, not clearly delineated where they need to be, etc)?

Myself – Jack of Spades – I don’t allow myself to move at slower pace when in the process of learning new skills or ideas. This means I take on too much instead of buckling down on one thing at a time.

Others – King of Spades – I take too much on myself instead of delegating more effectively. This allows people to take advantage and do less instead of standing up and doing their share.

In what areas of my life are my boundaries just right?

Myself – Jack of Hearts – Having slowed down on the pursuit of the things that interest me and that I want in life. It used to be I try to do everything and be everything, and get everything done all at once so that I could have all that I wanted in life as fast as possible. I’ve learned to better pace myself in those pursuits.

Others – King of Clubs – I allow myself to teach what I want to teach, and what is a passion to me, instead of just letting whatever others want to learn be the basis of what I am willing to share.

DECK USED:  JOHANNES BRAHMS COMPOSERS LUXURY PLAYING CARDS

Be True To You

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Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long, and was a guided meditation from the Calm app combined with an interval timer for my piriformis stretching.

The focus of today’s meditation was about the differences between sympathy and empathy, and how empathy can draw us closer to others, while sympathy holds others at a distance.

The Fox Tarot Pips Edition and Less Anxiety Affirmation CardsToday’s draw is the Judgment card, which is traditionally a representation of… well, judgement.

I’ve mentioned this before, but this used to be the card within the tarot that I struggled with the most. Then, a couple of years ago, I attended a card study where the Justice and Judgement cards were set in a comparative focus. In this study, these cards were presented as Justice being the immediate, present-day balance of cause and effect (which was how I viewed it anyway), and that in contrast, the Judgement card was about what you’ve done with your life as a whole. How is your life path going? Is it going in a way that you like? Are you happy with the person you’ve become and how you live your life and see the world?

This contrast actually turned my confusion around completely. By having set the Judgement card beside the Justice card, it made the differences clear to me, and helped me to clearly define my understanding of the Judgement card in a way I’d failed to be able to in the past.

Combined with the affirmation card for today, the message here is about staying true to yourself and the person you want to be, even when times are hard and you’re feeling discouraged.  Sometimes, it can be tempting to act out of character when you’re down on your luck and see an “easy way out” of the situation. It’s important (maybe especially during these times), to stay true to your values and principles and stay focused on the type of person you want to be.

DECK USED:  THE FOX TAROT PIPS EDITION AND LESS ANXIETY AFFIRMATION CARDS

Cosmic_Crow_Tarot’s #FreedomTarotChallenge Prompt
Questions for July 9th and 10th

Napo TarotWhat do I need to focus on protecting at this time?
Six of Cups and Three of Swords

My inner child. And those feelings of hopelessness and defeat once experienced in the past, that when experience now can bring that inner child back to the surface along with his pain.

What needs released in order to strengthen my independence?
The Lovers and Queen of Cups

The expectation that nurturing and love come from outside of yourself, rather than from within. The most valuable nurturing and love in your life should be that which you give yourself. Don’t expect others to supplement it. Including your mother.

DECK USED: NAPO TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJul2021 Challenge Prompt
Question:  What do I need to focus on for self care this new moon?

The Fox Tarot Pips EditionReading Summary: Linger in the moment (Ten of Swords Rx) and set yourself to finding inspiration (Knight of Wands) in what you have now at your fingertips (Ten of Pentacles). Enjoy this time instead of allowing it to pass you by. If you make the choice to throw it away, you’ll only be stealing from yourself (Seven of Swords atop The Lovers).

Take Away: Starting today is my week off, and what is being said here is that I need to take this time to enjoy the present and not worry so much about the future or what needs to be done. Just enjoy each day as it comes, because if I don’t I’ll end up regretting it when my time off is over.

DECK USED: THE FOX TAROT PIPS EDITION

Daily Self Kindness

I made myself take a nap even though I didn’t really want to.  I was just so tired, and I felt much better afterwards.

The Empty Cup

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and was one of the guided meditations from the Calm app combined with an interval timer for my piriformis stretching.

The focus of today’s meditation was about clarity of sight. That is to say it was about seeing the world around us with new eyes through a perspective of curiosity and openness.

A lot of times we become jaded with our surroundings to the point that we don’t even really notice them anymore. This jaded view makes the world drab and boring. In today’s meditation, we are guided to see the world in this new light, thus sparking interest and curiosity in the world once more.

Auset Gypsy Tarot and Less Anxiety Affirmation CardsToday’s draw is the Hierophant, which is traditionally a representation of guidance and tradition.  In some cases it can often also represent any sort of spiritual guidance or spiritual leadership.

I often identify with the Hierophant through my spiritual mentorship and teaching of the tarot.  And today’s cards area a good reminder that feels geared especially in that regard.

The thing is, I always want to be there for those that I’ve mentored to help them learn and grow.  It’s important to me.  But there are times when I just can’t be… when my own needs have to come first.

This is something I struggle with a lot, and in fact I think that many struggle with. We want to give of ourselves… even when our cup is empty and there’s no energy left to spare.  Today’s cards are a reminder that we all need to rest now and then, and it’s okay to take a step back and tend to yourself and your needs, even when others are depending on you.

DECK USED:  AUSET GYPSY TAROT AND LESS ANXIETY AFFIRMATION CARDS

The Sacred Grounds Tarot Club Prompt
Questions for July 7th and 8th

Dirt Gems Oracle and Auset Gypsy Tarot How can I celebrate my life more fully?
Peppermint, The Hermit atop Two of Swords

There is an echo of color and form in the peppermint card and the Two of Swords. He speaks of a need to dispel mental chatter and deliberation, whereas the Hermit on top shows the way to do this it’s through healthy alone time.

In order to celebrate my life more fully, there is a need to find peace within my inner dialogue and my constant need to make decisions that push me ever forward.

How can I allow others to celebrate me more fully and without resistance?
Ashwagandha atop Clary Sage, Two of Wands

Self development and growth takes time. You need to clear out your dark inner thoughts and feelings so that you can more easily see the motivations of others more clearly, with a perspective that is unpolluted by your past and your fears.

DECK USED: DIRT GEMS ORACLE AND AUSET GYPSY TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJul2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: What can I do to help my inner child feel more protected?

Auset Gypsy Tarot Reading Summary: Nurture yourself (Queen of Cups) no matter if it’s a good day or bad day (Wheel of Fortune), and allow others to do the same (Three of Cups).

Take Away: Whether it’s a good day or a bad day, a positive experience or negative one, a success or failure… it’s okay to be kind to yourself and to sooth yourself. It’s okay to let others be kind to you as well, and to accept that kindness instead of letting it roll off of you like rain on a slicker.

By allowing this kindness and nurturing energy in, and taking the time to nurture yourself, you are also allowing your inner child to be nurtured, which helps them in feeling safe and protected.

DECK USED: AUSET GYPSY TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I meditated on an orders day.  I… hm…. I dunno what else, but I managed that at least.

Morning Bonus Read – Feeling the Feels

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Cheimonette Tarot

Feels I’m Feeling

The Devil  – Temptation to self destruct.  Anti-depressants are a massive help to keeping me well balanced, but they don’t resolve everything.  This temptation comes and goes.  Sometimes it is stronger than others.  This isn’t about death, but rather about turning my entire life upside down, and razing the entire thing and everything I’ve worked for and built to the ground. This temptation is sneaky… slipping in to try and nudge and whisper, insidious and conniving as it works to tempt me astray.

The World – Potential for the new and different. I can see it glimmering in the distance, that promise of something new and better, of growth and transition.  I see it and sense it, I want to push for it and seize it… but I know that’s not how this works.  Growth takes time.

Feels I’m Ignoring
Ace of Disks atop The Moon, Five of Disks

Financial uncertainty and scarcity issues. This is a very strong theme in my life, and a driving force of my motivation a great deal of the time.  It’s a fear that I struggle with, and have struggled with ever since my emancipation from my parents at sixteen.   I am, at this time, doing my best to accept that I’ve done well for myself.  That I’m comfortable and safe, and that everything is stable.  There is no need for this fear and no need for it to rule my life.  I’m working at not allowing it to have such a loud and overpowering voice in my life.

Feels I Need To Embrace

Two of Staves – Pick a direction. Stagnancy sucks. I’ve felt like I’ve been stuck and waffling. I understand the need to pick a direction and I feel that I’ve begun that process.  It’s just taking far longer than I’m comfortable with.

Nine of Cups – Gratitude directed toward the self and toward having put myself in a place where I now have the time and space to even do “the feels” at all.

Feels I Should Feel More Often

Death – Embracing change instead of fighting against it.  It’s so hard not to struggle against change or fall into the feelings of fear and uncertainty that change can bring rise to.   Not all change is bad, though.  And even the change that feels bad?  Sometimes turns out all the better for having happened. Embracing change is hard, but I’m working on doing so more and more.

Seven of Cups – Feeling empowered by my wealth of options instead of overwhelmed by them. This is a perspective change that I’m not always able to shift into.  I can see it.  That wealth of opportunity… but I can’t sometimes get my emotions to follow along with that positive perspective I can see.  So, it’s like I can see it, but not quite touch it.

Feels I should Share With Others

Six of Swords – Discuss with them the desire you have to change direction.

Ten of Cups – Share this adventure with them and make them a part of the whole.

DECK USED:  CHEIMONETTE TAROT

Ease Up

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IMG_3164Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long, and was one of the Calm apps guided meditations with an interval timer added in for my piriformis stretching.

The focus of today’s meditation was about living in the now. It’s all well and good to make plans for the future, but it’s important to remember that the future is fluid and ever changing. And to not let our focus rest so strongly on that unpredictable daydream of what might come that we forget to focus on what’s good in life right now.

Homebound Tarot and Less Anxiety Affirmation CardsToday’s draw is the Three of Pentacles, which is traditionally a representation of combining talents and expertise upon a project, creating a better result through teamwork, and learning through collaborative efforts.

In most cases? It isn’t the expectations of the world that I struggle with, but rather my own expectations that I struggle with resisting. I know that this is not the case for everyone, but in my case, I expect far more from myself than anyone else can possibly expect or demand.

This becomes a problem when I work with others, as sometimes it means that I start pushing them at the pace I demand from myself.  Or, I take over and do it all, instead of it being a collaborative effort it was meant to be.

Combined with the affirmation card for today, these cards speak of the need to go a little easier.  Not just on others, but on yourself as well. Not everything has to be done by you, and not everything has to be done this minute. It may  not feel like it, but it’s okay to move at a slower pace, and share the load.

DECK USED:  HOMEBOUND TAROT AND LESS ANXIETY AFFIRMATION CARDS

Mr Lionharts’ #TheJulyTarot #TarotSuitsChallenge Prompt
Questions for July 7th thru 9th

David Wilson's Animal Oracle and Homebound TarotSomething I should know about the things I wish to create for myself?

Strategy and The Tower – The deconstruction phase is going to take some strategy to get right.  Don’t rush. Strategize and let the bricks shift and the tower tumble on its own while you pick up the pieces and turn them to use for something new.

What steps I can take at this time towards manifesting my plans?

Veil and Seven of Cups – It’s your intuition and not logic that needs to be heard while making decisions right now. Touch upon the guidance of your spirit guides and ancestors, and keep in consideration Fae-think as well. This isn’t about “thinking outside the box” so much as where you get your inspiration from.

In what way can this creative process help me grow?

Elusive and Three of Swords – Sometimes inner pain is hard to pin down. This growth and creativity process has the potential to help me in healing old wounds that I haven’t been able to address as yet.

DECK USED: DAVID WILSON’S ANIMAL ORACLE AND HOMEBOUND TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJul2021 Challenge Prompt
Philosophical Question: Is happiness just chemicals flowing through the brain or something more?

Homebound TarotReading Summary: Don’t discount those chemicals flowing through the brain (Temperance). If you really think about it, most of our sensations and experiences come from those chemicals (The Hermit). They don’t lose value just because they come from within as a natural part of our bodies functioning rather than from some other outside influence (The Empress).

Take Away: There’s no indication in these cards that happiness is anything other than chemicals flowing through the brain.  What’s important in this reading is that we don’t discount these feelings, even if they are chemically induced.  They are still important and nurturing, and help us in finding a healthy sense of well being.

DECK USED: HOMEBOUND TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I went to the eye doctor today to make them fix my new glasses because they had some weird triple image overlay thing going on (color wise) what makes it feel like my peripheral vision is through one of those red/blue 3d glasses.

Curiosity and Creativity

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IMG_3118Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and it was a guided meditation from the Calm app combined with an interval timer for my piriformis stretches.

The focus of today’s meditation was about not taking ourselves so seriously that we forget to find the humor in what can sometimes be frustrating situations. Things like losing your keys and finding them in the freezer don’t have to be all bad… Sometimes they’re also funny, if you let them be.

Kiddy Katz Tarot and Less Anxiety Affirmation CardsToday’s draw is the Page of Cups, which is traditionally a representation of imagination and creativity, curiosity, interesting possibilities, and opportunities that involve your creative side.

In the card we see a cat having a friendly conversation with a fish, which is really out of character for a cat.  And yet when we look at the affirmation card for today, the imagery in the tarot card is very fitting.

Today’s cards are about thinking outside the box and doing the unexpected.  Approaching things from a creative standpoint, the entire world takes on a different perspective and everything in it has the potential for a new meaning.  How we approach life (and our different experiences in it) and the mindset we keep while moving along life’s path plays a key role in how we experience life and the world around us.  Consider approaching life with more curiosity and creativity.

DECK USED:  KIDDY KATZ TAROT AND LESS ANXIETY AFFIRMATION CARDS

#DiscordTarotholicsJul2021 Challenge Prompt
Question: What can I do to help my inner child feel less neglected?

House of Pounce Game Cards and Kiddy Katz TarotThe Fool and Bottom of the Bowl – Don’t allow setbacks in your goals to keep you from having a good time, as well as enjoying those you’re with and the world around you

Four of Wands and Playing – There’s safety and comfort at home, and no reason you can’t be vulnerable there. Enjoy this space to the fullest.

Three of Wands and Pounce – Yesterdays cards indicated that the inner child was feeling rudderless and stagnant. You need to hear what’s being said here, and be proactive in resolving that stagnancy.

Take Away – To help my inner child feel less neglected, they need movement. Don’t let things hold you back or hold you down from enjoying the good stuff in life, combined with having a direction and actually moving in it instead of standing still.

DECK USED: KIDDY KATZ TAROT AND HOUSE OF POUNCE GAME CARDS

Cosmic_Crow_Tarot’s #FreedomTarotChallenge Prompt
Questions for July 6th and 7th

Kiddy Katz TarotWhat is my true enemy?

Stagnancy (Three of Wands Rx). Lack of direction (Two of Wands Rx), and lack of action. Lack of an action plan.

Today’s theme on the whole for all of my card  pulls reiterates that stagnancy is not my friend and that it’s time to start looking at the world around me through a different perspective filled with more curiosity, creativity, and hope.

What is my greatest ally?

Awareness of your limits so that I don’t allow myself to get overburdened, and am not flirting with burn out all the time (Ten of Wands Rx). Meditation (Four of Cups).

Meditation helps me stay aware of where my energy levels are, and that awareness helps me keep from getting to that “flirting with burnout” point that I used to perpetually visit and linger in.

DECK USED: KIDDY KATZ TAROT

Daily Self Kindness

I went hiking (and swimming) today.  It was a really great day, but the heat feels like it really took it out of me.