tarot for self care

Finding the Positive for July 1 – 3

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Fairy Herbal Deck, Puppy Garden Tarot, Botanical Blessings Oracle, and It’s Going To Be Okay 2024 Day-to-day Calendar By Kate Allan

July 1 – Mental Health Card of the Day

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

The session’s topic for the day was about interconectedness, and used the example of a blueberry where when you hold the berry in your hand you look back on how it came to be there from the growers to the planters, the cows that provided manure, the plants that the cows ate, etc.  The purpose of the session was to bring to light how looking at the complexities of intercontectedness of just a single blueberry, we see just how interconnected we are with the world around us.

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Today’s card is the Dandelion card combined with the affirmation “There’s no need to be so hard on yourself; you’re managing as best as you can.”

Dandelions are, in my opinion, one of the most under appreciated plants in the world. People by the droves seek to kill them, banishing them from their lawns, driveways, and roadsides.  And yet, they are safely edible, an antioxidant, and an immune booster.  They are also used to detoxify the liver and gallbladder, as well as assist kidney function.

These flowers are chock full of vitamins A, B, C, and D as well as iron, potassium, and zinc. All parts of the plants have uses from the leaves being added to salads and sandwiches, the roots used as coffee substitutes and for tea, and even the flowers, which are used in making wine.

Combined with the affirmation for the day, this card is a reminder that there are helpers even in the most surprising of places. Who would think that a weed in the grass could do so much, after all.  Joined together, today’s affirmation and card are a reminder that you don’t have to do everything all on your own.  You don’t have to carry all the responsibility yourself.  Look to those in the wings for help instead of pushing yourself ever harder with unreasonable expectations.

DECK USED: FAIRY HERBAL DECK AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

July 2 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is the Two of Wands combined with the affirmation “It’s neat how you showing up makes everything better.”

I used to know a guy in school back when I was… well, from the time my parents moved out west when I was 10 until I graduated, so for quite a few years.  He used to get picked on a -lot- in school, and I could never figure out why. (It turns out it was because his sister was a couple grades above him and extremely popular, and she had all her friends picking on him… but I didn’t realize that until recently.)

Anyway, I used to let him hang around with me at school and sometimes after school when I’d play in the woods or whatever (my family’s home wasn’t conducive to visitors).  I didn’t really think much of it, or of them, at the time.  They were just always around, asking questions and tagging along. After I left? I didn’t really think about them much either, other than to wonder occasionally how they were doing.

And then, they contacted me the other day on social media.  In a DM, they asked if I was “real name” from “where I grew up”.  If they hadn’t identified themselves as well? I would have freaked out.  (I’ve had a few stalker issues over the years.) Instead, I knew who they were and said hi.  We’ve been talking a bit off and on since.

Apparently, in their words, I have been an inspiration to them throughout their entire life (the past 20 years), and they have always wanted to get back in contact so that he could show me all he’s accomplished and be proud of him.  It’s something he’s said multiple times, and it took me by surprise.   I have -no- idea  how I inspired him so much.  I have -no- idea why he feels that me being proud of him is the gold tier achievement of his life (which I am, incidentally, proud of him for all he’s accomplished.)

I had… no idea that I was so liked and admired by… well, anyone at all.

Today’s cards remind me of this.  They speak of making an impression on others that we ourselves are not aware of.  They speak of inspiring others through out presence alone.   They say…. never forget that there are people out there that admire you that you don’t even know about, and that see you as a guiding light in their own lives.  You are always wanted…. even on the days or weeks or years that it doesn’t feel like it.

DECK USED: PUPPY GARDEN MINI TAROT AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

July 3 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was just over ten minutes long, and was one of the #DailyCalm sessions from the Calm app.   The session today was about transforming anger into something softer and gentler.

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Today’s card is the Dill card combined with the affirmation “Tomorrow hasn’t come, yesterday is done, just get yourself through today.”

Dill (aka. dill weed) is an herb that is a good source of vitamins A and C, as well as calcium and iron, and it’s packed with flavonoids that have been shown to help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. It has also been observed to have properties that help in the prevention and control of type2 diabetes and help control high cholesterol.

What I personally know dill best for, though, is it’s ability to help ease colic in infants, digestive issues, and bad breath. These are the uses that I grew up associating with dill, and they speak of a calming quality.  A quality that lends to easing one’s anger, calming down, and cooling off.  It’s interesting that this was the card pulled today, considering today’s meditation was about this same topic.

Combined with the affirmation for today, the Dill card is a reminder that sometimes we need to focus just on the here and now. It can’t always be about what comes next, preparing for the future, and looking ahead.  It can’t all be about what we’ve done or not done, either.  Sometimes, especially during times of recovery?  Being in the present needs to be enough.

DECK USED: BOTANICAL BLESSINGS ORACLE AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

📆 Transitioning from June to July

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Month End Tarot Reading with the Tarot Moodie Deck

Here and Now I Exist – Who you are now, in your entirety.

Nine of Pentacles Rx atop Page of Pentacles – Look at that little red nose on the Page of Pentacles. You’re currently feeling sick and bewildered by how it happened. You’re not at all happy with your rate of recovery either. It’s going to be slow and disappointing, but you’ll get there.

The Slough – What is to be left in the past as you move forward.

Page of Wands – It’s okay to step away from your passions during this time when you’re not feeling at your best. They’ll still be there burning bright when you are feeling better, and at the moment you need to focus on resting and feeling better instead of trying to plow forward without consideration for being sick.

What Lies Ahead – An ideal state or ideal self you are seeking at this time.

Knight of Pentacles – You will slowly get back up to speed as you feel better, and be able to take up the tasks you set aside to allow yourself to heal. It’s slow going, though, so don’t rush it.  Focus on getting better first, then take things one step at a time once you’re back to feeling better.

Limitations – Negative influences, opposition, or ill will.

The World – Just because you want to blast past this and be better already doesn’t mean that’s how it works. Lower your expectations for yourself to a more reasonable level.

The Boon – Positive influences, higher guidance, or divine intervention.

The Tower – Anything that might “fall apart” during this time is catalyst to something better coming in its wake. Just as the immune system bulks up by being exposed to germs, your life levels up through the moments when things unravel and fall apart.

The Wound – An unpleasant past experience or event that is ripe for some support and healing.

Three of Cups Rx atop Eight of Wands – Being excluded sucks. Take time to examine those moments in your past where you have felt excluded or ostracized. A rehash is needed to help these lingering wounds heal.

Nostalgia – A positive past experience or event to acknowledge, reflect upon, and enjoy.

Two of Wands atop Nine of Cups – Planning things out always makes things go smoother in the long run… even when veering off the track of the plan is needed sometimes. As has been proven again and again in the past, having that plan gives you confidence and helps you feel more secure.

A Warning – Something coming that can be prevented or overcome.

The Magician – Feeling weak and powerless can be combated by ensuring you have a plan, and are feeling confident and knowledgeable in your personal abilities.  Have confidence in yourself that you can overcome the “consequences” of having to step away and heal before dealing with your responsibilities.

Empowerment – A future opportunity to work toward.

Page of Swords – You will have the opportunity this month to revisit some of the knowledge that you had pursued in the past, and advance in the direction of your goals using that knowledge combined with a new perspective on what you’ve learned.

Message from the Spirit World – Be ready for when it’s time to rebuild. Don’t just reinvent the wheel, but instead step outside your comfort zone to plan a rebuild with true innovation in its foundation.

Message from the Mind’s World – Remember that just because you’re passionate about something doesn’t mean you have to charge forward into it. Take your time. There’s no rush.

Message from the Physical World – Sometimes you have to separate yourself from the fun and games in order to find a direction that’s right for you and will make you happy in the end. If you want to move on from this cold (or whatever it is), you need to be a bit of a recluse and take this time to make plans on what you’re going to do later when you feel better, rather than trying to do it now.

DECKS USED: TAROT MOODIE

Finding the Positive for June 28 – 30

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Trash Panda Tarot, Under the Oak Tarot, I Am the Artist Tarot, Look Up Look In Cards, and It’s Going To Be Okay 2024 Day-to-day Calendar By Kate Allan

June 28 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was twelve minutes long, and was one of the #DailyTrip sessions from the Calm app.

The session spoke about how we are often much harder on ourselves than we are on others, and how it’s important to check in on that tendency now and then and turn things around.  How giving ourselves a bit of understanding and compassion can go a long way to healing internal wounds both self-inflicted as well as inflicted by others.

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Today’s card is the Five of Wands combined with the affirmation “You don’t have to be related to be a family.”

Conflict happens.  It happens between friends, family, strangers, acquaintances… it just happens and its a part of life. The cards for today remind is that it’s important to remember that it doesn’t have to be the end of the world when it comes into our relationships with others.

Look… conflict in family goes hand in hand. Whether that family is by blood or through choices on who you want to surround yourself with, there’s always going to be times when the members involved butt heads with each other.  It’s a part of life and being close with others while having our own personal values and personalities.

Don’t let momentary conflicts tear apart the family you’ve built for yourself.

DECK USED: TRASH PANDA TAROT AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

June 29 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is the Temperance card combined with the affirmation “Struggling doesn’t mean you are a broken person. It means you’re the main character who is playing life on hard mode.”

It’s time to ease back off that “hard mode” setting for a bit.  Temperance is all about moderation and taking things at a more temperate pace.  Don’t allow yourself to get overwhelmed and take a step back, let yourself take things a bit slower for a bit, and smell the roses.

Granted, right now I can’t personally smell the roses, as I’m in the middle of battling a summer cold, but this message is all the more important in this particular instance.  Rest is needed.  Stop worrying about all the things that need to be done and beating yourself up over them not getting done.  It’s okay to take your fever reducer and burrow under a pillow right now.

DECK USED: under the oak tarot AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

June 30 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s cards are the Six of Pentacles combined with the Horizon card, which is about what you know and what you don’t, and how we can balance the two.

“Give yourself permission to dwell in the mystery of what you absolutely cannot be certain of and give yourself comfort in what you know to be true.” I really like this quote from the back of the Horizon card.

In an oracle reading I did recently, it was pointed out that I have a habit of turning a dumpster fire of uncertainty into a forest fire of fear. Today’s cards are a reminder that there is balance, even in moments of chaos and uncertainty.

  Those stable and secure parts of your life will help to contain the chaos, compartmentalizing it into a smaller area so that it cannot spread over the entirety of your life.  The cards here are an encouragement to see beyond the panic of those moments of uncertainty,  understand that it is not taking over your life, and acknowledge where stability still lies so that you can lean into it for a better sense of security.

DECK USED: I AM THE ARTIST TAROT AND LOOK UP LOOK IN CARDS BY MARI ANDREW

Dealing With Uncertainties Oracle Reading

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Uncertainty Oracle Reading with the Thanks I Hate It Oracle Deck

#DiscordTarotholicsJun2023 Challenge Prompt
Prompt for June 30th – Do a Spread of Your Choice
Spread: Tarotholics Challenge Spread 3 for June 16

“We often think of summer as a time of sunshine, fun, and socialization, but sometimes it can be hard to put yourself out there! When you are able to accept the uncertainty within yourself, it can help you in finding balance. With this in mind, this spread is about helping you recognize, acknowledge, and explore uncertainty during those times you feel discomforted, unbalanced, or confused.”

What does uncertainty feel like to you?

Dumpster Fire – Uncertainty has a tendency to make you feel like everything is falling apart and chaos has taken over. You have a hard time seeing that the situation is contained and not going to spread into every other aspect of you life.

How do times of uncertainty impact your physical body?

Growth – You often end up feeling sick or worn down during times of uncertainty, your body trying to convince you to go into hiding until things are sorted out and you can emerge with new knowledge and new skill.

How do times of uncertainty impact your physical reality?

Consult Your Vices – Others try to gather in close and close ranks around you to help you through. You need to stop holding them at arms length during these times and let them in to help and contribute.

What do you need to say to yourself to help you in acknowledging and alleviating your feelings of uncertainty?

Pothole – You need to work on remembering that you are skilled and capable. Don’t hide and let the problem grow, but instead take initiative to deal with whatever is making you feel uncertain and vulnerable. The sooner it’s dealt with, the better.

What do you need to accept about others to help you in acknowledging and alleviating your feelings of uncertainty?

Sticky Sweet – The love and support they offer you is more than just a nice thing, but is healing as well, if you allow yourself to accept.

Focus on your feelings of uncertainty. Pick a color that stands out the strongest to you in the card. How does this color (and how it’s used in the card) make you feel?

Pockets – The blue of the pocket would normally represent peace and calm, but in this instance the peace and calm it represents is a fallacy. Like sweeping one’s problems under a rug, this pocket of calming blue represents pretending everything is fine when it’s not. It is a reminder to bring issues out in the open and deal with them promptly, instead of stuffing them out of sight to get tangled up in other problems.

DECK USED: THANKS I HATE IT ORACLE DECK

Finding the Positive for June 25 – 27

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Tarot of the Magical Forest, Enchanted Realms Tarot, Mibramig Tarot, and It’s Going To Be Okay 2024 Day-to-day Calendar By Kate Allan

June 25 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is a repeat of the Knight of Pentacles combined with the affirmation “It’s okay to just do what I can today. It’s enough.”

If, yesterday, you struggled to be understanding about your limitations and the slow speed of your progress?  Here is a repeat opportunity to give yourself a break and lower your expectations to manageable levels.

These cards are a reminder that even small steps forward are still steps in the right direction.  Don’t worry about how long it’s going to take you to get there, but instead focus on those small steps and celebrate each one as its own accomplishment. The only evil taskmaster is the one in your head, and they need to be put in their place.  You can do that by being more generous to yourself and more understanding of whatever pace you need to take on the path to your goals.

DECK USED: TAROT OF THE MAGICAL FOREST AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

June 26 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is the King of Cups combined with the affirmation “I don’t know where I’m headed, but I can figure it out when I get there.”

These cards are a reminder of the joy that comes from “winging it”.

Gideon and I spend a lot of time doing collaborative storytelling (written roleplay).  A lot of our characters and stories aren’t with an end in sight.  It’s just time spent together enjoying each other’s company over the 2500-ish miles that separate the two of us.  It’s about spending time rather than accomplishing any particular goal, and this is the kind of thing today’s cards are about.

These cards ask us to look at where in life are you forcing goals into a situation or activity where just enjoying should be enough?  How can we change this into a more “smell the roses” activity instead of something to plow through in order to get to something else down the line?

DECK USED: ENCHANTED REALMS TAROT AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

June 27 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is the Three of Wands combined with the affirmation “I know its hard to cope, but here’s a gentle reminder that things usually go better than you predict.”

The message here is that the negative inner narrative in your head is not reality. Try anyway.  Even when it tells you that it won’t work or the world sucks.  Just try anyway.

It can be really hard to set out on a project or goal when you feel beaten down by the world.  Even harder when the one doing the worst of the abuse is your own mind.  It’s important to remember, though, that if you aren’t willing to take chances, there’s no rewards to be had.  So take a chance… and just try.

DECK USED: MIBRAMIG TAROT AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

Finding the Positive for June 22 – 24

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French Art Nouveau Poster Tarot, Derakkusu ban Hihou Tarot, Nine Lives Cat Tarot, and It’s Going To Be Okay 2024 Day-to-day Calendar By Kate Allan

June 22 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is The Star card combined with the affirmation “I understand that you feel worried, but you have an amazing track record of surviving crazy times.”

In one of the servers I’m a member of, yesterday’s question of the day is if there is such a thing as “too much positivity”.  The answer to that is absolutely.  Yes.  It’s called Toxic Positivity, and takes optimism and positivity too far, creating unrealistic expectations and ignoring the negative or harmful issues for a pair of “rose colored glasses”.

I worried, when I started doing this daily mental health exercise, that it would become like that.  Toxic and ugly.  Instead, it turns out that it’s just encouraging.  There’s a great deal of negative inner talk that goes on in my head, and this daily “finding the positive” exercise helps balance that out.  It doesn’t take it away, it just makes sure that I -also- see something positive or optimistic instead of only the dark and negative.

I hope others also feel that way about it when they read it.

Today’s cards are about hope, and about trusting that even in the most painful of times that there is an end and a change somewhere ahead in the future.  That it won’t last forever, and that when things are at their roughest?  We don’t need to thrive or succeed… we just need to survive until the tides change.

DECK USED: FRENCH ART NOUVEAU POSTERS TAROT AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

June 23 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is the Eight of Swords combined with the “View From a Train” card.

The View From a Train card is about that sensation that happens when you are still and something else is moving, and it makes you believe for just a moment that -you- are moving.  Such as when sitting in a stationary train looking out the window and the train beside yours moves… and you think it’s your train moving.

Combined with the Eight of Swords, these cards pose the question… are you actually moving toward your goals and aspirations? Or are you actually standing still and stagnant while the chaos of life around you fools you into thinking you are?

The encouragement here between the interaction of these two cards is to take the time to make clear and quantitative steps towards your goals instead of just assuming that you’re “getting there”.  Open your eyes, take control, and make a conscious decision to act become true movement forward.

DECK USED: DERAKKUSU BAN HIHOU TAROTAND LOOK UP LOOK IN CARDS BY MARI ANDREW

June 24 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is the Knight of Pentacles combined with the affirmation “Just try. It’s okay if it’s not as good as yesterday.”

Progress takes time.  Sometimes? We have setbacks along the way, and that’s okay.  As long as we continue to keep our eye on the goal?  We’re going to get there eventually.

Today’s cards are a reminder that it’s impossible to be at our best every single day, and that that’s okay.  It doesn’t mean we’re failing or that we should give up, it just means we need to adjust our expectations of ourselves to fit rather than pushing ourselves so hard that it becomes impossible to meet those expectations at all.

DECK USED: NINE LIVES CAT TAROT AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN