tarot in daily life

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

Finding the Positive for June 19 – 21

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Floating World Tarot, Metanoia Marseille Tarot, Forgotten Legends Tarot, and It’s Going To Be Okay 2024 Day-to-day Calendar By Kate Allan

June 19 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is the Page of Wands combined with the affirmation “You are not at all a ‘failed project’. You’re just going through a rough time.”

As we go through life, we learn new things, and have to brush up on old things that we once learned and now need to learn again.  Today’s card is a reminder that just because you don’t know something, or need to re-learn something, doesn’t make you a failure.

As long as you are interested enough to put effort into the process of following these moments of inspiration, that is all that matters.  Not how good you are at it, or how quickly you pick it up. Whether or not you are learning, and making sure that you are enjoying the process, are far more important.

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

June 20 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is the Queen of Pentacles combined with the affirmation “You deserve nice breaks.”

You can’t be the nurturing party all the time. Don’t hover and try to help so much. They need to know that they are expected to do all that they can first before you step in. This attitude will allow you more time to rest without being overwhelmed or needing to be on alert all the time.

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

June 21 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is The Devil combined with the affirmation “You are not a burden; you’re a person with needs, and that’s completely normal.”

It can be tempting to ignore our needs, either through a desire to put other’s needs first, or a compulsion towards self destruction (or many other reasons… those are just the top two that come up for me personally).

Today’s cards are a reminder that your needs are just as valid as anyone else’s, and it’s important to not just put aside time to make sure they are being met by yourself, but to expect others to support you and your needs just as much as you support them and theirs.

A relationship, whether it be family or friend or romantic, is not a relationship if one side is always taking and the other is always giving.  There needs to be a balance of give and take on both sides, otherwise you are abusing yourself or they are taking advantage of you… or both.

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

🎨 Weekly Creativity Prompt – Knight of Cups

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Prompt: “Pull the Knight of Cups card from your deck(s). Compare the imagery between the card provided below and the card(s) from your own deck(s). How would you read them differently and why?“

Lo Scarabeo Tarot - Knight of CupsLo Scarabeo Tarot – In this card we see a man who knows what he wants and is willing to take a chance and use his imagination to its fullest to get whatever that is.  There is a vulnerability that comes with wearing one’s heart on their sleeve, and yet? He’s all in… vulnerability and all.

The card encourages thinking outside the box to obtain your heart’s desires, whatever those desires might be.  Be willing to be vulnerable in order to reach for those things that will truly make you happy.

Knight of Cups in the Tarot for the Great Outdoors, Mana-Fest Awaken Tarot, and Pot Tarot

Tarot for the Great Outdoors –  Too many boats and not enough water! All the weekend warriors had the same brilliant idea and now the waters are too crowded.   This card is a reminder that sometimes?  You can just jump in the car (or boat, as the case may be) and go, no matter how good the idea sounds. Some things in life take a little planning, whether it’s to make sure you get to the end goal or just to make sure avoid the traffic jam on the way there when everyone else has the same idea as you.

Mana-Fest Light-Weave Tarot – Sometimes, curiosity leads the way when it comes to those things that truly make us happy or soothe our souls.  Here a knight looks into his cup as if scrying for the future.  What does he see?  If it were you gazing into the cup at your heart’s desire for the future, what would you see?  This card prompts us to pause a moment to take a look at what we really want, and tells us that now is the time to go after those things with passion and intensity.

Pot Tarot – Don’t get distracted on your way to the goal.  If you want to wine and dine and romance someone and you take a hit or two at the bong before hand?  You’re not going to get to the wining and dining (or the after-dinner delight either).  Sometimes we have to put off an immediate pleasure in order to gain something even better in the end.  Make sure that this isn’t one of those times for you.

DECK USED: LO SCARABEO TAROT, TAROT FOR THE GREAT OUTDOORS, MANA-FEST Light-Weave TAROT, POT TAROT

Finding the Positive for June 16 – 18

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Pot Tarot, The Last of Its Kind Tarot, Dream Raven Tarot, Look Up Look In Cards, and It’s Going To Be Okay 2024 Day-to-day Calendar By Kate Allan

June 16 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s cards are a combination of the Desert Sky card and the Four of Pipes (Swords).

I read somewhere, once upon a time, that minimalism in decor was so popular among high powered executives because it gave them a counterbalance to the chaos of “too much” in their lives when it comes to stress and responsibility.

That is what the Desert Sky card reminded me of today when it was pulled. That need for a moment of emptiness to counterbalance the chaos in our lives.  For me, I often find that moment in my meditation practice, but that is far from the only way to find it.  Even just looking out over a desert filled with so much open space and nothingness can give us that, or staring up at the vast openness of a clear blue sky.

Combined with the Desert Sky card, the Four of Swords card reminds us that rest and recuperation is just as important as energetic drive and motivation.  We need both.  Not one or the other, but both.  For you cannot go into the world head long and full bore all the time.  You have to sit down and rest sometimes too.  That’s what balance is all about.

DECK USED: POT TAROT AND LOOK UP LOOK IN CARDS BY MARI ANDREW

June 17 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is the Eight of Earth (Pentacles) combined with the affirmation “It’s okay to feel lost sometimes. All we can do is move forward in a direction that makes sense to us and hope for the best.”

Over the course of our lives, we all develop skills that are honed over time and effort.  Sometimes, we take these skills for granted, though, and when that happens, it can be hard not to feel rudderless and a bit lost.

The combination in today’s cards speaks of that feeling, and offers us a reminder that those skills we’ve learned, developed, and honed over time are still there.  They’re there even if we take them for granted, and the inspiration and motivation that created them still lives there within those skills. It’s okay to feel lost and just keep doing what you’ve been doing all along.  After all, it’s what you’ve been doing all along that honed those skills for you in the first place.

In time, you’ll be able to focus on them again, realize them and stop taking them for granted, and you’ll realize that you’re as lost as you felt you were, but moving along your own unique path all along.

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

June 18 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is the Page of Pentacles combined with the affirmation “Today’s a better day because you exist.”

There are always going to be days where all we want to do is hide away from the world.  Everyone has them (some just hide from the rest of us it better than others do).   Today’s affirmation combined with the Page of Pentacles is a reminder that we have something to offer the world and those around us, even on the difficult days.

We are all learning, and we’re all growing, a little at a time.  When we share ourselves with others, we give others the opportunity to learn from us, and they in turn give us an opportunity to learn from them.   You share what’s special about you, even on the days when you don’t feel special at all, and they share what’s special about them.  It’s a pretty fair trade… even on days when you’d rather hide away.

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

Finding the Positive for June 13 – 15

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Exile Tarot Awaken Edition, Mibramig Tarot, Dreamers Tarot, and It’s Going To Be Okay 2024 Day-to-day Calendar By Kate Allan

June 13 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was twenty minutes long, and focused on the “Stop Gaslighting Yourself” graphic seen above. It speaks of a few of the ways in which we tell ourselves we are wrong for the way we feel or the things we want, and how to use validating mental talk in its place to help work with those negative tendencies.

In  my life?  It took Gideon to help me see that I was doing these things to myself… and that it was harming me in the process. For years, he repeatedly would remind me that my feelings are valid. Always valid, no matter what or why they came up.

It was through that encouragement that I was able to start to surface a lot of my past hurts and deal with them.  It’s still a work in progress, of course.  That’s why this graphic resounded so strongly for me, and why I chose to meditate on it today.

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Today’s card is the Nine of Wands combined with the affirmation “The way you feel matters. And no emotion you feel is bad or unworthy.”

This combination is a reminder that it’s okay to feel defensive sometimes.  You don’t have to apologize if you’re feeling that way, nor berate yourself for it. It’s far more important to look into why you are feeling defensive. Not so you can pick it apart, but to make sure that there’s nothing in there within you spurring that feeling on that needs some attention and healing.

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

June 14 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and one of the #DailyCalm sessions in the Calm app.  As a number of the Calm app’s meditations do, this session extolled up on the virtues of meditation, and how over time and practice meditation can assist us in obtaining better control over our mind and our reactions.

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Today’s card is the Emperor card combined with the affirmation “Crying doesn’t mean you’re weak or losing it; it’s a sign that you’re overwhelmed, which means you are trying. And that’s really all that matters.”

Now -this- is a “trying” affirmation that I can get into (as opposed to the one from the 12th).

I cry.  Hell, when I’m overwhelmed?  I cry often. Sometimes quietly, and other times with big racking sobs and a messy face.   For me? It’s like a pressure cooker left going for too long. That steam has to be let off at some point, or it’s going to explode.  Crying is my steam being let off.

The Emperor card is a representation of control and leadership.  Together, the affirmation and this card are a reminder that even the strongest of us need a way to let off steam now and then. Some run or do other exercises. Some pick fights with family members or friends or strangers. Some scream into a pillow. Some cry.  There’s nothing wrong with that.

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

June 15 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is the Seven of Wands combined with the affirmation “Your body is a good body today, and you are a good  you.”

When the body struggles or fails, it’s easy to step into the negative inner narrative that beats up on your body and it’s performance… or lack there of.   It’s easy to start beating yourself up, and allowing those negative thoughts to take over, turning what could be a moment’s pause into a true defeat.

Today’s cards are a reminder that it’s okay to need to pause.  To regroup.  To recover.  To recuperate.  It’s okay that the body isn’t a machine, ever ready to perform at its best each and every day.  It’s okay to need a break.   And when these times happen?  We need to remember to fight back against those defeatist thoughts, give yourself a little leeway to heal, and not allow those negative thoughts to beat us down into believing that being human is something to be ashamed of.

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

Finding the Positive for June 10 – 12

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Enchanted Realms Tarot, Tarot for the Great Outdoors, Tarot Moodie, and It’s Going To Be Okay 2024 Day-to-day Calendar By Kate Allan

June 10 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is the Three of Pentacles combined with the affirmation “You deserve good things.”

The combination of today’s affirmation and the Three of Pentacles is a reminder that you deserve help, and that when you accept a helping hand from others, the results turn out even better than when you do everything yourself. 

That is because even if you might be more controlled in your personal approach and more exacting in the execution? Involving others brings different perspectives and expertise to the table, not to mention allowing you to step back and really enjoy the process instead of having to stress out over it.

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

June 11 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is the Ten of Blades (Swords) combined with the affirmation “This is just one day in a huge string of days. If today is trash, it’s just a blip in the span of your life.”

Some days?  You just have to get through it. Look at that guy on the right in the imagery of this card.  Exhausted and struggling for breath, he definitely didn’t come in first and although he might have had a good time at one point or another?  He definitely doesn’t look like he is by the end of the journey.

Some days are like that too.  Sometimes, you just have to push through and get to the end and accept that it’s not going to be a great day, and that your greatest accomplishment comes in just making it through to the next one.

DECK USED: TAROT FOR THE GREAT OUTDOORS AND IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY 2024 DAY-TO-DAY CALENDAR BY KATE ALLAN

June 12 – Mental Health Card of the Day

Today’s meditation was skipped.

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Today’s card is the Ten of Pentacles combined with the affirmation “Trying your best is all that matters. The rest will fall into place.”

Okay so, I hate this affirmation card so goddamned much. It took me a very long time to accept that trying your best is not what matters.  If I try my best, that means I am neglecting my self care and my personal needs all for the sake of whatever project or goal is currently in my sights.  It means that I don’t sleep until its perfect, and I don’t stop until it’s f’ing spectacular (what ever “it” might be at the time.

This affirmation, for that reason, does not work for me.  The latter part, though, has merit.  It speaks of the ability to let go and let things actually fall into place instead of having to control every single element of the process.

The Ten of Pentacles speaks of long-term success, so for me, the combination of this affirmation (interpreted in a healthy way) and the tarot card is a reminder that you don’t have to control every aspect of what you’re working toward for it to come together just how you’re wanting it to.  You just have to keep going, and have a little patience along the way to your goal.

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