Tarot of the sweet twilight

Don’t Be Intimidated

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

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

The focus for the meditation session for today was on perfectionism and how important it is to focus so hard on perfectionism that you become unkind to yourself in the process. It encouraged focusing on acceptance, gentle, and self-compassion, rather than always trying to push yourself to the limit.

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Spooky Halloween Cat Oracle and Halloween Affirmation Cards@GlitterbyInk #OctoberCauldron24 Prompt
Cauldron of Motion Prompt for October 11th : Synergy

Today’s draw is the Look Around card combined with the affirmation “I am a candy cat, not a scaredy cat.”

Those things that feel intimidating to you can often cause you to retreat within and close yourself off to your environment and others around you.

If you take the energy you are using to close yourself off to instead connect with others and engage with your environment, your fears will ease and those things that intimidate you will no longer have so much power over you.

DECKS USED:  SPOOKY HALLOWEEN CAT ORACLE AND SELF-MADE HALLOWEEN AFFIRMATION DECK

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2024 Challenge Prompt
Philosophical Question for October 11th : What awaits us after we pass to the other side of the veil?

Cthulhu Mythos Tarot - Six of Wands, Seven of Pentacles, Three of WandsReading Summary: There is no more need to please others (Six of Wands Rx), just a reaping of what we’ve sown throughout the length of our life (Seven of Pentacles) that determines your movement in a new direction (Three of Wands).

Take Away: Whether you believe in heaven and hell, reincarnation, ghosts and spirits, or any other sort of direction after death, these cards indicate that there are definitely places to go.  The cards also indicate that where you go concerning those options is based upon what you’ve done with yourself and your growth in your life.

These cards say that what happens after death is all about reaping what you’ve sown, and indicate that what waits for us on the other side is dependent upon not just what we believe, but also the lessons we learn and the seeds we’ve sown in our lives up to that point.

DECK USED: CTHULHU MYTHOS TAROT

@HealingThruTarot’s #httOctoberTarotChallenge2024 Prompt
Prompt for October 11th : Truths the moonlight will illuminate.

Spooky Halloween Cat Oracle and Tarot of the Sweetest Twilight - Five of Cups, Knight of Wands, The HermitFive of Cups and Choose a New Direction – You can’t just run away from shit when it feels difficult or impossible. You can, however, change direction when needed. Just make sure that when you shift direction, it’s to find resolution, and not running away from a problem.

The Hermit and Improving Health – Your need for alone time is well-known, and is something that makes you feel balanced and less stressed. Remember that when add in spending that alone time outside, you have tendency to improve both physically and mentally.

Knight of Wands and Be Aware – Take stock of your motivations and why you are driven in a certain direction as you move forward. Don’t forget to glance down once in a while and make sure your feet are still on the ground. Be realistic in your efforts and endeavors.  It’s okay to dream, but you need that grounding in your life to help you find stability.

DECK USED: TAROT OF THE SWEET TWILIGHT AND SPOOKY HALLOWEEN CAT ORACLE

Daily Self Kindness

I worked at weeding out a few campaigns from KS that I decided weren’t for me.  Or rather, I guess they -could- be for me, but I decided I didn’t want to spend as much on them as was being asked in the campaigns in a couple of cases.

Quality Rest vs Wasting Time

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and was a quiet non-guided meditation with interval timer for my piriformis stretches.  I really just needed a little peace, and I felt that the guided meditation, or even a bit of music, would feel like a bit too much over-stimulation.

Madam Lydia Wilhelmina's Tarot - Four of SwordsToday’s draw is the Four of Swords, which is traditionally about rest and recovery, especially after a time of struggle. Recuperation is an important part of making sure you are able to carry on and the pause traditionally depicted in the tarot is one of not just recuperation but also reflection.

What stands out to me the most strongly in the imagery of this card is the face of the resting individual. Looking closely, you can see that the lower half of the figure’s face is covered.  That combined with the angle of the head and the wreath crown make me wonder if this is not a corpse instead of someone taking a moment’s respite.

Set in the window in the background is a portrait of a woman and a little girl that looks like she is bend to whisper in the prone figure’s ear, though… which to me hints at the idea that there is indeed some consciousness present still, even in this moment of deathlike stillness.

The message in today’s card is more about the quality of one’s rest than taking rest on its own.  You can sit around all day and dawdle, get nothing done, and spend the entire day wasting time and still feel exhausted at the end of the day as if you’d been on the go for hours. On the other hand?  Sometimes you can take a ten or fifteen minute break, and feel fully refreshed and ready to take on the world.  The whispering little girl does not bode well for a restorative rest, no matter if the figure has passed or not.

Don’t allow your inner whispers to disturb your rest the way that the little girl is trying to disturb the figure’s rest in this card.  There’s no point in resting if you’re not going to make it count…. otherwise you’re just wasting time and not getting anything from it but more stress.

DECK USED:  MADAM LYDIA WILHELMINA’S TAROT

LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: Draw a card for an ancestor or loved one who crossed.

The Vampire Tarot - The HierophantI asked for advice from my grandmother on my mother’s side. It feels like this card turning up in response is an encouragement that I am on the right path. Although I enjoy my creative business and creative endeavors, I’ve found a real joy in helping others as well, which is something I’d explored a bit when I was younger by teaching now and then, but didn’t really delve into in great depth until the last couple of years.

I’ve always had a really hard time socially, but it seems to have helped me immensely in this department to be able to actually contribute to other’s journey.

At the same time, I feel there is also a reminder here to make sure I am delving into my own roots and staying true to my own path. Having been raised Wiccan, a great deal of my current Pagan practice comes from these roots in my childhood…. which come from roots in my family that go back generations. Spellcraft, especially, has ran in our family for many generations on my mother’s side and many traditions and practices have been passed down from one generation to the next and then to me.

If I do not share my practices and beliefs with others, and share the traditions that have been passed down to me, they will then die with my sister and I… as there is no next generation for either of us with which to pass on this knowledge further.

DECK USED:  THE VAMPIRE TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Do Spread #3

Tarot of the Sweet TwilightSmoky Quartz – Nine of Swords – To purge negativity from my life and develop greater stability, I need to stop listening to that negative inner dialogue that encourages anxiety and causes me to feel down on myself, my performance, and my abilities.

Apple – Six of Cups – To improve my physical health at this time, it is important to look back on the things that have made me happy  in the past and have me feel good…  then, stop thinking about them and start doing them.

Chrysanthemum – King of Cups atop Seven of Pentacles – The defenses that need fostering right now in order to foster my growth have to do with making sure that I don’t allow vulnerability to creep in and screw with my  emotions just because things are taking their time in growing and getting where I want to be.

Aquamarine – Knight of Wands – The calm found through meditation can bolster my confidence by allowing me to more easily focus on where I want to go, what I want to do… and how to get there most efficiently. This, in turn, sets me free from the restraints that anxiety and doubts use to chain me up.

Mint – The Tower – Factors in my relationships that are in need of reevaluation and adjustment have to do with how I deal with chaos and catastrophe.  Instead of retreating into myself, ducking my head down and plowing forward on my own, I need to seek support from others instead (like the figures in the card sitting together at a distance watching the tower burn).

Carnelian – Ten of Pentacles – Including more creativity in my life can lighten my daily outlook because, at least in my life, creativity is the path to my greatest goals of stability and security in my life.  These are the things I want so much and focus on achieving with neatly each breath I take. My business is based on my creativity, and therefore fostering creativity allows these things to happen… while others look on and wonder at how it’s done (last part added in from the little figure at the top of the stairs in the card’s image).

Pomegranate – Six of Wands – The wish of mine that is ready to be manifested into reality right now is that desire for success… and the acknowledgment of that success by those that matter to me most.  I hate admitting that I need that desire that acknowledgement, that I feel a longing for those “atta’boys”.  But, not wanting to admit it doesn’t make it any less true that I do desire them.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE SWEET TWILIGHT

#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: What changes do I need to make to understand my Guides better?

Carnival at the End of the World Tarot

Reading Summary: Stewing in your own misery (Four of Cups) and seeing everything in a defensive/offensive viewpoint (Seven of Wands and Nine of Wands) is a habit that you need to get out of (The Devil).

Take Away:  When my mind is clouded in the smoke of my wallowing, it muffles my ability to hear my intuition and thus also my guides.  Same goes for when I am too focused on protecting myself and what I value.  When I am feeling defensive, I try to build walls.  Walls are a bad habit that are very much not healthy for me and do not foster open communication with the living, the dead, or the spirit guides trying to help me.

DECK USED:  CARNIVAL AT THE END OF THE WORLD TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: What deep fear am I working through?

Catton Candy Nightmare Tarot

Reading Summary: That fighting for (Seven of Wands) what I want out of life (Queen of Pentacles) is going to make me a hard and calloused son of a bitch (Queen of Swords Rx).

Take Away:  As with the Mystic Star question for today, the answer here is about my inner walls. It’s about shutting people out and burying my emotions so that I become someone I do not want to be.  I want to stand up for those things I believe in. I want to fight for those things I value.  At the same time?  I need to make sure that I do so in a way that doesn’t… turn me into my mother.

I believe that the work I have been doing with Gideon about getting in touch with my feelings and my growth in the areas of dismantling those walls and developing a stronger sense of emotional intelligence are helping me in making sure this doesn’t end up my fate.

DECK USED:  CATTON CANDY NIGHTMARE TAROT

Don’t Knock It ‘Til You Try It

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

IMG_7011Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and was about finding the path that is right for you and seeing ourselves through our own eyes instead of basing out self worth on what others think of us.

I think everyone does this to a point.  We all worry, in one way or another, about what others think of us or how we are perceived.  That’s pretty natural and probably has something to do with some sort of “human tribal/societal genetic wiring” of some kind or another.

The key, though, is to make sure that you prioritize how you feel about yourself above how others feel about  you. This requires having a positive view of yourself.  An honest view that allows for you to have things that you are proud of, and things that you like about yourself.  It means knowing your strengths and your weaknesses and finding a place within yourself where you are happy with yourself and who you are.

We are all works in progress, but its that comfort in your own skin that allows you to take other’s opinions and perceptions in stride, and not allow them to take over your life or your own perceptions of yourself.

Madam Lydia Wilhelmina's Tarot - DeathToday’s draw is the Death card, which is traditionally a card that indicates organic transition.  That is to say, it is about the slow and gradual build up of change that takes place over time.   Sometimes change happens all at once and is a chaotic mess of clashing energy and distress (aka The Tower)… the Death card, on the other hand, is about the kind of change that happens over time though. The kind of change that happens little by little until one day it reaches a tipping point  where you realize something is happening, and that it has been happening all along.

What stands out to me the strongest in the imagery of this card today is the hourglass in the lower right side, and the fact that with whatever is lying on the desk behind it?  It kind of looks at first like a gavel.

The message in today’s card is “Don’t knock it until you try it.”  Sometimes?  When we go through change we make snap judgements and reject the changes without even giving them a chance to grow on us, or time for us to adjust and give it a go.  But what we learn when we relax into change instead of immediately going up in arms to fight against it, is that we adapt more quickly and re-discover happiness more easily.

Consider the potential if we could relax into changes more often, and find our joy again more quickly in the wake of those changes.  Imagine how much less time we’d waste and how much more happiness we could enjoy.

DECK USED:  MADAM LYDIA WILHELMINA’S TAROT

LionHart’s #TheOctoberTarot #SeasonOfTheWitchChallenge Prompt
Question: As above, so below, I will channel this {top of the deck}, so I can grow {bottom of the deck}.

Tarot of the Sweet TwilightReading Summary: A certain amount of solitude and self reflection (The Hermit) can help me in growing beyond the perceived limitations of my ambition (Knight of Swords).

Take Away:  The message here is that when I channel my inner hermit and go after that alone time that I need?  It fosters within me the ability to stretch my limits and do better, learn more, and become stronger.  I am one of those people that needs their alone time. I need time by myself to ground.  This alone time gives me the opportunity to settle and process. From there I can then move forward calmer and stronger than before.

DECK USED:  TAROT OF THE SWEET TWILIGHT

#DiscordTarotholicsOct2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: Do Spread #2

Anne Stokes Gothic TarotBat – What is ending at this time that needs my awareness and focus?
Six of Cups

Last year at this time of year, I was far too close to my past and it allowed feelings and reactions to experiences in my past to rise up and overwhelm me a bit.   This card is a reminder that I need to set my past experiences and feelings from the past aside for now in order to make sure they do not invade and create a repeat of the experience.

Calendula – Who is a loving constant in my life that needs a bit more recognition?
Ten of Pentacles atop The Lovers

This card is pointing to my twin sister, L. Over a decade ago, my sister came to me and told me that she wanted to move out of our parent’s house, but felt uncomfortable living on her own. I made the choice to allow her to come move into my home, and she has been here ever since.

She is, in essence, a part of my home now. It’s hard to imagine living here (or anywhere, for that matter) without her. I think that the choice I made those years ago was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my entire life… which is saying something, because I’ve made a hell of a lot of good decisions along the way so far.

Owl – What do I need to know right now to trust that I’m on the right path?
Ten of Cups

This card is the carrot dangled before the ass, yeah?  It’s telling me that my emotional growth that I’ve been working on is leading somewhere positive and that I’ve made the right choice in diving into this exploration and taking up the journey towards greater emotional intelligence.

This is actually something I needed to hear, as I have been worried about the effect that the upcoming holiday rush might have on my progress.  I think I’ve gotten to a point now where I realize though, that even if I backslide a bit during the holiday season, that I’ll be able to regain my footing and continue on that path of exploration once the rush has ended.

Rosemary – What memory in my past needs revisited to guide in my future safety?
King of Swords

For a very long time, I associated very strongly with the King of Swords. Over the past few years, I’ve found that has shifted a bit and I relate far more to the Queen of Swords these days than I do the King. The memory of when I was in that place where I related more to the King is something I need to keep in mind to guide me in my future safety. The strength and the accuracy and ambition, as well as the sharp and keen perception and tongue, are still there. They reside beneath the surface and can be brought out when needed. This is important to remember.

Black Cat – Where is conformity more of a risk than independent thought?
Ace of Cups

My emotional journey is something that is unique to me.  I can’t follow in another’s footsteps, nor allow others to lead the way, because my emotions are my own and how they manifest and communicate with me, as well as how they relate to the world around me, are unique to me.

Although I can take in guidance as needed, it’s important to remember that this journey is about my path and my growth… and it is important to not restrain myself to expectations (whether mine or that of others) when exploring the path ahead and this growth.

Wormwood – During this time when the veil is thin, what in my life needs protection?
Eight of Swords

There is much I have not learned yet and much I do not yet know.  Because of this, there is much yet that I don’t see or understand.

This is about my explorations of mediumship, spirit guides, etc.  I have been doing a bit of delving, in very surface ways, into the mediumship and spirit guide area of things.  The card in relation to this question makes it clear that I need to be careful and take precautions even in these smallest of explorations during this time of year when the veil is at its thinnest.

Raven – Where can sating my curiosity lead to the resurrection of something I’ve lost?
Queen of Pentacles

I need to call Ms B.

DECK USED:  ANNE STOKES GOTHIC TAROT

#MysticStarChallenge October Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I embrace my Spirit Guide’s personality more effectively?

Tarot de Marseille Par Pole Ka

Reading Summary: The two left cards really stand out strongly to me in this reading.  They hold warmth and power that feels like it overshadows the rest of the cards. The Kings, on the other hand, both appear to be decreasing in power in some way, from the leeches that suck power from the King of Swords to the blood dripping from the head of the King of Wands.

Heart open (Ace of Cups and The Empress), and personal motivations on the back burner (King of Swords atop King of Wands).

Take Away:  To embrace my Spirit Guide’s personality more effectively, I need to remember that they speak through my intuition and to not just hear them clearly but understand their messages most effectively, I need to be open and welcoming to their messages. Closing myself off muffles their communications, and when I am digging deep into my  personal motivations and ambitions?  I am usually very much also closing myself off.

DECK USED:  TAROT DE MARSEILLE PAR POLE KA

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge by E Roebuck-Jones
Question: How can I my perform spellcraft more effectively?

Ludy Lescot Tarot

Reading Summary: Slow down and be mindful of secrets (Eight of Wands and the skulls under the stairs). While you delve deeply into the study and learning process (the men in both the Seven of Swords and Page of Pentacles are deep in study… one of maps and the other in books), make sure that you do not neglect hands-on experience (Five of Wands).

Take Away:  The advice in these cards is that in order to more effectively improve my spellcraft I need to make sure I don’t lose myself so deeply in theory and study that I forget about the experimentation and practice part of things.  Both are equally important, as is taking things slow so that you don’t miss something important along the way.

DECK USED:  LUDY LESCOT TAROT

Confidence and Perspective Changes

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and focused on how sometimes gifts come in the form of what you shed or release, rather than what you gain, and how that is one of the things about meditation practice that is of great value.

What they mean by this is that the gift that meditation gives you isn’t always an increase in focus or an advancement of some kind, it’s in the releasing of stress and the decrease of anxiety, etc.

I think that this view is a lot like the view that I have of the negative incidents and people in my past.    It’s a “look for the silver lining” approach.   This is not to negate though, as I think it’s a very good point and good practice to get into.  Life is better and there is better perspective within it when you can accept that even the bad things that happen to you have value.

Queen of Wands - Dark Mansion Tarot Today’s draw is the Queen of Wands, which is a representation of a receptive alpha energy, personality, or person in the area of one’s passions, drive, and ambitions.  This theme portrays itself with independence, confidence, and determination.  The Queen of Wands is ambitious and knows how to get what she wants and go after what she believes is hers.

What I see in today’s card is encouragement.  It’s appearance today is there to boost my self confidence, which wavered a bit when the less-than whisper came during the recent drop.  The Queen of Wands has arrived to remind me that I am strong and passionate, and if they don’t like me?  Fuck’em.

I’ll try to take her message to heart, although I’m not quite far enough out of the post-drop tenderness for it to really sink in at the current moment.

Deck Used: Dark Mansion Tarot

Bonus Reading

Another #TarotForGrowthOctober prompt.

Question: Where may I need to shake things up?

Tarot of the Sweet Twilight Reading Summary:  I need to look recently occurring new perspectives (Hanged Man) concerning the drop (Eight of Swords) and the emotions that stem from it (Ace of Cups).

Take Away: Ok, so I had a really hard time with this last drop.  Yes it was massive, but it went beyond that, because for the first time in a long time, I completely shut down rather than allowing myself to deal with it.  And honestly?  My perception and feelings about it were different this time too, leaning far more to the negative.   I focused on those negatives rather than on the vulnerability and inner worries and fears, which didn’t help things.

This new perspective isn’t a healthy one, and isn’t healthy for me at all.  This isn’t the first time I’ve drowned so deep, or had such a massive drop afterward.  But I didn’t handle it well at all this time, and I need to look at approaching the drop and the emotions surrounding it from a different mindset in the future so that I don’t go back there again.

Deck Used: Tarot of the Sweet Twilight

The Mystery Continues

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Today’s meditation was ten minutes long, and I really feel like they’re beating a dead horse lately.  Just saying, but today’s focus was once again upon the journey instead of the destination and how that relates to meditation.

I know it’s a message that lots of people (myself included) need to hear now and then, but it seems like they’re in a little bit of a rut at the moment, because it feels as if all of the meditations recently have been on different ways of phrasing the exact same topic.

Maybe I need to take a break from the guided meditations and try another method for a bit.

Dark Mansion Tarot Today’s draw is the Eight of Cups, which seems to be showing up quite a bit lately.  The Eight of Cups is about walking away, and about taking a new path.  I can’t help but think that this is a continuation on yesterday’s bonus reading, and you hit the nail on the head concerning what was missing from that reading btw.

I don’t know.  The answer to your question about yesterday’s bonus reading is that I don’t know.  But I’m again being prompted to make the choice of releasing myself from something that I’m not just intellectually invested on, but emotionally invested in as well.  The reading yesterday then spoke of returning to it with a new perspective and fresh ideas.

I’m still in the dark, although I think that the cards are definitely -trying- to help me realize what idea I’m hitting a brick wall on.  And the ‘out of sorts’ I’ve been feeling lately indicates that I am indeed hitting a brick wall.   I just need to figure out… on what.

Deck Used: Dark Mansion Tarot

Bonus Reading

Another #TarotForGrowthOctober prompt.

Question: In what way am I stronger than I realize?

Tarot of the Sweet Twilight Reading Summary: Making positive (The Sun) choices concerning my passions interests (Two of Wands), and mastering the skills necessary to bring those pursuits into reality (Eight of Pentacles).

Take Away:  Sometimes I lose touch with the joy that I feel in the creation of something new.  Something that is uniquely mine. My creation, my passion, my idea… something brought from nothing into reality.  I forget about the joy and the spark sometimes.   The reading today is a reminder of that joy.  My obvious strength is that ability to create, that skill at manifestation…. the hidden talent is in the joy I bring to the process.  It’s sometimes hidden even from me.  And I think it’s time to get back in touch with it again.

Deck Used: Tarot of the Sweet Twilight