tarot self care

Creation Through Conflict

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and focused on a full body scan for the most part.  It was not a guided meditation, and although I had intended on going for a full fifteen minutes, I was interrupted by a phone call from the doctor’s office and couldn’t get back into it after I’d hung up.  (Everything is fine, it’s just bloodwork related.)

Spacious Tarot Today’s draw is the Five of Wands, which is traditionally a representation of tests, trials, and conflict in the area of one’s ambitions, passions, and drive.

What I see, though?  Is spark.

The message contained in the Five of Wands in today’s draw is that sometimes conflict actually has the potential to create.  It has the ability to get the juices flowing and, although conflict and trials can be a struggle, they can also provide a much needed clearing of air and energy, which makes room for something new and better.

DECK USED:  THE SPACIOUS TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: What does my mind want me to know about 2020?

Lost Forest Tarot

Reading Summary:  I need to take time to examine what I’ve done and what I can do better (Judgement), especially in the area of what I want from my business (Queen of Fire), and in which direction I want to push it in (Knight of Fire).

Take Away:  I very often associate my creative business with fire, as that is a huge part of where my inner spark and drive are directed.  It’s no different here, where the answer to what my mind wants me to know for the year ahead focuses upon that business.  This is a reminder to look back at the time that has passed and base my future momentum upon what has and has not worked rather than constantly focusing on what I want in the future.

DECK USED:  LOST FOREST TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What do you feel you deserve?

Beautiful Creatures TarotReading Summary:  The desire for something better (Six of Swords) obtained through a combination of optimism (The Sun),  self possession and strength (The Emperor), collaboration with others (Three of Coins), and a nurturing warmth towards myself and others (The Empress).

Take Away:  What I see here are the elements that I feel I am not strong enough in.  Elements that are building blocks to a change for the better, but are not my strongest qualities.  Considering the question, the cards indicate I believe I deserve to be better at these particular qualities and, as a result, deserve for things to be better in my life because of them.

It is not realistic, of course, as you do not miraculously develop such qualities… you learn them and work at them.   They are something to strive for, not something to simply obtain.

DECK USED:  FOREST CREATURES TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question: Three cards that pertain to my goals.  (Rephrased for specificity.)

The Arcana Tarot

Reading Summary:  Lots of appearances of the King of Wands over the past few days for me.   If I want to find a sense of balance between my struggle for security (Nine of Wands) and a sense of contentment (Nine of Cups), I need to work at embodying a more controlled attitude toward my passions and drive (King of Wands).

Take Away:  A lot of times my passions and drive, both for the creative aspects of my business as well as my business as a whole, cause me to push too hard.  This creates a sense of imbalance and defensiveness that does not at all foster a sense of contentment.  If I apply more control and mediation to my drive, I can find a better balance and feel more satisfaction with my work.

DECK USED:  THE HYDRA-NIX ARCANA TAROT

 

Self Care Saturday (on Sunday)

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As I’ve mentioned before, these readings are (not usually) bearing in on any one thing or event in my life, as the question used is asking for a more general outlook. This is a self care exercise, and are not meant as a predictive reading.

The question is… What do I need to focus for self-care through the week ahead?

SCS

Earth – Page of Swords, Elevate, and Be Careful Signing Contracts – Hmmmm… I wonder if my mortgage contract is coming up for renewal this week. I need to call the bank on Monday and check. I am also currently in the process of changing my medical insurance to a different provider. The cards are indicating something along these lines needs to be taken care of and re-evaluated to provide myself with a better position than the one I’m currently in.

Air – Three of Wands, Ace of Swords, and You Are Not Alone in This Uncertain Place – I need to remember that even though I am feeling unbalanced and uncertain while reorganizing how I run things with the business, I have people around me who love me and are willing to provide help or support as needed. I don’t have to do it alone, and it’s okay to ask for help when needed.

Water – The Moon and Not My Circus Not My Monkeys – Tend to your own garden and don’t let other people pull you into their chaos and drama. Allowing that will just cause confusion and lack of clarity.

Air – Ace of Pentacles, King of Swords, and The Enemy of Intuition is Self Doubt – Stay centered while on this new path with my ambition and passions, because you don’t want to allow self-doubt to filter in and screw with your perceptions and plans.

Waning – La Ruche et Surmenage – Don’t forget there is a life outside of work and running the business. It might feel like you’re not getting a lot done, but sometimes you need to take time to rest and step away, regroup and then come back fresh later on.

Waxing – La Tortue et Sagesse, L’anneau et Union – Wisdom and longevity in a solid and beneficial union. I definitely need to check on my mortgage contract and take a close and careful look at the new medical insurance package and contract.

Take Away – There’s going to be an element of self doubt and uncertainty in the week ahead and the plans I have been in the beginning stages of implementing to change some of the aspects of my business and work. It’ll be important to stay on track and pay close attention to my own issues and let others deal with their own shit this week rather than trying to help out.

Also, be sure to contact the bank to check on my mortgage contract, and take a close look at my new benefits package and make sure everything in there is as it should be and to my advantage.

DECKS USED: VINTER TAROT, POSTCARDS FROM THE LIMINAL SPACE ORACLE, L’ORACLE DE L’ARBRE DE VIE

 

Transitions and Changes

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Today’s meditation was just under fifteen minutes long, and I tried something new today.  As a part of my steps towards mediumship during my tarot practice, I settled in with a guided meditation concerning getting in contact with spirit guides.

This is something that many have made clear is an important step in the process, especially as a part of personal safety.    The problem?  I couldn’t focus.   I tried, but I just couldn’t do it.     I will try again another day, though.

Six of Swords - The Efflorescent TarotToday’s draw is the Six of Swords, which traditionally is a representation of transition, change, and letting go in the areas of intellect, communication, and challenges.

What I see here is sorrow.   I see the sharp and jagged teeth of the landscape behind her and the child in the boat, and the rough waters.  But she is moving away from these things.  Her face is filled with sorrow as she steers the boat upon its coarse

The appearance of the Six of Swords in today’s draw speaks of how difficult making the choice to make a change can be.  Change isn’t always something that falls in our lap or is inflicted upon us, sometimes it is a choice that requires leaving some people, places, things, or ways of thinking behind in order to move on to something better.

Today’s card is an encouragement concerning the renovations I am in the process of making to how I run my business this year.  It says… change is hard, but it will be worth it.

DECK USED:  THE EFFLORESCENT TAROT (COLORED EDITION)

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: What does my body want me to know about 2020?

The Prediction Tarot

Reading Summary:  Stop allowing (The Emperor) my emotions and need to succeed (Queen of Cups beneath Page of Staves) hold me back from (The Moon) extending self care beyond the emotions and into the physical (The Empress)

Take Away:  The cards indicate that my body wants to elevate the way in which I care for it.   I spend a lot of time rounding out my self care in the spiritual and emotional side of things, but there is an aspect that I have not been focusing on, which is the physical side of things.  This is a request for more attention to be paid to how I treat my body and what my body needs.  In other words, “get off your ass and start eating healthier and going to the gym again”.

DECK USED:  THE PREDICTION TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: How have you grown over the past year?

Tarot Cats

Reading Summary:  A deeper emotional connection (Two of Cups) and a new way of looking (Ace of Swords) at my struggles (Five of Wands) of the past (Six of Cups).

Take Away:  A lot of times when “past year” reflections come about I find that I have repeated the same lessons over again, either because it didn’t stick the first time or because I just didn’t grasp it the first time around.   This year I’ve done a number of things differently, including beginning to share my spirituality with Gideon, which has brought us much closer, as well as much deeper understanding of how past events in my life (negative experiences) have influenced my life and development.

DECK USED:  TAROT CATS

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question: How can I set realistic goals?

The Textured Tarot

Reading Summary:  Remember to stay stable and grounded (The Emperor) when change comes (Death) because… there’s going to be a whole lot of ups and downs and change this year (Wheel of Fortune).

Take Away:  Hello Wheel of Fortune once again.  As mentioned before, this is my birth card for the year.   The Emperor and the Death card indicate that it will be important when setting goals that I keep in mind just what kind of theme (ups and downs) this year has in store for me and create room in my plans for that possibility to manifest along the way.

DECK USED:  THE TEXTURED TAROT

 

Hopes, Dreams, and Manifestation

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Today’s meditation was ten minutes long and focused on the need for having hopes and dreams to drive us forward, and how there is always potential available to us to reach for and obtain our dreams as long as we keep that hope alive.

I really liked something that the guide for the meditation said during the session.  She said, “Every breakthrough, every discovery, every solution of every problem ever solved came from a place of possibility.”

I really like that.  I like the reminder it provides concerning where success and accomplishments come from. They just don’t “happen” but are created by real life everyday people from that place of potential and possibility.

Spacious TarotToday’s draw is the Ace of Pentacles and The Magician, and fits in perfectly with the theme of the meditation.  There is so much here about the potential and possibility in the Ace of Pentacles and the empowerment behind The Magician.

The Ace of Pentacles in today’s draw is all about manifestation. It’s about taking those things like the passion of inner spark, the bubbling bursts of emotional investment, and the bright flashes of ideas… and making something of them in the physical world.  Creating something from them that is real and solid and tangible.

Yesterday I expressed my anxieties and worries about the changes I’ve been planning to make in my business, and I feel that today’s draw is a response to those worries and fears.  The cards say that I have all that I need to not just begin upon this fresh start, but to make it work and grow and thrive.

DECK USED:  SPACIOUS TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: What does my spirit want me to know about 2020?

Accurate AF TarotReading Summary:  Stay focused upon my goals (King of Rings) and do not allow my hoarder’s nature (Four of Rings), addictions (The Devil), and occasional interpersonal struggles (Ten of Cups) distract me from those goals.

Take Away:  Sometimes you have to put responsibilities above wants and desires.  That’s what this reading is about.  It’s not something I need a huge reminder of, but it is something that my spirit wants me to keep in mind (as was the goal of the question).  There’s a good possibility there will be times that this reminder will rise up in my memory over the next year, the reading having brought it to my attention and allowing it the freedom to be there and available to me when I need it to be.

DECK USED:  ACCURATE AF TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What could I use less of in my life?

Vintage Oracle Tarot

Reading Summary: This is an intuitive read off the cards and has nothing to do with the traditional meanings.  What I see in these cards is pessimism and inner dialogue that focuses on the train of “you should” do this or “you should” have done that.

Take Away:  The Wheel of Fortune makes another appearance in my readings today, this time to again remind me of the ups and downs coming up in the year ahead, and to let me know that with some forethought and planning, I can avoid falling into the pitfalls of being overly pessimistic or a “you should” mentality.

DECK USED:  VINTAGE ORACLE TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question: What are my life dreams?

Jeremy Miranda Oracle Cards

Reading Summary: A house in the middle of the rainforest with lots of peace and quiet and the freedom to travel as I wish and explore new experiences at my leisure.

Take Away:  The first two cards are pretty much what I expected to come up, but the last one is a bit of a surprise.  It’s true that there are a lot of places I would love to visit, but the thing is?  Not right now.  Not when I have to come back to a city.. a condo… and so many people everywhere.   IF I could have my dream of the kind of secluded home in the rainforests that I want though?  Then I know the urge to travel and explore would awaken, as I would have that type of ultimate sanctuary to return to in which to recover.

DECK USED:  JEREMY MIRANDA ORACLE CARDS

Ups and Downs… It’s All Temporary

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Today’s meditation was non-existent thus far, as I was late making it home from the farm, which meant that the housekeeper was here waiting for me when I got home.  I will do a meditation tonight when I go to bed, which will probably result in me dozing off.

I don’t get the same benefits from bedtime meditation as I do when I do it in the morning, but I also recognize that I can’t always manage the mornings, and there are still benefits even if not as noticeable.

Wheel of Fortune - Efflorescent TarotToday’s draw is the Wheel of Fortune card, and as one would suspect from this card, it represents good luck, but also the bad luck.  It represents the ups and the downs of life, and like all Major Arcana cards, deals with an overall outlook rather than any one aspect of the human experience.

This is my birth card for the year, and it is one of two cards that have been spending a lot of time stalking me over the past two weeks.   This one, I understand as there is a theme to the beginning of the year and the new year’s birth card.  Clearly this year is going to be filled with ups and downs.

The lesson here?  It is in the hands in the water.   The Wheel of Fortune is here to remind me to appreciate the good times, because they don’t last forever… and to hold on and keep treading water in the bad times… because they are also temporary.

DECK USED:  EFFLORESCENT TAROT (COLOR EDITION)

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: How can I make the most of that energy (from yesterday’s read)?

The Fey TarotReading Summary:  Instead of allowing the daunting task before me to intimidate me (Seven of Chalices), I need to concentrate on putting my energy into the planning and organizing side of things and taking things one step at a time (Knave of Wands).

Take Away:   There’s a lot of elements involved in figuring out the best way to move forward.  It’s not so much the path before me that’s changing as I restructure things with my business, but rather how I walk. With so many elements involved, it feels a bit overwhelming and intimidating, but as with most things of this nature, I know that if I just take thing one very small step at a time, the progress will begin to add up.

DECK USED:  THE FEY TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2020 Challenge Prompt
Question: What could you use more of in your life?

Ethereal Visions Tarot

Reading Summary:  Authority (King of Wands) and ownership (The Empress) over my fear of things falling apart (Five of Pentacles).

Take Away:  All decisions to make a change have the potential to create anxiety for me, and the thing is that with the changes in my business that I’m making?  I have a LOT of anxiety that I might screw things up and end up tanking my business as a result.  These fears are a bit irrational, and I know that, but they bring about a need for a far more self possessed and grounded energy than I’ve been riding on of late.

DECK USED:  ETHEREAL VISIONS TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question: Who would I like to be?

Wheel of Fortune TarotReading Summary:   Someone who is centered and self assured (Queen of Pentacles) in their abilities and able to have the stability of good fortune on my side (Ten of Pentacles) in life as I make difficult choices (Two of Swords) that normally create within me a sense of uncertainty.

Take Away:  This read is about wanting to feel more stable and grounded during situations that would normally create a good deal of anxiety for me.

DECK USED:  THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE TAROT

Forethought and Choices

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Today’s meditation was just over twelve minutes long, and was focused (again) on the new year.  It spoke of new years resolutions, and how they don’t work.   Not because we don’t want them to or don’t have every intention of following through with them, but because change is often something that needs to be integrated into our lives one small step at a time so that we have time to adjust and adapt.

When we try to instill change in a sudden sort of way, what  often happens is that you have difficulty following on through the larger changes once the newness has fallen away.   When you stretch out the process and take little steps?  There’s a better chance of it sticking as it means that the new habits have time to integrate and overwrite the old.

My personal opinion is that sometimes it works… and sometimes?  It doesn’t, yeah?  Some habits need more than willpower to break.  Sometimes it’s not about habits, but about a mindset.  And sometimes?  What we’re trying to break the habit of doing isn’t a habit at all, but a part of our very nature.  All of that’s okay.  It doesn’t mean we give up, only that  we try again and search for new and different methods that might work better the next time.

Knight of Swords - Spacious TarotToday’s draw is the Explorer of Swords, which is the equivalent of the Knight of Swords in this deck. Traditionally this card represents a proactive beta energy, personality, or person in the realm of logic, thoughts, intellect, and communication.   This often comes through as relating to the themes of quick minded ambition and, occasionally, impulsiveness.

The thing is, though, when I see today’s card, what I see is less impulsiveness and more of a “look before  you leap.   The crow sits upon the blade of the sword, but thinks twice about moving out onto the blade where it overhangs open space, as if considering if it is a wise decision (which, of course, it is not… that crow is far too heavy to perch out there).

Yes, the crow will survive either way.  It can fly.   But the choice the crow makes now is the the one that matters.  If it steps out on the blade?  It will force an action that otherwise the crow would never have made.  A choice forced upon it by the previous choice already made.

As a result, this message is more about thinking before you act.  And about making sure that the steps taken are taking me in the right direction, the direction that I want to go in, rather than allowing my choices to force me into decisions and directions I wasn’t planning on going in.

DECK USED:  SPACIOUS TAROT

#TarotForGrowthJanuary Challenge Prompt
Question: What energy did I bring along into 2020?

Field Tarot

Reading Summary:  I’m feeling a bit of disappointment over the past year (Five of Cups) and want to move forward with changes to how I juggle (Two of Disks) my business and ambitions over the next year (Ace of Wands).

Take Away:  I’ve mentioned this in previous readings, so it’s not a huge surprise that it would come up today with this question.  I feel like my plate has been too full with work related mess over the past year, and I need to put some priority on the more administrative side of things in order to help my business grow.

I always set the administrative side of things to the back burner and then things end up a bit of a mess. Moving into the new year I’m carrying with me that desire to try balancing things in a different way, the disappointment of the year behind me there to push me onward into that goal.

DECK USED:  THE FIELD TAROT

#DiscordTarotholicsJan2020 Challenge Prompt
Gideon… This is not just a reading prompt, but also an invitation for you to join me in one of the tarot discord servers I am a member of.  It is my congratulations gift to you for having completed the first stage of your lessons in the tarot, and I have been looking forward to giving it to you for some time.  I hope you will decide to join me.
Question:  Do Spread #1

Maregician Tarot Sleeplessness EditionReading Summary:   This is a spread about the wicked witch of the deep south.  I did not choose the target of the spread, but rather allowed the spread to choose for me.  The King of Clubs indicates that the negative influence she had over my life was to yank me forward into that habit of mine of being over-analytical while stuffing my feelings in a box to the side.  The Moon indicates that in return, my negative aspect on her was to create within her a sense of uncertainty.  The Star indicates that the positive influence that they had upon my life was in planting the seeds of inspiration to get more deeply in touch with my spirituality.  The Two of Hearts indicates that my positive influence on her life is that she developed a closer, deeper bond her crones as a result of our encounter and that possibly one in particular in her group stepped forward in a big way in this capacity at that time.

Take Away:  What I get from this spread is that my encounter with the wicked witch of the deep south created not just bad things… but also benefits.  This is something that’s not always easy for me to see, but I do understand how it works, as even negative experiences have positive aspects in how they play out.

DECK USED:  MAREGICIAN TAROT

#ConnectWithYourDeckChallenge Prompt
Question:  My biggest challenge this year.

Lighteater’s Tarot

Reading Summary:  Mmm well, this is a new deck, and I’m apparently going to have to work past the whole face of the guy in the Knight of Staves because he looks JUST like this super slob gross person that used to live next door.  Just sayin’.  Onward to the reading…

Working with others can always be quite challenging for me (Three of Coins), but if I want to advance in my ambitions concerning my business (Knight of Staves) I am going to have to find a way to be the boss and direct a helper while keeping my own issues about working with others stable and centered, and my eye on the ball (King of Staves).

Take Away:  Now that I’ve moved on from my last helper and her undependable ways, it’s going to be necessary to reassess my own reactions to working with others and search for someone that is a better fit for the way I work.   Preferably someone far more dependable than the last.   This won’t be an easy process, but if I’m proactive in the approach, I’ll be able to find what I need.

DECK USED:  LIGHTEATER’S TAROT